Monthly Archives: August 2011

by CigarCraig | August 31, 2011 · 10:52 pm

Mid-Week Cigars: Cain, Bolivar, San Lotano and Some News

It was a good thing I finished my Sunday post on Saturday and scheduled it for Sunday morning, because Hurricane Irene brushed past us and knocked our power out for about 40 hours or so. We were luckier than some, of course, we only lost a couple quarts of ice cream and had a little water in the basement. No damage and just a minor inconvenience. We take out electricity for granted, don’t we. I’m glad we have gas hot water and stove, and a French press. I did manage to smoke a few cigars so far this week:

Cain Maduro 660 – Picked this up a few weeks ago at Top Shelf Cigars in Skippack, PA for just under $5 on closeout. I should have left this rest for a while longer, but it called to me…you know how it is…I’d been hearing hurriCAIN all weekend, been without electricity for 20 hours and needed some POWER. My past experience with the Cain line has been that I love the flavor, but they tend to knock be on my ass with the strength. I like a strong cigar as much as the next guy, but I smoke to relax, not to feel queezy and want to barf. In my mind, these feelings detract from the experience. This one was good, it could have had a better draw, odd for a 60 ring cigar, but it was pretty hefty in the hand. I have one left that I’ll try to ignore for a while, plus a couple of habano torps.

Bolivar Royal Corona – Last year on my birthday I decided to try selecting a cigar with a ring gauge to match my age, I turned 47, so a Havana Churchill was in order. I couldn’t find a 48 ring cigar in my humidors, was out of anything in the Hermosa vitola, so I abandoned that tradition and went with a Bolivar Royal Corona. I selected this because I love Bolivars and wanted to smoke something special on my 48th birthday. It was not a bad choice, I loved it, it had a few years of age on it and burned nicely. It had that typical Havana twang to it that I love from time to time. With the over-all quality of Nicaraguan/Honduran/Dominican cigars being so high recently, the Havana cigar remains distinctive, maybe not “better” but different. Bolivars have a flavor that hits me just right, and this one was a very nice way to celebrate another journey around the sun.

San Lotano Oval – This one was a sample from the IPCPR show, although I just received another pair of them from Clay Roberts of AJ Fernandez. I think I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve smoked from AJ Fernandez, the Emilio AF1 and 2, and the Diesel Unholy Cocktail, although this is a small sampling of the many cigars this gentleman has had a hand in making. The first thing you notice about this aptly named cigar is the shape, take a guess… OK, I’ll tell you, it’s oval. I love the shape, it has a very natural mouth feel, and is still round, yet doesn’t roll off the table. Very creative presentation. I liked the cigar, I consider it medium, with a very nice, savory and satisfying flavor. This is another cigar I smoked well below the band. Here’s a video I shot at the show with AJ talking about the Oval line:

That’s about all I have for now. I think I’ll have a contest starting Sunday, so check back then.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under IPCPR, Review, Video

Tagged as aj fernandez, bolivar, cain, cigar, cigars, havana, IPCPR, oval, san lotano

by CigarCraig | August 28, 2011 · 8:00 am

End Of The Week Cigars and News: Alec Bradley, J.Fuego, Best Cigar Prices and Irene

After a long day, and getting a late start on my evening smoke, I selected the Alec Bradley Family Blend D3 (4½” x 58) that I purchased on my Father’s Day Cigar ride. It is a beautiful cigar, short and fat, with a fanned little pigtail not unlike a Liga Privada Unicos Dirty Rat. That’s where the similarities end. This cigar had a unique flavor, not one I usually find in a cigar, which really made me happy. Was it a, dare I say, fruity flavor? I was talking about this with my wife and she asked if it was like sex in your mouth, which I didn’t quite understand and decided that no, it was not like that at all! What does that even mean? Whatever it was it was quite refreshing and a cigar I look forward to re-visiting the line.

News

In the news, it looks like another major internet retailer is moving to Pennsylvania. BestCigarPrices.com announced that it was relocating from New York State to North-eastern PA this week. Since PA is friendly toward tobacco products tax-wise, and New York state isn’t, this move doesn’t surprise me. It also gives us another business to fight any future proposed taxes on cigars and other tobacco products (OTP) as they are proposed, and they are pretty regularly. I think this brings us to five of the larger internet cigar retailers that are headquartered in PA. Now, if one would just move to my area…

