CigarCraig's Blog

by Craig Vanderslice | April 12, 2020 · 10:05 am

Vicarias Negotiator and Cain F Lancero Cigars and a V-Herf

I finally dipped my toe in the V-Herf pool last night briefly. I was smoking a fairly old Cain F Lancero Tubo (having removed it from the tube, of course), and checked out the Smoke Inn Room on the Whereby app. It was fairly early, and there were only a few people there, but it was pretty cool, and I enjoyed it and will return for more virtual herfing. Perhaps I’ll try to pop in at various times of the day to see who might be in there. In all the years I’ve been interacting digitally with people, I haven’t just video chatted with people, so this was neat, and I’ll keep doing it. I usually just sit around listening to podcasts keeping to myself, but I’ll try to be more social. Suggest some other popular video herfs besides Smoke Inn. I’ve been trying to get in on the Jersey Cigar Lounge’s herfs on Discord, but they always seem to be too late for me! Oddly, by 8:30 I’m done with my cigar and on to other things!

On to cigars. The Cain F Lancero I smoked last night was spectacular. I had a ten count box I bought several years ago, and still have a few tubos left. It’s been a while since I smoked one, I tend to save tubos for some time that never seems to come because they are nice and portable and I can throw one in my pocket. I either forget to do that, or end up packing a travel humidor or case, rarely just taking one cigar. I end up with a load of tubos, I have a few that are pretty old. I won a box of Don Tomas Classico Tubos well over ten years ago and have two left, I should smoke them and see who they are. I really liked them. I think I still have a Montecristo Tubo from one time when I had lunch at JRs in Whippany, and that was 10 years ago. I suppose that one is ready to smoke! Like I said, I save them for a time that never comes. Maybe that’s this week’s project for Wednesday’s post. Anyway, the Cain F had the Studio Tobac footband, and was generally the stronger of the Can line, but the lancero was not strong at this point, but a wonderful smoke, with a hint of sweetness and earthiness. It burned perfectly and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as I have every one over the years. I had sen several friends post pics of this cigar on social media recently, which inspired me to grab one. So glad I did. I need to rummage through my lanceros, I know there’s at least one Can Daytona in there, might be more! Oliva doesn’t list Cain or Nub on their website, are they even still a thing? I still see them around. We have Sam Leccia to thank for both of those great lines!

My new cigar of the week was the Vicarias Negotiator. I met Jay Clark at the TPE and he gave me his Negotiator cigar and told me the story behind it. He used to be a buyer in the metals industry, and I used to buy metal powders and steel, among many other things when I was a buyer, so we had some common ground. He would go into negotiations and had out this cigar, which is a box pressed, 5″ x 48 robusto (Hermoso?) with a San Andrés wrapper, DR binder and fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. The negotiations would last the duration of the cigar, and if a deal wasn’t done when his ciga was finished, he would walk away. As a former buyer myself, I could relate to this story and wish I had used this tool in some negotiations myself! The only trouble I might have would have been that the cigar was so good that I might have been distracted from the task at hand! It was just the kind of cigar I like, dark, espresso flavors, good amount of strength, and a perfect burn and draw. The only thing I didn’t care for was that it wasn’t a toro, but that would defeat the purpose, right? No need for negotiations to go on for an hour and a half or so, right? I really enjoyed The Neg

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otiator, Might not be easy to find, but really a great cigar.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate. A few months ago I removed a cigar from a tube I had put it in several years ago to see how long it would last in the tube before it would dry out. When I started the experiment I really had no way to tell how dry it would get. Through the miracle of technology, I have cince gotten a way to find these things out, the CigarMedics Humidimet

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er! I removed the cigar from the glass tube with the corks stopper, and the foot of the cigar read 35%, not good. Not 0, but certainly not optimal for smoking. So I labeled it and put it in the humidor. After about a month I checked it again and it was up to 54%. Getting there. I tend to think it might take longer than two months for a dried out cigar to rehydrate, but maybe not! It’s nice to have a tool to actually check without guessing. I do have a control cigar, one from the same box that’s been properly stored (for the last 8 years), when the time comes to smoke the cigar, I’ll see what effect the drying/restoring process had on the flavor. I should have started this project much earlier, it would have been appropriate to post the findings today. ( I think I’ve made that joke before…probably every year). Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by Craig Vanderslice | April 8, 2020 · 8:59 pm

Providencia Cigars Rusted Revolver

Once again, I’ve been grabbing cigars to smoke, and smoking some favorites. I came across a really interesting 1502 test blend that I really should have smoked a few years ago and given Enrique some feedback, but it got buried in the humidor. It was really good, and I found out it was a prototype for the Blue Saphire. I usually don’t do that, one slipped through the cracks. That’s not to say I often get the opportunity to give feedback like that, now that I think about it, I have a couple cigars from Providencia that I still haven’t smoked, and it’s probably passed the time that any feedback would be useful. Even during this time when time seems to be standing still, there’s a lot on my mind, and things get forgotten. So when I recently received a few new cigars from Ray at Providencia, I figured I had better get to smoking them and post my thoughts, like I did on Sunday with the Providencia Shenanigans.

