Monthly Archives: December 2014

by CigarCraig | December 17, 2014 · 6:34 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2014 Day 7: Arandoza Cigars

Here we are at the halfway point, six days down and lots more to come! I was more surprised at the number of people who hadn’t smoked Joya de Nicaragua than Tortuga, just because the Joya has a far wider distribution and has been around something like 42 years longer! Both are great, but this Tortuga 215 Reserva Regalo is something very special. The winner of the Tortuga cigars is Craig (Bowden), who has the good sense to be named Craig, but that had no bearing on the outcome of the random number generator (65). Please send your address.

Arandoza Cigars

It’s Day 7 of CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways! Once again we have a treat from the folks at Arandoza Cigars, a box of 20 of the Arandoza White Label Doble Corona. This is a traditional sized double corona at 7 ¼” x 49 and comes from the La Zona Factory in Esteli. The White Label is a step up in strength from the Blue Label, well balanced and refined. I have a box of robustos myself and love them! If you like great cigars, you’re sure to like these. Robert Arango is really doing things right with the Arandoza brand and I thank him for participating yet again!

Rules

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on that day’s post and if you like, in one sentence tell us what comes to mind when you think of Arandoza Cigars. It’s not a condition to win, but I’d like for the folks who make this all possible to come away with some consumer feedback. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

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by CigarCraig | December 16, 2014 · 6:39 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2014 Day 6: Tortuga

Here we are at Day 6 already, time is really racing by. I decided that I’m going to try to ship everything at the same time since I got a coupon for 20% off USPS shipping at Staples and that will save me a lot of cash!! I enjoyed the heck out of my Joya Red on my walk last night, it’s a solid, medium bodied smoke with great flavor. The winner of the box of Joya de Nicaragua Joya Red is Brian D, and I’m sure he will enjoy these cigars! Please send your address! Just to ease everyone’s minds, all the cigars for this event have been kept in a dedicated coolerdor at the appropriate temperature and humidity! It’s still always a good idea to let cigar rest after they’ve made any kind of journey! Next up:

Tortuga Cigars/Legacy Brands

For Day 6 we have a really special present! Regular readers will know that I have an affinity for the Tortuga line, and Victor Vitale, the mastermind behind the brand, and owner of Legacy Brands, lives nearby in Philly, so I get to see him from time to time. Victor ‘s put together a special Connecticut Shade Cigar, the Tortuga 215 Reserva Regalo. These aren’t available anywhere, they a re a very special limited release and are a bit stronger than the milder Connecticut Tortuga 215 Reserva coming out in January. Victor tells me that the Regalo will never be released. The lucky winner will get three of the five count boxes (15 cigars). These are a fat Toro size, 6″ x 56, and are fantastic cigars! I’m calling today “Tortuga Tuesday”!

Rules

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on that day’s post and if you like, in one sentence tell us what comes to mind when you think of Tortuga Cigars. It’s not a condition to win, but I’d like for the folks who make this all possible to come away with some consumer feedback. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

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by CigarCraig | December 15, 2014 · 6:35 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2014 Day 5: Joya de Nicaragua

Welcome back for yet another day of cigar giveaways! I hope you aren’t tired of this yet! There’s a ton more to come. I would like to have smoked an Arandoza Blue Label yesterday, but I’m out, and my plan to run to the one of the only stores that have them 9 miles away fell through as I got the lights up on the house and then my daughter and he kids came over. Another time, I suppose. I have some bad news for Lloyd Ladrillono, he’s no longer eligible to win anything in the 12SDoCG because he winner of the box of Arandoza Blue Label cigars! Please confirm your address so I can try to get these shipped out to you next weekend! Thank you to Robert Arango at Arandoza Cigars for providing yesterday’s gift!

