AJ Fernandez San Lotano Habano

Purchased: Box of 20 Churchill (7 X 52)
Store: JR Cigars
Price: ~$40 from the JR stackable coupon sale
Buy Again: Yes
Box Worthy: Yes
Experience Rating: 92

Man I have been lucking out as of late with my purchases! That stackable coupon deal from JR was insane and I scored some epic sticks for a fraction of their retail price, one of which was this box of wonderful cigars. And though I just got them recently, this box must’ve been sitting for a while because all the cellos are a light brown. So I decided to spark one up.

This cigar isn’t new to me. I first had one a few years ago when a friend shared it with me at a golf tournament. At the time I was mainly smoking AJ New World sticks, but I of course knew AJ and I knew of this line, but hadn’t tried it up to that point. And after smoking that first stick, I wondered why I hadn’t explored this line more.

Since then, though I hadn’t purchased any in bulk, I did occasionally have one or two at lounges. And after finishing them, I’d always say I was going to buy a box but I never got around to it until JR’s sale last month. And now that I’m smoking it while I write, there will be many more boxes in the future.

The San Lotano line has been around for a long time, and marks AJ’s foray into the market with his own brand. The way I like to look at this particular line is that it is the archetype from which all other AJ cigars – and there are LOTS – are modeled. Every time I’ve lit one of these up, my reaction has been, yup, this is what the AJ signature is about: pepper, cedar, and a bright citrusy snap.

This is a beautiful cigar. While the wrapper has some small veins, it’s smooth and oily, and with the apparent age, has clear signs of tooth. Yum! And though it’s solidly built with no soft spots, it’s light in weight. It kind of feels like a Padron in hand, though the cold draw is a lot more snug than a Padron (and that could go for 90% of the sticks out there).

What about the profile? That’s the thing, we all know this profile and just importantly, the smoking pattern that us AJ fans have come to love.

The first half of the cigar is pepper, cedar, and citrus. You get a blast of it at light-up, then it settles in. In the first third, other flavors get added: fruit roll-up, malt, cream, cinnamon, and a certain earthiness that keeps the profile grounded. There’s a clarity to the profile where the flavors are stark and exposed. Then as the cigar progresses into the second third, the spice picks up, but never becomes overpowering, and the earthiness starts gaining ground.

The halfway point has always been the sweet spot for me. The cedar backs off into the background, but roasted hazelnut and cashew come forward. The spice is much more prominent, but again, not overpowering. But it lingers on past the finish.

Complexity? This isn’t a complex cigar with tons of transitions. But like most AJ sticks I’ve smoked, the profile and experience are rich and deep enough that they compensate for its apparent lack of complexity.

Then finally in the last third down to the nub, a sweetness develops to help offset the bite from the spice, keeping things interesting, as does malt. The cigar at this point subdues the cream and becomes just a little sharp around the edges due to the spice. It’s not a jagged edge, but sharper. This might turn some folks off, but I love the sensation.

Notice that I didn’t mentioned coffee or cocoa. They’re there. But very much in the background. And frankly, coffee only takes a more prominent role in the last inch. In my experience, this cigar has always been about the brighter flavors in the profile.

One thing about this cigar, and which is why I always smoke it in Churchill, is that it’s a fast burner. A Churchill only takes me an hour to smoke. But interestingly enough the construction is perfect. The cigar stays solid throughout the smoke. Of course, like any cigar, heat softens the stick, but this stick has remained generally solid and the burn line only needed a single correction due to a minor runner forming.

This is a great mid-day cigar. It’s bright and spicy to wake up the senses. But I can see smoking this paired with a 80-90 proof spirit in the evening. The last one I had several months ago I smoked with a shot of ABK6 (short for Abécassis) cognac. That cognac is super smooth and acted as a nice foil to the spiciness of the cigar. I’m not sure I’d pair it with a high-ABV spirit like an overproof rum, but paired with a cocktail made from a high-ABV spirit, it might just work.

As I finish the cigar, I love that it never collapsed or got bitter. It finished with the same clarity it started with, just deeper and more grounded.

Though I gave it a 92, which is still an excellent rating, I marked it that way only because of its lack of complexity. But I love everything else about the cigar. And that said, it will be part of my regular rotation going forward. Yeah, I have a lot in my regular rotation now, but there’s always room to add one more for variety.