Category Archives: Editorial

by | February 26, 2012 · 11:25 am

An A.Turrent, a Griffin’s and Some Beverage Suggestions

Thursday night I took a late walk with a A. Turrent Puro Corojo  Robusto.  It was another reasonably balmy February evening, and this 4½” x 54 cigar seemed just about the right size for the time allotted.  I received this cigar in a sampler from the Altadis booth at the IPCPR show and have been slowly working my way back into those cigars.  This cigar had a very nice look, the wrapper was very smooth and without a flaw.  The burn was perfect and the draw was easy with just the right amount of resistance.  I really enjoyed the flavor of this Corojo cigar, it was rich and satisfying. For years Mexican tobacco has gotten a bad rap, although I never really minded it, heck, I started out smoking TeAmo maduros way back when.  Certainly the San Andreas tobacco is a pretty hot tobacco these days, and this cigar has a San Andreas Corojo wrapper and some fillers mixed in with Nicaraguan Corojo.  I absolutely LOVE the San Andreas maduro wrappers, I wonder how this cigar would be with that wrapper?  Thanks to Enrique Seijas for the tour at the show and for the samples.

 

Friday night we went to a little coffee house nearby to see my son play with his latest band.  Even though the place has “Coffee and Tobacco” on the window, there’s no smoking allowed thanks to our states indoor clean air laws.  Considering the size of the place, it’s probably not a bad idea.  The area where the band played was an upstairs room with was pretty small.  There were probably 50 people in a 20×30 or so room, with limited seating. The band was very good, despite my obvious bias, and I had some time before the show to enjoy a Griffins 500 on the sidewalk in front of the place.  I am constantly impressed with the quality of this mild cigar.  Burn and draw are outstanding and it’s loaded with flavor. I suppose you have to like a Connecticut shade wrapped cigar to like these, but I think it’s a nice smoke.  I was an old guy smoking a cigar among a bunch of teenagers smoking cigarettes, but that’s OK, I was one of them once…

 

One often asked question I see is regarding beverages to go with cigars, and the question that catches my eye most often is the non-alcoholic beverage question.  As one who gave up drinking long before I took up cigars, I’ve made a few conclusions of my own in that area.  Of course, coffee is a great cigar companion, but there are times when only a cold beverage will do.  I’ve often turned to root beers in this case.  I particularly enjoy Stewart’s or IBC, but recently the brewery in town here started bottling their root beer and its phenomenal.  Unfortunately, it may only be available in the Victory Brewpub retail store, but if you see it anyplace, give it a try.  My absolute favorite cold beverage cigar accompaniment is Reed’s Ginger Brew.  It’s a little like Ginger Ale on steroids.  I love the “Extra”, but it actually can over power a lighter cigar because it’s so spicy.  The Raspberry is  quite good, and the Spiced Apple Brew is very refreshing on a hot day as well.  I’ve been a fan of these since being introduced to them at a herf in 1999 , and pick up a couple four packs whenever I get a chance.  Here’s a Food Network video about the product and the company:

httpv://youtu.be/6sebjdI4aj4

 

So, if you’re looking for a nice, non-alcoholic drink to go with your cigar, check out some root beers or ginger beers, and if you can find Borgnine’s Coffee Soda, you can’t really go wrong with that, but it’s darned near impossible to find.  If anyone does know of a place to get ut, please let me know!  It’s really my holy grail of cigar beverages.

That’s it for now, I may try to find a nice cigar and take a Sunday walk.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | February 19, 2012 · 9:40 am

Punch vs. Hoyo de Monterrey – A Debate Finally Settled

You will find that my cigar smoking habits may be a little different than most of my contemporaries. I certainly do smoke a lot of different, new and unusual smokes, but I don’t generally go out of my way to get the newest and rarest. Much of this has to do with my frugal nature, I’m a cheap bastard. The thing is, I have always had a healthy regard for the big brands, as often seeing a “yellow box” Partagas is as much of a treat as something like a Tatuaje (which I have not smoked many of, save for the La Casita Criolla) or something of that ilk. I honestly enjoy the heck out of a plain old Macanudo Maduro, and lets face it, while Macanudo and Partagas are not outrageously priced, they aren’t cheap, and I know first hand that they have the same care and passion put into them as any other cigar. The same can be said for Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo, both are made by an enormous company, in massive quantities, but the quality of materials and construction cannot be disputed. Anyway, that’s a little bit off of today’s subject, but gives some background and basis for the subject of this article.

