by | November 17, 2024 · 8:50 am

A Quick Florida Trip, Part Two: The Drew Estate Florida Barn Smoker

Last Friday, after finishing up a long and excellent day at J.C. Newman, I hopped in my rented Polstar 2 and made my way to the Orlando area.  Traffic sucked, and I never really got to see what that car could do. It was about the cheapest rental I could find, and I only spent about $22 charging it after driving it around all weekend.  I forgot to mention in my last post about the “lunch” I got from the La Segunda Bakery a short walk from El Reloj.  Not the healthiest choice, but the cinnamon rolls and apple turnovers were delicious, and filled me up for the day. The iced coffee was darned good too. I could do some damage there under different circumstances.  Also notable was the park the Newmans have built across from the factory, the Cigar Workers Park. It was a beautiful place to pre-game before our tour.  Now that I’m caught up, it’s on to the Barn Smoker.  I left the hotel early, and got to the Florida Sun Grown Farm about two hours before the event opened, so I got a good parking spot.  I managed to get in line with some folks who manage two of the CigarCigars shops in Sarasota, so we had some mutual friends. CigarCigars has a bunch of stores in my area. I’ve been to Barnsmokers in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, so I had an idea what to expect, and I’ve toured the FSG farm before.  I went into this one to enjoy myself, and see some old friends.  Amongst the friends I spent some time with were Rebecca and Jason of Ash Quarterly Magazine. I met them at the last PCA show I attended and Jason and I hit it off. I was very happy to be able to hang out with them for a while.  As I’ve done in the past, I smoked the Liga Privada Serie Unico A, as I never have any faith that a cigar that long is going to survive the trip home.  It was excellent, although t didn’t burn particularly well. 

The grounds were set up nicely, with a lot of room to spread out.  Of course, there was a big tent with tables (as per tradition, most of the ashtrays were stolen early).  DJ Eli was playing music, too loud in my opinion. It always mystifies me that companies get 6-800 people together and drown out conversation with loud music.  They had a live band playing later in the day.  I made my way around all te activation stations early before they got crowded. There only seemed to be one educational portion, in the past it was very scheduled, with the crowd broken into several groups who rotated through several stations with various people, WIllie Herrera, Pedro Gomez, Jon Drew and usually the farm owner, giving talks on various aspects of the life cycle of a cigar.  Another thing that was different from other events I’ve attended was the food. There was a buffet/food line after the educational portion in the past, this time they had several food trucks with coupons for each. This was a better way to do it, from my standpoint.  Folks were free to get food at their leisure.  There were also a lot of liquor stations, in which I was not interested. They did have plenty of water and soft drinks available at all times. The food was good, I sampled smash burger and some BBQ pork sliders with mac and cheese. 

 

Only because I know somebody, I snuck in the back of the  “Black Widow Saloon” for the tasting seminar that was going on.  This was an inflatable, air conditioned structure for the VIPs (I was just a P). It was packed with people, and had a nice spread of cookies and brownies and assorted goodies.  Rob Dietrich, the master distiller of the Blackened Whiskey, and JD were leading the tasting.  Again, booze isn’t my thing, but I’m glad I got to see inside the saloon. This would be a nice place to cool off if it wasn’t so crowded. The baked goods were excellent.  

 

I stayed until the end, my flight home wasn’t until 5am Sunday, so I didn’t have anyplace else to be. Traveling alone, I sometimes get bored, this time I knew and met enough people there to  occupy my time.  It was a good time, people were well behaved for the most part, almost surprising given the amount of booze available.  Cigars were plentiful and delicious.  Everyone should go to at least one of these events, remember to bring $10 to “buy” your pack of cigars at entrance.  The swag was very nice (picture above), not over the top.  I did have an interesting experience with the spray can lighter going through TSA, they had never seen anything like it before and it took much examination and scrutiny to get through. I would have surrendered it rather than cause any trouble, but it got through fine (the actual working lighter in my other bag went undetected). It will probably end up in the Christmas Givaway!  Thanks to the folks at Drew Estate for including me. I wish communication would have been better between some parties, that would have made the weekend a 100% success.  I spent the week smoking some of the cigars I got there, it annoys me that I like the 20 Acre Farm as much as I do, and the Blackened S83 has grown on me. There wasn’t a bad cigar in the bunch.  

 

I’ve opened up the annual CigarCraig.com Secret Santa, if you want to join in, here’s the link: CigarCraig’s Secret Santa 2024. We’ve had a small, but high quality, group in the past.  Jump in, it’s a lot of fun sharing your favorite cigars with people! That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

 

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by | November 10, 2024 · 1:42 pm

A Quick Florida Trip, Part One: The J.C. Newman Experience

When I saw that the Flyers were playing the Lightning in Tampa, my wife encouraged me to plan a trip down there to take my buddy Kevin (CigarProp) to his first NHL game. I made some inquiries and managed to secure two club level tickets with access to the Diamond Crown cigar lounge in the Amalie Arena.  We were allowed in 90 minutes before game time, so we went into the lounge for a cigar. Kevin selected some PDM Corojo Robustos, a favorite of us both.  Christina and Nidya work in the lounge, they get the cigars out of the humidor cabinets, ring them up and cut and light. I was wearing my Flyers sweater, I may have felt a little out of place.  We watched the first period from our seats and grabbed  some food, which was a n upgrade from what we would have gotten if I had just bought nosebleed seats off of stub hub!  There was brisket and pork belly, sushi and all manner of delicious desserts. We were definitely spoiled.  We watched the second period from the lounge, where I selected som Fuente 8-5-8 Sungrowns. The humidor in the lounge has a nice selection of J.C. Newman and Fuente cigars, and they weren’t priced bad, a buck or two over what they would be in a shop (in a no tax state!). The lounge has windows overlooking the arena, and several televisions, but it’s hard to watch unless you’re right at the glass, but any time I can watch hockey and smoke a cigar I’m happy.  We returned to our seats for the third period, overtime and the shootout, where the Flyers managed to win.  I enjoyed the game, and I think Kevin had a good time too.  It was a really good time and the ladies working the lounge were outstanding. I think at one point I counted 30 patrons in the lounge, which isn’t huge, and the ventilation was really good.  I have no idea how one would get tickets, but if you are in Tampa and have the opportunity, jump on it! Many thanks again to J.C. Newman for the tickets!

 

Friday we spent the day at the J.C.Newman headquarters and factory, El Reloj (that’s El Relow, no matter how you’ve heard it pronounced).  This is a historic building, and the only major factory left in the country.  There’s a few little cigar factories here and there, but this one is producing millions of cigars using machines from the 1920s and ‘30s. They refer to this as machine assisted and not machine made, as these are not automated and require some human input. This is another tour I recommend if you’re in Tampa. The tour is very educational, there’s a museum aspect, with a lot of J.C. Newman memorabilia, Tampa cigar history, and even the oldest known cigars from the mid-1800s that were found in a shipwreck not all that long ago!  The basement has another museum area, as well as an aging room for the handmade cigars they make, and some tobacco processing areas. The second floor has the machine made production and packaging, and the third floor has a rolling gallery where they make the American, Angel Cuesta and some special cigars.  One of the special cigars they were making was the Tampa Smokers, named after the old baseball team and shaped like a baseball bat.  I always wondered how they made these.  Now I know. 

We would stay on the third floor for the rolling seminar.  This is where they provide bunches and one has to  apply the wrapper. We wrapped five Robustos, and this is harder than you think. I’ve done it a few times before, and I think my results were pretty good, except for applying the cap. I struggle with the cap. The blend they provided is special, I’ll have to reach out to Holden who led the class and find out, but I believe it’s a modified American blend.  I should have paid more attention, but I was trying to finish my darned caps right. 

 

Following the rolling exercise, we embarked upon a tasting seminar. Puritos of various tobacco varietals and primings were supplied, along with a flavor wheel and a sheet for notes. I am better at finishing caps on cigars than I am at this. Regular readers know that I have a fairly limited vocabulary when it comes to tasting cigars, and it’s even worse when one’s had a bunch of cigars the previous day and one’s palate is fatigued.  Cody did I really nice job at leading this, as he did giving the factory tour. Once again, and I can’t stress this enough, if you find yourself in Tampa, set aside an afternoon and experience El Reloj. I’ve taken the tour twice now and seen different things each time. I still haven’t risen in the haunted elevator yet.  Thank you very much to everyone at J.C.Newman, especially Sydney!

