Having really enjoyed the Wide Churchill I thought I had better give some other RYJ cigars a go, as I have never really tried many. I have read good reviews about the Cazadores, so I decided to get 5, they smell amazing… Cant wait to try these as they have a bit of age on them
Still got some organisation to do here, but its getting there.
I gave these a pretty good review, not had many, so I decided to pick up a three pack to see if they are as good as I remembered.
To be honest I am not a big fan of RYG Cuban cigars, I have had a couple, one suffered from a very tight draw, and the other one was very mild with an odd flavour that I did not really take to. So as you can imagine I did not approach this review expecting much, but this is an RYG from the Dominican republic and as I found out its very different.
Appearance 8.0/10
This is a pretty good looking cigar, for me the band is a little to “in your face” and a bit garish, but the actual cigar has a lovely dark brown wrapper, with a little tooth, and and nice oily sheen. The cigar does drop a couple of points for the number and size of the veins, and the band.
Construction & Draw 8.0/10
This is a well constructed cigar, I would not call it excellent, for me the number and size of the veins detracts from the overall quality of the construction. I do have to say that the construction around the cap is excellent as you can see from the picture. The cigar was well packed with tobacco and there were no hard or soft spots, the draw on this cigar is absolutely perfect, as was the burn line for the entire duration of the smoke.
Flavour 7.5/10
After cutting the cap the pre light draw has an earthy taste, as well as a hit of pepper that I could feel on the tip of my tongue. The flavour profile of this cigar was fairly static through the smoke, it had a peppery/spicy start, with a vanilla and leather note to it, as I got further into the cigar the spice/pepper backed of a little and the vanilla and leather increased in strength. Towards the end a nutty note was added and the pepper came back a little. All in all some very nice flavours, if a little static. This is a medium strength and medium body cigar.
Value 7.5/10
These are not available in the UK, but in the US they are around 7 USD, I think that at this price they represent pretty good value for money. The only thing that goes against them is that in the US at this price point there are a lot of excellent cigars, including one of my personal favourites the Oliva Series V Belicoso, which has a much more interesting flavour profile, but this is still a good value cigar.
Summary 7.5/10
This is a pretty good cigar, would I smoke it again, yes, would I buy some more, yes, does it stand out in the crowd, no, and I guess in the end that’s why I only gave it 7.5. I really did enjoy this stick, far more than I thought I would, and if I got the chance I would add more to my humidor, but I would not go out of my way to find any, and get some in.
Okay something we need to clear up now, this is not a Churchill size cigar, its the length of a Robusto, so really they should call it a “Wide Robusto, not a wide Churchill.
Appearance 8/10
This cigar looks very good, it has a light brown wrapper, the cigar felt firm to the touch, and the wrapper has a “sheen” to it. My particular stick had a couple of medium sized veins, but this did not detract to much from the cigars appearance.
Construction & Draw 8.0/10
The construction on this cigar was a little rough, the cap was a little shabby, and the wrapper was slightly loose in places. However it lit well, and throughout its length burnt evenly, so I can forgive it some small issues with construction. Draw as expected from a cigar of this ring gauge was excellent, and the stick produced a lot of lovely smelling smoke.
Flavour 8.5/10
This cigar was definitely medium flavoured, and about half way through you can feel and taste the nicotine. The cigar also had a number of different flavours as it burnt, from a woody and vanilla taste in the beginning, to a stronger more caramel taste later on. This cigar was seriously enjoyable, by the end of the cigar I was wishing it really was a wide Churchill, as I would have had another 45 minutes to look forward to.
Value 8.0/10
At 16 GBP, this cigar represents reasonable value for money, its a few pounds more than other robustos, but its ring gauge is thicker, and there are a lot of flavours going on. I was going to give a score of 7.5, but because I enjoyed this cigar so much I am giving it an 8.0.
Summary 8.5/10
I liked this cigar, I think you can tell from the review, I will be getting a couple more in the future for my humidor. To me this was a very similar smoke to the Cohiba Behike 52 (I will review that cigar later), its just a lot cheaper, on that basis this cigar is in my opinion good value.
UK Cigarnewbie 