by | January 5, 2020 · 11:24 am

Happy New Year Cigars, a Cornelius and Anthony, and a Warzone

Happy New Year to everyone!  I hope everyone stayed safe and enjoyed whatever celebration you chose to partake in.  I enjoyed a 5 year old Padrón 1964 Anniversary Exclusivo Natural which was magnificent. It was from a box which was a gift from Padrón from my first magazine article which featured them in Prime Living Magazine in 2014, signed by the senior señor Padrón. I’ve heard people say that Padróns don’t age well, but I beg to differ. This cigar smoked just fine. Perhaps it’s because it’s the natural wrapper variety, I’m not sure. I love the Maduros, but these Naturals have been fantastic cigars, and I’ve been savoring them because it’s a special box, ya know? One of these days I’ll get around to trying a 1926 or one of the other anniversary cigars, but the 1964s are so good, and not outrageously priced, how can one go wrong? I was in bed early, but neighborhood fireworks upset the dog.

 

I went looking for an interesting New Years Day smoke, something to smoke between watching the Mummers Parade, and the NHL Winter Classic. I remembered that I had a couple of Montecristo Le Cigares des Artes 2000 Millennium Edition that had been gifted by a great friend probably 18 or 19 years ago. These originally came in a really neat box with artwork by Michael Delacroix. You still see the Delacroix art in Montecristo branded lounges, so now you know it goes back 20 years. I little useless trivia fr you. Anyway, this was a Churchill sized cigar of Dominican descent, which caused me some concern about how this might have held up over the last 20 years. I chose the one with the broken tube, I don’t know how it broke, it’s been moved around from humidor to humidor over the years, I’m not a fan of glass tubes for this reason. I’m far too careless for fragile things that are meant to protect fragile things. There’s a reason egg cartons aren’t made out of glass. Oddly, the cigar had some white spots on it, mold or plume, hard to say. I’d have said it was mold but it seemed unlikely, it dusted right off, and there was no intrusion into the foot. If it was plume, it was the blotchiest plume I’ve seen. Regardless, it had no bearing on the smoking experience, however, I would not have bought a cigar that looked like it looked. The cigar started off very mild, as expected, but it built up in flavor as time went on

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and ended up being a very enjoyable and flavorful cigar. It had the delicate sophistication of a well aged cigar. I’ve smoked plenty of old cigars before, and this was one of the better ones. It held up well. I have smoke a Padrón Millenium in the past few years and it has also held up, but it wasn’t as impactful as it was when it was younger, and, not having smoked the Montecristo in it’s youth, I have nothing to compare it to. I would say that if you have these, smoke one! Why not? It’s fun to smoke a well aged cigar now and then. I still have a Cuban Romeo y Julietta from 1977 someplace that I’ll smoke one day. 

 

I followed up the old Montecristo with a favorite flavor-bomb, the Cornelius and Anthony Señor Esugars Toro. This was made at La Zona by Espinosa. I have asked Steven Bailey directly about the future of Cornelius and Anthony and gotten no response. I’ve talked to high level sources at both factories that made his cigars and pretty much confirmed that he is out of the premium cigar business. Unless the brand is bought by someone, and, considering the history and branding were so intimately tied to the Bailey family I don’t see it happening, I fear the brand is dead. It’s a shame. Cornelius and Señor Esugars toros have been two of my favorite cigars over the past 3 years. The Gent, Venganza and Meridian are really good cigars. Daddy Mac never really did it for me, and the Mistress is the only cigar that ever made me barf. I hope that Espinosa recycles the blends and someone lets me know what the Señor Esugars blend becomes, because I absolutely love that cigar! Now I have to ration out the last box I have, as well as the Cornelius Toros and handful of Lonsdales! Adios Cornelius and Anthony! We saw the writing on the wall…stock up while you can. 

 

On to a newer cigar! This week I stopped in to CigarCigars in Downingtown, PA to see Kevin, the manager there. Kevin asked me if I knew anything about the CigarMedics Humidimeter, and, whattayknow, I do happen to know about it! I went over to demonstrate it to him. We talked about the relative merits of the Humidimeter, I shared my experiences and knowledge, and he felt like he could find some good uses for it in the shop and ordered one. This was on a Thursday evening, and he received it the next day! Talk about great service. If you look in the right hand sidebar on this site, you’ll notice that there is now an ad there for CigarMedics, so if you find that you’d like more information, or want to get one for yourself, there’s a quick and easy way to get there! Welcome CigarMedics to the CigarCraig family! Like I said, I went to CigarCigars, and I picked up a couple cigars I hadn’t smoked before. One of them was the Warzone, the collaboration between Espinosa and General Cigar Co. I got the 5½” x 52 Robusto. This is made at the La Zona factory with a Cameroon wrapper from General Cigar (who has used amazing Cameroon wrapper on cigars for years, Partagas come immediately to mind), and it being distributed by General. I’ve been anxious to try this cigar, I’m a fan of Cameroon, a lot of the La Zona (see above), and a lot of General, so this

