Vitola: Ruca- Size: 5.5″ x 42 ring gauge
- $10.99
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
I remember when the Epicurean Santeria first showed up at Burns. I wasn’t working there at the time…at least not full-time. I had vaguely heard of the cigar but was a little shocked at the price tag. I decided to try one anyway and was surprised and impressed by the amount of flavor. That’s when I took a look at the blend data and found out it used a Mexican wrapper…one of my least favorite wrapper leaves at the time.
The Santeria was when I realized that Mexican wrapper can be very, very good…given the proper aging and a blend that plays to its strengths. Rather than bitter, earthy and chalky, this one was smooth and sweet, with just the right amount of earthiness to it. Steven Ysidron’s Epicurean brand ended up not lasting because of some business disputes with then-distributor House of Emilio. The Santeria blend has shown up again, this time under the auspices of Kuuts Cigars, the company that Ysidron is now heading up for the American market. They bought some of his old brands and are re-issuing them with new packaging and lower pricing. I had a chance to try the “new” Santeria recently and while it was very good, it wasn’t as good as remember the original being.
So I thought I’d buy one of the originals…made with 2009 vintage tobacco and issued in 2013, so now with 3 additional years of age on the already aged tobacco. It uses Nicaraguan Jalapa and Condego fillers, double binders from Jalapa and Mexico, then the aforementioned Mexican San Andres wrapper.
Notes
The cigars have aged well…in this case meaning that they look no different than I remember them from a few years back. The wrapper had a nice cocoa powder and earth aroma to it, betraying none of its Mexican origin. The foot had cocoa powder, coffee and more earth.
Lighting up, there was plenty of earth, along with cocoa powder, and some dried fruit sweetness. There wasn’t much pepper on the palate, but it was a solid burn on the nose. Despite the age, the Santeria doesn’t seem to have mellowed much…it’s still full-bodied right from the beginning…but very, very flavorful.
As the cigar burned on, there was plenty of dark fruit and dark chocolate, combined with a good amount of earth and espresso, as well as an increasing amount of pepper spice. I paired this with some Maker’s Mark Bourbon, which might have been just a tad too mellow for the cigar, but the cigar itself was wonderful. A little extra time has done nothing to diminish just how good it really is…and I still give the edge to this version of Santeria over the new one.