Saturday evening had us waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Irene. We are about an hour west of Philadelphia, and aren’t expecting a direct hit. Certainly we are in far less danger than many in the path of this large storm, but our town has a creek running through it that is prone to flooding. We are on high ground, but it’s possible that the roads leading to our neighborhood will be impassable at some point. I am hopeful that the trees behind us stay put and everything clears out tomorrow. Obviously, our thoughts are with those directly effected by this storm. Anyway, I took a Jesus Fuego Sangre de Toro Robusto out on the front porch for my evening smoke. This was a sample from the IPCPR show, given to me by Jesus Fuego himself, who may be the most under rated manufacturer in the business. I’ve enjoyed his 777 line quite a bit, in the maduro and corojo wrappers, although I’ve been mixed on the Xikar HC line that he makes as well. This Sangre de Toro was a really nice cigar. It was solidly medium to me, and had some very pleasant flavors. Again, it was a refreshing cigar, rich and a little spicey, and burned perfectly. I finished it just as the wind was beginning to blow the rain on the front porch.

Here is a little video of Jesus Fuego telling me about the Sangre de Toro as well as his other lines:

I should have included this warning when I first started posting videos, but remember to turn your volume down after watching so you don’t blow your speakers the next time you get an e-mail!

That’s it for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

1 Comment

Filed under IPCPR, News, Review, Video

Tagged as 777, Alec Bradley, cigar, cigar store, cigar stores, cigars, drew estate, IPCPR, J. Fuego, Jesus Fuego, sangre de toro, xikar

by CigarCraig | August 24, 2011 · 8:18 pm

This Week’s Cigars So Far: Power House, Ashton VSG, American Eagles and Cigar Mechanic

Here’s a brief run down of some of the cigars I’ve enjoyed so far this week, and another short video from the IPCPR show.

Power House by Cuban Crafters – This one one of a handful that Kiki Berger gave me at the IPCPR show last month. I’ve been trying to find information about them to no avail. True to it’s name, it starts out with a blast of strength. I almost thought I wasn’t going to make it through the cigar, it was just too much nicotine for the first inch or so. It mellowed a little after a while and became a very nice smoke, full of dark flavors. I have no idea what the make up of this cigar is, but I’m going to guess it has a broadleaf wrapper, and Nicaraguan fillers. After the initial blast of strength I enjoyed this cigar. Perhaps some humidor time will mellow that part out of it. Oddly, samples of Cuban Crafters cigars I’ve had in the past have not thrilled me, but recent cigars I’ve smoked from Tabacalera Esteli have been more to my liking. Kiki Berger is a really nice guy too, I’m happy and fortunate to have met him at Cigar Safari and spent some time talking to him at the show.

Ashton Virgin Sun Grown Torpedo – Came across this one in the humidor after rummaging for something to smoke and figured it’s time had come. I have been smoking new and different cigars lately and wanted to go old school. This large torpedo has been floating around the humidors for 6 or 7 years, had some mottling on the wrapper, but was such a nice, sweet cigar with loads of flavor. I savored it for about 90 minutes, while sitting on my front porch on a stunningly beautiful August evening, catching up on cigar podcasts. Sidebar: I am up to about 5 podcasts in my rotation, and I get behind in the summer. During the winter months I have about 5 hours a week in the car commuting that I am able to listen to podcasts. In the nicer months I may only have to drive the car to work once or twice a week, if that. I sometimes take an evening walk alone with a cigar and listen to them, which is nice, but it’s better to walk with someone (usually my son or my wife). Three of the podcasts I like to listen to are pushing 2 hours long, which is a killer year round! For those curious, the podcasts currently in my rotation are: Dogwatch Cigar Radio, Stogie Fresh 5, Blowin Smoke, Cigar Snapshot, and The Cigar Authority. I’ve had the pleasure to have met the hosts of all of these on various occasions, even slept on one of their couches on a couple occasions, with the exception of Bill Berris, who hosts Cigar Snapshot. I do “know” Bill from the old alt.smokers.cigars days though, and one day our paths will cross. I’ve said before that there are some little things that annoy me about some of the shows, but they all provide me with cigartainment and are worth every penny I pay for them :-).

When I saw American Eagles cigars at the show I thought they were a novelty, I mean, really, a camo cigar? What if I drop it outside, how will I find it? Well, this is a serious cigar. Not only do some of the proceeds go to the Semper Fi Fund, as a thank you to all the men and women who serve and have served in the United States Marine Corps, but the cigars are actually blended by Hendrick Kelner. Since I’ve been seeing these show up in a couple of major retailers mailings, I figured I’d fire up one of the samples I got from the trade show. I took this cigar for my evening walk, and it’s a darned nice cigar! I smoked this down to about a half an inch, and it remained smooth and flavorful to the end. It looks to me like it has candela, shade and maduro pieces applied to a habano wrapper to produce the camouflage pattern, and I swear I could taste the candela “freshness” here and there. It’s gimmicky, but a quality cigar that is very tasty. This is one that should not be dismissed, if you can find them (little camo joke there…) give one a shot. Chris Ramos, the sales director was very helpful and generous with his time, thanks to him for the samples.

