My last visit to the cigar shop had me procuring some new cigars, the last of which was the E.P. Carrillo Pledge. They had both sizes, the 5″ x 50 Pequel and the 6″ x 52 Sojourn, of course I selected the Sojourn. It’s funny, there was a time when I opted for the robusto every time, and I’m not sure it wasn’t cost over preference. I think as I’ve gotten older (I’m hesitant to say “matured”), I’ve valued the experience over the cost, and I prefer the experience I get with a toro. Sure there are times when a Robusto fits my schedule better, I might smoke a couple today, but it’s because I have so damned many of them in my humidors and I usually find myself unfulfilled when I finish one. Anyway, back to the Pledge Sojourn. This cigar has a Connecticut Havana seed wrapper which may or may not be grown in Massachusetts, depending on the source of information. I’ve seen tobacco farms in Massachusetts, so it’s totally possible. It’s a dark wrapper, and it’s beautiful. The binder is from Ecuador and the filers are from Nicaragua. Of course it’s made in La Alianza, Ernesto’s factory in the DR. I forgot to check my band to see if it’s signed, Ernie signed six of each size and if someone finds one they win a humidor. Hang on, be right back. Nope, no golden ticket for me! It was a 1 in 1250 shot. I bet Kameron at the shop checked them all, the band came off awfully easy 😁. I kid. This is a delicious cigar with a beautiful burn and draw. It’s full bodied and full flavored. It has some cocoa and pepper, and I might have initially mistaken it for broadleaf, but it wasn’t as sweet. As a longtime fan of EPC’s work, I am once again impressed, this is another winner. Considering how rarely I spend $12 on a cigar, this one is worth every penny. Yum.
Here’s some news from the folks at Drew Estate that I was too lazy to post separately a few days ago:
Drew Estate announces today that it will donate $50,000 to Operation: Cigars for Warriors (CFW) during its virtual Barn Smoker Live event, which will broadcast directly from the Florida Sun Grown farm in Clermont, Fla., on Drew Estate’s Facebook page (facebook.com/drewestatecigar) on Nov. 14, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Due to COVID-19, Drew Estate cancelled the five Barn Smoker events that had been planned for 2020 in Connecticut, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Florida. Instead, Drew Estate decided to Bring the Barn to the People, announcing its Barn Smoker Good Will Act, through which Drew Estate fully refunded all Barn Smoker ticketholders, sent each of these ticketholders all the incredible swag they would have otherwise received at the in-person events, and decided to showcase a virtual Barn Smoker open to all adults free of charge.In 2014, Drew Estate hosted its first Barn Smoker at Hopkinsville, Ky. The event brought premium cigar consumers onto a real American tobacco farm and educated them on how the dark fire-cured tobacco used in the company’s Kentucky Fire-Cured cigars is grown, processed and finished. The event, which included local cuisine and spirits samplings proved so popular that the company has expanded its Barn Smoker program to a total of five annual events.Jonathan Drew, founder and president of Drew Estate, notes, “I kinda view life as a great big mosaic of stories. As a tobacco man, I love the deep, raw, emotional and authentic stories of real American tobacco farmers and families. One of our goals at Barn Smoker is to immerse our DE family into farm life and premium leaf culture. This year, we have a virtual spin on things, but the team is hard at work loading in super duper surprises and cool shit. I have to say that most of all, I’m just lookin’ forward to chillin’ with you guys. Much love!”
A hallmark of each Barn Smoker has been assisting CFW, a 501(c)(3) charity that has shipped approximately 1.2 million cigars to deployed troops and has also provided them with boutique coffee, cigar accessories and other items. Drew Estate’s association with CFW dates to before the charity’s establishment in 2012 when Drew met CFW’s CEO, Storm Boen, and provided legal advice on how to set up a charity.
“Drew Estate has been our biggest supporter and J.D. [Jonathan Drew] has always been a big proponent of ours,” Boen says. “His legal background provided the foundation for Operation: Cigars for Warriors. Since then, he’s ensured that we are at all of Drew Estate’s Barn Smokers, which has helped us a lot, especially after 2016 when the FDA declared that manufacturers couldn’t donate cigars to troops anymore.”
