Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar Insider newsletter just released a rating today on the Cusano 18 Paired Maduro Churchill. This is the cigar that I reviewed here at Cigar Envy last week. CA is the first of the major magazines to review it.

They rated the cigar at 89, and called it a best buy. It is their featured cigar, and received the highest rating of any reviewed in this issue — topping the CAO Cx2 and the Aurora 1495 among others.

Here are some excerpts from what they said, along with notes on their vertical review of other sizes in the Paired Maduro release:

Churchill (89. Best Buy.): “Light herbal and spicy flavors lead to a chewy finish with some black pepper notes. Flavors are rich and balanced.”

Robusto (89. Also a Best Buy.): “…draws perfectly with a toasty aroma. Mellow wood and earth notes make way for a toasty, graham cracker finish.”
(Again with the graham crackers? I’m going to translate that into some wheat and nut notes and a mild spiciness in the finish blended with that toasty aroma mentioned earlier in the review. I’ll be interested to sample the Robusto and see if the finish is really that much different from the very full and creamy one on the Churchill.)

Toro (87): “…a toasty aroma and flaky gray ash. It delivers wood, caramel and sweet spicy flavors.”

I haven’t tried the Robusto or Toro sizes yet, but I would imagine that the lower CI rating for the Toro simply reflects that fact that a larger gauge is needed for the full effect of the filler blend that makes these so special. I personally recommend the Churchill, and I’ll be picking up a box of the Robustos to sample as soon as I can find them in stock. All of these cigars are in short supply, and this feature by Cigar Aficionado is only going to make them more sought after.