Monthly Archives: September 2011

by | September 14, 2011 · 8:29 pm

Cigars So Far This Week: a La Palina, a Macanudo and Contest Winners!

Once again I’d like you to welcome a new sponsor, and an old friend, C-Gars, Ltd.  The folks in the vast C-Gars Ltd empire are top notch when it comes to customer service. Check out their vast selection of cigars and accessories from around the world.  I also heard from another old friend from the alt.smokers.cigars days who has revamped his site, The Cigar Diary.  Tony’s site has some great information and a place to store and share your tasting notes.  Thanks, Tony, for hunting me down after all these years!

 

A few weeks back I received a couple of La Palina El Diario Gordos in the mail from Courtney at La Palina.  I had recently enjoyed the robusto in this line that was a sample from the IPCPR show, and was looking forward to trying other sizes.  The Gordo is a 6″ x 58, which is a hefty cigar.  I can’t figure out why I keep reaching for these enormous cigars lately.  I love coronas and lanceros, and I always felt that 52 ring gauge was about as big as I’d care for, but all of these gorilla finger sized cigars are sneaking into my rotation!  One thing I’ve noticed, and please tell me if you’ve noticed this too, but the last couple of 6 x 60s I’ve smoked (or close), seem to have….what’s the word I want?….clogged in the final 2 inches.  It’s not like they are plugged suddenly, but hey seem to slow down a bit.  Perhaps a year in the humidor would solve this.  I’ve gotten away from the point, the La Palina is an exceptional cigar, really nice, sweet flavor and a perfect burn, even in this large size. It took me in excess of one and a half hours to smoke this one.

 

Tuesday evening I grabbed my last Macanudo 1968 robusto and really enjoyed it.  I smoked one of these walking around Vegas in July, and I really like them.  They have a bit of a unique flavor that I can’t pinpoint, but it’s good.  The cold draw tasted like milk chocolate.  As one would expect, the construction is perfect and it burned without need for correction.  This is a solid cigar in my opinion, and one I would enjoy having in my humidor at all times.  Certainly this is not a Macanudo that your typical Macanudo smoker is going to appreciate, it’s on the full side of medium from my perspective.

 

Contest!

Speaking of Macanudo, I need to pick a couple winners for the latest contest.  I’ll be mailing out two Macanudo Millionaire 4 packs to the winners, provided they send me their contact info!  The four-pack includes 60 Ring gauge versions of the Cafe, Maduro, 1968 and Crü Royale (again with the 60 ring!).  I hope I win!  OK, I’m kidding, I’m not eligible.  For the first time, I added Twitter submissions for an additional entry and several people took advantage of that.  I resorted to the tried and true method of selection: listing each entry as it comes in, numbering them, and using the random number generator to pick the winners.  Boring, I know, but until I build a “wheel of fortune” out of dry erase board, this will have to do.  So the random number generator produced the numbers 2 and 13, which by my records corresponds to a tweet from @TriumphCIO and a comment from Spidey55!  Congrats to the two of you, please e-mail me your contact info so I can mail out your prizes!  Once again, my gratitude to General Cigars for providing the prizes and for their support!  I’m truly thankful for the relationship I’ve developed with them and the generous support they give to the cigar media community!

That’s it!  Time to take a cigar for a walk before it rains!

Until, the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | September 11, 2011 · 8:15 am

Weekend Cigars: A CroMagnon, A La Casita Criolla, G&G Cigars, and a Marco V

First off, I’d like to welcome our latest sponsor, CigarChoice.com.  As with all of my sponsors, please pay them a visit and consider them when doing your online shopping!  You will find their ads in the right-hand sidebar, as well as on the CigarCraigsList and Links pages.  I appreciate their support, but my opinions or my content will never be effected by outside sources!