Prior to 2016, Drew Estate had donated more than 150,000 cigars and has also donated approximately $250,000 to the charity to date. While the FDA now prohibits cigar companies from donating cigars to charitable causes, it still allows cigar companies to donate money to charities. A portion of each Barn Smoker ticket sold supports CFW, and Drew Estate also donates raffle items to raise additional money for the CFW at every Barn Smoker event. Despite not holding in-person Barn Smokers in 2020, Drew Estate will add another $50,000 to its charitable contributions to CFW on November 14th.
“While Covid-19 has seriously impacted all of us, it has had a tremendous effect on charitable contributions worldwide, but the missions these charities serve have not diminished,” says Drew Estate CEO, Glenn Wolfson. “In the face of tremendous challenges brought on by the pandemic, Cigars for Warriors continues to successfully fulfill its mission of sending deployed soldiers and sailors cigars and other much needed items they request. With gratitude to these brave men and women serving overseas, Drew Estate is proud to support Cigars for Warriors and we encourage everyone to consider donating their cigars, time or money to this worthwhile charity.”
Financial donations to Cigars for Warriors may be made via PayPal. Cigar donations may be made at an authorized Cigars for Warriors donation center or sent to Attention: Cigars for Warriors at 8585 SW Hwy 200 Unit # 16, Ocala, FL 34481. For more information, visitcigarsforwarriors.org.
Barn Smoker Live Promo Video
ABOUT DREW ESTATE
Founded in New York City in 1996, Drew Estate has become one of the fastest growing tobacco companies in the world. Under their mantra “The Rebirth of Cigars”, Drew Estate has led the “Boutique Cigar” movement by innovating new elements to the tobacco industry with their unique tobaccos and blending styles that attract new and traditional cigar enthusiasts. In their Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, the Nicaraguan headquarters, Drew Estate produces a variety of brands such as ACID, Herrera Estelí, Herrera Estelí Norteño, Isla del Sol, Kentucky Fired Cured, Liga Privada, MUWAT, Larutan by Drew Estate, Nica Rustica, Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Cigars, Tabak Especial, Undercrown, Florida Sun Grown, and Java by Drew Estate.
Contest
It’s time to announce the winner of the cool AshStay ashtray, Western Digital Hygrometer and DAHOT Sampler from my humidor! Thanks to Chaim at Cigar Oasis for the Ashtray and Hygrometer! Cigar Oasis has been a great supporter of CigarCraig.com for decades! OK, you’ve told me a million times not to exaggerate, it’s been a long time, and I use Cigar Oasis products in my humidors, as well as an Ashstay on a daily basis! So, I put the entries into a spreadsheet, randomized the list, then used a random number generator, and came up with Patrick Hart as the winner! KingOHarts, please send your address, and you really don’t need to prove your age, because I remember you from the Usenet days, so you MUST be of legal age! Let me scrounge around and see what I can come up with for a future giveaway, the holidays will soon be upon us! It’s getting harder and harder!
I know, you’re saying to yourself: “didn’t Craig just have a great contest a few weeks ago? Is he going back to his old ways?” Well, it just works out that a cool item came across my doorstep that I wanted to share with you guys, and why wait, but more on that in a bit. First, I made another visit to one of my local CigarCigars shops, this time the one in Berwyn, PA. Kameron is the manager there, and curates the Instagram account for the shop. I have been seeing his proclivity for pics of vanity license plates, so I figured there was one glaring omission from his collection and it was my responsibility to fill that void! Give him a follow (CigarsBerwyn), and make sure you follow CigarCraig1 (CigarCraig has gone dormant as I can no longer log in!). While there I picked up a few new-to-me cigars, as I do, and smoked the Island Jim San Andrés No.2 last night. I smoked the regular issue No. 2 several years ago on a birthday visit to Cigar Mojo. Holy crap, I just checked and it was 2014, can you believe the Island Jim No. 2 has been around for over 6 years? Damn! That’s just stupid. I guess it’s no more stupid than me eating an Island Jim BBQ Pineapple Pork stick well over two years past its sell-by date (I did this recently, BTW, it was good!). The San Andrés No. 2 has the same 6″ x 52 Torpedo shape as the Original, which has a Jalapa wrapper, and I assume this also has Honduran binder and fillers with, obviously, a San Andrés wrapper. It also has the stripped head and shaggy foot. I really enjoyed this cigar! It reminded me of the old Leccia Luchadors with the spicy cocoa flavors, and I don’t think that has anything to do with both Jim and Sam being from Pittsburgh. This was a really good smoke and I recommend it!
Contest!
