Author Archives: Craig Vanderslice

by | August 18, 2024 · 9:38 am

VegaFina, Tatuaje, Umbagog and Blackened Cigars

I smoked a selection of cigars this week that I recently picked up on several shop visits that were all new to me.  A few weeks back I stopped in New Tobacco Village in Whitehall, PA and one of the cigars I picked up was the VegaFina Exclusivo USA Patriot.  VegaFina has a very small footprint in the USA, but has a pretty wide range available in Europe.  I’ve smoked a few over the years, and, much like a lot of the Altadis portfolio, wasn’t too enamoured with them.  I figured I’d give this one a shot.  It came out almost a year ago, is a 6″ x 54 toro, has an Ecuadorian wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. It was a nice smoke, rather light bodied with some wood and citrus tang.  Not my favorite profile, but it was a perfectly good cigar.  I try to smoke cigars that aren’t in my wheelhouse, once in a while I find a gem, but it wouldn’t be a cigar I’d buy a box of.

 

I stopped into CigarMojo (the King of Prussia, PA location) last week and smoked a really good Dias de Gloria Brazil and picked up a couple other cigars that I had wanted to try.  The first one I smoked was the Tatuaje LLE Broadleaf Reserva.  I love the Broadleaf Reservas as a rule, and this lonsdale size look really good.  This is a relatively new release, and pretty reasonably priced at $11. The cigar is 6¾” x 42, has a rich Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers, made in the My Father Factory.  I went into this cigar knowing that I had to relax and take it slow, there’s not many things worse than overheating a really good cigar, and this was a really good cigar.  It starts out spice heavy, and then the cocoa/coffee flavors come through.  I might have to get some more of these before they are gone as they only made 1500 boxes.

 

Yesterday was busy, we’ve been re-doing our foyer after putting it off for almost ten years, which involved stripping the painted wallpaper off (which my wife handled) and patching and sanding the bare drywall.  It must have been a thing in 1959 to go straight to wallpaper, because the walls hadn’t been painted.  Walls I can handle, the ceiling is giving me problems!  I  don’t care for working over my head.  I also cut the front lawn and forgot, for the second week in a row, that there was a yellowjacket nest.  Bastards got me three times, maybe I’ll remember next time I mow!  After a while I gave up and sat down with a cigar, and I chose an Umbagog Bronzeback which I had picked up at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar last month.  Of course, I very much love the Umbagogs, so I’d been looking forward to smoking this one.  This Bronzeback is to Umbagog kindof what Triqui Traca is to Mi Querida.  It comes in one vitola, 5″ x 48, and has a lower priming Broadleaf wrapper than the regular Umbagog line (which uses the wrapper leaves Saka deems as not pretty enough for Mi Querida).  This has some exotic spices along with some earthy sweetness, not quite as chocolatey as the regular line.  I loved it, it was the right size, and right flavor for the time.  It’s a little more of a premium offering than its predecessors, a little fancier band and packaging, and a little higher price tag, but well worth it. 

 

Finally, another cigar I picked up at Mojo that I have been looking forward to trying was the newish Drew Estate Blackened S84 Shade to Black.  I really like the M81 from time to time, so I was interested to see what an Ecuador Connecticut Shade wrapper over Connecticut Broadleaf binder and Pennsylvania and Nicaraguan fillers would be like.  Of course I got the 6″ x 52 toro. The binder and fillers are fermented to a Maduro.  I was hoping to really like this, but it wasn’t really my thing.  It seemed too strong for the wrapper, which while it added some nuttiness to the blend, was easily overpowered.  I understand the idea, and it’s different. but it didn’t really work for me. I’m wired to associate shade wrappers with a more delicate blend, I guess.  I’m glad I gave it a shot, and I might try one again, but my preference leans toward the M81 (which is named after the year I graduated high school).  

