CigarCraig's Blog

by Craig Vanderslice | August 4, 2024 · 10:20 am

Smoking Through a Troianiello Cigars Sampler

Troianiello Cigars is a Scranton, PA based cigar company that produces premium cigars as well as flavored cigars in the Dominican Republic. I know, when you think of Scranton you think of Parodi and Avanti Toscano style cigars, which is now owned by Toscano Cigars in Italy, by the way. I’ve smoked my fair share of those, fun fact, if you ever had an Avanti and thought the packaging reminded you of a Tootsie Roll, that’s because they actually bought the packaging machine from the Tootsie Roll company! Michael Troianiello messaged me and asked me if I’d try his cigars, so I bought a sampler from his website. This guy also owns a masonry company, so I gotta be careful what I say…

I decided to get the most imposing cigar in the sampler out of the way. He made some substitutions because what he sent varies from the sampler advertised. I started with the 7″ x 70 Troianiello Capo. This was a monster cigar with a San Andrés wrapper (natural), and Dominican fillers. The website says it’s a black broadleaf wrapper, this certainly was not (and a change request has been submitted). I had some dental work done on Wednesday and I wasn’t sure how that was going to impact my ability to smoke, so I got a few in early in the week so as not to be caught unprepared for today’s post. Followers of my Instagram will notice that it wasn’t an issue after all. The Capo was a very nice, medium cigar with some white sugar notes. I like the flavor quite a bit, but it took some attention to keep it going right. It was big, and after two plus hours I put it down. This blend in a toro would be awesome.

Next up was the Troianiello Gina Marie. This Toro is presented in a Connecticut Shade (presumably Ecuador), and San Andrés Barber pole wrap, with Dominican fillers. Gina Marie must be a relative, doesn’t sound like the name of the family barber to be. This was a very pleasant cigar. I got the same white sugar sweetness I got with the Capo, considering they share a wrapper, that makes sense. There was also the creamy component from the shade. Burned well and had a nice flavor, medium to light bodied overall. I don’t have anything bad to say about the cigar.

After surviving the dental work, I went next to the Troianiello Trifecta. I admit, I’m a sucker for the triple wrap barber pole style cigars, I find the colors to be very complimentary, this is a beautiful cigar. It has a San Andrés Maduro, Connecticut shade and Candela wrapper leaves over Dominican binder and filler. This one takes the Gina Marie one step further and adds some tanginess from the candela, although the white sugar was hard to find. Some nuts, some coffee and tanginess, it was a very nice cigar.

Of the remaining three cigars he sent, one was a Whiskey flavored cigar, and since I haven’t had Whiskey in close to 40 years, this is of little interest to me. It’s not part of the sampler he advertises, so I assume it was a well meant add on. He also sent a couple petite coronas in the Maduro bend as he may have been out of stock of the Robusto size, and I’ll get to them another time. This left the Troianiello Luciano Michael Churchill. This has a nice Connecticut shade wrapper, with aged Dominican binder and fillers. This might have been my favorite in the selection. It wasn’t a particularly mild cigar, it had a little oomph to it. I got some really interesting exotic spice flavors, perhaps some nutmeg and cinnamon. It burned for an hour and a half-ish, and was quite enjoyable. This is a new company, I think it launched in ’21, which was a bold move considering the time. They look to be sold in a lot of locations in the north-east part of PA, and are available on the website for purchase. Although these may not enter my own rotation, they were good cigars, if I saw the Maduro and Habano in the wild I would pick some up to try. I hope this all doesn’t leave me open for a cement shoe fitting.

Yesterday I ended up back at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar. When I heard that Steve Saka would be stopping by I wasn’t really planning to go, as we’d just seen his wife there two weeks ago, but I got wind that my old friend Stace was thinking of flying up from Charlotte, I figured I’d go to hang out with him for a bit. It was great seeing him, last time I saw him was at the 2016 IPCPR show. he’s genuinely oneof the nicest people I know. Steve is OK too, and the hospitality of James and Nick at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar is unmatched. I smoked a couple of my favorite DTT cigars while there, a Red Meat Lovers and a Mi Querida. If you go there, try out the massage chair. Photo courtesy of Stace.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Capo, Gina Marie, Luciano Michael, Trifecta, Troianiello Cigars

