Pre-light Experience

Seth: The HVC La Decoración Churchill is lovely pressed. It has the appearance of a Rocky Patel, and is finished with a smooth and silky wrapper that is dark Natural in coloring. There are some Colorado aspects, but overall it has a leather coloring. I am guessing Ecuadorian Habano or Mexican San Andres. The aromas on the cigar are that of leather, earth, spices and tobacco.
John: The HVC La Decoración Churchill has a Colorado wrapper approaching Rosado in shade, with the artisanal complication of a soft box press. It appears to be roughly a Toro vitola. I weighed the cigar at 15.6 grams and measured the humidity at 61.9% using the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included bread and tobacco, while the foot offered a combination of light earth, wood and tobacco.
Jiunn: The HVC La Decoración Churchill has a uniform Colorado wrapper on the soft pressed cigar. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas present barnyard and subtle dried red pepper spice.

HVC La Decoración Churchill

First Third

Seth: The first third begins with soft leather, wood, warm spices and earth qualities. Faint hints of cocoa, but nothing substantial. Medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: The first third begins with light-plus spices leading off, immediately followed by wood and tobacco. Through the retrohale, those light-plus spices step up to medium-full strength. A few puffs in, the center of the profile takes on some chocolate notes, accompanied by a velvety mouthfeel to the smoke. As the first third continues, wood begins to define the post draw at medium-minus strength. There’s also a quiet tobacco sweetness underpinning the entire profile by this point. The spices evolve into a more defined white pepper on the post draw.
Jiunn: The first third starts of with dank barnyard, mixed nuts and layered dried red pepper spice. An inch in, an herbaceous anise like component joins the profile. Retrohaling has more intense dried red pepper spice and nuttiness. The finish is clean with layered bread and nuts. I just said nuts a lot. Strength and body is medium.

HVC La Decoración Churchill

Second Third

Seth: The second third continues to deliver those core flavors of wood, earth and warm spices. Leather is still present, but no cocoa. Medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: The second third kicks off with creamy tobacco and chocolate, with pepper sitting underneath the profile. Wood occupies the center and lingers into the post draw, where it’s joined by the pepper. As the second third settles in, the chocolate and smoke retain the same velvety mouthfeel found in the first third. Moving towards the halfway point of the second third, the profile settles into sweet tobacco combining with wood, with pepper and faint chocolate sitting underneath. Through the bottom half, earth joins the finish at medium strength and lingers into the post draw.
Jiunn: The second third still has a good complimentary mix of herb, creaminess, earthiness and spice with the same flavors of dank barnyard, mixed nuts, layered dried red pepper spice and anise. Strength and body continues to be medium.

HVC La Decoración Churchill

Final Third

Seth: The final third is a continuation of the second. There is nothing further to report with this cigar.
John: The last third leads off with sweet tobacco combining with medium-strength pepper, while wood takes up the center of the profile. The pepper lingers all the way through the post draw, settling on the palate between each puff. By the halfway point, earth has returned to the finish at medium strength.
Jiunn: The final third’s flavor profile is less enjoyable as a bitterness joins as well as dry leather. But the flavors from the first two thirds are still intact. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

HVC La Decoración Churchill

Burn

Seth: The burn is off throughout the entire cigar.
John: The burn was razor straight through the first third. By the second third, the wrapper had cracked in multiple locations, but the burn remained straight. The burn became uneven in the final third, eventually requiring a touch-up to correct.
Jiunn: Burn performance was excellent as the burn was even, tight ashes, cool burning temperatures and ample smoke production.

HVC La Decoración Churchill

Draw

Seth: The draw is perfect from beginning to end.
John: The draw measured 46 inches of water on the Cigar Medics draw tester. Subjectively, it was approximately one notch towards the resistant spectrum, which left it in the ideal range between open and resistant.
Jiunn: The draw was also excellent as it struck the perfect balance of ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: The HVC La Decoración Churchill is an average cigar. It’s not offensive, and I don’t mind the profile, but it is lacking. If this is a Rocky, it’s a recent good one. It’s not a good cigar, but it’s a good recent release for Rocky (if that’s who it is) in my opinion. The cigar delivers a core flavor profile of earth, warm spices, leather and tobacco. The burn could and should be better.
John: Blind Cigar #1592 started out with a lot of promise, particularly during the first third where the combination of sweet tobacco, wood, chocolate and increasingly assertive baking spices created a profile with both balance and some interesting layers. The velvety mouthfeel added another dimension to what was otherwise a fairly traditional collection of flavors, while the evolution of the spices into white pepper on the post draw gave the first third some additional character. The second third was less dynamic, although the creamy tobacco, chocolate, wood and pepper combination remained enjoyable. The earth that eventually moved into the finish added some needed contrast, but by this point the profile didn’t seem to be evolving. The final third continued along that same path, with sweet tobacco and pepper up front and wood dominating the center, while the return of earth added some depth without fundamentally changing the experience. Construction was a mixed but generally positive story. The draw was excellent and stayed firmly within the ideal range, while the burn was nearly flawless for the first two thirds before becoming uneven enough in the final third to require a touch-up. Overall, this HVC La Decoración Churchill was a cigar that offered a strong opening and a pleasant middle, but it gradually lost some of the complexity that made the first third stand out. The result is an Average overall experience, despite some very good individual elements along the way. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 26 minutes.
Jiunn: This HVC La Decoración Churchill was an enjoyable blend that was nuanced enough. The combination of herbs, creaminess, earthiness and spice was well composed and balanced. And for a bigger size (toro-ish), it was just enough to satiate the palate. I’d definitely go for more of these.

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.35

Cost/Point

$2.36

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$2.10

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$1.85

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: HVC La Decoración Churchill