 

That’s all for now.  I’m going to try to go on a little cigar adventure this week, I won’t say anything until it gets worked out.  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | August 11, 2024 · 9:59 am

Some New Hoyo de Monterrey, Bolivar and Alec Bradley Cigars

I have long been a fan of the Hoyo de Monterrey brand, going back to the ’90s.  I smoked the maduro (and double maduro) Rothschilds, and when I wanted to splurge, I picked up an Excalibur No. 1 (for about $5!).  I even wrote an article back in 2012 comparing the Punch and Hoyo brands (Punch vs. Hoyo-de-Monterrey, A Debate Finally Settled). I always get a little excited when General Cigars comes out with a new Hoyo.  This time around they have the Oscuro and Rojo.  I sense a theme at the company, after the release of the CAO Fasa Sol and Noche, releasing two cigars with different wrappers. I, as I usually do, tried out the Oscuro first.  The Hoyo de Monterrey Oscuro has a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, and comes from the HATSA factory in Danli, Honduras.  The wrapper is dark, I had high hopes.  I smoked a couple of these and found that the initial flavors were weird, bordering on yucky.  Creosote, came to mind, like how burning a railroad tie might taste, very pungent.  The company has tasting notes of cherry cola, white and cayenne pepper, molasses and rye bread. I’d have to really reach to get maybe the molasses.  It moved to tolerable after a while, but never really tripped my trigger.  Construction was good!  I’ll let some age for a while.  

 

Moving on the the Hoyo de Monterrey Rojo, which has a Honduran Jamastran wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. Both of these were in the Toro size, 6″ x 52, which made me happy (although I might have prefered the Oscuro in the Rothschild, as it would have been done quicker).  I really liked this cigar!  As was the case with the CAO Fasa, I liked the “natural” more than the maduro!  This cigar has what I refer to as “bright” flavors, a citrus tang, and just good tobacco.  This was a really nice cigar and I look forward to smoking more.  These are both priced from $5.99 to $8.49, darned reasonable these days.  

 

Next up was what I believe to be the first Alec Bradley cigar produced under new ownership, the Alec Bradley Safe Keepings.  This is the first in a line that is from the Alec Bradley bled book, a Nicaraguan puro made at the Oliva factory.  It uses Jalapa, Condega and Esteli Criollo 98 tobaccos, and prices run from $10.49 to $15.19.  I had the robusto, which is 5″ x 52.  I find that I like robustos on a Saturday afternoon after the chores/projects are done, possibly before an afternoon nap.  No nap yesterday, but it’s been known to happen.  Considering Criollo usually isn’t my bag, nor are flavors I consider woody, this was a really nice cigar.  It has a woody sweetness, medium bodied, and really quite elegant.  The band is kind of cool, it leaves room for alterations for future releases.  I can see the starry, crescent moon background being changed to a sunny blue sky for another release.  I was surprised how much I liked this.

 

Finally, I smoked the newest addition to the Bolivar line, the Bolivar Cofraida Oscuro.  Like the Hoyo Oscuro, this has a Ecuador Sumatra binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, but has a dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.  It comes in three sizes, Robusto, Toro and Gigante, I had the 5″ x 54 Robusto.  I believe this line started as a JR Cigars exclusive, much like the Hoyo Excalibur line, that was before JR was acquired by Altadis.  I really like this cigar, it’s up my alley.  It has rich, dark chocolate with some spice.  Remember when they came out with the Bolivar with the big red band?  I really liked that cigar, although I prefer the classic Simon Bolivar bands.  That one was a Foundry line, this one is in the Forged line.  This is also a reasonable priced cigar, I’ll be on the lookout for the toro.  Remember when the Cuban Bolivar was a really strong cigar?  

 

That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | August 4, 2024 · 10:20 am

Smoking Through a Troianiello Cigars Sampler

Troianiello Cigars is a Scranton, PA based cigar company that produces premium cigars as well as flavored cigars in the Dominican Republic.  I know, when you think of Scranton you think of Parodi and Avanti Toscano style cigars,  which is now owned by Toscano Cigars in Italy, by the way.  I’ve smoked my fair share of those, fun fact, if you ever had an Avanti and thought the packaging reminded you of a Tootsie Roll, that’s because they actually bought the packaging machine from the Tootsie Roll company! Michael Troianiello messaged me and asked me if I’d try his cigars, so I bought a sampler from his website. This guy also owns a masonry company, so I gotta be careful what I say…

 

I decided to get the most imposing cigar in the sampler out of the way.  He made some substitutions because what he sent varies from the sampler advertised.  I started with the 7″ x 70 Troianiello Capo.  This was a monster cigar with a San Andrés wrapper (natural), and Dominican fillers.  The website says it’s a black broadleaf wrapper, this certainly was not (and a change request has been submitted).  I had some dental work done on Wednesday and I wasn’t sure how that was going to impact my ability to smoke, so I got a few in early in the week so as not to be caught unprepared for today’s post.  Followers of my Instagram will notice that it wasn’t an issue after all.  The Capo was a very nice, medium cigar with some white sugar notes.  I like the flavor quite a bit, but it took some attention to keep it going right.  It was big, and after two plus hours I put it down.  This blend in a toro would be awesome. 