Hopefully you didn’t just skip through the Island Jim part, because I really spent some time on it. Anyway, let me tell you about this contest! One of my favorite things to do is to share things that I really enjoy, hoping that others will enjoy them too. My friends at Cigar Oasis are the exclusive distributor of a product that I’ve been using long before they became involved, so when they sent me one, I decided this would be a great time to share one with one of my readers! About 6 years ago I discovered the AshStay ashtray, and I’ve been using mine daily on my porch ever since. This thing is great. It keeps the smell and mess contained, and doesn’t look unsightly. When my grandkids come over I don’t even have to clean up and put it away! It’s super cool! Mine is white, and if I clean it (big if!), it looks brand new. The one they sent is Gunmetal, normally I’m a big fan of Gunmetal, but I have a perfectly good white one, and have plenty of ashtrays, so I’m willing to part with this one! Also, from Cigar Oasis, is a Caliber IV Digital Hygrometer. I have been using one of these for years as well and it’s a great hygrometer! Of course, it wouldn’t be a CigarCraig contest without some cigars. I put together a seven cigar sampler of one of my favorite unknown cigar brands, Danli Honduras Tobacco (DAHOT) from my humidor. These are cigars that I really love, and love to share. There’s Don Juan Calavera in Connecticut, Maduro and Sumatra, Flor Maya in Connecticut and Habano, The Clown Corojo and Marchetti box pressed Maduro. These are some of my go-to cigars, I love them all. The Don Juan Calavera Connecticut is one of my favorite Connecticut cigars, and the Sumatra was my favorite cigar of 2018. The usual rules apply. Leave a comment on this blog post, and this blog post only, to enter. You need to be of legal age in your jurisdiction to win cigars. I’ll select a winner next Sunday, October 25, 2020. It would be great if the winner read the blog post and emailed me their shipping info instead of me having to track them down 😉 ! Good luck!
Sadly (for me, I seem to be in the minority for some reason), it’s the last Sunday of summer. I am not a fan of Autumn, or Winter, and I only tolerate Spring because it means it’s almost Summer. As I age I am far less tolerant of cold, and I just find the trees losing their leaves and everything turning brown really depressing. Lots of people love it, and that’s good for them, but I’m not a fan. The only leaves I enjoy burning are properly fermented black tobacco leaves, lovingly rolled into beautiful cigars! So kindly STFU about how great Fall is and LMTHA (to use some partial Saka acronyms).
I received some of the new Diesel Esteli Puro Samples a week or so ago from General Cigar Co., for which I’m grateful, and smoked a few this week. I posted the full press release about this here. Here are a few important points:
The wrapper was harvested from La Lilia, the binder from San José and the fillers from several plots including AJ’s celebrated San Lotano farm.
Blended by AJ Fernandez, handcrafted at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez in Estelí, Nicaragua and developed by General Cigar’s Justin Andrews.
I smoked the Robusto, as it’s General’s MO to send samples in that format. In this case, the Robusto is a generous 5¼ x 54 and comes wrapped in a cedar sleeve from the band to the foot. Warning to those with a sensitive constitution, this cigar starts off very strong! The first inch or so is a pepper blast with a load of nicotine. I’d almost call it hot. I was taken aback, honestly, and I like stronger cigars for the most part. It settled down after a while, but remained full bodied, and I really rather enjoyed the two samples I smoked. I have a couple more, I think I’ll take the cedar sleeve off of one, and revisit them in several months, smoking one that has been stored with, and one without the sleeve and see what differences I find. I often regret storing cigars long term with the cedar sleeves, and I leave them as they are out of sheer eyes laziness mostly. If you like strong cigars, this would be a good one to try! Lots of rich tobacco flavor under the pepper!
