Camacho Select Churchill

6.5 X 48, Cameroon

Appearance: Another pretty looking cigar. Wrapped in a relatively smooth, veinless wrapper with a lovely reddish hue, it was a nice sight to behold. The only curiosity is that this cigar, when given a light press gave a bit. Hopefully this would not be the sign of a n underpacked, hot burning cigar.

Prelight: the clip was a breeze with my trusty Palio cutter, quick and flush. Upon a quick test, I was glad to find that the concerns I had about the draw were completely unfounded. The draw seemed just about right, and the pre light notes were of earthiness and spiciness.

Burn/Draw: The burn itself was pretty good. I touched it up once at the very end of the smoke, otherwise it was self correcting and relatively straight. The draw was just fine, easy enough to produce volumes of smoke while just resistant enough to not burn hot. My fears were allayed. One weird thing though was the ash. The ash was a light grey and very fine in consistency. It held for about 3/4 or an inch and then fell off, and exploded in a burst (because I was not expecting it to fall off that soon). All succeeding ash knocks fell apart to fine (cigarette consistency) ash as soon as they hit the tray. Weird.

Flavors: This is a pretty straightforward cigar, but it is also a very good one. Initially, it burst forth on your palate. It is rich and spicy, with lots of black pepper notes. Over time it mellows out and by the halfway point it is a nice medium/medium earthy stogie. Some cedar and leather kinda fades in ant out and toward he last third that great tanginess that I get from most Cameroon Wrapped Cigars eeks it way in, but over all its a simple but flavorful offering that I enjoyed thoroughly. Can't wait to have another.

TomC