A Padron Damaso at Diner en Blanc and a Couple of New All Saints Cigars

Thursday evening my wife and I attended the Philadelphia Diner En Blanc, which is a large, organized pop-up picnic of sorts. This is something that happens in cities all over the world where everyone has to wear white, bring their own tables and chairs and a picnic dinner, and meet at pre-arranged spots in the city where they guide the groups to a “secret” location. It’s usually a historic landmark, in years passed it was Philadelphia’s Boathouse Row, City Hall, and the Art Museum steps (think “Rocky”). We’ve been doing it for the last several years and it’s a hoot, and, of course, I work cigars into it and I try to make appropriate choices. This year I packed my travel humidor with the Macanudo Inspirado White Robustos that I had gotten for the event two years ago (of course, last years was canceled), and left said travel humidor at home. What a dunce. Of course, I didn’t realize this problem until we had finished eating. Fortunately, the secret location was Rittenhouse Square in Center City Philadelphia, and I realized in time to walk 2 blocks to Holts. Of course, the only cigar they had with “white” in the name of the cigar was the Montecristo White, which is one of the few cigars I actually dislike, and just about every cigar with a white band is a Connecticut shade. So I went with some Padrón Dámaso No. 8s since I had not smoked the Dámaso yet amazingly enough. There have been venues in the past where smoking was a problem and this one was not one of those venues, and the folks around us were very cool, so I was able to enjoy that Dámaso comfortably seated at our table. It was quite warm, high eighties at night, so we weren’t wandering in the crowd (3000 people, limited by the pandemic, it’s been upward of 6000 in the past), or dancing or anything, and I really enjoyed the cigar. It was very rich in flavor, the cocoa one expects from a Padrón, with the creamy, nuttiness of the shade wrapper. It was perfect for the occasion! I’ve actually grown quite apathetic where Holts retail store is concerned, but them being there saved the day for me! 

I received a message a few days ago from Mickey Pegg of All Saints Cigars that he left a couple cigars for me at the new Son’s Cigar Lounge in Exton, which is up the road from me. Funny thing is, Mickey would have pretty much driven past my house going home from Son’s, but he doesn’t know that, and I appreciate it because it gave me an excuse to stop in to see Vince and Brian now that the place is actually open. They still need to stock the front with accessories, and the humidor is maybe 15% filled, but they still have a great selection as it is. Mickey left me his newest cigars, which I promptly smoked. Actually, the Saint Francis looked so good I bought a few assuming I’d dig it, more on that later. I ran home and fired up the newest size of the All Saints Dedicación, the Mitre. This is a 5″ x 54 torpedo in the round, which I note because I believe the rest of the vitolas are box pressed. It has a San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers and is made at TAVICUSA. I cut this to leave about a 13mm opening, which worked well. 13mm is a guess, I didn’t measure.  This is a nice smoke, medium bodied, with a little more punch than the other sizes, save maybe the Berkey. More earthy than sweet, I enjoyed it. I like the fact that it’s named after the Pope’s hat. 

The other cigar Mickey left for me was the newest line in the All Saints portfolio, the Saint Francis. This is the one I picked up a few in the Toro size on speculation, Mickey left me a Churchill which I eagerly smoked last night. This has dark, oily Ecuador oscuro wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and fillers, it’s a beauty. The Churchill is 7″ x 48 and box pressed, making it feel closer to a traditional 47 ring Churchill. This is the best cigar I’ve smoked all week. My instinct was correct in buying some of these, it remains to be seen if I should have gotten Churchills, but I know where I can get them! This cigar had the quintessential flavors I love: the dark, rich coffee, cocoa, dark fruit flavors. Construction was perfect, it was, overall, an ideal smoking experience. This is my new favorite All Saints cigar, and it’s a sure thing one of those Toros will go up in smoke later today. This is on the CigarCraig recommended list, smoke with confidence. I liked it. 

Contest

Last week I had a contest for the Wooden Indian Exclusive Cafe Cubano LCA cigar and Coffee. I’ve consulted the random number generator and paul1954 is the winner! Please send your address! I’ll get your package out and see what else might fall in the box out of my humidor while I’m packing it up! That’s all for today, until the next time, 

CigarCraig