Category Archives: Review

by | July 3, 2011 · 8:24 pm

Sunday Cigar Recap – La Gloria, Emilio, Oja

Another week, another little cigar mash-up.  I’m trying to think of something else that would be interesting to write about, but time and inspiration elude me. I’ve been slowly lining up plans for my trip to Las Vegas and hope to bring you some interesting content from the IPCPR show.  In the mean time, don’t forget to enter the current contest to win a box of Oja cigars. I’m a little disappointed with the turn out.  Did I make it too difficult asking for something more than just a comment to enter?  Perhaps I need to open it up to any comment, and I’ll give 2 entries for a link to a patriotic picture (the couple people who have done that deserve a little extra chance for going to the trouble!).  What do you think?  The contest post is here, this is really a very nice box of cigars, made in a prominent Factory in Esteli.  There’s nothing in the rules that I can’t enter….I’d love to have this box in my humidor!

 

Enough begging for you to enter a contest to possibly win a free box of cigars, on to the quasi-reviews. Thursday I received another box from Gary Griffith containing two of the brand new Emilio AF2 Toros.  Having had a challenging day (heck, the whole week has been a challenge) at work I couldn’t wait to fire one up.  I usually like to give new arrivals some rest after their journeys, but I figured these only came from down the street in Delaware, and were nicely packaged with a water pillow, so what the heck. Interestingly, these cigars have Pennsylvania ligero.  I’ve only previously really heard about PA broadleaf wrapper being used, but I suppose if you can grow wrapper in PA, you can get ligero, it’s not like it comes from a different plant or anything!  Anyway, this is a nice smooth cigar, different than the AF1 which is more aggressive (but damned tasty!).  This cigar has a more golden wrapper than it’s predecessor, but the construction is top notch and the flavor, and I can’t think of a better way to put it, is more refined.  I’ve enjoyed everything Gary has sent me, and will pick some more of these up the next time I see them in a store.  I like the copper colored band on these too.

 

My Friday Take A Cigar For A Walk cigar was a La Gloria Cubana Serie N JSB, courtesy of General Cigar.  I’ve enjoyed the Serie Ns I’ve had, and this one was no different.  These are lush and flavorful.  I’ve recently heard these described as “German chocolate cake in a cigar format”, which isn’t far off.  I do wonder if these might not be better cold weather cigars, as this cigar didn’t really have the depth of flavors that I remember from ones I smoked earlier in the year. You may remember that I took part in Team La Gloria’s “Serie N Day” on a very cold evening in PA, and was reminded a couple times that it was in the 80s in Miami!

 

Saturday I lit up a Oja Mestizo Artefacto, a fat toro (6 x 60).  I have enjoyed the samples I received from Luis, the brand owner and creator of this line of cigars.  The Habano wrapper, while fragile, is very tasty.  I like the Connecticut and Oscuro, both for different reasons, but the Mestizo I think is my favorite because there is a sweetness and balance that I find appealing. I’m looking forward to speaking at length with Luis at the trade show and learning more about this brand.

 

It’s Independence Day tomorrow, as well as my wedding anniversary, so I always smoke some special cigars, we’ll see what cigars I choose and you’ll hear from me again mid week.  Until then, enter the darned contest, enjoy the 4th of July festivities safely, and smoke some good cigars!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | June 29, 2011 · 9:14 pm

Win a Box of Oja Cigars, Take A Cigar For A Walk with Partagas, Macanudo and Fuente

Last Friday my hosting provider had something go horribly wrong which resulted in all of my comments disappearing, not being able to leave any comments, and several other strange anomalies. In light of the fact that no one was able to leave any comments and enter the current contest, I’m extending the deadline to Saturday, July 9 at Midnight.  So go back to the contest posted on Father’s Day (here) and leave a comment with a link to a nice, patriotic picture to enter.  I really want to have to wade through a ton of entries, so get to it!  There are already two excellent entries. If you have trouble posting a pic someplace just e-mail it to me and I’ll make it work.  This is a great box of cigars, at least I think so.

