I did some wandering through the humidors this week and came across a few older cigars that I smoked, but first I selected a cigar that came from the TPE show, a Cubanacan Habano Toro. Interestingly, Eddie Tarazona introduced me to Cubanacan at a Delaware Cigar Festival back around 2013 or 14, I guess (as will be a recurring theme in this post, dates are fuzzy for me today). I’m not sure what his involvement was at the time. Lawrence Miltenberger, who is a principle at Cubanacan, was also at that Delaware Fest, but with another company, so I’ve known him for a while, so when I saw him at the TPE, he laid a few samples on me to try. Now, it seems to me I’ve heard some not great things about Cubanacan’s business practices, but I can’t confirm those rumors and have no first hand knowledge. It seems to me that they’ve had a rough time over the past several years. I’m sure someone will let me know one way or the other if I’ve crossed a line. I smoked the Habano Toro, and it was pretty spectacular. The construction was right, it burned straight as an arrow and the draw was perfect. The flavor was really nice with some sweet notes and nuttiness. I dug it and would smoke it again.
Speaking of cigar companies that have had issues, Gurkha seems to have crapped where it eats over the last week. I’m not going to recap the incidents, check Halfwheel, Coop or other sites for the blow by blow, but I have a few observations. First, Gurkha has always been polarizing. They have a side that has cheap, bundle cigars that are marketed like they are super-high end cigar that are the best deal ever in the catalogs, on the other hand, they have some really nice cigar that are good quality, made in the same factories that a lot of other great cigars are made in and are perfectly good. Heck, they have a new cigar (that I haven’t smoked) that’s made by Aganorsa that is supposed to be great. There have been quite a few of their cigars that I really liked, Cellar Reserves, Ghost, Seduction. The first mistake they (the Company and Kaizad Hansotia, and I’m not convinced the two can be separated) made was claiming that the Kaizad’s social media account was “hacked” and the racially insensitive posts were not his own. They should not have made that claim. When that BS wasn’t bought into, they went with the distancing tactic. Kaizad steps down and removes himself from day to day operations of the company, and they even go so far as to claim he’s selling his interest in the company. I’m going to be so bold as to speculate that if he owns 50% of the company, the other 50% is owned by a company that’s owned by him. Conspiracy theory: he sells his 50% to a holding company that is owned by one of his other companies. I doubt I’ll be getting any more cool Gurkha swag. He’s a smart guy, he’s built a large, successful brand that sell a ton of cigars and has a large following. Here’s the other thing, for as many people saying they won’t buy another Gurkha cigar because of the perceived racism, there’s a whole opposite side that is giving up on them because they “caved in to the liberals”. Gurkha had a diverse following, apparently they alienated two sides. The positive side of this is that only a small percentage of cigar smokers pay attention to what’s going on on the internet, so maybe this won’t really hurt the bottom line too much. There are good people who work for Gurkha, I’d hate to see them suffer.
I have a shelf in the NewAir humidor that has a bunch of coffin boxes, and one that’s been there for a while was a Lighthouse Special Edition that came from an IPCPR show back in 2014 0r 15 (see above about the dates). All I can remember about this interaction was being approached in an aisle while walking by, as happens at trade shows, by a salesman who thought I was a retailer. Small outfits sometimes don’t read badges, and I always explain to these guys that I’m media and I’m not buying and it’s probably not worth their time talking to me. However this interaction worked, I ended up with this cigar and no information about it or the company survives. I’ve just been moving it around all these years until I finally decided there’s no reason not to smoke it. I hoped it was going to be a decent cigar and not a waste of my time, while also hoping it wasn’t going to be a great cigar that I was going to regret never being able to smoke again. It was a darker cigar, 6″ x 50ish, and as you might imagine, the flavors were predominantly cedar. Not a big surprise after five or so years in that little coffin. I’m thinking now I should pay attention to some other cigars on that shelf, and making a note to date cigars like that moving forward. I’m not a huge fan of the mostly woody flavors in cigars, it’s OK, I like a sweeter profile. The cigar was well behaved, it smoked very well, and was pleasant and satisfying, leaving me neither disappointed, nor wishing I could find more. I wish I had more information, and I don’t think this had anything to do with the cigar store in New Jersey.
Finally, last night I smoked a Serino Royale Medio Robusto Gordo last night. Serino was up-and-coming a few years ago and I haven’t heard much about them lately, but they seem to still be available. I’ll be honest, when I posted this on Instagram and tagged Serino, I trolled them a little for comment on whether they were still in the premium business. I didn’t get a bite. I’m not sure how this one escaped my notice for the last four years, as it came with it’s three siblings in June of 2016 in a sampler. This cigar has an Ecuador Habano Claro wrapper, very light, it almost looks like a Connecticut shade. The size was 5½” x 60, which is a strange size, so I guess Robusto Gordo is an appropriate name. Sadly, when I looked at the one retailer I knew carried these, this particular line wasn’t listed. This was a very tasty smoke. It was rich and creamy, almost like a shade cigar, with more body, less grassiness, and a nice sweetness. It burned perfectly and was a pleasure to smoke. I actually was looking for a milder cigar when I selected this and chose wisely, it wasn’t mild, but it was perfectly medium and suited me just fine. IF you run across one of these, give it a shot, and if you find the Maduro XX, definitely try it!
If you partake in Instagram, and follow @cigarcraig, please follow @cigarcrag1. I’ve been unable to log in to the original account for some reason, and IG’s support system sends me in circles. Until I get it sorted out I’ve decided to rebuild. Any help in this area is appreciated. I’d love to get my millions (or 1700ish) followers back! Anyway, that’s all for today, until the nex time,
CigarCraig
The controversy about Gurkha and the remarks made by the Kaizad Hansotia have created an us vs. them mentality.
I have never been a fan of their products for all the reasons folks have mentioned for years.
However, the handling of how Kazad was let go and apparent coverup by the management is best described as pure bullshit.
His comments clearly were nothing new to the company but until he became a detriment , nothing would probably have happened.
As in every situation, the truth usually is somewhere in the middle and yes , the workers , had nothing to do with Kazad.
Those who plan to boycott Gurkha will hurt those who need the jobs the companies supply.
Get angry at the management of the company , not everyone else who works for them.
I have friends that manufacture the “real Gurkas” for brick and mortar shops.
Some Of them make both the catalogue and the B&M sticks.
I personally don’t believe in punishing the workers and vendors for the dumbness of the owner. It only really hurts them not the provocateur.
I will not honor any blockade that causes any hardship to any human but the individual of concern.
Of course I respect the right to differing opinions, but I don’t necessarily respect the opinion.
Life is good