Category Archives: Review

by | July 29, 2018 · 12:50 pm

A La Flor Dominicana Event and La Palina Numbers Series

LFD EventWednesday I went to a La Flor Dominicana event at my local CigarCigars shop in Frazer, PA, which featured Litto Gomez, along with our area rep, Kyle Shackleton. It was a casual meet and greet without the usual presentation which Kyle does a great job with, but Litto just hung out with the crowd, and the turn out was quite good for a Wednesday afternoon. This shop is odd, in that it has early hours, opening at 6am and closing at 7pm, and often has events early on weekday afternoons, and they seem to do well with his schedule, and this event was very well attended and they sold a lot of LFD product. There were many people there who I’ve seen at surrounding CigarCigars stores, including several of the store managers and employees. Litto doesn’t make a lot of store appearances, it was special to have him visit our little corner of the world. This shop is only about 2 miles from my house, so it was super-convenient! I spoke to him briefly at the end of the event for an upcoming CigarCraig Podcast episode, so watch for that later this week.  While I was there I smoked a LFD Ligero Natural L-400.  This is a 6″ x 54 toro that I really enjoyed for the first half of the event.  It’s not the power-house that the Double Ligero is, but it’s no light-weight LFD L-400either. It has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper that is flawless, as was the burn and draw, and it was a pleasure to smoke. I picked up another to smoke when I could really pay attention to it. I followed that with the LFD TAA cigar, wich was the freebie with the “buy 4, get one” promo, which I’ve had before and is a perfectly good cigar. I also picked up the TAA maduro, and ended up with one of the old event only cigars which I remember to be an incredible cigar. Like I said, it was a well attended event, the company was great, the selection was great, food from my favorite local Italian restaurant was great, if it hadn’t rained cats and dogs it would have been perfect! Fortunately the event was inside!

 

LFD Double Ligero Maduro ChiselOf course, I was inspired to keep the La Flor Dominicana think going Thursday for my evening walk with a LFD Double Ligero Chisel Maduro that I had picked up at the last event I attended. These are amazing cigars. They have actually patented the shape of this cigar, so any other cigar you see with this shape is in violation of the trademark! I use the technique Litto himself taught me several years ago when I asked him how he preferred to cut these, and he said to just give it a squeeze to pop the cap and peel the cap away, works like a charm. None of the silly punching one side or both or anything, just a squeeze and you’re ready to go. Maybe once in a while a bite sideways to open it up a little, but otherwise it’s all good. It’s also my finding that this method really slows the smoking time down considerably, with no loss of satisfaction. I routinely get a good 2½ hours from a 6″ x 54 figurado, making it an exceptional value if you have the time to commit. Great heavy flavors of espresso and spice.  This has been a favorite of mine for many years.

 

La Palina_Number01_RobustoFriday evening we went to the BB&T Pavilion in Camden, NJ (across the river from Philadelphia) to see David Byrne of Talking Heads fame. It was part of a local college radio station festival, and I wasn’t awfully impressed with the first four acts, and even less impressed with the heavy rains we sat through during those acts (a down side of lawn seats, free tickets, can’t complain). The upside is that smoking is allowed in the lawn seating area! I smoked a lovely La Palina Number Series 01 before the torrential rains, which was pretty a darned nice cigar.  Like the LFD L-400, this also has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, but it has a binder from Costa Rica and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers, and is made in Placsencia’s Honduran El Paraiso factory.  The example I smoked was a 5½” x 50 robusto, which is a nice size, and only a few people sat down nearby, realized I was smoking a cigar, then moved away. It’s not like people weren’t smoking other stuff…anyway, this cigar has a little of the sourdough bread flavor that I know at least one of my readers digs, and I’ve grown a bit of an affinity for, with some earthiness, quite an enjoyable smoke. Of course, being able to enjoy a cigar and listen to live music isn’t a bad thing. Fortunately, we brought umbrellas and tarps, so we rode the storm out, and it was worth the wait, because David Byrne put on a spectacular show, very unique and entertaining. If you ever liked a Talking Heads song and you get a chance to see one of his shows, I highly recommend it. Heck, look it up on YouTube for a taste.

