by | January 22, 2014 · 7:39 pm

A Crossfire, A Nica Rustica and A Legend…wait for it…Ario Cigar

This time of year gets a bit frustrating for me because of the weird weather. I get times when the weather isn’t very good and I really don’t want to waste a really good cigar, or smoke something new that I want to pay attention to.  I usually end up smoking something I’m familiar with, and that’s not a whole lot of fun for you guys!  So far, this has been one of those times.

 

Crossfire_Habano_TorpSunday wasn’t too bad. I decided to take a nice afternoon walk and selected an IPCPR sample from Crossfire Cigars.  As I’ve mentioned before, I somehow lost the interview I did with the Crossfire guys at the show.  This is another cigar with altruistic goals.  All the profits go toward helping people in the Dominican Republic do little things like eat and wear clothes and learn stuff. All in all, a very good plan, and the cigars I’ve smoked have been well worth it for the good that they do.  I smoked a Habano Torpedo on my walk, and it was a good tasting smoke.  It was a pretty cigar too, however it gave me some trouble.  With only one sample, I’m certainly not going to pass judgement. I had trouble keeping this cigar lit, and the cold and breezy weather

buy singulair online https://sparkhealthmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/png/singulair.html no prescription pharmacy

may not have helped, although I smoke a fair number of cigars outdoors in the winter without these problems. So it was a tasty, yet unfulfilling cigar. I’ll seek more of these out because I liked what I tasted and want to give this another try.  Please keep in mind, I’m just relating my experience with this single cigar, not disparaging the brand in any way.

 

Nica Rustica_El BrujitoMonday evening, after the less than satisfying cigar experience Sunday, I decided on a sure thing.  Again, boring for you, but the key to continued sanity for me.  I opened the Drew Estate humidor and had an Undercrown Corona Viva in one hand and a Nica Rustica El Brujito in the other hand and the El Brujito won.  Either of these cigars are on my “sure thing” list, but with an impending snowstorm on the horizon I wanted a nice, long smoke.  I can’t tell you anything more about the Nica Rustica that you haven’t heard. It’s a great dark and dirty cigar.  Big flavor, great construction, very satisfying.  I love the uncut foot with that big blast of Connecticut Broadleaf right off the bat. I can take or leave the little pigtail cap, it’s a nice touch but I just cut it off anyway. I loved the original blend with the Nicotiana Rustica tobacco in it, it was something special, but the blend they sent to production is really yummy too.  I always want to have some of these on hand, and for $6 and change it’s not hard to do.

 

Tuesday we got our promised snow, and my place of work closed at noon.  I felt it would be prudent to take the dog (and a cigar) for a walk before it got too bad.  It’s a tricky thing picking out a snowstorm cigar. It’s almost like selecting a good pool cigar, but you really have to consi

buy cephalexin online https://sparkhealthmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/png/cephalexin.html no prescription pharmacy

der flavor more in the winter. It has to be sturdy enough that a little moisture isn’t going to hurt anything, because there’s no doubt an errant snowflake or a hundred are going to find their way on the wrapper.  I decided on a LegendArio Bertha (links to retailer site).  The Bertha is a 6″ x 60 maduro, which is a Honduran puro, but it’s really loaded with dark, earthy cocoa flavors.  The wrapper is nice and rugged, it’s easy to handle with gloves on, and it burned quite nicely.  This cigar really hits the spot for me, and it gave me a good two hours of dog walking, snow shoveling, watching the snow fall goodness. I had bought a couple of these a year or so ago and will need to get a couple more to have around.  It wasn’t expensive, another cigar in the $6 range that’s pretty darned good in my opinion. I’d probably lean toward the toro though, but I don’t mind a 6″ x 60 as long as it delivers in the flavor department.  These are from the makers of Camacho, and if I have one complaint, it’s that they have devoted their website to the Camacho line, and it’s next to impossible to find information about this or the Room 101 brands except for retailers sites.  It annoys me a little when I have to work too hard to find information!

 

That’s all I have for now.  It’s hovering in single digits tonight, so I’m not even feeling like taking a walk tonight.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings.  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

Share

5 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | January 19, 2014 · 11:55 am

An Azan White, A Toraño Exodus 50th Cigar and I Got Hex’d!