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cigar had a lot going for it out of the gate. I was encouraged by the Humidimeter readings off the shelf, Kevin does a good job keeping the stock in the store right. It’s a humidified store, no small feat. The Warzone was much as I expected, nutty “Camerooniness”, medium bodied, smooth and delicious. I have another that I’m looking forward to smoking (thank you Kevin!) and really concentrating on, I was busy talking and in a store, one can’t completely concentrate on a cigar that way. I picked up a couple of Black Label Trading Company Morphines while I was there too, a great corona gorda (I smoked one last night, great flavor, the draw got snug, I noticed a gob of tar on the head. Fortunately it didn’t touch my lips or tongue. I wiped it off and the draw opened up! I hate that liquid tar build up. if it hits your mouth you’re done!). The also have some of the Dunbarton Tobacco And Trust line there. 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | December 31, 2019 · 9:55 am

CigarCraig’s Favorite Cigars of 2019

This is going to be pretty easy, but not because I haven’t smoked a lot of great cigars this year. I have to say, considering the year I’ve had, cigars were the least of my worries, and I had a great many more excellent cigars than bad ones. It’s been said that this was a down year for cigars, and I am not as up on the newest cigars as I should be, but I had very few bad cigars. It could also be that I’ve been s

moking cigars that I have in my collection, and I’ve been smoking a higher proportion of cigars that I want to smoke lately. It’s been a strange 18 months or so in my life.  Anyway, there was one brand that I became enamored with this year that I am going to call my brand of the year, and my cigar of the year, and it’s a very under the radar brand. It started with an unsolicited sharing of some samples, which led to working out a deal to put some of their cigars in my humidor, which I shared with some friends and readers. The company is Danli Honduras Tabaco out of Honduras (obviously), and the brand is Don Juan Calavera.  I’ve smoked the Sumatra, Maduro and Connecticut, and it’s really hard to choose a favorite! Every one I’ve smoked, and I’ve smoked a bunch of each of them, and I’ve never had a bad burn or draw, as a matter of fact, these cigars burn better than most cigars I’ve smoked. The Connecticut is creamy, but not mild, it’s a flavorful medium Connecticut, the Maduro has some strength, kind of like a semi-sweet chocolate with a hint of cayenne pepper, and the Sumatra is rich and spicy.  I think, and this will surprise my loyal readers, but the Sumatra is my  favorite of the bunch, so I’m declaring it my favorite cigar of 2019!  

Don Juan Calavera  Sumatra by Danli Honduras Tabaco is CigarCraig’s Favorite Cigar of 2019!

 

OK, I got that out of my system. I’ve included a video below of my friends CigarProp Kevin and Jessica’s review of the  Don Juan Calavera Maduro (I actually think I sent them a Maduro and a Sumatra and Kevin had the Sumatra and Jessica had the Maduro, which explains a lot in the video) Danli Honduras Tabaco also has another line, Flor Maya, in Connecticut, Maduro and Habano. I’ve smoked several Connecticuts and they are OK, but I smoked

a Habano yesterday and it was outstanding! I can’t wait to try the maduro now, and I need to get my hands on more of these now! Last I heard, the Danli HOnduras Tabaco cigars are available direct from the manufacturer, and at two Virginia retailers,Blacksburg Pipe & Tobacco (Blacksburg VA) and Milan Tobacconists (Roanoke VA). So, those are my favorites of the past year! Say what you want about it, but if I had to smoke one brand, I could be happy with the cigars from this company with the variety and quality! As soon as I get a job, I’m getting more! 😁 The best thing about them is that they only have one size and that size is a toro! It’s like they make cigars just for me. 

 

https://youtu.be/gXyqZtlY0Rk

 

That’s all for today, Happy New Year to everyone, be safe, smoke a great cigar, and I hope 2020 brings great things for everyone! 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 29, 2019 · 10:52 am

A Four Kicks, an Island LifeStyle and a Gran Habano, and Some Other Cigars

It’s been a busy holiday week. When Christmas falls on a Wednesday, it seems to make things a little nutty. I imagine if I had a job it would be even worse. I continue to pound the pavement, but it’s a tricky time to try to get an interview! I have confidence that things will open up after next week. I managed to have a cigar or two since my last post, and I did skip a midweek post due to the holiday. I took part in a Secret Santa on one of the Facebook Groups, so I smoked a gifted cigar from Adam just before Christmas, a Four Kicks Maduro Lancero LE 2018. While I don’t have a great deal of experience with the Crowned Heads line, I am a big fan of the EP Carrillo cigars, and this cigar is made at Tabacalera La Alianza, S.A. factory, in the DR, and I like Maduros and I like Lanceros. I felt like this cigar would be a treat. My friends, I was not wrong, this cigar was, indeed, a treat. It’s a true Laguito No. 1 Vitola, 7 ½” x 38, with a fantail cap. The burn and draw were perfect, and I took care, as I usually do, to smoke it slowly so as not to overheat it and get a hot, bitter taste. It was delicious maduro espresso and dark chocolate and I dug it. I met Adam at the PA Barn Smoker and am looking forward to the next time we can hang out and have a cigar together, he and his wife are super-cool folks. Thanks f

or the experience! 

