Category Archives: Contest

by Craig Vanderslice | August 8, 2021 · 10:51 am

Cafe Cubano: Wooden Indian Cigars LCA Exclusive and a Contest

Yesterday the Wooden Indian in Havertown PA (and worldwide on their website), launched an exclusive cigar with the Limited Cigar Association, the Cafe Cubano. This is a 5″ x 50 with undisclosed parts. They also have some coffee to pair along with it. Before I get into the cigar and coffee, as I’m smoking one as I type, let me tell you about something I did yesterday. For Father’s Day, my son got me a session at a “float spa”, as I had said it was something I’d be interested in giving a shot. This is a place where you spend an hour floating in an epsom salt solution in an sensory deprivation tank. I didn’t consider the fact that I’m pretty claustrophobic, and thought it would be cool the shut everything out for an hour. I went in with an open mind. I freaked out within the first minute. As soon as it was pitch black I felt like I was spinning out of control. Of course, I had no idea where the button to turn the light on was, which is not easy to push anyway, so I pushed the lid of the pod open, then found the button. I closed the lid, then recomposed myself and tried to relax for the next 59 minutes. It was pretty cool, as it felt like laying in a big memory foam mattress, and if I had been able to ease into the whole darkness thing it might have been better. I was able to reflect upon how I’ve become dependent upon outside input, be it from TV, or devices, as I lay there listening to my tinnitus for entertainment. Anyway, it was an interesting experience, but I think a traditional massage is more to my liking.

OK, so Dave, Dan and the staff at Wooden Indian, some of the best in the game, I might add, were very kind to me and sent over a few cigars and some coffee for me, so I brewed up the coffee in my Bialetti and made a failed attempt at Cuban Coffee. I screwed up the espuma somehow, I’ve managed to get it right in the past, but it didn’t work this time. It tastes good though, and should get me through the day. It does pair well with the cigar, although that’s kind of like saying peanut butter pairs well with jelly, or bacon pairs well with eggs, isn’t it? The Cafe Cubano is burning well, and is tasty. It’s aptly named, as it has rich espresso flavors, maybe some toastiness, or some Honeynut Cheerios (or that could be my breakfast spilling over…they keep my cholesterol down!). I have said in the past that I’m not always a fan of the branding the LCA does, but if they help out retailers like the Wooden Indian, well more power to them. I just don’t like seeing branding that can be perceived as marketing to youth. This is a very good cigar, not that the guys at Wooden Indian would have it any other way!

Contest

So, would you want to smoke one? The gang there sent an extra set with a cigar, coffee and stickers to give away! There will be a Wooden Indian LCA Exclusive Cafe Cubano cigar, a packet of Cafe Cubano coffee and some stickers, and, you know me, some extra cigars out of my humidor. Usual rules: leave a comment on this blog post! Of course, these are available at the Wooden Indian’s website, which is an excellent place to shop, by the way. One entry per person, must be of legal age, yadda, yadda…what the heck, everyone is eligible (in the US, I ain’t made of money). I’ll pick a winner next Sunday.

OK, looks like a beautiful Sunday, I have a cigar to finish, I doubt I’ll be taking a nap today (or sleeping tonight) after drinking a pot of my version of Cafecito, and some stuff to get to, so until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Cafe Cubano, cigar, cigars, Contest, wooden indian

by Craig Vanderslice | July 21, 2021 · 10:07 pm

The CigarMedics 3-in-1 Torch Lighter and the Contest Winner

I’ve been testing out some items from CigarMedics, the folks that make the Humidimeter, which is a great device that checks the internal moisture content of your cigars and lets you know that they are ready to smoke. The genius of this device is that it takes the absolute moisture reading and translates it to a relative humidity number that makes sense to us in relation to the RH of out humidor. For instance, instead of a reading of 12% absolute moisture content, it’ll read 63% RH, read at the foot of the cigar. The RH number seems to make more sense than the absolute moisture number. It’s a cool device which has saved me from smoking cigars that were too wet to smoke, and I really hate smoking wet cigars! CigarMedics has been making some other cigar devises, which I’ve been testing, a cigar cutter, and a couple draw enhancement tools, one of which Luigi made just for me after some discussion. These have a serrated piercer, which is akin to a spiral saw bit. They work very well at opening up those cigars that are sometimes packed a little too tight at the head, or have a twist in the bunch. But nevermind all that, I wanted to talk about the triple flame torch lighter that they offer. I recently came into possession of one of these lighters and have been using it exclusively for the last couple months.

