El Santo translates to “The Saint” and is the Providencia Cigar’s flagship cigar. The blend uses an aged Sumatran-seed Nicaraguan Maduro wrapper with a proprietary blend of Honduran tobaccos from their own plantations for filler and Nicaraguan binders.
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
Providencia Cigars began like many brands with the friendship of three cigar lovers. In 2006, Jim Faber and Reed Grafke, two Americans became friends with Javier Mendoza, a second generation plantation owner and master blender who founded Alianza Cigars in Danli, Honduras. Jim and Reed worked with Javier for 10 years to learn the craft of cigar making. The result is Providencia Cigars which now has three blends.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Toro
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 52
Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Sumatran-seed Nicaraguan Maduro
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Honduras
Factory: La Pequena Vega – Danli, Honduras
Blender: Undisclosed
Number of reviewers: 5 – Ryan H. (Ryan H.) John A. (Bostoneo) Mickey T. (irratebass) Steve (ThaGreatWazoo) Dave W. (mdwest)
Price: $8.00
Age: 4 Months
Release Date: June 2017
Contributed by: Providencia Cigars
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 90
“A hefty dark chocolate colored toro with a nice tight construction. Minimal veins and noticeable seems topped off with a triple cap. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
Aroma: 88
“Nothing but tobacco notes on the body, and only wood on the foot.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
First Third
Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Starts out with a nice cherry and white pepper spice. Has some cedar on the far back en of the palette. The draw is tighter that i would like. Burn is nice so far. Ash is flaky and held or for an inch or better.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“Off the initial light are flavors of burnt bitter leather for half an inch. A deep and rich leather with black pepper come into play now. Nuttiness and peanut shell comes in and out as the third holds a solid medium profile. ” –John A. (Bostoneo)
Second Third
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Start the second third off with a burn correction. Profile is largely that of molasses and walnuts with more of the cherries and white pepper spice, its not long before those mesh into a marshmallow sweetness” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“The second third starts off medium in body. A rich spicy leather is the baseline it begins with. The black pepper really intensifies through this portion while the profile pretty much stays the same as the pepper fades away. The ash fails and coats me all over!” –John A. (Bostoneo)
“The final third has really nice berry notes mixed in with a deep rich spice. The strength is still medium full and more so to the fuller side. A very rich and thick smoke is coming off of the cigar. This is a powerful finish.” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
“No changes in strength or flavor are detected in the final third. The cigar remains mostly nutty and herbal and about medium in strength. ” –Dave W. (mdwest)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 87
“The draw was just a hair tight for my likes, but was totally manageable and wasn’t any real problem to deal with.” –Dave W. (mdwest)
Burn: 91
“Excellent burn no touch ups were required.” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
Construction: 93
“This cigar was very nicely built. From the use of a deep dark rich wrapper to the slight box press of the cigar, this cigar had a nice elegance to it.” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
“The profile was fine but the burn and draw issues made this experience one I wouldn’t want to repeat. Maybe it was just this particular stick. Would be worth revisiting to see if the same draw and burn issues would be present.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“This was an OK stick. No frills with this fairly linear stick with very little complexity. The black pepper and super rich and dark leather chocolate profile drowns out the other flavors that could of shinned through. The draw wasn’t that particularly good either plus the ash liked to drop at will all over you as well. I will have to pass on this unbalanced smoke!” –John A. (Bostoneo)
“Overall this was an ok stick. I really wasn’t expecting the campfire flavors and I feel this turned me off from the cigar. It wasn’t a bad smoke by any means, it just wasn’t for me. I would not recommend smoking it as your 1st stick of the day, and I would definitely pair with root beer, or a very peaty scotch. ” –Mickey T. (irratebass)
“This cigar was a lot of things. It started very smooth with notes of fruit and sugar and then ramped it up to a very deep full spice bomb. It played back and forth between these two sides, but finished off quite nicely. Overall, job well done to the maker. I truly enjoyed the ride this cigar took me on.” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
“Overall a decent stick. It was a little flat for me toward the end, but had nice flavors in general. I would certainly give it another try sometime down the road. ” –Dave W. (mdwest)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 84
Reviewer
Apr
Aro
1/3
2/3
3/3
Draw
Burn
Const
Ovr
All
Ryan H.
92
85
92
88
83
85
78
92
83
John A.
90
95
90
85
80
85
92
92
88
Mickey T.
90
88
88
90
87
90
95
95
88
Steve
90
88
90
88
87
92
90
90
90
Dave W.
88
92
90
90
87
87
88
88
88
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.
"This cigar was a lot of things. It started very smooth with notes of fruit and sugar and then ramped it up to a very deep full spice bomb. It played back and forth between these two sides, but finished off quite nicely. Overall, job well done to the maker. I truly enjoyed the ride this cigar took me on." -Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
