by | January 7, 2024 · 10:32 am

Gurkha, Adrian Magnus and HVC Cigars, and a Story

Seems like almost a replay of last week, eh?  Some of the same brands, different cigars.  I smoked the Adrian Magnus XO, which is Cognac infused, and decided it wasn’t for me. Besides the fact that I haven’t touched spirits in over 30 years and have no frame of reference for that flavor palate, it just wasn’t my cup of tea.  Less said about it, the better, but if you like that sort of thing, go for it.  So I hoped for some redemption with the Gurkha 35th Anniversary Toro.  This has a Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder and Criollo 98 Nicaraguan Esteli fillers in a 6″ x 54 format, made at the Artista factory.  I don’t usually look up the stats on cigars before smoking them, but I was not at all surprised when I read that this was predominantly Criollo. This is a really nice looking cigar, the Habano wrapper is a nice café au lait brown, and it was well made.  Criollo tobacco has a tart bite that I don’t care for, going back many years. So much for redemption. If I smoked cigars I really liked all the time this would be a boring blog.  If you like Criollo tobacco, you’ll really like this Gurkha 35th Anniversary, and it’s reasonably priced.

 

Adrian Magnus does made some really good cigars, and the Supremos is another one that I tried and really enjoyed.  Maybe I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the Imperials, but I certainly liked it more than the XO.  This is a medium bodied cigar made in the Dominican Republic in a 5″ x 50 format.  It boasts seven year aged tobaccos, and to my eye, the only way I could tell it apart from the Imperials is by the color of the band.  Again, the company is not forthcoming with blend details.  The flavor is different though, so it’s definitely more than just the age statement.  This starts with a sourness, not off putting, but like a sourdough bread.  Eventually a sugar cane sweetness takes over, not excessive, but enough to be interesting. I enjoyed this one, but find myself wanting to go find an old favorite to smoke.  

 

I have a story to tell that I probably should have told nearly 2 years ago when it happened, but I had some reasons for holding off. Since I just heard that the store has closed, I’m going to put it out there.  When Son’s Cigars opened up in late 2020 I was told by the manager that if I ever wanted part time work to let him know. It wasn’t until the winter of ’21 that I was in the position to work some extra hours, and I offered my services for Friday nights. Knowing the manager (who has since moved on to another shop), I trusted that compensation would be handled at some point, I wasn’t looking to get rich, but I wasn’t looking to do volunteer work either.  Over the course of three months I put in over 40 hours before I said “enough is enough”, I gotta start seeing a paycheck here, and the fun started. I was told that the owner, who also owned a shop or two in NY, and owns a cigar brand, hadn’t approved my hiring, so I couldn’t be added to the payroll.  He offered to compensate me with a store gift card.  Then, he came back and reneged on that and said that my purchases using an employee discount was equal to the compensation I was due.  I could have made a scene, I only mentioned it to a couple people, and I avoided the owners offer to meet to tell me his side of the story because I really didn’t want to hear it, I’ve heard plenty of stories about this guy and just wanted to chalk it up to experience. It was just better for my sanity to let it go and walk away. I spent a few Friday nights smoking cigars and helping customers select cigars that they might enjoy. In the future, I’ll get some details ironed out up front, I was dealing in good faith, and that was taken advantage of. I think the manager was complicit in this as well, he had to know, as I knew he was getting screwed over by the owner as well. I wish he’d have been a friend enough to cut things off before I had to.  I distanced myself from the establishment, I even gave back a sample of the owners cigar to his distributor at the trade show on principle.  I’ve left the names out to not be a complete d*ck, but it’s not hard to put things together. It’s a shame that Son’s wasn’t handled better, but there are better places around now. Karma gets you every time.  I have Cigar Mojo less than a mile away, which has a much nicer lounge, and the selection is getting there…

 

Speaking of Cigar Mojo, I stopped in yesterday looking for something that I hadn’t smoked before, but I felt would scratch that itch I was having. I was fortunate to run into Trae, one of the owners, there and we had a nice chat. I ended up getting a couple HVC Black Friday 2023 Petit Gordo that I hadn’t smoked. This turned out to have been a great choice.  The Petit Gordo is 4½ x 56, just the right size for a hockey period!  It has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper with a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua, which are lower primings.  This is a medium bodied cigar, like a larger Black Friday Firecracker, without the kick!  It was smooth and chocolaty, not that it didn’t start with some spice, it did, but it was quite good. It scratched my itch and I’m glad I got more than one and there’s a bunch of them a mile away if I want more!  I need to sample more of the HVC line as I have always enjoyed the ones I’ve smoked.  I haven’t met Renier Lorenzo, but I’ve heard good things about him. I’ll grab some more HVCs.  