 

On Thursday before the game we delivered some cigars to Single Barrel Cigar Co. for a project Kevin is working on, visited Tampero Cigars in Ybor and enjoyed a Tampero Maduro torpedo, and we stopped by Corona Cigars and talked to Ricky Rodriguez for a bit.  It was a great couple of days, I enjoyed spending some time with Kevin and got to see some more of Tampa and Ybor City. 

 

Check out Kevin’s pics and videos, he’s far more talented with that than I am! It was a whirlwind couple of days, but there’s more! I just got home around noon, and I’m working on very little sleep, so excuse any typos please. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | November 3, 2024 · 9:29 am

A Special Blackbird Cigar and Some New Macanudos

I had the opportunity to purchase some cigars a few weeks in advance of their release thanks to Tyler Caldwell at Smokingpipes.com.  I met Tyler a few years ago at the Stillwell Star release event at Low Country Pipe & Cigars in South Carolina.  I hung out with him again at the last PCA show I attended, super nice dude.  He had a hand in blending the new Blackbird Cigars Flamingo, which is a Smokingpipes.com exclusive.  You may recall that Smokingpipes.com (Low Country is their retail outlet) is owned by Laudisi Enterprises, and recently acquired Caldwell Cigars (Tyler Caldwell/Caldwell Cigars? No relation, but it’s a bit funny!).  They have a great shop if you find yourself in the Myrtle Beach area.  Anyway, the cigar is called the Flamingo, has a pink band and a really nice hat if you’re a hat guy. I might have to become a hat guy, they are piling up over here.  It’s a 7″ x 38 lancero format, has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and Broadleaf, Nicaraguan and Dominican in the filler. That’s a lot going on in a Lancero!  It’s made in Jonas Santana’s Blackbird factory in the DR. I like Jonas, I like his cigars, this should be a treat. If I had a complaint, it would be that it’s too short!  This is a delicious cigar, it’s bold, has some warm, savory spices, and some light floral notes in the background. I smoked a couple of these and really enjoyed them. Smoking time was around an hour and fifteen nimues, and I was careful not to oversmoke it, but it was so darned tasty I might have smoked faster than usual (puffs per hour, not overdrawing).  Jump on these when they become available later this month, all parties involved did a great job. Thanks to Tyler for allowing me to purchase cigars early! 

 

I recently received some new Macanudo cigars from the folks at General Cigar Co., and I was excited to try them.  The first one that jumped out at me was the Macanudo Emissary España Limited Edition Torpedo. I really thought the Emissary España in the robusto was a great cigar, not at all what one expects from a Macanudo. This cigar has a U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf Claro wrapper, aged 5 years, a Nicaraguan Condega binder, aged 6 years, with Dominican Piloto (aged 5 years), Colombian (aged 5 years), Nicaraguan ASP (aged 6 years), and Havana seed tobacco grown in Riolobos, Spain (aged 10 years).  The wrapper is described as Claro, but I thought it was pretty dark, not maduro dark, but not light).  The torpedo is 6″ x 52.  The Broadleaf is apparent, it’s loaded with cocoa, and I get a citrus tang. It’s a heavy cigar, recommended unless you’re expecting a Macanudo Legacy or Inspirado experience. If you don’t go stronger than than an Inspirado White, this one might be troublesome.  Great cigar, I really like it, and want to try it in a Churchill. 

 

The Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll series has eluded me until the No. 3, which means they didn’t send me No.s 1 and 2.  I wouldn’t have gone looking for these, being a non-drinker I don’t hunt down cigar with any liquor associations.  I will try them when they are presented to me, but I certainly have no frame of reference for anything alcohol related.  These aren’t flavored, of course, but have tobacco that is aged in French Oak barrels that was used for Flint Knoll’s 2021 Royal Appointment Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s offered in a beefy 7″ x 52 double corona they call a “Churchill”.  The blend is Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, US Broadleaf binder and Brazilian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Dominican fillers.  I only smoked one sample so far, I had a strange time with it.  Flavors were delightful, it had some sweet wood and baking spices.  Perhaps this needed to be a little bit dryer, is alternated between producing rich mouthfuls of smoke, to requiring double/triple puffs to get anything. very strange. At some point I’ll dry one down a little and give it a try, from what I could tell it was a delicious, sophisticated, medium bodied cigar.  Folks with better palates than I  rave about it. 

