Category Archives: Review

by | July 23, 2023 · 9:22 am

Romeo y Julieta, La Gloria Cubana and Diesel Cigars

Summer is whizzing by way too fast for my liking.  I’ve been enjoying a lot more cigars, three of which were just yesterday, which

I plan to tell you about! I started the day with a Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Twisted Love Story.  This came to me in a sampler of barber pole style cigars I bought from Fox Cigars, I had set this small cigar aside for an appropriate time, and that time came yesterday morning.  It was a toss up between this and a Rojas Breakfast Taco Maduro, but I kinda remember the Sumatra Breakfast Taco being a bit of a powerhouse, and I wasn’t feeling like a strong cigar yesterday morning. I wondered in a previous post how Altadis got away with making a cigar this shape with the name “story” attached to it, because it’s very close to the same size as the Hemingway Short Story, although it’s a few ring gauges slimmer at 4″ x 46 as opposed to 49.  The Romeo has Ecuadorian Connecticut & Habano wrappers, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers.  It’s a very pretty little perfecto.  It started off with some bitterness for me, until it burned past the “nipple”, then it smoothed out and had some nice butter and spice.  It was pretty good, but I liked the toro presentation better.  I think it smoked for nearly an hour, which is pretty good for a little cigar.  

 

I had a couple other cigars lined up that I was going to write about, but then I was out running errands and stopped in my nearest cigar store and picked up a few cigars I hadn’t smoked before.  This store honestly didn’t have much in the way of new stuff, but they are a TAA store, so I picked up the La Gloria Cubana 2023 TAA Exclusive, a 7½” x 54 double corona.  If the size sounds familiar, it’s the same size as the Hoya de Monterrey Excalibur No.1 (and the SakaKahn).  You might be saying ” but CigarCraig, La Glorias are made in the DR, and Excaliburs are made in Honduras, what the heck?”, but it seems that this La Gloria was made in the STG Danli factory back in 2019 and have been aging there.  Weird, huh?  This cigar has a Ecuador Sumatra wrapper with a Honduran Habano binder and Fillers from Honduras and the DR.  The wrapper is very dark, verging on maduro.  While I didn’t find this cigar very La Gloria like (and with all the various iterations of the brand, I don’t know what that means any more), I really like the cigar, and feel compelled to pick a few more up to add to the La Gloria humidor for later consumption.  It had dark dried fruit and espresso tones, bittersweet chocolate, and wasn’t without some strength.  It was amongst the better La Glorias I’ve had in recent years.  

 

Another cigar I picked up was another TAA cigar from the Forged portfolio, the Diesel Disciple 2021 TAA Lancero.  Considering it wasn’t long ago that Diesel was a catalog brand, it’s interesting that the top of the top (in their eyes, i imagine) retailers are getting a Diesel exclusive. In keeping with the Diesel line, this was pretty fairly priced at $8.99, and is a 7″ x 38 panatela, no pigtail cap.  The cigar has a San Andrés wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and Nicaraguan Habano fillers and is made at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez. I’ll state my opinion like I do every time I smoke a Lancero, this wrapper/filler ratio thing is a myth, the reason Lanceros have a sharper, stronger flavor is because the burn hotter due to the smaller ring gauge.  Smoke a Lancero slowly, sip the smoke, it’s a very elegant presentation.  If it’s drawn upon at the same pressure as one would draw on a rubusto or toro it’s going to burn hot and the flavor is going to seem sharper.  I’ve learned this by sitting at the feet of masters.  Anyway, I smoked this while watching one of my favorite shows (the Grand Tour on Amazon Prime) on the porch and it was delicious.  Dark, strong espresso with some sweet earthiness.  The burn and draw was perfect and it was quite enjoyable.  I don’t know how many of these are still out in the wild, I know there are still at least nine of them at the store near me, but if you come across them, and you like Diesels and Lanceros, give one a try.

 

