Thursday evening my wife and I attended the Philadelphia Diner En Blanc, which is a large, organized pop-up picnic of sorts. This is something that happens in cities all over the world where everyone has to wear white, bring their own tables and chairs and a picnic dinner, and meet at pre-arranged spots in the city where they guide the groups to a “secret” location. It’s usually a
historic landmark, one year it was Philadelphia’s Boathouse Row, City Hall, and the Art Museum steps (think “Rocky”). We’ve been doing it for the last several years and it’s a hoot, and, of course, I work cigars into it and I try to make appropriate choices.… Continue reading
A Padron Damaso at Diner en Blanc and a Couple of New All Saints Cigars
The American Double Robusto by J.C. Newman
I recently had the opportunity to smoke the newest vitola of the American by J.C.Newman. This is a cigar made in the U.S. from all American tobaccos, here’s the information from J.C.Newman:
Handcrafted in J.C. Newman’s historic El Reloj cigar factory in the “Cigar City” of Tampa, Florida, The American is the first 100% all-American cigar. This new vitola (5.5” x 56) is the thickest The American cigar to date. It is packed in boxes of 20 with a suggested retail price of $17.50.… Continue reading
Cafe Cubano: Wooden Indian Cigars LCA Exclusive and a Contest
Yesterday the Wooden Indian in Havertown PA (and worldwide on their website), launched an exclusive cigar with the Limited Cigar Association, the Cafe Cubano. This is a 5″ x 50 with undisclosed parts. They also have some coffee to pair along with it. Before I get into the cigar and coffee, as I’m smoking one as I type, let me tell you about something I did yesterday.… Continue reading
News: Drew Estate Announces Suspension of In-Person Events
I usually avoid posting negative news stories, but this one kind of hits home, since I was planning to attend the Connecticut Barn Smoker next week. More importantly, I continue to be impressed by the way Jonathan Drew cares about his staff and consumers, and takes these measures to protect them. Say what you want, but I’ve known JD for over a decade, and have first hand experience with him dealing with medical situations, he takes things seriously, and doesn’t fool around when it comes to the health and well being of those in his charge. When my son had a medical emergency in Esteli back in 2011 he was with us in the Esteli ER and wasn’t leaving until he knew everything was OK. I don’t know how I would have handled that situation without him. So as much as I am saddened to miss the Barn Smoker, I trust that it’s for the best. There will be another time.
Today Drew Estate announces the cancellation of its 2021 Barn Smoker season, as well as the postponement of DE25 (Drew Estate’s 25th Anniversary Celebration at Southfork Ranch in Dallas, TX) due to increasing health and safety concerns resulting from the rise of the COVID-19 Delta Variant, which continues to spread rapidly throughout the country. For the same reasons, effective August 14th, Drew Estate personnel will not attend any multi-vendor events, trade shows, and, until further notice, will not attend any Drew Estate In-Store Events in person (all of which we will seek to work with our retail partners to hold virtually for the time being).… Continue reading
Cubanacan Maduro, Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection, and CAO Cigars
I was wandering through one of the humidors and c
ame across a few cigars leftover from the 2020 TPE show that I had forgotten about. I had run into Lawrence from Cubanacan and he had given me a few cigars, and, for whatever reason they had gotten buried. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what’s up with Cubanacan. Over the years they seem to come and go. Lawrence is a great dude, but I see him here and there (not that I get around a lot), for instance I remember meeting him at one of the Delaware Cigar Festivals in 2012 maybe, then I might not have seen him again until last year. It’s highly likely we just miss one another. That being said, I just don’t hear a lot about Cubanacan cigars, and the last thing I think I heard wasn’t particularly great. I don’t judge based on things I think I might have heard though. I smoked a Cubanacan Maduro in a Lonsdale size. This must be special, because it only comes in a ten count box, per the website. This has a San Andrés wrapper, Ecuador binder and Nicaraguan fillers. After 18 months in the humidor it smoked very well. It tasted pretty much like I expect a cigar made from those tobaccos would taste like, some earth, spice and espresso. I like the lonsdale size, and it was quite satisfying. I suppose I need to dig around and see what else is in there that I might have forgotten about!
One I hadn’t forgotten about, but had recently bought in a sampler from Fox Cigars. I can’t remember why I got this sampler and what all was in it. I added it on to the purchase of the Plasencia sampler, and Maybe this was in it that I wanted, or it priced too good to pass up, or something. For some reason when I received it I set this cigar aside as I had already smoked the rest of the cigars. They all must have been oned I liked. I don’t know, I make strange purchasing decisions some times. It’s CAD, Cigar Acquisition Disorder, and it’s real. The support group meets here every Sunday and Wednesday. Hello, my name is CigarCraig. The cigar in question is the Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Robusto. For whatever reason they ch
oose to cover up this nice looking caramel colored Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper with gold foil, a nice, yet unnecessa
ry presentation. This seems to use all Aganorsa grown tobacco with the sevres sauce being some Media Tiempo, the rare top, top priming above ligero. This was a nice cigar, medium bodied, with some richness, with a feeling that the wrapper was grown under shade. It was creamy with some leathery kinda notes. Good cigar, which nicely filled my afternoon. I wish I could remember what else was in that sampler!
I wrapped up last night with a CAO Amazon Basin Orellana. This was the fourth cigar in the Amazon Basin trilogy, wait, that’s not right. I thought it was a trilogy, then they goofed it up by adding a fourth! I wasn’t overly fond of the original Amazon basin, although some people lost their minds over it. Didn’t hit me right. The Em Corda, and Anaconda hit me right, I loved them. I don’t like the name of the Anaconda, because I hate snakes, but I get it with the whole Amazon theme. I originally thought the Orellana was closer in flavor to the original Amazon Basin, and I still think it probably is, but I like it more with some age. I still like the other two more, but this has matured, whatever sour notes that I didn’t care fr aren’t there any more. It was a rather enjoyable cigar, al
though, in retrospect, I should have chosen a shorter cigar, and I’ll elaborate. I got off to a late start, and, hence, a late end. The Orellana is a toro sized cigar, and since I finished late, I had a hell of a time falling asleep. This means I’m going to have to take a nap today, when I could be smoking a cigar! Then I might be up late again and the whole cycle continues!
I bought a bike yesterday to ride to work, maybe I’ll ride to the cigar shop today. If it stops raining, that is…I made sure to buy one with an ashtray holder. That’s all for today, until the next time,
CigarCraig
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