Category Archives: Review

by | May 16, 2010 · 4:18 pm

A Reyes Family Cigars Weekend – Sunday, May 16, 2010

I did something unusual for me, I smoked a bunch of the same cigars in a row. I found myself with a handful of Puros Indios Viejo Media Coronas and smoked about 3 of them in a row.  For the price, these are terrific cigars, and at  5½” x 45 is one of my favorite sizes.  These are touted as well aged cigars with a 10 year old Ecuador Sumatra wrapper and filler from the DR, Nicaragua and Brazil.  They burn pretty well with a good draw and a nice flavor.  I remember back in the boom years Puros Indios were known for having a tight draw,  I recall having one that was a really great tasting cigar, but it was like smoking a wooden dowel it was so tight.  Clearly this problem no longer exists. I smoked 2 of them during the excellent Flyers win over the Bruins.

I figured since I was on a Puros Indios kick, I’d fire up a Reyes Family Cigars Premier Gordo that I got at the IPCPR show back in 2008.  This is a big  perfecto, 6″ x 60 ring gauge at it’s largest point.  The  maduro Ecuador Sumatra wrapper is rustic, not the prettiest thing, but quite tasty and the shape is just amazing.   It’s burn wasn’t dead even, but didn’t take anything away from the experience.  I’m a reasonably fast smoker, but this c

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igar seemed to last forever.  I think I smoked this for over an hour and a half.  It was medium bodied and tasty.  Not a bad cigar at all and a good one to follow the Puros Indios Viejos I had smoked earlier.   Except for a few more of the Viejos, I think I’ve exhausted my supply of Reyes Family Cigars.  What ever happened to the 18″ x 66 Puros Indios Chief?

In The News:

I came across a really neat site for all you blog junkies to bookmark: http://www.cigarosphere.com/ .  This is a cool page that has an  excerpt from a ton of different blogs all on one page.  They have graciously added the CigarCraig..com blog to the site, despite the fact that they state that they trying to aggregate QUALITY blogs. It’s neat to be able to see a whole bunch of different blogs on one site.  Keep up the great w

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ork guys!

Please keep up with http://www.cigarrights.org/ as the FDA starts looking at ways to screw up out enjoyment of cigars.  Don;t be afraid to write to your representatives when you hear about possible injustices where cigars are concerned.  The folks at CRA are doing great things to protect our rights, I urge you to support them.

Oops, I almost forgot!

I keep forgetting to mention that last week I enjoyed the Vegas de Santiago Don Luis Secretos de Maestro Canionazo that DJ sent me.  It was another very nice cigar which burned well and had a pleasing flavor. Vegas de Santiago deserves more notoriety than they receive.  They produce a very nice product and are always very willing to sponsor events when asked.    I’m sorry that things got a little busy around here and I kinda forgot to mention it in my last post.  I truly appreciate the opportunity to  try these cigars, thank you sir!  I still have a Vegas de Santiago in a wooden tube somewhere in the bottom of the coolerdor that’s about 5 years old that I need to exhume and smoke.

Also, Joel Scott, winner of the box of 5 Liga Privada‘s, was kind enough to send me a couple pictures of the opened box, since I resisted the temptation to open them before shipping them out. You may drool now, and remember that I just may have more of these for future prizes, as well as a bunch of other goodies!  Keep checking back, the cats are looking forward to the next contest video!  Testimonials from past winners are always welcome.

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

CigarCraig (GO FLYERS!)

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by | May 14, 2010 · 4:54 pm

Quick Cigar Update, Flor de Gonzalez 90 Miles – Friday May 14, 2010

Last night I smoked a Flor de Gonzales 90 Miles Robusto.  I had won a 5 pack of these in a contest on the My Cigar Ashes blog.  The contest was to write an article in the comments section about the pros and cons of the Cuban Embargo being lifted.  Here is my submission:

Here’s the thing: I think that what we’ll call, for practical purposes, the ‘domestic’ cigar industry is strong enough at this point to be minimally effected

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by the end of the embargo. There are enough great cigars being produced that very expensive and hard to come by Havanas will not pose a threat. I maintain that Cuban cigars are not necessarily better cigars than ‘domestic’ cigars, but different. They happen to have a flavor that appeals to me, but there are many Nicaraguan, Honduran and Dominican cigars that are just as good (heresy to some, I’m sure). The quality of tobacco and construction is the best it has ever been. On the other side of that, imagine being able to blend Cuban tobacco with Nicaraguan tobacco, this would definitely be a good thing! However, that assumes that there would be tobacco available to export, considering the struggle Habanos would have to supply such a large market, especially one that will consist largely of people who just have to try one to see what the fuss is all about. My personal opinion is that the rest of the world will be pissed at us when we end the embargo! I’m sure the allocations will be changed drastically to supply the new market, as well as the quality that will decline. I also think that the market for fakes will explode. Inexperienced cigar enthusiasts won’t know the difference and unscrupulous venders will pawn off just about anything on an unsuspecting buyer. I’d be just as happy if the embargo stayed in place, from a strictly selfish point of view.

Given all of the excellent submissions I was very surprised that I won.  Thanks to David and Flor de Gonzales cigars for the contest.  The cigars arrived with a personal letter from Yadina Gonzalez-Vargus, president of the company., which I thought was very cool!

The presentation was very nice, a printed 5 cigar cardboard box which contained v

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ery beautiful cigars.  I grabbed one and hung out on the deck for a while while I enjoyed the cigar.  It was very flavorful and burned very evenly.  I put this on a par with the very best cigars I’ve smoked in deliciousness and performance.  However when it reached the band it went downhill a little bit, but not so much that it was unpleasant, just wasn’t as tasty as it started out.  I set this down with an inch and a half or so to go with no regrets.  No regrets, that is, until the nicotine hit me.  I would have called this a medium to full cigar until after I was don and I got the cold sweats.  I’ll keep checking in on these, it will be interesting to see what some down-time in the humidor does to smooth them out a little.  If you can, give these a try, they are a very nice cigar.  I have enjoyed the “Cuban sandwich” Flor de Gonzalez cigars, I think they are a very worthy $2 cigar especially for the large torpedo and Churchill.  I’ll be looking for more from this company.  Good stuff.

Our latest contest  winner, Joel Scott, should have received his box of 5 Liga Privada cigars today.  I’m rather interested in hearing from him as I have no idea what cigars are in the box as I haven’t opened one.  Maybe he’ll send me a picture when he gets it (hint, hint). Congrats to him, and stay tuned for more goodies in the coming weeks!

That’s it for now!

CigarCraig

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by | May 2, 2010 · 8:13 pm

Weekend Cigars and a Drew Estate Liga Privada Contest! – Sunday May 2, 2010

Saturday evening I selected a CAO Mx2 Rob for my evening walk.  My wife had gotten me a selection of CAO cigars for Valentines day and this was among them.  It was a robusto, and pretty much everything a maduro cigar should be.    The combination of Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and Brazillian maduro binder really overwhelm the palate with  bitter coffee and cocoa.

This afternoon, while pressure washing my in-laws deck, I lit up a Maria Mancini Robusto Larga. This cigar served as an insect repellent as well as an enjoyable smoke.  While not as smooth as those that I’ve had with several years of age, it was still a tasty and well made cigar, which held up well to the rigors of outdoor work. This remains among my favorite cigars at any price and I have always had these in my humidor in one vitola or another.

My 20 year old son and I had exchanged text messages on Friday when he mentioned that he and his friends took a trip to Holt’s (they go to Drexel) and he had purchased and smoked a Liga Privada T52.  He picked this out based on having heard about them from me.  I don’t keep track of what he’s smoking, he started out just after his 18th birthday, with a Romeo y Julieta Coronitos en Cedro at his sister’s wedding.  He said he really loved that cigar, as he was turning seven shades of plaid after smoking it.  When he told me he smoked the T52 I told him that it should have made him vomit, but he said it was amazing.  That’s the word he kept using: “amazing”.  So, it that spirit, I selected a Liga Privada No. 9 for tonight’s smoke.

The Liga Privada No. 9 was blended for the personal use of Steve Saka, president of  Drew Estate. It has a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and a five tobacco filler blend.  It’s a great cigar, very rich and satisfying.  The burn was as even as they come and it burned for a long time.  Delicious!  It’s no wonder Steve is rarely seen without one of these in his mouth.

Also in that spirit, I’d like to announce this month’s contest.  I have a really good prize for the winner this time.  It’s a five cigar Liga Privada Sampler courtesy of Drew Estate.  Here are the rules:  Leave a comment here with your guess as to what the digital hygrometer in my 48 quart Coleman Coolerdor reads.  I’ll post a photo of it when I announce the winner.  Contest ends Sunday, May 9.  Your guess should include both the temperature and humidity.  Any tie will be broken by cat selection.  I’m tempted to offer a bonus if someone guesses exactly, but the prize itself is pretty fantastic!

So tell your friends, spread the word, subscribe to my e-mails, follow me on twitter…..someone is going to get a nice five pack of Liga Privadas!

Until next time,

CigarCraig

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by | April 30, 2010 · 6:26 pm

This Weeks Cigars: Oliva Connecticut Reserve and Vegas de Santiago – Thursday April 29, 2010

Wednesday evening I dug into the Jason of Rock’s Smoke Shop stash again and grabbed an Oliva Connecticut Reserve Toro.  I didn’t see any info on Oliva’s website, and I was too darned lazy to Google further, so I dropped a Tweet and received this information from David Wagner, the National Sales Manager for Oliva:

“the Oliva CT Reserve was released last year. It’s an Ecuador grown CT Shade wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and fillers.”

