Cigar Geeks - Hot Ash Original Churchill

Cigar Geeks Geek Critique

Hot Ash Original Churchill
Written by Cigar Geeks Member: SenorPablo

86
Cigar Geeks Rating

Welcome to another Cigar Geeks Critique of a vitola provided to us by our friends at Hot Ash Cigars. They have generously provided a number of their Churchills for our members to review.

Hot Ash Original Churchill

Brand:: Hot Ash
Name:: Original Churchill
Length:: 7
Ring Gauge:: 50
Country of Origin:: Nicaragua
Filler:: Nicaragua
Binder:: Nicaragua
Wrapper:: Nicaragua
Color:: Colorado Maduro
Strength:: Full
Shape:: Churchill
Average Member Rating:: (5 Review(s))
Notes:: http://www.thehouseoftobacco.com/shopexd.asp?id=3393

This cigar was enjoyed with Water

Pre-Light: 15 Points of 10 Possible

Pre-Light it was a good looking cigar with no major wrapper issues, but there was a few small tears where there seemed to be thin spots. Nothing that caused issues down the road though. One thing I noticed was that it seemed like a soft or looser roll than I'm used to but it held its shape fine. It smelled like a nice quality blend that had me looking forward to light it up.

Lighting and Burn: 13 Points of 15 Possible

No problems in the light or burn. It burned nearly razor sharp with only one time where it went a bit crooked, but it corrected itself without any need for touch ups. It held a nice solid ash until I tapped it off. Volume of smoke was slightly less than desired likely due to the soft roll.

Construction: 25 Points of 30 Possible

As mentioned previously the wrapper had some slight issues and the roll was softer than I prefer. Otherwise a top notch job. The wrapper I could attribute to humidor abuse on my part, giving the benefit of the doubt, especially since they were minor.

Flavor and Aroma: 33 Points of 45 Possible

1st Third: The initial taste seemed to have a slight sweetness on the tongue that I liked. I'm not sure if it was an addition by the roller or not. I usually dont like it when the roller does this but since I did really like the slight hint i'm not sure where it came from. We'll see if anyone else picked up on it. Flavor was very nice and started fairly mild. It has a nice high quality taste that really started off well.

2nd Third: Cigar progressed well. Flavors become more pronounced and become more medium bodied. At this stage I was really satisfied with the experience. Stronger tones of sweet leather and slight Cocoa came through.

3rd Third: Continued on with the same flavors with a bit more spiciness and stronger leathery tones. It moved to more of a medium-full body. I continued to enjoy this to the nub.

Summary

Overall I really enjoyed this cigar. The only real issue for me was the soft roll that seemed to make it more of a struggle to get the volume of smoke I desired. However, the flavor was very good. I could see this becoming a "go to" cigar for me (along with the rest.) I would recommend this to others to try and would rank this up at the 4 out 5 star CG level.