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Vegas de Santiago
Cigar Review
A nice, smooth, medium-bodied "after lunch" cigar. The taste is mild, but
there's
a lot of it, hence "Medium", maybe even "Medium-full" -- I'm not
100% sure how
those words are used in the industry.
My first impression of Rudy/Vegas de Santiago ("VdS") was that it was
awfully
nice of him to offer free cigars to doubting Thomases -- who could
pass up a deal
like that?! Actually, that was my 2nd impression,
my FIRST impression was that he was a nice guy, *VERY* excited about his
product,
who is not particularly net-savvy. Can't really fault him for
that, but it is interesting to
note that he seems genuinely proud his
product and company, and not just out to
scam a quick sale.
Speaking of questions, here are the answers to a few that came up: * They
freeze
their tobacco twice. Once after the curing process, then again
after it is made into
cigars, as they often do not use the tobacco
immediately.
* Their cigars are aged a minimum of 3 months before shipping, and are
intended
to be "ready to smoke". My impression is that they will benefit
from a week or two
of humidity-stabilization, and that they will improve
with age. I expect that the
"dry red wine" taste (see review text) is
party due to their youth, and will mellow
after 6-12 months of rest.
* They do not have a worldwide distribution network. They have a few
vendors
(Japan, Europe), and are working on breaking into the US market,
although there
has been a struggle there, as US vendors want them to
mass-produce and lower
the price. For now, the easiest way to get VdS
cigars is to order them online via
their web-site, which is clear, clean, easy to
use, and has a lot of company-pride
info.
* They're a small (relatively) operation[34], owned by a cooperative of 200
tobacco growers. The factory uses the tobacco they grow, after aging it
for 3 - 4 years
according to their own standards, and rolls what they can, tossing the
garbage.
When they're gone, they're gone -- they don't attempt any tricks
to "stretch" the crop.
Every indication is that they
are really keen on making the best cigars possible[6],
and everyone is
personally involved and has ownership and responsibility for the
entire
cigar manufacture process.
I live a short drive from the Napa Valley and, in many ways, VdS reminds
me of
some of the small, family run vineyards there, where "grandpa"
oversees every
aspect of the operation, and does things like tell the new
kids "no, no -- these
grapes, they are not ready, yet; here, let me show
you." VdS seems a bit bigger
than (for example) Prager (Napa winery), but
they give them impression that it's
"that kind of business."[7]
Ok, on to the cigar...
First impression: ROFL! You guys will just have to laugh at this -- the 5
pack
sampler comes in a little cedar box with a GLASS TOP! Well, it made
*ME* laugh!
Note to Rudy: many folks make counterfeit Cuban Cohiba cigars, and sell
them in
a glass-topped cigar box. If you read ASC for long, you will see
that "glass topped
box" is almost synonymous with "counterfeit crappy
cigars."
I can't tell you if it's worth changing your business for -- personally, I
like the little
sampler box -- but it's something to think about. One
thing, though -- as the box experienced
temperature changes in shipping, the glass arrived with a slight fog
of
humidity condensation. This is why I let the cigars sit for a couple of
days before reviewing one.
Checking this baby under a magnifying glass, I see that it is VERY well
constructed.
There were *VERY* minor flaws in the wrapper, cap and band,
but these fall into the category of "minor variations due to their hand
made nature" -- anything cleaner
would look machine-made (or rendered.)
It has a pretty band, a metallic gold design a hot-pink background -- a
little glitzy,
but sort-of what you'd expect from something named "Vegas"
:
It snipped perfectly, even though I discovered later that I probably
should've given
it a few more weeks for the humidity to stabilize.
There was no "tobacco dust" taste in the pre-light draw -- bonus points
for that! :)
There was one very small shred of tobacco on the head, but that was
probably
because my cheap-ass razor cutter is due to be replaced (oh,
about 2 weeks ago ;)
Toasting went easily, and the light was perfect -- the first puffs had a
sharp, dry taste;
not in a bad way, but like a "woody" red wine. I set it
down for a minute to get out my
chain-saw sharpening tools and, upon
resuming my smoke, found it to be a very mild, creamy cigar. Yummie! :
The VdS corona gives off a dark blue smoke and has a firm white ash that
seems to naturally "chunk" into 3/8" 'nuggets'. They hold together until
there are 3-4 of them,
then the ash falls off about an inch at a time,
leaving a near-perfect cone of red-hot
tobacco -- a nicely made cigar.
The flavor developed nicely along the length of the cigar -- there
weren't any big
changes but again, like a nice red wine, it got sort of
"more", with little waves of
stronger flavor once in a while. I can't
think of any way to describe the taste except
as a slightly "woody"
version of some of the Nicaraguan puros I've had -- again,
like a
slightly "woody" wine.
Perhaps that's "a hint of cedar" -- sure, I'll go
with that... About 1/3 of the way
through, I jotted down "a good 'lunch'
or mid-afternoon cigar. Mickey would like
these -- smooth, but lots of
flavor -- they won't make him cough" ;
The burn was razor-sharp -- "like a magazine ad" -- right up until just
past the
halfway mark when it suddenly went out. Given that the couple of
puffs immediately
before this were trending toward harsh, along with the
sudden self-extinguishing
of the cigar, I'm going to guess that there was
an over-humid spot in the middle,
and I expect that I will not encounter
this again if I leave the cigars for a few weeks
to properly humidify. I
gave it a minute to rest, a slight blow to clear it out, and it
relit
without a problem.
I smoked it until I couldn't continue without burning myself, and was sad
to see
it end. (Note to self: check for maduro and fatter ring gage.)
In the end, ||| -- 3 of 4 matches, and on my "keep a box aging" list. If
you go in
for that taste,
I can see rating it 3.25 or 3.5 but I'm hoping that I'll be able to talk
someone at VdS into making a maduro, and that'll be my 3.5
Either way -- a fine cigar, in my book, and a fun little
company.
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