Category Archives: Review

by Craig Vanderslice | June 26, 2022 · 10:10 am

Nat Cicco, JFR Lunatic and La Palina Cigars

The PCA show is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I’ve decided to go after all. I’m actually going as a correspondent for another media site, so I’ll be doing a little double duty. I know I said I wouldn’t go again until media was invited, but I was going to be in town anyway, and couldn’t be there without spending at least a couple days at the show. I’ll only be there for Saturday and Sunday, so I’ll have to plan things carefully. So I figured I better smoke up some of the cigars I still have from the TPE show! I started with a Nat Cicco HHB Gold. I didn’t really know much about Nat Cicco until they bought Epic Cigars and Dean Parsons went to work for them. This was a toro size cigar with a pigtail cap, Ecuador Habano wrapper, and Nicaraguan binders and fillers. From what I can tell, this is made at NACSA, the same factory that makes Mi Querida, Patina, and Dapper). This was a nice smoke, with woody and leathery flavors. It burned well, and was on the medium full side. Not necessarily my cup of tea, but nice, nonetheless. I don’t see this cigar listed on their website, but there is a non-gold version, I’ll be interested in seeing what the difference is between the two. I really liked the Aniversario 1965 Liga No.4 that they make.

Not a cigar from the TPE show, but one I recently picked up, was a JFR Lunatic Habano in the Short Titan size. I’ll be honest, I had to look just now because the cigar didn’t seem like a 60 ring cigar, but sure enough it’s 4½” x 60. They call this Habano, yet the website lists the wrapper as San Andrés, wich it neither looks or tastes like. I’m confused. These come in ridiculous sizes, up to 80 ring. I stuck with a normal size, and I really can’t remember if I’ve smoked this blend before or not. I don’t think they were outrageously priced either, and the place I bought them might have had a buy five get one deal or something, my memory is hazy. This was a good smoke, on the nutty side. I have another one, so I will smoke it again, and wouldn’t hesitate to pick up more, I just won’t be getting the larger sizes. They have a toro, I’d like to try that one.

This last one was from the TPE, I talked to Clay Roberts of La Palina there and he gave me a La Palina 125 Años, which is a $25 cigar, made by the Oliva’s in Nicaragua. This celebrates the anniversary of Samuel Paley founding the cigar company that would make the first La Palina cigars back in 1896. The blend is undisclosed tobaccos, but they say that they were given access to Oliva’s private stock of vintage tobaccos. I realized that all three of the cigars featured today have a fancy cap treatment, this one has a fan cap, much like the Goldie had. This was a fascinating cigar. It’s a 6½” x 52 Toro. It had a heavy, almost cloying mouth feel, like a black licorice. Not really an anise flavor, just that mouth coating sensation. It did have a sweetness, and a doughy, nutty kind of flavor. It was different and quite enjoyable. I’m not sure the band was in keeping with how special this cigar is, although I guess it may be reminiscent of the period. these come in jars of 37, which I won’t be pring $975 for, but it’s a really good smoke. Thanks, Clay, for sharing this one with me!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 125 Años, cigar, cigars, HHB, JFR, La Palina, Lunatic, Nat Cicco

by Craig Vanderslice | June 19, 2022 · 9:10 am

Red Meat Lovers Battleship New Jersey Meat and Cigars Event

Happy Father’s Day to everyone! Later today I will smoke an Esperanza Para Los Niños torpedo, a cigar which was my traditional Father’s Day cigar for the better part of 20 years, until I smoked the last cigar out of the box I bought in June of 2000. An old friend sent me the better part of a box earlier this year so I could continue the tradition, after taking last year off. For those unfamiliar, this cigar was made by Christian Eiroa with the help of some members of the alt.smokers.cigars Usenet group back in 1999 and sold to benefit children orphaned by hurricane Mitch. It’s a maduro cigar, and the last one’s I smoked had held up well over the 20 years, we’ll see how they’ve continued to mature later today! Thanks Roger Farnsworth!

