by | December 22, 2024 · 10:50 am

Catastrophic Failure, a Couple of Adventuras and a Patina Cigar

I was passing through the Harrisburg area last week and made a quick stop at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar where I grabbed a couple “new to me” cigars for this week.  The primary motivator was the Catastrophic Failure from Powstanie Cigars.  I thought this was a terrible name, but I was intrigued by the thought of a Sumatra wrapped cigar made by Nica Sueńo.  I also was interested because Kaplowitz gave it an A-, high praise. These are very limited, 500 ten count bundles, and I got the last two that they had.  This is a 5½” x 52 box-pressed robusto,with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Mexico and Pennsylvania double binder,  and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Lots to look forward to here. I lit this up on Wednesday, when I participate in what I call a support group, several cigar guys on a video call smoking and shooting the shit. This is a really nice cigar, well behaved, which isn’t surprising considering the factory.  It has what I think of as a hard candy, but it’s a spiced hard candy, and I haven’t been able to find it in the wild. I really enjoyed it, the PA and San Andrés binder seemed to add quite a bit to the blend, beefed it up, I guess. Definitely not a Catastrophic Failure, but I think the Szczepankiewicz boys like irony. Including their name in a post almost uses up my allotted number of letters. 

 

James happened to be there at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar (because he works there) and gave me a couple of exclusive cigars to HB&C/BL Luxuries which I found interesting. These are variations on the King’s Gold and Queen’s Pearls in ADVentura‘s The Royal Return line (they should offer seconds as the Jester’s Junk, just a thought…), in a barber pole format.  Here’s what confuses me: These cigar look identical except for the band.  They’ve added a Ecuador Connecticut wrapper to the Broadleaf wrapper on the King’s Gold and vice versa to the Queen’s Pearls.  I thought James said the two were the same blend with opposite wrapper but I think I better understand, unless the only difference between the two is the wrapper, in which case I’m still confused.  I don’t know a lot about ADVentura, typically the Henderson Ventura blends don’t particularly appeal to me.  I warned James about this. These are sold in ten count boxes containing five of each.  I smoked these on consecutive evenings, starting with the Queen’s Pearls.  This has both Ecuador Connecticut and Broadleaf wrappers, an Ecuador binder and Dominican, Ecuador and Nicaraguan fillers. I got a distinct cinnamon bun flavor on the cold draw, which was weird.  This didn’t continue when it was lit. It had some citrus tang and woody/leathery flavors throughout. Maybe a little creaminess.  While not my preference, it was a very good cigar.  

 

The Royal Return King’s Gold Barber Pole is also a 6″ x 54 toro with a Broadleaf and Ecuador Connecticut striped wrapper, San Andrés binder, and fillers from DR, USA and Nicaragua.  I should like this one more, right?  I remember smoking the “normal” King’s Gold and was neither repulsed nor impressed, it was just a decent cigar.  Like an idiot, I forgot to look for that Cinnabon flavor on the cold draw, I just dug with in.  I think this is a little more cocoa/coffee forward than the Pearls, with the same wood/leather undercurrent, of which I’m not a fan. Great burn and draw, enjoyable flavor, these are very nice.  I imagine smoking these two at the same time they would be hard to tell apart, at least for me. I could definitely tell they were closely related.  I appreciated being allowed to smoke these, thanks to Nick and James at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar/BL Luxuries. 

 

I spied a freshpack of Patina Robustos on the rack and picked one up because I like Patina cigars, and Mo the owner, and I don’t see them around much.  James brought out a Patina LE 2024 robusto that has recently come in.  I think this is one of the reasons my bill was so high, I didn’t ask questions, I just bought.  This is a 5″ x 54 Robusto with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, San Andrés binder, and fillers from the U.S. and Nicaragua. It’s made at NACSA, which is where the Broadleaf Dunbarton cigars and several other brands, are made.  NACSA is an older factory, owned by the Oliva tobacco company and perhaps Lew Rothman still has a stake.  For many years this factory pumped out tons of JR Cigars bundles. It’s become a major player in premium cigars largely due to Saka going in to make Mi Querida and teaching them how to make excellent cigars. I wouldn’t normally spent close to $20 on a robusto, or any cigar for that matter, but this was an excellent cigar, right up my alley. Rich, meaty, espresso/cocoa, al the things I love in a cigar.  To be honest, if I smoked this blind I might have guessed it was one of Saka’s broadleaf blends. I’m sure Mo will be pleased that I say that.  It’s a great cigar, my favorite of the week.  

