5 Vegas Gold churchill

Well here is the first official review since the institution of our formalized cigar rating system. Are you excited?
Well, let's check. Have you urinated in your pants yet? Then you're not excited enough! Get to it!

Anyhow, on to the review. Recently I bought an 8-cigar sampler from Cigars International, and it contained some cool stuff. One of the things I had wanted to try for a while was a 5 Vegas Gold, since they are usually pretty cheap and I had heard some good things about this as a budget cigar.

This is probably a good time to explain my thoughts on price. I don't smoke a ton of cigars, maybe one or two a week, max. So I don't feel like I need to be stingy on my cigars. I would rather buy a good, more expensive cigar, than 10 cheap ones. On the other hand, I feel that after a certain point, there is no amount of delicious flavor that can justify a giant price tag. So I fall into a medium category where I am willing to pay more for a good cigar, but once the price goes too high, I don't feel it could be worth it.

OK, Back to the 5 Vegas Gold. In appearance, it looks a lot like that Castle Hall I reviewed a few times back. Churchill-sized, light wrapper tending towards yellowish gold.

It cut cleanly, which is a miracle considering the 100% crap cutter I use, and lit up evenly. I just bought a torch lighter from a local department store, and it is totally worth the money. At first I wasn't feeling this cigar, it felt bland. However, once it hit the sweet spot I definitely enjoyed it. It is stronger than it looks, with a much spicier taste than the light wrapper would indicate. It falls into the Medium category for me, just over the line from Mild. It had a nice but not overpowering tang to it, which hit me on the sides of the tongue.

It had a slight nut taste, but didn't have the strong nutty flavor that I like in the Castle Halls. However, it did have a very pleasant peppery taste to it that I liked. The draw was very respectable, plenty of smoke without a lot of effort. I didn't smoke this one down to the nub because it was just too long, but if I had been in a group hanging out and chatting I don't think I would have tired of it. I paired it with a small glass of Evan Williams Single Barrel, which I find to be a good cigar bourbon.

Overall, I think this was a solid smoke, especially for the price of around $3 a stick. Here's the roundup:

5 Vegas Gold
Size: Churchill (7" x 50 ring)
Taste: Medium-Mild
Draw: Good
Burn: Even and consistent
Flavors: Slight nut with a strong pepper near the end.
Overall Rating: A strong Belvedere.