Thursday evening we had the great fortune of attending the Red Meat Lover’s Club “meating” on the Battleship New Jersey, which is docked right across the river from Philadelphia in Camden, NJ. I’ve seen it, but never been aboard, one day I would love to go back and take the tour. It’s a big ship, and we dined on the fantail. The event was a benefit for the ship, and it’s my hope that a substantial sum was raised, I know that we contributed through the silent auction (my wife purchased a Beatles piece). We arrived early and hung out with Steve Saka (my wife now refers to him as “SquishySquatch”), who was also early, so that was nice. The food was amazing and abundant. Guys were walking around sucking on tomahawk bones, we had cheese steaks, smashburgers, delicious ribeye, and “macaroni and cheese” from an outfit from my wife’s ancestral home of Abruzzo, Italy. I was trying to steer (😉) clear of carbs and stick to proteins at this event, but the pasta was outrageously good. I also got sucked into some rolls, as the cheesesteak and smashburgers seemed to be a bad idea without them. I consumed a satisfying amount, and they had cookies too! I skipped the pig, and there was something salad-like I saw (that’s what food eats!) Evan Darnell, the secretary of steak, the head cheese, the ringleader of this whole thing, put on an amazing event. We even got to hang out with some old and new friends! Kevin and Jessica from CigarProp were there, and I finally got to meat and hang out with Lee McClain, LeeMack912 on Youtube. Lee was one of those guys who, even though you’ve never met, you feel like you know, and you’re instant friends, great dude. We also met some other great folks there, and saw other old friends, it was a good time. I highly recommend attending a Red Meat Lovers Club event if one comes to your area. Since Saka was the cigar sponsor, of course the cigars were outstanding, everyone got a bag with a Sobremesa Brulee, a Mi Querida and a Sin Compromiso, all top notch smokes. Casa de Montecristo was there selling Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust cigars as well. Let me tell you, there’s not many things better than a Sin Compromiso after a smorgasbord of meat! Thanks Evan!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Battleship New Jersey, Brulee, cigar, cigars, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, Esperanza, Mi Querida, Red Meat Lovers, Sin Compromiso, Sobremesa

by Craig Vanderslice | June 12, 2022 · 11:09 am

Villiger TAA, Punch and Partagas Cigars

I was going through some of the newer cigars I have and realized there was one I hadn’t written about yet, but more on that in a bit. I want to start off talking about the new Villiger TAA Exclusive for 2022. This cigar is interesting for a couple reasons. Foremost, it’s made at Espinosa’s La Zona factory. Villiger has been making cigars with a lot of different companies, Joya de Nicaragua comes to mind, as well as having their own factory in Brazil. I suppose logistics would make it less favorable to make the cigars in Brazil, but I would think they’d want to highlight that operation. Villiger is still not very well known in the premium market, and may still suffer from the abysmal way that they handled changing their outside sales model (stranding reps on the road around the holidays isn’t a very nice way to sever ties!). I’ll tell you this, I’ve always enjoyed their premium cigars, and have had a good relationship with them for a decade or so, through various regimes. This TAA exclusive is a good cigar. It has a San Andrés maduro wrapper with NIcaraguan binder and fillers. It’s a box pressed 6″ x 52, and is priced at $10. Honestly, it tastes like a cigar with that blend should taste, and I liked it. Does it have any overly distinctive flavors? Not really, but it’s a good, solid Mexican maduro, and if you like those, you’ll enjoy this. Of course, that;s m take, and someone with a more refined palate will have a different take.

I made plans to be in Las Vegas for the weekend of the PCA show, although I have no plans to get into the show. There are a couple avenues I could take to get in if I wanted to, but I’m on the fence as to whether I want to do that or catch up with people after hours. I neither want to waste the trip, nor compromise my position on media being admitted to the show (I want to do it the right way, their version of that is selling me a membership which gets me nothing but entry to the show, my version is the media being invited to promote the show). I still have some things to work out. Anyway, I smoked the newest cigar from Punch this week, The People’s Champ. The blend on this was basically crowd-sourced. Apparently there’s a “Punch Brotherhood” group of Punch enthusiasts that were polled on what they wanted in a cigar, and this is what they came up with. I maintain that this is rarely a good idea, and cigar making should be left to the experts. The blend is a Honduran Talanga Habano wrapper, San Andrés binder and fillers from the DR, Brazil, and Nicaragua. There’s a lot going on there. These will be in 5 and 10 packs and will SRP for $6.49 for a 5″ x 50 robusto, so at least it’s not an expensive cigar. I found the flavor to be very pungent, with some spice, which could be confused for acidity, I suppose. I’m guess some age will do these a lot of good. I put this down for a while while running an errand, and came back to it a few hours later and finished it and it was a little better. I am hopeful that the enthusiasts who suggested this blend enjoy it, it wasn’t for me.