I visited a couple of my area CigarCigars shops yesterday, and I wish I had hit one more to complete the trifecta, it slipped my mind to do it. I had hoped to visit with my friend Kevin, who is retiring as manager of the Downingtown store in a week or so, but he wasn’t working, so bought some cigars, and stopped at the Frazer store on my way home and bought a few more cigars. Both stores had a mask policy, and social distance practices arranged in their lounges and were open for business. The Frazer store even had a sign on the door saying if you’re sick, stay home. Happy to see that they are taking proper pandemic precautions. The Downingtown store had good foot traffic while I was there, the register was ringing. One of the cigars I bought there was the Micallef A. I’ve even hearing a lot about this cigar recently, it was apparently a cigar that was named through a contest held among the ambassadors, of which I’m one (but I didn’t vote). You’d think they’d be able to come up with something better than “A”, but they actually settled on “Ambassador”, which makes more sense. There was a little bit of a copyright issue with that (I’m guessing Joya with L’ambassadeur?), so they just went with “A”. Now, when I think of a cigar called “A”, I expect a 9¼ x 48 cigar, but this is a 6¾ x 54 cigar with a Nicaraguan Sumatra wrapper that’s fermented to a dark Maduro. It also has a Sumatra binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers and is made in their factory in Esteli by the Gomez Sanchez Family. Lotsa Sumatra there, and I like Sumatra, and the price is right at around $7.50 here in PA. I lit one up and it was good. Lots of sweet, dark coffee and cocoa notes that I like, but I couldn’t help but think there was some youth, or at least that some age could certainly be of benefit. I liked it well enough, there was just something a little bit out of balance that some humidor time will address. I’ll have no problem experimenting with this one though, the construction was perfect, and at that price, it’s a no brainer.
Contest
I almost wrapped this up without selecting winners for the CigarProp Smoke In Battle of the Bands Samplers. If you aren’t a lucky winner, or even if you are, I’d recommend going and buying one or three of these samplers, you really can’t go wrong. The only way you can justify not buying one is if you are opposed to lining Abe Dababneh’s pockets, and if that’s the case, well, I guess I can’t help. I met Abe before I ever even though about launching this site, so we go back a ways. Anyway, We need two winners. The random number generator tells me that the winners of CigarProp Smoke In Battle of the Bands Samplers are: Xolatol and Gregg Hearl! Please send me your contact info and proof that you’re of age so we can get these samplers to you!
I had to take a break from writing this to take a call from Jose Blanco, among other topics discussed, I confirmed with him that plume is, in fact, real, and will have some other theories I have related to that whole controversy verified (or disproved) in the future. That’s all for today, until the next time,
It’s been way too long since I’ve had a contest! Kevin at CigarProp is involved in Smoke Inn’s Battle of the Band‘s promotion, which involves six of my fellow cigar media friends who put together samplers which are for sale on Smoke Inn’s website. The object is for people to buy the samplers, and at the end of the promotion, which is Midnight Sunday, October 4th, 2020, the one who has sold the most, and I’m assuming it’s the number of samplers and not gross sales, although I’m not clear on that point, wins a championship belt. Of course, the big winner is Smoke Inn, but there’s braggin rights on the line here, and that’s what’s important to the competitors! Like I said, I know all of the competitors, and they all have great samplers, but as a self proclaimed cheap bastard, and Kevin is a close personal friend, I’ve found myself drawn to his five pack over the rest. The other draw was the inclusion of the Padron 1926 No. 35, and I’d never smoked the 1926 until I bought the “shorties for forty”, as he refers to it. The Cigar Prop Pack has been in the lead since the beginning, and as the newest cigar media member in the bunch, that’s a pretty big deal! The other guys in the competition have some large and well established followings!
Kevin and I got together and decided to do a little giveaway. Of course, the idea is to bring awareness to the sale, but two readers each win one of the Cigar Prop Battle of the Bands five packs! The packs include the following cigars: (1) Alec Bradley Black Market Esteli Punk Petit Corona, (1) Crowned Heads Juarez OBS, (1) DT&T Sobremesa Short Churchill, (1) Padron Anniversary 1926 Maduro No. 35, and (1) Drew Estate Papas Fritas. I think we can all agree that these are all great cigars, and I’ve smoked them all recently and can personally vouch for their quality. Additionally, anybody that buys a sampler from Smoke Inn and posts it anywhere online tagging Cigar Prop or Kevin Shahan in the post so he sees it, will get one of his Cigar Prop Minions dog tags for free. Anybody that buys or has bought two samplers, will get a dog tag and the Cigar Prop Travel XC 2.0 (both pictured above). By the way, Kevin claims that the “C” in the XC is for CigarCraig! So leave a comment here to enter, not on Facebook or anywhere else, only comments on this blog post will count. I’ll pick two winners on Sunday, September 20, 2020, and the winners will need to send me their contact information and proof that they are of legal age.
