Category Archives: Review

by | January 12, 2025 · 10:11 am

Flatbed Cigar VLI, Don Pepin Garcia and Plasencia Cigars

I’m working on plans to get to the TPE (Total Products Expo) in Vegas at the end of the month, it’ll either be a one day, quick in and out, or the whole three days. It’s an interesting show, as I’ve chronicled before here, I’m not sure what comes out of it, but I hope to see some old friends. If you’re going, let me know, I’ll tell you where to find me.  Anyway, I’ve been rummaging for new things to smoke, there’s some stuff in the pipeline, and I came up with a few for today.  First up is the Flatbed Cigar Co. VLI from their Homestead series.  Flatbed Cigar Co. makes their cigars in the Dominican Republic, the factory is a closely held secret.  I’ve been quite impressed by the majority of their offerings, especially their value.  Please note their Daily Deal on the left sidebar, always something good at a great price.  It was one of these daily deals where I ended up with the VLI.  The VLI, and I can’t seem to find out what that stands for, is a 5½ x 52 with a Pennsylvania wrapper (presumably broadleaf), Dominican binder and Pennsylvania and Nicaragua fillers.  Let me tell you, this is right up my alley.  This is a bold cigar, with rich, dark flavors, along with some spice, but not overwhelmingly so. There’s a dry cocoa component, and it’s perfectly constructed.  I really enjoyed this and I recommend it highly.  Check out this small, boutique company based right here in PA., the cigars are very good.

 

I was looking for something new and interesting and came across a Don Pepin Garcia cigar I hadn’t seen before. It turns out it’s a TAA exclusive, for now, called the Don Pepin Garcia E.R.H., comes in three sizes (robusto, toro and gordo) and is priced in the $8-9 range.  I had to grab a 6″ x 52 Toro to try.  E.R.H. refers to José Garcia’s first factory in Little Havana, El Rey de los Habanos.  This has a striking red band and foot ribbon, I was surprised to see this, and didn’t realize it was a TAA cigar until I looked it up. It has a Sumatra Oscuro wrapper, over Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  It was a really nice looking cigar. I got some sweet woody kinds of flavors, and I really enjoyed it. It’s an oasis in a desert of $15 TAA cigars, it’s quite a good value and one I wouldn’t hesitate to buy again.

 

I had heard some good things about the Plasencia Cosecha 151 recently and decided since the DPG was so affordable I would pop for the more expensive Plasencia. This is one of the more reasonably priced cigars in their offering, running around $16.  The 151 refers to the Plasencia family’s 151st harvest,dating back to 1865.  So when the US was wrapping up the Civil War, a Plasencia was planting tobacco in Cuba. Wild!  This is another Toro, called the La Tradicion, and is listed at 5.9″ x 54. This has a Honduran wrapper, binder and fillers.  This was a very good cigar.  It had some woody, nutty, coffee flavors and while not 100% my flavor preference, it was very nice, nothing objectionable. I found that the strength crept up on me, and I put it down probably where most people put cigars down, instead of smoking it under an inch like I do with most cigars. I liked it, glad I tried it, given the choice between this and the Don Pepin, I’d probably get two of the DPGs. While pricey, I’ve generally had good experiences with Plasencia cigars.

 

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

CigarCraig

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by | January 5, 2025 · 10:26 am

A Pair of Single Barrel Cigar Co. Cigars and the Big Giveaway Winner!

