CigarCraig's Blog

by Craig Vanderslice | October 13, 2024 · 10:01 am

Sweet Jane, Murcielago and Alec Bradley Filthy Ghooligan Cigars

As October moves along, we get closer to Halloween (and eventually winter, ugh), so I figured I’d string together a few cigars following that theme. I’m omitting the obvious, mostly because I haven’t gotten out and found any yet, but there are other options. It brings up the question: do we really need holiday themed cigars? No, of course not, but it gives the marketing guys something to do. Drew Estate recently added the Sweet Jane Dia de los Muerto cigar to the very popular Deadwood line. It’s a 6″ x 50 box-pressed toro, with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper with binder and fillers from Nicaragua (although some sources say “undisclosed”, we are pretty sure there’s some tobaccos more usually associated with pipe tobacco). This has a sweet cap, and is aromatic. There are some baking spices, some cocoa, and it’s a nice change of pace. The sample I picked up locally, and at $12 I only grabbed one to try, ended up with a tunnel about half way in, but it eventually worked itself out. This is frustrating with any cigar, but more so as the price goes up. A $12 cigar should always burn right. I do enjoy the Deadwood line once in a while, and I see the appeal to the occasional smoker.

My local TAA shop had the Espinosa Murcielago de Oro TAA 2023 in stock, so I grabbed one of those on my last visit. I’ve been a fan of the Murcielago line going back to 2011 or so, when it was still Espinosa and Ortega (EO Brands). I miss Eddie Ortega, I need to see what he’s up to. It’s not meant to be Halloween themed, but I figured the bat thing would fit in here. The original has a San Andrés wrapper, This one, and the name gives it away a little, has a shade wrapper. I thought it seemed darker than usual, but that’s OK. It’s presented in a 6″ x 54 oval-pressed toro format, made at A.J. Fernandez’ San Lotano factory. This was a bold cigar, not as mild as one might think. I liked it, but it sorta seemed like a strong cigar with a shade wrapper, maybe some Cafe con Leche flavors? Nice cigar, probably another cigar that’s near $12, I think I’ll stick with the maduro version. I’ll have to stop back in and see what other TAA cigars they have that I haven’t tried.

Finally, Alec Bradley has added a cigar to their holiday offerings. They have had success with the Filthy Hooligan, which started out in 2012 as a Candela cigar (I still have one someplace), and morphed into a Candela/Jalapa barber pole with Honduran and Panamanian fillers, a Sumatra binder. Then they added the Shamrock, with Honduran Candela, Habano and Habano Maduro triple wrap. This year they decided to jump on the Halloween bandwagon with the Filthy Ghooligan. These are all in the Alec Bradley Black Market family and are limited releases. First, I think it’s silly. I get the play on words, but Ghoul is spelled with a U, and while the band is cute, it pushes “Marketing to children” to the line a bit. I know this isn’t the case, but I’m more of a traditionalist. That being said, I don’t mind a Barber Pole style cigar. This one has Ecuadorian Habano and US Broadleaf wrappers, making a nice light vs. dark brown spiral. It has Indonesian Besuki binder and Nicaraguan Jalapa,Estelí, and Condega fillers alongside Dominican Piloto. It smoked well, has a decent flavor, some leather and dark chocolate with some spice. I did smoke a Shamrock later in the day and I can see the family resemblance. The Candela makes the shamrock a little brighter in flavor. I do. find myself wanting to smoke more maduros in the fall, so I suppose this is a good choice. Overall, not a bad smoke

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

CigarCraig

😃+

Jaime Garcia, Kristoff and Stolen Throne Cigars

Once again I picked up some new-to-me cigars at various shops. I can’t quite remember why, but I stopped in to the Cigar Mojo shop nearest to me and came across the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Suceser, which I initially misspelled, my mind saw the english version, which is “successor”. From what I can devine, this comes in two sizes with two different wrapper, which is interesting. I got the 6″ x 56 Toro with a Sumatra seed wrapper and there’s also a 6 1/8″ x 52 Torpedo which has a Habano seed wrapper. I have to hunt down a torpedo, I guess. I was unable to find any more information about the blend than that! I recently smoked the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial and was really into it, this was a very different cigar. I found it to be very spicy, much more so than the Broadleaf counterpart. The spice held on throughout the cigar. I liked it well enough, but I think I’ll stick with the Broadleaf, but I still want to try the Suceser Torpedo.