The CigarMedics 3-in-1 Torch Lighter is a hefty triple jet torch with a punch in the bottom and a cigar rest on the top. You have to manually flip the lid open, which is fine, less mechanism to fail, in my opinion, and the trigger is nice and large. It has a nice fuel window so you can see when it’s running low, and I’ve had no issues with it not lighting when I needed it to. The flames are strong and even, some people think three jets are overkill, I have torch lighters from single to four and really don’t notice too much difference to be honest. I always have my cigar well above the flame anyway. Since I am in the habit of purging my lighters when I fill them, I never have a problem with lighters either (get CigarProp’s purge tool, you won’t be sorry). As far as the punch goes, I haven’t had opportunity to use it yet, it’s small, maybe 7mm, if I use a punch I have an Adorini punch that has 9 and 13mm punches. As with most lighters with built in punches, it’s handy to have in an emergency. The way this one is made it would easily eject the waste when it retracts into the lighter, which is nice. It also securely locks, making ugly pocket accidents unlikely. As far as the size, it’s large, but not bulky, so it fits nicely in the pocket. It’s also reasonably priced, which is a good thing. I like it a lot, and it continues to me my primary lighter, and I have a lot of lighters.

Contest

Once again, I consulted the Google Random Number Generator, and Duane Holmes was selected as the winner of the 90+ Rated All-Star Sampler and cutter. I know Duane said he ordered one, but his number came up, so how he’ll have two. I kinda got the impression that many of you ordered them, for which I am appreciative. When people react to my advertisers, it helps me out! Thank you! It also sounds like Duane has a birthday coming up, so Happy Birthday! I know he’s a long time reader, so there might just be a little something extra in the box!

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under Accessories, Contest, Review

Tagged as Butane Lighters, cigar, CigarMedics, cigars, Contest, Lighter, punch, Torch

by Craig Vanderslice | July 18, 2021 · 10:12 am

A Diamond Crown Maximus, A Flow and a Contest (Last Wednesday)

We had a special occasion this week, so that called for a special occasion cigar, so I pulled out a Diamond Crown Maximus Robusto No. 5. The Diamond Crown Maximus is another one of those cigars that has been on my list of “classics” for the last probably 15 years since it came out. It’s on the list of cigars I’d like to always have a box of in my humidor, along with Fuente Don Carlos, Hemingway, and Añejo of some sort, and a Padrón 1964. It’ made my Fuente, it’s wrapper is a corona leaf (top of the plant) from Ecuador making it very heavy and dark, so it’s got a very rich flavor. I absolutely love this cigar. It’s woody and earthy with some espresso and sweet notes here and there. I’ve never had a bad one. When it came out it was super expensive, now days it’s a deal. If you like lighter Connecticut shade cigars, you can’t go wrong with a Diamond Crown, if you want something with some more oomph, the Maximus is awesome.

I’ve been smoking a bunch of a new cigar from Danli Honduras Tobacco, my favorite little factory in Honduras that makes the Don Juan Calavera, Clown and Marchetti cigars that I love so much. The cigar is simply called Flow, and the box I received is marked “maduro”, but the cigars don’t seem maduro to me. I’ve asked for some clarification, but haven’t received an answer. Language barriers can be frustrating. I know they have a Connecticut, and I know a couple fairly local shops (within a 40 minute drive) might have some, so I have some research to do. As it stands with this one, and the ones I’ve been smoking, the blend is undisclosed! That being said, I’ve found that I really like the cigars, much like I like the other cigars in the DAHOT range. I would put money on it being a Habano wrapper, it’s got a little spiciness and cocoa, and the overall blend is very tasty. I appreciate the fact that the company only makes toros, and this line is no different, makes my life easier, as it’s my preference. As with any cigar from this company, and I think folks I’ve shared this with will back me up, if you see them, try them.

The subject line refers to a contest, and that contest was posted on Wednesday, so scroll back and enter to win some of my cigars (which I bought, by the way!) Who knows, there might be a Flow accidentally in the package as an bonus! I rarely just send out what I say I’m sending! So go back and enter! In addition to BCPs new ad promo, Ortega Cigars has updated their ad with a new promotion. They have a great deal on some excellent cigars. I was so impressed with the Connecticut I smoked last week that I threw an order in for some Connecticut Churchills at a really great price and they arrived very quickly with free shipping. Excellent product and service, and Eddie was in Nicaragua, so I have to assume that’s the norm. Anyway, I’m going to wrap this up and get on with my Sunday, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, Danli Honduras Tabacco, Diamond Crown, Flow, JC Newman, Maximus

by Craig Vanderslice | July 14, 2021 · 10:06 pm

Contest! A 90+ Rated All-Star Sampler

I’ve been lazy, and haven’t smoked anything new to write about over the last few days. So the obvious solution is to give some cigars away. I recently updated the Best Cigar Prices Ad on the site, and I immediately purchased the deal, which I, for some reason unknown, I almost always do. Like I need more cigars! So I figure I would turn around and give that sampler away! It’s not that I wouldn’t smoke any one of the five cigar, I was eyeing them tonight, but opted for something else instead. You see, I could mooch cigars to give a way, but over the last few years the FDA has made it illegal for cigar companies to give away cigars. There’s nothing that says that I can’t give away my own cigars though! So the deal is really good, if you don’t win mine, go buy them from Best Cigar Prices! Here’s the Sampler:

