WOW! 2001 Partagas Churchill Deluxe (and a Sneaky Pete Imp.IPA)

When I let a dozen of these go, I had no idea I would regret it at all, and certainly not this much.  From the first puff this cigar was a true masterpiece.  I popped the top of my Sneaky Pete and thought it was a shame to drink a beer and not have a cigar with it.  The windows were open, the air was cool, and after 23 inches of rain in 5 days, scrubbed CLEAN.  I like this hoppy beer a heck of a lot better than Hop Wallop. 

The Churchill Deluxe cut very cleanly , and after a slightly tight draw, it toook a second cut cleanly without nearing the shoulder of the cap.  That's Perfect.  It lit slowly and from the first puff just ran like a flavor sluicebox driving lemony tea onto my tongue, not from the beer either.  It was lightly creamy and a touch vegetal, with a perfect blend of spice and tea.  The burn was perfect, the beer was great and I have finally completed all of the art for my upcoming series of Beer Pint Glasses, so I was very satisfied.  I also got all the sidewalks weed-eated, sprayed a lil roundup, swept up the mess and chuckled under my breath that the grass is getting long in the yard.  It is covered with little sticks, and I am giving up the job of stick-picker-upper to a very reluctant ten year old who seems not to know that he has picked up a new job.  But I only rent here, and I am not paying full rent and doing all this yard work.  I am required to keep my front area neat, and that's what I intend to do.  When it gets a foot long in front of the landlady's house,she'll get the picture. 

But I digress.  What a fantastic cigar!  The beer only intensifies the citrus tang of the tobacco, and lends a nuance to the tea factor.  Both are absolutely refreshing.  There is a real complexity to the tobacco and the taste varies along the length of the cigar.  This is the first cigar in dozens to have shown any complexity at all, or changes in flavor at least.  That alone is a remarkable statement, and to think that this cigar is 10 years old and is better than almost any cigar I have had in years, well, that only lends credence to the feeling of many that cuban tobacco seems unique in it's ability to get better and better with time.  I NEVER had results like this with non-cuban tobacco.  Smoothness is all I ever got out of aging say, a Don Carlos or a Padron.  Those are FINE cigars, there is no doubt.  But man, this is PERFORMANCE. 

I score this cigar higher than any previous cigar reviewed on this blog, 97 points.  It is simply a perfect smoke.  On it's own it is great, adding cappucino, chocolate, pine straw, herbs, cream, black coffee and more to the base of tea and pepper.  With a sip of the beer prior to a sip of smoke, everything is electrified and amplified, rounder and with more citrus.  KABAMMO.  Great smoke.  Shame they are no longer made, but I think they are not all gone.