 

Next up was the Troianiello Gina Marie. This Toro is presented in a Connecticut Shade (presumably Ecuador), and San Andrés Barber pole wrap, with Dominican fillers.  Gina Marie must be a relative, doesn’t sound like the name of the family barber to be.  This was a very pleasant cigar.  I got the same white sugar sweetness I got with the Capo, considering they share a wrapper, that makes sense.  There was also the creamy component from the shade.  Burned well and had a nice flavor, medium to light bodied overall.  I don’t have anything bad to say about the cigar.  

 

After surviving the dental work, I went next to the Troianiello Trifecta.  I admit, I’m a sucker for the triple wrap barber pole style cigars, I find the colors to be very complimentary, this is a beautiful cigar.  It has a San Andrés Maduro, Connecticut shade and Candela wrapper leaves over Dominican binder and filler. This one takes the Gina Marie one step further and adds some tanginess from the candela, although the white sugar was hard to find.  Some nuts, some coffee and tanginess, it was a very nice cigar.  

 

Of the remaining three cigars he sent, one was a Whiskey flavored cigar, and since I haven’t had Whiskey in close to 40 years, this is of little interest to me.  It’s not part of the sampler he advertises, so I assume it was a well meant add on.  He also sent a couple petite coronas in the Maduro bend as he may have been out of stock of the Robusto size, and I’ll get to them another time.  This left the Troianiello Luciano Michael Churchill.  This has a nice Connecticut shade wrapper, with aged Dominican binder and fillers.  This might have been my favorite in the selection.  It wasn’t a particularly mild cigar, it had a little oomph to it.  I got some really interesting exotic spice flavors, perhaps some nutmeg and cinnamon. It burned for an hour and a half-ish, and was quite enjoyable.  This is a new company, I think it launched in ’21, which was a bold move considering the time.  They look to be sold in a lot of locations in the north-east part of PA, and are available on the website for purchase.  Although these may not enter my own rotation, they were good cigars, if I saw the Maduro and Habano in the wild I would pick some up to try.  I hope this all doesn’t leave me open for a cement shoe fitting.  

 

 


Yesterday I ended up back at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar.  When I heard that Steve Saka would be stopping by I wasn’t really planning to go, as we’d just seen his wife there two weeks ago, but I got wind that my old friend Stace was thinking of flying up from Charlotte, I figured I’d go to hang out with him for a bit.  It was great seeing him, last time I saw him was at the 2016 IPCPR show. he’s genuinely oneof the nicest people I know.  Steve is OK too, and the hospitality of James and Nick at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar is unmatched.  I smoked a couple of my favorite DTT cigars while there, a Red Meat Lovers and a Mi Querida. If you go there, try out the massage chair.  Photo courtesy of Stace.

 

That’s all for today, until the next time, 

CigarCraig

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by | July 28, 2024 · 9:59 am

Flatbed Cigars Homestead Field Sampler

I went on a bit of a buying spree recently.  In addition to buying a bunch of Dunbarton cigars at last week’s event at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar, I picked up a sampler from Flatbed Cigars.  It should be noted that there are always discount codes for use on their site (USA20 and TRY20 are two), and there’s a daily deal that can be accessed on the left sidebar of my site.  I saw this sampler and it looked like something I wanted to try.  It’s billed as a field to field sampler, representing various combinations of strengths, countries of origin and sizes.  I smoked four of the six this week.  I like to keep my sunday posts around four cigars, I’m not sure I’d read past that, so I don’t expect others to either.  It also gives me a few days through the week to enjoy cigars without having to think about them.  I started with the Farmers Blend Sumatra.  This is listed on the website as 7″ x 60, which is accurate, the printed handout which accompanied the sampler lists it as 6″ x 70, as well as other places on the website.  I’m glad it wasn’t the later, although 7″ x 60 is still a formidable cigar, the kind you hope you like when trying it for the first time!  This has a Sumatra wrapper, a binder with the ambiguous “Cuban Seed” designation, and fillers from Pennsylvania,  Nicaragua and he DR.  The Nicaraguan and Dominican are classified Ligero, with two different DR Ligeros.  This is probably the strongest in the sampler, but I didn’t find it to be overly so.  It started out with some dry, sourness, but it built nicely and had a very nice flavor.  I found it to be an interesting cigar throughout the two hours or so it took me to smoke it.  

