Initial Thoughts
This is the second cigar that I’m reviewing from a recent trade that I received from the fellas over at r/cigars on Reddit. The San Cristobal Seleccion Del Sol is a boutique release from the giant cigar manufacturer Ashton. According to Ashton’s website:
Handcrafted by the Garcia family, these cigars feature a very special sun-grown wrapper grown on the family’s “Estrella” farm in Esteli, Nicaragua… Jaime Garcia hand-selected these beautiful wrappers from the first crop of tobaccos harvested from Estrella explicitly for this cigar.
“Selection of the Sun” what a great name for a cigar, it really gives you a great look into what this cigar is all about. I’ve yet to smoke an Ashton cigar, but after reading up about this particular release I’m very excited to get it underway.
Looks
The San Cristobal Seleccion Del Sol features two tropical bands on the barrel. One at the foot of the cigar with the inscription “Seleccion Del Sol”. A baby blue line highlights the top and bottom of the smaller band with a rainbow esque feather in the middle of the band.
The larger band is anchored by a beautifully painted parrot or ‘toucan’ (I’m not a bird expert sorry) and surrounded with gold trimmings. Instantly I’m whisked away to the tropics and I’m imagining sitting in a cabana on a hammock puffing this cigar.
The delicate wrapper has a little bit of damage on it from the shipping. I’m not too worried about it, I’m hoping it will just burn on through without giving me any sort of draw issues. The wrapper only has one large vein running through it, other than that it looks fairly flawless.
This San Cristobal Seleccion Del Sol has a beautiful traditional Cuban triple cap on the head. The footer looks well packed and I’m itching to get this thing lit!
Function
I move up and the down the barrel rolling the San Cristobal Seleccion Del Sol between my index finger and thumb to check for soft spots in the filler. Wahoo, this cigar is packed beautifully, spongy, but not soft in any spots whatsoever.
I give the triple cap a quick cut and begin to test the dry draw. After removing a few small pieces of tobacco from my mouth I’m able to get a great draw on this cigar. I take a couple extra draws to make sure we’re not going to have any problems with it, and I’m off to the races to get this thing lit.
Smoking
The San Cristobal Seleccion Del Sol takes to my matches instantly, it only took two matches to get the foot of this thing lit and glowing bright orange. Right out of the gate the burn on this cigar is razor sharp. I’m pulling in a trememdous amount of smoke without any interference whatsoever we’re off to a great start.
As soon as I begin pulling some air through the barrel the filler starts to heat up and the small tear that was in the wrapper begins to expand. I’m afraid I’m going to have some issues with it, but right now everything is working out just fine.
Towards the end of the first third I hit the tear in the wrapper and it cracks and begins to give way to the flame. Right now I was worried about how this would affect the lip of the burn, but to my surprise the San Cristobal Seleccion Del Sol powered on through without missing a beat!
This cigar was giving off a great amount of smoke and the draw was so effortless that all I had to do was sit back and enjoy this cigar. The burn stayed razor sharp all the way through to the end. It also held an ash of up to 1.5″. Considering this cigar was only 4.5″ to begin thats a pretty impressive feat. I smoked this little “Fireplug” all the way to nub to where it became too hot for me to hold any longer.
Flavor
The San Cristobal Seleccion Del Sol is heralded as a Medium to Full Bodied cigar and I would have to say that I agree with that. The pre draw began with a strong mocha and tobacco aroma. The flavor on the pre draw brought some spice and pepper to the tongue, primarily on the front end and then dissipated on the backend.
The first third started out with the strong pepper that was present on the pre draw but then finished very smooth with hints of espresso on the backend. The retrohale ignited a pepperery aroma and a little tingly sensation in my nasal cavity.
The second and final thirds were identical to the first. The final third brought a smooth finale to the San Cristobal Seleccion Del Sol there was no grand hoorah of pepper or spice just a smooth ride out that let me enjoy it all the way down to the nub.
The flavor profile on this cigar brought out lots of different notes: espresso, mocha, tobacco and even very subtle hints of cedar. The smoke wasn’t as strong as you might expect for such a small vitola, but it was blended wonderfully and subtlety.
Would I Buy It Again?
Certainly, this cigar was a complete surprise. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and I was thoroughly impressed. At $8 a stick this cigar has the traditional Ashton price tag, but it also lives up to being a fantastic cigar.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
If you can afford to smoke this everyday I’d say go for it. Especially this size of vitola makes it a quick 45 minute smoke and it’s an absolute pleasure.
Would I Buy a Box?
If you’ve found that this is your go to cigar then by all means go pick up a box. At around $135 for a box I would say you can’t go wrong!
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a quick powerful smoke that is easy to draw and even easier to enjoy, then the San Cristobal Seleccion Del Sol is something you should definitely try out!