 

On the Take A Cigar For A Walk (TACFAW) front, I’ve been hitting the pavement in training for my trip to Vegas for the IPCPR show, which, I’m proud to say, I will be attending as an Internet Media Member of the IPCPR.  It’s going to be a grueling experience, but I hope to provide my readers with a glimpse into the goings on of the trade show.  It’s amazing the lengths I’ll go to try to give you some interesting reason to visit!

 

 

I grabbed a Partagas Benji Menendez to start the week.  I had been looking at this one for over a year, it came from a bunch of cigars Jaso of Rock’s Smoke Shop sent me from the 2009 Trade Show.  It was a very nice cigar, well made and well balanced. It was like a refined version of the Partagas line, very smooth and tasty.

 

 

Next up was a Macanudo Crü Royale, which I was given at the show last year.  This was another one which I looked forward to smoking. It is, in fact, I Macanudo with some strength, not unlike the 1968.  Now, the first premium cigar I ever really tried was a Macando and it made me wonder what the big deal with “real” cigars was, but I have appreciated what most consider the mild and flavorless Macanudos in the past.  I appreciate the mellow subtleties of the Connecticut shade wrapper from time to time.  The Crü Royale is a very different beast, and really delighted me with it’s fuller body.  A must try.

 

 

Tonight I treated myself to a very old Arturo Fuente Don Carlos No. 3, which is a tasty corona.  I love the Cameroonieness in these, and while my experiences with Don Carlos are few and far between, there have been some memorable moments shared with cigars from this line. I’m reminded of a slots tournament in Vegas in 1997 at the first big herf I attended where I went out not knowing a soul and made some life-long friends, lost my $20 pretty quick, but enjoyed the heck out of a DC Robusto. Another tome I remember meeting a friend from out of town in Philly, sharing some of the first Presidente size when they came out, and running into some other friends and smoking the evening away.  Amazing how a cigar can evoke such memories of a decade or more ago.

 

 

That’s it for now, enter the contest, and take a cigar for a walk if you get a chance!

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | June 26, 2011 · 6:01 pm

This Weeks Cigar Recap: 601, El Credito, Gurkha, Liga Privada, HC, Etc.

Here we go, another weeks worth of CigarCraig’s micro-reviews. I awoke today to find that ALL of the comments were gone from the site. Every comment ever! Of course, I am in a panic. Friday evening the site was inaccessible for a period of time, and I imagine whatever caused that problem must have had something to do with it. At this point I’m waiting for my hosting provider to correct the problem, and, since it’s the weekend, and the level 2 support folks don’t work weekends, I’m in limbo as far as my comments go. From what I can tell you can not leave a comment at this time.  I’ll be working tirelessly with Network Solutions threatening them often to fix this problem, as well as a couple other issues I’ve found.

 

First up was a 601 Green, which came along with the La Bomba and a Murcialago courtesy of Eddie Ortega at EO Brands. This has long been one of my favorites, but I think it may have been an unwise choice for a Monday evening smoke after fighting off a migraine earlier in the day. It’s a powerful maduro cigar that is lush with heavy cocoa and coffee. Accompanied by an IBC root beer, it held my attention, but I couldn’t smoke this too far past the band. I do love these cigars under normal circumstances, but the migraines and the meds to get rid of them take more out of me than I had available to fully enjoy this one.

 

 

Wednesday’s walk to the convenience store started late, so I grabbed another El Credito La Parrita and took a little dog for a walk! As I start typing, I know this is another tangent, so I beg your indulgence. I have long felt that smoking time was more a function of length than girth. I maintain that a 5” cigar of 42 ring gauge will take just about as long as a 5” cigar of 60 ring. I’ve been trying to figure out a good way to test this theory, but there are so many variables and I just haven’t had the time to work out a good, scientific test to prove the theory. Something to work on, I suppose. Back to the cigar, I found this example to be a little bitter and off. The “war of flavors”, which this cigar is sub-titled by the factory, did not go well for me in this instance, I guess I lost. Anyway, people love these cigars, and I think it there’s a big cool factor in the format of these ugly ducklings, and I either hit one at a bad time or something.

