FOHrensics : 60 Day Transition Thread: Evolution of R&J Churchills and Monte 2

[Reverb]

May 25

at 60 days

 

Good heft in the hand, little more sheen. Draw a touch tight, almost perfect.

 

1st third

Dry cocoa, mellowed enough to be noticeable. No sharpness in the retrohale, smoother than 30 days ago. Some sweetness, sugar cane. Almost medium body.

 

2nd third

More mellowness, smoothness. Milk chocolate in the retrohale.  Still no tingle in the retrohale at all.  Flaky ash, one touch up.

 

3rd third

Getting a little spice on the tongue, vanilla, licorice, growing to ginger. Still mellow on the retrohale, but spice on the tongue increasing. No mongrel whatsoever. Nubbed it!

 

Score

92

 

 

Re-cap

60 days certainly did wonders. The cigar was virtually unsmokeable ROTT.  Now it’s mellowed, lost all mongrel, and quite enjoyable and grew in complexity.

 

 

[khenry0105]

Romeo y Julieta Churchills 

MSA OCT 19

Box arrived 3.27

Third cigar smoked 5.27

• Prelight:  nice sheen; excellent construction; perfect draw
• 1st Third:  perfect burn; excellent draw; wood, tobacco, floral and stronger cherry flavor than previous examples; medium; no harshness 
• 2nd Third:  burn and draw remain perfect; flavors are still present throughout; solid medium; no harshness
• Final Third:  burn and draw remain perfect through the end - no touch ups needed; cherry and floral flavors have diminished somewhat, but still present, mostly wood and tobacco now; slightly over medium; no harshness 
• Overall:  solid construction, burn and draw; flavor profile improved over the first two examples; harshness in the final third was not present in this example
• Score:  92

 

Overall Study:  Was really interesting to see the changes over the past 60 days. Flavor profile got more complex as the floral and cherry really came out more abundantly after some time down. Harshness that was present in the final third of the first two examples had disappeared. 

[MoeFOH]

Superb thread and challenge - very interesting to snapshot that transition period - well done on the excellent detail provided! 

I think I have four members completing the journey thus far:

@Reverb

@Chibearsv

@Doctortrent

& @khenry0105

Congrats  - we're organising your vouchers and I'll be in touch with each of you via PM to pass on the details! 

Might be one or two still to lodge 60-day result in the coming days, I'll monitor and post when they come in. 

Cheers! 

[Wookie]

MSA OCT 19 RyJ Churchill 60 day review

 

Preflight: Beautiful wrapper sheen. Perfect draw. 

 

1/3

Much richer start to this stick at 60 days. Is it the age or the draw? Not sure but it is staring out a very well balanced medium body with standard (back to normal) RyJ aromatics. 

2/3

No question this stick is better integrated at 60 days. Richer coalescence of flavors. Less angularity than ROTT. Cherries abound, but with a well rounded savory base this time around. 

 

3/3

As the stick draws to a close there is no question the edges have rounded into a cohesive balance. The flavors were there from day one, but the 60 day rest has enhanced the experience. 

Rating: 91 points...maybe 92. 

 

[MoeFOH]

Thanks @Wookie. Well done. Will organise your voucher too. 

[CigarZen]

Monte 2 - 60 Day Review 

REG SEP 19

Prelight: Appearance remains beautiful, even darker chocolate appearance.  The oils seem to be absorbed back into the cigar.  The prelight draw was restrained.  

 

First Third:  It lite and burned well, great construction.  The predominant flavor was herbaceous.  Like the smoke ROTT, and unlike the 30 day sampling.  That herbaceousness built gaining heft, overlaid an earth.  At the end of the first third there was a puff of Monte-twang, oooh, so good - but then gone.

 

Second Third: Dark black coffee — and in spades.  Strong coffee at that, until it became espresso, even a bit bitter.

Last Third:  More espresso.  I slowed down the burn rate, puffing only minute or so to tame the bitterness.  

Overview: 

First, thank you to our host for organizing this.  It is great fun!  I love delving into our love of the Cuban leaf.

