Churchill 6.75" x 48 ring gauge / $9.00 (estimated)The first thing I noticed about this cigar was the gorgeous wrapper. It is auburn in color with a lot of oils. The band contrasts nicely with the dark wrapper. There some oils and a slight amount of lumpiness. When I gave it a squeeze there was a slight amount of give with 3 very small soft spots. When I put my nose to the wrapper I got aromas of nuts with coffee and leather off the foot. After clipping it and taking a draw I was able to detect the taste of nuts with a good draw.
After lighting it up the first tastes I got were of nuts and sweet tobacco. The retrohale had a bit of spiciness to it. Progressing through the first third I also got some coffee, chocolate, and leather tastes. The spice did ramp up a bit but it wasn't overpowering. The burn line was slightly wavy. The greyish white ash fell off at about .5".
The flavors didn't change much in the second third. I still got lots of coffee, chocolate, leather, nuts and a little bit of earthiness. The burn continued to be wavy but didn't require any touch ups.
As I went into the final third of the cigar the burn line did even itself out. The band came off easily, but I did notice a large amount of glue on the underside of it. This has been a problem recently with the LE10's that I've smoked where there is too much glue and the band rips the wrapper. The flavors continued to be the same chocolate, coffee, leather, earth and nuts. There was a slight creaminess that came through. The body of the cigar and the spice built in the final third, so I would put it in the upper end of medium.
Overall this was a very enjoyable cigar. Something I would definitely smoke again. Although I don't think a box purchase is in my future. I do think that this cigar would age very well. Thanks Avo for putting out a flavorful reasonably priced cigar!
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale
Pre-light: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10
I had my first of these the other day after returning from California. I found it to be quite "Avo-esque" in that it had that musty, forest-floor flavor to it, especially in the first third. While this distinguished it as an Avo (or at least a Davidoff product), it had more body from the start then any regular line Avo I have ever had and more interesting flavors as the smoke continued. Very glad they decided to release a reasonably priced cigar with the Avo label.
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