 

That’s all for today, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and happy holidays to everyone. Until the next time (when I should have a holiday giveaway, I guess!), 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 15, 2024 · 10:16 am

Some Unusual Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust Cigars

I’m never one to chase after Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust‘s store exclusives, or rare stuff, but I had a couple things fall into my lap recently, so I figured I’d dedicate a blog post to them.  The first two are thanks to Kevin at CigarProp. I asked him to purchase a couple of the Black Angus for me when he went to the launch event at Corona Cigar in Tampa, not even knowing how damn expensive they are, and he sent me two from his box.  I’m not even sure why this cigar caught my interest, I’m not really a fan of the FSG tobacco, and I certainly don’t seek out $30 cigars, but I was intrigued. Steve Saka doesn’t seem to care for the tobacco, and I needed  to see how he would come up with a Saka-worthy cigar.  This theme will repeat itself, by the way.  So Kevin sent me the cigars, even put them in a box autographed by Steve, which put me into shock until I opened to box and there were just the two cigars in there. I smoked one, and it was good.  You probably want specifics!  This is a 6¼” x 54 with a box press and a pigtail (I believe Saka calls this a “colita”) cap.  In addition to the Florida Sun Grown Corojo ’99 tobacco, it has a Ecuador Habano Viso Rosado wrapper, San Andrés binder (the “Cultivo Tonto” tobacco used for the wrapper of the Sin Compromiso) and a Nicaragua “Angelica” Criollo filler.  I took notes, and said that it started out with a twang, and this was before I read the description mentioning “twang” so it really is there.  It’s a meaty cigar, savory, delicious with that twang, maybe it’s the Black Angus branding that made me think of meat?  It’s good, I’m really fortunate to have been able to try this, because dropping that kind of coin on a cigar isn’t something I’d do. It’s a special occasion cigar, for sure. I’d wager Kevin really enjoys this as he’s an FSG fan.

 

Another cigar that I wouldn’t have had a chance to sample were it not for Kevin’s generosity was the Candela lancero out of the #GFY (Good For You, so Saka claims, be we know what it really means!) sampler.  I tossed around the idea of buying a box, but the thought of smoking ten lanceros that were all different, none of which were regular production and may never see the light of day again didn’t appeal to me.  Apparently someone sent Kevin a couple knowing he likes Candela and he shared one with me. This is another leaf that Saka doesn’t like, in a format he doesn’t like. I maintain that I was the one who put the candela lancero idea in his head, evidenced by this audio snippet:

He seemed to poopoo the idea he’d ever make one, then back peddle a little.  Anyway, this is a traditional 7″ x 38 lancero with the pigtail cap. This was a nice smoke, not at all mild (think RomaCraft Fomorian),  with the grassy tartness one gets from a good candela wrapper.  I had to relight a few times, but I was probably smoking it too slow, as I’m careful not to overheat lanceros by smoking too fast.  I’m sure the other nine cigars in the sampler are excellent, Steve doesn’t put crap out with his name on it.  This was special to me since I claim responsibility!  Thanks again Kevin! 

 

My final cigar in this week’s tribute to Dunbarton was the Stillwell Star Aromatic No. 22. This was included in a media package last month.  The Stillwell series is unique in that id incorporates pipe tobacco in the blends. We drove to South Carolina for the release event at Low Country Cigar and Pipe where I picked up a sampler of the originals.  I didn’t smoke any there because I wanted to get the right experience, not in a room full of other people smoking.  “Room Note” is an important part of the Stillwell experience, in my opinion.  Now, I don’t smoke a pipe, too much fidgeting for me, but I have, and I have pretty detailed memories of my first dentist smoking a pipe.  He was a one man show, he’d put his pipe on his desk, do whatever he had to do in your mouth, then light it up afterwards while he wrote up the bill (there was a cash price and an insurance price).  I think I went to him from the time I had teeth until I was in my 20s.  So this Aromatic No. 22 is a 6″ x 52 parejo, with a  Ecuadorian habano wrapper, Mexican San Andrés negro binder with a filler blend that includes Cavendish burley and Virginia pipe tobaccos. This was originally the Holiday 2022, just rebanded with the blue Stilwell dress.  I can’t say that I fully appreciate the pipe tobacco blends, but it’s an enjoyable cigar. It has the “pipey” flavors that my pedestrian palate can identify, and the room note is distinctly “pipey”. I almost wish this had the sweet cap, like the Aromatic No 1.  There’s a little bit of a drying sensation I get. I enjoyed this while watching hockey on the porch, hard to go wrong there.  Burn and draw were exceptional, and this is a nice change of pace.  I still have a set o the original four blends, I suspect I’ll have to resample them one of these days. 