It’s been a busy time in the cigar industry, it seems.  Press releases are flying everywhere, and, although I’m not the guy who has the ability, or the inclination, to post them upon arrival, they did inspire some of my cigar selections this week!  There are several sites I can count on posting a press release shortly after I receive the e-mailed version, and I think that’s great!  I just feel like it would be redundant for me to post it a few days later and I try to keep my content just a little different from everyone else.  That being said, I’m all about promoting the premium cigar industry, so I’ll endeavor to smoke a cigar from a company in the news and link to the relevant press release on one of my esteemed colleagues sites.  Everyone (with some exceptions) loves links, so hopefully this is a winning solution.  Enough o

f my editorial views, I smoked some cigars this week!

 

AzanWhite_RobustoThursday evening I selected my last IPCPR sample from Roberto Duran Cigars, an Azan White Robusto.  I had enjoyed the Campaña a while back (here with some back story) and really enjoyed it.  I’m sure glad that I accidentally came by samples at the show, because this is a dynamite cigar.  It’s flavor is smooth and rich and it’s what I look for in a premium cigar.  The construction is also perfect.  I have it on good authority that they are coming out with a Corojo Maduro next, which sounds really interesting. This 4 7/8 x 50 robusto has an Ecuador Corojo wrapper and perhaps it’s the Brazilian Mata Fina in the filler (along with leaf from Jalapa and Esteli) that give it that little something extra that I like.  This is a really nice, refined cigar that would be smokable just about any time of the day.  Another cigar with a “very nice” rating.  The press release I mentioned above can be found posted at Cigar Federation here.

 

Torano_Exodus50_ToroFriday I cracked open a Toraño 90+ Rated Sampler I received last year from Jack Toraño.  As I am prone to do, I started with the maduro offering, the 93 rated Toraño Exodus 1959 50 Years Toro. This is also the highest rated out of the bunch. Aesthetically, this is a beautiful dark, oily cigar and I really like how the copper colored band looks against the wrapper. Very pretty.  This is a rich, smooth maduro that is another “very n

ice” cigar.  Burn and draw were spot on and it gave me about an hour and a half of smoking enjoyment.  I’ll continue to smoke through this sampler and report in on the rest of the blends represented, it’s nice to know that this can be purchased for under $25 at a lot of outlets (BCP has them here, shilling for one of my advertisers!).  Toraño announced last week their “Blends From the Vault” tour beginning in February.  TheCigarNut.com is one place you can find the press release about the tour.  I was actually having a discussion yesterday with a gentleman in a local lounge about the lack of a big Toraño presence here in south-east PA, and the proprietor of the same shop asked me about Sam Leccia in a separate conversation. Toraños are great smokes and Sam is the hot ticket over the last six months or so, it amazes me a little that the presence is so limited.

 

hex_figuradoWednesday I posted the press release for National Hex Day, so I hunted down a participating store in my area and took a forty minute drive to Goose’s Tobacco Outlet in Limerick, PA.  I had visited this shop once before and had wanted to visit again anyway, so this gave me an excuse.  I walked in and said “Hex Me” and was presented with a Hex Figurado, and then purchased three more. John, the proprietor, invited me into their members lounge to enjoy my free Hex Figurado. From talking to a couple members there, I came to find that if you spend $20 in the shop you are welcome to enjoy the lounge without a membership. This isn’t generally a problem for me anyway, but I prefer a shop have a public area for patrons to come in and enjoy their purchases. Not everyone buys more cigars than they plan to smoke at one sitting, there may be people who want to come in and buy one cigar and sit and enjoy it in a comfortable setting.  Just one of my pet peeves, and I can’t complain about Goose’s selection or lounge, because it’s not bad and the two times I’ve been there I’ve managed to meet nice people and be accepted, like one finds in many cigar shops.  I’ve smoked the Hex before and enjoyed it quite a bit. The example I smoked yesterday smoked a little on the wet side, and in talking to some other patrons they seemed to have similar issues. I still found it to be delicious, but if I didn’t understand the problem, I may have been put off by the way it smoked. I know the ones I brought home will smoke great after some rest in the humidor (they are in the new Adorini humidor for now). Keep an eye out for Sindicato Cigars, they are doing some pretty interesting things! I also understand that Goose’s is working on bringing a brand to market as well as hosting a festival in the fall.  I’d much rather get Hex’d at Goose’s than Goose’d at Hex’s! I hope some of you went out and got Hex’d yesterday (or goose’d, I’m not judging)!