 

After the torrential rain subsided this week, I was in the mood for something special, so I grabbed a CroMagnon Cranium that Skip Martin handed me at  the IPCPR show.  I guess this makes me a cigar weasel, but I suppose I’m in good company (this is a bit of an inside joke among those who follow Skip on Twitter).  This line is a collaboration between Skip and Michael Rosales of Adrians Premium Costa Rican Cigars, however it’s manufactured in Esteli, Nicaragua with Nicaraguan tobaccos wrapped in a Cameroon binder and finished off with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.  The cigar is rustic looking, but solid.  I anticipated loving this cigar, and I was right, broadleaf AND Cameroon?  Lovely combination!.  It had just the right punch and deep, dark flavors that were the perfect ending to the week.  Highly recommended, although only available from Havacigarshop.com.

 

I had some time on my hands Saturday, so I paid a much overdue visit to G & G Cigars in West Chester, PA, just 10 miles down the road from home.  I run into the owner, Doug, at the IPCPR show more than I do in his store.  Why? I guess I just don’t get out much.  The shop is in the middle of a busy college town/county seat in part of what was once the Warner Theater. As a long time area resident, I can remember going to matinees in that theater, but it’s been closed for decades and is currently being renovated into a hotel.  The shop is well appointed, has a generous selection of cigars and was staffed by a very nice gentleman named Tony, who made me feel quite welcome. I picked up a couple of the new La Casita Criolla corona from Tatuaje Cigars, since I had read about these, and they sounded like something I’d like.  These are made entirely of Nicaraguan Broadleaf, which is quite unusual.  Again, I was right, I DID like it.  This corona burned great, and had tons of dark, rich flavors, which came as no surprise. While $6.50 is generally outside of my comfort zone for a corona, I really wanted to try this one.   I was invited to sit in their members only lounge, and enjoyed a good hour or so with a diverse and interesting group of gents.  The store has a membership program where for $50 per year you can use the lounge and attend monthly special events.  On the one hand, I find it odd to not have a place open to the regular (non-member) clientele to enjoy a cigar after purchasing it, as well as having events that aren’t open to the general public.  However, it is a small shop, and they’ve obviously found something that works for them.  Very nice shop, and a very nice cigar to go along with it.

 

As I’m writing this, I’m enjoying a M. Vito x Marco V Cuban Perfecto Platinum Reserve, which was given to me by Marco V at the IPCPR show.  It’s a big, beautiful, dark perfecto wrapped in Brazilian Arapiraca.  I’m finding it to be on the lighter side of the medium that it says on the website, but it still has a nice flavor and is generally well behaved.  I selected this so that I could include a video from the show of Marco, as well as a video of a gentleman who was sharing his booth, Gunnar, who’s a very interesting German fellow.  Since it seems to be football season, it’s only appropriate to show off Gunnar’s creation, The Football Cigar, which is an actual premium cigar, despite it’s novelty appearance.  The Marco V is a nice cigar, the ash is a little flakey, but it’s pleasant and well made.   Both Marco and Gunnar are really nice folks and I thank them for taking their time with me at the show.

 

Here’s Marco telling us about his line of cigars:

And here’s Gunnar talking about his Football Cigar:

That’s it for now, don’t forget to write to your elected officials imploring them to co-sponsor the legislation that’s in both the House and the Senate to save Premium cigars from certain destruction at the hands of the FDA (right sidebar). Both Cigar Rights of America and the IPCPR have excellent tools on their sites to make writing to your legislators easy.  Also, only a few days left to enter the Macanudo Millionaire 4-pack contest where I’ll select two lucky winners on Wednesday, September 14!  Go HERE to enter!

 

CigarCraig

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by | September 7, 2011 · 8:53 pm

Rainy Week! More Cigars! Outlaw’s 13, Puros Indios, Fuente Hemingway

Don’t forget to go back to the last post and ever my contest to win one of two Macanudo Millionaire prize packs, and head over the MacanudoMillionaire.com and enter their contest to win a trip to Vegas and hang out with fuzzy little bunnies (I’m guessing they aren’t too fuzzy, but that’s a post on another blog…)  I love sending out cigars to people!

