Category Archives: Review

by | January 22, 2012 · 11:46 am

A Couple of San Lotanos and a Visit to Olde World Tobacco

When was the last time you had two darn near perfect cigars in a row?  This was the case with the last two cigars I had: a San Lotano Habano Lancero and a San Lotano Maduro Robusto.  Thursday I took a drive after work to Lancaster, PA to a shop called Olde World Tobacco.  I can remember visiting this place when it was just a counter in a leather shop, maybe a dozen years ago.  It’s developed into quite a nice shop.

 

My primary motivation for going was to meet John Demharter, a manufacturers rep for many of my favorite cigars.  He was there with the San Lotano line and I was in the mood for an indoor cigar so I took the forty-five minute drive.  I grabbed a couple cigars and lit up a Habano Lancero.  Up to this point I’d only had the Oval, which, of course, is an exceptional cigar.  The Lancero was smooth, rich and delicious.  I sipped it, as one should with a cigar of this shape, and finished with about a half and inch left. I had a really nice time talking with John, who is a very nice guy, despite the fact that he’s from Pittsburgh and is probably a Penguins fan.

 

Olde World Tobacco is a fairly well appointed shop.  There is a coffee bar as you walk in, a small seating area with 3 tables, then the counter.  Humidor cabinets line the other two walls.  The cabinets seemed to be fairly sparsely stocked, but there is a nice selection there and the prices seemed fairly reasonable.  The area where the shop is located is basically a tourist area, there are outlet malls, a children’s theme park that been there since I was young (which is a long time!) and lots of Amish attractions, so one might expect prices to be a little higher than normal.  There seems to be a regular crowd of guys there smoking, who seemed to be having a good time, and the staff was very attentive.  This store features a Diamond Crown Lounge, and when you get past the shop in front, you move into a series of rooms with leather chairs and TVs that look very comfortable.  There are also some private lockers and I’m told they have an area outside for warm weather events.  It was a very nice experience and I’d go back or stop in if in the area.

 

My Friday night walk featured the San Lotano Maduro Robusto that I picked up at the event.  I’m a sucker for a box pressed maduro, and this one looked too delicious to not smoke.  It’s funny how one can have dozens of choices, but that one new arrival begs to be smoked.  And I’m glad I did, however I’m disappointed that I only bought the one!  It was the perfect choice, like smoking a nice dark chocolate bar.  Rich, cocoa-coffee, sweet and creamy  flavors that I was very sorry to put down when it started burning my fingers.  Have I mentioned that I love a properly made San Andreas Mexican maduro wrapper?   I loved the way it burned, a nice, flat coal.  It is such an accomplishment to blend a cigar that all the tobaccos used burn at the exact same rate.  It’s a rare and beautiful thing.   I can’t wait to smoke more of these, and look forward to a maduro Oval one day!

 

That’s about it for now.  We had a little snow here in SE PA this weekend, it should be gone by Monday.  This winter is turning out a lot better than last year, snow wise, which is a nice change of pace.  Once again, if you haven’t sent letters to your elected officials what are you waiting for?  Our rights and privileges are eroding as we speak, and the FDA will completely screw up an age old industry.  People like Snoop Dogg releasing news that he is bringing a cigar to the market that will be sold in two packs retailing for $1 do more to damage the industry than just about anything.  Here’s the link again: Cigar Rights of America and IPCPR.

 

Also, you might notice some layout changes.  I got a new logo, thanks to Amy at Brandland –brandland.etsy.com, and am in the process of tweaking a new theme.  Let me know what you think!

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | January 18, 2012 · 7:20 pm

Midweek Cigars: An H. Upmann and a Kristoff

Welcome to the midweek edition, I’m working on some rather exciting things regarding the appearance of the site, so stay tuned!  If all goes well, there will be a new look over the next week or so.  I’m excited about it, as the look of the site has remained unchanged for the last 24 months and it’s time to spruce things up a little!

 

I dipped into the IPCPR show samples again and came up with this short, fat H.Upmann Sun Grown from AltadisUSA. I was taking an evening walk and wanted something short and different, so I picked out  this chubby robusto, which they call a Short Churchill.  Odd name, but I suppose if the “Churchill” in the line is 7″ x 54, then a 4½” x 54 is a Short Churchill…why not.  This was a super enjoyable smoke. Pretty rich in flavor and well behaved, although the draw was a bit loose and it smoked pretty fast.  Usually I can get more than a mile and a half (which is about two laps around my neighborhood) out of a cigar this size, with a few more minutes on the front porch to finish.  This one was just about done at the end of my walk.  This is another instance where, had I know the draw was so loose, I would have tried the punch first before whacking the whole end off of it.  At least if the punch doesn’t cut it, I can still give it the full clip, but you can’t really do it the other way around (well, with some pectin, extra wrapper leaf, a little skill and patience, I suppose one could conceivably put a new cap on and punch it, but that’s an awful lot of work…)  Anyway, totally decent cigar which I’d smoke again in a heartbeat!

