Pura Sangre Nicaragua Churchill (7x52)

This is the second of two free cigars that Ventura Cigar Company sent out as part of their promotion to help build their brand and get the word out about their cigars.  The first was the Estillo Cubano that I reviewed here earlier this month and now the Pura Sangre Nicaragua cigar present here today.

This past saturday night offered up the perfect opportunity to sit in the back yard, open up a bottle of wine and enjoy a cigar while the kids ran around.  I've really been on a Billy Joel kick lately ever since watching a concert he did a few years back in New York City, so I put on his "Storm Front" album on my iPad and my wife and I sat and drank wine while the kids played in the yard.  The weather was as close to perfect as you can get in a hot Tennessee July, and a breeze was the perfect compliment to the mid-80's temperature.

The cigar I intended to smoke was the Pura Sangre Nicaragua Churchill (7x52) that had been sitting in my humidor now for a few weeks.  I took a moment to inspect the cigar prior to lighting it and two things immediately came to my attention, number one was the fact the the cigar had several soft sponges and felt almost like a sponge in between my fingers indicating a loose fill and number two was the overall wrapper construction  In comparison to the Estillo Cubano I smoked a few weeks ago that is produced by the same company, this Pura Sangre really seemed hastily put together, and in contrast to the small pigtail cap on the Estillo, the overall appearance just screamed "cheap."

I utilized a punch on the head and toasted the foot, and the cigar took flame easily and quickly and after a few moments I took the first draw.  Initial tasting offered up a burnt walnut taste with some harshness on the finish.  The taste was not offensive per se, but neither was it great.  The harshness on the finish mellowed out a bit as the cigar ash grew, but surprisingly after only about one half inch, the ash fell immediately making the cigar burn hot again.  The loose ash stood as witness to the overall loose construction.

I was able to only get about one inch of of ash after the initial ash had fallen, but sadly the cigar started to burn unevenly causing me to make several touch-ups during the smoking experience.  As the cigar continued to burn the flavor profile continued to mellow and the initial burnt walnut I tasted on the first roughly 1/4 of the stick gave way to a very slight sweetness that reminded me of cinnamon.  The red wine we were drinking may have acted as a catalyst for this taste I was noting, but either way it was a nice segue from the first 1/4 of the cigar, and although their still continued to be a little harshness on the finish, that harshness was assisted in large part by the cinnamon and as such made for a decent portion.

The surprising item on this cigar is how dramatic a change the cigar took at about the midway point on the stick.  Aside from the need to touch-up the cigar on multiple occasions, the cigar took on a very sour acidic note on the final half, and although I tried several things including knocking off the cherry and relighting the cigar as well as making a larger opening on the head to draw through, the final portion of the cigar really failed to impress.  I told my wife that I wasn't going to be smoking much more of the cigar, and although I gave it 4 or 5 additional draws in a hope that it'd clear itself out, sadly it didn't meaning a little less than half of the cigar expired in the ashtray unsmoked instead of being enjoyed.

If it weren't for the fact that I have another one of these cigars sitting in the humidor I'd probably wrap up this review by stating that this is a cigar I won't be smoking again.  However, seeing as I do have another stick in the humidor I am going to give this cigar a second smoke to compare and contrast.  I won't be posting another review here unless there is a drastic difference, it's always possible that I simply had a bad cigar with some bad filler, but the truth be told I just don't think this is a great cigar - a fact that is noted in that it isn't put together all that well, it has a loose fill construction, the wrapper wasn't that inviting, and the fact it won't hold a decent ash all work against giving this cigar a positive review.

Inversely, this is a "value" cigar, and as such there are some compromises as a result, but if value is what you are after I'd but the Estillo Cubano also made by Ventura Cigar Company over the Pura Sangre any day of the week as it really is a much better cigar.  In the meantime, I'm off to find some new and exciting cigars to try out and tell you about here, but until that occurs I encourage you to get out there, find a cigar or two and give them a smoke.  You'll never know what you like until you've tried some and start to develop your own personal preferences.

Until we smoke again...