 

Between sets, after the rain, I smoked one of those little Undercrown Coronets from the tins, and while it was good, it really underscored to me why I don’t care for little cigars. This is a personal thing, and maybe it’s because I’m a reformed cigarette smoker, but I didn’t need that cigar. I felt like it was something I smoked to pass the time, and when I smoke a cigar, I smoke it to relax and I really want to spend an hour or so with he cigar. Like I said, these are fine if you need a fix, I’m not casting aspersions, it just reminds me of when I needed a cigarette at prescribed times and got antsy if I couldn’t do it. I can separate that now, but I got an uncomfortable feeling smoking that little cigar. Perhaps it’s just my current life situation and not wanting stress to push me down any roads I don’t want to go back down…

 

La Palina_Number02_RobustoAnyway, of course, I had to smoke the La Palina Number Series No. 02 Last night. This one has a Costa Rican Maduro wrapper over a Honduran binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, also made at El Paraiso in Honduras. The Robusto in this one is (unfortunately, in my opinion) a half n inch shorter at 5″ x 52, not sure what went into that decision. For me, that half an inch might represent another twenty minutes of smoking time! When I smoked these two cigars before, I came to the same conclusion, and that was that while I likes the No. 01 well enough, the No. 02 was the cigar that was right in my wheelhouse! This guy has semi sweet chocolate, dark roast coffee, an all around tasty treat. People don’t like the bands and packaging on these, they don’t bother me. Sure, I like the traditional look of the Family series and the Black, Red, Bronze, etc. Labels series, but  I actually prefer these over the Classic series bands which I find to be just blah. I think La Palina has something for every taste, whether it’s flavor or aesthetic.

 

That’s enough for today, off to work on a could projects around the house, have a podcast to put together and cigars to smoke!  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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by | July 22, 2018 · 10:59 am

New Cigars I’m Anticipating, a Fonseca, a Diesel and a Tatuaje

I mentioned in my last post that as I’ve been seeing news come from the IPCPR one of the things I miss is getting my hands on some of the new products that come out, lots of times months in advance of them hitting the stores. As I get on in years (I think using the phrase “get on in years” is, in it’s self, proof that I am), I find my interest waning in obscure, new, little, unheard of, never again to be seen brands which always seem to find their way into the IPCPR samples, and I don’t miss having to wade through those, heck, I probably still have some from years past that I can’t figure out what they are and Google isn’t even a help. That might be a fun blog post, I guess I need to work on that. Anyway, several things I’ve either posted about in the lead up to the show through news items, or read about elsewhere, piqued my interest. From Drew Estate, really the notable cigar to grab my attention is the Liga Privada H99. The bundles the announced really don’t excite me, I think La Viaja Habana comes very close to playing in this space and I don’t understand the need, just expand that brand into the bundle space, but JD is the master of marketing, not me, he has a job and I don’t so who am I to say? The Liga 10th anniversary is cool but I’ve smoked it, been there, done that. But a Corojo wrapper grown in the Connecticut River Valley intrigues the crap out of me and I’m in. Same with Willy’s new Brazilian wrapped Herrera Esteli, and I’ll give the Ligas a shot in the Corona Viva sizes if the opportunity arises (or opportunities arise) and the Undercrown Dogma is a proven winner in my book. From the Joya side, of course I’m interested in the Cinco Dècadas, the Quatro Cinco was exceptional, and I’ve been a big fan of the brand for a long time. The Joya Silver is also on my radar, although the Red and Black in that series have not been in my wheelhouse for some reason (the Cabinetta having been added to that new age kinda series is still a little weird for me, it came out in 2010, still a favorite in the shade wrapped genré).