 

That’s enough for today, enjoy the day, I understand there might be a game on or something (the Flyers play

buy cialis super active online http://cosmeticsurgeryspecialists.org/eblog/images/gif/cialis-super-active.html no prescription pharmacy

ed last night and tomorrow, so I don’t know what other games there might be…). Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

Share

7 Comments

Filed under Editorial, Review

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

by | January 17, 2014 · 6:14 pm

CigarCraig’s Celebrity Cigar Chat with Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown

Back in the 1980’s I worked in a record store.  For you youngins, “records” were the media that stored our music.  We also had “tapes” and eventually “CDs”. Now we have MP3s and no record stores to speak of!  Anyway, this is where I first encountered the band Savoy Brown.  Kim Simmonds founded the band in England in the mid-60s, when Blues was all the rage. My guess is that they were influenced by many of the same American blues artists who influenced other English groups of the same time. Perhaps Kim KimSimmondswill leave a comment and expand on that!  Anyway, nearly fifty years later and Kim Simmonds is still touring the US with Savoy Brown, now calling New York home. A few months ago he followed me on Twitter, which I took to mean he may have an interest in cigars. Further conversations confirmed this and I’m honored to say that he is a reader of CigarCraig.com! I’ve been overdue for a Celebrity Cigar Chat installment, so  I imposed upon him to take a few minutes out of his schedule to answer a few cigar questions for us!

 

1. How and when did you come to be a cigar smoker?

I’ve never thought about that question until now. I’m thinking it was back in the 70’s in London when I started smoking cigars. All the pubs sold them from behind the bar (Hamlet was one brand) and I’d have the occasional one with a beer. It was just a natural pairing…a beer and a cigar.

I’ve been playing music now for 50 years come 2015 and it’s strange what sticks in your mind…..one memory is of  a Decca Record Company executive pulling out an expensive cigar from his desk humidor, at a meeting we were having, and soon the office was full of Cuban aromas. I must have been in my early 20’s but I can still taste that marvelous cigar now!

2. What is your “goto” cigar? What is it you like most about that cigar and how long has it been your favorite?

My cigar smoking is pretty much like my guitar playing and my music…it changes every day (I like to keep things fresh for myself and the audience).

That being said I always had a preference for the old H.Upmann’s. I must have tried the new brand but I’m not sure…I do have it in mind to buy a five pack and find out what they are like these days. I did smoke a “Havoc” from that company fairly recently and was surprised the band looked so average. The cigar itself was okay.

Recently my “go to” cigar has been the “Vegas 5 A series”. I got some at a good price from CI and they have a nice taste, don’t knock my head off and are smooth. I’ve enjoyed those cigars, off and on, for over two years now.

I like a smooth cigar be it mild, medium or strong. I don’t inhale…it’s a matter of taste rather one of nicotine buzz. I used to only enjoy mild cigars but so many of those have no taste so I have gone to a more medium cigar as a general rule.

I like Montecristo whites and Cohiba Red Dots but rarely smoke them as I’m always looking for a $2.00 bargain!

I like your blog because it gives me ideas for cigars to smoke other than the usual I might run into.

3. What is your ideal situation for enjoying a cigar?

In the summer sitting on my patio with my dogs (well, dog now..my eldest passed away)….nothing beats it. For that matter….sitting in the summer with a cigar on anyone’s patio!

I also like smoking a cigar on the road with my band mates. It’s a way for us to relax together and share time together other than professionally.

And quite often in the winter, I will go for a drive simply to smoke a cigar and let my thoughts clear up problems or give me ideas. I live in the country so traffic is minimal.

4. Do you have the opportunity to enjoy cigars while touring? Do you search out local shops or lounges?

That’s one of the highlights of touring! As a band we all seek out a cigar lounge wherever we are and that ends up being the most relaxing time during stressful tours. And it’s fun, at the lounges, trying a cigar you might not normally smoke.

5. If you could hang out and smoke a cigar with anyone, living or dead, who would that be, why, and what cigar would you smoke?

That’s a no brainer. Sir Winston Churchill. A monumental presence in British political history and someone I grew up admiring for his strength and fortitude. Also, like me, he is a painter and his book on the subject inspired me years ago. And, of course, we would smoke a Romeo y Julieta!!!