 

That’s all for today. I thought about smoking a Mi Querida PataPerro, but it was a little too cold last night for a 3 hour cigar! I’ll save those for warm weather.  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 8, 2024 · 11:27 am

Cigars from Nestor Miranda, Joya de Nicaragua, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust and Foundation

I ended up smoking some pretty great cigars over the last few days!  I started off with the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024. I have memory of smoking the 2011 and 2012 versions, which were the only other two previously released. The 2024 was released in celebration of Miami Cigar and Company‘s 35th anniversary.  It’s a 6 1/8″ x 52 torpedo, made at the My Father factory in Esteli, and is a Nicaraguan Puro.  This is an absolutely delicious cigar. It started with an interesting spice, maybe like nutmeg, very intriguing. It had a really nice desert cigar feel to it, like smoking a pie. I thought it was really good.  Thanks to Gabe Pińeres for sending me this.  Super-yummy.

 

Next up was the Joya de Nicaragua Cinco de Cinco. I know this one has been around for a while, but one came into my possession at the the Florida Barn Smoker last month.  This was the Corona Extra vitola, 6 ¼” x 46 with a pigtail cap.  Cinco de Cinco seems to translate to “5 out of 5”, but I want to say it has something to do with the company’s 55th anniversary.  I think this is my favorite cigar out of the Obras Maestros collection, and there are some great cigars in that collection.  I have to say that it’s really hard to pick a favorite, Numero Uno, Cinco Decadas, Cuatro Cinco, now this one?  What a line up!  This one  has a San Andrés wrapper, with Nicaraguan fillers and binder.  Burn and draw were outstanding, and it was loaded with dark chocolate flavors, and I loved it.  It’s definitely one I’ll be revisiting.  For someone who loves dark chocolate, but has to severely limit my intake because it triggers migraines for me, this is an acceptable substitute!

 

Yesterday, while watching hockey, I smoked the newest size in Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust‘s Sin Compromiso line, the Selección No. 4, a 5″ x 54 soft box pressed robusto.  This is another San Andrès wrapper, this one Saka calls “Cultivo Tonto” which has the farmer removes all bet the best leaves from the plant so that they get the most nutrients. This make the tobacco more expensive, of course, because there’s no lower quality leaves to subsidise the better leaves.  Saka only ever uses the best and most expensive materials anyway, right?  I absolutely love the No. 5, which is a Toro, so I was excited to try the robusto.  This was a really good cigar, although I felt like it wasn’t quite as sophisticated as the larger size.  Sure, it was better than a lot of cigars, had some earth and black coffee notes, but it just seemed less refined.  If I can afford it, I’ll pick another one up one day. 

 

Finally, I smoked a cigar that Stace Berkland sent me a bit ago.  I may have mentioned before that Stace had sent me some cigars in an unexpected reciprocation for some things I sent him. Here’s the silliness: Stace wanted to purchase one of my 20 year old plastic cutters, the little rectangular ones that Saka’s über expensive Guillotino de Saka is based off of.  I had a few that’s I’ve had for years, used to buy them at my local shop, the guys there called it the “hot knife through butter cutter”. Like I said, I have had three of these for 20+ years, I’ve got a load of cutters, sending one to a friend wasn’t a problem!  He felt the need to retaliate, so he sent some nice cigars.  One of them was this Foundation Cigars Grasshopper, which appears to be from an exclusive box from Small Batch Cigars.  This box had six of the Candella Grasshoppers, six of the Maduro, and one barber pole version.  I had never seen this cigar before, but my first thought was that it was from Foundation, something about the look of the band.  This is a small, box pressed torpedo, 5¼” x 52, with a San Andrés wrapper, Jalapa binder and fillers from Jalapa and Esteli.  This was another great smoke with some spice and dark cocoa.  Burn was excellent and I really dug it. Thanks Stace!  