That’s all for today, until the

next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 16, 2023 · 10:14 am

Some Blackbird Cigars and Some Villiger Cigars

I had a different idea of what today’s post was going to be, but that plan changed at the last minute. To be honest, the plan was tentative, at best. I’ve got some new and not so new cigars to talk about this week, lets start with the not so new, but great cigars.  When I went to the TPE show in 2020, right before the world shut down, I met Jonas Santana and his crew from Blackbird Cigars.  Jonas flattered me by knowing who I was, after 4 years of doing this it still takes me aback. Jonas had worked for Artista (then El Artista) who I had been working with, so he was familiar with my work.  I’ve kept up with Jonas over the years and while this old white dude may not be able to keep up with a young, hip-hop cat, we connect on the cigar level, I dig his smokes.  The Crow is my main jam, but this week I decided to take a wander through the range again as it’s been too long.  What prompted this was one of my wife’s cigar band furniture projects, which required a bunch more Blackbird bands!  So I had to by more cigars. I picked up some Toro singles locally, and bought a Robusto sampler from my friends at Trash Panda Cigars.  Let’s talk about the Cuco first. This is probably the last cigar I’d go to because it has Criollo on the band and that tobacco usually doesn’t work for me. This is listed as a Brazilian wrapper, Indonesian binder and Dominican fillers, so I imagine it’s a Brazilian Criollo wrapper, perhaps that makes the difference for me, because I quite enjoyed this cigar in both Robusto and Gran Toro vitolas. It’s medium bodied with some cocoa and a hint of spice. very nice cigars. 

 

The Finch from Blackbird is one of two Sumatra wrapped cigars in the portfolio, the other being the Rook.  The Finch is only available in the Robusto size, has an Indonesian binder and US and Dominican fillers. It’s just me, but I think if I were going to have one cigar in my lineup that was just a robusto, I might call it the Rook, thinking like the chess piece, but I suppose finches are small birds so I get it. It’s a bird themed line, not a chess themed line, what am I thinking?  I guess what I’m thinking is that while I really enjoyed the Finch I forgot to take any notes, so I don’t really have anything to say about it except that I found it quite enjoyable and it makes me want to pick up a few more.  I do recall a bit of the sugar cane I get from Sumatra sometimes, along with a sweet spice, perhaps from whatever US tobacco (PA maybe?).  Good smoke.  As I type, I’m smoking the Unkind in Robusto, which has a dark Cubra (Brazil) wrapper and works exceptionally well with my black coffee. Even the shade Jackdaw has some pop to it and is quite tasty. It’s hard to go wrong with the Blackbird line, Jonas is doing some great things at his factory in the DR. 

 

A few weeks ago I received a few new cigars from the folks at Villiger Cigars.  I’ve had a very long history with Villiger. If you dig through my site (or YouTube channel), you’ll find interviews going back to 2012 I think.  They have gone through some transitions, probably made some mis-steps, but they’ve always made good cigars.  A few years ago they brought on René Casteñeda to head North American sales.  René was previously with Miami Cigar and Co. and La Aurora, and is a super-nice guy.  The Villiger Miami started out as a cigar for him to have to share with his friends and visitors to his office.  It’s made in their ABAM factory in the DR, where they make Flor de Ynclan and a ton of cigar for the European market. Last year they put this out in a Lancero, this year it was released in a toro format. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, undisclosed binder and fillers, except that they say there is some Peruvian leaf in the filler blend.  This is a really nice, complex blend, with some delicate flavors.  It’s one of those cigars that you want to think about while you smoke it. I got a little citrus tang, with some nuts, light coffee, and a hint of cocoa. 

 

Finally, I smoked the Villiger 1888 Nicaragua in both the Toro and Robusto.  The 1888 was the first premium cigar that Villiger made back in 2009, and it was reissued around 2017 with updated blend and branding, made in the Dominican Republic.  The 1888 Nicaraguan is made in the Villiger de Nicaragua factory, which in my imagination is somehow a part of the Joya de Nicaragua factory. I could ask around and verify this I suppose, but that seems like work.  The cigar has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Pennsylvanian fillers. I’m generally partial to cigars with PA tobacco, considering it’s grown within an hour from my home, and I tend to like Sumatra.  This was a Medium bodied cigar in both vitolas, and had some sweet coffee/cocoa flavors.  I don’t recall favoring one size over the other, but almost always like a toro over a robusto.  I have a corona yet to try, but I expect that to have slightly sharper flavors.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 9, 2023 · 9:12 am

Some Fourth of July Cigars, and Another Rebellion Cigar

While many of my brethren are toiling away in Las Vegas at the PCA show, I’m hanging out here at home happily smoking cigars.  I decided to free myself of the stress and expense of travel and some of the expectations set by others in the “cigar media”.  Short rant: I’m irritated  by some bloggers/podcasters who take themselves quite seriously. I’ve heard comments like people who use cell phones to shoot their content shouldn’t be taken seriously as cigar media, or people should cover certain booths.  When I have attended the show it’s been on my time and at my expense, so I’m doing it my way. Do my video interviews look any different than those done by people using more expensive or professional looking rigs? Do people care that much?  Whatever. From the beginning I said I was going to do things my way and I have. I recently thought to myself that maybe I’m being a sucker for not asking for sponsorship to go to the show, but, ya know, that would interfere with me doing things my way.  So I’ll keep doing what I do, the way I want to do it. If you don’t like it, nobody is forcing you to read!  That wasn’t as short a rant as I’d have liked, on to some cigars! 