KimSimmonds_CigarThank you Kim, for taking the time to give us a little glimpse into your cigar passion, and thank you for following along with my adventures!  I seriously hope to be able to have a cigar with you one of these days, and you can bet I’ll be looking for a Philly area show to come to! You can read more about Savoy Brown and Kim at their website: http://www.savoybrown.com/ and get the music on iTunes and Amazon. It’s a lot of fun when passions collide!

Until the next time, 

CigarCraig

Share

7 Comments

Filed under Celebrity Cigar Chat

Tagged as , , , ,

by | January 15, 2014 · 7:10 pm

National Hex Day, Room 101 and Man ‘O War Cigars

You’ve no doubt seen this, but in case you haven’t:

 

SINDICATO CIGAR COMPANY ANNOUNCES NATIONAL HEX DAY JANUARY 18TH 

Sindicato Cigar Company, based out of Boca Raton, FL, has announced that January 18th will be “National HEX Day” incelebration of the release of their second Premium brand, HEX.  All consumers who visit participating retailers andrepeat the phrase “HEX ME!”, will receive a FREE HEX cigar, while supplies last.

Participating retailers will have stick and box promotions for the day, along with limited edition HEX t-shirts forgiveaways.

Consumers who buy 3 or more HEX cigars during the “I’ve been HEX’D” weekend will be automatically entered in the “HEX giveaway promotion”.  Winners will be announced on February 15th.  The Grand Prize winner, along with his retailer, will visit the Nicaraguan factory of Omar, Omar Jr., and Alexis Ortez, where HEX cigars are handcrafted in Condega. In addition to a visit to the Condega factory during this 3 day trip, the lucky winner and his retailer will visit the NACSA factory in Esteli, makers of Sindicato’s Affinity brand cigar.

The lucky winner will also visit the Aganorsa factory of Eduardo Fernandez, maker of the highly anticipated Sindicato brand cigar. This Puro Nicaraguan beauty is blended by Master Blender Arsenio Ramos utilizing only the rarest and finest aged tobaccos of Fernandez’s farms in Jalapa, Esteli and Condega.

In addition to the Grand Prize winner, there will be prizes for a total of 10 consumers, who will each win a 25-count sampler of HEX’s 5 sizes.  The 11 total winners will also receive a 5-count sampler of the Sindicato Puro Nicaraguan cigar by Arsenio Ramos.  

To find the nearest retailer selling HEX cigars, please visit out retailer locator at www.sindicatocigars.com

 

 

Room101_Namakubi_ChingonSunday was a reasonably nice day for this time of year in this part of the US. I needed a nice, long walk, so I selected a Room 101 Namakubi Ecuador Chingon, a Salamon shaped cigar measuring a whopping 8″ x 60 ring gauge at it’s largest point. This is an enormous cigar for a winter day! I spent over two hours with this cigar, about half of that walking around the neighborhood with the dog, and it was a really nice smoke. I’ve smoked a few of it’s smaller siblings which I probably enjoy more, but if you have the time, this is a really tasty smoke. I have one more in the Ranfla size, which is only 5½ x 50, which I bought at an event last year on Matt Booth’s recommendation. This Chingon was a gift from a business associate, thanks Mike! In retrospect, I should probably have waited for a nice, sunny summer day in the pool for this one, but I was in the mood for a nice, long smoke, so this certainly fit the bill.

 

 

ManOWar_Skull Crusher
I inadvertently fell into the theme trap again, and chose another Salomon shaped cigar for Monday’s walk. The Man O’ War Side Project: Skull Crusher. This was an IPCPR sample, and I loved the look of this cigar.  It had a dark, oily Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper and was a 5¾” x 56 perfecto with the foot closed and finished off, as if it were capped.  I suppose this could have been clipped off, but I burned through it with the lighter.  This is a STRONG cigar! It crushed my skull!  The black pepper was prominent throughout,  although it either mellowed out near the end or I grew accustomed to it!  I couldn’t smoke this cigar too often, and I have a pretty high tolerance for strong cigars.  The other thing this cigar had in common with the Room 101 was that there doesn’t seem to be a website for either brand.  I’ve linked to retailers websites for more information if you need it.

 

That’s it for now.  I’m going to try to get out for a walk if it finally stopped raining, this weather has really been annoying! Maybe I’ll smoke my last Hex cigar.