Joya de Nicaragua

The present for Day 5 is from Joya de Nicaragua, the oldest cigar factory in Nicaragua. This year they came out with the Joya Red, a medium bodied cigar that’s loaded with flavor. I’ve had the pleasure of smokeing quite a few of these since last June, and they are really quite good. Today’s present is a box of 20 Joya Red Cañonazo (5½ x 54). Juan Martinez, the President of Joya de Nicaragua, was the mastermind behind asking for consumer feedback in this contest. He would like to know two things: in one sentence tell us what comes to mind when you think of Joya de Nicaragua and what comes to mind when you think of Nicaraguan Tobacco. Let’s see what you can come up with! Thank you to Juan at Joya de Nicaragua and John Brook at Drew Estate (the US distributor of JdN) for making today’s present possible!

Rules

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on that day’s post and if you like, in one sentence tell us what comes to mind when you think of Joya de Nicaragua and what comes to mind when you think of Nicaraguan Tobacco. It’s not a condition to win, but I’d like for the folks who make this all possible to come away with some consumer feedback. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

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by CigarCraig | December 14, 2014 · 6:46 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2014 Day 4: Arandoza Cigars

I try, when I can, to smoke the cigar that’s in the giveaway if I have one, and yesterday I found both the Dunkel and the Bunker Buster in the humidor (don’t worry, I’m not digging into the presents!). I really wanted to smoke the Dunkel, but I couldn’t bring myself to smoke an Oktoberfest cigar in December. I suppose I’ll have to wait until September now to fire that one up! I did smoke my last 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster and it was awesome! I don’t find these as strong as the regular La Bomba line, which i love, but boy was it good. I’m certain that the winner of yesterday’s goodies is going to be thrilled with both. Today’s winner comes from the group known as “Ward B” in Facebook and Cigarworld circles, and is a longtime reade. The winner of the Smoke Inn/Kiss My Ash Radio present is TriMarkC! Please send your current coordinates so I can get this stuff to you! Happy Sunday, let’s get to Day 4!

Arandoza Cigars

Arandoza Cigars is a reasonably new brand that’s being made at Eric Espinoza’s La Zona factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. The Arandoza Blue Label Toro (box of 20) is a Nicaraguan puro with a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper and is a very nice smoke. Robert Arango takes pride in being a family owned company, La Zona is a hot factory, and the Arandoza line has been among my favorite new cigars over the past year or so. One of you is in for a treat.

Rules

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on that day’s post and if you like, in one sentence tell us what comes to mind when you think of Arandoza Cigars. It’s not a condition to win, but I’d like for the folks who make this all possible to come away with some consumer feedback. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 12 days, Arandoza, cigar, cigars, Contest

by CigarCraig | December 13, 2014 · 6:46 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2014 Day 3: Smoke Inn

Day 2 is in the books and we are going to keep forging ahead! I’m up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday and can’t think of anything to write, so the winner of the Drew Estate present is Matt Henrich! Many thanks again to all the folks at Drew Estate for providing these gifts!

Smoke Inn/Kiss My Ash Radio

Day 3 brings us to the fine folks at Smoke Inn and Kiss My Ash Radio. Since today is Saturday, if you are reading this early enough, you can tune into Kiss My Ash radio and listen live at KissMyAshRadio.com from 10am to noon Eastern Standard Time, or download the podcast and listen whenever you want. Abe at Smoke Inn has provided two boxes from his Microblend series, the 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster, a 5½ x 56 box pressed Figurado (box of ten) and the Quesada Oktoberfest Dunkel, which is a Broadleaf wrapped version of the Oktoberfest line (box of 15). These are both delicious, both limited production and will look great sitting on the rim of the huge KMA Ceramic Ashtray. A KMA cap rounds out today’s present. Could I have split this up into two spectacular days? Sure, but whats the fun in that? Thanks to Abe and his gang at Smoke Inn and Kiss My Ash Radio!

Rules

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on that day’s post and if you like, in one sentence tell us what comes to mind when you think of Smoke Inn. It’s not a condition to win, but I’d like for the folks who make this all possible to come away with some consumer feedback. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig