Monthly Archives: June 2015

by | June 28, 2015 · 9:03 am

Cigar Brothers, Wooden Indian, Cigar Mojo and the Fratello Bianco Toro

I had a pretty busy week this week, visiting cigar store and hanging out with some great folks, smoking great cigars!  I was actually planning to stop in to Smoke Cigar Lounge in Manyunk, PA, just outside Philadelphia, but traffic was backed up, and it sounded like they were having a street festival on the main street there, so we gave up on that idea and stopped at a new shop only a few miles from home called Cigar Brothers in Berwyn, PA. This shop is an old house, and the downstairs part is the store, all humidified with the cigars out on  shelves. The selection was very good,lots of boutiques as well as old standards. I grabbed a few CAO Flathead Sparkplugs CAOFlatheadSparkplugand some Rocky Patel Super Ligeros and chatted with the properly named co-owner, Craig. The lounge is upstairs, basically two rooms and a hall with a bathroom. It’s not a great space for an event, as there’s no one large gathering area, but it’s nice for just hanging out with a few people. It’s bright and comfortable and well ventilated. I smoked the CAO Sparkplug there, as we had spent the afternoon in traffic and Craig was closing in an hour. I love the Flathead line, and really like this little cigar.  It’s rich, full-bodied and burns right.  We had a great afternoon talking to Craig and hanging out in this

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new shop that I think will do well.

 

Nica Rustica_El BrujitoThis weekend was Famous Smoke Shop’s Cigarnival event, which I’ve attended in the past, so there have been a bunch of “cigarlebrities” in the general vicinity.  Wednesday my oldest son and I went down to the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA where they were having a Drew Estate event with Chris Stone and Pedro Gomez.  Pedro runs the Cigar Safari and tours the US doing events in the off-season.  My son hadn’t seen him since we were in Nicaragua in 2011, so it was a nice reunion and it was nice to go out and have a cigar with the kid for a change. I went with another favorite, the Nica Rustica. It looks like it’s a Maduro week!  Great cigar, great friends, and a great shop. I even won an Acid Fat Tips t-shirt, who remembers those? I never smoked one, but it was supposed to be a mass market Acid with a plastic tip, but it never really caught on.  Anyway, if you haven’t met Pedro, don’t miss the chance, and if you have, well, you know why I’m recommending you meet him! I didn’t take one darned picture the whole evening dammit.

 

Mojo1Thursday found me at Cigar Mojo for a packed house. Earlier in the day they had visits from Nick Perdomo and Jesus Fuego, but the evening event featured Aging Room Cigars and Rafael Nodal, along with his sons Carlos and Rafael Jr.  I continued the maduro theme with an Aging Mojo2Room Maduro that was the free cigar with purchase, Rafael said the bundle came from his personal humidor and they were from the initial release. Once again, this was a nice smoke, very rich with a nice sweet mocha vibe, fortunately I picked up a few more, as well as some Mojo3Havao. I generally run into someone I know there and caught up with some old acquaintances from another shop I’ve been to. I had a nice time conversing with Rafael and his sons, Rafael is one of the nicest guys around.

 

Fratello_Bianco_IIFriday evening I was back in my routine of taking Macha for a walk and enjoying a cigar, and I selected a Fratello Bianco II Toro to celebrate the end of another week. Omar made this cigar with me specifically in mind! (I have an e-mail from him saying that, but I don’t really buy it…). The San Andreas wrapper is a beautiful dark brown with a sheen of oil, it’s dark, even though the cigar is named “White”. It has a Dominican binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Peru and Pennsylvania, my home state (maybe Omar wasn’t blowing smoke up my skirt after all! **now there’s a mental image for you!**).  If I knew nothing more than the composition of this cigar I’d figure it was a really good chance I’d love it, but I also know where it’s made and the guy behind it, there would have to be something monumentally wrong for me not to like this cigar.  As it turns out, all my preconceptions did not lead to disappointment.  The Fratello Bianco is a brilliant cigar. It has the similarity to strong, bitter black coffee that I like, as well as a solid core of savory flavor and perhaps a hint of

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sweetness. This is an after dinner espresso (double, it was a 6″x 50 toro after all).  I dig it, I can’t wait to smoke the 5″ x 56 III and the corona that Omar so generously sent to me, and buy some of these when they hit the stores. I may even put the mooch on Omar at the trade show in a few weeks (naw, I’ll leave the samples for the retailers…). This is a winner, hands down.  Molto buon sigaro!

