Category Archives: Review

by CigarCraig | January 8, 2011 · 9:56 am

Snow, a La Vieja Habana and CigarSafari – Tuesday, January 11, 2011

It’s snowing here in South-East PA and I wanted to smoke something to celebrate the fact that I booked my son Corey and myself on a Drew Estate Cigar Safari in March. Considering the snowy weather, I was hesitant to dip into my meager supply of Liga Privadas, I didn’t want to squander a Dirty Rat or a Flying Pig. I couldn’t see smoking a No. 9 or a T52 in the cold and wet. Chateau Real Maduros hold up nicely in the slop, but I’ve been smoking a bunch of them recently and I didn’t want to bore you more than normal. I came across a La Vieja Habana Cuban Corojo Rothschild Luxo that I received at the booth at the IPCPR show last July. I’ve always enjoyed the La Viejas for what they are, which is a mixed filler, budget cigar, certainly a good value cigar at somewhere around $50 a box. Anyway, the cigar was quite enjoyable and burned well. It was spicy enough to stand up to the brisk evening.

As I mentioned, my 21 year old son Corey and I will be heading to Esteli, Nicaragua in March to experience the Drew Estate factory, the Joya de Nicaragua factory and all that goes with it. I’ve been eager to book this trip for some time, and can’t wait. I’m not a huge Acid fan, but I’ve smoked a couple and haven’t died, and Corey has smoked a few and really enjoyed them, but we both have loved everything Liga Privada we’ve smoked, and I have a soft spot for Chateau Reals. I even like a coffee infused Tabak Especial once in a while, and the Natural line is a very interesting change of pace. I hope this trip will provide some interesting subject matter for this space as well! I’m sure I won’t be able to shut up about this for a while! I think I’ll spend the next 2 months packing..

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Acid, chateau real, cigar, cigars, drew estate, joya de nicaragua, liga privada, Natural, Tabak Especial

by CigarCraig | January 3, 2011 · 11:09 pm

Cigar Recap: Fuente, 777, Chateau Real – Monday January 3, 2011

First post of 2011! I hope everyone had a safe and festive holiday and that 2011 is better than 2010. Last year was a great year for CigarCraig.com and the coming year should be even better. While I’m thinking about it, if you’re looking for a top ten list or a “best of” you can forget about it! What I think about any of the new cigars this year is of little consequence to anyone, there were very few “new” cigars that I sampled and the few that I did I wasn’t really “wow’d” by. I will say that the Liga Privada Dirty Rat is my fav

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orite new cigar, but I received my first sample of that cigar in 2009, so it hardly counts!

Anyway, last week we had some fairly unseasonably temperate weather, so I grabbed an Arturo Fuente Double Chateau that was a gift from a friend. It’s been years since I smoked one of these, and I was in the mood for a milder cigar for an afternoon walk. Certainly a perfectly constructed and well balanced cigar, I honestly don’t know why I don’t grab Fuente products more often. I have a handful of what I consider “special” Fuentes, various smaller Hemingways, Opus X, the odd Don Carlos, but I save them for some reason…probably because I figure I’ll never have them again if I smoke them! Ridiculous, I know. I promise to smoke some of these when the weather gets warmer or I have an good inside opportunity.

Next up was a re-visit of a cigar I smoked and liked a few months back, the J. Fuego 777 maduro corona. I enjoyed this cigar again, but it didn’t hit me the same as the first one. I blame the colder weather, I seem to prefer stronger flavored cigars in the winter, and I think this fits that, but obviously my palate misses some of the complexities when the mercury drops. The size of this cigar is just about perfect for me at 5½” x 46 and the burn and draw were perfect. I picked up a few more of these last week and I think they are a fairly good cigar for $4.50 each. I look forward to smoking more of these.

Tonight I got lazy, and, considering that the weather has taken a colder turn, I went with a familiar friend, the Chateau Real Small

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Club Corona Maduro. There’s a couple things I really like about these cigars. The size, 4″ x 44, is great for my walk to the local convenience store and the strength of flavor is perfect for the colder weather. These are wrapped with a dark Mexican leaf that gives the cigar a rich and earthy taste. I think this box purchase was my best of the year at right around $50 for a box of 32.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 777, Arturo Fuente, Chateau, chateau real, cigar, cigars, corona, dirty rat, drew estate, J. Fuego, maduro

by CigarCraig | December 28, 2010 · 10:48 pm

A Couple of Cigars With an Old Friend – Tuesday December 27, 2010

In the midst of the Holiday hubbub I had the opportunity to sit down for a few cigars with an old high school friend who lives close by, but we never seem to get the time to hang out and smoke some cigars. I caught up with Greg about a year and a half ago after 25 years or so and was delighted to find that we lived a couple miles apart, and that he shared a love of fine cigars. We’ve gotten together a few times over the last 18 months, but this is the fist time we’ve had the chance to just sit an catch up over cigars. We met at our local cigar shop, JM Cigars in Exton, PA. JM’s is one of the best shops in the area in my opinion. Although the selection is fairly “classic”, the pricing is reasonable (for instance, a Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur No. 1 is under $6 last I looked). You won’t find Tatuaje’s or Illusione or a lot of Pepin Garcia cigars, but he did have a wide selection of Lito Gomez cigars and Cains, as well as quite a few Fuente lines. I grabbed a couple of the Jesus Fuego 777 maduro coronas that I have enjoyed in the past and met Greg in the lounge and parked my ass in a oversized leather chair for the afternoon. As Greg’s birthday was coming up I provided some of what I thought of as special cigars to mark the occasion.

