CigarCraig's Blog

by Craig Vanderslice | April 27, 2025 · 8:06 am

Aganorsa Signature, The GOAT and Oz Family Cigars

First off I feel the need to point something out. I received the press release for this year’s Punch Father’s Day release, Mr. Punch’s Weiners. I thought the Dad Bod was a terrible concept just about all around, some folks liked it. The band was dumb, packaging them in a can was dumb, overall I thought it sent a bad message: it’s OK to let yourself go. Not that I’m a fitness freak, I have a dad bod, but I don’t embrace it! The Dad’s Home Videos was very good, not a problem. I have a problems with the weiner theme, aside form the obvious, it seems to be a little close to the Fratello Vice-Versa, down to saying it can be smoked from either end. Now, it doesn’t claim to taste different depending on which way one smoked it, but the concept is the same. I know it’s not worth Omar’s time to do anything about it, both are limited editions, and General has deep enough pockets to defend themselves, but it would be a courtesy to look at things in the market and try not to blatantly copy them. At least they put them in packs of 10. I think Kevin (who played a big part in the Vice-Versa, by the way) should get on his 3D printer and make some hot dog roll cigar props and sell them in packs of eight!

That was a long way to get to the punch line, so let’s talk about some new-to-me cigars. In a recent visit to The Wooden Indian I picked up an Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Maduro Toro. This is a Nicaraguan Puro, mostly Nicaraguan Corojo with a touch of Nicaraguan Criollo 98 in the filler. I struggle with the Aganorsa lines, some I like, some not so much and I can’t seem to ever remember which ones fall into which category. I know I like the La Validation Maduro, that’s for sure. Will I remember the next time I’m faces with a choice? Who’s to say? I can say that I’m adding this to the list of Aganorsa cigars I like. It started with a dry cocoa powder kinda thing going on, and got sweeter as it went along. Burn and draw were great and it hit the spot. $13.50 well spent.

Next up from my Wooden Indian foray was an A.J. Fernandez cigar that I’ve heard a lot about, The Goat. This started life as a store exclusive for Nasser’s Lounge in Pétion-Ville, Haiti. I’ve never been there. It’s now in wider distribution, and is pricey for an A.J. Fernandez cigar , around $17. Also pricey for me, but I was interested and looking for new things. This has a San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan Corojo binder and Nicaraguan fillers. What’s not to like, right? Turns out, I liked it a lot. It was a 6″ x 52 toro, It was heavy, earthy and had some sweet espresso notes. It was very good, but outside my comfort zone price-wise. I’m notoriously frugal.

Finally I picked up an Oz Family Cigars Firsat, in the F54 size. This is a 7″ x 54 cigar, with a higher priming Ecuador Connecticut wrapper that I thought was pretty ugly. Many times ugly wrappers are very tasty. The binder is a Ecuador Habano with Nicaraguan fillers. I believe this is made at Casa Carillo in the DR. It’s a big cigar, and I sat down to watch a movie figuring it was going to take a good two hours to smoke. The flavors were nuts and leather, with a bit of creaminess and built up to a solid medium. This was a light (in weight) cigar, and was done in less than 90 minutes, which was a bit of a disappointment. $14 wasn’t a terrible price, it was a tasty cigar and it might work better in another size, or at least the same for less money.

That’s all I have for today. Don’t forget to check out the Flatbed Cigar Co. Daily Deal, there’s always something good (left sidebar). Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as A.J. Fernandez, Aganorsa Leaf, cigar, Cigar Prop, cigars, Firsat, Fratello, Oz Family Cigars, punch, Signature Selection, The Goat

by Craig Vanderslice | April 20, 2025 · 9:23 am

Some Macanudo and Punch Cigars

I wasn’t even really thinking that I only smoked Macanudo and Punch cigars for this week’s post, it just sort of happened that way! I was really impressed with the Macanudo Emissary España last year, it’s really good, and on the stronger side for a Macanudo. It has tobacco grown in Spain, and the new one, the Emissary France, believe it or not, has tobacco grown in France! The tobacco cultivated in the Mugron River Valley, where it gets an Atlantic sea breeze. Emissary France has an Ecuadorian Habano Wrapper (10-Year Aged), a USA Broadleaf Binder (10-Year Aged), and a filler blend composed of Dominican Piloto (10-Year Aged), USA Broadleaf (8-Year Aged), Brazilian Arapiraca (7-Year Aged) and French (4-Year Aged). This was a really interesting cigar, another Macanudo that’s up my alley. It’s bold, it has a lot of espresso, and a hint of Mesquite. Very interesting and entertaining! The last few weeks cigars have been more therapeutic than usual, and this one, although too short at 5″ x 50, was a hit.