 

That’s more than enough for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | December 31, 2023 · 10:43 am

Happy New Year! A Gurkha and an Adrian Magnus Cigar

Another year is in the books! It’s the last day of 2023, and we are participating in our annual tradition of trying to talk ourselves into going to Red Lion, PA for the New Years Raising of the Cigar. Red Lion used to have dozens of cigar factories, I think the last one closed a few years ago. I remember buying very inexpensive bags of  cigars at a local farmers market that were made there, Van Slyke & Horton, which closed around 2011. The cigars weren’t premium cigars, they might not have even been natural wrapped cigars, they were something like $5 for a bag of 20, whattaya want?  Granted, it’s been 25 years since I bought these, the farmers market is now a Home Depot. Anyway, let’s see if we make it tonight!  2023 was a quiet year here, not a lot of travel,  not a lot of excitement.  I only smoked maybe 150 new to me cigars or so, which seems like a pretty big number, but it’s down considerably from years past.  If I had to pick a standout cigar this year it would be either the Muestra de Saka Krakatoa, or the  Red Meat Lovers Club Ribeye, both Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust products. 2024 should have some more activity, I hope to travel some more.  Anyway, Happy New Year, be careful, and enjoy some fine cigars!

 

Gurkha Cigars sent a nice holiday care package this year,  consisting of a little humidor with five of their cigars within. It may or may not have been packed in loose tobacco that made what can be best described as a tobacco glitter bomb (hat tip: Kap), I’m not looking any horse in the mouth, let alone a gift one.  It’s appreciated, and the little humidor makes a nice “on deck” humidor.  It’s not Gurkha over the top like they’ve done in the past, very classy.  I selected one of the cigars that I hadn’t smoked before, a Gurkha Grand Age II in the Toro size. I hadn’t heard of this one, but I didn’t get to the TPE show where this was presented.  Apparently its a budget cigar, in the $7 range, this was the Habano, it comes in Maduro and Connecticut also, made in Nicaragua.  This one had a very floral taste, and I got a hint of a mintiness, much like I got from the East India Classic Havana Blend, which makes sense now. This is probably not a cigar I’d smoke again, although I’d give the Maduro a shot.  It performed well, the burn and draw were perfect, and it just wasn’t a flavor profile that I gravitate towards.  There are some other cigars that came in that package that I’m looking forward to trying.  Thank you to Gurkha for thinking of me. 

 

I had correspondence a while ago with a gentleman from Adrian Magnus Cigars.  I hadn’t heard of this brand, do I did some poking around, didn’t find much more info, and kinda tried to talk him out of sending samples.  New cigar brands with high price tags aren’t really my thing.  I wasn’t successful, and a package from Hungary showed of a week or so ago.  I’m working up my courage to try the Cognac infused cigars, as a non-drinker, I have no frame of reference for spirits flavors, but the other two looked good. Adrian Magnus started in 2020 and is based in Spain. The cigars are made in the Dominican Republic, they aren’t forthcoming with too much blend information. The cigars arrived sealed with Boveda packs (60 gram packs for 3 cigars!) and were in good condition.  After a few days rest I decided to sample the Imperials in the 5″ x 50 Robusto size (they list the length on the website as 152, which, it that’s millimeters, it’s closer to six inches, and this is definitely 5″).  Like I said, $17 cigars aren’t in my wheelhouse, so I have to really think about what makes a cigar that price.  Shipping has to figure in, small batches, aged leaf.  This has an age statement  on the band of 10 years, not sure if that refers to the wrapper or one of the component tobaccos.  The cigars (I smoked two yesterday), smoked well, although one has some wrapper damage where I tried to remove the band. I want to say these are blended for the European palate.  There’s a (again) floral, fruity component, with a sweetness that starts vert subtle, but builds. If I weren’t such a cynic, I might not be surprised to find out there was Cuban tobacco in this cigar.  Of course, export of Cuban tobacco to the DR seems unlikely, and it would be illegal to sell cigars containing it in the US. Anyway, I quite enjoyed this cigar as an afternoon change of pace and look forward to trying the Supremos and XO next. Thanks to Vadim for sending these! 

 

That’s all for now, today, this week, this month, this year! A big thank you to all of you for your support over the last year!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 24, 2023 · 9:16 am

Mule Kick, Metropolitan, Maria Lucia and the Contest Winner!

