Monthly Archives: August 2011

by | August 14, 2011 · 8:47 am

Sunday Cigar Recap: Joya de Nicaragua, Brick House, Berger & Argenti, Broadway and a Contest Winner!

Here’s a few cigars I smoked this week:

Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Robusto – I just love these cigars.  I loved them before I watched them being rolled in the factory, and I love them more every time I smoke one.  Such a good cigar.  Well balanced, great tasting and beautifully constructed.  To me they are special because I watched them rolled in Nicaragua, and they are reasonably priced (which is astounding considering the extra steps taken in the rolling process), and suite my taste buds.  If you haven’t tried these, you should.  I will purchase a box of the lanceros at some point, it’s just a matter of time…

 

Brick House Mighty Mighty 6¼” x 60   – For some reason I’ve been in the mood for large cigars, and this was a big one. This line has been around a while and received glowing reviews and is another reasonably priced cigar.  I picked this one up on my Father’s Day cigar run.  Very nicely made with rich flavors.  A most enjoyable 90 minute vacation in a cigar.  This line received an award from Cigar Journal magazine for the best value Nicaraguan cigar last month at the IPCPR show, an event which I was fortunate enough to attend.  This is made by the folks at J.C.Newman in Nicaragua based on one of the company’s first brands in the US. Again, a very nice cigar for a fair price.

 

Berger and Argenti Entubar Double Corona (7 5/8” x 54)  – Another large cigar, this one carrying a warning band at the foot advising to toast the entire foot, not just the protuberance of ligero, under penalty of death.  I was tempted to ignore this sage advise, but having spoken to both Kiki Berger (who gave me this sample) and Al Argenti at the show, I decided not to risk it and did as instructed.  There is something to be said for the entubado method of construction as the burn and draw were spectacular on this cigar.  It tasted good too, the Ecuadorian ‘Desflorado’ Connecticut wrapper, which seems to be all the rage these days, was very nice (I believe “Desflorado” means “deflowered”, and I was under the impression that all of the tobacco plants except for the absolute healthiest and strongest specimens have the flowers removed, so I’m not sure what this means in the description, but it is a cool sounding word!).

 

Broadway by La Aurora – I picked this up last March on a family trip to NYC at De La Concha. This is a cigar that La Aurora made specifically to help New York tobacconists survive after the 75% Tax on cigars was put into place. I picked up similar themed cigars from Alec Bradley and Gurkha while I was there. This is a nice cigar that starts out with a little kick. It’s a 5¾ x 54 with a unique double wrapper of Ecuador Sumatra and Nicaraguan, with Dominican Corojo binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Peruvian fillers. Mine burned fairly well, although my son, who smoked one with me, had some trouble with the burn on his. We may need to check his humidor, I can imagine with a double wrapper, the right humidity is going to be the key to a good burn with this. I’m trying to figure out how they manage to reduce the manufacturing cost of this cigar for sale in New York, but use two wrappers. It seems counter-intuitive, but I suppose it works, because the cigar is pretty tasty.

 

Here is a quick video of Kiki Berger from Cuban Crafters at last month’s IPCPR show. I’ll take this opportunity to thank Don Kiki again for taking the time to talk to me, hooking me up with a Cuban coffee and some samples, and giving me this spiffy new Perfect Cut cutter. I’ve been using this a lot in the last few weeks and I like it a lot. Unlike similar cutters that I like a lot, this one has a resin (plastic) body that is very light in the pocket. My other favorite cutter is all stainless steel and quite heavy. This one does a great job, has a cool hole in the back so you can cut a torpedo and doesn’t drag your trousers to the ground!

 

In the News

Here are a few interesting links I came across this week, the first is about an old brand that was made up the road from me in Reading, PA. The second one isn’t really cigar related, but is a cool article about a Beatles themed bar in Havana.

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=325430#.TkPxXgeipfs.email

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/world/americas/08havana.html?_r=3

 

Also, many thanks to our local newspaper, the Daily Local News for including this site on their Blogtown page and featuring it on the front page of their site yesterday!

 

Contest!

I need to select a winner of my General Cigars prize pack.  As you can see, the prize pack has doubled since I announced it a week ago, thanks to Victoria at General Cigars for sending along some more goodies.  Be sure to get on over to http://www.macanudomillionaire.com and enter to win a trip to Vegas and a chance to win a million bucks.  We had 17 entries, with one being disqualified since he won in the last 6 months.  So I entered  16 into the random number generator and it spit out the number 11 which corresponds to Paul.  Please drop me an e-mail with your address so I can get this out to you!  I hate to have to work too hard to give stuff away, so get your contact info to me with me having to chase you down! 🙂

 

That’s all I have for now, and I think we can all agree that it was enough…so until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | August 10, 2011 · 6:02 pm

Our Sunday Visit To A Hookah and Cigar Lounge

On Sunday my wife and I decided to visit the Cozy Hookah and Cigar Lounge in nearby West Chester, PA. We had only recently heard about this place, through Dealyo, one of the social shopping sites that are gaining popularity (Groupon, LivingSocial, etc.). Jenn had purchased a $30 coupon for $15  and we decided to check it out for lunch. The lounge is along one of the main, historic streets of West Chester, where a lot of the bars and restaurants are located, and they are open every day from 10 am to 4 am, so they get really busy after the bars close. There are couches with pillows, a VIP room in the back, and they have theme nights. A very comfortable place.

