Category Archives: Video

by CigarCraig | September 5, 2018 · 9:36 am

Wooden Indian Tobacconist’s 8th Annual Drew Estate Charity Pig Roast

Yesterday I happened to be in Havertown, PA dropping something off at my daughter’s house and stopped by one of my favorite cigar shops, the Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop, and figured it might be a good idea to do a quick video to help them promote an event they have coming up on September 15, 2018. It’s their 8th annual Drew Estate Charity event, and these events are a very big deal. I’ve been to a bunch of these events, and a Drew Estate event in 2009 was my introduction to store owner Dave Mayer, the store (in the old location), and Marvin Samel of Drew Estate, as well as Liga Privada cigars. In the past, the Wooden Indian’s events have raised more money for Drew Estate Charities than any other events in the country, this year all fundraising is going to Operation: Cigars For Warriors. There are amazing prizes offered, often there are original works of art by Jessi Flores and his Subcultures Studios team, rare and unusual Drew Estate cigars, and other goodies, including the two Liga Privada branded wineadors you see in the video below. People come to this event from far and wide, and I’ve seen people bid on auction items by phone, it’s that big a deal. Check out the short video with Wooden Indian General Manager Dan Wood (I don’t think the store was named after him). You’ll want to watch the Wooden Indian’s Facebook and Instagram feeds over the next week as the tease various raffle prizes and specials ahead of the event.

In the past I’ve reported on this event after the fact, what good does that do? If you have the ability to make it to this event, it’s not to be missed, I’ve been to most of them and it’s an amazing time. I’ll likely be stopping by, I hope to see some of you there, and if you can’t make it to the event and you fond yourself in the greater Philadelphia area, this is a shop and lounge you need to visit, the selection is outstanding, the service is top-notch and the lounge is the best around. Even if my daughter didn’t live a mile away I’d find a reason to visit frequently! Special Thanks to John for being the cameraman!

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under Events, News, Stores, Video

Tagged as cigar, cigars, drew estate, Operation: Cigars For Warriors, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | September 6, 2017 · 8:05 pm

IPCPR 2017: La Sirena Cigars

This is my last video from the IPCPR show, I had the opportunity to sit down for a few minutes with Mariah Ditkowich, the new face of La Sirena Cigars. What has been announced since the show is that Mariah’s sister, Arielle, who founded the brand in 2008 with Nestor Miranda and Miami Cigar and Company, along with her husband, Max, is expecting their first child later in the year. I’ve been a fan of the whole portfolio for a lot of years, from the original La Sirena made by Don Pepin Garcia, then by La Zona, the Merlion made by La Aurora, and the Oceano made by the Quesadas. While they didn’t have anything new at the show this year, Mariah, along with her mother and father were manning the booth. Give the video a watch, it’s already my most watched video from the 2017 show, and number six on the all time list on my YouTube Channel. Of course, best wishes to Arielle and Max, and continued good luck to the folks at La Sirena, a great family run cigar company!

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under IPCPR, Video

Tagged as cigar, cigars, IPCPR, La Sirena

by CigarCraig | August 30, 2017 · 9:17 pm

IPCPR 2017 – Fratello Cigars

I’m down to my last couple videos to post from the IPCPR show, and realized that I hadn’t posted the video with one of my ~~biggest~~ best friends from the cigar industry, Fratello Cigar‘s Omar de Frias. So tonight I grabbed a Fratello Bianco the Boxer for my evening walk. You may recall this cigar was one of my favorite cigar from 2016, and it remains so, it’s a great smoke, it has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Dominican binder and fillers from the USA, Nicaragua and Peru made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory. It’s rich and chocolaty with some spice and I really like it. The rest of the line is great, as are all of the Fratello cigars. I especially look forward to trying the Oro in The Boxer shape, as well as the new cigar Omar showed at the IPCPR show, the Navetta, which he tells us about in the video. Navetta is “shuttle” in Italian, and it pays homage to Omar’s career with NASA and all the shuttle missions of which he was a part. If you ever have a chance to meet Omar at an event near you, run, don’t walk, to the event and spend a few minutes talking to this super-cool dude.