 

A few posts back, MoBarbq left a comment referring to the Punch London Club Maduro in comparison to the Hoyo de Monterrey Sabroso. These two cigars are made in the same factory in Honduras (HATSA), and are the same size. It brought to mind a seemingly endless discussion back in the 90s (and to this day) about the Punch and Hoyo lines. There was a conspiracy theory that the Rothschilds were the same cigars, just packaged in the different boxes (at the time the Rothschilds were un-banded). Both lines were available in natural, maduro and double maduro (oscuro or maduro maduro), were priced the same and were close enough in flavor to fuel this suspicion. Also, if you look at the two lines, there are quite a few parallels in sizes, the Sabroso and London Club being another. Just recently as I was shopping for some Punch and Hoyo examples, my local tobacconist told me that he witnessed with his own eyes Punch and Hoyo cigars being taking from the same rolling tables in the factory. The info from the CigarWorld.com website would make you think that there is some truth to this:

 

Hoyo de Monterrey

Wrapper: Ecuadoran Sumatra  (Natural) and Connecticut Broadleaf (Maduro)

Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan, Dominican (Piloto Cubano)

Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf

Country: Honduras

Factory: Honduras American Tabaco S. A., Cofradia, Honduras

 

Punch

Wrapper: Ecuadoran Sumatra  (Natural) and Connecticut Broadleaf (Maduro)

Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan, Dominican (Piloto Cubano)

Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf

Country: Honduras

Factory: Honduras American Tabaco S. A., Cofradia, Honduras

 

I’m on a constant quest for cigar knowledge, so, I will finally find an answer to the age old debate.

  • This controversy goes back at least to a 1984 article in Connoisseur Magazine where Frank Llaneza is quoted as saying, when asked about the difference: “The filler is pretty much the same, but we try to use binder leaf from the upper primings for Punch; they’re stronger-tasting. Hoyo uses the lower to middle leaf as binder. It is mellower and more aromatic.”
  • In a 1995 interview with Dan Blumenthal, Marvin Shanken asked the question “C.A.: How would you describe the difference in blend or style or taste between Hoyo and Punch?  Blumenthal: I think that Punch is a little heavier cigar than the Hoyo. There’s a little more flavor, to me, than in the Hoyo de Monterrey. There is a difference. The blends are made by Frank Llaneza”.
  • So, I inquired of Victoria McKee Jaworski, the Public Relations Director at General Cigar, about these two references and she got me some updated information. She said “they have different ratios of tobacco, so the blends are different. Punch is slightly fuller-bodied and uses more ligero. Its wrapper is closer to a Colorado color. And for Hoyo, the wrapper is a lighter shade of Ecuadoran Sumatra”. In the case of the maduro, Agustin Garcia, production manager at HATSA, the man responsible for tobacco processing and cigar production, tells us: “The wrapper for Punch Maduro and HDM Maduro is Connecticut Broadleaf for both of them. For Punch we use a darker color and little heavier wrapper than HdM”.

So there we have it. While the materials used in both lines of cigars are similar, and in some cases the same, there are differences. The Punch is blended to be a little more powerful and the Hoyo is supposed to be a little more refined. That puts that controversy to bed once and for all, and I can go back to my local shop and argue with them that they do not, in fact, take cigars from the same rolling table and box them in Punch or Hoyo boxes (of course, they go from the rolling tables into the aging rooms long before they are banded, wrapped and boxed!).

