Introduced in 2021, the All Saints Cigars – St. Francis is the second line of cigars for the young company headed up by Micky Pegg. The inaugural line was the Dedicación which was well received in the industry. With this second line, Micky pays homage to one of the great Catholic Saints, Francis of Assisi, who founded the Franciscan Order. Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis on 16 July 1228. He joined Catherine of Siena as a patron saint of Italy. He later became associated with patronage of animals and the natural environment, and it became customary for churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October.
When it comes to the cigar, Micky went with a bold blend that I would think represents his view of St. Francis. The blend is described as:
- Wrapper -Ecuadorian Oscuro
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Nicaraguan
The St. Francis is expressed in 4 vitolas and comes packaged in 20-count boxes:
- Robusto (5 1/2 x 50) – MSRP $9.70
- Toro (6 1/2 x 52) – MSRP $10.35
- Huge (6 x 60) – MSRP $10.90
- Churchill (7 x 48) – MSRP $11.40
For this review, I sampled two All Saints Cigars – St. Francis Churchill – one I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press and the other I purchased at SmokeInn.com
Pre-Light Examination
The All Saints Cigars – St. Francis is a beautifully constructed, oily and dark reddish-brown cigar. The cigar is box pressed with slightly curved edges .It exhibits minimal veins and is fairly smooth to the touch. It is has a well applied cap to finish the presentation.
Two bands adorn the cigar. The primary uses a red, gold, and white motif presenting the company’s logo in the center. A secondary band declares it as the St. Francis using gold lettering on a black background bordered by red, white, and black lines.
As I ran the barrel along the nose, I picked up enticing aromas of chocolate and hazelnut. Moving to the foot, I was greeted with a very mild pungent note.
Once I sliced the cap, straight across the shoulder, I gave it some cold draw puffs that graced the palate with buttery notes along with a sliver of pepper that grows the more you puff on it.
Using my double flame torch I warmed the foot to an even orange glow and drew in the first puffs of Cubanesque floral smoke. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Cubanesque floral notes start the journey
- Light grey ash forms on top of a medium thick and slightly wavy char line
- Savory spice joins the early profile
- Dry cocoa powder notes add to the mix
- Caramel notes sweeten the blend adding a fine balance to the smoke
- Spice fades to the background and lingers on the palate
- Ash fell in a big chunk revealing a decent burn cone
- Strength ratchets up midway
- A mild vanilla cream adds to the pleasure in the second third
- Moving into the final dry leather notes begin joined with a palate forward earthiness
- An off burn developed deep in the final third
- Strength hits medium to full
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 50 minutes
Final Analysis
The All Saints Cigars – St. Francis was one of those cigars that delivered a confectionary delight of flavors with its caramel, vanilla cream, cocoa notes. The profile pleased my palate from foot to nub with its medium complexity and medium to full strength blend. This is a cigar that is worth a box buy and they can be found on some sites with a good discount – so now is a great time to grab some. The burn was fairly decent with a slight wave and there was a bit of an off burn in the final. I rate this a 94.
Point Deductions: (-1) Wavy Burn; (-1) Off Burn in Final
Bonus Points: (+1) Box Buy; (+1) Pleasant and consistent experience across multiple samples