On to this weeks cigars so far!  Sunday evening I sparked up a cigar that I acquired on a trip, the 13 from Outlaw Cigars in Kansas City.  I’m not supposed to say anything about the provenance of this cigar, or how it came into my possession, but these are  readily available at Outlaw Cigar‘s site.  I really liked the cigar.  Like every cigar I’ve smoked that was made in this particular factory, it performed flawlessly.  I noticed that the ligero seemed to billow smoke from the burning foot like no other cigar I’ve seen.  I’m guessing it was the ligero since it was one small spot in the center of the cigar that was emitting the smoke, the rest of the coal seemed to behave normally.  It was weird, but didn’t take away from the cigar.  I imagine if this cigar had been released in it’s original intended brand it would have been one of the more highly sought after cigars of last year, so here’s a tip:  go to Outlaw and pick some of these up. There is a clue on the website what these were intended to be.

I finished off the holiday weekend with a Puros Indios Miami that Frank Santos of Reyes Family Cigars gave me at the IPCPR show. I’ve long been a fan of the Puros Indios and Reyes Family cigars, even back when you could almost count on a Puros Indios cigar being plugged. I never smoked a Chief, don’t even know if they are still made, but 18″ x 64 is an enormous cigar even by todays standards. Back to the Miami, this one had a big vein that didn’t have any effect on anything, except that it was ugly. It almost looked like the wrapper leaf was put on inside-out. For those who don’t know, or never really thought about it, of course a leaf has 2 sides, on one side, the veins are raised, the other side is normally smooth. The wrapper leaf is always applied with the smooth side on the outside of the cigar, which just makes sense, aesthetically. I don’t imagine that it makes any difference at all to the way the cigar tastes or burns, but a wise man once said that we first smoke with our eyes (I can’t recall who said that, but it’s quite true and a brilliant statement!). Anyway, the Puros Indios Miami was a very nice cigar, well made and flavorful.

 

Here’s a picture of some cigars that were on display in the Reyes Family Cigars booth at the trade show. Amazing wrapper artistry.

Click to enlarge, you’ll want to see this full size!

 

Here’s a short video from the trade show with Frank Santos from Reyes Family Cigars:

 

As I’m writing this, I’m smoking a nice Arturo Fuente Hemingway Best Seller.  It was a long, rainy day. Flooding in town hampered our ability to get home after some evening errands, when we finally got home I just wanted something delicious and reliable.  This fit the bill nicely. I had picked up a pair of these on my Father’s Day foray.  I suppose I could have chosen the aged Work of Art in either Cameroon or maduro, but  the Best Seller seemed more replaceable, if that makes sense.  As with all of the cigars mentioned here, I used the Ergonomic 4.5″ Cigar & Pipe Butane Torch Lighter from ButaneLightersWholesale.com to light this and it worked very well on the perfecto tip.

 

While I’m thinking about it, please pay a visit to my advertisers, I don’t want them to think that I’m just a hole in the internet to throw money into…need to give them some bang for their buck! As long as I’m reminding, don’t forget to pester your elected officials about supporting HR1639 and S1461 to protect our freedoms and keep people employed! Go to the legislative action center at IPCPR.org (or use the link in my sidebar) to send their well written letters!

 

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

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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by | September 4, 2011 · 10:21 am

It’s Contest Time! An Alec Bradley, An OSA Sol, A Macanudo and a Lighter Review

I realized that my last post had “and Some News” in the title, and I failed to include said news.  Bad form on my part!  While I go back and edit the title, I’ll say here that the news I was going to mention, while no longer breaking news, is that José  Blanco joined Joya de Nicaragua this week in the capacity of Senior Vice President.  I met José at the IPCPR show, as well as Dr. Cuenca, his new boss, both are fine gentlemen.  I had the pleasure of visiting the Joya de Nicaragua factory last March and, while I loved their cigars before, I developed a special fondness for them that comes from having a personal connection.  If I can blend what I think is an excellent cigar at that factory, José will be able to do amazing things there.  Best wishes to José and Joya de Nicaragua from everyone here at CigarCraig.com!

