Doc of Doc’s Cigar Corner
The featured cigar is the Aniversario Churchill (7″ x 50) by Oro Cubano.
I chose this cigar for review because I’ve wanted to present a product in the “satisfactory” range of flavor and construction, which is also very inexpensive.
With quality premiums now exceeding $10 per stick, and some recently topping $30, what’s a cigar smoker to do? Stop? Cut way down? Become a “cigar pauper?” None of these seem ideal, so I thought I would try to find and help popularize some good, satisfactory, but unexceptional cigars that are sufficiently low-priced to allow daily use without regrets.
The pickings have been slim, and as you might suspect, none are likely to win Cigar of the Year honors. I will try to intersperse in my reviews occasional examples of real el cheapos that are better than average in the flavor and construction departments.
The featured flagship of my el cheapos is the Aniversario by Oro Cubano. This cigar is filled with Dominican tobaccos and wrapped with a smooth Sumatran leaf. The binder is also Dominican.
After a V-cut, the cigar has an extremely easy draw, and a medium natural tobacco flavor before lighting. After lighting, the background flavor appears promptly, consisting of a medium natural tobacco with mild white pepper. Notes of cedar and loamy earth complete the basic profile.
After about 1 1/2 inches of burn, the spice changes to a stronger black pepper, which is not sharp. The cedar tones are amplified after one inch and remain stable to the finish. The finish is signaled by the onset of bitterness and some heat at about 4 1/2 to 5 inches, leaving a nub of 2 1/2 inches in most examples.
The cigar is mild-to-medium, and showed no construction problems other than a slightly uneven burn which was managed with repositioning. A single example required touchup to deal with unevenness.
Rating: 96
Availability: This cigar can be found online at Cigar.com for $39.99 for a box of 25, or $1.60 per stick. It is sold at CigarsInternational.com for $79.99 for 50, or $1.60 per stick and at PipesandCigars.com for $59.99 for 50, or $1.20 per stick. Robusto and Toro vitolas are also available at slightly different prices.
Enjoy (cheaply)!
Doc
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