In the spirit of the season, I finally completed an experiment. Back in March of 2020 I found a Macanudo 1968 that had been inadvertently left out and was on the dehydrated side. It measured only 35% on the Humidimeter. I labeled it with the date and humidity, and stashed it in a corner of one of the humidors. I hate to complain, but it actually took me a while to find it, I had forgotten which humidor it was in. This cigar was from a box that I was given in 2011 when I went to tour General Cigar’s operations in Santiago. I might still have one floating around somewhere, I don’t think this was the last one. Anyway, I took a Humidimeter reading and it was right around 60% so I lit it up yesterday while watching a movie. The Macanudo 1968 was probably the first of the stronger Macanudos, so I wasn’t worried it had aged out, more concerned with the dehydration. It actually smoked really well, tasted like an older cigar, mature, with some spice. It shows that resurrecting a cigar is possible, and probably didn’t take 5 years, I just kept forgetting about it!

Let’s move away from Macanudo and on to one of it’s stablemates, Punch. Punch is an old Cuban brand, with roots in the English market. So it stands to reason they would come out with seasonal releases with Chinese themes. It was food for a bit, then fireworks. This year’s is the Bottle Rocket. It comes in a single size , a 4½” x 50 figurado. It has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, a Nicaraguan Estelí binder, and Nicaraguan, Dominican, and Honduran fillers. I have enjoyed ll of the cigars in Punch’s lunar new year series, and they are priced well. I was in The Wooden Indian Tobacconist yesterday grabbing a few cigars (sadly they were sold out of the WIT60, their 60th anniversary cigar made by Espinosa), and I saw the Bottle Rockets and they really are packed with a stick attached, my samples were sans stick. My notes said “tasty little bugger”, full bodied, loads of cocoa and a deceptively long burn time. I think I got over an hour out of this one. Another winner from Punch.

While at the Wooden Indian I grabbed a Punch Dad’s Home Movies and smoked it last night while not watching home movies. This is another perplexing branding theme for Punch. Every year ahead of Father’s Day they come out with some kitschy themed cigar, this was last year’s and I’m just now getting around to trying it. I was especially critical of the “Dad Bod”, hated the name, the stupid necktie band, and samples I had were mostly damaged. I had one last week and it about fell apart. This one is more my speed. It’s a 6″ x 50 box pressed toro, made in Honduras with an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and not a hint of Honduran tobacco! This one started out with a dry cocoa powder flavor, then sweetened slightly. I’ll tell you what, for under $8 you could do a lot worse, I quite enjoyed this one. The branding is less egregious than the Dad Bod (which won a HalfWheel packaging award, go figure).

That’s all for today. If you’re given to celebrating the holy days this time of year, I hope they are enjoyable! Don’t forget to check the Flatbed Cigars Daily Deal on the left sidebar (or on their page), there’s always a great deal on some great cigars. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Cuba Aliados, Some New CAO, Cohiba Cigars and an Ashtray Condom

I’m not in New Orleans for the PCA show, it was a combination of not being able to get the flights I wanted, the expense of it all, and having to tend to my mother that made me decide to skip it. I’ll try again next year. I have plenty of friends there now, watch for their content: CigarProp, Cigar Pulpit, Coop and his team, Boston Jimmie, Developing Palates, etc. I’d love to have been there just to hang with friends. I understand Anthony Mackey (Captain America/Falcon) was there and must have said something wrong to Abe Dababneh, because he’s launched a bit of a smear campaign saying he was a dick to everyone. I’d love to know the whole story. Anyway, I managed to get some cigars in this week. I started out with a Cuba Aliados Original Robusto. This came in the bag from the Cigar Circus event. I have had the Aliados that E.P. Carrillo made, but not this one. This one is made by JRE Tobacco Co. in Honduras and is a Honduran Puro. I remember smoking some Cuba Aliados back in the 90s, and I seem to recall it was a favorite of Steve Saka back then. It was originally made by the Reyes family, who also made the Puros Indios brand, which had a 18″ x 64 cigar called the Chief, and was a little bit notorious for having tight draws. True to it’s roots, this example was packed really tight at the head, and the draw was on the firm side. It still smoked OK, and started with a citric sting, and ended with some cane sugar. Nice cigar, I’ll try it again.

