Category Archives: Events

by Craig Vanderslice | January 15, 2023 · 10:31 am

Cubao, Wunderlust and Protocol Cigars and Gigantar!

I was poking around one of the humidors and realized I’d smoked a few Cubao Cameroon Churchills from Ortega Cigars and never mentioned them here. Eddie is still making some great cigars, he’s using the TACASA S.A. factory. This cigar has a Cameroon wrapper, like the name suggests, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan fillers. It smoked well and had a pleasing flavor. There was the nutty Cammerooniness that is inherent in the wrapper. Well worth $20 for a five pack, as all of the cigar I’ve smoked from Ortega seem to be. Shop Ortega Cigars and sign up for his email list, great bargains and cigars! I am especially fond of the Serie D Maduros!

I smoked another cigar from my Secret Santa this year, a Wunder|lust Fiorella, from RomaCraft. This is a brand that’s only sold in Germany, from what I can tell. The cigar is a corona gorda, 5 5/8″ x 46, has a Mata Fina wrapper from Brazil, Indonesian binder and, one would suspect, although it’s not disclosed, Nicaraguan fillers. The Europeans seem to like Brazilian tobacco, brands like Villiger actually make cigars there for the European market. For those who don’t know, this size is named for Skip Martin’s youngest daughter. I love the size, always been one of my favorites after the toro. Clearly, this cigar has Manbacco and Tastoterone, like it’s sibling blends, with a bold punch to start out. It continues to be a full bodied cigar for me, surprised the Europeans like this so much. I love the coffee notes and heavy tobacco. This is probably hard to get, but definitely worthwhile!

Yesterday I had a chance to talk to someone I featured in my “Celebrity Cigar Chats” back in 2010, Jim Babjak, guitar player and founding member of The Smithereens. We went to the unveiling of the Illinois Rock And Roll Museum‘s newest piece, which will be on their Rt 66 building. It’s a 24’ guitar sculpture, Gigantar, which was made by Shannon, world famous for her airbrush paintings. This is an impressive sculpture which will be making its way to it’s new home from The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, which is where the unveiling took place. Jim and Dennis Diken, the drummer for the Smithereens, were there for the unveiling, and Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick (another cigar guy), will be in Joliet, IL for the dedication. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen Jim an Dennis, and while it was too cold and windy outside for us to smoke, I gifted Jim a couple cigars. I’ve been a fan of the Smithereens since the ’80s and it was really cool to talk to Jim about cigars!

Last night I grabbed another Churchill, the Protocol Cyber Crimes Unit, from a Protocol Churchill sampler I bought from Discount Cigar Warehouse, and I think some of these may be exclusive to that store. Anyway, I’ve been rather looking forward to smoking this cigar, it’s a Nicaraguan puro with a Rosado Nicaraguan Habano wrapper, which smoked much darker than that, if that makes sense. I absolutely loved this cigar. It has a creaminess, but with heavy cocoa flavors. Bittersweet chocolate came to mind. I thought it was great and have to get some more. Good stuff!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Cubao, Cyber Crimes Unit, Fiorella, Gigantar, Illinois Rock And Roll Museum, Ortega, Protocol, RoMaCraft, smithereens, Wunderlust

by Craig Vanderslice | December 11, 2022 · 9:49 am

Cigar Heritage Festival and Some West Tampa Black Cigars

Last Sunday I attended the Cigar Heritage Festival in Ybor City. As I may have said in last weeks post, it was my first visit to that area, long overdue. I spent a disproportionate amount of time at Corona Cigar’s Tampa location, even had a great meet-up with old friends from the alt.smokers.cigars usenet group! I got to hang around a lot with Kevin and Jessica of CigarProp, many thanks to them for driving me around! But Sunday was the day for the Cigar Heritage Festival, a brisk half a cigar walk from my hotel (2 miles, it was a beautiful day!). I wasn’t sure what to expect, a sentiment shared by several vendors and even the staff! I somehow ended up with a VIP pass, which allowed me access to some seating areas, none of which I took advantage of. It also included about seven tickets for cigars, more on that in a bit. The festival covered the Centennial Park and three of the streets surrounding it. There were a bunch of vendors there, many of the people who were principle and prominent “faces” of the brands were there. I have to think that folks like Steve Saka and Tony Gomez being there meant net to nothing to 90% of the attendees, but I enjoyed catching up with some old friends, Island Jim Robinson among them. One of the highlights for me was meeting Ron Hunt, the host of the All About Wine podcast. You might think it odd that someone who hasn’t had a drink in over 30 years knows someone from the wine industry, but Ron has been a member of a weekly video chat I am involved with, and is fairly new to premium cigars. I introduced him to several people there, and had him collect on my aforementioned VIP cigar tickets. He gave a really nice description of the event on his latest episode. I also ran into my old friend Keith, who I had seen the day before, and interrupted his sleep schedule once again to hang out :-). From what I’m told, sales were brisk, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust was selling boxes, exceeding expectations. There was a band, food trucks, and all sorts of other lifestyle vendors. I bought a cool t-shirt and a gift for my wife. I especially enjoyed the chickens and roosters wandering around! I recommend the event, and a visit to “Cigar City” in general.