The American Eagles cigars were sharing a booth with Cigar Mechanic‘s Eric Budman, who was kind enough to not only gift me a couple of his humidifying units to try out, but also took a few minutes to record a little video about his products. I have to say, since using one of these in a new cooler set up, it’s been holding steady, as has been the smaller unit in my desktop humidor. Check out the video and give these a try if you are in the market for a new humidification device.

Thanks to Eric for taking the time to talk to me and for the samples!

That’s it for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Accessories, Events, IPCPR, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk, Video

Tagged as American Eagles, Ashton, cigar, Cigar Mechanic, Cigar Safari, cigar shop, cigar shops, cigar store, cigar stores, cigars, cuban crafters, Hendrick Kelner, Humidifier, IPCPR, podcasts, Power House, Take A Cigar For A Walk, Virgin Sun Grown, VSG

by CigarCraig | August 21, 2011 · 12:27 pm

Delaware Cigar Festival, La Palina, Art Deco and Hammer + Sickle

The fifth annual Delaware Cigar Festival will be taking place on Saturday, September 17 at the Delaware Park Racetrack. I’ll be attending this fine event and will bring you highlights. Delaware Park is a beautiful racetrack, and if you like to play the ponies or slots, it’s the place to be. Many manufacturers and their reps will be in attendance and it looks like it will be a good time. I’m a little embarrassed that I I have managed to miss this event in the past and it’s only about 40 minutes down the road from me. Looking forward to attending, and thank you to Gary Griffith for making this possible (and making damned tasty cigars!).

The the best cigar I had this week was the La Palina El Diario Robusto. The El Diaro line is La Palina’s “lower priced” line, compared to the $20 price tags on the original line that came out a couple years ago an is made in the Graycliff factory in the Bahamas. The El Diaro is rolled at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras, and carries a $10-11 price tag. It is most definitely an excellent cigar. It’s smooth and perfectly rolled. I’d happily smoke these all the time if they were a little more wallet friendly, but it’s been well established that I’m a cheap bastard. Bill Paley is a super nice guy though and he’s producing some exceptional cigars.

Nestor Miranda Art Deco Robusto Grande – This 5½ x 54 cigar was one that I bought on my Father’s Day cigar run. They come in a nifty tin instead of a box. If this had a handle on it it would make a fine lunchbox! It was a good cigar, no doubt. I don’t have a great deal of experience with Pepin Garcia’s cigars, admittedly, so I don’t readily pick up his signature on this, but it certainly was well made and it either grew on me as I smoked it, or the flavors in the second half were more in line with my preferences than the first half. I started out thinking it was just another DR blend that was “eh”…worth the try though…and not terribly priced. Frustratingly, there is no information about this cigar on the website, and it’s not exactly brand new.

Hammer + Sickle Robusto and Berlin Wall Robusto – These were samples from the IPCPR show. An old friend, Mike, was working at the booth, and I was very happy to catch up with him. We had met at a large herf in Vegas in 1999, known in the alt.smokers.cigars circles as Boondoggle 3, which consisted of about 300 cigar smokers taking over the ballroom at the MGM Grand for 3 days. Stories from that event are legend amongst the on-line cigar community of the era, and are easily Googleable, so I won’t go into that further. Anyway, Mike was kind enough to hook me up with some samples and introduce me to Victor, the owner of The Cigar Agency, who imports and distributes the Hammer + Sickle brand, as well as ORTSAC and others. I smoked both the regular Hammer + Sickle robusto as well as the new Berlin Wall robusto. The former I found to be a fairly typical Dominican cigar, well made, but nothing that really grabbed me. Keep in mind that most Dominican cigars don’t hit me the way I like to be hit, flavor wise, so that’s not as bad as it sounds. The Berlin Wall, on the other hand, was much more to my liking, no doubt due to it being made my Camacho and consisting of a blend of Honduran, Dominican and Nicaraguan leaf. The copper band is a very nice touch. I took the Berlin wall on my evening walk, and the ash, although it wasn’t the prettiest, held on for nearly a mile! Both of these cigars come in unique packaging. The Hammer + Sickle is in a crystal box, and the Berlin wall is packaged in a marble box with a relief of the Brandenburg Gate on the lid. Very innovative.

