Pre-light Experience

The wrapper on the rectangle pressed San Cristobal Revelation Legend is medium brown and has a network of raised veins carrying a lighter color which gives a bit of a turtle shell effect. The seams are slightly raised while the caps are well applied. There are two bands, with the primary carrying the brand name and the secondary denoting the line name. The aroma from the wrapper is chocolate fudge while the foot brings a mix of wood and fudge along with a mild spiciness. The pre-light draw brings raw cedar and light mustiness along with a mid-level spiciness on my lips.

First Third

The cigar begins with toasted cedar, black pepper and light cocoa powder. At a half inch in, the cocoa powder departs and a light mustiness joins in. The retrohale is toasted cedar and lightly zingy black pepper. At an inch and a half in, the mustiness increases a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the black pepper with mustiness in the background. The strength was slightly above medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the toast level becomes pretty heavy. At a half inch in, the black pepper is now exhibiting a very long finish. The retrohale remains toasted cedar and lightly zingy black pepper. At an inch in, some earth joins the profile. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the black pepper and earth with some mustiness in the background. The strength has bumped up to medium-full.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the black pepper mellows a bit and the earth becomes even with the toasted cedar up front. At a half inch in, the toasted cedar transitions to light char and a wood bitterness comes with it. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and mild black pepper. At an inch and a half in, the wood bitterness is in the middle of the profile. As the cigar wraps up, the charred cedar and earth are even up front, with wood bitterness and black pepper in the middle and some mustiness in the background. The strength remained at medium-full.

Burn

The burn was straight throughout, and the ash held on in inch and a half increments.

Draw

The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

The cigar began with toasted cedar, black pepper and light cocoa powder. The cocoa powder departed fairly quickly and some mustiness joined in. The second third saw the toast level become pretty heavy and some earth joined in. The final third saw the toasted cedar transition to char and some wood bitterness joined in. The San Cristobal Revelation Legend had a nice start, with a good combination of flavors and then dropped a level in each third as the profile lost it’s vibrancy and then the char and wood bitterness joined in. I was hoping the chocolate fudge aroma from the wrapper pre-light was indicating a fair amount of chocolate in the profile, but it was very short lived. Overall, not a cigar I’d see myself coming back to.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.60

Cost/Point

$1.74

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: San Cristobal Revelation Legend