Cigars and Wine in Grapevine

Every since I read the article in this month’s Aficianado Magazine about Don Pepin Garcia and all the different cigars he wraps, I’ve wanted to try one of these San Cristobals. These smokes are wrapped by Don Pepin and produced by Ashton. Click here for some more info on that relationship.
This was a great smoke, just like almost every other Pepin Garcia cigar I have had. It started smooth and ended very smooth, I smoked it down to the very end. It did start to get a little hot towards the end, but it wasn’t too hot to smoke. There was plenty of smoke and the draw was very easy. I rate this cigar at an A-.

Now having said all that, I don’t think that I would smoke this cigar on a regular basis. I’d like to try 1 or 2 more of the Vitolas but frankly after I try them I probably won’t buy any more. They are great smokes, but they taste very similar to the Don Pepin Garcia Black-Label Line or the Tatuajes. And since the San Cristobals are $2-$3 higher than the other 2, I will probably stick with the cheaper ones.

Ashton, Don Pepin Garcia, San Cristobal cigars, Don Pepin Garcia, grapevine, San Cristobal

Super Fuerte means super strong, and this cigar was definitely strong.  It started somewhat bitter, though not too much, and was full of smoke and a hearty, maduro full-flavor.  This Vitola measures 6×52 and are hand-made in Honduras, with filler from Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.  It burned quite evenly.  About 1/5 of the way into the cigar, the bitterness went away and I got just a very deep, dark, maduro mouth full of smoke.

Frankly this smoke was a little heavy for me.  I like Maduro cigars most of the time, but this was just a little too much.  I am very interested to try their Natural wrapper cigar because the flavor of the Maduro was quite nice, just a tad too strong for my tastes.  I’d rate this smoke at a B+.

Indian Tabac cigars, grapevine, Indian Tabac