The first order of business involves a website problem I’ve been having, and I have to think it’s had an impact on the low number of contest entries! I’m working on getting it resolved, but if you get a notification pop-up like pictured here, 
click DENY! If you clicked allow and are getting weird notifications, go to your browser preferences and reset the settings. In Chrome this is preferences>advanced>reset settings. You may have to log in to a few
things, but it will get rid of the annoying notifications. I think I know where this came from, but I’m rather hesitant to go back and look, if you know what I mean. It was a cigar manufacturers website, before you make any assumptions! Anyway, I’m working tirelessly to get this fixed without paying an exorbitant ransom. The advise I got from the WordPress community was general, and the first scanning plugin told me I had malicious files, but not what the files were and it would be $249 to fix it. I can delete files if only I know what they are! Anyway, I’m working on it and will get it figured out. This also seems to be affecting the RSS feed somehow, so the e-mails aren’t going out. All very frustrating. I’ll have to have a cigar to calm down.
One of the cigars I smoked this week was a cigar I got at the TPE show from a company with whom I was previously unfamiliar. I was introduced to Ari and Leonor, the principles of the company (principals? I’m never sure…they are the ones in charge) and they told me their story of how they both worked at Nat Sherman in Manhattan, and split off to start Nova Cigars. For a new brand, they have a very large range, I count 16 frontmarks. Now, it’s not like they have several sizes in each line, every line is a unique size and blend, and each one has a secondary band with the name of the marque. They also are not inexpensive, with their “value” line starting in the $9 range, and t
he premium offerings running over $30. They were very generous with the samples, and I selected one of the $30 Nova Platinum Limited Edition Torpedos for my evening smoke on Thursday. This is a 5½” x 55 torpedo with a Habano 2000 wrapper and Dominican binder and fillers made in their own factory in the Dominican Republic. They stressed their commitment to quality, which should be a given at the premium price points. I’m quite certain my readers know that I’m not one to spend that kind of money on a cigar, especially something new to the market. To be honest, I have. hell of a time spending $17 on a Sin Compromiso and I know that’s a great cigar (althoug
h, also relatively new to the market also, butI know it’s provenance). So I had some expectations, and I had smoked a Sultan at the show, and it was very good. This cigar was very different, not only from he Sultan, but from just about any other cigar I’ve smoked. It had a unique flavor, almost like Christmas cookies! But it changed from time to time, and remained entertaining. The construction was without flaw, and it certainly was an exceptional smoke. I greatly anticipate m
eandering my way though the other samples I came home from the TPE show with, and am quite pleased that I made friends with the folks at Nova Cigars! I really enjoyed my time talking to Leo and Ari, and hope to see them again.
In a relative 180° turn from the Nova, I decided to smoke a less expensive cigar that I also smoked at the TPE and really enjoyed. I’ve seen friends smoking the Buffalo Ten and certainly posted the press release back in June when El Artista announced the release. This is a really cool cigar, it’s a 6″ x 50 box pressed cigar and sells in paper wrapped five packs or boxes of 40. It has a San Andrés wrapper, Dominican Negrito binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Columbia and right down the road from me here in Pennsylvania. This is a really flavorful cigar, and you know that because it says so on the band! Fun fact: the European version of this does not have the word “Flavorful” on the band! Apparently they thought it meant flavored and they have a flavored cigar ban in Europe, or are taxed differently or something, so they have different bands. If it were me I would have just left the word off all of the bands and had one band, but it’s not me. I can’t argue with the cigar being flavorful! I really like this cigar because it’s different from other San Andrés wrapped cigars. It has a more savory, meaty flavor than the standard earthy, coffee that I really love, by the way. It’s a really comfortable shape, it’s a tasty smoke, and the price hovers in the $4 range if you live in the right place and can buy more than a few at a time! I have smoked a lot of El Artista’s cigars, I think this might be my favorite. This comes highly recommended as a value cigar.
That’s all I have for now, back to trying to figure out how to clean up the mess on my webserver. Until the next time,
CigarCraig
