Ava Maria vs San Miguel

ZAP

I've been wanting to try these two since they were released and recently purchased both and enjoyed both.

I had the Ava Maria at my brothers in St. Paul by his pool at about 11 PM with conditions resembling Havana.  My sunglasses were fogging up going from the air conditioned car to the outdoor air earlier in the day.  Temps were in the high 90's with dew points in the high 70's.  By 11 the temp had backed down to the low 80's but the dew point was still high.  I love smoking in these conditions and this was a nice experience with the Ava but not outstanding.  Stronger than I expected.  Never had a legit Cuban but probably along those lines.  Rich smoke, good strength.  The smoke just hung in the air and we had a good plume covering his pool as we smoked.  OK flavor.  More of a consistent earthy flavor.  I know others have gotten more complex flavors from this but to me it was kind of one dimensional.  Definitely a big boy character wise (not cigar size wise)  and well consttructed.    Rating=7

I had the San Miguel just now.  temp of about 75 and dew point in the 60's.  No wind..another great night for a smoke.  Not expecting a ton out of this one as I do not usually like box pressed cigars but this was really good.  Light to medium type of smoke which is what I was in the mood for tonight as we haven't eaten supper yet.  Nice flavors of nuts, and spice....Great creamy smoke from start to finish.   This would be an awesome "go to" smoke for mid-day in my opinion.  Rating=8.5

How do these thoughts compare to yours.  I will be looking out for deals on San Miguel.  Probably not so much on the Ava as I like several fuller bodied smokes better personally.

t_evan50

Im with u. I like both but the San Miguel holds the higher rank with me.

Russ55

I think the San Miguel tastes good, and smells pretty good too. It's straight forward. Nothing fancy or complex, but it's good at what it does. The Ave Maria is supposed to be a complex and interesting smoke. It is I suppose, but after the first half the flavors kind of muddle. I probably like the Ave more, but in specific vitolas. Neither are something I smoke regularly though.

Krieg

I had my first Ava Maria last night. Started out very good, but it got half way down and turned so bitter I had to get rid of it. Needless to say I was very disappointed. I had it in my humi since Christmas last year.

drpepperdude

Good choices. I love both of these smokes.

The Ave Maria is a deeper, more complex and fairly rich experience for me with good medium-full strength and plenty of smoke and body. Crusader is a great vitola for this line.

San Miguel is a personal favorite for the pepper that's front-loaded onto the stick and the medium strength with the smooth creaminess for the finish. The belicoso is surprisingly strong in the pepper department, while the torpedo vitola was a small step down in pepper, but gives a longer overall experience that's well worth the trade-off.

As for as deals go, look for Ave Maria to hold steady or go up a bit as it's gaining cachet.

San Miguel seems to be internet-centric and I think it's an A.J. Fernandez blend and is already a fantastic price for a box. Pretty sure these will be a deal either as mazo's or a box from time to time.

Cheers.

The Sniper

When they came out last year, I tried them both out and thought that the San Miguel was by far the superior cigar. Like someone said earlier, its a bit of a one trick pony, but when the name of that trick is YUM, who cares?

I didnt care for the Ave Maria AT ALL - mondo burn issues and the taste did not at all make up for it. Tried a couple with the same results and gave up on them.

Recently, Oz sent me a smaller vitola of the Ave Maria than I had tried before. What a difference! I dont know if it was the difference in size, age, the makers of Ave Maria getting better at what they do, etc, but the one Ozzie sent was a very enjoyable smoke. More research is definitely warranted here - see boys, there it is again...

ANY EXCUSE TO SMOKE MORE IS A GOOD EXCUSE TO SMOKE MORE! :-D

Russ55

Just fyi, both of these are AJ smokes.

fla-gypsy

I will agree with a caveat, they are very diferent types of smokes and both have their time. I preferred the robusto on the Ave Maria. The San Miguels I had were not very complex, were a much lighter delicate flavor but very good.