by Craig Vanderslice | July 28, 2024 · 9:59 am

Flatbed Cigars Homestead Field Sampler

I went on a bit of a buying spree recently. In addition to buying a bunch of Dunbarton cigars at last week’s event at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar, I picked up a sampler from Flatbed Cigars. It should be noted that there are always discount codes for use on their site (USA20 and TRY20 are two), and there’s a daily deal that can be accessed on the left sidebar of my site. I saw this sampler and it looked like something I wanted to try. It’s billed as a field to field sampler, representing various combinations of strengths, countries of origin and sizes. I smoked four of the six this week. I like to keep my sunday posts around four cigars, I’m not sure I’d read past that, so I don’t expect others to either. It also gives me a few days through the week to enjoy cigars without having to think about them. I started with the Farmers Blend Sumatra. This is listed on the website as 7″ x 60, which is accurate, the printed handout which accompanied the sampler lists it as 6″ x 70, as well as other places on the website. I’m glad it wasn’t the later, although 7″ x 60 is still a formidable cigar, the kind you hope you like when trying it for the first time! This has a Sumatra wrapper, a binder with the ambiguous “Cuban Seed” designation, and fillers from Pennsylvania, Nicaragua and he DR. The Nicaraguan and Dominican are classified Ligero, with two different DR Ligeros. This is probably the strongest in the sampler, but I didn’t find it to be overly so. It started out with some dry, sourness, but it built nicely and had a very nice flavor. I found it to be an interesting cigar throughout the two hours or so it took me to smoke it.

The next one I smoked was the Henshaw Street, a 6½” x 54 cigar with a San Andrés wrapper, Dominican binder and PA, Nicaraguan Ligero and what I guess is Dominican Cubano seco. The name refers to a back road, and is a rustic blend. This was a really enjoyable cigar for me. It had a nice, sweet spice which I found quite enjoyable. Burn and draw were good, it need a touch up here. and there, but that kind of added to the appeal. it was solidly medium in strength, but very flavorful I’ve had two good cigars in this sampler so far, fingers crossed on the rest.

Saturday I cut the grass and did some other stuff around the house, and wasn’t feeling like I wanted to smoke powerhouse cigars, so I concentrated on the milder end of the spectrum in the sampler. I started with the Harvest, presented in a 6″ x 50 toro. This has a sun grown Connecticut wrapper, as opposed to shade grown, it sure wasn’t broadleaf. the binder is Dominican and it has DOminican and Nicaraguan Ligero in the filler, which is odd for a mild cigar. I thought this was a solid Dominican shade type cigar, with sweet cream and nuts flavors. Very nice while recovering and watching some Olympics coverage.

Later I went with the other cigar that was listed as mild-medium, the Track 7. This has the same Connecticut grown wrapper as the Harvest, with two Dominican Ligeros and a seco, Nicaraguan Ligero and some Kentucky Fire Cured in the mix. The fire cured is subtle, but apparent. It has the distinctive tang without the heavy smokiness, akin to the Lecia Black or the Cuevas Patrimonio. The tang went nicely with the smooth, creaminess, making for a nice blend. This was a 6″ x 60, and was well balanced, and burned well. I still have the VLI Pennsylvania 41 Small toro and the Pennsyltucky PA Broadleaf toro to go, they might be the two I looked forward to smoking the most. I have had the Pennsyltucky in a different size, but it’s been many years! I continue to be impressed by the Panacea/Flatbed offerings. They are an advertiser, but I’ve purchased all of the cigars I’ve smoked from them.