While I was there I ran into my old friend Ricky Rodriguez, formerly of CAO, presently of West Tampa Tobacco Co.. It took me a while to find him, I thought he’d have his own booth, but he was set up with a local cigar store, Tobacco Depot. Ricky was busy taking pictures with people, like the celebrity he is, I had a moment to talk with his daughter, Sara, the Brand Activation & Engagement Manager for the company. I asked her if she had smoked her first cigar yet, having heard that she had never smoked before. Her answer surprised me, I guess, it was a no. She said she has no interest, although she was going to spend an extended time in Esteli learning rolling and blending, so maybe she’d be inspired to try there. I, naturally, recommended trying. I’ve never seen this young lady without a huge smile on here face, she’d certainly be a great cigar ambassador. Ricky gave me a prototype of the Black and White in lancero size, and I smoked the Black version this week, along with a Black Robusto for comparison. I need to go out and pick up a White so I can smoke the other one, I like to have a baseline, and I have only smoke a couple Whites. Something odd about the Black in the lancero format, I was concerned in the first inch, it was a little rough, kind of like the coffee that’s been sitting in the pot half the day, you know, the good stuff! After the first inch though, it went someplace unexpected. There were distinct notes of spices that I identify with Christmas baking, it really turned into something special. The coffee notes smoothed out, but that delicious spice kept going. It was good, better than the Robusto I smoked the next day, which is still a tasty cigar! I’m very much looking forward to the White lancero!

That’s all for today. Secret Santa names have been picked and distributed! I’ll be putting a package together today! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, Cigar City, CIgar Heritage Festival, cigars, Tampa, West Tampa Tobacco Co.

by Craig Vanderslice | December 4, 2022 · 7:00 am

El Reloj Cigar Factory Tour and FSG Farm Visit

Friday I found myself in Tampa, Florida, my first time visiting this area. I came down for the Cigar Heritage Festival on Sunday, but I really wanted to visit J.C.Newman’s El Reloj factory. They have spent the last few years remodeling the building, and it’s beautiful. The entrance has a company store, the mechanism for the clock in the tower for which the building is named, and a museum. We went upstairs and had some coffee and pastries for breakfast (delicious), and a vintage Diamond Crown Robusto No. 2. This cigar brought me back to the first time I smoked one in 1998 at a cigar party in Vegas. The cigar had held up well, for a Connecticut Shade cigar. We then got the tour, they have some treasures in the basement, old packaging, cigars, and a “vault” filled with a selection of boxes of cigars from the company’s history. They also do some of the long filler tobacco preparation in the basement. We went back upstairs to the production floor, where they manufacture and package machine assisted cigars on antique machines. The difference between machine assisted and machine made is that the former, used here, involve the operator placing a leaf on a die, and using pedals to advance the machine. Machine made cigars are more of a “push a button and a thousand cigars start spitting out”. I saw similar operations at General Cigar’s facility in the. DR. It’s mesmerizing to watch.

On the third floor they have a gallery for hand rolling cigars. This is where the American and Angel Cuesta are rolled. We saw wheels and wheels of Angel Cuesta cigars in the basement aging room, they are hoping to ship them in the coming weeks. We watched a gentleman, also named Angel, finishing salamones, amazingly skilled hand work. This looks like it will be a wonderful cigar.

The next step on this tour involved going to visit the Florida Sun Grown farm, where Jeff Borsyiewicz greeted us. I skipped the bus ride and rode with Kevin and Jessica (CigarProp/TrashPanda, etc.). After a delicious Barbecue style lunch, we checked out the farm where tobaccos in the American, and other cigars is grown. Jeff gave a very informative talk on all the trials and tribulations of growing tobacco in Florida, as he’s the only one doing it. The leaf in the field looked beautiful, and we saw the barn, with some more vintage machinery. It was a beautiful day, sunny and 80, a nice break for me from the fall weather back home. We ended the day stopping in to Corona Cigars in Tampa. Nick Perdomo was there doing an event, and we ran into some friends from home, in town for the weekend. It was a good day. Thank you so much to Sydney, and everyone at J.C. Newman for a great day! If his were the only reason I came on this trip, it would have been worth it.