 

I don’t recall if I mentioned it or not, but a few weeks ago I popped over to Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA for a bit and hung out with Ryan and Rick from Island Lifestyle Importers. I’ve hung out with them at the IPCPR show, and been a big fan of their Tommy Bahama cigar accessories and, of course, their Island Lifestyle Aged Reserve line of premium cigars. While I was there I smoked their Aged Reserve Maduro in the Churchill size, and revisited it this week. They have changed their production from Perdomo to Oliva, oddly enough due to FDA regul

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ation on box counts. Is that screwy or what? By the way, their factory was a tightly held secret, I tried for a long time to get them to spill, to no avail. This Maduro is a Nicaraguan wrapper, and is a beautiful oily maduro wrapper. The examples I’ve smoked have been absolute perfection, burn and draw were spot on, well balanced and right up my alley flavor-wise. Rich black coffee with some cocoa sweetness and some earthines, and good to the nub. Completely enjoyable. I also dig the Sungrown too, but this Maduro is great. The “Churchill” is large, 7″ x 54, I called it a Double Corona, but it’s a great smoke. I love the lighters, cutters and other cool stuff in the Tommy Bahama line too, it’s cool and works great. It was great seeing them and I hope to see them at the TPE show.

 

One of the other great cigars I smoked this week was a Gran Habano Gran Reserva No.5 2012 Corona Gorda. I love a Corona Gorda, much more than a Corona or Robusto. It’s like a scaled down Toro. For whatever reason, I’ve just always been a fan of the 5 1/8 x 46 shape, although there have been a few lines that I’ve preferred other sizes. In this case, they use the top 10% of the Corojo No.5 leaf and give the finished cigars additional aging. The wrapper and binder is Nicaraguan and the filler is Nicaraguan and Costa Rican

and it’s a darned tasty blend. It’s smooth and rich. I always enjoy the Corojo No. 5, and this is a more refined version. I’m not entirely sure what they cost, or where to find them, but they are good, an

d I’d buy them in a heartbeat! Good stuff!

 

What else did I smoke?  I had a RoMaCraft Baka, a Diamond Crown Black Diamond, a Davidoff Escurio, a Joya Cinco Decadas, and, of course, one of my favorites this year, a Don Juan Calavera Connecticut. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 22, 2019 · 10:10 am

Visits to Cigar Mojo and Wooden Indian and Cigar Aficionado’s Top Ten Thoughts

There’s some crossover in the subject line, so I’ll get to that, but first off I had occasion to visit two shops in my area  that have recently undergone renovations, and in the case of Cigar Mojo, in King Of Prussia, PA, moved into a new building. Thursday Cigar Mojo had a Drew Estate event, which had the dual purpose of saying farewell to our area’s long time rep Alex, who’s moving up the ladder, and hello to Ali, who we’ve known for years from working in stores in the area and most recently being a rep for EPC. Cigar Mojo is now a free standing building, nestled in between Aldi and Duluth Trading Company stores, with a large and well stocked humidor, public and members lounges, an outdoor patio with a TV (and heaters), kitchen, the works. I think it’s about two and a half times the size of their old location. I smoked a Herrera Esteli Brazilian Maduro Toro while I was there and it was delicious, probably my second favorite Herrera Esteli behind the Norteño, which I smoked later (a Corona Extra). The first time I visited Mojo’s new location was the first day they were there and it was a big mess! It was not now, they have everything sorted out and it was really nice! They even have their name on the big sign on Rt 202. As a bonus, I made a cameo appearance on the Roxxy the Rebel Youtube show. 

