Short Smoke: Winston Churchill Petite Panetela by Davidoff

• Vitola: Petite Panetela
• 4” x 38 ring gauge 
• MSRP $31.75 for 5 cigars.
• Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

It’s that time of year again…leaves are turning from their summertime green to yellow, red, and brown and the days are getting cooler. That means winter is right around the corner and it is time again to discuss cigars that don’t take an hour and a half to enjoy. After all, if you’re like me and have to smoke outside (while I’m at home, anyway), you need to have some good options for cold weather.

Early in 2015, Davidoff introduced a reblended and completely revamped line of Winston Churchill cigars. The result was a transformation from an old blend that was roundly ignored (except by a few, who really loved it…I found it to be very dull) to a line that has become a very brisk seller, at least in the shop where I work. In July it was announced that new tins variants of these cigars would be available soon, replacing the original blend’s Spitfire and Lancaster small cigars. Replacing the Lancaster would be a small belicoso, while the Spitfire would be replaced with a Petite Panetela, which is what I’m looking at today.

This cigar uses Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, a Dominican Pelo de Oro binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. I bought mine (the first of many tins, I’m sure) at Burns Tobacconist.

Notes

The wrapper is flawless, typical of Davidoff’s upper lines. It smelled of hay and earth. The foot had a more earthy aroma. The prelight draw had sweet hay and earthy notes, along with a bit of that Davidoff funk, indicating the use of Dominican Olor leaf.

It lit up with a very pleasant mix of hay, caramel and earth, overlaying a musty woodsiness that was most evident on the retrohale.

As the Winston Churchill Petite Panetela smoked along, I picked up more floral notes and an increase in the herbal, almost mushroom, note.

The Davidoff website says this is a 15 minute smoke. I am not a particularly slow smoker, but I got 22 to 23 minutes from it pretty easily before it got too warm to enjoy.

All in all, this is a flavor bomb of a short cigar, compressing the complexity and enjoyment of a larger Winston Churchill Davidoff into a very short time. I really didn’t feel like I was sacrificing much. This will be a winner of a cigar for the colder winter days coming up.