 

Fonseca NicaraguaFriday evening I went back to a cigar that came out at the 2016 IPCPR show, the Fonseca Nicaragua Toro, a classic 6″ x 50 Nicaraguan Puro, with a Criollo ’98 wrapper from Jalapa, Jalapa binder and fillers from Esteli and Ometepe made at Placencia for Quesada Cigars. I smoked this at the show back in ’16 and was quite impressed and bought a bunch at a local shop when I got home. These are reasonably priced, I think the Toro being the largest and most expensive in the line in the $6 range online or in reasonable cigar tax states. This cigar continues to impress me every time I remember to smoke it, the flavors are kinda woody with some sweetness and a little coffee and maybe a hint of spice here and there.  Cigar Aficionado had this on their Best Buys of 2017 and I tend to agree, this is a good deal, and aged very well.

 

Of course, there were plenty of other cigars I look forward to trying from the show, and General Cigars has a bunch. The Hoya Black is one for sure, along with the new Punch Diablo, which I posted the news about back on July 6, both made by A.J. Fernandez. I don’t think there is one cigar media outlet that will tell you otherwise, General Cigar Co. rolls out the red carpet for media, and gives a structured, on time, tour of the booth, with supporting media, samples, whatever you need, and they are simply the gold standard when it comes to booth tours for media. I’ve been through their booths at seven of the eight trade shows I’ve attended (one was pre-blog) and have always gotten first class treatment. I missed seeing all my friends there too!  I look forward to the new La Gloria Cubana Esteli (different from the Serie R Esteli), the new Partagas Legend, CAO Nicaragua, and I’d happily sit down with my old buddy Sean Williams and smoke the new Cohiba Spectre, but at $90 a cigar, I’m not holding my breath!

 

Yesterday I was assembling and IKEA piece on the porch and I find that the best way to red

uce the profanity during one of those projects is to have a cigar while doing it. It worked, and everything went together like it should have. The cigar I chose, the Diesel Whiskey Row, I chose while writing this piece in my head, because it’s the one new release from General Cigar Co. that had been released in advance of the show. Justin Andrews, who’s the brand manager and ambassador for the Diesel line is very proud of this cigar, he told me that it took him several trips to Nicaragua and well over a year to convince AJ to put his tobacco in bourbon barrels. I’ve since heard that AJ is now begging for more barrels, he’s so fond of the results. In the official press release, I found this one passage interesting:

AJ Fernandez says, “A lot of passion went into this process and I am very pleased with the results. Aging the binder leaf in the bourbon barrels added an unexpected layer of flavor and aroma right beneath the wrapper. When you smoke Whiskey Row, you get a unique and complex experience that engages the senses unlike any other cigar I’ve smoked.”

I imagine he said something more like this:

“Pasé un montón de pasión en este proceso y estoy muy satisfecho con los resultados. Envejecer la hoja de encuadernación en los barriles de bourbon agregó una capa inesperada de sabor y aroma justo debajo del envoltorio. Cuando fumas Whiskey Row, obtienes una experiencia única y compleja que atrapa los sentidos a diferencia de cualquier otro cigarro que he fumado “.

Diesel Whiskey RowOK, so that’s just my own twisted sense of humor, unless AJ’s English has gotten a LOT better since the last time I “talked” to him…anyway, the Whiskey Row is an interesting cigar. Of course, the burn is excellent, the draw is perfect, the ash is nice, but that’s the way cigars are supposed to be. As always, any spirits references are lost on me, but the base flavor to my palate is an umami I guess, I want to say, mushroomy, kinda savoryness, that is one of the few flavors that doesn’t really resonate with me in a cigar. There are obviously some people who are going to love the heck out of this cigar, and it’s not that it was offensive to me or made me want to throw up (that’s a mushroom story from the ’80s for another time), it’s just not my go to favorite flavor. Based on the blend, which is Nicaraguan Ometepe, Condega and Jalapa, each aged 5 to 8 years, bourbon-barrel-aged Mexican binder, wrapped in Ecuadoran Habano which is aged for five years, I don’t think I should be tasting what I’m tasting, and maybe I’m way off, maybe it’s just earthey and woody, but a, earth and wood I don’t care for. I like most nuts, but I can’t stand walnuts. It’s a solid cigar, it got me through my project with minimal swearing, and I did get to about the 1″ mark before I put it down, so how objectionable could it have been? I’ll have to get a series of bourbon barrel aged cigars together and see how they compare one of these days, is there any non-alcoholic bourbon so I can get an idea what the flavor of bourbon is? 🙂