A Montecristo Platinum Toro, an Oliva Serie G Churchill Cameroon, a Romeo Y Julieta Habana Reserve Toro, a Rocky Patel Sun Grown Robusto, and an Alec Bradley Project 40 Robusto. You also get a Best Cigar Prices Double Blade 80 Ring Gauge Cigar Cutter. Like I said, it’s a nice little sampler, I would have ordered two, but it’s one per household and I couldn’t get away with it! Usual rules apply, leave a comment on this blog post to enter, nowhere else. You must be of legal age in your jurisdiction and able to provide proof, and Mitch Smith isn’t eligible because he just won the last contest! Good Luck and I’ll select a winner next Wednesday, July 21, 2021.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Best Cigar Prices, cigar, cigars, Contest

by Craig Vanderslice | June 16, 2021 · 10:45 pm

A German Engineered Cigar, a Couple Drunk Chicken Cigars and the Contest Winner!

I smoked some new, lesser known, cigars this week, the first of which were some of the new NN01 cigars from German Engineered Cigars. Five years ago I wrote about the Rauchvergnügen cigar, the company’s first cigar. This new cigar is made at Tabacalera William Ventura in the Dominican Republic, and the components are undisclosed. The cigar is presented in one vitola, a 7″ x 48 Churchill, with a milk chocolate colored wrapper. By the way, the NN stands for “not named”, which is a name, isn’t it? In the past, I’ve had mixed results with cigars from this factory, in both personal taste and construction. In true German engineering form, the two samples I smoked were perfectly constructed, and burned well. I take that back, the first sample needed slight corrections a few times, but it hadn’t been in the humidor too long. They are very pretty cigars. I found them to be solidly medium bodied and smooth, with a nice sweetness, and a very pleasant smoke. The whole “German Engineered” thing is gimmicky, but if the cigars are good, who am I to say?

Since we have some chickens, I thought it would be fun to buy some of the Drunk Chicken Cigars and give them a try. This company describes itself as female/minority/veteran owned, and the cigars are made in the USA. They sell direct to consumer on their website and offer five varieties, of which I bought two, the original Drunk Chicken Cigars DCO in a 5½” x 50 Robusto and the Fat Hen, a 4″ x 60 torpedo. I have no idea where these are made, and didn’t take the time to contact the owner and ask, although one source I talked to who did ask said that the response he got was vague. Both cigar were well made. The Maduro was very good, it has a Mexican wrapper, Ecadoran binder and Nicaraguan Ligero filler (what else? it can’t all be ligero, can it? I guess it can…). This was a good Mexican Maduro cigar with some reasonable strength, but not too much, with a unique meatiness. There was a little something that made it unique, which I appreciated, considering it could easily be seen as a gimmick cigar. I’m curious about it being made in the US and being $10, but all told I was impressed and pleased with my purchase.

The other cigar I bought from Drunk Chicken Cigars was the Fat Hen in the Torpedo Shorty vitola. This is a 4″ x 60 torpedo, which I selected over the 6″ x 60 Gordo just for a change of pace. These have a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper, Ecuadoran binder and fillers from Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. My only disappointment with this cigar was the short smoking time, but I guess that’s what I got them for, although I thought it would smoke longer than the 45 minutes that it lasted. As I said, it was well constructed and smoked well. It had a nice spice and woody flavors. I showed it to one of my chickens and she tried to peck the cap off for me. Chickens will chase each other around with a piece of silicon caulk, so they aren’t too smart. Good cigar, Maybe I should have gotten the Gordos. It’s always good to have some short smokes around.

Contest!

OK, time to choose a winner! I’ve been tossing some cigars in the prize bags this week, I threw in an Undercrown Toro, and a couple Tabak Lonsdales. I’m sure a few more will fall into the box before it goes out. I don’t have to use Random.org anymore, Google has a random number generator now, and it selected Mitchell Smith, who asked about the Flow cigar pictured in the prize pack. I typically don’t comment in contest posts because it messes with my system, so I’ll answer him here. The Flow is a new line from Danli Hondura Tobacco, and I’m going to be featuring it here soon with my thoughts. So far I’m a fan, as I’ve enjoyed all the cigars I’ve smoked from that company. I’m still trying to get information about the blend. Anyway, Mitchell, please send me your information so I can pack all this cool stuff up and send it your way! Thanks to everyone for reading along as always!