Victor Sinclair Series 55 Churchill Corojo

Wrapper: Corojo
Filler: Nicaraguan, Brazilian and Dominican
Size: Churchill 50 x 7
Price: $1.25 
Smoking time 1 hr 35 min
Humidor time: 5 days

This is the first stick sampled from the "Power House 16" sampler from Thompson Cigar, which was part of a Christmas offering that consisted of 16 Victor Sinclair Churchill cigars, a cutter and a ten stick aluminum travel humidor for $19.95.

To start off, this cigar had some construction problems with the wrapper. As you can see in the two pictures there is a wrapper nick just above the band, a split in the foot and a wrapper tear about two inches up from the foot. On the back side is a split that circles nearly half the cigar that almost looks like it has been broken. Upon closer examination the split was only in the wrapper and didn't go into the binder.

The cold aroma had hints of toasted nuts and spice and the end cap had a slightly sweet taste to it. As with all the other 55's I have sampled the draw was perfect and the cold draw had the same flavorings as the cold aroma, only more apparent. Once the cigar was lit I the aroma was nice, a bit like toasted almonds. It burned at an even rate producing a nice white ash and the split in the foot and the first wrapper tear cause no problems as I puffed right through both of them with  no unraveling.

Flavors in the first third of this so far mild cigar were just enhanced versions of what was found during the cold draw and by the time second third was reached, a nice sweet cream flavor had moved into the mix. As the burn neared the second wrapper tear at the cigar's mid point a slight bitterness presented itself for a moment, but then soon went by the wayside. The center wrapper tear proved to have no ill effects as the cigar burned right through without incident. Nearing the final third of the cigar the nuttiness and toast faded yet the flavor began to strengthen with the addition of oak, earth and spice while most of the sweet creaminess remained.

Setting the wrapper problems aside, this was a very enjoyable smoke with a moderately complex mix of flavors. The replacement cost on this cigar is $3.00 per stick in boxes of 20, but at the $1.25 price that I paid it would be hard to find a better smoke.