 

That’s all for today. I have some cool plans for this coming weekend, involving hockey, cigars, a cigar factory and a farm.  Guesses can go in the comments, maybe I’ll have a giveaway for a correct answer! Next Sunday’s post may be a little late. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig 

 

 

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by | October 27, 2024 · 9:50 am

A Few Arturo Fuente Cigars and a Visit with José Blanco

Let me start with this:

This is an excerpt (about 4 minutes) from my final podcast episode in 2019 with Steve Saka where I plant the notion of a Candela Lancero in his head.  First he says it won’t happen, then he backpedals a bit to leave the possibility open. As we now know, he’s made one, and actually likes it.  I didn’t spring for the Lancero sampler, so I may never know what it’s like.  The whole podcast should still be available wherever podcasts can be found (I know it’s on Spotify and Apple Podcasts), it was an interesting and unique conversation.

 

This week I went on a bit of an  Arturo Fuente binge.  José Blanco was in town being chauffeured around by Michael Rushing, the region’s sales rep for Fuente and J.C.Newman. I met up with them at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA. I took a half day off work because, when José is in town I gotta go hang out with him.  I’ve had the very good fortune of knowing José for quite a while, I think the first time we met face to face was at the 2011 IPCPR show where he did a tasting session (he was with La Aurora at the time).  It was in a room with about 500 people.  One on one time with him is rare, so I made the most of it. Today is José’s birthday, wish him a happy one of you see him! They were visiting Cigar Mojo – The Grove afterwards, so I met them there, it’s on my way home after all. It’s always great talking to José, and it was great to meet Michael. I never have any regrets when I visit the Wooden Indian, Dave and his team are always gracious hosts. 

 

I picked up some cigars while visiting the shops, some Arturo Fuente cigars that I hadn’t tried, or hadn’t smoked in many years.  Before I get to them, let me tell you about the Casa Fuente Churchill that I smoked.  This was a generous gift from my friend Stace, who I sent a few things to, not expecting him to return fire. The guy friggin apologized for taking so long!  No apology needed for something that wasn’t expected!  Anyway, what didn’t surprise me was the quality of the gift. One of the cigars was this Casa Fuente Churchill.  This line used to only be available at the Casa Fuente in Caesars Forum Shops in Vegas, but they made it more available a few years ago.  This is a 7¼” x 48 Churchill with a Cameroon wrapper over Dominican binder and fillers. I love the size, and it was a beautiful cigar.  It was definitely a sweet, nutty cigar with some exotic spices that kept me entertained.  Perfect burn and draw.  I think the only other Casa Fuente I had was gifted to me at Casa Fuente in Vegas maybe a decade ago (TY Fich).  This is a brilliant cigar.  

 

When I picked out cigars I went with a theme.  I could have done the 858s in all three wrappers, maybe I should have, but I decided to sample cigars across the Sungrown range.  It’s come to my attention that the 858 Sungrown is now a regular release, not just a seasonal thing.  This is a good thing, because the 858 Sungrown is a spectacular cigar, especially for $8ish.  The 858 is 6″ x 47, a short Churchill, or a thin toro, I don’t know, nor do I care.  This has some cedar and spice, along with a licorice sort of sensation. This is a cigar I want a box of, my only criticism is that I wish they put the green fuente band on this like the rest of the 858s, since it doesn’t seem to be a special release any more, it seems to me it should be consistent with the Grand Reserva line.  

 

I also picked up a Cuban Belicoso Sungrown, which is in the Chateau Fuente line.  This is a 5¾” x 51 belicoso, also with the Ecuador Sungrown wrapper over Dominican binder and fillers.  Also priced in the $8ish range, this has some similarities to the 858 SG, but concentrated. I thought it started with some bitter wood, then got more licoricey, as in it was more pungent and cloying on the palate than the 858. Fortunately I’m not opposed to that, so I enjoyed it, and it lasted nearly 90 minutes, which exceeded my expectations for what I consider a short cigar.  