this was the display, not the retail packaging….sadly…

Speaking of Big….don’t forget to go back to Friday’s contest post and leave a comment for a chance to win some Big Papi cigars from the folks at El Artista! Contest ends Friday!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Bianco, cigar, cigars, Fratello, Navetta, Oro, The Boxer

by CigarCraig | August 23, 2017 · 8:41 pm

IPCPR 2017 – 1502 Cigars with Enrique Sanchez

Any time I have the chance to visit with my friend Enrique Sanchez from Global Premium/1502 Cigars is a good time, and I had to stop by and hang out with him at his booth at the IPCPR show. Don’t let anyone tell you stories about where the name 1502 came from, it’s because 1501 was taken, not the year that Columbus “discovered” Nicaragua. Enrique had a small booth adjacent to Island Jim’s booth, as he recently changed his distribution to the group handling the Leaf by Oscar, Island Jim, Oscar by Oscar and others. I managed to mooch a 1502 Blue Sapphire from Enrique at the show, which I smoked last night. One thing I noticed about this cigar that was difference from his Ruby, Emerald and Black Gold was the lack of his patented “flavor-lock” foot, where there is a fold of the wrapper covering the edges of the foot, it’s not a closed foot, but the wrapper leaf is somehow cut about an eighth of an inch longer and carefully folded around the foot. I’ll have to find some of these locally to see if the production cigars have this or not, and, after smoking the Blue Sapphire, I will be looking for more to have on hand. This is a 6″x 52 toro, which he calls Toro Gordo, but most Toros seem to be 6″ x 52 any more. It’s a Nicaraguan puro, and is a very tasty cigar. It’s similar to the others in the line in that it burns perfectly, but the flavor is quite different. It has some woody flavors, some cocoa and earthiness and is quite a nice smoke that builds in intensity. The other major difference is that this cigar is round, not box pressed like the rest of the line. Perhaps this explains the lack of the extended wrapper? I really enjoyed this, and will be picking up some more as soon as possible. If you ever get the chance to meet Enrique, do it, he’s cooler than the other side of the pillow, and he, with the help of his friends at Placencia, makes some great cigars. Check out my short video with Enrique from the IPCPR show below, and “Relax and Enjoy” a 1502 cigar!

Don’t forget to go enter the contest to win some great Pulita 60 Anniversario cigars and goodies! I’ll announce the winners on Friday.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 1502, Blue Sapphire, cigar, cigars, IPCPR

by CigarCraig | August 13, 2017 · 7:36 pm

Drew Estate Connecticut River Valley Barn Smoker 2017

Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining about 650 folks at Drew Estate‘s annual Connecticut River Valley Barn Smoker. This takes place at the Foster Family Farm in South Windsor, Connecticut. This is one of the farms where the Liga Privada T-52 wrapper leaf is grown. The event was from 10am to 5pm, and included a four station educational tour which included the curing barn, where Jonathan Drew talked about the differences between processing the stalk cut tobacco in Connecticut and the way they do it in Nicaragua. Another station had Pedro Gomez talking about the seeds and seedlings, the third had Willy Herrera and Henry talking about blending, and the fourth had the owners of the farm discussing the crop in the field there, and the sad fact that once in a while a hail storm comes through and ruins the whole crop. Videos and photos are included below. After the tour, it was time to eat, and a very nice lunch was catered by Bears’s Smokehouse which consisted of Barbecue pork and beef brisket, slaw, beans, mac and cheese and rolls which was delicious. There was also craft beer on hand, I don’t drink, so I didn’t take notice of the details, and samplings of John Drew Brands spirits. After the food was served, they had raffle drawings and an auction with proceeds going to Operation: Cigars For Warriors, for which they raised over $16,000! This was a great event, with your admission you were able to purchase a pack of ten cigars, which cost $10 at the door, since FDA regulations say they can’t “give away” cigars, clever work around. The cigars included a Liga Privada “A”, a Liga Privada Velvet Rat, a Liga Privada No. 9, a Liga Privada T52, a Nica Rustica El Brujito, an Undercrown toro, a FSG toro, a Kentucky Fire Cured Flying Pig, a Herrera Estali, and a Pappy Van Winkle. I took a few of my own and enjoyed an Undercrown toro and a Nica Rustica El Brujito at the event. Afterwards some folks met up at Puros Cigar Shop in East Hartford where some more fraternization occurred. I had the pleasure of hanging out with my friends Brian and Vince from BnB Cigars in Chestnut Hill, PA, and I also so several people I knew from the Philadelphia area. A good time was had by all, the weather was great, and the event was well done! Thanks to Joe at Drew Estate for inviting me, it was great seeing all my Drew Estate friends!

Check out the videos below, and the photos, and don’t forget to go back to Wednesday’s post and enter to win some cool stuff from the folks at El Artista Cigars!