Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The Warzone Short Churchill has a pretty distinct rectangle press with a wrapper that is medium brown with some darker freckles. There are some veins present but they are well pressed and the seams are smooth and really only visible due to the color variation of the wrapper. The head is finished off with a well applied set of caps. The band is the same as the previous releases of the line with a gold bordering and denoting the line name and referencing the Ten Years War. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of sweet wood and light earth. The foot has a bright sweetness, verging on tropical fruit along with some light wood. The pre-light draw brings a light and airy cedar.
Seth: The Warzone Short Churchill itself appears to be a little bent from the pressing, but other than that it’s in good shape. It has a nice dark Natural wrapper that sports some tooth and it has a few veins, small to medium in size. Nice triple cap on the cigar as well and I am picking up aromas of cedar, earth, spices and stone fruit.
John: The Warzone Short Churchill has a sharp box press, and no UPC code or cigar sticker present on the cellophane. Aromas from the cigar were a significant sweetness, reminding me of barrel aged tobacco, and aged wood. From the foot, plum and a barrel aged sweetness.
Jiunn: The Warzone Short Churchill doesn’t have the nicest looking wrapper, as it’s a bit dull and lifeless in texture and color. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and head well wrapped. Aromas from the wrapper give barnyard stank and cedar. Aromas from the foot tell rich and sweet roasted nuts. Cold draw tells a mixture of hay and nuts.

Team Cigar Review: Warzone Short Churchill

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with a mix of cedar, earth and baking spice. At a half inch in, the baking spice transitions to black pepper. The retrohale is cedar and dry earth with a black pepper zing at the end. At an inch and a quarter, the earth is quite dry and bringing an overall dryness to the profile. The strength in this third was right at medium.
Seth: The first third begins with warm spices. I am picking up some barnyard and leather qualities with that, and there are some charred meat qualities on top of that. Notes of baked bread, melted cheese and black pepper are present as well, and the cigar is medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: My first few puffs brought flavors of nuts, wood and a general mustiness. Musty wood settles into the post draw. As the cigar begins to settle, nutmeg is coming through with some earth to finish the retrohale. Full strength baking spices hit the retrohale immediately. By the 40 minute mark, sweet citrus has joined the middle of the profile.
Jiunn: The first third has one component that sort of messes it up for the other flavors; which is a deep charred seeded pepper that is long and dry on the finish. It’s too bad because there are also some great notes of rich creaminess, nuts, barnyard, baking spices and hay. Retrohaling breaks away from the charred seeded pepper spice as it brings just raw pepper spice with bright cherries. Strength is medium-full and the body is medium.

Team Cigar Review: Warzone Short Churchill

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the black pepper has mellowed slightly. At a half inch in, the cedar gains a decent level of toast. At an inch in, the dry earth has a slight lead over the toasted cedar. The retrohale is dry earth and toasted cedar. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and dry earth are even with the black pepper a bit behind. The strength in this third bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The second third shows some transitioning and I am picking up some rich earth with charred meat notes. There are some barnyard qualities present, leather notes as well, and the finish is that of peppery spices and tobacco. Somewhat sweet tobacco notes. In terms of strength and body, the cigar is similar to the first third and it is between medium and medium-full.
John: The second third is defined by musty spices on the retrohale. A citrus wood finishes each draw, with pepper building into the center of the profile. As the cigar settles, a wood and mild citrus, with musty accents take over the post draw.
Jiunn: The second third’s level of enjoyment increases purely due to the deep charred seeded pepper dissipating a little. This allows for the rich cream, barnyard, roasted nuts and baking spices to take over more effectively. Strength and body is unchanged at medium plus and medium.

Team Cigar Review: Warzone Short Churchill

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the profile picks up a bit more in dryness. At a half inch in, the toast note of the cedar transitions to char. The retrohale remains dry earth and toasted cedar. At an inch in, the black pepper has lightened up a fair amount. The cigar wraps up with the dry earth and lightly charred cedar even with some black pepper in the background. The strength remained at slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third delivered a flavor profile that was right in line with the second third. I was picking up charred meat notes with leather, tobacco and earth. There are some black pepper spice notes and mineral qualities as well on the finish. Like before, the cigar has smoked at a level between medium and medium-full.
John: Musty, sweet wood takes the profile into the last third. Toasted earth makes up the post draw immediately. As the last third progresses, the toasted post draw earth fades.
Jiunn: The final third drops in complexities. The main set of flavors I get is baking spices and charred seeded peppers. It’s nice that the charred pepper isn’t as forward as the first third, but it’s also a miss to no longer have the softer flavors of cream and roasted nuts. Strength and body finishes the same medium plus and medium.

Team Cigar Review: Warzone Short Churchill

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight the entire way, but the cigar did go out at the start of the final third and required a re-light.
Seth: The cigar did not always burn well, but it always corrected itself and for the most part presented no problem.
John: The burn was quite straight, but went out in the first third requiring a re-light. No issues for the remainder of the review.
Jiunn: Burn performance could have been a lot better. The cigar’s wrapper was also a step behind in burning with the fillers and binder. This led to a few touch-ups. Also, smoke production was subpar, probably further highlighting the burn issues.

Team Cigar Review: Warzone Short Churchill

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Draw was very good throughout. Well made cigar.
John: The draw had some resistance to it, roughly 2-1/2 to 3 notches. By design, a box press will be somewhat resistant.
Jiunn: The draw on the other hand was near perfect, being a tad loose but really a non-issue.

Overall

Aaron: The flavor profile was average throughout as it was a basic combination of cedar that gained some toast and later char along with earth that got dryer as the cigar went along and black pepper. The construction was very good, but the flavor profile just never really hit for me. I know a lot of people love this cigar in the various vitolas, but it’s just never done much for me, and this new Warzone Short Churchill isn’t anything different and I don’t really see myself returning to it.
Seth: I like the Warzone Short Churchill. I thought it was a fantastic size, it’s the same size as the Caixa, and it provides a different flavor profile in my opinion from the original Warzone. I see the offering as being a little bit darker in terms of the earth and spice flavors, and the strength and body are up as well when compared to the original Warzone. I don’t see the Short Churchill as complex and as personally enjoyable as the original Warzone; I think the original release delivered more of a traditional Cameroon profile that I like, but the Short Churchill is still an enjoyable cigar. I will be interested in hearing the thoughts of individuals who have smoked the original versus those who have only smoked the new Short Churchill offering.
John: The Warzone Short Churchill had some interesting complexity in the first third, and was pleasant and consistent through the second and final thirds. Overall, the cigar was above average for the flavor experience, with a good burn and good draw. I like the box pressed format, and the price point, so I would smoke these again. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 40 minutes on the nose.
Jiunn: The Warzone Short Churchill was average. Perhaps more importantly, I did not like it more than the original Robusto release. Unlike the Robusto, where I thought the cigar showed good consistencies in La Zona style spice and cream, the Short Churchill showed inconsistencies in those departments. The charred pepper note did not allow the softer notes to shine, and instead, did a good job of masking it. The cigar also could have done a better job of burning properly. For my money, I’d pass on this and find more Robustos.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

$1.59

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.47

Cost/Point

$1.39

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.60

Cost/Point

$1.61

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

$1.59

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Warzone Short Churchill