I realized that I hadn’t yet mentioned the Partagas Añejo Petit Robusto here yet, and thought I’d fix that. This s a cool little cigar, available in two 4½” sizes, one with a 49 ring (Partagas has a thing for 49 ring robustos historically), and 60 ring. This cigar is unique in that it is a barber pole presentation, with Cameroon and Connecticut shade wrappers, with the CAmeroon being from 1998. Something makes me think I saw bales of Cameroon tobacco from 1998 when I was at the factory in 2011, it sticks in my head because Skip Martin was trying to buy them. I could be wrong. This is a cool little cigar. It has the nuttyness of the Cameroon, tempered by both age and the Connecticut. Some Mexican leaf in the filler blend, along with Dominican, adds some body. I liked it, it smoked well and tasted great. If you want to be entertained, Kaplowitz did a twelve part review series on this cigar, which is quite creative. Start HERE. It would have been nice if he had linked his table of contents to the actual articles, but he’s kinda lazy. He puts the burden on the reader to use the search feature, I’m a nice guy, I’ll do it for you (HERE). I think the takeaway here is I’m a nice guy, and that Kaplowitz character…he’s creative, give him a read.

That’s all for today. This week is the Battleship, Beef and Bourbon for the Ship Red Meat Lovers Club event. Don’t forget to check out www.battleshipbeef.com and come out and join the fun. I’ll be there with Kevin and Jess from Cigar Prop, and Saka and a few other people. I can’t wait to have a cigar on the deck of the ship! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Añejo, cigar, cigars, Partagas, punch, TAA, The People’s Champ, Villiger

by Craig Vanderslice | June 5, 2022 · 9:12 am

Liga Privada H99, Villiger San D’Oro and Nica Rustica Adobe Cigars

Monday was Memorial Day and that called for some special smokes. I pulled out the Liga Privada H99 that Joe Gro of Drew Estate gave me back in January at the TPE show. I’m not sure why I had been waiting to smoke this, but I figured a nice afternoon off was a great time to light it up. According to the Drew Estate Website: “Maintaining the core tenants of the Liga firebrand, the H99 features a Corojo capa from the heart of the Connecticut River Valley, where we grow the mighty leaf that graces Liga Privada with a San Andres Otapan Negro Último Corte capote over a core blend of well-aged Nicaraguan and Honduran tripa leaf.” I like how this is written, it’s an obvious nod to the original creator of the Liga Privada line, who else uses terms like “capa”, “capote”, and “tripa” instead of wrapper, binder and filler? 😀. This cigar burned very nicely, and was less like a Liga Privada cigar than I expected. I suppose it was more on the T52 end, obviously, it wasn’t as heavy as it’s broadleaf counterparts. I found it has a bit of spice, some salty, savoriness, and a hint of sweetness. It was very good, certainly worthy of the occasion. As I often do, I finished the holiday weekend off with an old favorite, this time it was a Fuente Hemingway Classic, as aptly named as a cigar could be.

I slacked off this week and didn’t write a midweek post. Pure laziness on my part, I have no excuse. I did smoke some cigars I really like though, a Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms, an Undercrown 10, and a new Perla Del Mar Maduro (more on that another time). Another one I revisited was the Villiger San’Doro toro. I found a three pack in the humidor and decided to smoke one and had forgotten how much I liked this cigar. This one is the Colorado, with a ruddy brown Ecuador wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and filler. I’m not sure how old this three pack is, but I think it’s newer, which means these were made at Joya de Nicaragua. I probably have an old one around that was made at Placencia if I dive into the humidor a little deeper. I really enjoyed the flavor of this cigar, it had a cane sugar sweetness that I like a lot, but it was intermittent, so it didn’t get boring. I know Villiger premium cigars don’t get a ton of traction, but they tend to be pretty good, as far as I’m concerned.

Yesterday I stopped in to the Wooden Indian where they were having a Drew Estate event featuring the new Nica Rustica Adobe, which they had in limited supply. I picked up five toros and smoked one there in the Liga Privada Lounge, while catching up with Dave, Dan and their excellent staff, as well as Ray from Drew Estate and Matty Rock, famous for being Matty Rock. I had my choice of the three vitolas the Adobe is available in, and stuck with the Toro, even though I haven’t had the robusto yet, but I didn’t really like the gordo I tried inthe Freestyle pack. I’ve smoked a ton of Nica Rusticas, I really like them. We even went to the Belly launch event in Kentucky back in 2015. This was the third Adobe I’ve smoked and it’s growing on me, I’m liking the smoothness and balance. It has a bit of a creaminess, the Habano wrapper instead of Broadleaf makes a big difference. When this was the Freestyle live mystery cigar I had no idea this was what it was going to be, although I know one person in particular nailed it. you can’t beat the price, both versions are going to have a place in my humidor I think.