Here is a video of Victor Vitale from the show, talking about the Ortsac 1962 cigars:

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

CigarCraig

Comments Off on Delaware Cigar Festival, La Palina, Art Deco and Hammer + Sickle

Filed under Events, IPCPR, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk, Video

Tagged as Art Deco, Bill Paley, cigar, cigar shop, cigar shops, cigar store, cigar stores, cigars, delaware cigars, El Diaro, Hammer + Sickle, IPCPR, La Palina, Nestor Miranda, the cigar store

by CigarCraig | August 17, 2011 · 6:36 pm

Top Shelf Cigars in Skippack, PA, An Emilio And A Cusano CRA

Sunday we took a drive to Skippack Village, PA to check out Top Shelf Cigars. Skippack Village is a quaint little shopping area with all kinds of little shops and businesses. We located the cigar shop, which is tucked away in the back of a building. It was pouring, which it hasn’t really done all summer, so I shouldn’t complain, but couldn’t it rain overnight, or during a working day? It should always be nice and sunny on days off….but I digress. The shop has a nice little patio area, and I’m told that they have an event there on the first Thursday of every month with a cook out and specials which is very popular. I may have to try to catch one of these events in the near future. Anyway, it’s a nice little shop. They have cabinet humidors lining the outside walls with a counter in the center, so the store is in a “U” shape. On one side they had a couple couches and a TV. The humidors were well stocked, which is a departure from the mostly empty boxes I’ve seen in a lot of stores recently. I was impressed with the selection, they had a fair amount of what I consider to be reasonably priced lines, which are often absent in some of your nicer shops. Most of the major brands were represented, as well as a selection of their house brand, which I believe the gentleman there said was made by the folks at Don Leoncio/Pinar del Rio. They didn’t have a lot of the new items in yet, but were making room. The regular Cain line was marked down, for example, and, as if I needed any more cigars, I felt compelled to pick up a couple each of the Habano torpedos and Maduro 660s for $4.95 each. If you find yourself in the Montgomery County, PA area stop in and have a cigar. I’m pretty picky about cigar shops, and this one carries my seal of approval (worth the paper it’s printed on…..)

Some of this weeks cigars:

Emilio AF2 – the last of a pair that Gary Griffith sent me. I finally got to meet Gary at the IPCPR show. Yup, the guy operates not 25 miles from my home and I have to go 3000 miles away to meet him, pathetic, I know. Gary is a great guy, and introduced me to a few folks at the show which I’m grateful for. He also is 3 for 3 with the cigars he’s generously shared with me, the Grimalkin, and the Emilio AFs 1 and 2. I really dig all of them, and really can’t pin down a favorite, I like each one for different reasons. The AF2 is just a lovely medium to full bodied cigar that I enjoyed with my last bottle of Reed’s Ginger Brew, on my front porch watching the rain come down.

Cusano CRA Edition – I don’t have too much information on this, except that it came as a result of my renewal of my Cigar Rights of America membership last December. It has what I’m going to guess is an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper that gave the smoke a dry mouth feel and had a little bit of acidity. Not a bad cigar, but, to me, it wasn’t particularly memorable either. Unfortunately I went 0 for 2 on the CRA cigars, as the Casa Fernandez wasn’t exceptional either. Can’t complain, they only cost me $2.50 each over and above the cost of the membership, and are for a good cause. Every year I hope for a CRA edition Opus or Liga Privada…hasn’t happened yet. Still, it’s nice for the sponsoring manufacturers to provide some different cigars for joining. If I may vent a little: As a CRA member, I find it a lttle insulting when the CRA gives away a years membership, AND a 10 pack of the CRA edition cigars with the paid admission to certain events. I don’t want to take away from the events, because we NEED cigar events, and the CRA NEEDS members to fight so that we can continue to HAVE cigar events. But I feel like giving away the memberships ($35 for the membership, $99 for the 10 pack of cigars, $125 for admission to an all day event, admittedly a great deal for the attendee) defeats the purpose of raising funds for the organization. I guess I feel like my contribution is going toward giving other people free memberships instead of fighting for our freedoms. Of course, the gamble is that all the people receiving the free memberships will join next year, but I think the majority will either expect a free renewal at the event next year or won’t even think about contributing because it doesn’t represent a value to them (it was free). Anyway, I think giving the memberships away dilutes the funds available to fight the fight, and I don’t think I like that…your opinions and comments are welcome and appreciated, maybe I’m not seeing the whole picture and someone will set me straight! Again, no offense to the event that I have quite obviously failed to name, I wish I could attend, it sounds like a good time!