I’m doing my best to try to maintain some semblance of normalcy in what’s turning into quite the shitshow of a 2020, quite frankly. I’m not sure how else to characterize it. I have my feelings on things, but I’m just going to try to stick to my “don’t be a dick” mantra, and keep on doing what I need to do to get through the day. I encourage everyone to live by that philosophy, the world would be a better place. One can dream. Anyway, before I announce a winner of the great Drew Estate goodies, here’s some news they sent my way.
Drew Estate has been putting out more news than I can keep up with lately! I’m sure you’ve seen the news about the new Joya Numero Uno size and the Acid Samplers already, so I won’t revisit those, but these are from the last few days:
Drew Estate Unveils Four New Gift Sets
Drew Estate announces today four new gift sets of their most popular brands including Undercrown Shade, Herrera Esteli Habano, Deadwood Fat Bottom Betty and Tabak Especial Dulce. This release will be showcased on the upcoming Freestyle Live: Special Edition hosted on facebook.com/drewestatecigar on June 11th from 7:00-9:00pm EST.
Each gift set features 5 toro sized cigars and a branded lighter exclusive to the gift set release. Deadwood Fat Bottom Betty toro kicks off the releases, wrapped in lush Maduro and blended with rich and exotic tobaccos. Next, the Herrera Esteli Habano toro features a spicy Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Honduran Binder, and bold filler leaves from Nicaragua. The Undercrown Shade is highlighted by a smooth Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper over a Sumatra binder with Dominican and Nicaraguan filler leaves. Finally, the Tabak Especial Dulce features a creamy Connecticut wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler leaves, perfect to pair with your cup of coffee.
From the Wynwood Safehouse, Jonathan Drew Founder and President of Drew Estate notes, “Gift Sets are cool as fuck. I dig em.”
The following gift sets featuring a branded lighter are shipping in August:
Deadwood Fat Bottom Betty Toro Gift Set MSRP $57.99
Herrera Esteli Habano Toro Gift Set MSRP $57.99
Tabak Especial Dulce Toro Gift Set MSRP $57.99
Undercrown Shade Toro Gift Set MSRP $57.99
For full coverage of Drew Estate Gift Sets and all of Drew Estate’s upcoming national releases check out our 2020 #DESummerTakeover promotion at www.drewestate.com/summertakeover and be sure to tune in to Freestyle Live: Special Edition hosted on facebook.com/drewestatecigar on June 11th from 7:00-9:00pm EST.
ABOUT DREW ESTATE
Founded in New York City in 1996, Drew Estate has become one of the fastest growing tobacco companies in the world. Under their mantra “The Rebirth of Cigars”, Drew Estate has led the “Boutique Cigar” movement by innovating new elements to the tobacco industry with their unique tobaccos and blending styles that attract new and traditional cigar enthusiasts. In their Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, the Nicaraguan headquarters, Drew Estate produces a variety of brands such as ACID, Herrera Estelí, Herrera Estelí Norteño, Isla del Sol, Kentucky Fired Cured, Liga Privada, MUWAT, Larutan by Drew Estate, Nica Rustica, Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Cigars, Tabak Especial, Undercrown, Florida Sun Grown, and Java by Drew Estate.
Not to be outdone, Joya de Nicaragua has been announcing new stuff too:
JOYA DE NICARAGUA DARES YOU TO “SHUT THE BOX”
A LIMITED AND PLAYFUL EDITION OF THE LEGENDARY ANTAÑO
Back in 2012, Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca, Chairman of Joya de Nicaragua, won his first game of Shut the Box. He was on tour, visiting old friends in the cigar industry, and in one stop at Havana Mix Shop in Memphis, TN, he was challenged to a game. As a numbers guy, backed by a PhD in Economics, he accepted the dare. You could argue that an exact science has nothing to do with rolling the dice, or you could simply try to shut the box!
Shut the Box is a traditional American game that Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca has become obsessed with and dares anybody to challenge him! “I never thought that day I would discover one of my now favorite pastimes, and moreover, that 8 years after, my team would come up with the idea of making a cigar box that transforms into it. The best of all is that now I’ll find it in cigar lounges across America when I visit,” explained Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca, Chairman of the Board.Antaño is one of Joya de Nicaragua’s oldest and most successful blends of all time. Launched in 2001, it is considered by many as the first real full body cigar in the market. An innovative approach of the most traditional factory in Nicaragua, that became an iconic cigar for American smokers, now considered a true classic. With a Nicaraguan Habano Wrapper and Nicaraguan Binder and Fillers, this cigar is an ultra robust, spicy smoke with an earthy finish, and unbridled body and aroma, which showcase the authentic Nicaraguan Puro.