 

Some other cigars I heard about at the show and look forward to trying are Foundation Cigar Co.s new The Tabernacle Havana Seed CT #142, another new strain to the Connecticut River Valley. Another I’m looking for is the Inch Ringmaster from EP Carillo, just because anything from EPC interests me, and I’m still exploring his line up. I’d say what everyone else is saying and put Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust’s Sin Compromiso on the list, but I’ve smoked it, and it’s fantastic (Oh yeah, the pre-release samples I smoked I was asked not to write about…they were really really good, the torpedo had pre-light nose of the wood fire curing that Saka talked about in an interview I heard with him recently, might have been on one of Cigar-Coop’s podcasts…an absolutely stellar cigar, I look forward to the regular production, although the price will up there!). Crux cigars is a line I need to familiarize myself with with the addition of my old friend Roy McLaren to the team. Except for the few Ninfa darks some time ago, I’m relatively ignorant of the brand. I can’t think of anything else

off the top of my head, although I’m sure someone will remind me of a glaring omission.  Like I said, I’m on a rapid spiral to curmudgeondom, I could probably be happy smoking about twenty brands in rotation these days.

 

Tatuaje_ReservaBroadleaf_J21Last night I decided to treat myself with another cigar from the 2016 IPCPR show. I have vivid memories of stopping in the Tatuaje booth first think on the third day of the show and finding it empty, to my delight. For once, I had a chance to sit down with Pete Johnson uninterrupted, virtually unheard of. My first show as a blogger, Pete was the first person I met, and he gave me a La Riqueza Lancero, and, due to a scheduling snafu, I was only on the show floor for about 3 hours, so that was my only cigar of the show, and I didn’t meet too many people. So I was ready to get some great video and have a good conversation with Pete for a change. Dontcha know, Laura, who handles social media for the IPCPR, and should know better (yeah, I’m throwing you under the bus, Laura!), excuses herself to interrupt to introduce some middle-eastern journalist to Pete, who ends up monopolizing the discussion for about 20 minutes, introducing another guy, and it all went to hell. Pete had an appointment, I had an appointment, we were both (Pete and I) too polite to tell this guy to F-off), and I didn’t get my great one on one video (again). On the positive side, Pete did give me a couple of the Tatuaje Reserva Broadleaf J21s, as they were launching that huge $1200 100 count box collection of the Broadleaf wrapped Reservas at the show, and I smoked my last one last night. Boy was that a great cigar, and I’m envious of the folks who had the coin to drop on those cigars. I would have bought singles here and there, but the smallest quantity I was presented with to purchase was ten (one of each size) and I didn’t have the hundo in the budget at the time,  and I only wanted specific sizes.  This J21 with  two years of age was smooth, sweet, rich with everything I love in broadleaf, in Tatuaje cigars in general. Two years after release, are people selling singles now?

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 20, 2018 · 10:54 am

Two New Cigars: The Gent and The Mistress from Cornelius and Anthony

One of the big things I miss about not going to the IPCPR show is getting early access to new cigars, there’s a list of stuff I’m looking forward to trying. Perhaps Sunday’s post will cover some of the cigars I hope to try based on news I’ve heard from or before the show. Fortunately, when my friends at Cornelius and Anthony heard I wasn’t making it to the show this year, they were kind enough to send C&A Gent and Mistressa parcel my way with a couple of their new offerings, the Gent and the Mistress. I posted a news item on this back on July 5th, but I had seen ads for these in industry publications months ago and was intrigued, being a fan of the brand. There are very few brands where I can say I like every cigar in their portfolio, this is one. I have a least favorite, but I still would smoke it over a lot of other cigars. So I was excited to try the Gent and Mistress, which are limited production.