The cigar was beautiful, the Ecuador Connecticut Shade wrapper was golden and flawless.&Acirc

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;  It started out with very dry woody flavors.  It was a very nice medium bodied cigar, that went from dry to a bit creamy.  I liked it.  I have to admit to a bit of carelessness though.  I set the cigar on the corner of the ice machine when I went into the convenience store, which I do all the time, and when I came out the cigar had fallen from it’s perch!  It suffered some slight wrapper damage, but recovered nicel

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y. It burned through the damage as if it wasn’t there, maintaining a razor straight burn the entire time.  Definitely a well made cigar.  If you like the Connecticut shade wrapper, this is a good cigar to try, it has the flavor one would expect from the wrapper, but there’s more substance to it than some other shade wrapped cigars.

Thursday I received a couple cigars from reader and former contest winner DJ.  The cigars were from Vegas de Santiago, a Costa Rican cigar maker whom I’ve worked with before on a couple of events my wife and I have hosted, but actually haven’t really smoked many of their cigars!  DJ sent a couple of  Don Luis “Secretos del Maestro”. One was a 6″ x 60, which I chose to smoke instead of trying to fit it into the humidor. Very nice looking cigars, the band on the 60 ring cigar actually had a little strip of white paper bridging the gap between the ends of the band.  The manufacturer says that these are two of their best sellers.  Here’s the blurb from Vegas de Santiago:

“VdS Don Luis our “Secretos del Maestro” – (*Trade Marked Black & Gold Band).
(Very Special and Top of the Line) A cigar we created, in memory of our late Cuban master, Don Luis Santana Lamas.Filler from selected and specially cured tobaccos… from  Costa Rica , Binder from the Caribe and Central America and a Connecticut wrapper from Ecuador .”

While not a huge fan of large ring cigars, this one was very flavorful and behaved fairly well.  I got a taste off the wrapper pre-light that was really good, and I usually don’t notice wrapper flavor. This is billed as a double ligero cigar, but it wasn’t the powerhouse that that description would imply.  I found it to be medium bodied, it started ou

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t fairly mellow and well balanced.  By the time I was ready to put it down it was developing an acidic flavor.  I’m looking forward to smoking the 6″ x 52 Canionazo and comparing it to it’s large ring brother. In the information I received from Vegas de Santiago, they also produce this blend with an oscuro wrapper, which sounds pretty in

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teresting.  As I alluded to above, VdS has been quite generous in the past in their sponsorship of various events I’ve either held or been a part of.  They are a nice bunch of folks who produce some very nice cigars that are fairly priced.

A big thank you to DJ for sharing these cigars with me and for his participation and interest in the nonsense I frequently spew here.  I appreciate the thought and the chance to enjoy these cigars. Thanks also (again) to Jason for supplying me with a nice supply of cigars to smoke and review!  Variety is indeed the spice of life and I’ve been fortunate to have a great variety of cigars to smoke.

I sent out a five-pack of Hoyo de Tradicion Toros to Chris McCann who was kind enough to send his address after he won my last contest.  I hate to do it, but if I don’t hear from “Wallaper” by this weekend I’m going to have to select another winner.  I had mentioned when I posted the contest video that after shooting, one of the other cats started mauling one of the cards.  I held this particular card for just such an occasion.  One of the unwritten rules here is that if you enter a contest you run the risk of winning it and having to collect the prize!  Sorry, I didn’t make up that rule, I just enforce it.  Must be of legal age and must take the prize. I don’t ask much!  I’ll be announcing the May contest very soon, and it will be a really good prize!

That’s it for now, have a great weekend!

CigarCraig

Update:  I received an e-mail with an address for Brian (aka wallaper) and his cap and cutter are going out tomorrow.  Thanks!

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by | April 26, 2010 · 6:49 pm

CigarCraig Contest Winners! Please Send Snailies! – Monday April 26, 2010

It sure is hard to give stuff away these days!  I’m still wait

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ing to hear from the winner of the Drew Estate Cap and Liga Privada Cutter contest.  “Wallaper” please send me your address so I can mail your prizes!  I love giving stuff awa

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y, but it’s so much easier to do when I have a mailing address!

I received a package in the mail today with the Punch smoker box that I mentioned in my last post.  Thi

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s is a real nice presentation, the box itself must weigh two pounds and it’s very well made.  It has a instructions for use and a guide to choosing what wood produces certain flavors.  The four cigars look tasty and were certainly well protected by the stainless steel box.  I’ll try this out on the grill one of these days, although I’m not sure how much hamburgers and hot dogs will benefit!  These are in stores now.   I love Punch cigars, and have been

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looking forward to trying the Uppercut.

I did throw out a quick contest in my last post, didn’t I?   A 5 pack of Hoyo de Tradicion Toros will be finding it’s way to Chris  McCann, provided he will send me his address!   Don’t make

me hunt you down!!  A big thanks to General Cigar for making this possible.

That’s about enough shilling for now!  Next month will feature another excellent cigar give-away, so stay tuned.  Also, I have a bunch of nice cigars I’m looking forward to smoking and talking about here.

Until the next cigar,

CigarCraig

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