It only just occurred to me that that the last three cigars I smoked started with M, must be fore Merry Christmas!  Of course, today is Christmas Eve, so it’s time to start your Christmas Shopping guys!  It’s also the day I’m announcing the winner of the contest sponsored by Cigars.com, but I’ll get to that later!  In the spirit of the season, I smoked some gifted cigars this week, the first of which was from Steve from Tampa, who was up visiting on business a few weeks ago. He gifted me a Crowned Heads Four Kicks 2023 Mule Kick LE, a 5 7/8″ x 52. Funny, I thought it was a toro, but I was off by an eighth of an inch.  This one has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over a Dominican binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers,  and is made in the Tabacalara La Alianza factory by Ernesto Carillo. I think this is the seventh iteration of the Mule Kick, and probably the first I’ve had, the Crowned Heads stuff isn’t ever really on my radar, I don’t see them in the stores near me that often. This was a great smoke, loaded with dark chocolate and spices.  Ernesto has been a master of Sumatra for as long as I can remember, which, in this case, is a long time (my memory is suspect, short-term and names is terrible, long term isn’t so bad). Many thanks to Steve for the opportunity to smoke this, I look forward to your next visit, who knows, I may get to your neck of the woods before you get back here!

 

Next up were a couple of selections from my Secret Santa this year. Quick bit of housekeeping: If you participated in the CigarCraig Secret Santa (The CCSS moving forward), and have not fulfilled your obligation, please do so. I know of one package that’s in transit. Everyone that’s been involved has done it multiple times, so I don’t worry, and I try to be hands off and just a participant. Feel free to let me know if you have comments of concerns.  My CCSS was a fellow Craig and in my area, so much so that I ran into him while out shopping Friday! So I selected the Nat Sherman Metropolitan Host Maduro Hampton, a 7″ x 50 cigar.  You might be saying, “Craig, Metropolitan is a Ferio Tego brand now” and I’d say you are correct. You also might not know that Nat Sherman closed their doors in 2021 and Michael Herklots bought the rights to the names and kept the brands alive. This particular cigar is one of the older ones, purchased at the Nat Sherman Townhouse in NYC. I believe it has a Broadleaf wrapper, over Honduran fillers, made by the Eiroas if I’m not mistaken.  This was milder than I imagined it would be, but it was loaded with sweet cocoa flavor and very tasty. Perhaps any strength it had was tempered by time, but it was very good.  I enjoyed the crap out of this and it’s one that I’ll likely never see again. Thanks for the opportunity Craig! 

 

Another cigar in Craig’s CCSS pack was the Luciano Cigars Maria Lucia, another Broadleaf wrapped cigar.  This is a tribute to Luciano Meirelles’ mother, who passed when he was twelve, and has the artwork of his daughter on the band. The cigar is 5¼” x 54 with the Broadleaf wrapper,  double binder of Ecuadorian Sumatra and Ecuadorian Habano 92 tobaccos, and a fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Peru. This is going to sound strange, especially given the source, but the flavor was bready to me, like a dark bread, a pumpernickel or the brown bread that comes in a can. It was on the heavy side, which I liked, even though I smoked it before dinner (after a nap). I have met Luciano a couple times, and have enjoyed his cigars. I would like to explore more of his work, I think. Good stuff.

 

Let’s give some stuff away!  You might recall, Cigars.com has provided me with a really nice Montecristo travel humidor, along with a RoMEo cap and a Romeo y Julieta can cozy.  I am going to add some cigars to the humidor before I ship it, they will be Cigars.com exclusives from my humidor, more or less.  The sponsor doesn’t know I’m doing this, but I can’t send out a package without cigars! Anyway, I’ve consulted the Google Random Number Generator and Tim McCabe is the winner! Please send me your address so that I can get this stuff out to you!  Remember if you buy from Cigars.com, or JRCigars.com, please use the affiliate links on the left sidebar, I could use the cash!

That’s all for now, enjoy the Holidays! I guess I need to scrounge up some goodies for a New Years Giveaway!  Stay tuned! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 18, 2023 · 7:00 am

Contest! Travel Humidor, Cap and Coozy from Cigars.com

It’s that time of year, and thanks to the folks at Cigars.com, we have a cool giveaway for you!  They have provided me with a Montecristo Travel Humidor, a RoMEo Cap, and a Romeo y Julieta Can Coozy.  I have seen a lot of travel humidors, but I was surprised when I opened this one up and it had wood inside instead of foam!  This is a really nice item.  I think everyone knows me well enough by now, I’ll be adding a few surprises to the humidor before I send it to the lucky winner!  I can’t send out packages without cigars!  Don’t worry, they will be consistent with the theme of the contest!  This should make someone’s holiday a little brighter! 