 

Cornelius&Anthony_Gent_RobustoThe Gent is a box pressed cigar, in this case a 5″ x 52is robusto, with a Rosado wrapper of undisclosed origin (Ecuador?), a US (believe it to be Virginia) binder, and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. Like all other cigars in the line, save for the Cornelius, this and the Mistress are made at La Zona in Esteli. These are also available in Corona Gorda (5 ½” x 46), Toro (6″ x 50), Gordo (6″ x 60), I  look forward to trying the Toro as I almost always find the toro to be my favorite vitola across the board int he Cornelius and Anthony brand, but that’s just me. Anyway, I believe the Gent to be the first box press in the range, and it’s a very suave and sophisticated cigar. It’s not without some strength, as a gentleman should have, but it’s character is very refined and elegant. There’s some spice, and some pleasant flavor, and I really enjoyed this cigar quite a bit. I highly recommend this cigar, and it climbs into the top five in my favorite C&A cigar list.

 

Cornelius&Anthony_Mistress_RobustoThe Mistress is in the round, also was the robusto version, and  is offered in the same sizes as the Gent above. The cigar has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, the US binder (presumably Virginia again, I’m making assumptions based on the company owner’s ties to Virginia family tobacco operations going back generations) and Pennsylvania filler. There is nothing I can find anywhere that indicates that there is anything but PA tobacco in the filler, this would have been great to have included in last week’s post about cigars with PA tobacco! Unlike a Gent, a Mistress carries a less wholesome connotation. I’m sure mistresses can be nice people, but let’s face it, they are involved in cheating and deceit, and this one might have been a deceitful bitch!  First, I was mightily impressed with the strength, and it takes some strength to be the other woman, I suppose (or stupidity, never had one, don’t plan on getting one!). It had great rich flavor, and a load of spice and sweetness that I really dug. As I took the band off and got ready to finish it up, I started to feel the power of this strumpet, she was having her way with me. I put her down at this point, and went in to the house and found the metaphorical stuffed bunny in the pot on the stove (this is a movie reference), tried to get some sugar, but ended up hugging porcelain and having a bad night all around. Now, not blaming the cigar, maybe it was something I ate. As a cigar geek, the thought went through my mind to have another one to see if it did the same thing again, but I really wasn’t feeling that masochistic right away…if it was the cigar, she’s a sneaky bitch, be careful around her! Wow, not sure if I should have included all that, might not present the cigar in the best light…let’s go with bad food, yeah, that’s it, dinner didn’t agree with me, bad coincidence. I still want to try the toro!

 

Cornelius&Anthony_Aerial_CoronaGordaOf course, I was gun-shy after having a bad night so I dialed back last night I smoked the Cornelius and Anthony Aeriel Corona Gorda to complete the C&A trifecta for the week. This is a great Ecuador Connecticut Shade wrapped cigar that’s by no means mild, but full of flavor and burns well. I can’t say I prefer this in one size over the other, as the Corona Gorda is a great representation of the blend, but it might just be because the smaller ring gives the impression that there’s a bit more strength than a larger gauge. Another great cigar from La Zona and Cornelius and Anthony.  Despite my experience with the Mistress, give it a try and let me know what your findings are, I really am curious (and a little sadistic, maybe?). I’ve got a lot going on and I’d love to eliminate the cigar from the possible cause of my distress the other night!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 15, 2018 · 10:35 am

Pennsylvania Tobacco Week on CigarCraig.com

BestofPATobaccoSamplerWhile I watch the cigar industry in Las Vegas for the 86th annual IPCPR show and waffle between regret of missing seeing friends and relief of sparing myself the hassle of travel and the work that goes into going to the show, I spent this week, after bathroom remodeling and job hunting, keeping it close to home and smoking cigars with local ingredients. This week I embarked on an experiment. A few weeks back my amigo Mike gifted me a Best of PA Tobacco sampler he picked up from Famous Smoke Shop (there’s an ad on the left sidebar, by the way, it’s an affiliate program which throws a couple of cents my way if you use it. In nine years off trying affiliate programs, I’ve never had one pay out. Just so you know, anything I make off the site goes back in, contests, hosting, stuff like that. My P&L is more L than P). Anyway, thanks to Mike for sharing this great four pack of cigars with me, I happen to be a fan of Pennsylvania Broadleaf, it literally hits close to home.