 

Once again, I was in the mood for something different, so I grabbed a Kristoff Kristania robusto, one of two that I had picked up at Cole’s Tobacco Shop In Pottstown, PA a few months ago.  I have very limited experience with the Kristoff line, I think a Corojo that I smoked at the Delaware Cigar Festival was about the extent of my Kristoff exposure.  They look like really nice cigars, they always have a nice presentation, nice wood boxes with the cigars comfortably nestled in picadura tobacco.  The Kristania, on the other hand, is their budget line, and the cigar looks nice, the wrapper has a nice oil to it, and is kind of mottled in an attractive way.  As it turns out, I was very upset with myself for having put a Cain F Corona back in favor of this one.  I had some trouble keeping the wrapper burning, and wasn’t a big fan of the flavor.  Maybe this is mixed filler, which could account for the tunneling, but I don’t feel like this was worth my $4.95 all things considered.  I’m quite willing to explore the other cigars in the line, as the Corojo was a really nice cigar, but I’ll be avoiding the Kristania in the future.  I will say that, for the most part, Criollo wrappers don’t typically agree with my palate, and the burn problems and smoke production really took away from the experience.

 

Not a lot else going on!  Don’t forget to  go to to the Cigar Rights of America site to send a letter to your elected officials. Or you can use the widget in my side bar on the right, between the IPCPR and CRA logos.
Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | January 15, 2012 · 9:17 am

A Visit to Cigar-Ette City and Gary Griffith (and a Grimalkin)

Yesterday was a bit on the chilly side, so I figured I’d look for a nice, warm indoor smoking location.  I’ve been wanting to take a ride south of the boarder and visit Gary Griffith at his Peoples Plaza Cigar-Ette City store for a while, and decided the time had come.  I grabbed the GPS and hit the road, taking the 1 hour and 7 minute drive.  I got there a bit ahead of schedule and Gary greeted me warmly and we went into the enormous walk-in humidor. It was at that point that I realized the flaw in my plan: The State of Delaware frowns upon smoking indoors!  Here we have a store that sells cigars and other tobacco products, and you can’t smoke in it.  If you have been complacent in contacting your elected officials about the FDA issue, do it now.  Not being able to smoke in your local shop is only scratching the surface of the “inconveniences” we’ll face it the FDA is allowed to regulate Premium Cigars.

 

 

Anyway, all was not lost.  I wandered around the humidor for a while talking to Gary, and marvelling at the ridiculous amount of inventory.  He had all kinds of boutique brands that I don’t see a lot of in my local shops, but hear about everywhere.  The Viajes, Tatuajes, Illusiones, 262s, you name it.  Boxes stacked to the ceiling, I even saw a stack of the Para Japon cigars that La Aurora made to aid the Japanese earthquake relief. Of course the Emilio and Grimalkin lines were well represented, and I picked up a couple Grimalkin Robustos while I was there. The moral of the story is that one could leave a ton of cash behind in this store, and the prices were competitive with Pennsylvania prices given that the lack of a state sales tax offsets the cigar tax.

 

Here’s a little video I shot with Gary telling us about what’s coming down the line in 2012 for the Emilio family of cigars.  I know I’m excited to see what comes next.

 

httpv://youtu.be/VzeaLToxhR8

 

 

After I got home and fed, I still needed to smoke the cigar I set out earlier in the day to smoke, so I grabbed a Grimalkin Robusto and took a long and satisfying walk.  The cigar was awesome, although I believe more of the subtlety and complexity is apparent when the temperatures aren’t around freezing.  Still, this is an incredible cigar that everyone should try if they can.  My thanks to Gary for his hospitality, and for making dynamite cigars.

 

That’s it for now.  I used a new camera for the video this time, I’d like to know if you think the quality is better than my previous videos.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | January 11, 2012 · 7:41 pm

A Few Short Smokes: Chateau Real, American Eagles and a Griffin’s

I dipped into the little guys for the early part of the week.  It’s been cold, and time has been limited.  I usually save up the little cigars for this time of year, coronas, half coronas, short 30 or 45 minute cigars that taste good, and are perfect for a quick mile or so walk around the neighborhood.

 

I began the week with a favorite, the Chateau Real Small Club Corona Maduro.  I believe these are discontinued, which is a shame, because I really like the Mexican maduro wrapper on these. As with everything from Drew Estate, they always burn well, and, let’s face it, a four inch cigar doesn’t have a lot of room for error.  I bought a box of these sometime in the fall of 2009, and just dug into the last half of the box.  Nice little smokes!