Today I smoked the Providencia Rusted Revolver, another Barber Pole style cigar. This one is wrapped on San Andrés and Connecticut (Ecuador?), an Indonesian binder, Nicaraguan Ligero and Honduran fillers. The Connecticut leaf was a dark shade, leading me to initially guess it was a Habano. It was on the rustic side, but that kinda fits with the theme of the brand. One thing I’ve found to be universal among the Providencia cigars I’ve enjoyed is the excellent construction, the cigars always seem to smoke right, this one was no different. Barber Pole cigars can burn funny sometimes, this one burned perfectly. The flavors of the two wrappers played nicely with one another, some creaminess and sweetness along with spice and earthiness. The cigar was on the stronger side of medium, and was quite a satisfying cigar, and had a nice, cool burn all the way to the end. It’s normal for me to smoke cigars to about ¾”, I have trouble letting them go, unless I get really bored or they start falling apart. This one was great. Another winner from the house of Providencia.

It’s been busy here this week. My wife got bees and I helped her set up her hive, and I picked up two chicks that my granddaughters are raising until they are old enough to come to our house and move into our chicken coop and eventually join our flock. With any luck by the end of summer we’ll have eight laying hens and I’ll need to increase my cholesterol medication! Maybe we’ll have Honey too! Now, if only life would return to normal and a job would present itself! Until the next time!

CigarCraig

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by Craig Vanderslice | April 6, 2020 · 5:30 pm

News: General Cigar Co. Announces Cohiba Royale

Here’s some news from the folks at General Cigar. There hasn’t been a lot of news coming out recently. I find it interesting that this is being made in Honduras. I’m not sure why this is significant, or if it is. Maybe it’s a matter of factory capacity, I’m not sure. It kind of looks like a (ahem) “budget” Spectre. I smoked a Spectre on the first day of my last job, I hope I get to smoke another one soon!

The artisans of Cohiba are proud to present COHIBA ROYALE, a super-premium collection that joi

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ns the Cohiba portfolio as the brand’s fullest-bodied expression to date. Cohiba Royale also marks another important milestone for the brand, as it is the first Cohiba line to be handcrafted in Honduras.

Cohiba Brand Ambassador Sean Williams said, “Cohiba Royale was created with the cigar connoisseur in mind, bringing to life the microclimates and fertile soils of the Caribbean and Central America in a way that is unique to the brand. All of the tobaccos that comprise Cohiba Royale are hand-selected and deeply aged, representing the best of the best tobacco growing regions in the world. The result is a cigar that is as bold as it is refined, befitting of the Cohiba name.”

A dimensional, multi-country blend with tobaccos from Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic, Cohiba Royale provides the most profound smoking experience of the renowned Cohiba brand.

Cohiba Royale begins with a lustrous, sun-grown wrapper from Nicaragua’s celebrated Jalapa Valley. In a nod to Cohiba’s Dominican roots, the Jalapa wrapper crowns a Dominican Piloto Cubano binder which sits atop a quintessential selection of tobacco from Honduras’ Jamastran valley and the Nicaraguan valleys of Jalapa and Esteli. Each leaf of the blend has undergone intensive aging for five to six years before being deemed worthy of inclusion in Cohiba Royale.

The result is a balanced cigar that is best described as sublime, as notes of leather and spice mingle with nuances of earth and cedar.

Cohiba Royale is handcrafted at General Cigar’s HATSA factory in Danli, Honduras, where a special team of artisan cigar makers was selected to produce this full-time addition to the Cohiba portfolio.

Available in these three sizes, Cohiba Royale will ship to retailers in April. The line will be available in both 5-count and 10-count boxes.

Gran Royale (4.5” x 52): SRP per cigar $23.99

Robusto Royale (5.5” x 54); SPR per cigar $25.99

Toro Royale (6” x 50); SPR per cigar $28.99

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In support of Cohiba Royale, Sean Williams will visit fine cigar shops nationwide to share the blend with discerning cigar smokers.

For more information about Cohiba, please visit www.cohiba.com.

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by Craig Vanderslice | April 5, 2020 · 9:14 am

A Providencia Shenanigans Cigar and a Fundraising Raffle

I’m back after a few days of smoking some favorites out of the humidors. I found a few old Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo El Martillos with the old bands, the first one I lit up just wasn’t drawing right, which irritated me. Usually I work my way through, but I wasn’t willing to aggravate myself on that particular day, so I set down the cigar after fighting with it for a third of the cigar, ran an errand, and came home and lit another one, and enjoyed the crap out of it. This has been a cigar I’ve been a fan of for a decade. I can remember smoking one of these when I first toured the Joy de Nicaragua factory in 2011, and with the heat and humidity there that day, I had to put it down or become overwhelmed. It’s a powerful smoke. I love it. I still have a few of these with the old band, and a few with the new. I had a Numero Uno last week which was exceptional also. Love the Joya cigars (I can do without the Red and Black oddly enough). A four year old La Gloria Cubana Serie RF, a Famous Smoke Shop Exclusive, was also smokes this week, and was also very good. It was strange when I looked back through “memories” and saw I smoked the same cigar four years prior almost to the day. It’s funny how often that happens!

My wife has been sewing masks lately and sent some to a hospital, and made me a couple out of the cigar fabric that I have. She made a couple extras, and is having a raffle on Facebook to raise money for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The raffle “tickets” are $1 each, and I’ll sweeten the deal by adding a few cigars to the winner. Click here (or on the picture) to make a donation and be entered. All the details are on the post. It’s only running until Saturday, so don’t delay.

Of course, I try to introduce something new in my Sunday posts, r at least new to me. This time it’s from Providencia Cigars. Ray at Providencia sent me some of their new cigars, so look forward to more featured in the coming days. One smells particularly boozy, not sure about that one…but anyway, this one caught my eye right off, and I had to smoke it. The cigar is called the Providencia Shenanigans, and it’s a barber pole style cigar. First off, it was a toro, 6″ x 50 or 52, I failed to measure it. Secondly, it’s a barber pole comprised of Candela and San Andrés Maduro, a striking contrast. The binder is Indonesian, and the fillers are Honduran with Nicaraguan Ligero. Naturally, this cigar seems to target a March 17 smoking date. I can’t help but draw comparisons to other cigars, not gonna lie. Since there’s no way I was going to wait almost a year to smoke it, I fired it up last night. Often barber pole cigars can have odd burns, not this one, it was perfect. Draw was perfect, combustion was perfect, all of the tobaccos burned at the same rate with a flat ember, no coning, no tunneling, absolute perfection. This is how every cigar should perform in a perfect world. The flavors were equally pleasing and entertaining. The interplay between the earthiness and espresso of the San Andrés and the refreshing chlorophyll of the candela was unique, and the spice from the ligero gave it some oomph. Overall, I very much enjoyed this cigar, it was really very good and entertained my for a good hour and a half. It was well worth missing the beginning of “The Ten Commandments”, which is only slightly longer than one of Coop’s podcasts! :-)_~.

That’s all for today. Don’t forget to keep up the social distancing, call your local tobacconist if you need cigars and try to keep them in business! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by Craig Vanderslice | April 1, 2020 · 6:47 pm

JFR and Vintage Rock-A Feller Cigars

Among the many cigars I’ve been smoking this week, I smoked a couple of cigars that were handed to me at the TPE show back in January, when life was relatively normal. Normal being relative, at the time, I was still jobless, although I thought I might have an opportunity in the works. Sadly, that opportunity fell through, although who’s to say what would have happened as the months passed. Anyway, as I’ve been self-medicating with premium tobacco, I’ve been searching for a new cigar here and there to include in a post, and I selected a cigar that Terence Reilly handed me while I was visiting with him at the Aganorsa kiosk. He was one of eight sharing one of the several “pods” they had, and was the lone representative of Aganorsa Leaf, and seemed to be having a good show. I enjoyed a brief conversation with him, mostly personal stuff. He gave me a JFR Connecticut Super Toro, which is a 6½” x 52 Parejo wrapped in tissue paper. This cigar had a pigtail cap on it’s Ecuador Connecticut wrapper covering Nicaraguan Aganorsa binder and fillers. This is a relatively inexpensive cigar, under $6 in lower tax states, and well worth the price. It’s got a smooth, creamy flavor, with some wood and pepper. It’s not without some body, I put it in the medium range. This is actually the first JFR I’ve smoked, and I’d certainly be interested in trying the Corojo and Maduro versions.

The other cigar I selected was the Vintage Rock-A-Feller Dominican Blue Line Churchill. Rock-A-Feller Cigars was another one of the Pod-dwellers at the TPE, which seemed to be a great set-up for a lot of the vendors. This setup had a counter and displays pre-built, and all the vendors had to do was bring in their wares and put them on the shelves and they were ready to go. No paying porters, renting furniture or any of the major expenses of traditional booth space. It kind of discouraged customers from hanging around, they did their business and moved along. I met Craig Roth, the sales manager for the company, and naturally, we developed an instant bond. I might have beat him to the “CigarCraig” moniker. Anyway, he gave me this cigar, and I decided to give it a whirl. The blend is as follows from their website:

Filler: • LIGERO-PILOTO-TIPO CUBANO: A Cuban seed Grown in the Dominican Republic.
• SECO SAN VICENTE: A Cuban seed Grown in the Dominican Republic.
• OLOR DOMINICANO: A Dominican Seed Grown in the Dominican Republic.
• LIGERO DE NICARAGUA: Nicaraguan Seed Grown in Nicaragua.

Binder:
• Olor: A Dominican Seed Grown in the Dominican Republic.

Wrapper:
• Habana: A cuban seed Grown in Ecuador.

The Churchill is 7″ x 48, close enough, and if I remember correctly, it had a box press. The burn and draw were exceptional, although the burn meanders a bit in the final inch, and by then it was just about finished anyway. This is a medium bodied cigar, and fairly middle of the road in flavor. It had some woody, and earthy notes, with a bit of coffee. It was a good cigar, although less in my wheelhouse. I’ll seek out the Nicaraguan line and see how that lines up with my preferences.

That’s all for now, back to social distancing and quarantine. Until the next time,

CigarCraig