 

When we walked into the empty lounge we were greeted by Alex, who gave us a tour of the place, and set us up with a hookah and a plate of hummus and pita, which was delicious. We also had some Moroccan tea and a plate of Buffalo wings. As I had said in my last post, we were considering going on Saturday night, when they have a belly dancer and DJ, but I’m glad we went when it was quiet and we had room to relax and stretch out a little. As far as the smoking experience goes, smoking a hookah is not very different from smoking a cigar.  Both are fairly social activities, and are about the flavor of the smoke.  It was quite enjoyable and I was pleased to find that my wife thought it was as well.

 

The owner, Mahrous, joined us for a while and told us how he got started with a restaurant in Greenwich Village with his brother, and how a friend asked if he could smoke his hookah in the back yard (I’m envisioning a garden or terrace with seating) since he couldn’t smoke it at home. Patrons of the restaurant asked to try it after while and it caught on there, and the hookah lounge was born. Fast forward twenty five years and he opened the lounge in West Chester.

 

My wife and I spent about 3 hours, a couple hookahs of (don’t laugh) Cherry Coke flavored shisha, another pot of Egyptian green tea (delicious, by the way) and a La Gloria Cubana Serie N in the lounge and a few people came and went, but it was a Sunday afternoon and the local college isn’t in session. Certainly the name “Cozy” is appropriate, and it’s nice to have a place that you can take your wife and enjoy a cigar and everyone’s happy. I can see meeting friends here for a smoke (cigar or hookah), and a quiet evening of conversation, at least during the quieter times, and I probably will organize something in the not too distant future. Kudos to Mahrous for opening a “smoking” establishment in this day and age, and having the community’s support in doing so.

Mahrous was kind enough to say a few words on video, and I actually make an appearance in this one, my apologies in advance 🙂

 

httpv://youtu.be/alJEP2NQ9WU

 

Ironically, our friends at Drew Estate are currently running a contest featuring their Acid shisha:

http://blog.drewestate.com/index.php/cigars/acid-shisha-giveaway/

 

Also, don’t forget to enter my contest to win a General Cigars prize pack. Contest ends Sunday!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

Cozy Hookah & Cigar Lounge – 122 E. Gay Street – West Chester, PA 19380

610-696-5300  –  http://www.hookahandcigarlounge.com/

Open 10 am to 4 am daily (3am on Sundays)

 

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by | August 7, 2011 · 5:55 pm

General Cigars Week, a Macanudo, IPCPR Booth Tours and a Contest!

First off I’d like to thank and welcome Bonita Smoke Shop, our newest advertiser! Please give them a visit, either if you’re in Bonita Springs, FL, or by clicking on the graphic on the right! Nice folks with a great selection who were among the first shops with an internet presence back in the wild west days of the ’90s!

 

We left off having smoked a series of CAO cigars, and, since CAO is now part of General Cigar, I figured I’d wrap up the week with some more General products and a contest!  In an unrelated note, I had been approached some time ago by the marketing folks for a jazz artist named Anders Holst to review his CD, but it seems like I procrastinated and reviews have appeared on several other blog sites.  I don’t want to be repetitive, so check out Barry’s interview and review at ACigarSmoker.com.  I was going to try to tie it in with a review, but decided it’s been done, so thanks to Anders and the folks at his PR company for thinking of me.

 

The other evening I enjoyed a Macanudo 1968 Robusto again, I punched this one and the draw was excellent. I have really been digging these lately. A good friend related a story to me that when these were initially released he offered them unbanded, in a Havana cigar box, at an event and people thought they were Cuban. I don’t know about all that, and the power of suggestion can’t be discounted, but I really don’t draw a comparison. That’s not to say the Mac 68 isn’t a fine cigar, it is. It’s well made and very tasty. Since they lowered the price on these a few months back, it’s even a better cigar.

 

Saturday brought a migraine, which I tried to sleep off in anticipation of visiting a hookah and cigar lounge that’s opened in West Chester, PA (which is a few miles up the road from us). They are supposed to have a belly dancer on Friday and Saturday nights, and we’ve been trying to get there for a smoke. I’ve never tried the hookah, but I’m not repulsed by it and they do include cigars in the name of the place, so I’m open to try it out. I also was going to drive out to Lancaster PA to a cigar shop to meet up with a few folks, notably some of the guys from StogieReview.com. In the end, the migraine, along with my wife getting home from a business event later than anticipated, won the battle and we stayed in.

