I had a visit to Goose’s shop in Limerick this week as my wife had a meeting with Goose to work on a super secret project, so I picked up a few cigars while there, and smoke the new addition to the Henry Clay line, the Warhawk. I’ve been looking forward to trying this new addition to a line I’ve long been fond of, going back to the days when they were ugly things. I really like the Stalk Cut, despite the silliness of the name (all the Connecticut Broadleaf and Habano tobacco in stalk cut anyway, so it’s really no big deal), it’s a poor man’s Henry Clay Tattoo, which is a spectacular cigar. The cigar is beautiful, with an Ecuador Connecticut Shade wrapper, Broadleaf binder and Honduran fillers, made at Altadis’ Flor de Copan factory in Honduras (which is for sale, by the way, a few billion and it could be yours). I really liked this cigar for what it was, as it bore no resemblance, in my opinion, to a Henry Clay that I could think of. It stood on it’s own as a really great tasting cigar with a nice nutty flavor with balanced nicely with the sweetness of the broadleaf binder and the earthiness of the Honduran fillers and was, overall, a really enjoyable medium bodied cigar! This was my favorite of the week.… Continue reading
ReviewCategory Archives
Some Espinosa Cigars and the New Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask
Wednesday evening I stopped in to Old Havana Cigars south of West Chester, PA and caught up with Jack Toraño of Espinosa Cigars and Mark Weisenburger, the area broker for the brand. I had the day off and hoped to catch them earlier in the day, but I got caught up cutting the grass and finishing up putting the roof on the new chicken enclosure I’d been building, so I didn’t get out as early as I would have liked. It worked out, I got to hang out with Jack and smoke the new Laranga Reserva Escuro toro. The original Laranga Reserva was so-named because of the orange hue to the wrapper and Laranga is Portuguese for Orange. The Escuro has a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper that is very dark, and one must assume that Escuro is Portuguese for Oscuro (or really dark). I bought a couple of these and lit one up and it was much to my liking. It had deep, rich flavors of espresso, exactly what I like in a cigar.… Continue reading
Diesel Hair of the Dog and Unholy Cocktail Cigars
Another working weekend, so another short post. Over the last couple of days I smoked the most recent Diesel cigar on the market and the first Diesel cigar that came out nearly 10 years ago. I figured it would be fun to see how the two compared. The Diesel Hair of the Dog is a 6” x 52 toro made of all Nicaraguan Habano fillers with an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Ecuador Sumatra Binder. Like all Diesel cigars, this is made by A.J. Fernandez in Nicaragua. This one was made to compliment the Diesel Whiskey Row, which, as I have mentioned before, was not a cigar that suited my palate. The Hair of the dog, however, I found to be quite enjoyable. There was a sweetness that I found quite enjoyable, with a cedary wood flavor. while it wasn’t the chocolatey sweet cigar I usually am drawn to , it was an enjoyable change. The burn and draw were excellent. It was a medium-bodied smoke and nice and smooth. Of course, the size was just right for me.… Continue reading
Camacho American Barrel Aged and Corojo Maduro Cigars
I went into the Camacho stash fir the first couple of cigars this week, and the first one that caught my eye was an American Barrel Aged Perfecto Gorda. This was in a Sampler from the IPCPR a few years ago, so I’m not entirely sure it’s a regular production size, hang on, let me go look. OK, It’s available, and it’s a terrific size. It’s a hair under 6” x 52, and lit easily and opened up to a perfect burn and draw. This is an all US Broadleaf blend, PA Broadleaf wrapper with broadleaf fillers, aged in bourbon barrels and made in Davidoff’s Dominican factory. I found myself mesmerized by the sweet, medium-bodied flavor of this cigar. I’ve smoked this blend before, but I don’t recall enjoying it as much as I did in this shape. Perhaps it was the several years of additional age? As my regular readers know, if there’s any bourbon flavor from the barrel aging, it’s lost on me. If I ever even had bourbon it’s been over 30 years, and it wasn’t good, I’ll tell you that. … Continue reading
Sobremesa Brulee and an Elegante En Cedro ReRun
Busy day ahead, so I’m going to give a quick rundown on a new and exciting cigar I smoked this week and re-run a piece I wrote for Prime Living Magazine back in 2016 which doesn’t appear to be on their website any longer. I haven’t been asked to write a Cigar Notes column for them for quite a while, and I think that’s because they haven’t published an issue in quite a while! It’s a shame, that was a fun gig, and I’m proud to have contributed articles to 21 issues of that magazine. How many other bloggers can say that? Anyway, A couple weeks back when I hung out with Steve Saka at Famous Smoke Shop I got a sample of his new creation, the Sobremesa Brulee. This is his entry into the Connecticut shade market. Steve goes into great detail in the CigarCrag Podcast episode, so please give that a listen, but his intention was to make a Connecticut shade cigar that was like the cigars he remembered from the 80s and 90s. I smoked the Brulee this week and I was thoroughly impressed (shocker!). It just might have been my father’s Connecticut! It has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, so in that way it differs from the COnnecticut shade cigars of 30 years ago, but it was smooth with a nutty/grassy flavor, but still had the richness one expects a cigar with the Sobremesa name to have. This is going to be a hit, I nubbed it, despite Steve’s concerns about the nubability, and, yes, it did start to turn a little beyond the band as he said, but it was a flavorful and satisfying cigar that I will add to my selection when it becomes available.… Continue reading
Use Coupon Code: cigarcaig10
For 10% off your purchase.