 

So ends another week. It did nothing but rain yesterday, so I got nothing done save for smoking a nice Inca Secret Blend Imperio after dinner on the back porch, breaking my maduro binge.  If you happen to find yourself in Easton, PA today (Sunday June 28), Rafael Nodal is going to be playing piano at Leaf, the great restaurant at Famous Smokeshop.  Going to events at shops is a great way to increase your appreciation for cigars, as well as add some new stock to your humidors. Support your local retailers, and Cigar Rights of America while you’re at it!

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 21, 2015 · 9:58 am

Larceny by Ortega and El Primer Mundo Cigars

Eddie Ortega and Sean Williams teamed up recently and produced Larceny in two blends, with each blending the cigar to what they considered the other’s taste.  The cigars were made at Eric Espinoza’s La Zona factory in Esteli, a factory that has been cranking out some consistently great cigars in my opinion. These are really limited, they only made three hundred boxes, with each box containing ten of each blend.  The Ortega Larceny by Sean Williams has a beautiful San Andrés maduro wrapper with filler and binder from Nicaragua, and the EPM Larceny by Eddie Ortega has an Ecuador Oscuro wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. Both cigars are 6½ x 52, a bit of a toro extra, and a v

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ery nice size for warm summer (almost) evenings. Will Cooper was kind enough to send me a pair of these, I haven’t seen them in my neck of the woods.

 

Larceny_EPMBy the “oscuro” in the EPM Larceny by Eddie Ortega wrapper name you’d think it was darker than the maduro, but it is actually a milk chocolate brown.  I thought it looked reminiscent of Ortega’s Cubao line in appearance, maybe that’s just the power of suggestion and if I didn’t know who was behind this I probably would make that association.  I really enjoyed the cigar, it was well made and gave me no trouble while smoking it even though I managed to get caught in a brief rain shower while walking with this cigar.  The flavors were what I consider earthy, and to my palate that generally includes leather and wood, with a bit of sweetness. It started out medium, but ended up pretty darned strong.  I like Eddie’s work, so I figured I’d like this.  I don’t have enough experience with the El Primer Mundo line to be able to draw a comparison, but I’ve liked what I’ve smoked of Sean’s lines, especially his La Hermandad.

 

Larceny_OrtegaThe Ortega Larceny by Sean Williams had a dark, San Andrés wrapper not unlike the Murcialago from years ago.  While I was continually confused about who blended which for who, I totally get where Sean was going with this, having enjoyed Ortega’s cigars for many years.  This cigar is a powerhouse, loaded with the bitter coffee and chocolate flavors that I like a lot.  Once again, great construction which I’ve found to be very consistent with the output of La Zona.  I see where Smoke Lounge in Manyunk, PA was on the list of shops to have these, I’ve been meaning to check that place out anyway, I’ll have to see if they have any of these and get some more.  While this cigar  was more in my personal wheel house, I really enjoyed both blend

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s on their own. Unfortunately the packaging and marketing of these almost forces comparison and competition, and I’m not sure that’s fair as they are both quite excellent cigars on their own.  Thanks again to Coop for hooking me up with these!

 

It’s a short one today.  It’s Father’s Day, and I have planned my traditional Father’s Day cigar at some point, one I’ve smoked every Father’s Day for the last 16 years, a vintage Esperanza para los Niños torpedo, made by Christian Eiroa in the late 90’s to benefit the children orphaned by Hurricane Mitch in Honduras. I was almost out of these until my good friend Mike Perry sent me a handful so I can continue the tradition for a few more years! It’s always interesting to see how another year has treated this blend, which was pretty heavy to begin with and had mellowed over the years. Other than that, I have no plans as of yet beyond celebrating the first day of summer and longest day of the year.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | June 17, 2015 · 8:50 pm

Nestor Miranda Collection One Life Edition Danno 2015 Cigars

Last Saturday, while I was goofing off in Philadelphia at Holt’s, I was missing Nestor Miranda at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, just a few long miles away. I certainly would have gone there if I hadn’t had something else planned, but Jason at Miami Cigar and Co. was kind enough to send me a couple of the new Nestor Miranda Collection One Life Edition Danno 2015 cigars, and I spent the first part of the week smoking each blend. This cigar is basically the same bl

end as the Nestor Miranda Collection One Life Edition, but tweeked to work in the 7″ x 56 size which the previous Danno releases have been. These are made at Pepin Garcia’s My Father Factory in Esteli. This is a large cigar, and I like spending a good two hours with a cigar on warm, late spring evenings.  Regular readers wi

ll be able to guess which wrapper I started out with, but my be surprised which ended up being my favorite of the three!  Spoiler alert: they were all excellent.