 

 

Next up was a Gurkha Para la Gente Robusto that I had purchased at De La Concha in NYC a few months back. This is another of the cigars that were produced exclusively for the New York market in an effort to provide retailers some relief from the onerous cigar tax in that state. As of this writing, I understand that the state is working on a modification of that tax which would provide a cap so that a $10 cigar wouldn’t be jacked up to $17.50, but would be a more reasonable $11. For the tobacconists that are left in the state, I hope this goes through, as many have closed their doors in the last year due to this tax. Anyway, I have not smoked many Gurkha cigars. I have a perception that they either produce cigars that are ridiculously high priced and over packaged and marketed, or budget priced cigars that CI sells for $40 bucks a bundle and tries to make you feel like you’re getting a $50 cigar for two bucks. (at this point writing this feels like it’s more editorial on state taxes and brand marketing…sorry…off my soapbox now!). Anyway, the cigar was very nice. The short robusto size was just right for the time I had available and it worked very well. I like a nice Brazilian M

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atafina, which I believe this is wrapped with, and it was well balanced and smooth. The cheap bastard in me still recoils at a $8 robusto, but it was a special treat and a souvenir from a nice day in the city.

 

I decided I deserved a treat for getting through another week and grabbed a Liga Privada No.9 Flying Pig that I received at an even in Reno back in November of 2009. It’s a cool perfecto format dating back to the late part of the 1800s. Drew Estate has since released their T52 blend in this same size, and the Cubans (who, ironically, are suing Drew Estate for using the word “Kuba”), recently ripped off the size for a special release for one of their “Festival” humidors! My biggest complaint about this little piggie was that it was just too short! It’s 4” x 60, remember what I was saying about length and smoking time? This one just was gone too quickly. It did hold the ash for the entire time I was smoking it, which was probably under an hour, which is almost a tease, considering the hearty and delicious flavors that this fat little bastard provided. I would have loved to have smoked this for another hour, but the ash fell off with under an inch to go and I was beginning to burn my fingers. Plus, my wife said I looked ridiculous smoking the cigar with a 3” ash…. I’m glad I have another one of these that I was given at Cigar Safari, because I am confident that there are not a lot of these still around.

 

Finally, I spent Saturday with my family at Monmouth Park in New Jersey watching horses run around in circles with little men on their backs, which is always entertaining. I did manage to have a cigar, no small feat at a public venue in the Garden State. The cigar I chose was a HC Connecticut robusto which I had purchased several months ago at an event at one of the local shops. I was disappointed in the event, there was a rep there who represented Xikar, and other brands as well. The were offering a “buy 3, get one” special, and I still don’t think $25 for 4 robustos, especially ones I don’t end up enjoying represents a good value. The Habano wrapper was the best of the bunch, for me, at least. This Connecticut had an acidic bite to it that was off-putting. It got better as the cigar progressed, but was always there somewhere. I understand that they have dropped the price on these, which I think was a wise move, but I still won’t be buying any myself anytime

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soon, they just didn’t have what I’m looking for in a cigar. To the credit of the manufacturer, they are exceptionally well made, and I’m sure there are plenty of folks who enjoy these. It’s just not a cigar that suits me.

 

That’s it for now, I’m still annoyed with whatever is going on with my comments. It’s bad timing, that’s for sure. At this time, the Oja contest will be extended for another week after the comments are fixed, and I will asses the situation when my technical issues are resolved.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 19, 2011 · 7:58 pm

Father’s Day Cigars, A Ride, and a Big Oja Contest!