Today is the Cigar Heritage Festival in Ybor City. I’m not sure what to expect with this as it’s my first time, but I expect to see a few people I know. More on that in the next post. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, El Reloj, Florida Sun Grown, JC Newman

by Craig Vanderslice | November 27, 2022 · 9:12 am

CigarCraig.com’s Secret Santa and a Diamond Crown Black Diamond Cigar

Announcing the 2022 CigarCraig.com Secret Santa! We’ve been doing this for a few years now and it’s been a lot of fun. I grudgingly participate, I don’t want whoever gets me to be concerned, just send a few of your favorites that, maybe, I haven’t smoked! For me it’s about the giving, not the receiving. I announced it yesterday on Facebook when I set it up, and several people have already signed up! Here are the details:

CigarCraig.com 2022 Secret Santa

RSVP Deadline

Saturday, December 10, 2022

Exchange Date

Sunday, December 11, 2022

Budget

USD $40

If you missed out on some others, or just want to get in on the fun, get signed up! The Elfster platform makes things really easy, so have fun! This reminds me, I need to go through my swag collection, maybe there’s some giveaways coming up!

I make an effort to smoke something really good on holidays, and Thanksgiving was no exception. I recently came into possession of some Diamond Crown Black Diamond Emerald cigars, so that was my post-feast smoke. I smoked this cigar for the first time back in March of 2019, and I loved it. It’s distinctly possible that I haven’t smoked one since, it’s a bit hard to find. These are made at Tabacalera A. Fuente, with a dark Connecticut Havana seed wrapper, over Dominican binder and fillers. The Emerald is my favored size, 6″ x 52, but also comes in a 5¼” x 56 and 4½” x 54. Maybe I’ll find the other size when I visit the El Reloj factory this Friday! When Diamond Crown came out back in the mid ’90s it was only available west of the Mississippi and were all 54 ring, considered huge then. Anyway, this continues to me a terrific cigar and oe that suits my palate. It’s got loads of dark, rich flavors, espresso notably, and I like it a lot. I’m torn between this and the Maximus as my favorite in the line. I don’t have to choose, I love them both!

This time next week I’ll be heading to the Cigar Heritage Festival in Ybor City. I have a tour of J.C.Newman planned for Friday, an afternoon herf with friends from the old Usenet group on Saturday, and then the festival on Sunday. Apparently Admission is now free (I have not seen my refund yet!), so if you’re around, stop in and look for me, I’ll be the guy with a cigar.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Black Diamond, cigar, CIgar Heritage Festival, cigars, Diamond Crown, J.C.Newman, Secret Santa

by Craig Vanderslice | September 1, 2022 · 10:03 pm

Celebrating CGars Ltd’s 25th Anniversary

Tuesday evening we went to Brooklyn, NY to help Mitchell Orchant celebrate 25 years in business with CGars Ltd, a London based purveyor of fine cigars. You may be asking: CigarCraig, you don’t smoke a lot of Cuban cigars, how did you end up on the guest list for such an exclusive event? Let me tell you a little story. Sometime around 1997 I received an e-mail from Mitchell, who I knew as “SmokeyMO” on the alt.smokers.cigars Usenet group. It was asking me to have a look at his new website an offer any advice. I told Mitchell that “Montecristo” was one word, not two. I ended up meeting Mitchell in 1999 at an event in Las Vegas. We’ve been friends ever since, my wife and I even attended his wedding in London back in 2006, which led to my only appearance in Cigar Aficionado magazine (December 2006 with Dennis Haysbert on the cover). So, even though I’ve been a very infrequent customer of his over the years, we’ve maintained a friendship. So that’s how we ended up in Brooklyn on a Tuesday evening, smoking great cigars with some old friends.

The event was held at The Liberty Warehouse, overlooking the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor. The food and deserts were amazing, and we saw several old friends. There was a great latin band playing throughout the evening. If it hadn’t been so windy, we would have spent more time outside watching the ships in the harbor, but cigars don’t deal with the wind well, and the cigars provided were the best of the best. It was a fantastic evening, celebrating a milestone for a great business and family, with great friends. One of these days I hope to get back to the U.K. and visit some of Mitchell’s shops!

I smoked one of the cigars last night from the party, the La Gloria Cubana Exclusivo Andino, which is exclusive to the Andes in South America. I haven’t had a Cuban La Gloria in 20-some years, and I have been off of Havanas for the most part over the last decade or so. This was an excellent cigar, rich and buttery with some spice. I quite enjoyed it, thank you, Mitchell for it and for an incredible evening.