It appears as if there is some intra-box variance, one blend with herby sense, another ligero dominant. A buddy and I had 2 from this box a couple weeks ago, after 30 day mark — both ligero rich.  

Time helped compared to arrival.  A few years I expect to really do wonders.  
 

 

[havanaclub]

I really enjoyed following this experiment. Nice work guys.


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[Reverb]

June 5

Romeo y Juliet Churchill

60 days

 

Even nicer oily sheen.

 

1st third

Very prominent black cherry.  Some stronger floral than the 30 day cigar. Good burn, a bit tight under the bands, having to work a bit to get a good draw.

 

2nd third

Floral changing to biscuit (buttermilk, not cookie), warm bread. Still strong black cherry.

 

3rd third

More warn bread, some ginger spice.

 

Score 92

 

Final comments

I’ve never reviewed cigars before these last six reviews (I also reviewed the Monte at 1, 30, & 60 days.) I admit I utilized some different cigar flavor wheels and found them helpful. I surprised myself I was able to pick out distinct flavors, albeit with flavor-wheel guidance. I’m most amazed at how awful the cigars were after first receiving them and then still had mixed results at 30 days. Additionally surprised how much better the cigars were at 60 days.

 

 

• 

[cgoodrich]

On 5/25/2020 at 6:40 PM, Chibearsv said:

Ok, it's day 60 for my box of Monte #2 TPO MAR 19

Cigars look great now in the box with sheen and very little bumpiness. Box aroma is the same since the start of this experiment - lovely aroma of milk chocolate and straw (not as sour now though)

Clip the end, lovely cold aroma of chocolate and straw.  Draw is perfect for me with light/medium resistance.  1st third is sweet milk chocolate and vanilla, medium body.

2nd 3rd swings into more barnyard twang with the sweetness and chocolate going to the background.  Burning perfectly

Final third transitions again to a more earthy forest floor taste and very slight pepper.

No retouches or re-lights.  Smoked it down to the nub and loved it.  I wasn't expecting this cigar to be so Monte 2 but it was exactly what I would be looking for.  Solid A - delicious.  I never expected the change from ROTT to now to be as drastic as it was for this box.  You pondering that perhaps I just picked a gem for this last smoke?  Maybe, but this experiment has made a believer out of me.

@Chibearsv what does ROTT stand for???

[Chibearsv]

2 minutes ago, cgoodrich said:

@Chibearsv what does ROTT stand for???

“Right off the truck”. Smoking one when it gets delivered without letting them acclimate for 60-90 days.  It was the point of the experiment to see if there was a noticeable difference in taste by simply waiting a couple months after delivery. 

[cgoodrich]

Thank you for answering my question (now we’ll see if I can remember...lol).

[Gorangutang]

June 5 Romeo y Juliet Churchill 60 days   Even nicer oily sheen.   1st third Very prominent black cherry.  Some stronger floral than the 30 day cigar. Good burn, a bit tight under the bands, having to work a bit to get a good draw.   2nd third Floral changing to biscuit (buttermilk, not cookie), warm bread. Still strong black cherry.   3rd third More warn bread, some ginger spice.   Score 92   Final comments I’ve never reviewed cigars before these last six reviews (I also reviewed the Monte at 1, 30, & 60 days.) I admit I utilized some different cigar flavor wheels and found them helpful. I surprised myself I was able to pick out distinct flavors, albeit with flavor-wheel guidance. I’m most amazed at how awful the cigars were after first receiving them and then still had mixed results at 30 days. Additionally surprised how much better the cigars were at 60 days.    

• 

@reverb what is a flavor wheel?


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[Bijan]

On 10/14/2020 at 8:49 PM, Gorangutang said:

@reverb what is a flavor wheel?


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One of these https://www.famous-smoke.com/cigar-flavor-wheel

It's a list of flavours arranged in a circle, divided up by categories (sweet, savoury, vegetal, etc.) to help you name what you're tasting.

[Gorangutang]

One of these https://www.famous-smoke.com/cigar-flavor-wheel
It's a list of flavours arranged in a circle, divided up by categories (sweet, savoury, vegetal, etc.) to help you name what you're tasting.

Thanks I’ll keep this handy for my next few reviews


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