A Bunch of Cigars: UF-13 Dark, Reinado, Draig, NicaRoma and a La Gloria Cubana

I’ve had a good cigar week so far!  It started Sunday afternoon when I decided to treat myself to one of my rare Liga Privada Serie Unico UF-13 Dark.  I know when I want to have a really outstanding cigar experience I can rely on something Liga Privada or one of it’s cousins from Drew Estate, an Undercrown or a Chateau Real (maduro).  So I hit the back deck with the UF-13 dark and clipped off the fancy fan tailed cap.  An aside, I always feel a little bad lopping off fancy caps.  I love the look, it really ads to the presentation, but it’s such a waste of the roller’s time making something that’s going to get cut off right off the bat.  I know, they are sitting there all day making things that have the sole purpose of being burned away to ashes, but that’s the way my twisted mind works.  Always thinking in terms of practicality.  Anyway, the UF-13 Dark is a fabulous example of the art, and is a tasty cigar.  Loads of lush, full flavors and tons of smoke.  It ranks up there with my favorites in the the line.

After a special dinner out with the family at a fairly new Italian restaurant up the road from us  (I had a chicken parmigiana the size of a dinner plate, which I also enjoyed for dinner Monday night) I pulled out another sure thing cigar, a Reinado Grand Empire Reserve in the original robusto size. this cigar was given to my by brand owner Antonio Lam when we met up in New Jersey a few months ago.  Once again, a perfect cigar. the draw and burn were dead on perfect, and it was loaded with flavor.  Like the earlier cigar, it was full and lush and satisfying. I’m glad these are coming out in more sizes, because the toro I smoked a while ago was great, more of a good thing!  As often happens, I was sad when this cigar was done!  If you can get your hands on these do it!

Monday evening after some running around, a corona was going to fit into my evening walk rather nicely, so I thought I’d give the Emilio Draig K corona another shot.  I was less than impressed with the first corona I smoked, but I recall really digging a pre-production toro that Gary Griffith had given me last year.  I had hoped some humidor time would help, and this had been in my humidor over 6 months.  I likened this cigar to an over roasted coffee (who’s brand will remain nameless due to their recent smoking policy) with dark, almost burnt flavors.  The jet black Columbian maduro wrapper was reminiscent of the original Habano2000 wrapper that came out in the late 90s that was  often compared to Nomex, which is a flame retardant material often used on electrical wiring. This wrapper didn’t want to burn and required frequent touch ups and relights.  I can safely say that this is just about the only cigar in Gary’s stable of cigars, and brands he distributes, for that matter, that I really have trouble with.  That’s not to say I didn’t burn my fingers nubbing it, I’m the eternal optimist when it comes to cigars, and I almost always find some little thing to enjoy.  Often it the time relaxing with a cigar that makes me forgive a lot.  Oddly, I’ll continue to try these when I have the opportunity.

Tuesday was “something new” night, and I went with a cigar from the folks at Villiger that I hadn’t tried yet. The NicaRoma line is a Nicaraguan cigar that is 60% long filler and 40% Grade A Picadura, Picadura being a fancy word for scraps or chaveta cuts left over from the rolling tables.  I’m certainly no snob when it comes to cigars, and I like a budget cigar as much as the next guy.  This line comes in Ecuador Connecticut, Habano and Maduro wrappers and is on;y available in a toro size.  Guess which one I had to try first? Of course, the maduro, which is Mexican San Andreas, do I have to say it’s my favorite wrapper?  Anyway, I gave this the V-cut and it drew and burned perfectly.  This is a very nice smoke to my palate, not complicated, but plenty of medium bodied flavor that has those dark coffee and cocoa notes I like so much.  the website lists the MSRP on these at $3.99, certainly well worth it and deserving of a try. It wasn’t until the very end of the smoke that I got any sense that it has short filler.  I look forward to trying the other two wrappers, and thank you to Anne at Villiger for sending these along.  I’ve already shared a few and hope to be able to include a guest review in the near future.

Finally, this evening I decided to smoke a La Gloria Cubana Rabito de Cochina, which comes three cigars to a little plexi-topped coffin box.  These cigar have been around since the 2011 IPCPR show where I was first introduced to them. They are a 6½ x 46 cigar with a curly pig-tailed cap, wrapped in a ribbon.  I picked up the box of three on a visit to Cigars International’s store in Hamburg, PA on my last visit, I think they set me back about $10, putting them on a par, price-wise with the NicaRoma, which is astounding.  The construction is what I’d call a Cuban style, as it’s a loose roll, with a very free draw.  I have mixed emotions about this cigar: on the one hand, I’m glad I still have two left, on the other hand I’m sad that I only have two!  This was a terrific cigar, as long as you smoked it gently like one would a lancero.  It had nice, well balanced flavors and was an excellent representation of the La Gloria brand.  Considering you can get three excellent cigars for, basically, the price of one, these aren’t just a great way to spend an hour or so, but very good value.  I have been keeping these in the Adorini Cedro Deluxe Humidor from HumidorDiscount.com which has been working very well. I’ve only had it a few weeks, and it was very quick to get set up and ready to go.  So far I would have no problem recommending this humidor.  It’s not a cheap humidor, it’s certainly well made and works quite well!  My thanks to HumidorDiscount.com for letting me try this humidor out.

I’ve rambled on long enough here!  Sunday’s post will undoubtedly have something to do with the Cigarnival at Famous Smokeshop’s location in Easton, PA on Saturday.  I’ve never been to an event of this kind, so I’m not sure what to expect, but I hope to see a few friends there!

Until then,

CigarCraig