Before I get into the giveaway winner business, I’d like to talk about a a couple cigars that were given to me when I visited Single Barrel Cigar Co.‘s Clearwater, Florida aging facility with Kevin last November.  My first disclaimer, most of you know already, is that I don’t drink, haven’t since about 1990. I’m not a “friend of Bill’s”, but I know who he is.  Therefore, I have no frame of reference for booze related flavors.  Second disclaimer is that I don’t regularly partake in flavored cigars. There are a couple of infused/flavored cigars I enjoy, but on a semi-annual basis. I might pick up a Tabak, Deadwood, or an Acid Kuba Arte once or twice a year.  There are more traditional cigars that I enjoy that the altered cigars take a back seat.  I have to kinda talk myself into smoking something like this, and the booze thing is a double whammy. I’m going to give my thoughts, and those of you in the know can comment.  Anyway, We talked to Nick there, and he gave me two cigars to try.  These aren’t necessarily flavored, the cigars are placed in bourbon barrels, the barrels are “mixed” every so often so the cigars get equal access to the wood. I don’t know how cigars aren’t damaged in this process. The first one was a Blanton’s Gold Maduro Robusto.  The aroma once the tube was opened was pungent, had me worried for a bit. I admit, I really enjoyed this cigar.  It had a honey sweetness, very satisfying.  I was concerned that the cigar was wet, it wasn’t, the burn and draw were perfect.  I definitely could taste what I assume was the bourbon, and it was pleasant.  Thumbs up on this one.

 

One of the trademarks of Single Barrel Cigar Co. is that they put a pinch of the barrel char in the bottom of each glass tube.  I asked if they scraped the barrels themselves, which seemed like a lot of work, but they get it from the distillery. This might have been the reason that this second one I smoked put off some interesting colors when I toasted the foot.  The second one was the Weller 107 Maduro Robusto.  I’m to understand that Weller and Blanton’s come from the same parent company.  This one was noticeably different from the Blanton’s version.  It seemed more savory than sweet.  It burned great, draw was good, but this one didn’t appeal to me. If I had smoke this one first, I may not have been keen to try the Blanton’s, which, again, I really enjoyed. Like everything, taste is subjective, but this Weller didn’t do it for me. It’s not that it tasted bad, but I think it failed in comparison to the first one.  That’s on me, not the cigars. Kevin is working on something with Single Barrel for his Trash Panda store, although I’m not at liberty to say any more. Not that I signed an NDA or anything, just going to let Kevin talk about that.  I thought I’d taken more pictures, but the only ones I took are of Kevin’s barrel and that would be a giveaway, although if you know Kevin, you’ll probab;y be able to figure it out. I’ll say that if you find yourself in the Tampa area, and come across these cigars, give them a try.  

 

Some of you may have scrolled down to this point already, please go back and read the rest! I’ll wait… OK, it’s time to announce the winner of the huge batch of goodies.  To recap,  there’s the better part of the DE25 Barnsmoker backpack full of goodies. Some neat stuff from Miami Cigar and Co. Villiger, and Dunbarton, as well as a selection of cigar from my humidor, which will be a surprise.  Basically I’m going to fill the travel humidor and cigar case, but who knows what falls into the box when I pack it.  Shipping is going to cost me a fortune on this one!  Anyway, there were 32 entries, and I used Google’s random number generator to pick a number, and numbered the submissions from first to last.  The winner is a long-time reader and supporter, Tim McCabe!  Please email me your details so I can get this package shipped!  Thank you all for your comments!  I’ve been doing this blog thing for 15 years, and it’s nice to know people appreciate it!  

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 22, 2024 · 10:50 am

Catastrophic Failure, a Couple of Adventuras and a Patina Cigar

I was passing through the Harrisburg area last week and made a quick stop at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar where I grabbed a couple “new to me” cigars for this week.  The primary motivator was the Catastrophic Failure from Powstanie Cigars.  I thought this was a terrible name, but I was intrigued by the thought of a Sumatra wrapped cigar made by Nica Sueńo.  I also was interested because Kaplowitz gave it an A-, high praise. These are very limited, 500 ten count bundles, and I got the last two that they had.  This is a 5½” x 52 box-pressed robusto,with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Mexico and Pennsylvania double binder,  and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Lots to look forward to here. I lit this up on Wednesday, when I participate in what I call a support group, several cigar guys on a video call smoking and shooting the shit. This is a really nice cigar, well behaved, which isn’t surprising considering the factory.  It has what I think of as a hard candy, but it’s a spiced hard candy, and I haven’t been able to find it in the wild. I really enjoyed it, the PA and San Andrés binder seemed to add quite a bit to the blend, beefed it up, I guess. Definitely not a Catastrophic Failure, but I think the Szczepankiewicz boys like irony. Including their name in a post almost uses up my allotted number of letters. 