 

I need to start getting my Secret Santa gift together, names went out and it’s too late to join!  I gave plenty of notice.  I”ve got my work cut out for me this time!  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 1, 2024 · 10:27 am

Foxtail Cigars from Fox Cigars

As you can see by the graphic on the left side of my page, Fox Cigar has an exclusive series of cigars in the “economy” space, the Foxtail.  I’ve been working with the folks at Fox for several years, and have featured a few of their exclusives, notably the Araposa Negra and Blanca made by Black Label Trading Co.  These were exceptional, I especially liked the Negra, which, sadly, doesn’t appear to be available any more.  I should pick up some Blancas, if I do, I’ll add another Foxtail sampler.  The Foxtail comes in five varieties, and all of them have a shaggy foot and a foxtail shaped flag on the head.  They come in three sizes, although I have to wonder a little about who came up with the names.  They are Robusto, Toro and Gordo.  I know, you’re thinking “they sound like perfectly reasonable names!”, but the Robusto is 6″x50, the Toro is 7″ x 54 and the Gordo is 7″ x 60. Perhaps they are measuring from where the wrapper starts, as they all have a 1″ unfinished foot.  No problem, I rarely smoke anything shorter than six inches.  Here are some short recaps on each one:

 

I started with the Corojo Toro (the sampler is only offered in the 7″ x 54 “Toro”). This has a Sungrown Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, over a Nicaraguan binder with Nicaraguan, Costa Rican and Colombian fillers. Where these are made, nor whether these are long or mixed fill was shared with me.  At this price, they almost have to be mixed, but they all burned properly like a long fill cigar.  This Corojo has the hint of white sugar I find lately in cigars tagged as Corojo.  It wasn’t bad, decent tobacco flavor with a bit of a spice.

 

Next up was the Maduro Toro (I know, I usually lead with the maduro, I changed it up this time. Also worth mentioning that I smoked these on different days. Those of you who follow on IG or Facebook will already know this.). This one also has the Sungrown Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, with a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Costa Rican fillers. This one had some subtle cocoa and spice with some tobacco, nothing overpowering, just a nice cigar and a good value.

 

I followed with the Barber Pole, which is, I believe both fermentations of the aforementioned Corojo and Maduro wrappers. Sungrown Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, with a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Costa Rican fillers. Honestly, I don’t know if in a blindfolded scenario I could choose between this and the Corojo, they were remarkably similar.  The aesthetics of the dual wrappers is nice, and doesn’t take anything away from the burn and draw. It lacks the Columbian tobacco that’s in the Corojo, maybe that’s what adds the subtle spice that I didn’t get in this one.

 

I went into the Sweet Tip with some concerns, which ended up to be unfounded. This has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan  binder and Nicaraguan and Columbian fillers. The wrapper is a darker shade than the Connecticut.The sweetness on the cap was minimal, it added nicely to the flavor of the cigar.  Some sweet capped cigars can be too much, not this one. It had the approximate sweetness on the lips as a Sobremesa Brulee.  I say that to be funny, but I hardly noticed that it was there. This might actually be my favorite of the quintet.  It has some bready bakery notes, some spice and that subtle sweetness.  I liked this one.

 

Finally I smoked the Connecticut, which has the exact same makeup as the Sweet Tip. This might be my second favorite of the bunch for me, which is weird if you’ve followed me for any stretch of time and see a pattern of what I like.  It was smooth, with the same bakery, spice and less of the sweetness of the Sweet Tip.  All in all, this is a nice line of cigars. The tail on the head (mine were all lying flat,  looked like a messy cap job until further inspection), the shaggy foot that doesn’t burn holes in your shirt, and all five having different bands to differentiate between them in cases where it’s not fairly evident, sets these apart from other similarly priced offerings. Thanks to the folks at Fox Cigar for sending these, like I said, I have no problem adding some on to my next order. I really need to get to Arizona to visit one of their lounges one of these days.  

 

That’s all for now. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  Now it’s time to get ready for Christmas. There’s still time to get in on the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa!  Maybe next week I’ll feature some new lighters that have come into my possession. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | November 24, 2024 · 8:15 am

Villiger, West Tampa and La Flor de Dulzura Cigars, and Some New Accessories

It’s getting into the busy time of year, and I seem to have a bunch of stuff to write about suddenly! Not a complaint, I’m thankful, as s appropriate this time of year.  Don’t forget to sign up for the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa. There’s a small, but very high quality, group signed up, it’s been a lot of fun in the past.  I smoked some new-to-me cigars this week, a couple of which are new to everyone.  First off is the Villiger TAA 2024.  Villager likes to make their TAA cigars in a different factory every year,  2020 was made by E.P. Carillo, ’21 at La Palma, ’22 at La Zona and 2023 at Aganorsa (the only one of the bunch I haven’t smoked).  This one is made in Honduras at the Maya Selva factory.  Maya Selva is a relatively unknown brand in the U.S., but is huge in Europe.  It’s a shame too, because they are really good cigars! I spoke with Maya at the 2016 IPCPR show and again at the 2020 TPE. This cigar is a Honduran Puro, is a solid medium in strength, and surprised me with a prominent white sugar flavor.  I was impressed to the point where I smoked another one yesterday. I will keep an eye out at my local TAA store for these.  Very nice.