I had purchased an Alec Bradley American Classic Blend for myself for Father’s Day, and I came across another one  in my IPCPR samples, and I was in the mood for a big cigar, so I grabbed this 6×60 Gordo and took it for a walk to the store.  It’s got a beautiful band, and a really nice looking wrapper, made me really look forward to smoking this one.  This is made at the Plasencia Factory in Esteli, and had a Honduran Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  I really enjoyed the flavor, although I wish it had produced copious mouthfuls of smoke so that I could get more of the flavor.  It took a little bit to get a good mouthful of smoke, which was a little frustrating considering the huge girth on this cigar.  I’ll happily try this cigar again, and will try to get some different sizes in the future.

 

Friday brought the beginning of the Labor Day weekend, so I grabbed a CAO OSA Sol Lot 54 and enjoyed it on the front porch.  This 6x 54 version didn’t impress me quite as much as it’s 5x 50 little brother, but it was a darned fine cigar.  I don’t know exactly what made the 2 cigars different to me, maybe the Robusto seemed a little cleaner to me if that makes any sense. I suppose there are a dozen variables to consider, what I had to drink and eat, the weather, my mood, so my opinion really doesn’t matter in the end! Perfect burn and draw and a pleasing flavor.  Lasted a good hour and a half on a beautiful late summer evening.   I look forward to the CAO website having some information on it about this new cigar! 😉

For my Saturday evening walk to the store, I selected a Macanudo Crü  Royale Robusto that I received at the IPCPR show.  I had gotten one of these at the show last year and thought it was a really nice cigar, and this one was no different.  It’s not a mild cigar and, along with the 1968, is a really good, flavorful cigar.  It goes without saying that the quality of the construction is excellent.  I’ve smoked Macanudos that I could barely taste, but they’ve ALWAYS been perfectly rolled.  I like these a lot and they are priced well and they will be releasing a couple new sizes (if they haven’t already) in a tinned 4 3/16″ x 36 and a Poco Gordo at 4 x 60, to satisfy that 60 ring gauge demand.  Nice cigars for sure, something that any cigar smoker is sure to enjoy.  While I’m thinking of it, head on over to the  Macanudo Millionaire site and enter their contest to win a trip to Vegas and a chance to win a Million bucks.

 

Contest

Sticking with the Macanudo theme, General Cigars provided me with some of their Macanudo Millionaire  4 packs featuring 6 x 60 versions of the Cafe, Maduro, 1968 and Crü Royale cigars.  I’m going to select 2 winners on or around Wednesday, September 14, so leave a comment on THIS post saying something a little more substantive than say “comment” or “hello” to enter!  This time, as an added twist, I’ll count tweets which include @cigarcraig and the link to this article, doubling your chances to win!  Usual rules apply, Lloyd is ineligible this time around!  🙂

 

All of my cigars this week were ignited by a lighter that was provided to my for evaluation by Aaron at ButaneLightersWolesale.com.  The lighter is the Ergonomic 4.5″ Cigar & Pipe Butane Torch Lighter, which is a nice looking lighter.  It’s hefty, which makes it a little heavy in the trouser pocket, but has a nice feel in the hand.  My initial complaint is that on the lowest flame setting it doesn’t light for me, and on the highest setting the flame is just adequate. I let Aaron know this and he is looking into it with the manufacturer, which is a good sign that he’s a internet retailer with integrity.  This particular model wouldn’t be my personal first choice, but my wife thinks it’s cool looking, which it is.  Check out the site,  http://butanelighterswholesale.com/,   he seems to be concentrating on the “good lighters at a reasonable price” market segment, which fits my lighter philosophy just right.  I’ve owned a couple of fairly expensive lighters in the past and they’ve all crapped out after a while, and the cheaper lighters seem to last forever.  I’ll keep using this lighter exclusively and see how it holds up, and see if I can adjust the flame setting a little better.  I like to see a good 2″ blue flame on my single torch lighters.  Thanks again to Aaron for thinking of me.

That’s it for now, enter the contest, visit my sponsors and enjoy your Labor Day Weekend!

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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