 

VUDU DARK NO. 7

Vudu Dark No7 ToroI started with the largest of the four, the Vudu Dark No. 7.  This a cigar I hadn’t heard of until now, and I suspect is a Famous Smoke Shop Exclusive.  It features Nicaraguan longfillers under a Pennsylvania sungrown wrapper. It’s packaged in a neat vacuum seal humidor jar with Boveda pack included, which we’ll see again later. This was a very enjoyable cigar for me, it had some power, and the fairly ugly, mottled PA wrapper had nice spice and sweetness that I like in that tobacco. It’s not pretty, the band is hard to make out in what seems like black on black skull or alien face or something, it took me a while to figure out what it was.

FULL SPECIFICATIONS: Size: 5 3/4 x 50, Country: Honduras,  Wrapper Origin: Pennsylvania, Wrapper Leaf: Broadleaf

 

CAMACHO AMERICAN BARREL AGED ROBUSTO

Camacho ABA RobustoI’ve smoked this cigar before and enjoyed it, although, like any barrel aged cigar, any boozeyness from that process is lost on me. What is fascinating about this blend to me is the abundance of american tobacco in the blend. This one has “American Broadleaf” listed as the wrapper and binder, which one can assume is Connecticut, because they specify Pennsylvania “maduro” in the filler, along with American Broadleaf again and “Barrel Aged Corojo” of unspecified origin. Really, it wouldn’t be that hard to say it was Nicaraguan or Honduran Corojo, right?  Anyway, I like this one, it’s really interesting to smoke a predominantly USA tobacco cigar, and it’s got, obviously, a lot of the sweetness I like in the Connecticut Broadleaf.  This one was a 5″ x 50 Robusto, Famous Smoke’s site lists this as made in the DR, which I wonder about, I associate Camacho with Honduras, although with Davidoff owning Camacho, I suppose it’s possible. I don’t think they are right about the wrapper being PA broadleaf either. Further fact checking may be in order.

 

Southern Draw Jacobs Ladder

SouthernDraw_JacobsLadder_RobustoThis is one that is pretty well-known to be a favorite of mine that doesn’t last long in my humidor. As I write this, Robert Holt and his family are probably having the best IPCPR show of their lives and maybe one of the biggest hits of the show. I know that my visit to his booth last year was one of my highlights. For some reason I’ve fallen off their media radar, not sure if I did or said something to offend or what, I’m the kind of guy who wants t be liked by everyone for being a nice guy, but I’m not going out of my way to endear myself to people, whatever will be, will be. I gotta be me…anyway, not to kiss anyone’s ass or anything, but the Jacob’s Ladder is one spectacular smoke, and the PA Broadleaf wrapper is fermented to a dark maduro and is sweet and spicy and delicious. This is loaded with ligero, so it’s strong, but, for me, the sweetness of the wrapper tames the pepper in the ligero enough to lull you into a false sense of the strength of this cigar. I need to resupply the humidors with these, I’m interested to see what some age does, I just can’t hold on to any long enough to find out. It made my “Top Five Memorable Cigars of 2017” and is also a great Rush song! Helpful hint: remove the cedar sleeve before smoking, this applies to all cedar sleeved cigars!