 

James happened to be there at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar (because he works there) and gave me a couple of exclusive cigars to HB&C/BL Luxuries which I found interesting. These are variations on the King’s Gold and Queen’s Pearls in ADVentura‘s The Royal Return line (they should offer seconds as the Jester’s Junk, just a thought…), in a barber pole format.  Here’s what confuses me: These cigar look identical except for the band.  They’ve added a Ecuador Connecticut wrapper to the Broadleaf wrapper on the King’s Gold and vice versa to the Queen’s Pearls.  I thought James said the two were the same blend with opposite wrapper but I think I better understand, unless the only difference between the two is the wrapper, in which case I’m still confused.  I don’t know a lot about ADVentura, typically the Henderson Ventura blends don’t particularly appeal to me.  I warned James about this. These are sold in ten count boxes containing five of each.  I smoked these on consecutive evenings, starting with the Queen’s Pearls.  This has both Ecuador Connecticut and Broadleaf wrappers, an Ecuador binder and Dominican, Ecuador and Nicaraguan fillers. I got a distinct cinnamon bun flavor on the cold draw, which was weird.  This didn’t continue when it was lit. It had some citrus tang and woody/leathery flavors throughout. Maybe a little creaminess.  While not my preference, it was a very good cigar.  

 

The Royal Return King’s Gold Barber Pole is also a 6″ x 54 toro with a Broadleaf and Ecuador Connecticut striped wrapper, San Andrés binder, and fillers from DR, USA and Nicaragua.  I should like this one more, right?  I remember smoking the “normal” King’s Gold and was neither repulsed nor impressed, it was just a decent cigar.  Like an idiot, I forgot to look for that Cinnabon flavor on the cold draw, I just dug with in.  I think this is a little more cocoa/coffee forward than the Pearls, with the same wood/leather undercurrent, of which I’m not a fan. Great burn and draw, enjoyable flavor, these are very nice.  I imagine smoking these two at the same time they would be hard to tell apart, at least for me. I could definitely tell they were closely related.  I appreciated being allowed to smoke these, thanks to Nick and James at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar/BL Luxuries. 

 

I spied a freshpack of Patina Robustos on the rack and picked one up because I like Patina cigars, and Mo the owner, and I don’t see them around much.  James brought out a Patina LE 2024 robusto that has recently come in.  I think this is one of the reasons my bill was so high, I didn’t ask questions, I just bought.  This is a 5″ x 54 Robusto with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, San Andrés binder, and fillers from the U.S. and Nicaragua. It’s made at NACSA, which is where the Broadleaf Dunbarton cigars and several other brands, are made.  NACSA is an older factory, owned by the Oliva tobacco company and perhaps Lew Rothman still has a stake.  For many years this factory pumped out tons of JR Cigars bundles. It’s become a major player in premium cigars largely due to Saka going in to make Mi Querida and teaching them how to make excellent cigars. I wouldn’t normally spent close to $20 on a robusto, or any cigar for that matter, but this was an excellent cigar, right up my alley. Rich, meaty, espresso/cocoa, al the things I love in a cigar.  To be honest, if I smoked this blind I might have guessed it was one of Saka’s broadleaf blends. I’m sure Mo will be pleased that I say that.  It’s a great cigar, my favorite of the week.  

 

That’s all for today, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and happy holidays to everyone. Until the next time (when I should have a holiday giveaway, I guess!), 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 15, 2024 · 10:16 am

