Search Results for: Merlion
Merlions, Fratello, Viva Republica and Evil Genius Cigars and a Contest!
I have been remiss in having contests! Between job hunting, the whole pre-IPCPR news deluge, a lack of companies being forthcoming with goodies to giveaway contributed to this, but mostly it’s my forgetfulness. I’m going to make up for it now. The prize is going to be a selection of cigars from my humidor relating to the cigars featured in this post, and then some, no less than five, most likely more. A few I don’t have more of, but that will me more than made up for, rest assured. I also will include a Stage V Clinger Cigar Clip! It’s not going to be the usual random, pick a comment out of a hat game this time, I’m going to require a little work. There still might be some randomness, because I don’t think it’s going to be that hard. More on that at the end of the post. Continue reading
Merlion Maduro, Arandoza Defcon and Norteño Edicion Limitada Cigars
The cold I managed to get after traveling to California somehow morphed into a sinus infection mid-week, so I took a few days off from cigars. In truth, smoking was the last thing I wanted to do. But before that all set in, I smoked a Merlion Maduro robusto from La Sirena Cigars. These are made at the La Aurora Factory, and are the maduro version of the Merlion made at the same factory. This was Merlion_Maduro_Robustoa sample from the 2016 IPCPR show where I got to spend a little time hanging out with Arielle and her family, who are all involved in the brand. Previous to this release, the only glimpse we had at what a Merlion Maduro might be was the single maduro version that was in the limited edition Sea Lion box. The Sea Lion is a cool little perfecto cigar, and I finally smoked the maduro version last year and was amazed by it (which was my fear, considering these were impossible to come by). Luckily, this years Sea Lion release, although limited, is the opposite, with nine maduros and one with the original Ecuador Corojo wrapper. So I was excited to smoke the Robusto, and put a box of the toros in the humidor anyway. The maduro wrapper in a San Andrés from Mexico, and the Brazilian Sumatra binder and Brazilian, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers from the original release stay the same. To be honest, I liked the Ecuador Corojo Merlion, but about as much as I like a lot of the La Aurora output, which is to say I want to like them, but most don’t suit my preferred flavor profile. However, slap a San Andrés wrapper on it and I’m in. I found the smoke to be milder than I thought it would be, but that could have been the impending nose condition. I love the sweet earthy flavor and look forward to smoking this in the toro size with healthy sinuses and maybe warmer weather. I have almost filled the top shelf of the cabinet with La Sirena cigars, I haven’t found one I didn’t like yet. I still have some of the old My Father made Churchills and Salamones hanging out there too, and I need to get some of the new Connecticut Shade to have on hand as well. Continue reading
Filed under Review
Merlion, Undercrown, Rocky Patel, Viaje and RoMEo Cigars
Pre-IPCPR post, by the you are reading this I’ll be either on my way to Las Vegas, there already, or home, depending on when you happen to read. I’m anticipating a busy show, and have made some appointments, but there’s literally no way one can schedule meetings and get to visit everyone one wants to visit, there’s not enough hours in the day. I’ll do my best to bring you something different than my esteemed colleagues in the cigar blogosphere, whom I’m hoping to commune with as well. I’ve got packing to do, so I’ll try to keep this brief! Here are some interesting cigars I smoked this week: Continue reading
Filed under Review
A 1502 Ruby Cigar, a MUWAT and a Merlion Sea Lion
Cold and snow, but fortunately not any where near the snow that was predicted or our neighbors to the north got! I can’t complain too much about this winter so far. It’s only really dissuaded me from taking my evening cigar and Macha walks a couple times, and the enclosed porch has been fairly comfortable. If we can get through the next six weeks or so without too much bad weather I’ll be happy. I still look forward to basking in the warm sunshine with a cigar! On Sunday evening I came across a 1502 Ruby robusto and immediately wanted to smoke it. I actually passed on watching the NHL All Star Game, who puts the game on at 5 PM? That didn’t fit my schedule! Judging by the score it wasn’t a good game for the goalies, so I don’t feel like I missed much. I did enjoy the heck out of the Ruby. I love the box press and the semi-closed foot on the line, and this was a stellar smoke. Medium bodied and rich in flavor. It’s very hard for me not to smoke these when I run across them in the humidor. They are really very good cigars. Continue reading
1502 Black Gold, 601 La Bomba, Merlion and a Kentucky Fire Cured Cigar
Last time I said I was going to smoke some readily available cigars as opposed to the limited and discontinued stuff I was smoking last week. I think I managed to accomplish that, and smoke some pretty tasty cigars in the process! Sunday afternoon I lit up my last 1502 Black Gold Toro, a cigar I really like and will have to put some more in my humidor. I recently received all three 1502 blends in lancero format, so look for those recaps in the not too distant future! Anyway, I love the way they partially close the foot on these, I get a little extra blast of wrapper flavor on lighting. Always well made, the Black Gold is the maduro offering, and I dig the dark, rich flavors and excellent construction. This is a 99 on the CigarCraig rating scale. The whole line is highly recommended. Continue reading