 

Last night I grabbed an American Eagles Half Corona, which I received a few months back from Chris at Sardell Imports.  This is a camouflage wrapped cigar, it had a beautiful Connecticut shade wrapper that’s overlaid with maduro and candella pieces to give it the camo look.  Sure, it’s gimmicky, but it’s a really solid cigar, perfect burn and draw, and a rich mid to medium bodied flavor that is really nice, smooth, creamy and delicious. It a fun cigar, quite tasty and well behaved. I have a whole comedy routine ready for the day I smoke one in a public place and someone complains about it. Seriously, a  portion of the proceeds from these cigars go toward the Semper Fi Fund, and they are blended by Hendrick Kelner, so they are very high quality. I side note, there was a cigar shop in the hotel I stayed at in the Dominican Republic that sold these.

 

This evening I decided to break into one of the boxes of Griffin’s 500 coronas that I inadvertently won on a face book contest. I swear, I have no recollection of entering, although I must have because a beautiful Griffin’s Humidor and two boxes of these beauties showed up at my door last month.  I can always use more humidor space, and these cigars are nice.  These 5 1/16″ x 42 coronas are a classic Connecticut shade cigar. Mild, but no shortage of flavor. Of course, the construction was perfect, as these come from the house of Davidoff.  I honestly have never had a Griffin’s before, always priced outside of my comfort zone.  This will be a great cigar for that first balmy Saturday morning on the deck with coffee.

 

Don’t forget to pester your elected officials about the FDA nonsense! It’s important!  Here’s the link to the form again:

 

That’s all for now, Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | January 8, 2012 · 10:08 am

Take A Cigar For a Walk – A Gurkha, a Maldonado Dynasty and a Rodrigo

We had our first taste of brutal cold here in the North-East, with night-time temps in the teens or lower with no shortage of wind. I guess I’m just a wimp, but I can’t do that kind of cold long enough to enjoy a cigar anymore! However, Friday turned out to be unseasonably warm, getting into the 50s.   Perfect excu

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se to smoke a cigar or two without shivering so much that I get ash everywhere.

 
I grabbed a Gurkha Seduction Robusto and went for a walk. I received this cigar as an unexpected gift from Gurkha, and I want to thank them for reaching out to me. Looking at this cigar, I had an idea it would be up my alley, nice, dark Habano wrapper, a chunky 5″ x 55 size, and the band is quite attractive, although the second band is a little too much, but you know how I feel about bands (I’m lazy and the fewer the better!). The cigar had a very open draw, I’ll probably use a punch on the next one and see how that works, but it really wasn’t too big a problem. The burn was just about perfect and required no attention after the initial light. The flavors were those nice, dark, rich flavors that I enjoy on a crisp evening, really a nice cigar in my opinion, I enjoyed it quite a bit, so much so that I smoked it to a finger burning nub.

 

Saturday brought even warmer temps and I took a nice long walk with a Maldonado Dynasty Mogul Toro. I’m a little conflicted on this cigar that I won a five pack of on CasasFumando.com.  An aside: I didn’t mean to enter their contest.  I made a donation to Daniel’s Movember project, just wanted to give some dough to a bro for his mo. I should have made a note to exclude me from the drawing, but I never thought I’d win.  I did, tried to get out of

it, but Tony threatened me.  Back to the cigar.  This is the second one I’ve smoked, and both had some wrapper cracking issues. The flavor is nice enough, although not particularly mind-blowing to my palate, but I expect a cigar at this price point to not split. The wrapper is a really lovely rosado with a velvety appearance, very nice looking when you get past the tears in the leaf. These have been in my humidor for several weeks since receiving them, along with all the rest of the cigars I smoke on a regular basis.  Strange.  I have three more, which I will leave in the humidor for a few months and see if that makes a difference.  I look forward to revisiting these in a few months, because based upon the two samples I smoked so far, if I had smoked them blind I would have put them in the bundle cigar category, and I know these are sold as a super-premium luxury cigar.

 

I completely forgot to mention my first cigar of the new year, one that I smoked while taking the outdoor lights down on New Years Day.  I had a Rodrigo Habano Classico Belicoso that George Rodriguez had sent to me some time ago rolling around the humidor.  Out of the four he sent me, one of each vitola, this was my second favorite of the line behind the lancero. This beautifully made belicoso was a treat, and it burned perfectly, and was really tasty.  George seems like a really nice guy who makes some terrific smokes, even though he’s from Pittsburgh and is probably a Penguins fan.  I know some people from Pittsburgh that are Pens fans that I don’t hold that against, but not too many.

 

That’s it for today, don’t forget to write to your elected officials about the FDA nonsense, as our cigar smoking future depends upon the FDA NOT regulating premium cigars.

 

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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