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

 

Share

8 Comments

Filed under News, Review

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | January 12, 2014 · 10:21 am

A Romeo y Julieta Montague, a Padrón and a Paul Stulac Cigar

RyJ_Montague RobustoA few weeks ago, you may recall, we culminated the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways with a special Day 13 featuring Famous Smoke Shop‘s two new proprietary Romeo y Julieta cigars, the House of Capulet and the House of Montague.  Honestly, I always feel better giving away cigars I’ve smoked before and can comment on, but when they have a great pedigree and I know the folks behind them I’m OK with it.  When I was shopping for the Compounds, Elements and Musings Vanadium box a couple weeks ago I decided to pay a little more than I had to and use one of the coupon codes Famous Smoke Shop provided and get a free five pack of the Romeo y Julieta House of Montague Robustos along with it.  Of course, I couldn’t resist smoking one of them this week.  This is a 5″ x 54 chunky robusto with a nice, Brazilian maduro wrapper, with a Dominican Olor binder and Dominican, Brazilian and Nicaraguan fillers.  I found it to be a nice, well made cigar on the medium side with solid chocolate/cocoa maduro flavor. This is a cigar I would share with friends without hesitation, that is if I don’t smoke the four more myself!  Here are the discount codes again, if you happen to make a purchase from Famous Smoke Shop give these a try! Also, if Mickey, the winner of This year’s day 13 wants to send me reviews, I’d be happy to include them here, he can be an honorary “Craig” for a day!

 

Discount codes:

CAPULET5 – Free 5-pack of Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet with any $75+ purchase

MONTAGUE5 – Free 5-pack of Romeo y Julieta House of Montague with any $75+ purchase

CAPULET20 – $20 off any $100+ purchase of Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet

MONTAGUE20 – $20 off any $100+ purchase of Romeo y Julieta House of Montague

 

Pardon_3000MadNew Years Eve I stopped in to one of my local shops,  JM Cigars, for a couple cigars and walked out with a few Padrón 3000 Maduros. I would have gotten 2000s, but they didn’t have any maduros at the time. The 3000 is 5 ½ x 52 and isn’t the prettiest cigar, it’s rustic, but it’s a classic Nicaraguan puro which has been on the market for quite a while, and has remained pretty much the same.  Padrón is the model of consistency, and they remain at the top of the heap in the cigar business without releasing new lines all the time.  This is probably why I’ve been negligent in smoking Padrón cigars in the last few years, too many new cigars to smoke!  So, after lighting this cigar Friday evening, I found myself wondering why the heck I let this happen.  This is a great smoke, right in my personal wheelhouse.  It’s got kind of a dry, dusty cocoa flavor, with perfect draw and burn. I must make a note to keep more of these on hand, and maybe even grab a couple of the 2000 naturals to reacquaint myself with that side of the line. As awesome as the Padrón “Thousand Series” cigars are, I know the Anniversary series are even more awesome, but I still have trouble shelling out that kind of dough for a cigar.  I may have to break down and do it one of these days though. I probably haven’t smoked one of the high end Padróns since a Millenium back about ten or so years ago.

 

PaulStulac_AngelYesterday I figured I’d try something new to me, and selected a Paul Stulac Angel out of the IPCPR sample humidor.  I think I’ve smoked a Paul Stulac cigar before, I seem to recall smoking a Skull torpedo, but I really don’t remember the cigar and I didn’t include it in a blog post. This Angel is another chunky robusto (I was trying to figure out if I had a theme this time, and that theme seems to be chunky robustos, but it was strictly coincidence!) at 5″ x 58, although it didn’t really feel that fat to me. This is listed as “available in Ecuadorian or Brazilian Maduro Wrapper”, and I have no idea which one I smoked, but my guess is the Brazilian Maduro because it was pretty dark and didn’t taste to me like a Habano.  It was a good smoke, well behaved and tasty to a finger burning nub. There was a flavor that was interesting, and maybe a little overwhelming, and I don’t quite know how to describe it except for perhaps mesquite, it was a savory flavor.  This was definitely different from what I generally reach for, which is cool, that’s why there are so many cigars! If they all tasted the same it wouldn’t be any fun. IF the FDA gets a hold of premium cigars we can say goodbye to new and different cigars, so join Cigar Rights of America and write to your elected officials! Paul Stulac is (or was) a Canadian cigar retailer, ask him what it’s like in Canada with their regulations! Blacked out windows, no displays, no events, you can’t even look at the cigars you want to purchase. We don’t want that to happen here!

 

That’s all I got, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

 

Share

6 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,