 

PANTHEON IMPERATOR ROBUSTO BY AJ

From Famous’ Website:

“Two titans collided to make the Pantheon Imperator Robusto cigars, AJ Fernandez and Famous Smoke Shop, giants among cigars, labored together to bring you a medium bodied cigar with a taste of heaven. Carefully blended long filler from Esteli and Condega intertwine with a sweet and beefy Connecticut Broadleaf binder while an oily Ecuadorian Habano wrapper puts the cap on it. There’s no questioning AJ’s blending ability and Famous’ low prices, so while you’re looking for deal on a quality smoke- pick a Pantheon!”

SPECIFICATIONS: 

Shape: Robusto
Size: 5×50
Country: Nicaragua
Color: Natural
Wrapper Origin: Ecuadorian
Wrapper Leaf:  Habano

 

Pantheon Imperator RobustoOK, What seems to be missing from the above description that you would think would appear in the description of a cigar that’s in a PA tobacco sampler is the inclusion of PA tobacco!  Someone goofed somewhere along the lines! When Mike gave me this sampler I had just returned from Rome, where I had visited the Pantheon, which is an incredible building, the largest un-reinforced concrete dome in the world, and it’s nearly 2000 years old! It’s ridiculously cool to stand in a building that old that’s still in use. Anyway, regardless if the fact that the Pantheon Imperator Robusto doesn’t appear to fit in with the theme of this post, it’s a tasty cigar, very rich, smooth and creamy. Like the Vudo above, this comes in a spiffy jar, and is well priced. I think this is a nice cigar for someone who’s looking for a smooth, creamy, anytime of the day cigar.  Like the Vudo, I’d smoke this again.

 

Sobremesa_CervantesFinoOnce I finished the sampler from Famous, I grabbed a couple other cigars that I knew had PA tobacco in them that were wildly different.  The first that came to mind was the Sobremesa, which I smoked in the Cervantes Fino size. PA Broadleaf is often associated with power and raw, earthy power, but here it is in an elegant, sophisticated blend!  How about that!  I wrapped up the week smoking a Diesel Unholy Cocktail with six or seven years of age, which had Diesel Unholy Cocktailmellowed a little over the years, but still had the power and spice that I like in that cigar. Obviously there are tons of cigars with PA tobacco, it’s been a hot commodity over the last few years.  I draw the line at the “Pennsylvania Amish” cigars that are available at souvenir stands throughout Lancaster County, although I did punish a bunch of friends back in the late ’90s with a taste test (still out there on a Tripod site!).

 

That’s more than enough for now. Hopefully now that the IPCPR is underway, the news will slow down and Ill get back to my regular routine. Anyone want to come over and smoke a cigar and record a podcast?  Let me know! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 8, 2018 · 10:40 am

Some Classic Fuentes, A La Madrina and a Murcielago Cigar

Once again, there’s been a lot of news in the cigar world this week, the best of which was the announcement that the warning label requirement has been delayed (here, and Forbes has a nice piece about it too.).  I don’t understand the logic behind requiring cigar boxes to have warning labels covering 30% of the box when cigarettes have no such requirement, nor do I want my website covered in warning labels. It’s ridiculous. We better start putting warning labels on cars, trucks and buses, then! It’s all quite annoying. What’s also annoying is the next time there’s a call to action in the cigar community and there are less than 30k responses, there’s a certain Facebook group that likes to brag about how many members it has, but that number doesn’t mean crap if they don’t do anything when it matters! Contacting your elected officials really does make a difference, unlike the FDA, these people are obligated to read your opinions. Let me get off my Sunday morning soapbox and get on to this week’s cigars!

