I came across the San Martín at the 2007 RTDA (now IPCPR) Trade Show in Houston, Texas. I was so impressed that I featured this cigar on my Stogie Fresh 5 podcast and considered it the "Best New Cigar of 2007."

I have smoked a lot of these cigars, but I recently purchased a new box and so I am interested in putting this cigar through a complete review cycle here at Stogie Fresh.

The cigar is 100% Peruvian tobacco, wrapper, binder, and filler. It is blended to be medium bodied and full flavored.

The cigar is made in a town named Tarapoto in Peru. Tarapoto is situated in a valley of the Andes Mountains. The town is a 55 minute flight NE of the capital of Lima. Tarapoto is located in a region named San Martin which is named for a man Jose de San Martin, a liberator for SW South America.

The pyramid vitola comes in a specially designed, beautiful hand painted display box containing 25 100% Peruvian cigars. The pyramids are 6 inches x 52 ring-gauge.

This is a nice looking stick. The wrapper has a natural oily sheen and is without obvious blemishes or protruding veins. There is a nice aroma of sweet hay and chicken coup coming off the wrapper and the filler tobaccos.

The cigar took the cut and light without a complaint and, right out of the gate, I was enjoying flavors that were reminiscent of some of the best Cuban's I have tried. There was a sweet, tangy spice, as well as sweet hay and a bit of light aromatic wood. Retrohaling produced a creamy smooth texture, along with notes of cedar.

This cigar was light-medium in body and medium-full in flavor. The perfect recipe for a complex cigar. And this IS a complex cigar, showing a wide range of flavors and subtle nuances.

The ash on this cigar was firm and a dark gray. I was able to keep the ash on until I chose to tap off, usually in 1-inch pellets. The burn line was meandering and slightly blistered, but was even overall and this never affected the performance of the smoke.

This is one of the most relaxing cigars that I have ever smoked. It is effortless to smoke and there is nothing harsh or nasty about it. The flavors are sweet and tasty and the whole experience leaves you feeling "right as rain."

This cigar should appeal to a wide range of taste preferences and I recommend it highly to beginning and advanced cigar smokers, alike. It's a little pricey at around $9.50 per stick, but I recommend it anyway and I will always have a box of these around.

In my opinion, this Peruvian puro shatters the myth that all good cigar tobacco must come from the Caribbean or Central America.

~Doc