 

Friday I happened to see that the Wooden Indian, who had been having a sort of 12 days of events kind of thing going on, was having and Altadis event with Tom Stroud, our area rep. I’ve know Tom a long time, and haven’t seen him in a while. Additionally, I have been extremely negligent in visiting the Wooden Indian since they’ve remodeled. I missed their bid Drew Estate event in September because we went to Miami, and I just haven’t gotten by there. Dave, who owns the shop, acquired the rest of the front part of the space where the store is and did a complete overhaul of the store. Where the Liga Privada Lounge once was is now a spacious humidor. Where the rather cramped humidor was, and bumped out into the new space, is the new and improved Liga Privada lounge. The lounge now has windows, making it nice and bright, with a kitchenette and plenty of space. They also put new flooring in the retail area, brightening it up. I can’t imagine what the carpet there must have been like when they took it up! Anyway, the Shop looks beautiful, the humidor is well stocked and has a great selection, and is still one of my favorite shops in the area. While they didn’t have the Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro, they did have the Espresivo, the Robusto sibling of the Cigar Aficionado No.1 Cigar of the Year. I figured I’d better give it a smoke while it was in front of me to see what the fuss was about. I bought two and they had about 8 left and they weren’t exactly being scooped up, so maybe the WI customers don’t care about the CA ratings, or they were holding out for the Maestro, which is a torpedo, but good luck seeing on of those any time soon. I’ll be honest, I thought it was a really good cigar, and I enjoyed the crap out of it. It was well balanced with some coffee and cocoa and nuttiness. It’s another great cigar from the AJ Fernandez factory. It had a nice, slow burn too for a 5″ x 50, which was nice. 

 

I have to admit, in the CA top ten, I’ve only smoked two of the cigars, and it’s been ten of more years since I’ve smoked either of those two (which should give a big clue which two they are!) If you take vitola out of the equation, that doubles the number as of Friday. I think I smoke I reasonable variety of cigars! I bet if I smoke 400 cigars a year at least 350 of them are different, and that probably a pretty good variety, you’d agree. I could go through my Instagram feed and figure this out, but who has the patience? I could have picked up the Upmann, but I’m not spending $18 on a cigar right now, and I’m not entirely sure why I’ve never smoked a Padron 1926, might be the same reason I didn’t pick up an Upmann, or is it that I can’t imagine that it can be that much better than a 1964, which is darned near perfect? The Tatuaje piques my interest, I haven’t seen the Illusione, the Warped or the RP, I guess. I watched the reveals this year and thought to myself, sheesh, have I gotten that far out of touch? I have to get down into the top 25 to see some more familiar faces. I love the Punch Diablo, but I’m surprised it did so well, I figured it would be to pedestrian for CA (maybe because I liked it?) I’m still itching to try the Enclave Broadleaf, I have to grab on of those one day. I think the Herrera Miami should have been higher, but what do I know? Here’s the thing, the CA list reaches a far different audience than website/blog lists. There’s a whole bunch of different communities in the cigar world, some are on the internet, some aren’t so who’s to argue who’s list is right and who’s isn’t? 

 

In other news, I bought a plane ticket to Vegas for next Month’s Tobacco Plus Expo, and am awaiting approval for my media registration. It seems like a lit of the cigar industry is going to be attending that, so it should be interesting. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 17, 2019 · 8:19 am

A Providencia Cigars Pre-Release Sample

Last week I received a package of sample cigars from Ray Zinar of Providencia Cigars for some feedback, which was rather humbling and flattering. Providencia Cigars is a small cigar company making their cigars in Honduras and I’ve enjoyed the cigars I’ve smoked from the brand. Ray has ties to the Philadelphia area, so we have that in common. I’m still looking forward to meeting him and sharing a smoke in person, but that day will come eventually. Anyway, as you probably know, the first cigar I chose out of the package was the only maduro in the bag, and, fortunately for me, it happened to be a 7″ x 47 Churchill. I’m always tickled to find a traditional sized Churchill, next to a toro, it’s about my favorite shape, and not an easy one to find. Most companies take liberties with the dimensions. The look and feel of this dark, rough wrapper made me think San Andrés and I lit it up and was pretty sure I was on the right track. I took a quick walk around the block and then settled into my favorite chair on the porch to enjoy this perfect cigar. The flavor

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was right up my alley, exactly what I love in a cigar. Sweet espresso, with some spice and that little earthiness you get from Mexican tobacco. At about the midway point I hit a cinnamon stretch, just a hint, enough to take notice and make me want more. Throughout the cigar the burn was straight, the draw was perfect, and the combustion was even, all tobaccos in the blend burning at the same rate, which always marvels me. I quite look forward to smoking this again. 

 

Just as I was finishing the cigar I was in communication with Ray and he revealed that the cigar I was smoking was to be their next release, a small batch to be called Johnny Ringo.  It indeed has a San Andrés wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan, Dominican and Honduran fillers. Photos here are their mock-ups and may or may not represent the f

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inished product, but I can tell you, the cigars will be top notch! 

 

 

Last night I smoked another sample that I have no information on, but I suspect it had a Habano wrapper and it was very good, had the same great construction and excellent flavor. It wasn’t the perfect cigar for me that the Johhny Ringo was, but was still a tasty smoke, and was a traditional corona gorda size, 5 5/8″ x 46. It’s an interesting experience smoking samples where feedback is requested. It’s an added responsibility not to be taken lightly, and I appreciate the opportunity! 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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