Some Unusual Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust Cigars

I’m never one to chase after Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust‘s store exclusives, or rare stuff, but I had a couple things fall into my lap recently, so I figured I’d dedicate a blog post to them.  The first two are thanks to Kevin at CigarProp. I asked him to purchase a couple of the Black Angus for me when he went to the launch event at Corona Cigar in Tampa, not even knowing how damn expensive they are, and he sent me two from his box.  I’m not even sure why this cigar caught my interest, I’m not really a fan of the FSG tobacco, and I certainly don’t seek out $30 cigars, but I was intrigued. Steve Saka doesn’t seem to care for the tobacco, and I needed  to see how he would come up with a Saka-worthy cigar.  This theme will repeat itself, by the way.  So Kevin sent me the cigars, even put them in a box autographed by Steve, which put me into shock until I opened to box and there were just the two cigars in there. I smoked one, and it was good.  You probably want specifics!  This is a 6¼” x 54 with a box press and a pigtail (I believe Saka calls this a “colita”) cap.  In addition to the Florida Sun Grown Corojo ’99 tobacco, it has a Ecuador Habano Viso Rosado wrapper, San Andrés binder (the “Cultivo Tonto” tobacco used for the wrapper of the Sin Compromiso) and a Nicaragua “Angelica” Criollo filler.  I took notes, and said that it started out with a twang, and this was before I read the description mentioning “twang” so it really is there.  It’s a meaty cigar, savory, delicious with that twang, maybe it’s the Black Angus branding that made me think of meat?  It’s good, I’m really fortunate to have been able to try this, because dropping that kind of coin on a cigar isn’t something I’d do. It’s a special occasion cigar, for sure. I’d wager Kevin really enjoys this as he’s an FSG fan.

 

Another cigar that I wouldn’t have had a chance to sample were it not for Kevin’s generosity was the Candela lancero out of the #GFY (Good For You, so Saka claims, be we know what it really means!) sampler.  I tossed around the idea of buying a box, but the thought of smoking ten lanceros that were all different, none of which were regular production and may never see the light of day again didn’t appeal to me.  Apparently someone sent Kevin a couple knowing he likes Candela and he shared one with me. This is another leaf that Saka doesn’t like, in a format he doesn’t like. I maintain that I was the one who put the candela lancero idea in his head, evidenced by this audio snippet:

He seemed to poopoo the idea he’d ever make one, then back peddle a little.  Anyway, this is a traditional 7″ x 38 lancero with the pigtail cap. This was a nice smoke, not at all mild (think RomaCraft Fomorian),  with the grassy tartness one gets from a good candela wrapper.  I had to relight a few times, but I was probably smoking it too slow, as I’m careful not to overheat lanceros by smoking too fast.  I’m sure the other nine cigars in the sampler are excellent, Steve doesn’t put crap out with his name on it.  This was special to me since I claim responsibility!  Thanks again Kevin! 

 

My final cigar in this week’s tribute to Dunbarton was the Stillwell Star Aromatic No. 22. This was included in a media package last month.  The Stillwell series is unique in that id incorporates pipe tobacco in the blends. We drove to South Carolina for the release event at Low Country Cigar and Pipe where I picked up a sampler of the originals.  I didn’t smoke any there because I wanted to get the right experience, not in a room full of other people smoking.  “Room Note” is an important part of the Stillwell experience, in my opinion.  Now, I don’t smoke a pipe, too much fidgeting for me, but I have, and I have pretty detailed memories of my first dentist smoking a pipe.  He was a one man show, he’d put his pipe on his desk, do whatever he had to do in your mouth, then light it up afterwards while he wrote up the bill (there was a cash price and an insurance price).  I think I went to him from the time I had teeth until I was in my 20s.  So this Aromatic No. 22 is a 6″ x 52 parejo, with a  Ecuadorian habano wrapper, Mexican San Andrés negro binder with a filler blend that includes Cavendish burley and Virginia pipe tobaccos. This was originally the Holiday 2022, just rebanded with the blue Stilwell dress.  I can’t say that I fully appreciate the pipe tobacco blends, but it’s an enjoyable cigar. It has the “pipey” flavors that my pedestrian palate can identify, and the room note is distinctly “pipey”. I almost wish this had the sweet cap, like the Aromatic No 1.  There’s a little bit of a drying sensation I get. I enjoyed this while watching hockey on the porch, hard to go wrong there.  Burn and draw were exceptional, and this is a nice change of pace.  I still have a set o the original four blends, I suspect I’ll have to resample them one of these days. 