Next week I’ll showcase another Pennsylvania based cigar company. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Farmers Blend, Flatbed Cigar Co., Harvest, Henshaw Street, Panacea, Track 7

by Craig Vanderslice | July 21, 2024 · 7:00 am

Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto JR Cigars Exclusive

I’m having a busy weekend here, so today’s post will be dedicated to the Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto. JR Cigars has been sending me some of their exclusive cigars for me to write about, and this was the most recent. The links in these posts are affiliate links, so if you shop at JR, do me a favor and do it through these links. I don’t seem to have a lot of success with affiliate links, over the last nearly 15 years I don’t think I’ve made more than $100. I keep trying though. Maybe I’ll use the links myself to buy more of these Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez cigars, because they are right up my alley! I’m going to be right upfront when I say that there are very few Montecristo cigars that float my boat, I would even go as far as to say that Altadis cigars in general mostly don’t do it for me. There are some exceptions, and the vast majority are made in partnership with AJ Fernandez. The cigars JR provided me were robustos, 5″ x 52 and have an Oscuro Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, a Mexican San Andrés binder, and aged long filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, and the United States, or Honduras, the website actually says two different things!. Based on the flavor and strength, I’m inclined to believe that there’s Pennsylvania or Connecticut broadleaf in the blend.

I’ve smoked a handful of these this week, and I was really quite pleased with them! They have an espresso or strong, black coffee thing going on, with a hint of some sweetness about half way through the cigar. Lately a robusto is only good for about an hour, so larger sizes in this blend interest me. This is a bold, premium cigar at a great price. The presentation is nice too, although the wrapper is so pretty it’s a shame to cover it up with the large sleeve! By now my regular readers probably know what style of cigars I like, and if you find yourself liking the same cigars, this one is a no-brainer. Every sample I smoked burned perfectly, which shouldn’t be a surprise given their provenance. This is my new favorite Montecristo. JR has a whole line of “Crafted By” cigars, I’d love to see a sampler of them, there’s some I’d love to try.

I’m off today to Harrisburg, PA to visit Harrisburg Beer and Cigar and Cindy Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust. I’ve been wanting to get out to visit Nick and James, and we don’t get to see enough of Cindy, usually that Steve guy is taking the spotlight. It might be a good chance to replenish some of my DTT cigars that have run low. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as aj fernandez, cigar, cigars, Crafted by AJ Fernandez, JR Cigars, Montecristo

by Craig Vanderslice | July 14, 2024 · 9:21 am

La Aurora 115th and 120th Anniversary and Black Label Orthodox Cigars

Last week I mentioned stopping at New Tobacco Village in Whitehall, PA and picking up some cigars. I took a chance on two of the cigars, the La Aurora 115th and 120th Anniversary cigars. Naturally, I started with the La Aurora 115th Anniversary , a 6″ x 58 Gran Toro. This cigar has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Brazilian binder and fillers from Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Brazil. This one doesn’t come in a cedar sleeve, like the 120th, but had a real woody profile to me. I was dissatisfied with the smoke output on this cigar, and what smoke I got was thin in body. So considering I didn’t care for the flavors I was able to get, and the lack of substantial smoke, this probably isn’t a cigar I’m going to re-try. I’m really hit or miss with La Aurora cigars, there’s some I really like, and I hold on to the brand for sentimental reasons, hence my opening remark about taking a chance.

Being somewhat of a cigar optimist, I lit up the La Aurora 120th Anniversary, also in the 6″ x 58 Gran Toro. This one is a Dominican Puro, with a Dominican Habano 92 wrapper, Dominican binder and filler from the Cibao Valley in the D.R.. Based on the blend, I should have liked this cigar less than the 115th, lets just say I found it different. The draw and smoke output were much better, and allow me to clarify something, the 115th had what seemed to be a fine draw, it was just stingy with the smoke. This one had much better body to the smoke, but I still got the woody flavors, which isn’t my preference. I contemplated having something that I really like after smoking this, but my palate was fatigued by the time I was done with it and I figured what’s the point? I’m not one to put a cigar down if I don’t like it when it’s the first time I’ve smoked it, like I said, cigar optimist. I’ll stick with the La Aurora Time Capsule and Preferidos blends (I may still have a Bristol Especiale from the first box of cigars I bought 28 years ago!).