 

HdM Epi 2It was Independence Day week, also my wedding anniversary, and I used to smoke a nice Havana cigar as a form of civil disobedience to celebrate, but that’s not that much of a thing any more, it’s just a tradition now. I selected my last Hoyo de Monterey Epicure no. 2 that was gifted to me around six years ago, so I figured it would be ready to go. For a change, I only had to have one Cuban cigar, because this one worked right!  It was sweet, floral and medium bodied, and the floral finish stayed with me quite a long time. We went to a friends for a picnic and I enjoyed the finish throughout the day (I had packed plenty of cigars, but it turned out to be a non-cigar crowd, so I waited until I got home). This one came from an Englishman, and it was really quite good. People

 

ArturoFuente_Anjejo50After the picnic, while sitting on the porch listening to Pennsylvanians enjoy their newly legal big-boy fireworks which scare my poor dog into hiding under an end table, I lit an Arturo Fuente Añejo No. 50. I had smoked a Hemingway Classic earlier in the week, there are certain cigars I like to keep in the humidor and smoke every now and then, these are two of them, although the Añejo is less of a “classic” than the Classic, I Fuente_HemingwayClassic_Maduroguess.  The aptly named Classic has basically tasted the same for the last 20 years that I remember smoking them, an amazing feat. The Añejo is a particularly appealing cigar to me. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper aged in Cognac barrels, and the binder and filler was originally the Opus X blend, because they lost an Opus wrapper crop one year and put broadleaf on instead. Whether this is still the case or not, I don’t know, but it’s a delicious cigar with great flavor. I can’t wait to brew up a Moka pot of Fuente Espresso with one of these.

 

La Madrina ToroI continued working through the Dapper Cigars samples from last year’s IPCPR show, and the La Madrina captured my attention. Like the El Borracho last week, they go into detail on their website about the make-up of the blend which borders on the ridiculous. Here’s what they have to say about the blend of the La Madrina: Wrapper: Ecuador / La Luchita / Cuban Seed Habano / Oliva Tobacco Co; Binder: Mexico / San Andrés / San Andrés de los Perros S.A. de C.V.; Fillers: Nicaragua / Esteli / Guadalupe / Oliva Tobacco Co.; Nicaragua / Jalapa / Cofradía Relleno / Oliva Tobacco Co; Dominican Republic / Habano ‘92 / (Undisclosed) / Oliva Tobacco Co, U.S. / Pennsylvania Broadleaf / Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Co.. We are seeing more and more vague blend descriptions due to looming FDA regulations, and I made the comparison last week to Steve Saka, and he’s said himself that he’s backed off from specificity in this regard for this reason. They can pretty much say “US tobacco” and “Imported” tobacco, and get away with just about anything. Anyway, that’s a whole ‘nother discussion. The La Madrina was a tasty smoke, which I enjoyed to a finger burning little nub. This was the 5 ¼” x 54 Toro (confusing, the Robusto is 5.62 x 50 and the Toro is 5 ¼ x 54, and Dapper Cigars website doesn’t come up in a google search…so much confusion!)  Anyway, there is a lot of nice flavor going on with this, nuttyness, dark chocolate, rich tobacco, I liked it a lot. It’s interesting to see PA Broadleaf in the filler, I have some cigars with PA tobacco lined up this week. Good stuff.

 

Murcielago_ToroGrandeLast night I smoked the new Espinosa Murcielago made at AJ Fernandez new San Lotano Factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua. The size was a Toro Grande at 6½” x 54 with a box press, a San Andrès wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers. I’ve been a fan of the first two iterations of this brand, and was hopeful that this would continue to work for me, and wasn’t disappointed. Great smoke, nice balance of spice and sweetness, with the dark flavors I love. It was an easy two hours of enjoyment, the construction was what one expects from AJ Fernandez, and is consistent with Espinosa’s  brands.  This size might be a CI exclusive, I picked it up at the Hamburg store last winter when we were there for an Espinosa event, as I don’t see the size listed on the Espinosa website (also hard to find in a Google search, whats up with that, is is just me?) The Bat continues to impress, loved it when it was Eddie Ortega’s favorite cigar and it was made at My Father, love the third generation.

 

That’s enough for now. It’ll be interesting to see what this week brings as the IPCPR starts next weekend. will it be a busy news week again or will everyone be busy moving stuff to Vegas, bitching about various things, heat, unions, viruses, etc…I’ll miss seeing everyone, but some things I won’t miss!  Safe travels to everyone going!  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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