Welcome to post number 1601! I’m not sure if that’s a milestone, but I noticed that I had made 1600 posts over the course of the last 13 years (officially at the end of the month, but close enough!), and that seemed like something worth mentioning. That’s 123 posts per year, or 10 per month. I know it’s not Coop or Halfwheel, but I think it must show some level of dedication, right? Anyway, naturally I celebrated by 
smoking some cigars. As I write this I’m smoking a PDR El Criollito (pronunciation tips gladly accepted). This 5″ x 54 Robusto has an Ecuador Criollo 98 wrapper, San Andrés binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan Criollo 98 fillers. I’ll preface this by saying that I’m not the biggest Criollo fan. This cigar, however, is darned tasty. It’s a little nutty, but mostly just good, well cared for tobacco. I also don’t normally smoke in the mornings, but this is going very nicely with coffee. I’m kinda digging it.
I also smoked PDR’s Connecticut Valley Reserve Azul Churchill again this week. This is an interesting cigar. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf Rosado wrapper, Binder from Jalapa and Dominican Corojo, Condega, Nicaragua Criollo fillers. More Criollo. Obviously the wrapper isn’t fermented to maduro like we are used to with Broadleaf, so it’s not quite a sweet as usual, but still has some sweetness, with some drying sensation on the palate. It still was quite good. By the way, the band is gorgeous on this cigar, not that that makes a huge difference. The construction was exceptional, it burned with a flat ember that always amazes me, getting all the fillers to burn as the exact same rate is impressive.
Also this week I sampled a couple vitolas in the German Engineered Cigars Raumzeit line. This is what they have to say about it on their website:
Your first impression of RAUMZEIT is characterized by a light, silky, fragrant wrapper.
Its smoke combines aromas of nuts, cream, honey, stardust, and malt with white pepper, minerals, cloves, flying saucer, and nutmeg into a wondrously sweet and complex experience.
Body: light to medium
Wrapper: Nicaragua – Connecticut
Binder: Indonesia – Sumatra
Filler: Nicaragua -Jalapa & Dominican Republic – Piloto
First, “Raumzeit” is German for “Spacetime”. I wasn’t really much of a fan of the flavor of these, I found them rather floral. Perhaps is was just too complex for my palate. I did note that the construction on these was excellent, and the 3½” x 44 Half Corona was a bit more intense than the 5″ x 54 Robusto. Perhaps I just don’t care for stardust and flying saucer flavors, I guess, but if you like cigars that I don’t care for, these would probably be a great option to try. I didn’t get a chance to meet the German Engineered Cigars guys at the PCA show, they were busy when I walked by and I didn’t get back to them. I’ll make a point of it if we re in the same place at the same time again.
That’ll do it for today. Next weekend I’ll be going to the Connecticut Barnsmoker (to make up for missing the PA). Looking forward to seeing everyone there. Until the next time,
CigarCraig
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I started dipping in to the PCA show samples, and and one that caught my eye was the Dissident Bloc. This isn’t a new cigar, but it was one I hadn’t tried before. I spoke with Cyn and Josh Coburn, the new owners of the brand a the Oveja Negra booth. They seem to have a passion for the brand. I smoked the corona gorda size, 5 5/8″ x 46, one of my favorite sizes after toro. The cigar has an Ecuadorian Maduro wrapper, whatever that is, Ecuador 
My video interview with Tatuaje Cigars Pete Johnson has quickly jumped into the top five viewed videos on Youtube! The numbers are relative, I don’t consider myself a “Youtuber”, it just a place to put videos to me. Anyway, I smoked the new Tatuaje Havana VI Verocú Blue in the No. 1 size, which is a 6¼” x 52 Toro. This cigar has a shade grown Nicaraguan wrapper, and is fully composed of tobaccos grown by the Garcia family. The Verocu is one I usually grab when I stop at Holt’s in Philly, I like them. This one is more on the creamy side, with coffee and cocoa. It performed well and is one I will revisit. It was a very nice cigar. 
