Stogie Reviews: La Aroma de Cuba Churchill
8 Mar 2010
To re-blend this stalwart line, Ashton turned to its favorite cigar master, Don Pepin Garcia. He did a lot of work. For starters, the wrapper is a Connecticut broadleaf as dark as many maduros. Then, on to the filler, where previously Honduran tobacco was mixed with Nicaraguan. The new blend is all Nicaraguan.
One thing that didn’t change significantly was the price. The Churchill (7 x 50) can be had for $6 or less. And, for my money, it’s the most flavorful of the line.
Unlike many Pepin cigars, this one does not begin with a blast of spice. That comes a little later, though less pronounced than in some of his other creations. What this medium-strength cigar delivers is a finely balanced array of flavors, ranging from cocoa and chocolate to pepper and sweetness.
It’s that development that makes the Churchill most appealing. The four shorter sizes also have larger ring gauges. I’ve tried them all but the Immensa—a five and a half inch stick with a mammoth 60 ring gauge. They just don’t flow quite as well and the Robusto, in particular, tends to get a bit bitter toward the end.
La Aroma de Cuba has a beautiful band, perhaps to make up for the rather lumpy, splotchy wrapper. Construction is fine, and I’ve encountered no burn or draw problems.
In fact, my only complaint is that the Churchill seems to be rolled a little light, leading to a somewhat fast burn that’s difficult to slow down even by letting it rest more than usual.
All in all, I like the new blend. I gave the old line three and a half stogies. This time, considering the reasonable price, I believe it rises to a rating of four stogies out of five.
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photo credit: Ashton Cigars
Patrick Ashby
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Patrick Semmens
Co-Founder & Publisher
George Edmonson
Tampa Bureau Chief
It seems to have been for the best, but I'm always curious when companies choose to do a relatively drastic reblend on such a recognizable line.
My guess — and it's only that — is that Edicion Especial sales had started to outstrip the regular line and they were faced with either dropping it or linking its fate to Pepin as well.
You know what this means…fire sales on the original blend at online retailers…so anyone who loved the orginal will luck out on the remaining supplies.
I had the robusto in this blend and thought is was ok. As George E mentioned, I just prefer those spicy cedar notes from the Especial. Besides, I know a local place that would charge me about $7 for a cedros my father..if you see where I'm going with this….
Just my opinion but boy, I wonder why they tried to fix something that wasn't broke. The old blend was always one of my favorites. Don't get me wrong, I like the new blend but I still prefer the old. I've only smoked 2 of the new blend stogies so far so perhaps my opinion may change. It would be nice if they still made the old blend though.