 

Of course on the Fourth of July I smoked a United Cigars Firecracker,  the newest one from E.P. Carrillo, the Pledge Firecracker. This might be hard to find, but if you run across them anywhere, buy as many as you can manage. This might be a bold statement, but I think this is my favorite Firecracker to date.  Considering some of the exceptional Firecrackers that have come before it, the Mi Querida (which is the only one to my knowledge that spun off it own line, the Triqui Traca) is exceptional, the CroMagnon was exceptional, the Fratello was an under-rated treat, but the Pledge takes it up a notch. It’s funny, because I don’t remember enjoying the regular Pledge line as much,

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perhaps whatever Ernesto did to punch this one up made the difference for me. The Connecticut Habano wrapper is dark and oily (what made me think it was grown in Massachusetts?), rich and full of flavor. It’s meaty and sweet and I really dug it.  It’s my custom to buy five of the firecrackers, I should have sprung for a box, had I known. Super-yummy.

 

After a heavy lunch and a nap, I treated myself to an American by J.C. Newman.  This was a special size, a Lonsdale, that Drew Newman handed out when I toured the factory last December.  It’s not a regular production, I don’t think there were more than a few hundred in existence, so it was a special cigar.  Of course, the American is 100% American tobaccos, rolled at the El Reloj factory in Tampa, everything that touches the cigar is made in the USA (except, ironically, the folks who roll them maybe!).  This is a tasty cigar, it has a unique bready, spicy flavor that’s unlike any other cigar out there. It was a special cigar, in a spe

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cial size.  It was very good.  I’ve only smoked a few of the Americans in the larger ring gauges, and the smaller size definitely makes a big difference, as in any smaller ring, it’s a little sharper because it burns a little hotter.  

 

Finally, I’m still working through the Rebellion samples, and smoked the Ace of Spades in the Toro size. This is one of the Maduro offerings in the Rockstar Range, taking its name from the Motörhead song.  The wrapper is Honduran, binder is Indonesian with fillers from Jamastran in Honduras and Condega and Jalapa in Nicaragua. My plan was to smoke this while watching a movie on the porch.  Big mistake updating the Firestick first, which took nearly half the cigar. Oh well, I had a good tasting cigar to keep me company.  This is a pretty full bodied smoke, as one would imagine a cigar named after a Motörhead some would be.  It had some earthiness and spice and a different sort of sweet taste, very intriguing.  This company is making cigars that aren’t like a lot of other cigars on the market. I hope they are having success at the PCA show, from what I’ve read, they seem to be drawing some attention with the pink branding.  

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 2, 2023 · 9:30 am

Some New Dunbarton Cigars and Some More Rebellion Cigars

I’m still working my way through the Rebellion line, but I figured I’d better smoke a couple cigars that I got at the Battleship Beef event that are going to be featured (along with a bunch of other stuff) at the Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust booth at the PCA show this coming week.  If I waited another week others would have had a chance to smoke them and I wouldn’t be special any more, would I? :-). Yesterday afternoon, between chores, errands and a nap, I smoked the Mi Querida Black “PapaSaka”.  This is a Corona Gorda shape in the Black line, which had previously only been available in the SakaKahn size, which was 7¼” x 54. It’s not a coincidence that this is the same size as the Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur No. 1, as the SakaKahn started life as one of the JR anniversary cigars, and that cigar has a history there. The Black has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, San Andrés negro binder, and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua. The 5 5/8 x 48 (2 rings larger than a corona gorda, I mis-stated earlier), seems quite a bit stronger to me, as I suspect it should.  I smoked a few of the SakaKahns and while they were very good, I felt like they weren’t as focused in flavor as even the Blue band Mi Querida (admittedly my favorite, Ancho Larga especially). The PapaSaka has the espresso, spiciness that one would expect, with a bunch of strength. I definitely needed a nap after this cigar!  Two thumbs up, look forward to getting my hands on more!  