After two misses, I hoped the next cigar would be a sure thing. One f my favorite activities in the summer months is sitting on the porch (enclosed), with a cigar and watching a movie. The temperature hardly matters, it was toasty yesterday, I just find it relaxing after finishing chores. There’s always the chance that a neighbor will do something silly like mow their lawn, but I rigged headphones to the TV just in case (it’s an old TV, no bluetooth). So I put a movie on and lit up the Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox. I like most of the BLTC/BWS cigars, the fact that they say this is getting back to their roots sounds good to me. I had gotten the 5¾” x 50 toro which has a bit of a pigtail cap. The cigar has a dark San Andrés wrapper, Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers. Sounds like a winner for me so far. This was offered to retailers who attended the last PCA show in March, so it’s pretty new. I loved it. It was heavy on the dark dried fruit notes, with some earth and spice. My biggest complaint was that it didn’t last through the movie, but that’s OK, I stopped the movie, took a nap, and resumed it after dinner. (side note, just saw the judge lop the end off a cigar with a miniature guillotine in Sammy Hagar’s I can’t Drive 55 video…I didn’t remember that! I have 80’s videos playing while I type). The Orthodox was rich and satisfying, it definitely made up for two days of disappointment.

Bob the Cigar Guy was kind enough to mention me in one of his recent reviews (https://youtu.be/WCZNh1A4-yE?si=c0UoH3vSo2V_u02n), and I appreciate his effusive, yet certainly unnecessary, praise. Bob’s a good dude, check out his stuff if you get a chance. That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 115th, 120th, Black Label Trading Company, cigar, cigars, La Aurora, Orthodox

by Craig Vanderslice | July 7, 2024 · 9:03 am

Brick House, La Galera and Te Amo Cigars

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Independence Day! I celebrated by smoking a couple anniversary themed cigars, and going out to dinner with my wife and granddaughters. We celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary, I know, Independence Day, we had our reasons! After work Friday, even with the Thursday off it had been a busy week, I decided to unwind with an old favorite, the Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro from J.C. Newman. I’m sure this cigar has been mentioned before once or twice in this site, but I had some thoughts while smoking it. This is a 6¼” x 60 cigar with a Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper over Nicaraguan fillers and binder. I thought to myself while smoking this that when there comes a time when I ‘ve smoked through my collection of singles, and at a place where I’m smoking a rotation of cigars, this would be a great cigar to include in that rotation. It’s a really good cigar which fits my flavor preference and it’s not hard on the wallet. I might opt for the toro, but even in this size it makes me happy. It’s certainly a cigar I can smoke often. I’m a fan of the line.

Yesterday I found myself driving through Whitehall, PA and stopped in New Tobacco Village and had a smoke with Lina and John. I bought a bunch of “new to me” cigars and sat down and smoked a La Galera Anemoi Notus, the 5″ x 56 Robusto Gordo in the line. I didn’t include a link to their site because it seems like it’s compromised somehow, I got information from CigarCountry.com, which, if memory serves, has some association with Jochy Blanco, who makes the cigars. I could be wrong. The info was credible, so I’m going with it.The Anemoi has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Dominican Jacagua Corojo binder and Criollo 98 and Piloto Cubano fillers. For a Broadleaf wrapped cigar, it smoked more like a Habano, with a citrus tang to start. It never really developed the sweetness I expect from Broadleaf. It was a good smoke, made better by the company. New Tobacco Village is a really nice little shop with a very broad selection. They have a new exclusive, the Devil in Disguise, which I wrote about a couple weeks ago.

I picked up a new Te Amo in the Magnum (6″ x 60) size, which I’ve been itching to try. When I started smoking cigars back in the mid-90s, Te Amo was one of the first brands I enjoyed. It was partly because my father-in-law recommended the brand to me, and I would occasionally have cigars with him, that I got into the brand. I think it was one of my first few box purchases. I even smoked the Te Amo Segundos, which were even more inexpensive. Naturally, I gravitated to the maduro toros, and I think Te Amo was responsible for the 6″ x 50 size being called a toro. So I was anxious to try this new expression of the Te Amo, the original San Andrés Valley cigar. It’s made by the Turrent family, who is responsible for most, if not all, of the San Andrés tobacco. This line features San Andrés Habano wrapper and fillers, with a San Andrés Negro binder. I thoroughly enjoyed the cigar, although it only slightly reminded me of the Te Amos of old. It has some rich soil notes with some spice and coffee with cream. I’ll be very interested in sampling a maduro when and if it comes out. This line had such a bad reputation amongst aficionados, it will be interesting to see if it’s revival has legs, and it will be equally interesting to see if it’s accepted by the old Te Amo smokers. Of course, it costs about four times what they cost in the 90’s!