AJ Fernandez San Lotano Requiem Connecticut Churchill - Box of 20

Seven inches of Connecticut Shade at 52 ring gauge. Not wider, longer. The Churchill takes the same narrow ring as the Robusto and Toro and stretches it to the full hour-and-a-half session that the blend deserves when time allows.

There are two ways to make a Connecticut Shade cigar last longer. The Gran Toro goes wider at 60 ring gauge, which cools the smoke, dilutes the wrapper's contribution slightly, and lets the filler blend carry more of the session. The Churchill goes longer at 52 ring, which keeps the Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper present and leading from the first inch to the seventh, just across more time and with more phases of development between.

These are meaningfully different choices. In the Churchill, the wrapper's cream and hay character stays proportionally consistent throughout because the ring gauge never changes. The Honduran Criollo binder's cedar note has seven full inches to contribute rather than five or six. The AJ Fernandez spice thread that buyers have noticed across this Connecticut line appears at roughly the same intervals as in the Toro but stretches across a longer arc before fading. The result is the most fully developed expression of what the Connecticut Requiem blend does when every component is given maximum development time without the dilution of a wider ring gauge.

The Churchill vitola has a natural connection to lighter, more elegant cigars. It was the format favored by Havana cigar culture for premium mild and medium blends. At 7 x 52 the cigar is long and elegant in the hand, the Connecticut Shade wrapper presenting its light natural color cleanly across the full length. The draw from the first cut is smooth and immediate. Buyers of the Connecticut line consistently describe great construction from AJ Fernandez's Estelí factory and the Churchill demonstrates that at its most extended.

This is the cigar for an afternoon that has no fixed end. It runs ninety minutes at a relaxed pace and delivers every note of the San Lotano Connecticut blend in its proper time, from the opening cream and hay through the toasted nut and coffee-latte mid-smoke to the long, buttery cedar finish.

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Flavor progression:

1. First third: cream and hay from the Connecticut Shade wrapper, cedar building from the Honduran binder, clean and smooth from the opening draw
2. Second third: toasted nuts and coffee-latte sweetness from the multi-country filler, mild citrus zest, the AJ Fernandez spice thread present but measured
3. Final third: buttery and long, cedar and cream sustaining through the full seventh inch to a clean, smooth close

Key Features

1. Brand: AJ Fernandez
2. Line: San Lotano Requiem
3. Wrapper: Connecticut
4. Blender: Alejandro "AJ" Fernandez
5. Factory: Tabacalera A.J. Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A., Estelí
6. Country of Origin: Nicaragua
7. Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade
8. Binder: Honduran Criollo
9. Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican long-fillers
10. Vitola: Churchill
11. Size: 7 inches x 52 ring gauge
12. Construction: Parejo (round, handmade)
13. Strength: Mellow to Medium
14. Flavor Profile: Cream, hay, cedar, toasted nuts, coffee-latte sweetness, citrus zest, buttery finish
15. Smoke Time: Approximately 75 to 90 minutes
16. Box Count: 20 cigars
17. Price per Cigar: approximately $6.50