 

The next one I smoked was the Henshaw Street, a 6½” x 54 cigar with a San Andrés wrapper, Dominican binder and PA, Nicaraguan Ligero and what I guess is Dominican Cubano seco.  The name refers to a back road, and is a rustic blend.  This was a really enjoyable cigar for me. It had a nice, sweet spice which I found quite enjoyable.  Burn and draw were good, it need a touch up here. and there, but that kind of added to the appeal.  it was solidly medium in strength, but very flavorful I’ve had two good cigars in this sampler so far, fingers crossed on the rest.

 

Saturday I cut the grass and did some other stuff around the house, and wasn’t feeling like I wanted to smoke powerhouse cigars, so I concentrated on the milder end of the spectrum in the sampler.  I started with the Harvest, presented in a 6″ x 50  toro.  This has a sun grown Connecticut wrapper, as opposed to shade grown, it sure wasn’t broadleaf.  the binder is Dominican and it has DOminican and Nicaraguan Ligero in the filler, which is odd for a mild cigar.  I thought this was a solid Dominican shade type cigar, with sweet cream and nuts flavors.  Very nice while recovering and watching some Olympics coverage. 

 

Later I went with the other cigar that was listed as mild-medium, the Track 7.  This has the same Connecticut grown wrapper as the Harvest,  with two Dominican Ligeros and a seco, Nicaraguan Ligero and some Kentucky Fire Cured in the mix. The fire cured is subtle, but apparent.  It has the distinctive tang without the heavy smokiness, akin to the Lecia Black or the Cuevas Patrimonio.  The tang went nicely with the smooth, creaminess, making for a nice blend.  This was a 6″ x 60, and was well balanced, and burned well.  I still have the VLI Pennsylvania 41 Small toro  and the Pennsyltucky PA Broadleaf toro to go, they might be the two I looked forward to smoking the most.  I have had the Pennsyltucky in a different size, but it’s been many years!  I continue to be impressed by the Panacea/Flatbed offerings. They are an advertiser, but I’ve purchased all of the cigars I’ve smoked from them.  

 

Next week I’ll showcase another Pennsylvania based  cigar company. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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by | July 21, 2024 · 7:00 am

Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto JR Cigars Exclusive

I’m having a busy weekend here, so today’s post will be dedicated to the Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto.  JR Cigars has been sending me some of their exclusive cigars for me to write about, and this was the most recent.  The links in these posts are affiliate links, so if you shop at JR, do me a favor and do it through these links. I don’t seem to have a lot of success with affiliate links, over the last nearly 15 years I don’t think I’ve made more than $100.  I keep trying though.  Maybe I’ll use the links myself to buy more of these Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez cigars, because they are right up my alley!  I’m going to be right upfront when I say that there are very few Montecristo cigars that float my boat, I would even go as far as to say that Altadis cigars in general mostly don’t do it for me.  There are some exceptions, and the vast majority are made in partnership with AJ Fernandez.  The cigars JR provided me were robustos, 5″ x 52 and have an Oscuro Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, a Mexican San Andrés binder, and aged long filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, and the United States, or Honduras, the website actually says two different things!. Based on the flavor and strength, I’m inclined to believe that there’s Pennsylvania or Connecticut broadleaf in the blend.  

 

 

I’ve smoked a handful of these this week, and I was really quite pleased with them!  They have an espresso or strong, black coffee thing going on, with a hint of some sweetness about half way through the cigar. Lately a robusto is only good for about an hour, so larger sizes in this blend interest me.  This is a bold, premium cigar at a great price.  The presentation is nice too, although the wrapper is so pretty it’s a shame to cover it up with the large sleeve!  By now my regular readers probably know what style of cigars I like, and if you find yourself liking the same cigars, this one is a no-brainer.  Every sample I smoked burned perfectly, which shouldn’t be a surprise given their provenance. This is my new favorite Montecristo. JR has a whole line of “Crafted By” cigars, I’d love to see a sampler of them, there’s some I’d love to try.  

 

I’m off today to Harrisburg, PA to visit Harrisburg Beer and Cigar and Cindy Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust.  I’ve been wanting to get out to visit Nick and James, and we don’t get to see enough of Cindy, usually that Steve guy is taking the spotlight. It might be a good chance to replenish some of my DTT cigars that have run low.  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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