 

Since I’ve been smoking my way through a box of Hoyo Sabroso Maduro for the last year, and managed to get my hands on a box of Punch London Club Maduros, I figured I’d see for myself what the difference is.  I’m half way through the box Hoyo Sabrosos and I’ve really been enjoying them. They have the reasonably heavy,  dark maduro flavors I look for in the colder months.  Every one has been well made and most have been smoked down to a tiny nub.  I bought this box last year and it has been in my humidor ever since.  I just received a box of the Punch London Club Maduros this week, so they haven’t had the benefit of a year’s rest, but I smoked a couple of them anyway!  The cigars appear to have a darker, oilier wrapper than the Hoyos, they are gorgeous. To me, the Punch is a little stronger in flavor, consistent with all of the evidence provided above, so I have no reason to doubt that each line has it’s own distinctive blend, even if that difference is a matter of primings, leaf selections or proportions.  As far as I’m concerned, both are outstanding little smokes, although, admittedly, comparing year old cigars to new ones isn’t a very scientific way to do it!  I also managed to smoke an old favorite, the Punch Rothschild Maduro Maduro this week, and boy, was it good!  Savory and lush flavors and a long finish…another yummy smoke!

 

That’s it for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | February 12, 2012 · 9:42 am

A Couple of Cigars: a La Libertad and a Cain F

A few months ago I received some cigars from Villiger-Stokkebye, a couple of their newest offerings, and a 4 pack of their current brands. Since the only Villiger cigars I’ve smoked in the past have been the little machine made Exports (which, by the way, are excellent little cigars!), I figured I’d start with the older lines and work my way up to the newest.  So, since there were 2 of the La Libertad Robustos, I snagged one and fired it up the other night.  Let me briefly explain my thought processes in the winter when it comes to smoking samples.  I’ve come to realize that winter time outdoor smoking is NOT the best time to fairly and accurately judge several aspects of a premium cigar.  That’s largely why I’ll smoke old favorites over the winter, or items that I have more than one of on hand.  I like to give cigars, especially those generously provided to me, a fair chance (not that my opinion means anything really).  If this La Libertad had given me problems, I’d have a back-up to try again under better conditions.  In this case, I get a bonus, because the cigar was very nice, burned about perfectly, and had a very nice flavor.  Kudos on the construction of this, it has to be difficult to make a cigar out of what the website says is “mainly Ligero tobaccos from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua” and have it burn so dead even.  Interesting that the Habano seed wrapper and Nicaraguan seed binder are both grown in Peru, you don’t see that every day. Nice cigar, good flavors and perfect burn. I’d be interested to hear from Tad Smith, who was the reader who won the Day 2 prize in my 12 Days of Spectacular Giveaways back in December.  I’d like to know if he’s smoked this cigar and what he thought.

 

Friday night rolled around and I wasn’t taking any chances.  I’m not  sure how many times a Cain F 550 was in my hand and I put it back  in favor of something perhaps less scary.  Yeah, the Cains still intimidate me.  With the exception of the Daytona (which, incidentally, can be mistaken for a Cain F in low light, not-really-paying-attention conditions), I’ve had my tuckus kicked by more than one Cain cigar, Habano, Maduro, F….I don’t discriminate.  I’ve come to make sure that Cain examples spend a minimum of 6 months in “time-out” in my humidor, seems to mitigate the head spins and nausea…but, I digress.  So I grabbed this Cain F, with is 5¾ x 50, but feels more corona gorda-ish to me.  Exceptional cigar.  Great construction, once again, the slow-burning ligero somehow is blended to burn perfectly with the rest of the blend, amazing.   Bold, decadent flavor, perfectly balanced.  Brilliant cigar. I can hardly wait for the perfect occasion to smoke the lancero that Mike Staiber gifted me back when he hooked me up with the excellent Oliva prize package  for Day 6 in my December give-aways.