Antaño Shut the Box Limited Edition is a special gift from Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua to those loyal consumers that have been supporting the brand for almost 20 years. It has manufactured 500 Collector’s Edition boxes of each of the two most popular vitolas in this blend, JDN’s signature Gran Cónsul (4 ¾ x 60 – MSRP $ 182/box or $9.10/stick) and Robusto Grande (5 ½ x 52 – MSRP $169/box or $8.45/stick). After the cigars have been enjoyed, the box is ready to play “Shut the Box”.
“For many years we have been thinking about ideas on how to make our empty boxes be useful after all cigars are smoked, and this is how we decided to let people have some fun. At the moment, we didn’t know we were going to be bringing to smokers a special game so useful these days that we have to stay longer at home,” said Juan Ignacio Martínez, Executive President.
Antaño Shut the Box will be available to stores across the country as of June 2020, and will come in the traditional 20 count boxes, with cigars, instructions and two dice ready to be played with those closest to you. The perfect kit for cigar smokers that want to add some fun to their smoke.
ABOUT JOYA DE NICARAGUA
Joya de Nicaragua is a family owned tobacco grower and cigar factory. Established in 1968, it is the first and most authentic premium handmade cigar manufacturer from Nicaragua. Based in Estelí, many regard JDN as the patriarch creator of the Nicaraguan cigar industry, and its cigars are sold in more than 55 countries around the world. The company’s commitment to quality along with its skillful and resilient people, have rewarded it with the industry recognition of Cigar Factory of the Year 2018 & 2019.
Contest Winner!
I am still throwing cigars in a bag, but so far, along with a Year of the Rat as promised, I’ve included a Nica Rustica Belly from the launch event in Louisville KY in July of 2015 and one each of the new Undercrown Corona Pequeños. I’ll rummage around and find some more to add, I’m sure there will be some Joyas too. I’ve consulted the Random Number Generator, and, as Patrick H predicted, it got close to him, but missed him by this much! Patrick G is the winner! Please send your address so I can get this stuff out to you. I just thought of two more great cigars to put in while I was typing this! Thanks so much to Drew Estate for sending me the Liga Privada Survival Kit and the other swag I’ve collected over the years! It brings me great joy to give stuff like this away! It’s a good thing they didn’t send one of those Benchmade knife/cutters or we wouldn’t have been having a contest, those things are wicked-cool!
couple today, but it’s because I have so damned many of them in my humidors and I usually find myself unfulfilled when I finish one. Anyway, back to the Pledge Sojourn. This cigar has a Connecticut Havana seed wrapper which may or may not be grown in Massachusetts, depending on the source of information. I’ve seen tobacco farms in Massachusetts, so it’s totally possible. It’s a dark wrapper, and it’s beautiful. The binder is from Ecuador and the filers are from Nicaragua. Of course it’s made in La Alianza, Ernesto’s factory in the DR. I forgot to check my band to see if it’s signed, Ernie signed six of each size and if someone finds one they win a humidor. Hang on, be right back. Nope, no golden ticket for me! It was a 1 in 1250 shot. I bet Kameron at the shop checked them all, the band came off awfully easy 😁. I kid. This is a delicious cigar with a beautiful burn and draw. It’s full bodied and full flavored. It has some cocoa and pepper, and I might have initially mistaken it for broadleaf, but it wasn’t as sweet. As a longtime fan of EPC’s work, I am once again impressed, this is another winner. Considering how rarely I spend $12 on a cigar, this one is worth every penny. Yum.It’s time to announce the winner of the cool AshStay ashtray, Western Digital Hygrometer and DAHOT Sampler from my humidor! Thanks to Chaim at Cigar Oasis for the Ashtray and Hygrometer! Cigar Oasis has been a great supporter of CigarCraig.com for decades! OK, you’ve told me a million times not to exaggerate, it’s been a long time, and I use Cigar Oasis products in my humidors, as well as an Ashstay on a daily basis!
So, I put the entries into a spreadsheet, randomized the list, then used a random number generator, and came up with Patrick Hart as the winner! KingOHarts, please send your address, and you really don’t need to prove your age, because I remember you from the Usenet days, so you MUST be of legal age! Let me scrounge around and see what I can come up with for a future giveaway, the holidays will soon be upon us! It’s getting harder and harder!
I almost wrapped this up without selecting winners for the 