I’ve been hearing about the Kristoff Guardrail for quite a while and finally picked one up at a Cigar Cigars shop a couple towns over. I went there to meet a guy who wanted me to try out some Dominican cigars that he has an idea that he wants to import and give a go at selling. Young guy, filled with optimism…I’ve got my thoughts on the cigars which I’m going to share with him, but I’m not sure how to tell him it’s probably nore a great idea. Anyone in the industry want to offer this guy some advice? Anyway, the Guardrail is an homage to Kristoff’s owner, Glen Case, having a horrific motorcycle accident returning from a charity ride on a rented Harley. He was banged up pretty good, and we’re lucky he’s still with us (he’s genuinely a very nice man). This was the 6 ½” x 56 Matador size, has a Brazilian Maduro wrapper, bindier from the Dominican Republic and fillers from the Dominican Republic & Zimbabwe. I’ve honestly smoked more Zimbabwe tobacco in the last few weeks than I have in my life (and that could be said if I had only smoked one cigar with that tobacco, and I’ve smoked this and the CAO Thunder Smoke). This has a hint of the mesquite flavor that the CAO had, not as prominent bu there, along with some sweetness from the Brazilian wrapper. This was very nice, I’d smoke it again.

In another recent shop visit, this time the Wooden Indian, I got a couple of the new Stolen Throne Argos, this one is 6″ x 52 with a pigtail cap and a semi-closed foot. This is an interesting project with started as an exclusive to Winston’s Humidor in Midlothian, VA, with proceeds going toward animal rescue organizations. I don’t know if this is still the case, but knowing Lee Marsh as I do, I wouldn’t doubt that it is. Lee hates that I love the Three Kingdoms and Crook of the Crown, but am not a fan of the Call to Arms and Yorktown Fleet, the latter of which is growing on me. I think this Argos falls somewhere in between. It has a sour note that I find in the Yorktown, perhaps that’s the “roasted oranges” that is mentioned on the website (one roasts oranges?). I also got some leather and some dry baking cocoa sort of flavor. I found it enjoyable, and very much appreciate Dave at the Wooden Indian for hooking me up with these. I just wish these had bands, maybe whip something up on a laser printer or something? 🙂

That’s about all I have for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

😃+

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Tagged as Argos, cigar, CIgar Cigars, Cigar Mojo, cigars, Guardrail, Jaime Garcia, Kristoff, Reserva Especial Suceser, Stolen Throne, wooden indian

by Craig Vanderslice | September 29, 2024 · 10:01 am

A New EPC Cigar, an Uppallant Cigar Case and a Pig Roast

I smoked a couple of E.P. Carrillo cigars this week, a couple of which being the newest addition to their Essence Series. This one is the Honduras, and is a collaboration between Ernesto Carrillo and he Plasencias in Honduras. This cigar has a Honduran binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers, all covered with an Olancho San Augustin wrapper, which is much darker than any OSA leaf I’ve seen. I think this is the first use of Olancho San Augustin outside of General Cigar, I honestly thought it was their proprietary leaf. It shows up on a ton of their cigars, going back to their first CAO offering, the OSA Sol back in 2010? Anyway, this cigar is VERY Honduran! It has a load of earth, some spice and strong black coffee notes. I think my samples needed some dry box time, they smoked like an over humidified cigar, although they didn’t start that way. I know that internal moisture builds up in a cigar as it heats, but these got annoying in the second half. It’s been really wet here this week (not as wet as some places, keep our friends in the South in your thoughts), but very few cigars suck up moisture that fast. Anyway, not my favorite if the Essence series so far, but a good cigar. I smoked a La Historia alo this week, which was really nice, a box pressed Churchill with some coffee and spice. I must have had one of these before, but I can’t remember!

I was approached by someone on Instagram about reviewing one of the products that they offer on Amazon. They PayPal’d me some cash, and I ordered the item, in exchange for an Amazon review. Of course, I’ll review it here first! I wouldn’t have bothered with a lighter or cutter, but this looked a little different and interesting. This is the Uppallant Travel Cigar Humidor Set (affiliate link), and includes a five cigar travel humidor, combination lighter/V-cutter, a combination punch/draw tool, and a folding cigar stand. Heaven knows that I didn’t need another cigar case, I have a half dozen or so I rarely use, most of them hold more cigars than this one does. The interesting part of this is that it’s two sided, one side holds the cigars, the other side holds the accessories. It has a handy wrist strap, the humidor side has a little humidifier and even smaller hygrometer (which has read 70% since I got it, I don’t know if it works or not. I don’t use the humidifiers that come with these things, five cigars aren’t going to dry out in there, it’s a sealed box, o-ring and all, but there’s a little pipette thing if you feel the need to add water.

