Monthly Archives: December 2020

For those of us who came of age in the 80’s, there were some things that defined the era. MTV played videos 24/7, it was like a radio station on TV. Our version of portable music was large radios with cassette decks and D-cell batteries, then the walkman. Video games were in arcades and required quarters and mostly standing up. Times have changed. The guys at Providencia Cigars remember these times, as I do, and created some limited edition cigars to commemorate that decade. I still need to get together with Ray, either in person or via video chat, to compare notes, we share some common ground, I managed a record store, he was in the home video business, we are the same age more or less. He was kind enough to share some cigars with me again. I started with the Moonwalk because Monday was a not so cold evening, and this was a large cigar. All three are made in Esteli at Tabacalera Flor de San Luis. The cigar is 7 1/8″ x 57 and a Salomon shape. It has a Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Ometepe fillers. I’m sure it’s wrong of me to say this, but it would have been clever if this had started with a dark wrapper and transitioned to a lighter wrapper. This cigar was on the mild side, and had a light flavor with sweetness like white confectioners sugar. It was really quite enjoyable all the way to the end, which was well over two hours after I lit it. I was quite impressed with the flavor of this cigar, and was actually surprised when I read that it had a Connecticut wrapper, I never would have guessed. The light, sugary sweetness was really nice.

Next up was the heavy maduro Boombox. This 6″ x 52 toro with a half-covered foot has a dark San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and filler from the Somota region of Nicaragua. This area is about ten miles from the Honduran border, north-west of Esteli. Like it’s namesake, this cigar had some power, a full  set of fresh  D-cell batteries. The flavor was dark and rich, like coffee that had been on the burner for most of the morning, you know, the good stuff, taken black. Oddly, Macha has down right been refusing to take evening walks lately. Not sure why. Over the weekend we went for some walks during the day and she was fine, although when we went for a walk at Valley Forge park we got to a point where she stopped and we had to turn back and go to the car. I’m not sure if the fact that my son’s dog, who lives with us now, wears her out during the day or what. I get enough exercise at work, so I don’t miss the walks too much, but I still like to start my cigar with a walk. Anyway, the Boombox was good, but I’m quite happy that I can listen to podcasts and music with a bluetooth headset through my phone instead of toting around a boombox on my shoulder! 

It seemed appropriate to finish the trilogy with the cigar called Game Over. I remember the first time I saw Pong in the local bowling alley (which was recently torn down and is being replaced by apartments. Some of my earliest memories are from that building since my mother bowled there and stuck me in the nursery until I started school, then I bowled there in my 20s). Before that there were pinball machines. Game Over brings to mind the music of Pac Man. this 6″ x 52 toro alwo had a semi-shaggy foot, and has a lighter shade San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. I initially thought this had a Sumatra wrapper, it had that same sweetness. It could be Sumatra grown in Mexico, who knows. I smoked this while I was on a roundtable discussion on the Kaplowitz Media podcast. This was my first appearance on this show, I’ve been listening for a while, it’s a wildly entertaining show, assuming you have a tolerance for dry wit. Hopefully I added to the discussion, and will be invited back, I haven’t checked to see if I’ve been deleted from the group chat or not. Anyway, like the others, and most every Providencia cigar I’ve smoked, the cigar burned well and tasted great. It was smooth and creamy with some sweetness and had a medium body. I liked it very much. Obviously, these are all very limited, I see them available now and them at Underground Cigars out of Fort Worth. 

That’s all for now. So far, the Reader’s Choice thing isn’t going as well as I had hoped. I’d love to see some more input, so please e-mail me at craig@cigarcraig.com with your choice for the 2020 cigar of the year. I’ll compile the results and post them on December 31. Please be as specific as possible. Heck, leave them in the comments if you want and I’ll work it out! Until th enext time, 

CigarCraig