My Weekend Cigar: Winston Churchill Marrakesh

Yesterday, I took a ride on the "Marrakesh Express." More specifically, The "Marrakesh" from Davidoff of Geneva's new Winston Churchill® Cigars selection. I was so confident the New York Giants were going to win Super Bowl XLII, I decided to celebrate early. So, a couple of hours before the game I fired it up.

The Winston Churchill Marrakesh is a beautiful cigar to look at. Rolled to a 6" x 50 Toro shape, the sun-grown Ecuadorian wrapper is flawless with an inviting, oily sheen. The cigar is double banded - the top band has the Winston Churchill Cigars logo; the second is labeled with the name of the frontmark. As a rule, Davidoff does not disclose specific blend information, but the tobaccos used in the Winston Churchill selection are all Cuban-seed Dominican, Peruvian, Nicaraguan, and Ecuadorian.

The cap clipped off in a perfect circle and the pre-lit taste was mellow and woody. The cigar lit and burned perfectly leaving a long, firm ash and a fantastic aroma in its wake. The smoke itself was creamy and toasty, dominated by a rich woody flavor, with traces of nuts and sweet spice on the finish. Although I expected the cigar to me more full-bodied, it struck my palate as dead center medium in strength. If pressed to compare it to another cigar, I'd say it was surprisingly similar to the Davidoff-produced Avo XO.

Only one thing went awry during the entire hour it took me to finish it. As careful as I was in removing the second band, a little piece of wrapper leaf came off with it (see my earlier blog on cigar bands that stick to the wrapper). The wrapper began to break-up like a pot hole on a city street. Yet despite this, the cigar continued to burn perfectly past the torn section. Now that says something about the quality and integrity of this cigar. Like Sir Winston himself, the cigar did not "give in." Moreover, the final act revealed much more depth of flavor, overshadowing the aforementioned Avo XO, and I smoked it down to the nub.

Since the Winston Churchill cigars have only recently started to appear at retail cigar stores, I'm curious if anyone else has had the chance to smoke one. If so, please leave a comment.

~ Gary Korb