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All cigar aficionados know four distinguished brands such as Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagas  and Romeo y Julieta. And only devoted cigar smokers who get their cigars in La Casa del Habano cigar stores know other brands like San Cristóbal. It’s not an old brand – it was launched in 1999 in the hope to spark the interest of those who think that Cuban stogies are too strong.

Since I am a US citizen, I don’t buy my Cuban cigars from official La Casa del Habano cigar stores and opted for www.25cigars.com instead. Eight days later, the package with the San Cristóbal cigars which I decided to try first – San Cristóbal La Fuerza – got to me.

I pulled this cigar out last Friday to enjoy while I surf the cigar boards and enjoy a little bit of quiet. The La Fuerza has an unusual size format – it is an extended Robusto, called gordito (meaning fatty in Spanish) by the manufacturer. I like how the La Fuerza is made – it features a dark and oily wrapper with tiny veins, just the way I like it. The construction was good too, so the burn and draw were easy and even, and there was no shortage of smoke.

The cigar turned out to be woody with light floral hints in the first third turning into hints of burned sugar, nuts, wood and green pepper in the second third. The taste of the San Cristóbal La Fuerza was somewhat light, flat, rather on the light side of medium. The size is great – it took over an hour to smoke, so I’ve managed to enjoy more than a bit of relaxing with a cigar.

To sum it up, if you are a Robusto lover, you probably won’t like this cigar. But if you choose to keep an open mind or have just got into the world of cigars, chances are that you will like this off-the-radar cigar. I would also recommend to let sit it in the humidor for a few months, it will probably change this cigar for the better.