 

After dinner I had a Ribeye, a Red Meat Lovers Club Ribeye, that is.  If I’m not mistaken, this cigar started life as the Meat Box, a Smoke Inn Micro Blend.  This cigar is a 6″ x 52 Box Press with a pigtail cap.  It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and a San Andrés negro binder, like the Mi Querida Black, with fillers from Nicaragua and Pennsylvania.  Oddly enough, this is the first Red Meat Lovers Club Cigar I’ve had.  You’d think having known Saka for as long as I have, I’d have smoked all of his stuff, but I don’t go chasing his limited stuff down, actually most of the store exclusives he’s made have not made it my way.  My general frugality may play into this as well.  Clearly this shares DNA with the Mi Querida line, but there’s a, dare I say, meatiness, to it.  Must be the Pennsylvania fillers that give it a hearty, savory flavor that offsets, and compliments the sweetness of the wrapper/binder combo.  This was a really delicious cigar and I’ll be very interested to see how this does as a national release.  I know Evan Darnel, who owns the Red Meat Lover’s Club brand, is beyond excited to have this cigar, as well has his brand, widely distributed.  

 

Back to the Rebellion Cigars.  Wednesday I posted my interview with Shaun Wilkinson, who owns the brand. I thought it was a good interview, and, since I’m not going to the PCA show, I figured I’d try to get a few remote interviews in where I can.  I’ll include it again at the bottom of this post.  I’ve been working my way through the selection of cigars Shaun sent, and smoked the 5 O’Clock Somewhere Toro from the Country Range.  This 6″ x 50 toro has a Habano wrapper, Connecticut binder and fillers from Trojes and Copan in Honduras and Esteli in Nicaragua.  Like the rest of the range, it’s made in a small factory in Honduras. Amongst all the samples I’ve smoked so far, the construction has been excellent, the 5 O’Clock Somewhere (named for an Alan Jackson song) was no different.  It had a nice sugar cane sweetness, which I like, and a subtle spice.  it was a very nice cigar.  Funny enough, I’m not a country music fan at all, however, I found all three of the cigars in Rebellion’s Country Range to be really good.  

 

As I’ve been typing this, I’ve been smoking the Rebellion Paradise City Robusto (5″ x 52) with my morning coffee.  Obviously, Shaun is a Guns and Roses fan, he also has a limited edition cigar called the Sweet Child O’ Mine in the collection.  I gave Shaun a bit of trademark advice in the video, now that I think of it, Mr. Brownstone is off the table for him (Esteban Carreras has it tied up).  This Paradise City is the Connecticut Shade wrapped cigar in the Rockstar Range, with an Indonesian binder and fillers from Condega and Jalapa in Nicaraguan and Jamastran in Honduras. Most of my favorite shade wrapped cigars are Honduran in origin, and this one is very enjoyable. It’s got a lot of flavor, kind of a milk chocolate with some spice.  It’s certainly not just a morning cigar, it could be enjoyed any time of the day.  I’ve been quite pleasantly surprised with the Rebellion Cigars, still to come are the Ace of Spades and You Shook Me All Night Long, which I have sampled in the Gordo, but want to give the Toros a shot before presenting them here.  

 

That’s all for today.  Tuesday is the 4th of July.  I have a few good cigars lined up to celebrate my wedding anniversary (36) and Independence Day.  Try not to blow your fingers off with fireworks. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | June 28, 2023 · 3:28 pm

A Couple Rebellion Cigars and an Interview with Shaun Wilkinson

A while back I jokingly lamented that I only had a few months supply of new cigars to smoke, and Shaun Wilkinson of Rebellion Cigars reached out to me and offered to share some of his cigars with me.  Shaun and his wife are based in the UK, with a residence in the US as well, and launched a cigar brand. In the video Shaun tells us all about how he ended up bringing a

brand from the UK into the US market. In preparation for our chat, this morning I lit up the Redneck Woman, named for the song by Gretchen Wilson, in their Country Range of cigars.  This was the Robusto size, with a Connecticut wrapper, Habano binder and fillers from Jamastran in Honduras and Condega and Esteli in Nicaragua.  I found this to be a very flavorful cigar, with some really interesting baking spice type flavors.  burn and draw were perfect, and it was very nice with my morning cup o

f coffee. 

 

You’ll see in the interview that I smoked the Ring of Fire, also in the Country Range.  This has a Maduro wrapper that, as we discussed, is of Honduran origin. The binder is Connecticut, and the fillers are from Trojes and Copan in Honduras and Esteli in Nicaragua.  I’m a music fan, but I’m not a country fan at all, but it’s hard not to like Johnny Cash, and Ring of Fire is a classic.  This cigar was very good, it was bold, with rich chocolate and dark fruit flavors. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoy the video here with Shaun Wilkinson.  

 

 

If you’re a retailer and happen to be reading this, stop by the Rebellion Cigars booth at the PCA show and give them a look, and tell them you saw them here!  

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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