Disclaimer: I am very very new to cigars. This review is more for me then anything.
Location: Car in driveway
Time: 11ish PM
Drink: Biere Du Boucanier (Belgium Red Ale)
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Initial Impressions: Well constructed. No soft spots, not to hard, not to soft, smooth wrapper with a few "stitch marks" but a good lookign stick. Pre-light draw pretty bland. Not gonna try to put a name to the flavors.
Burn and pull: The pull was very good through out. Ample smoke and nice draw as long as I had a good foot. Very good burn for most of the stick. A few touch ups during the first 2/3's that probably weren't nessesary but improved my enjoyment of the smoke. Initially razor but developed a few issues with one side burning quicker. Last 2/3's the stick started give me some problems with staying lite. More frequent draws and a few hits with the flame kept it going.
Flavor: The first few pulls as I have come to expect from any cigar had a bit of pepper (heat). After that smoothed into a very creamy smoke. Best word I can come up to describe it. Nothing big or strong but a nice mild cream. Left some sweetness on the lips and there were undercurrents in the flavor but my experience doesn't let me put a name to them. On the 2nd third a very very mild spice entered the mix on the back of throat and nostrals. The final third brought a strengthening of what I'm gonna call a very light leather but dont' qoute me on that. Best name I could come up with for it. Also very light pepper seemed to fade. Near the band the cigar started to taste a little hot and I decided was time to end the smoke.
Overall impressions: A nice mild smoke for the right time. Nothing huge going on but certainly wouldn't mind having a few in my humidor for when the mood for a mild smoke strikes me. Will not be a regular for me though.
Pairing: On the pairing, actually a very good chance pairing. The Beer was a little strong for the cigar and needed to be sipped much less frequently but the sweetness in the beer complemented some mild sweetness in the smoke. Overall I think the sum was greater then the parts.
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Hey well done man. I started about five months ago and you remind me of an awful lot of my frustration in not knowing what words to tag on to certain qualities (which I've only very slightly evolved through. The subtleties in cigars make wine seem like pop tarts.)
That said, I've got about 8 of those in the box (though they're Toros rather than Churchills), having split a 20 cask from J&R with a friend of mine.
They're a little lite for me generally as I don't mind a strong morning smoke. But I enjoy them tremendously.
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