 

While I’m thinking about it, head on over to http://www.macanudomillionaire.com and enter the contest to win a trip to Vegas and a chance to win a million bucks. From the press release:

“Between now and September 30, consumers 21 year of age or older can enter to win an all-expense paid, three-day, two night trip to the in Las Vegas. While in Sin City, each winner and their guests will be treated to a VIP evening at the Playboy Club. There, a trio of Playboy Playmates will stand in for Lady Luck when each of the contestants and their guests play a high-stakes round of poker. If either the contest winners or their guests have a straight flush or higher, Macanudo will award the $1,000,000 prize.”

 

Here are a few videos I shot during my tour of the General Cigars booth at the IPCPR show. As always, these are raw videos, and, due to the ambient noise in the aircraft hangar they call an exhibition hall, they aren’t all that easy to hear. Thanks again to General Cigars for rolling out the red carpet for me again. They have quite a few exciting items again this year.

 

 

Contest!

 

Leave a comment to enter to win at least a five pack of General Cigar goodies, maybe more, but it will be at least five, I may be able to scrounge up more goodies. Contest will run for one week, with the winner being drawn on Sunday, August 14, 2011. Usual rules apply.  The prize may grow over the course of the week, hard to say!

 

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

CigarCraig

 

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by | August 3, 2011 · 7:30 pm

CAO La Traviata, Brazilia And The New OSA Sol

It’s been CAO week so far. Got off to a good start with a CAO La Traviata natural. This was the first of this line I’ve smoked. Why, you ask? I don’t know, I just never came across them in the store until I went out to blow the Living Social Gift certificates I received for Father’s Day and decided to grab one. I had smoked a Maduro, which had been a trade show sample from last year’s IPCPR show, and I didn’t care for it. The CAO brand is like that with me, hit or miss. I really wanted to like the Italia and the Criollo, but don’t like either. The black and gold lines are pretty good, and I really liked the MX2, CX2 and the occasional LX2, and the Cameroon Anniversary was really good (I still have a Tubo from a box I purchased over 8 years ago! So I was a little “eh” on trying the La Traviata after the disappointment of the maduro. However, after all the hype I figured I owed the natural a shot. I’m glad I did, because I really enjoyed the cigar. One complaint about this cigar is that it has the look of a bundle cigar, and specifically I refer to the lack of a discernible cap line, which may have caused the cut to be a bit ragged. This only detracted from the experience a little bit, I can be a little CDO (that’s OCD in alphabetical order, LIKE IT SHOULD BE!) about a nice clean cut on a cigar. It burned well and had a pleasing flavor. This is a cigar that I will pick up again.

 

I took my Monday evening walk accompanied by a year and a half old CAO Brazilia Gol. The Gol is listed at 5″ x 56. For some reason, it seemed closer to 50, but maybe that has something to do with the trend towards 60 ring cigars making 50 the new 42? I don’t know, it just seemed like my perspective is thrown off by all of these beefy ring gauge cigars lately. Whatever the ring gauge, I have enjoyed these in the past, as I tend to like nice, dark, heavy cigars from time to time. This cigar had a very well applied cap and cut very cleanly. Not a whole lot I can say about this cigar other than I enjoyed the heck out of it down to a finger burning nub. Beautiful dark and oily wrapper on these!

 

After deciding on a CAO theme, I figured it would be a good time to light up the new CAO OSA Sol Lot 50, which was just released at the IPCPR show a few weeks ago. This particular cigar has a nice milk chocalate colored wrapper,and, disappointingly, has that same lack of a discernible cap line as the La Traviata. I know it’s a small thing, and doesn’t take away from the flavor, but it take a little bit away from the overall presentation of the cigar. Speaking of presentation, the box these come in is pretty nice looking! It’s a white box with a green “stripe” weaving across the lid. Very striking! I punched the cigar to avoid the same ragged cut I got from the similarly capped La Traviata and was pleased with the draw. I was also quite pleased with the flavors. This is a solidly medium bodied smoke, it’s smooth, it’s well made, it’s tasty. I will probably smoke the one other sample I have too soon and have to wait until they hit the shelves to get some more because I will be impatient and want to enjoy this cigar again. I only wish that the cigar had been longer, because it seemed to be finished too soon.  I REALLY enjoyed this cigar!

 

In this video from the trade show, Ed McKenna and Rick Rodriguez tell us about the new CAO OSA Sol:

Apologies for the low volume in the video, but it gets the point across.

One more tidbit:  I came across a new podcast, as if I needed one more in my rotation, it’s called CigarSnapshot.  It’s hosted by Bill Berris, who is another alt.smokers.cigars usenet group veteran.  His format is short, to the point, podcasts, which will fit in well with my habits.  Good Luck Bill!

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

CigarCraig

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