 

Thanks to Anne at Villiger-Stokkebye and Mike at Oliva for the gifts and for their support!  I love cigars, but the most amazing thing is all of the wonderful people I’ve had the opportunity to meet over the past  16 years of on-line cigar discussion.  Please get over to the Cigar Rights of America site and write to your elected officials so we can keep all of these fine people, as well as your shop owners, internet retailers, distributors in jobs, as well as all of the fine folks in the Caribbean and Central America who rely upon the cigar industry to feed their families.  The FDA must not be permitted to regulate premium cigars.

 

 That’s it for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | February 1, 2012 · 8:53 pm

A Toraño, a La Palina and a Vegas de Santiago Cigar

We have been having unseasonably nice weather here in south-eastern PA, so I’ve taken to smoking some larger cigars than I normally would this time of year.  Last winter we’d had probably four feet of snow,  not conducive to enjoying a fine cigar. Daytime highs near 60 have left the evenings prime for long walks with excellent cigars.

 

Sunday afternoon I selected a Toraño Loyal BFC, and I think, like the Emilio BMF, I know what the letters stand for.  This 6″ x 60 cigar could be considered a Big Fricken Cigar.  I had picked this up sometime over the last few months at a local shop, and it wasn’t awfully expensive, because, let’s face it, I don’t buy too many cigars that are awfully expensive.  This was a nice, medium bodied cigar that smoked very well.   At the price point around $5, this is a really tasty, well made cigar.

 

For Tuesday’s evening walk I was joined by a La Palina El Diaro Torpedo, which I receive a month or so ago from the folks at La Palina, who is also an advertiser on this site.  The cigar is a classic torpedo size, 6 1/8″ x 52, which is always  a favorite of mine.  I have to say that I think I like the robusto better in this cigar.  The torpedo was good, don’t misunderstand, but is lacked something that the robusto had.  I think i found the smaller size slightly more refined than the torpedo.  As I was smoking it, I couldn’t help but wonder what this blend would be like with a maduro wrapper.  Again, a very nice cigar, but something was missing for me.

 

Tonight’s cigar was a  Vegas de Santiago Secretos de Maestro Don Luis Laguito  No.1 maduro.  This cigar came into my possession  over a year ago after a conversation with Rudi and Lani, the manufacturers in Costa Rico.  I have had an association with this folks going back to a couple of events my wife and I hosted which they generously donated their cigars for the attendees.  Vegas de Santiago makes some really nice cigars at a very reasonable price.  They send me some of these cigars in what they refer to as a maduro wrapper.  This is maduro in the sense that the Cuban maduro cigars are, darker than their “natural”, but not the dark, heavy wrapper that we see in a broadleaf or Mexican maduro.  The cigar is a beautiful chocolate brown, and it well made with a nice pigtail cap.  I enjoyed the heck out of this cigar, except that there were a couple hints of ammonia near the end,  which confused me since these have been buried in the humidor for over a year.   An enjoyable smoke on a relatively balmy evening (for February 1st, light jacket and no gloves is a treat!).

 

My wife has been doing some research and in so doing came across the Philadelphia news papers archives.  Here’s a comic from the Philadelphia Inquirer dated June 6, 1922 that is as relevant now as it was then.  You may need to click on the image to open it in a new window to read it.

 

On a final note, I’d like to welcome my newest advertiser, 1st Class Cigar Humidors.  They have some really nice stuff on their site if you are in the market for a humidor or accessories!