Today is Father’s Day, and recently on LivingSocial.com, which is a site like Groupon.com for the Philadelphia area, a local cigar store chain called Light’n Up Cigars ran a special for $20 worth of cigars for $10.  Of course, I purchased one of these, and both my wife and daughter surprised me with one for Father’s Day.  So this afternoon I hopped on the old scooter and took a ride to two of the shops in the area. You had to specify which of the 5 shops you wanted the deal at and I received certificates for two different shops.  I headed to the Glenmoore, PA location with is about 10 miles or so from home. I shopped through the humidor for a bit and settled upon 3 cigars, an Casa Fernandez Aganorsa Leaf, an Alec Bradley Family Blend, and a Perdomo Reserve Champagne, all cigars I have yet to smoke.  From there I took the 12 or so mile trip down PA Rt 401 and made my way to the Frazer, PA store. I selected a pair of Fuente Hemingway Best Sellers, and a Brick House.  I thought both stores seemed a bit sparse in their stocks as there were a lot of empty boxes. The clerk in the Frazer store blamed the winter months and the economy, both valid points, but I would have expected more cigars in the store, especially with the added busin

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ess coming in from the special coupon deal.  I have one more coupon to use and the pessimist in me thinks I should probably use it soon, although my suspicions are probably off base and I’ll see the stocks restored in the next month or so.  The Frazer, PA store has a very large walk-in humidor, while the Glenmoore store’s is smaller, but the later store has a more comfortable lounge area.  The cheap bastard in me is appalled at 6 cigars for $40, but I guess the same cigars for $20 is a great deal.

As I compose this edition, I am smoking my annual Father’s Day cigar, an Esperanza para los Niños. I Have smoked one of these every Father’s Day since I bought a box in 2000.  I detailed the background of this cigar in my June 20th post last year, so I won’t repeat it.  I’m enjoying this tasty, well-aged cigar with an IBC root beer which was a gift from my son.  As it has been for years, it’s a chocolaty maduro that’s burning very well and goes well with the root b

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eer.  This is a tradition which I can only continue for another 4 years, at which time my prized stash of these will be exhausted, never to be replenished.   I will savor each and every one until then, and remember that they were made “For the Children”.

Contest

For the last couple weeks you will, no doubt, have noticed the name “Oja” coming up in my posts.  I have been enjoying sampling these cigars made in Nicaragua and blended by Luis Garcia, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Nicaragua.  I most recently smoked the 6 x 60 Mestizo (Habana2000) Artefacto.  I really enjoyed the sweetness that dominated this cigar. It was a really nice cigar and I seem to be getting used to this idea of 60 ring gauge cigars (a good thing, since I also received a couple of Jonathan Drew’s newest cigar, the My Uzi Weighs a Ton).  The other two lines, an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and a Brazilian Araparica wrapper, have also been very tasty, but this H2000 is my favorite of the bunch.  Luis has very generously provided me with a BOX of the Oja Mestizo Artefactos which is the prize for this month’s contest!  That’s right, a whole box of very nice cigars to be won by a lucky reader.  The contest will run until Sunday, July 3, in honor of the July 4th holiday, and I’m going to have to make you work a little harder than the usual random selection that I normally do.   In the comments of this post, place a link to a picture of you smoking a cigar in a patriotic setting of some sort any patriotic theme which includes a cigar or cigars. Let’s try to keep the photos g-rated and within the bounds of good taste (I have the power to edit and delete and disqualify at my discretion).  I will close the comments at Midnight on Saturday, July 2 July 9 and a selection committee of my choosing will select a winner.  The only other proviso is that the photos must be publicly accessible, so all can enjoy, and I’m going to suspend the six month rule for this contest to give everyone a chance to win.  This is a pretty big prize in my opinion, so let your creative juices flow!  A big THANKS to Luis at Oja for providing such a great prize!