I got a few things in the mail this week that were a surprise. General Cigar sent some samples, and I figure while a lot of the folks who would have received this are away, I’d get a head start on this batch. First was the CAO Fasa Sombra. I rather enjoyed the Sol and Noche, I think they are some of the best CAO cigars in the post-Ricky Rodriguez era. This is a Shade wrapped cigar, Ecuadorian shade-grown wrapper, a Cameroon binder and a filler blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos. I smoked the 6″ x 50 toro. This was a nice shade cigar, with some bready, nutty notes. It was very pleasant, nothing overly exciting, just a solid shade cigar. Although not my favorite Fasa, It’s a nice addition to the Fasa lineup. I’ve had worse CAOs (Firewalker anyone?).

General was very generous, they provided me with a $30 cigar, the Cohiba Serie M Reserva Azul. This is made at El Titan de Bronze, a factory which the Brand Ambassador for Cohiba, Sean Williams, has a history. When I first met Sean in 2011 he was working with Sandy and Willie Herrera at El Titan making his El Primer Mundo cigars there. The first Cohibas made at ETB were just called the Serie M, and were really quite good (the lonsdale was better than the toro, to me), and I never had the 2024 Reserva Roja. Reserva Azul’s blend is a Dominican Corojo wrapper, Esteli binder and Nicaraguan Jalapa Viso & Ligero, Nicaraguan Estelí and Dominican Piloto Cubano fillers. This is an exceptional cigar! It starts out with some baking spices, and there’s a sweetness that comes and goes, I’m reminded of spiced gumdrops. I really enjoyed the crap out of this cigar while watching hockey. It’s competing with the Cornelius and Anthony Cornelius for my favorite ETB cigar.

An envelope from Kevin at Cigar Prop arrived this week with a strip of Cigar Porn Ashtray Condoms. I feel like he’s pranking me. There have been some incredibly useless “Cigarbage” items I can think of. The Shurikan “cutter”, the Select Draw and Five Star piercing tools, and the Cigar Bib, all silly useless gadgets. Maybe I’m being overly cynical, but an adhesive backed silicon disc to adhere to ashtray stirrups is silly. I think it’s supposed to protect your cigar from germs, I don’t know about you, but I don’t set any part of the cigar that touches my lips on an ashtray. Besides being dumb, it’s a few years too late. Maybe it would be clever if it had your logo on it and you went around to lounges putting it on ashtrays to promote your brand, I don’t know. I wouldn’t do it. Anyway, thanks Kevin! (pictured on a Cigar Prop for irony sake).

I was going to talk about the new Macanudo Emissary, but I think I’ll save that for next week so I can smoke another one. I liked it, I just was distracted and didn’t take notes. I smoked a Panacea Green Label earlier in the week that was delicious, and I can’t stress enough how good the Panacea line is. Check the daily deals on the left sidebar, you can try some cheap, and you’ll be happy you did! That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Ashtray Condoms, CAO, cigar, cigars, cohiba, Cuba Aliados

by Craig Vanderslice | April 6, 2025 · 9:42 am

Platinum Nova, Aganorsa and a Cavalier Cigars

I still have a few new-to-me cigars from the past few month’s travels, one of which was a Platinum Nova Limited Series Torpedo. This is a 5½” x 55 torpedo with a Habano 2000 wrapper and Dominican binder and fillers. My first experience with Leo at Nova was at the 2020 TPE show, where they introduced me to a dizzying array of cigars. This year at the TPE, Leo hooked me up with some that I hadn’t had yet, including this one. This is a pricey cigar, $30 by my figuring, and I always appreciate Leo’s generosity. I’ve had a trying week, with basically forcing my aging mother into the hospital because she wasn’t well. This cigar was a delightful distraction. To me it had a distinct floral flavor, not exactly light, but tasty in a non-overbearing way. It burned well and had a sophisticated way about it. Certainly not something I like every day, but as wonderful change of pace. I may have smoked this before, it had a familiarity abou it. If it’s a repeat, I apologize!

Next up was a cigar I got from the Cigar Circus in Clearwater last month. I had no idea what this Aganorsa cigar was, so I asked Terence Reilly and he told me it was a cigar that they make in Miami for events. It was something like 6” x 48 and that’s all I know about it. One would assume it’s all Aganorsa tobacco from Nicaragua. The flavor was interesting, I put it in the wood spectrum, which isn’t normally my cup of tea, but it was good. Burn and draw was awesome and there was plenty of smoke. I may put the mooch on Terence when I see him next month at the Smoke-ones. Terence is one of the nicest guys around.

Some may not appreciate this, but yesterday I went to DC for the “Hands Off” rally. We just wandered around the mall area people watching. It was a good crowd, over two million people, and while people are obviously angry about what the current administration is doing, myself included, it was peaceful. I smoked a couple cigars (a Blackbird Flamingo Lancero and a Julius Caeser Toro, the JC felt appropriate) while walking around and didn’t get so much as a sideways glance. I was prepared to defend my form of protest and exercise of my inalienable rights, but it was never an issue. I’m glad I went, and I hope the large outpouring around the country opens some eyes.