 

That’s about all I have for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | January 29, 2012 · 10:22 am

Some Thoughts on Taste and A Tortuga 1950

My wife and I took the train into Philly yesterday to go to the Reading Terminal Market.  We have both lived in this area pretty much our whole lives, and had never been there.  This is a huge, indoor farmers market with produce, meats, fish, ethnic food, just about everything one would want.  One of the first stalls we came across was a candy counter.  I’m a nut for black licorice, so I purchased a mixed bag of “salty” licorice.  I had never had salty licorice and was curious.  Some of it wasn’t bad, some of it had a distinct ammonia flavor, which I can’t say that I enjoyed, I mean….who would?    It seems that this is a common treat in Nordic countries and Northern Germany, and is flavored with ammonium chloride, which explains the ammonia flavor I got.  This all got me to thinking of the way everyone’s tastes are different and how that translates to cigars.  This is no great revelation, we all know that we have different tastes, that’s one of the things that makes life interesting, but it reinforced the point to me when I thought ” who in thier right mind would enjoy this flavor?”  It seems that somebody does, and the same is true with cigars.  I’ve smoked some cigars that I consider to be vile, nasty tasting cigars that I can’t imagine anyone would want to smoke.  Obviously, the guy who makes the cigar likes it, and, let’s face it, considering all of the work that goes into making a cigar, who’s going to waste all that time and energy making a crappy cigar?  I know that as someone who apparently has a voice in the industry, it’s my responsibility when I talk about a cigar, to not denigrate a cigar just because it isn’t to my taste, and to allow for the myriad of variables in construction and storage that could cause a less than ideal cigar experience.  That same candy counter did have some chocolate cigars!  I passed since I can get a real cigar for the same price and have an hour or so of pleasure instead of the few minutes the candy variety would give me.  This bag of unusual licorice will last me a lot longer than a similar bag of sweet licorice would, as I can’t stop eating it once I start.   It’s one of my many failings…

 

Upon my return, I selected a Tortuga 1950 torpedo for an afternoon smoke.  This lovely dark cigar was sent to me by Victor Vitale, cigar maker, importer & distributor, along with a 1948 Connecticut and an Edicion Limitada 2011 in the same vitola.  There isn’t a lot of specifics on the website, but I assume that this is made in Nicaragua, based upon the “America Central” on the band.  According to information that I received with the samples, the cigar has a Mexican broadleaf wrapper, Nicaraguan,  Honduran and organic grown wild “jungle” filler leaf exclusive to this cigar.  The wrapper on this is beautiful, deep, dark brown, like dark chocolate, and the seems were virtually invisible and the veins were very fine.  The flavors appealed to me quite a bit.  They were dark and decadent, lush and satisfying.  There was an underlying flavor that intrigued me that I can’t put a finger on.  It was different from many maduros that I like, but really kept my attention down to a finger burning nub.  I’m really looking forward to the  other two in this line now, as this was a terrific smoke.  Besides the lack of details on the make-up of this cigar on the website, they also do not list a torpedo, so your mileage may vary when shopping for these.  Certainly a cigar I’d like to smoke more of. The Short at 4½” x 44 looks like a great winter cigar walk size.  I’ve been underwhelmed with Victor’s other cigars, but that’s just me, and, as I said above, taste is a subjective thing and no two palates ate the same.

 

I smoked some other cigars this week, notably a Macanudo 1968, a J.  Fuego Sangre de Toro Original, and a Gurkha Seduction.  All cigars I’d talked about before, and the only thing that bears repeating is how much I like the Gurkha Seduction.  I’ve been seeing a ton of reviews on this brick and mortar exclusive cigar.  I think Mike at MikesStogies.com is currently having a contest featuring these cigars, so check out his review.  I’ll feature these in a contest at a later date assuming I can keep my grubby little mitts off of them long enough!  I also noticed that the Seduction is Doc Stogiefresh‘s cigar of the week for his podcast episode 303.  Also of note was a La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros with Sumatra and Broadleaf that I got from my visit to Famous Smoke Shop.  Delicious cigar, if you have an opportunity to go to a La Gloria Cubana Retro event and meet Michael Giannini you will be in for a double treat as these cigars are special and Michael is a heck of a guy!

 

One last thing:  Please let me know if you have any problems viewing the site.  I’ve had some feedback that there are still some glitches and some operating systems or browsers, or some connections speeds still have problems.  I want everyone to be able to see the site the way I do, so please let me know if there’s a problem or complaint.

 

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

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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