For this week’s mowing session I grabbed a cigar from a company I have no experience with - All Saints Cigars. All Saints Cigars was founded in 2019 by long time cigar industry member Micky Pegg, and a couple friends. The St. Francis line is the second regular production line in the All Saints portfolio. It is also the cigar I first heard of that introduced me to All Saints Cigars. I do have a couple other All Saints to smoke for review, but I thought I would start with the one that piqued my interest in the brand.
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacalera Villa Cuba S.A.
Wrapper: Ecuador Oscuro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Vitola: 5 ½ x 50 Box Pressed Robusto
Price: $9.70 MSRP
Release Date: June 2021
Company Website: www.allsaintscigars.com
This sharply box pressed Robusto has a dark wrapper with a pretty oily sheen. The cigar is firmed packed, but not too heavy. With regards to the branding, I do like the band designs quite a bit. I also think that the color combination works well with this darker wrapper. The cigar smells like leather, cocoa, and nuts. The cold draw has a very faint almond flavor. First light brings medium-full bodied smoke with medium flavors of dry roasted nuts, cedar, and a bit of coffee and earth. Quickly into the cigar I have to do a small touch up to the burn line. The retrohale has a barbecue smoke like quality and maybe a bit of citrus. At an inch in the smoke is very drying. Some of the barbecue smokiness is working its way into the draw flavors now. Moving into the second third there’s not much to report on the draw, however the retrohale is beginning to show some cocoa and dark fruit. It goes well with the barbecue smokiness. I have to do another touch up for an uneven burn approaching halfway. Hitting the secondary band the draw has become a bit fuller and added some charred wood to the dry roasted nuts, coffee, and bbq smoke. The retrohale is showing a bit more citrus that’s quite tangy in the finish. Hitting the primary band there’s a fair amount of pepper now in the draw that’s giving my tongue a bit of a tingle. It’s been performing well since the last touch up. Coming to an end at an hour and 7 minutes, the performance has continued to be perfect. The draw flavors are primarily pepper and dry wood. The retrohale has become baking spices and nuttiness up front with some charred wood into the finish.
Overall Experience
Overall I thought this cigar was not for me. It had a lot of savory flavors with an overall drying taste and sensation. In general, I liked the combination of the roasted nuts, coffee, and barbecue smoke, however, I needed to see some sweet component to balance out the savoriness. The short period where there was some cacao and dark fruit reaffirmed this for me, as those were the best puffs for my palate. Unfortunately they were short lived. The cigar had some issues with an uneven burn line in the first half, but it performed great in the second half. I personally won’t be returning to this exact cigar, and can’t say I would recommend it, unless I knew for certain this profile lined up exactly with what somebody would enjoy. This sample certainly doesn’t deter from wanting to smoke the other All Saints cigars I have in my humidor.
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