That’s all for today! It’s been a beautiful weekend, and I need to get out and get some things done, maybe smoke some more cigars! Don’t forget to check out www.battleshipbeef.com and come out to the Battleship, Beef and Bourbon for the Ship Red Meat Lovers Club event. It should prove to be an orgiastic feast of the senses! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Adobe, cigar, cigars, colorado, drew estate, H99, Liga Privada No. 9, Nica Rustica, San'Doro, Villiger, wooden indian

by Craig Vanderslice | May 29, 2022 · 9:13 am

Platinum Nova and a Couple Guardian of the Farm Cigars

It’s Memorial Day weekend already, time is flying! I hope everyone enjoys the weekend and remembers why we celebrate it. I started the weekend smoking a Platinum Nova Leo 11 that Leonor Abzaradel, the CEO of Platinum Nova Cigars, sent me following the TPE show. She sent me a handful of cigars because she told me at the show that she wasn’t happy with the condition of the samples she had there, which was a very nice move on her part. This 6″ x 54 toro with a pigtail cap was very pretty, as their cigars tend to be. The aren’t generally inexpensive, so they should look good. This has an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers and binder. This cigar has a very unique flavor. It has a heavy, dare I say, cloying, experience on the palate. It’s like a dark fruit like a ripe plum or something, crossed with black licorice. It was weird and wonderful at the same time. extremely different from any cigar I can remember smoking. This was so much different than the Leo X, which was more subtle and delicate (see here). It was a very interesting and fascinating smoke!

Yesterday I took a drive to check out a shop I’d recently heard about in nearby Reading PA, Smokies. It’s a very nice shop, a walk-in humidor in the back with all the standard fare, and cabinets lining the wall with boutique brands. They appeared well stocked and the two level lounge was very comfortable. It was easy to get to and had ample parking. The staff was excellent as well. If you find yourself in Reading (you know, the Reading RR in Monopoly?), check it out. I picked up a few Aganorsa cigars that I’ve been wanting to try, and started with the Guardian of the Farm Cerberus Toro. This 6½ x 54 Toro has a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. Oddly, I struggle to find an Aganorsa cigar I love. This falls into the “woody” flavor spectrum to me, which isn’t in my top five, but it was still an enjoyable cigar. I kick myself for choosing the Toro over the Lonsdale, but I almost always go Toro. I have another, and I think I might like it more if it were a little bit drier. We’ll see.

A little rant, if I may. I received yet another email from the PCA trying to entice me to re-join and attend the trade show. This email offered to share my contact information (as a media member) with the exhibitors, as well as list me on the PCA website. I’m sorry, but, as a member, shouldn’t my contact information already be listed in the directory and on the website? I was born at night, but not last night. I will attend the show when media is invited to cover the show as media, not sold a “membership” and made to believe they are getting more than a ticket to the show out of it. And stop with the guilt trip of “support the industry”, what do you think we do when we take our own time and money to promote the industry? That just irritated me, and I needed to get it off my chest. By the way, there are any number of ways I could get into the show if I so desired, but I’m making a statement by not going.

I may have found that elusive Aganorsa Leaf cigar that I really like in the Guardian of the Farm Nightwatch Maduro. I picked up a couple in the Campeon shape, with is a Toro with a 109 head. This makes it almost a torpedo or belicoso shape. Honestly, I can’t remember if I’ve smoked a cigar in this shape, I’ve heard the term tossed around, but I don’t know if I’ve held one in my hand. It’s 6″ x 52, which is the right size for me, with a dark, oily Aganorsa Leaf Shade Grown Corojo Maduro wrapper. The binder and filler are, of course, also Aganorsa tobacco grown in Nicaragua. Perhaps “maduro” is the key for me, because this was a delicious cigar, and I dug it. Like the Cerberus, this one could have stood to be a little drier, but that’s why I always buy more than one! Dark chocolate and coffee, just like I like, with some saltiness, maybe. This was a great smoke. I was actually hoping to catch up with Terance while he was in the area, but couldn’t manage to coordinate that. Maybe the next time.