We started the afternoon with a pair of La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros 650s that were sent to me some time ago by General Cigar. These are a “dos capas” cigar that start with a Connecticut Shade wrapper for the first couple inches, then moved to a darker Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper. This is really a nice cigar, very rich in flavor and perfectly constructed. The transition from one wrapper to the other is subtle but noticeable. All in all I cigar I will happily smoke again.

Next cigars up were some Ramon Allones Specially Selected Havanas that had been kicking around the humidor for quite a few years. I honestly don’t remember where these came from or exactly how old they were, but they were at least 5 years old and probably older. These particular cigars were nice, firm cigars that were well packed. They burned dead even and tasted fantastic. Greg commented that there was a flavor that he couldn’t put a finger on, and I suggested that my guess was that it was that trademark Cuban flavor that makes Havana cigars distinctly different. These were fantastic examples of the Cuban cigar rollers art and are a benchmark robusto that is a must try if you ever have the opportunity.

It was a great afternoon that was over too soon. It’s always nice to catch up with an old friend over a cigar or two in a comfortable environment.

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

CigarCraig

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by CigarCraig | December 24, 2010 · 8:45 am

Merry Christmas From CigarCraig.com! – Friday December 24, 2010

I finally had the inclination and opportunity to enjoy a cigar the other night and reach for one of my current favs, a Chateau Real Maduro Small Club. What a nice little cigar that is big on flavor and burns and draws as perfectly as a cigar can and rich flavors of cocoa and tobacco. Also this week, I won an award at my place of business that added some cash to my Cigar Safari fund, so I hope to be booking that trip in the near future. I can only imagine how cool that trip will be, I will do my best to document it as thoroughly as possible on these pages. I also updated the Contest Winners page to include the latest winner. We somehow had 13 contests this year and sent out nearly 50 cigars and assorted goodies. I can’t begin to thank the companies who provided some of these great items, Drew Estate, General Cigar and Vegas de Santiago, I’ve never asked them for a thing, yet they provided some very nice stuff for me to give away! I certainly enjoy giving away cigars from my humidor, but it’s more fun giving away other peoples stuff!

This week I sent out a couple of packages, one of which being the Joya de Nicaragua prize from last week. Unfortunately it’s scheduled for delivery Tuesday, December 28 and will not arrive in time for Christmas. I truly appreciate everyone’s participation in the contests, and in the comments section of these posts. If it weren’t for my readers I could write all of this in a Word doc and save myself a lot of time and money, but you all make it worthwhile. I have high hopes that 2011 will bring new and exciting content.

So merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates, Happy Holidays to all, smoke some great cigars and spend time with your loved ones!!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as blog, chateau real, christmas, cigar, cigars, Contest, drew estate, holiday, joya de nicaragua

by CigarCraig | December 12, 2010 · 8:50 pm

Weekend Cigar: Xikar HC Habana Colorado – Sunday December 12, 2010

As the holiday season is in full swing, the opportunities to have a cigar become few and far between. Between the weather and the season it’s been busy in a non-cigar way. Friday evening provided an opportunity for my son and I to attend a Xikar event at Old Havana Cigar Co. outside of West Chester, PA. I had not tried the HC cigars prior and it seemed like a good time. I picked up one of each of the robustos, a Connecticut, a Criollo and a Habana Colorado. For purchasing three, I got one free, so I went with the Habana Colorado and smoked it there. We all know that I’m not exactly a free spender when it comes to cigars, so it will surprise nobody to hear me say that I think the $8.25 price tag for these is too high, even with the free cigar I had some buyers remorse. That’s not to say that the Habano Colorado wasn’t a fine cigar, it was, I just didn’t find it $8.25 good. There are a lot of cigars that are just as good for less. Anyway, the cigar burned very well and lasted well over an hour, and was smooth and flavorful, and on the stronger side of medium. I am looking forward to smoking the others in the near future, as they are well made and nicely blended cigars, but I don’t think I would purchase them again. As far as the shop goes, the lounge is spacious and comfortable and the humidor was very well stocked. It’s a little out of my way so I don’t get to this shop often, and only really ever go there when there’s an event that interests me. I prefer JM Cigars in Exton, PA as far as price, selection and friendliness, I just wish Jeff would have more manufacture events.

Don’t forget to enter the current contest, win some Joya de Nicaragua cigars and stuff. Deadline for entry is close of business Saturday, December 18 (midnight). Also, the folks at Thompson have some deals going on that they asked me to pass on, see http://www.thompsoncigarcoupons.com/ for more information.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig