While perusing CigarEvents.com it came to my attention that Eddie Ortega of EO Brands was going to be making an appearance at my local shop, JM Cigars, in Exton, PA. After dinner my son and I made our way over there. We promptly purchased some of the last 601 La Bombas that they had and fired one of these badboys up and visited with Eddie for a while. I have been patronizing this shop since the mid-90s and it’s one of the best around. The shop was packed and the LA Bomba was awesome. I had only previously had a pre-release sample, which I loved. These are terrific cigars with a little bit of strength. It’s always a good time hanging out with Eddie, and I got to catch up with an old friend, Rob, after the shop cleared out. Nice bunch of folks, and a fine way to spend a chilly Friday evening.
Saturday’s walk cigar was a San Lotano Oval which I received from Clay at AJ Fernandez a few months ago. These cigars are unique in the fact that they, as the name implies, are oval shaped. I smoked the 6 x 54 toro, which looks like it was squished. The shape is very comfortable to smoke, and, like a box press, it doesn’t roll off the table when you set it down. there’s a bright flavor in this cigar that I enjoy but can’t put a finger on. All I know is that this is a tasty, well made and interesting cigar! I look forward to a maduro version one day!
News
There were two new entries into the blogosphere recently that I think are notable. First, Frank Seltzer, who you see writing in all the big cigar magazines and around the web, is now contributing to the JR Cigars blog. Frank is a real journalist, and I’m proud to say he’s an old friend. He has a couple articles in the latest JR catalog as well. Also breaking into the blog world is Gary Griffith of Emilio Cigars, with “From Seed To Smoke“. Gary’s pretty prolific on Twitter and he’s making some outstanding cigars and is a heck of a nice guy who I’m also proud to call friend. I look forward to reading what he has to say. I HAVE to get down to Delaware and visit him at his shop one of these days!
Contest!
Let’s get to the part you’ve all been waiting for, the selection of this month’s contest winner. The prize consists of the following: a Drew Estate cap and a Liga Privada cutter, a Stogieboys.com Cigar Journal, a C-Gars Ltd. ring gauge card, a Liga Privada T52 Belicoso, a Monte Pascoal Belicoso and a American Eagles Half Corona. Thank you to all of the generous sponsors of this contest. As usual, I created a spreadsheet of the eligible entries and assigned them numbers based upon the time of the entry. I consulted with the Random.Org True Random Number Generator for the 
winning number. The number 19 came up, which corresponds to an entry via Twitter by @s5592c, aka Steve Christopher. Congrats to Steve and thanks for reading! Please e-mail me your contact info so I can ship this stuff out to you! Thanks to everyone for entering, and keep an eye out for next months contest!
That’s all for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
Hey Craig, let me know when you plan to head down to Gary’s shop in Delaware and I’ll meet up with you.
You bet, Charlie. It’ll be a few weeks off though, at least!
YEEEAH HI!! CAN’T BELIEVE I WON!! THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR GREAT REVIEWS AND FOR THE CONTEST! I’ll be reading you tomorrow.
Craig, where did you get the C-Gars Ltd. ring gauge card? I noticed it mentions Robert Graham cigar shop, which I visit every time I’m in Edinburgh!
Charlie – the C-Gars Ltd. card comes courtesy of one of my advertisers, and long time friend, Mitchell Orchant of C-Gars Ltd. Robert Graham is part of his vast empire.
Craig…There is a San Lotano maduro, just not in the oval shape. My local B&M sells them, and I I could send you a couple if you’d like to try them. Thanks for the contest, BTW.
Kip – I’ve seen the San Lotano Maduros around, I’ll grab a few the next time I see them, thanks for the offer!