I was at an event yesterday, and someone randomly asked if anyone had a draw tool, and I was able to answer to the affirmative, and it appeared to have worked, and the punch that is the other half of that tool is fairly large, maybe 12 or 13 mm? The lighter is a single jet that is nice and strong, and while I find using the V-cutter a bit awkward, it’s sharp, makes a nice deep V and offers a convenient option to carrying multiple tools. I’ll use it today and see how I adjust. The folding stand adequately elevates the cigar from the table, nothing new here. It’s a handy case, and it’s well priced at around $35 with all you get. Time will tell how it holds up, of course, I’m not going to go out and run it over with my car (I could do that with the Pelican case!). I haven’t dissected it, but it seems like there might be some wasted space, and adjusting to the latches working opposite of what I’m used to is a challenge. They were nice enough to label the sides so one knows which side has the tools, and which side has the cigars. It has plenty of room for stickers too. I have Prime, so it arrived the day after I ordered it. One other note: I’d take out the accessories if you plan to fly with this. Recommended.

Yesterday I stopped by the annual Wooden Indian Drew Estate Pig Roast, as I have done pretty much every year for the last dozen years. As always, they have all of the Drew Estate line as well as the Joya de Nicaragua line represented, and Calvin Zimmerman was there with Willie Herrera. Usually Pedro is at this event, but he’s off galavanting around Europe, so Willie stepped up. I don’t think Willie was impressed with the weather, unfortunately it was a dreary day, but not cold, just drizzly. The tent was set up on the front lawn, the pig was roasted by local catering company Luigi and Giovanni, who might be Italian. The food was delicious, and I smoked a Blackened S84 Shade to black and didn’t dislike it, I wasn’t a fan of the first one I smoked. The Wooden Indian staff is exceptional as always, I had some nice chats with some of the patrons, and enjoyed the afternoon. Dave Mayer runs a great shop, if you find yourself anywhere near Philly, it’s a must visit.

Please join me in welcoming CigarFinder.com to the CigarCraig family. Check them out the next time you’re shopping. That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

😃+

New Big Payback and CAO Cigars, a Jaime Garcia and a Vegas Cubanas

This week I smoked some cigars I received from General Cigars and Forged, along with a couple cigars I picked up locally that I hadn’t smoked before. I couple of them were obnoxiously large! First off was the Room 101 Big Payback 70s Maduro. I rather enjoyed the Olancho San Augustin (which they are now referring to as Sumatra, I never made that connection!) wrapped version that came out last year, despite its size. This one has a US Broadleaf wrapper (Connecticut? Massachusetts? Pennsylvania? My guess is the PA) over a Nicaraguan binder with fillers from the DR and Honduras, and it’s made at their factory in Honduras. I smoked this cigar for about two and a half hours and it burned well and had a pleasing flavor. It’s pretty much what one would expect, although the excessive ring gauge makes it fairly mild. It has earthy cocoa and some sweetness. Very nice cigar if you have a long time to do something like chat with friends or watch a game or a movie, as it doesn’t necessarily demand your attention. It has a $9 MSRP so it’s a good value.

I smoked a couple of the new CAO Arcana Thunder Smoke this week. After the Arcana Firewalker debacle, I was a tad concerned. This is an interesting blend, it has the Olancho San Augustin wrapper, a San Andrés binder and fillers from Africa: Zimbabwe, South Africa and Cameroon. I watched the final episode of The Grand Tour on Prime yesterday, and it just made sense to smoke a cigar with tobacco from Zimbabwe. I watched this on the recommendation of Nick from The Cigar Pulpit podcast, and a great recommendation it was. I’ve been a big fan of Top Gear, The Grand Tour, and many of the presenters offshoot shows for many years. This cigar, third in the Arcana series, the first was the Mortal Coil, followed by the abysmal Firewalker, then this one. This was a really enjoyable cigar for me. It’s got a unique Mesquite flavor going on, something rather different and pleasing. The band is oversized, but that’s about the only bad thing I can say about it! I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the Mortal Coil, which I liked a great deal.

I realized that My Father cigars were severely underrepresented on my site, and in my rotation, so I decided to branch out and pick something I haven’t tried before up every now and then. I grabbed a Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Super Gordo a week or so ago at a local shop. The Super Gordo is 5¾” x 66, in a torpedo format so the excessive girth isn’t quite so unwieldy. This does come in a 7″ x 70, which they didn’t have, nor would I have bought. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, an Ecuador binder and fillers from the Garcia farms in Nicaragua. Now that I remember, I smoked one of these last May in the Toro size and, although I had a cold, recall enjoying it. These are reasonably priced, hovering around $10 depending on the size. This Super Gordo might have been around $11. This was an exceptional cigar, I really liked it. It started out spicy, and the strength built up as it smoked, to a pretty full bodied cigar near the end. It had the sweet coffee/cocoa that I like in a Broadleaf wrapper. This was excellent. I want more.