 

That’s all for today. I thought about smoking a Mi Querida PataPerro, but it was a little too cold last night for a 3 hour cigar! I’ll save those for warm weather.  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 8, 2024 · 11:27 am

Cigars from Nestor Miranda, Joya de Nicaragua, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust and Foundation

I ended up smoking some pretty great cigars over the last few days!  I started off with the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024. I have memory of smoking the 2011 and 2012 versions, which were the only other two previously released. The 2024 was released in celebration of Miami Cigar and Company‘s 35th anniversary.  It’s a 6 1/8″ x 52 torpedo, made at the My Father factory in Esteli, and is a Nicaraguan Puro.  This is an absolutely delicious cigar. It started with an interesting spice, maybe like nutmeg, very intriguing. It had a really nice desert cigar feel to it, like smoking a pie. I thought it was really good.  Thanks to Gabe Pińeres for sending me this.  Super-yummy.

 

Next up was the Joya de Nicaragua Cinco de Cinco. I know this one has been around for a while, but one came into my possession at the the Florida Barn Smoker last month.  This was the Corona Extra vitola, 6 ¼” x 46 with a pigtail cap.  Cinco de Cinco seems to translate to “5 out of 5”, but I want to say it has something to do with the company’s 55th anniversary.  I think this is my favorite cigar out of the Obras Maestros collection, and there are some great cigars in that collection.  I have to say that it’s really hard to pick a favorite, Numero Uno, Cinco Decadas, Cuatro Cinco, now this one?  What a line up!  This one  has a San Andrés wrapper, with Nicaraguan fillers and binder.  Burn and draw were outstanding, and it was loaded with dark chocolate flavors, and I loved it.  It’s definitely one I’ll be revisiting.  For someone who loves dark chocolate, but has to severely limit my intake because it triggers migraines for me, this is an acceptable substitute!

 

Yesterday, while watching hockey, I smoked the newest size in Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust‘s Sin Compromiso line, the Selección No. 4, a 5″ x 54 soft box pressed robusto.  This is another San Andrès wrapper, this one Saka calls “Cultivo Tonto” which has the farmer removes all bet the best leaves from the plant so that they get the most nutrients. This make the tobacco more expensive, of course, because there’s no lower quality leaves to subsidise the better leaves.  Saka only ever uses the best and most expensive materials anyway, right?  I absolutely love the No. 5, which is a Toro, so I was excited to try the robusto.  This was a really good cigar, although I felt like it wasn’t quite as sophisticated as the larger size.  Sure, it was better than a lot of cigars, had some earth and black coffee notes, but it just seemed less refined.  If I can afford it, I’ll pick another one up one day. 

 

Finally, I smoked a cigar that Stace Berkland sent me a bit ago.  I may have mentioned before that Stace had sent me some cigars in an unexpected reciprocation for some things I sent him. Here’s the silliness: Stace wanted to purchase one of my 20 year old plastic cutters, the little rectangular ones that Saka’s über expensive Guillotino de Saka is based off of.  I had a few that’s I’ve had for years, used to buy them at my local shop, the guys there called it the “hot knife through butter cutter”. Like I said, I have had three of these for 20+ years, I’ve got a load of cutters, sending one to a friend wasn’t a problem!  He felt the need to retaliate, so he sent some nice cigars.  One of them was this Foundation Cigars Grasshopper, which appears to be from an exclusive box from Small Batch Cigars.  This box had six of the Candella Grasshoppers, six of the Maduro, and one barber pole version.  I had never seen this cigar before, but my first thought was that it was from Foundation, something about the look of the band.  This is a small, box pressed torpedo, 5¼” x 52, with a San Andrés wrapper, Jalapa binder and fillers from Jalapa and Esteli.  This was another great smoke with some spice and dark cocoa.  Burn was excellent and I really dug it. Thanks Stace!  

 

I need to start getting my Secret Santa gift together, names went out and it’s too late to join!  I gave plenty of notice.  I”ve got my work cut out for me this time!  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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