That’s it for now, Happy Father’s Day and until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | June 15, 2011 · 8:05 pm

Cigars So Far This Week: Rocky Patel, Oja,Hoya de Monterrey, 601 La Bomba

Off to a good start this week, I mailed my application for an Internet Media Membership for the IPCPR, in hopes of attending the trade show next month in Las Vegas.  As I previously reported, I made my reservations over the weekend, so that part is already taken care of.  I look forward to attending with the appropriate credentials, as well as seeing a lot of old friends and meeting a bunch of friends I haven’t yet met!

So, I started the week with a gifted Rocky Patel torpedo, a dark cigar with a secondary band identifying it as a Fusion MM.  Information was hard to come by on this cigar, but I surmise that it is a Maduro Maduro, judging by both the flavor and the MM on the band.  I received this cigar in a package from Tommy Berry, who I told that it was MY job to send cigars, not his!  Kids these days, they never listen!  Thanks for a tasty treat in this cigar!  I don’t smoke a lot of RP cigars, not for any reason really, they just never seem to appear in my humidors.  This dark cigar took a few clips to get past a pretty tight bunch at the foot, but it burned and drew nicely after I found the right spot.  Chocolaty and smooth, it was all I look for in a maduro cigar.  It was good for a walk to the store, and another 45 minutes or so on the front porch upon my return.

The next cigar so far this week was another sample from Oja Cigars, from Nicaragua.  I mentioned before meeting Luis, the manufacturer of these cigars, at Cigar Safari and he was kind enough to send me some samples.  This example was a powerhouse, strong, dark flavors in the 6″ x 50 toro with what I believe to be a Brazilian wrapper.  I’ll get into more details after I’ve had a chance to enjoy more of these, and keep an eye on this name, and watch for a chance to win some of these here in the not too distant future.

In the “New Inmates in the Humidor” department, I used my Groupon for Stogieboys.com last week to purchase a box of Hoyo de Monterrey Sabrosos in Maduro.  The transaction went well, and I received the box in two days.  The Hoyos are an old-school petit corona, and I fired on up after a week’s rest. It was a nice smoke that will smooth out with some age.  It had the sort of mouth coating feel that licorice gives, and was a nice little smoke. I had to wait until I made some room in the coolerdor before placing the order, but the little box of maduro beauties fit in very nicely.  These will be a very nice smoke for the winter “Take A Cigar For A Walk” times, as 5″ x 40 is a very manageable quick smoke.

Tonight, as I’m writing this, I’m smoking a 601 La Bomba which I received a few weeks ago in a little box along with a 601 and a Murcialago, both of which I’ve enjoyed thoroughly in the past. This cigar, measuring a nearly perfect 5½” x 46, has a long tail on the cap, reminiscent of a firecracker.  A harbinger of things to come?  I think so.  This cigar was a chore to light, it very stubbornly took the flame, but when it was lit, it assailed the taste buds with a ton of spicy cigar goodness.  It grabs you by the collar and demands your attention.  If I were to guess, I’d say that this is loaded with ligero, as it slapped me around the block, and went out easily if ignored for too long.  Every re-light was almost a pleasure though, as that strong, spicyness stayed with this cigar to the end. I’m working on nubbing this one, as I beads of sweat begin to form on my brow.  As cool as this cigar is visually with the long tail, that is soon gone, and the real fun begins. Perfect burn and draw, and tons of smoke.  A clear winner in the taste and power department.

Well, it’s time to test the theory that sugar cures a case of the nic-sweats and grab a glass of sweetened iced tea before mowing the lawn, don’t expect straight lines in the grass after the last cigar!  It’s a good thing I have a small yard and it’s not too hot out! Many thanks to Tommy, Luis and Eddie for thesse cigars, and I hope to see at least two of you in Vegas in a few weeks.  I also hope to finally meet Jose Blanco, whom I just learned (story here) is retiring from La Aurora.  I’m sure he’ll be sorely missed there, but I doubt he’ll disappear from the cigar world for long!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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