Friday, January 22, 2010

601 Red Churchill

I had not smoked a cigar of this vintage in quite some time. It presents well with a chestnut hued wrapper that has a nice amount of tooth. There are few visual flaws and the cigar seems to be well made. The pre light aroma is of cedar and pepper. The pre light draw also has strong notes of pepper.

The cigar opens with full blasts of pepper and light cedar and tobacco notes. At the back of the palate the cedar essence is even more prominent. The draw is excellent, imparting nice flavors and full blasts of smoke. The burn is solid and even, producing a nice gray ash.

The first third of the cigar shows a lot of depth after the opening inch or so. There is a core profile of cedar, pepper, tobacco and spice. The melange lacks complexity, but still imparts nice flavors across the palate. The draw continues to perform well and the burn is still solid and even. The back of the palate is covered with a cedary sweetness as a nice counter balance to the pepper in the front of the profile.

The middle third of the cigar continues to show nice depth. The profile mellows into a nice mix of cedar, tobacco, spice and a light taste of roasted nuts. At the back of the palate the cedar notes continue to provide a nice balance to the core of the profile. The burn has started to stray somewhat, but I am able to avoid touching up to this point. The draw is still impressive at this point.

The final third of the cigar is actually somewhat disappointing. The construction has collapsed due to a void in the roll in the final quarter of the smoke. The burn was terrible for the last two inches or so. The profile continued to show cedar notes, but there were charred issues due to the burn problems. An irritating finish to what would have been a great cigar

Appearance- 91 a nice looking cigar, but there were some flaws
Taste- 90 a nice taste until the final quarter
Construction- 85 I give it an average score because three quarters performed well
Strength- 88 a nice full profile
Overall- 88.25 an above average smoke that was hurt in the final quarter

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