 

Finally, I smoked a Queen B Sungrown, also in the Chateau series.  This is a 5½” x 52 torpedo, similar in size to the Cuban Belicoso, but shorter and pointier.  This has basically the same blend description as the 858 and the Belicoso, Ecuador Sungrown wrapper, Dominican filler and binder.  All three of these come wrapped in a cedar sleeve,  which is pretty obvious by the pictures. I’m not generally a fan of the sleeves, if they sit in the humidor too long in the sleeves the cigars end up just tasting like wood, which is fine if you like that. I don’t.  I think if I had a box of any of these I’d remove the sleeves for long term storage.  The Queen B is sort of in between the 858 and the Beli, it’s got the cedar and licorice, but not as pungent as the Beli but more pronounced that the 858.  As with all of these, burn and draw were perfect.  I’ve long been a fan of the Fuente Don Carlos, Hemingway, and Ańejo lines, but these Sungrowns are really good. I’ve been kind of lax in branching out across the brand, but I need to, there’s some great cigars, and they have been for many years.

 

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

CigarCraig

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by | October 20, 2024 · 9:23 am

Kristoff, Joya de Nicaragua, and Illusione Cigars

This week I smoked a bunch of cigars that I picked up at various shops in my area.  I’m fortunate, I guess, to live in an area with an abundance of cigars shops, and one of them (a chain, actually, with about five shops within a ten mile radius of my home) is a TAA member.  Every now and then I stop in one of he shops to find something new and interesting, sometimes I find both, sometimes neither!  I’ve been picking up some of the TAA exclusives lately, as regular readers will have noticed.  I picked up a Kristoff TAA Exclusive from last year, a neat perfecto shaped cigar.  It’s 6 ¼” x 60, tapered at both ends, like cigars in old cartoons.  It has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican fillers. This was a really fun cigar to smoke. I was surprised to read that this was a Connecticut Shade wrapper varietal.  While I had sweet woody notes, it didn’t make me think of shade. I really enjoyed this, it was smooth, rich and quite enjoyable.  I wish more cigars came in this shape!

 

At another shop nearby I was there for a Drew Estate event, so I was looking for something new-to-me in their portfolio, no easy task.  I spied the Joya de Nicaragua Classico Media Siglo and picked one up.  I got the Toro size, naturally, but they offer those in some interesting sizes: a  6″ x 41 and a 5½” x 42.  This cigar is supposed to be an homage to the first cigars JdN produced fifty years ago, which I have no frame of reference for, but I’m sure I have smoked the classico, it’s on the milder side.  This cigar was on the light side of medium, with leathery, woody notes, which aren’t normally my thing.  It was OK, not my cup of tea, necessary. I’m more a fan of the Antaño lines, if I want a milder JdN I usually go for the Numero Uno or Cinco Decadas (with the Joya Silver close behind). 

 

 

Friday I did what I said last year that I wouldn’t do again, and got both a Flu shot and a Covid Vaccine at the same time.  This time, apart from the sore left arm, I had a dull headache all day and that was about it.  I get migraines, and this wasn’t one of those, and Aspirin, Tylenol, etc. don’t do a thing for me.  I did, however, power through and selected an Illusione Cigares Prívé PCA Exclusive, a box pressed 5 ½” x 56 robusto. This I smoked while watching a movie on the porch (the first Captain america movie, I’ve seen bits and pieces of a lot of Marvel movies, I’m trying to watch them all start to finish. I might have the only Captain America travel humidor on the planet, by the way).  This is one of my favorite things to do on the weekend, relax with a cigar and a movie.  I believe this cigar was the 2020 version, based on the shape and the band.  I may stop back in the shop where I got this and take a closer look at the box.  It has an Ecuador (Habano Claro) wrapper, over a Nicaraguan binder with Nicaraguan (Criollo 98 & Corojo 99) fillers. It was a beautiful cigar, nice cafe con leche colored wrapper with a nice box press. This started with a bright citrus tang, and them mellowed a bit. It was very nice once I got past the sharpness of the start, I wouldn’t hesitate to smoke this again. I’m a bit negligent in sampling Illusione cigars, I need to get try some more.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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