 

Nestor Miranda Collection_Danno2015_MaduroHad I been smoking these back to back in one day, I would have started with the Connecticut, moved on the the Habano, then finished off with the Maduro, but I went in reverse order, starting with the maduro. This is listed as Broadleaf Maduro, which I can assume is grown in Connecticut.  It’s a dark brown, and has the new style red,black and silver band, very stunning in appearance. The cigar burned very well, and had a sweet flavor with some coffee and cocoa and a little bit of the spice from some Peruvian leaf in the filler.  I enjoyed the heck out of this cigar, and it fell on the heavier side of medium to my palate.  This is a really nice cigar.

 

Nestor Miranda Collection_Danno2015_HabanoMonday I enjoyed the Habano version.  Despite the fact that I had to re-light it frequently, it was a tasty smoke.  I think the Nicaraguan Habano wrapper is a bit more sensitive to humidity than the maduro, although that makes little sense to me, as broadleaf is typically thicker.  I th

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ink it was pretty humid on Monday, and there may have been a storm that evening.  I am looking forward to smoking this again in a few months, as the flavor of the cigar was really quite good with some sweet woody flavors.  This one has a bit of Brazilian leaf in the filler, probably giving it that little sweetness.  This will be a terrific smoke when it dries a little, I’ll take the blame for smoking these too soon off the truck.  I would not avoid this of you are a fan of Medium bodied Habano wrapped cigars.

 

Nestor Miranda Collection_Danno2015_ConnecticutTuesday I went with the Connecticut. This one has fillers from Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic, and the same Niucaraguan binder as the other two.  The shade grown wrapper is flawless, and, like the other two, this has a bit of a pigtail cap, although on my example it was a bit flattened down. things like that don’t bother me as I’m only lopping that bugger off anyway. This may be surprising, but this one may have been my favorite of the bunch!  Smooth, creamy and on the milder side of medium.  I was recently asked to recommend some lighter cigars, and this should be added to the list. I have to be in the mood for a shade wrapped cigar, and luckily I got in the mood real quick, as this was well balanced and exactly what I look for in this style of cigar.  Very well done.

 

LaAuroraPreferidosCorojoTonight I selected another cigar from the Miami Cigar and Co. stable, but I probably would have smoked it regardless of the fact that I was smoking the Nestor Miranda Collection Dannos.  I picked up some La Aurora Preferidos Corojo #2 at my local shop for the low low price of $5.99 each, and took one for my evening walk. I have a tradition of smoking a La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003 whenever a granddaughter is born, and today was my youngest granddaughter’s second birthday. Close enough.  While the 5″ x 54 Preferidos No.2 was a bit short for my three mile walk, it was loaded with flavor.  It was a very enjoyable smoke and I’ll keep picking a few up at that price when I see them. The perfecto shape is a lot of fun too. It’s a tasty little smoke.

 

That’s it for this special mid-week edition!  Many thanks to Miami Cigar and Co. for providing me with these samples. Stay tuned for some new humidor news and another contest in the near future, an

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d I’m getting prepared for the upcoming IPCPR show.  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | June 14, 2015 · 8:23 am

Fratello Cigars, a Room 101, A Vega Fina Do-over, and a Fuente at Holts

Fratello_H-TownWelcome to another week of cigar stories!  I started off the week with a couple cigars from Fratello Cigars, a Robusto and the H-Town Lancero. The Lancero came first. This cigar is exclusive to Stogies World Class Cigars in Houston (check the ad in the left sidebar for a discount code!). Stogies has a series of store exclusive lanceros from several notable manufacturers and the Fratello joined the ranks earlier this year. I followed the Lancero with the robusto to get a sense of what might have been different. They both share a woody spice, probably due to the Peruvian leaf. The Lancero is a bit milder because of the lack of Ligero in the blend. Both cigars are loaded with flavor and burn perfectly. Omar is a terrific guy, very passionate and charismatic. If you get the chance to hang out with him and smoke his cigars, jump on it. Stay tuned for more on the H-town series as I will be probably working through the line up this week.

