Review: Aladino's Connecticut Churchill Cigar

Photography by Rikesh Chauhan

The naming of Cuban cigars, or cigars from any nation for that matter, after Winston Churchill has become a proud tradition. To my knowledge, no other cigar smoker has become so intrinsically linked with luxury tobacco that their preferred size is now known by their name, and most if not all cigar-producing countries have at least one Churchill cigar in their roster. Honduras is no different, with the Aladino Connecticut Churchill being just one example.

The 52 ring gauge by 7-inch size of this cigar actually makes it slightly thicker than most Churchills tend to be, but one suspects the man himself would not have been put off by that extra girth. The smoke will be with you for around 90 minutes – maybe more, if you really savour it – so is perfectly suited for an opulent evening or an extravagant afternoon.

Construction: 10/10

• Silky smooth Connecticut wrapper, in a gorgeous caramel shade, and not a bump nor blemish nor hard patch to be found.

Draw: 10/10

• Flawless, from start to finish – even more impressive when you consider just how long this smoke lasts.

Combustion: 10/10

• Not for one moment was the burn of this cigar anything other than dead-straight.

Ash: 5/5

• Bright white, tightly packed and pleasing to the eye. Even when I rolled it onto the ashtray it kept its shape in a very satisfying manner.

Smoke: 5/5

• Silvery-blue, voluminous clouds of smoke, all packed with flavour.

Flavour: 20/25

• Perhaps it was thanks to the size, and therefore sheer volume of tobacco, but this stick was rather more expressive than I have come to expect of New World cigars. Smooth and pleasant, with perhaps a little more body than I expected as well.

Overall: 32/35

• At first glance this cigar was very appealing, thanks largely to that glorious Connecticut wrapper. The wonderful colour and oily sheen raised hopes of a pretty special smoke, and that is exactly what was delivered once I lit it.  This may well be my new favourite New World cigar.

Final Score: 92/100

• I don’t remember a cigar I have reviewed ever scoring full marks for its physical attributes, as this Connecticut Churchill has, and I’ve been lucky enough to conduct a fair number of these. It can often be the case that New World cigars lean heavily on these qualities to compensate for a lack of interesting flavour, but that was not the case here.  Upon lighting up I was hit by alternating waves of caramel and grassy sweetness, with a very light and dry body – to be honest, what I had expected from the look and smell of the stick – but these were far from the only notes the smoke offered.  Smouldering down into the middle third brought a little more strength, and a little more richness: coffee and leather, along with a hint of cinnamon, replaced the initial taste.  That increase in strength continued as the burn got into the final third, with more cinnamon building then dissipating to be replaced by toasted earth and rich, pure, tobacco.  I had a sherry cask, peated whisky alongside this cigar, and it was the perfect foil.