Finally, I spied the Don Pepin Garcia Vegas Cubanas on the shelf, the green band is ey-catching. This is another line that has been around a while, but has eluded my attention. This is another reasonably priced cigar, I think the Generosos (6″ x 50) was under $9. Funny, ten years ago buying an $9 cigar to me was like buying a +$15 cigar today, it was very hard for me to justify! This cigar has a nice looking Habano Rosado wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. This is one I’ll pass on revisiting, I’m afraid. It was nice enough, although it had a floral component that didn’t really do it for me. Maybe it would be better in the morning, although floral isn’t ever really in my wheelhouse. I tolerate it, but it’s not a preference. If you enjoy floral cigar, this is for you! Next time I’ll pick up some other cigars in the Don Pepin line, I haven’t had any of them in a while.

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

CigarCraig

😃+

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Tagged as Arcana, Big Payback, CAO, cigar, cigars, Don Pepin Garcia, Jaime Garcia, Reserva Especial, Room 101, Super Gordo, Thunder Smoke, Vegas Cubanas

by Craig Vanderslice | September 15, 2024 · 9:44 am

Brick House TAA, Tatuaje PCA and Villiger TAA Cigars

I stopped by my local Tobacconist Association of America retailer recent;y and picked up a few cigars I hadn’t tried yet. I got a couple TAA Exclusives and a PCA (Premium Cigar Association) exclusive. These are cigars that are only available to members of the respective associations, in the case of the TAA, the members have an annual meeting (usually at a tropical resort ironically outside of the US (technically they are still in “the Americas”). Selected manufacturers make exclusive cigars, some good, some not so much. I think I selected a couple of the better ones. I started with the Brick House Ciento por Ciento, which translates to 100 percent, and I’m not sure what the significance of this name is without doing more research than I feel like doing. I grabbed this one for three reasons: I typically like Brick House cigars, I hadn’t smoked this one, and it’s almost Bricktoberfest (starts tomorrow, my daughter’s birthday!). I don’t know how long these had been on the retailers shelf, but when I removed the band it had tan lines! The front face of the cigar wrapper leaf was faded, which is odd because the humidor at this shop has no sun exposure. Perhaps they moved them from another store, I don’ t know. It was only one side, kinda like my tan. Anyway, this didn’t seem to have any effect. This is a 6¼” x 54 Toro made in J.C. Newman’s PENSA factory in Esteli, and is a Nicaraguan Puro. The wrapper is from Jalapa and seems a bit lighter than the standard Brickhouse. It has a overall woody profile with a hint of citrus here and there. Good cigar and well priced, as a Brick House should be.

Next up was the Tatuaje PCA 2023, which came out in early 2024, of course. Tatuaje has probably been the best at making TAA Exclusives, and is a very big supporter of the PCA, which is a much larger organization. The point of offering this Exclusive is to get member retailers, and any retailer who isn’t a member is a fool, in my opinion, to physically come to the annual trade show to buy. This PCA exclusive is a 6 3/8″ x 54 Toro, made at the My Father factory in Esteli, and has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. This was a delicious cigar with. sweet exotic spices throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed smoking this, which isn’t unusual considering I enjoy most Tatuaje cigars I smoke. I may swing back and grab a couple more, although they are on the top end of what I consider well priced, around $15 I think. Great tasting cigar!

I’ve smoked a couple of the Villiger TAA Exclusives, however this one has eluded my notice. Villiger, like they do with a lot of their brands, uses a variety of factories. This was their second year making a TAA Exclusive, and they used the Tabacalera Palma factory in the DR. Their Trill brand was made there, which I don’t think is in their portfolio any longer. Like the Brick House, this cigar also had tan lines. I guess they are the opposite of tan lines really, there was some fading on the top face of the wrapper. This was a 6″ x 54 toro with an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Dominican binder and fillers. I’m generally a fan of Villiger cigars, there’s some I like better than others, but they make good cigars. This had a sweet wood profile, not my favorite, but pleasant enough. The cigar burned well and I think it was unter $10, not too bad. As I think about it (read: looked back on my own site), I have smoked the 2020 (E.P. Carrillo) and the 2022 (Espinosa), and I think the 2022 was my favorite. I guess I need to see if I can find the ’23 and ’24 versions if they exist!.

As I write this, I’m enjoying a cigar on my porch. I hate that it will be too chilly soon to do this. I found a Leccia Desnudo in the humidor and, while it isn’t my usual choice for a morning cigar, it’s got a few year age and is a nice, mellow maduro cigar, great with coffee. When these came out back in 2016 we hosted a Desnudo Sunday and did a video, which is here. Everyone remained clothed. That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 2021, Brick House, Ciento por Ciento, cigar, cigars, J.C.Newman, PCA, TAA, tatuaje, Villiger