Author Archives: CigarCraig

Thursday evening I stopped in to the Cigar Cigars shop in Downingtown, PA where my buddy Kevin, the manager there, was hosting Robert Holt of Southern Draw Cigars for an event. I ways enjoy visiting with Robert when he’s around, and he had been nice enough to drop me a message inviting me to hang out with him while he was in the area. I took the opportunity to finally smoke the Cedrus “The Hogan” upon arrival, which was among the handful of Southern Draw cigars I picked up while I was there. This 5.5 x 52 Belicoso is a beauty, and has a Besuki, Indonesia wrapper, Habano 2000, Nicaragua binder and Nicaraguan fillers. With the exception of Sumatra, I typically avoid Indonesian wrappers, however, this cigar had excellent flavor, lots of unique spices. Like all of Southern Draw cigars, it’s made in A.J. Fernandez’ factory, although you’ll never see the A.J. Fernandez name on any of the boxes, the cigars stand on their own merit.

I followed that with a Kudzu Robusto, which I selected because it was the shortest cigar I had bought, and I thought I had another one at home, but I was to later find out I was mistaken, it was a Firethorn I had at home. Oops, I guess I’ll have to grab some more Kudzus the next time I stop by the shop. It’s been a while since I smoked a Kudzu, but I always enjoyed the rich, chocolaty flavors of this cigar. It has an Oscuro Habano wrapper from Ecuador, Ometepe binder and Nicaragua and USA fillers. This one has some oomph to it, but it’s not the strongest cigar in the line. It’s well balanced and loaded with flavor.

Friday I went with my wife to a fundraising event for Outward Bound Philadelphia where she got to rappel 29 stories down the Two Commerce Square building. If you hunt down my Facebook profileFacebook profile you can see the video of her doing this, it was pretty gutsy! Our son is a course director for the organization and has been working for them for several years. It’s a worthy organization, if you have a chance, check them out and support them in your area. When I got home I figured I’d continue on the Southern Draw theme with another cigar I hadn’t had the chance to smoke yet, the 300 Hands Maduro in the 6.125 x 52 Piramides vitola. Of course, I am a Maduro fan, so I was looking forward to trying this one. It has an Esteli Maduro wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The 3oo Hands line is a value price line with proceeds going back to help the Nicaraguan people who make the cigars we love to smoke. The cigar is as I expected, a tasty, well-behaved maduro with cocoa and coffee flavor that was really enjoyable. This is another cigar I will buy more of. The Habano 300 Mano’s is an excellent cigar, but the Maduro is right up my alley.

Last night I went with the Jacobs Ladder, the one Southern Draw cigar i have trouble not smoking whenever i have them in my humidor. It took some restraint to let two days pass, let me tell you. I had a Toro, my favored size, I love the Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper on this cigar. One time I was smoking one of these, and it was the last one in my humidor, on a cold winter night while walking, and I realized it was no longer in my gloved hand, and I panicked, and retraced my steps looking for it in the dark, I found it and it was none the worse for wear and I was happy again. I really dig the Jacobs Ladder. This is the strongest cigar in the Southern Draw line, for now (I understand there may be something stronger coming down the line). While it;s strong, it’s loaded with flavors of espresso and dark chocolate, with the greats spice that the PA Broadleaf has. Out of the four cigar I smoked over the last three days, all had a perfect burn and draw, which is nice.

It’s always a pleasure hanging out with Robert, and Kevin always puts on a nice event at the Downingtown Cigar Cigars store. If you are a craft beer fan, you know Downingtown, PA as the home of Victory Brewery, and you may remember that it’s where I lived when CigarCraig.com started nearly 10 years ago.

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

CigarCraig