 

When I was in Tampa a couple weeks ago I ran into Ricky Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco at the Tampa Corona Cigars location where he was doing an event.  I actually didn’t run into him, I had texted him about meeting up while I was there and he said he was doing an event at the store.  He gave me a couple of his new Circle of Life cigars, which I don’t think are in stores yet.  This is a cigar made by Ernesto Carillo at his Casa Carillo factory in the D.R. Ricky and Ernesto have a history, as Rick was on “Team La Gloria” before he took over CAO at General Cigars. The blend on this is undisclosed.  The wrapper is dark and oily, and not so pretty. I gor a strong, cloying licoricey flavor, it was pungent, and I liked it. I would have enjoyed it more if it had burned better, some more humidor time might help.  This was definitely an interesting cigar, unlike anything else in the WTT portfolio, which is good, I’ll smoke more of these when available.

 

Another cigar I picked up in Tampa was the La Flor de Dulzura Maduro in a toro size. I took a few minutes to walk up and down 7th Street in Ybor and wandered into King Corona, which is one of the more well known shops there.  They had a well appointed humidor, and I picked up one of their house brand cigars. I should have gotten a selection, but I was travelling light, and didn’t have much travel humidor space. If I remember correctly, these are made at Tabacos de Costa Rica, the factory that makes Atabey, Byron, Bandelero, LVH, and I think Vegas de Santiago.  This was a really well made cigar, and had some of the sweet cocoa and subtle spice I expect from a maduro cigar. It was very nice, worth the $12.  If you find yourself in Tampa take a walk through Ybor City and stop in King Corona, I imagine it’s quite the hopping place in the evenings! 

 

I recently corresponded with the folks at Your Elegant Bar about their products. Initially I thought they were just another company selling Prestige Import Group stuff (which is great stuff, I own a cabinet from them, and their retail arm, First Class Humidors was one of my first advertisers), but I was mistaken. They sell a brand called Lubinsky, and sent me a travel humidor, lighter and punch to have a look at. First, there’s the punch they call the Nutzen M1- Cigar Needle And Punch Tool. This handy tool has a 10mm punch which retracts and extends with a twist. It also unscrews to reveal a pair of tines, presumably to skewer your cigar to get the most out of it. I admit to routinely using such a tool, although mine has much shorter tines. These are about 20mm long, which is almost exactly 50 ring gauge, so one must be careful using this on smaller ring cigars.  I find that a 10mm punch is large enough for some smaller ring cigars (under 50), but I prefer my 13mm punch for most cigars.  Actually, I prefer a V or straight cut, but some cigars need to be punched, and it’s a handy thing to have on the key ring.  

 

The lighter they sent was the Margo 3 flame lighter in copper.  This is a nice cylindrical lighter about 4″ long and probably 62 ring gauge.  The jets seem to be slightly pointed inwards to make a pointed flame.  It has a large fuel window in the back, and an 8mm punch in the bottom. The adjustment wheel is fairly easy to move with a fingernail, although I rather use a Swiss Army knife screwdriver. I have had cheap torch lighters for nearly 20 years, and fairly expensive ones that crap out in a year or two, so we’ll see how this holds up. I religiously purge my lighters whenever I refill them, which I believe extends their life.  The one thing I have trouble getting used to on this one is that the ignition button slides up (there’s an arrow!), which is counter to every lighter I’ve ever had. It makes it a little awkward for me.

 

Finally,The Gator-Effect Travel Humidor, also carrying the Lubinsky brand name. This has two spanish cedar trays, with velcro straps to keep your cigars from rolling around. The bottom accommodates longer cigars (there’s a two slot tray that I removed to accomodate a Boveda and a hygrometer for testing), and the top tray will hold up to about a toro.  Total capacity is 18 cigars, eight on the bottom and ten on top. I loaded it up and it’s been holding the right humidity perfectly. I wouldn’t much bother with humidification if I’m travelling, unless I’m going to a very dry location.

This is a fancy looking unit in green alligator, I’ll admit I’m more of a Pelican case kind of guy.  It does work well, although the “hinge” is a little tight, it doesn’t stay open by itself, which is only problematic if you’re going for a cigar in the bottom tray.  Maybe it’ll break in, I’m afraid to force it too much. I have half a dozen travel humidors, and I use them infrequently, although I am going to store some cigars in this one and keep monitoring it. Not sure if it’s something I’d carry with me though.  It works, and if it fits your style, go for it. 

 

That’s way more than enough for today. Happy Thanksgiving to the American readers!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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