Cigar Fight Club: LGC No.4 vs. RyJ Wide Churchill

[Stanislaw]

I had plans to meet a good friend for mid-afternoon drinks and since it was in the neighborhood I gave myself some extra time and brought along two interesting cigars to keep me company on the slow stroll through Astoria, NY. I only anticipated smoking one but I ended up having such a great time I smoked two and that's how I ended up with today's-

Cigar Fight Club: La Gloria Cubana Medaille d'Or no.4 versus Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchill

First Up: LGC no.4

this is from a box dated Dec 2013 and was one of a few boxes made available by our gracious host during the past holiday sale. I was fortunate enough to be one of the lucky ones as I've never had one of these before so it felt rather alien to use my (ridiculously) large Colibri stupid-honk-of-metal-twin-blade-looks-like-a-weapon-from-a-sci-fi-anime-cartoon cigar cutter and I nearly destroyed the head of the cigar because I'm also not used to cutting such small ring guages (it's a 32 ring gauge).

I've read here and on other websites that this cigar must be smoked carefully, slowly, or else it will burn too hot and the tastes will burn right along with it. I think I was lucky that it was a balmy 30 degrees outside because the cigar wasn't able to burn hot at all. WOW, what a surprise from such a small ring gauge. Loads of thick smoke, immediately sweetness with vanilla mingling with fruit citrus and hay... It didn't change much but that was just fine with me because I was instantly smitten and I think I may be in love. Towards the last 3rd it dropped off a little bit but then the flavors moved into a roasted nut type flavor that made me pout like a 3 year old in a toystore to have to toss it onto the curb to meet my friend inside the restaurant at the designated time.

I would have been completely satisfied with my smoking experience after that. Some say you have to age these to really get them smoking right but damn if that wasn't ready to smoke now, I can only imagine how great they'll be after they've served their 3-5 in my humidor.

And in this corner: Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchill

The meet up was fantastic. My friend is Cuban and we met in the most "miami" bar/restaurant she could find in our neighborhood and we talked about so much, from politics to our work to the "perfume" I walked in with that reminded her of home (aaahhh, a woman that does not mind the smell of a good cigar!) that once I was back out on the street I reached into my pocket for my other traveling companion to keep me company as I trek in the frigid cold for home. Now, I have a lot of Wide Churchill experience, having received this particular box in July of last year, I've almost smoked half and every cigar has been magnificent (another shout out to the LFTW rating system and it's effectiveness - paying attention, naysayers??) so I easily expected this cigar to trump the delicate, svelt, lightweight opponent that was in the other corner.

To put it this way: the LGC no.4 was like Sugar Ray Leonard and the RyJ Wide Churchill was Mike Tyson. On one side, you have finesse and on the other, brute strength. A mismatch like no other.

The Wide Churchill came out guns blazing, lots of smoke, tons of flavor, ready to knock me out. But something about it was different this time, it was offensive, it was pushy, it was trying too hard. Deep cherry flavors mindled in the rich smoke, half way through a woodsy cedary flavor overwhelmed my senses and I had to nudge a dollar in the face of a hot dog vendor for a bottle of water and imagined a fight manager wringing a wet sponge over my head and I contemplated my next move. Suffice it to say, i was glad when I arrived at my doorstep and pitched the remaining 3rd to the curb, this time i had no regrets.

So lesson learned on my part: Sugar Ray always wins versus Mike Tyson... but only because I'm a wimp....

this round goes to the La Gloria Cubana and if they become available again, I suggest picking up a box as it will truly add dimension to your humidor options and is a damn pleasant little thing... save the Wide Churchills for when you want to look like a badass...

[mk05]

LGC #4 are so strong that they tastes like cigarettes to me...'90s, '02, '13s...tastes like a rolled up leaf of ligero. I would have thought the Wide Churchill to be the more approachable and "together" in its youth.

[BonVivant]

Didn't Cuba discontinued LGC MDO no.4 in 2002?

[Stanislaw]

LGC #4 are so strong that they tastes like cigarettes to me...'90s, '02, '13s...tastes like a rolled up leaf of ligero. I would have thought the Wide Churchill to be the more approachable and "together" in its youth.

Honestly, I was prepared for the same thing... but the LGC really surprised me and the fact that the box code is AGO 13 I was expecting to pitch it half way because they weren't ready... I really love the Wide Churchills, as young they have an aggressive side that (if past experience smoking aged RyJ has shown me) will mellow out as it gets older and that was very obvious when comparing the two cigars...

Didn't Cuba discontinued LGC MDO no.4 in 2002?

heheheh, that was the rumor but 2's and 4's have been making appearances as of late, whereas the 1 and 3 are still most certainly discontinued...

[Misterblue]

Fun review. Thanks. Makes me think of summer when I can smoke more than 1 cigar a day without freezing.

[dangolf18]

No offense but that's a strange matchup.

[Stanislaw]

No offense but that's a strange matchup.

That's the point, it's thunder dome! No offense taken....

[PapaDisco]

Svelte vs. Stout, love it!

[LordAnubis]

Interesting concept. Good story!