When we finally got home I turned on the last period of the Flyers game and sat down with a Cavalier Geneve White Series Tempura. This is a smaller cigar, 4″ x 60 perfecto, very much like a Flying Pig, curly pigtail and all. Flying Pig is a standard vitola, not anything exclusive to Drew Estate, Saka reintroduced it after finding it in some literature from the 1890s. The white line was Sebastien’s original blend, starting life at the Plasencia factory, and I’m sure it’s made at their own factory now. This has a Habano wrapper, Connecticut binder and a filler blend from Nicaragua, Paraguay and the Dominican. Republic. Sebastien’s partner, Brian Motola, gave me this at the Cigar Circus event. This was nice way to cap off a long day. It’s medium bodied with some sweet wood and cocoa flavors. My only complaint is that it was too short!

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Platinum Nova

by Craig Vanderslice | March 30, 2025 · 9:34 am

Drew Estate Freestyle Live Cigars, a 20 Acre Farm and an Undercrown Shade

I watched the last Drew Estate Freestyle Live show a few weeks back and was a little intrigued. I was curious about how exactly a Dominican cigar with a sweet cap could be a game changer, but I was interested in finding out. Low and behold, a package shows up with the Freestyle Live pack inside from Drew Estate. The gear included is nice. A Cigar Caddy 10 count Tackle Box travel humidor which was just announced in January by Quality Importers (and doesn’t appear on the site yet), a Palio Pistola dual jet lighter, and a dog tag. These are still available around for $40ish, depending on where you live or where you buy. There’s four cigars, a Gordo, Toro, Robusto and a pigtailed petit corona. I smoked the Gordo and the Toro over two evenings and had similar notes. First thing is I can’t say that shade wrapped cigars are my favorite, nor can I say Dominican cigars are something I lean toward, but I really like a Diamond Crown, or any other number of cigars from the DR, so that really doesn’t mean anything. I don’t mind a sweet cap on the right cigar either, although a little bit goes a long way. We should find out next month what Drew Estate is going to brand these, and what the price point will be, but I hesitate to say that this cigar isn’t aimed toward the same smoker who likes an Undercrown or Liga Privada. In the case of both cigars, the sweetener on the cap was overwhelming, and stuck around through the entire cigar, to my palate covering the taste of the Ecuador shade (one would assume) wrapper. Buth cigar burned OK, and they weren’t completely off putting, but they wouldn’t be what I would consider a premium offering. I hope that these target more of a budget smoker, more of a broad appeal sort of thing. Unlike some of the past Free Style launches, this probably isn’t going to be on my to-buy list.

I figured as long as I was smoking shade cigars, I’d smoke more of Drew Estate’s offerings in that category. I selected a 20 Acre Farm cigar that I received at the Florida Barn Smoker last year. This was one of several, the Barn Smoker is held at the literal 20 Acre Farm, so it makes sense that the brand would be featured. This was a previous Free Style Live release, by the way. I had some hockey to watch, so I chose the massive 20 Acre Farm Corona 25th Anniversary Belicoso, which is exclusive to Corona Cigar Co., and measures 7″ x 54. This cigar has a Connecticut Shade wrapper, Honduran Sun Grown ‘99 binder and fillers from Nicaraguan (Jalapa & Esteli) & FSG (Florida Sun Grown Corojo). The FSG twang is present, and it’s a very nice, medium plus shade cigar. There’s some nutty sweetness along with the twang. While I’m not particularly enamoured with FSG tobacco, it ads a little something different to whatever blend it’s in. Nice smoke, got me through two periods of Hockey.

I had some options for Drew Estate shade cigars, I could have smoked a very old Chateau Real, I could have chosen a Blackened S84, I even might have smoked a unicorn, a shade wrapped Liga Privada No. 9, but I went with an Undercrown Shade Churchill instead. This has been in the humidor for quite a long time, I don’t recall where it came from. This cigar is 7″ x 48, and I don’t think it’s still in production. It has the Ecuador Shade Wrapper, a binder from Ecuador, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. I like the Undercrown Shade, it’s definitely in my top ten of shade cigars, and I like a Churchill. This was a really enjoyable cigar, my favorite of the cigars mentioned in this post. It’s toasty, nutty and loaded with flavor. The burn and draw were perfect, and it made for a very enjoyable two hours. I wish I had more of this vitola.