Aged Selects Habano Oscuro Churchill

Today we take a look at another cigar from Aged Selects called the Aged Selects Habano Oscuro Churchill. Aged Selects is a brand of Nicaraguan made cigars that provide cigar enthusiasts with a premium long filler cigar at a low price. To accomplish this, Aged Selects sends buyers to the factories of major manufacturers to secure cigars that have been aging for some time. Once the cigars are acquired they are inspected and tested for quality before being packaged up and made available. The cigars sold by Aged Selects have been aging a minimum of five years. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had an opportunity to smoke several of the offerings from Aged Selects. I have found these cigars to be excellent offerings at a very affordable price. The Habano Oscuro Churchill follows suit delivering a very enjoyable cigar experience.

Aged Selects is offering their cigars through at Original Cigarmart in Sugar Land, Texas as well as online through Cigar Frontier. The line is made up of all Nicaraguan puros and currently the brand offers a a total of ten facings. Within those ten facings are several wrapper options: Nicaraguan Habano, Nicaraguan Habano Colorado, Nicaragua Habano Oscuro, Nicaraguan Habano Rosado, and Nicaraguan Maduro.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Aged Selects Habano Oscuro Churchill and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

As mentioned the selections offered by Aged Selects are Nicaraguan puros. As the name indicates, the Aged Selects Habano Oscuro contains a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper. According to Aged Selects this cigar was rolled back in 2009.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan Long Filler

Vitolas Available

There are three vitolas available with the Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper

Churchill: 7 x 47
Presidente: 7 x 70
Figuardo: 7 x 58 (Perfecto)

The Churchill and Presidente are available in a 20 count bundle while the Figuardo is available in a ten count bundle.

Appearance

The color of the wrapper of the Aged Selects Habano Oscuro Churchill has a combination of chocolate with a strong rosado tint to it. Upon closer examination, there is some darker marbling on the surface. The wrapper itself has an oily sheen to it. There are some visible veins and some visible wrapper seams. There is a slight pig-tail on the cap.

Back when I reviewed the Aged Selects Maduro, I mentioned that I how been impressed I was with banding on the Aged Selects line. The Habano Oscuro actually uses the same band and same color scheme. The Aged Selects Habano Oscuro’s band has a red background. On the center of the band is a shield like design. The shield has a pale yellow color surrounded by black trim. The text “AGED SELECTS” is in red font on the shield. The lower part of the shield has the text “PREMIUM CIGARS” in thin black font. The top of the shield is finished with a red and gold pinstripe pattern. The shield also contains some black and gold adornments. On the left side is the text “HAND MADE” in white font sitting on the red background. On the right side is the text “MADE IN NICARAGUA” – also in white font sitting on the red background. The band is finished with gold and red trim on the top and bottom edge.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do with a cigar with a pig-tail on the cap, I opted to place a straight cut as opposed to pulling out the pig-tail. Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw experience. The pre-light draw delivered a mix of cedar sweet-spice and cream. Overall this was a very good pre-light draw experience. At this point I was ready to light up my Aged Selects Habano Oscuro Churchill and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Aged Selects Habano Oscuro delivered some notes of cherry sweetness, cream, and pepper. In the early stages, the cream and cherry notes surfaced in the forefront.  This was joined by some notes of earth. The pepper notes moved into the background, but had a lingering effect on the after-draw. A little later in the first third, some cedar notes folded into the background as well.  The mix of pepper and cedar could be detected on the after-draw.

By the second third, the earth notes became more coffee-like.  The coffee and cream notes were now primary. The cherry sweetness diminished during this phase, but was still present in the background with the cedar and pepper spices.

During the last third, the coffee and cream notes were still primary.  I found the pepper and cedar increased, but didn’t quite make it to the forefront.  The cherry notes were still present. This is the way the flavor profile held until the end. The resulting nub was cool temperature and slightly soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

Construction-wise, I found the Aged Selects Habano Oscuro Churchill to compete with some of the more expensive handmade premium cigars. I found the burn line to have a slight curvature, but this was not a burn that was in danger of tunneling or canoeing. The resulting ash was on the firm side.  The ash itself had a medium charcoal gray color. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Burn of the Aged Selects Habano Oscuro Churchill

On a couple of the cigars, I found the draw might have a little more resistance on it than most may like. I wouldn’t call it a problematic draw, but it is one that may require a little more attention.

Strength and Body

From a strength perspective, I found the Habano Oscuro Churchill to be somewhat dialed back. The cigar started out on the mild to medium end. By the second third, it crossed the threshold into medium strength territory – and pretty much remained there.  As for the body, this started out on low end of medium-bodied. There was a slight increase in body along the way, but not enough to move out of the medium-bodied range. Overall, when it came to strength versus body, I found the body had a slight edge.

Final Thoughts

Overall I was quite pleased with Aged Selects Habano Oscuro Churchill.  As I said when I reviewed the Aged Selects Maduro Toro Grande, I would not view the Habano Oscuro Churchill as a “bundle cigar”. Instead I would look at this as something that isn’t a “name brand” cigar.  A bundle of 20 costs $49.99 and this averages out to $2.50 a cigar. The lower price point should be considered a plus here as this cigar scored better than some cigars four or more times expensive. This was a very nice cigar experience. It’s one that is a great cigar to give to a novice or a person who doesn’t smoke cigars that often. However, I think even some more experienced cigar enthusiasts will appreciate this cigar. As for myself, this is one I would easily smoke again – and it’s certainly worthy of a bundle / box split.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Mild to Medium (1st Third), Medium (Remainder)
Body: Medium
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.5 – Box Split
Score: 89

References

News: n/a
Price: $49.99 (Bundle of 20)
Source: Cigars Provided by Sponsor
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 127
Stogie Feed: Aged Selects Habano Oscuro Churchill

* Aged Selects are a sponsor of Cigar Coop and Stogie Geeks. To purchase Aged Selects products, click here.