 
Room101_NamakubiEcuador_RanflaMidweek I selected a Room 101 Namakubi Ecuador Ranfla from the humidor. I bought this cigar a couple of years ago at an event at a local shop with Matt Booth in attendance. I still hesitate to spend $10 on a single cigar, but I apparently did it due to the price sticker on the paper sleeve. I suppose when Matt tells you should buy that cigar, you listen. Every time I smoke a Room 101 cigar I have to bitch about the same thing: finding information on a website. Davidoff has made such a huge push in the last couple years you’d think it would be easier to find solid info. What is mystifying to me is that there is conflicting information on retail websites as well as reputable blog sites. I measured the cigar at 6½ inches and many sources list the Ranfla at 5½. Seems odd that a well oiled machine like Davidoff wouldn’t provide the right information to retailers (an easy to find website would help!) I wasted too much time searching for info on this cigar, and bitch about it! It was a very tasty cigar, the salamone shape is cool and the cigar worked as it was supposed to.

 
VegaFinaNicaragua_Gran ToroI picked up another of the Vega Fina Nicaragua Gran Toro for one of my evening walks. A couple of weeks ago I put one of these down about two inches in because it pissed me off. This one burned great, I’m thinking over humidification was the problem.  Now that I’ve had a chance to smoke the cigar properly I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s on the milder side for a Nicaraguan, or maybe “smooth” is a better description.  It was a good cigar, not great, or really distinctive, but solid in flavor and balance.  While there wasn’t really anything that grabbed me by the collar and shook me around, it would make a good cigar to keep on hand for newbies, or the occasional smoker. I don’t think it was priced unreasonably (or I wouldn’t have picked some up I’m pretty sure!), so you could certainly do worse. There are other cigars in the Altadis portfolio that I would reach for before this one, but it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye.

 

HoltsYesterday was a pretty good day for my wife and I.  My wife had received a very generous gift from a friend for a Beatles themed massage at a salon in Center City Philadelphia (she has a Beatles blog at Beatles-Freak.com), which just happened to be directly across the street from Holt’s Cigars.  So I was forced to sit around a cigar shop while waiting for her to get her hour-and-a-half massage. Tough, I know. I picked up a few cigars at Holt’s, although they didn’t have the couple specific cigars I was looking for, much to my surprise. I grabbed some Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signatures in maduro, just because I like them, and you don’t see them everywhere, especially priced at $7.65 each. I also grabbed a few RoMaCraft Cromagnon Mode 5, since I’ve heard good things about them. I sat down in the empty lounge in the rear of the hemingwayshop and lit up one of the Hemingway maduros. I love that gnarly broadleaf wrapper on that cigar. Don’t get me wrong, the Cameroon wrapper on the regular line is great, as I said, you don’t see the maduros all the time and I’ve got a soft spot for the maduros!! I had a great time conversing with a travelling gentleman (Vince? I’m terrible with names!) who was visiting from South Carolina, once again proving that you can always find a friend at a cigar shop, whether you are there for the first time or a regular.  That Signature was great down to a half-inch nub, and went real well with the espresso we were offered by a staff member.  After both my wife and I were done with our “treatments”, we walked a block away to Alma de Cuba for dinner. No smoking at this “modern Latin cuisine” restaurant.  One of the highlights was an appetizer of dates, wrapped in bacon with an almond and blue cheese, which was an orgiastic ashtonfeast of the senses. The service was spectacular, the Cafe Cubano was pretty good, and the food was a flavor explosion, almost overwhelming.  Quite the spot if you find yourself in Philly, but you’ll have to head to Ashton Cigar Bar for after dinner smokes (which we did not do). I should have poked my head in the door while I was there, but I didn’t, something for another time. It’s directly above Holt’s.  So it was a great night out, we each got to do “our” things, and then had a nice dinner.

 

That about does it for today, time to get some things done around the house so I can relax with a fine cigar later! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 10, 2015 · 8:49 am

Boveda to donate 50% of sales to CRA June 10th and 11th

Every day, Cigar Rights of America is actively defending the rights of growers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers of premium cigars. With the FDA’s intention of regulating cigars, their work has never been more important.

Because we’re committed to the health of the cigar industry, we’ve decided to donate 50% of retail sales on June 10-11th to CRA. You heard that right, half of every dollar you spend at BovedaStore.com is going to CRA to help keep the FDA out of your humidor and your decisions.

There’s never been a better time to stock up on Boveda. Forward this to your family with your Father’s Day requests, forward it to your cigar pals and let them know.

And by all means, show your commitment to the rights of cigar fans and become a member of CRA.

Enjoy!

Charlie Rutherford, Business Development Director

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