 

 

The usual process applies: Leave a comment on this post to enter. One entry per person, you must be of legal age in your jurisdiction, and the winner must contact me with your shipping details.  I’ll announce the winner on Sunday, December 24, 2023.  I might be able to find a little something to give away next week too! 

 

Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 17, 2023 · 10:05 am

A Micallef and Some New Cigars from Cayman Cigar Co.

Before I get into a couple cigars, check in here tomorrow morning for a special giveaway.  I keep remembering back a decade ago when I was doing the 12+ days of giveaways and thinking about how much fun that was, but how many hours I spent on it!  It consumed me!  I have a few good giveaways up my sleeve yet, I can’t let this time of year pass without giving some stuff away! Stop by any time during the week and leave a comment on the contest post to enter!  Along the holiday festive spirit lines, my Secret Santa was local and dropped off a generous package to me this week.  I had a problem that I was able to solve Friday evening so I dug right into the cigars and selected the Micallef Gomez/Sanchez Family 1934 Reserva Churchill.  This is a beautiful 7″ x 52 double corona, and I believe this is a the Limitada Privada that was among the first Micallef cigars to come out, carrying a higher price tag.  I’m not sure if knowing this was a super expensive cigar would have changed my decision to smoke it when I did or not, I was feeling pretty celebratory, having the kitchen sink clogged all week and fixing  it without calling a plumber felt pretty good.  This cigar had what I call bright tobacco flavors, with some floral, almost perfuminess especially in the second half.  It was medium bodied and sophisticated and complex.  Quite a nice smoke, and I thank my friend with the excellent first name for the special gift.  He managed to present me with a selection of cigars that were almost all new to me, no easy feat.  

 

Last week I heard from an old friend, Anthony, who I met back in 2011 on a trip to the Dominican Republic.  He was a blogger then, and has since been a broker and done some other work in the cigar industry.  I feel bad that I didn’t get a chance to catch up with him during a brief time when he was living up this way, but it was during that odd time in history around 2020 when things were weird and some of us didn’t get out much. Apparently he’s working with the guys at Cayman Cigar Co. in the Cayman Islands and had them send a couple of their newest blends.  Yesterday seemed like a good day for aquatic themed cigars, since I managed to break a pipe in an upstairs bathroom sink that had always been really slow to drain.  It resulted in cutting out wet drywall in a downstairs ceiling to find a hole in the pipe, and a bit of a mess. My project for today is fixing that problem.  I love plumbing problems…so while I was trying to get a plan together I smoked the Mariner. This cigar has a Corojo wrapper, and is 5¼ x 50.  Best I can figure, this is rolled in the factory in the Cayman Islands, by Maria Delvis Hernandez, their master roller who learned her craft in the Partagas factory in Havana. This had an interesting and different tobacco flavor. I don’t often get “salty”, but I think this one had it.  Maybe that was the Mariner imagery in my head, or maybe it really was salty, but it was good, and it help prepare me for wet ceiling drywall and leaky drain pipes.  

 

The other new cigar from Cayman, and one Anthony worked with them on developing, is the Caravel. Another 5¼” x 50, this one is made at Tabacalera la Isla, Hostos Quesada’s factory, in the Dominican Republic.  One of my favorite cigars, the La Sirena Mexican Mermaid is made at this factory. This Robusto has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper which is on the darker side, it could almost be confused for a Habano.  It has fillers from the DR and Nicaragua. To me, this one was loaded with a citrus tang, I found it very refreshing. I may smoke another today after I fix the plumbing.  Aside: the guy at Home Depot gave me a perfect setup last night: he asked if I was handy with a torch. I said, “sure, if I’m lighting a cigar!” For the record, I shy away from sweating pipes, using a torch in proximity to 60 year old rafters and waste pipes with possibly volatile gasses gives me the willies. I digress. I suppose I smoke enough cigars to be considered jaded when it comes to deciding whether a cigar is full bodied or not, this is described as full bodied, I found it pleasantly medium.  This line is a bit more financially approachable than  some of their others, I suspect the manufacturing costs are higher in the Cayman Islands thank in the DR. I’d love to visit some winter and see the factory ;-). 

 

That’s all for today.  Next Sunday will be Christmas Eve, so I’ll have to write a short post, announce the contest winner, and go shopping!  Just kidding. Maybe. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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