Tag Archives: Aganorsa Leaf

by | June 23, 2024 · 9:47 am

La Union, Cro Magnon, EP Carrillo and JFR Lunatic Cigars

My week started with a really nice Father’s Day with all my kids and grandkids visiting.  My youngest stopped at CigarMojo and asked for a recommendation, and, once again, they sold him a very expensive cigar.  I’m never super happy about him spending his hard earned cash, and part of me feels like the guys at the shop take advantage, but he does make a good point: it’s not something I would buy for myself.  He picked up the new(ish) My Father La Union Black para Tatuaje .This is certainly a cigar that piqued my interest, but there was never any way I was shelling out for it.  I’m a cheap bastard, my sphincter tightens when I look at a cigar over $15. This is a 100% improvement over 12 or so years ago.  So, it being Father’s Day, and having this wonderful gift, I had to smoke it.  The cigar is 7¼” x 50 with a 109 head, the head is slightly tapered and rounded. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers, including Pelo de Oro. I’ve walked through the Pelo de Oro fields, although it’s been 13 years, so probably not the same stuff.  This was blended by the Garcias for Pete Johnson’s palate, I almost expected it to be heavier. It wasn’t.  It had a very delicate, nuanced flavor, started with an interesting mintiness, some woodyness and some spice.  It almost reminded me of a Havana, but loads better.  This was a brilliant cigar, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to try it.  Later I smoked the now 25 year old Esperanza para los Niños, which has held up well!

 

I’d been itching to try the new Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapped variant of the RoMaCraft CroMagnon which came out recently, so I had added a couple of the 4½ x 60 Mandibles on to a recent order.  I haven’t seen these locally, although I haven’t been out shopping much lately. This version uses a Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper, Sumatra hybrid binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.  The original CroMagnon didn’t have any Dominican leaf in the blend.  I was hoping to try the Cranium (toro) size, but this was what was available.  I thought this was spicier than the original, and it wasn’t for the faint of heart. I thought I got some grilled steak, but that might have been a neighbor cooking.  I’ll be on the look out for other sizes, but this one hit the spot, although I’ll always have a soft spot for the original. 

 

E.P. Carrillo is launching a line called the Essence series, the Sumatra and Maduro should be on shelves, with more wrapper variations on the horizon.  I smoked the Maduro Friday evening on a drive north.  My wife offered to drive the first leg so I could enjoy my cigar. I actually don’t like to smoke while driving my car because it’s a manual and it just isn’t relaxing.  Fortunately, we were in her car.  Ain’t she the greatest?  The E.P. Carirllo Maduro has a San Andrés wrapper, Honduran binder and Nicaraguan fillers. While it’s made in the D.R., note that there is no Dominican leaf.  I couldn’t help but remember my first La Gloria Cubana Maduro back in the ’90s.  This cigar had some spice with espresso and cocoa, it was right up my alley.  Burn and draw were perfect (which is nice in the car) and it smoked for about an hour and a half.  I’m excited to try the Sumatra, and add some more of  the Maduro to my humidor.  

 

Finally, when we got home last night fairly late, I sat down with the newest Firecracker offering from United Cigars.  This year it is the JFR Lunatic Firecracker, Made by Aganorsa Leaf.  I’m hit of miss on the Aganorsa cigars, but the JFR Lunatic is a good one, although I haven’t smoked any of the obscenely large sizes (there’s only a few 60 ring and under).  This has what they are calling a shade grown Corojo maduro wrapper, and I assume Aganorsa Nicaraguan fillers and binder.  It’s 3½” x 50 with the signature “fuse”, which I get rid of right away.  Smoking time was the better part of an hour, which is good for a little guy.  It had that cane sugar sweetness that I like, and was quite tasty, one of the better Firecracker treatments in my mind.  Not that any are bad, this one distinguished itself. Super-tasty and it looks like it might still be available.  Grab some to try if you see them!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | March 17, 2024 · 10:33 am

Knuckle Sandwich, Julius Caeser, Postanie and Aganorsa Cigars

I smoked a good variety of cigars this week, the next couple weeks will probably be featuring some retailer exclusive cigars, so I figured I’d mix it up.  I had picked up the Knuckle Sandwich 56 Maduro on a recent visit to the Wooden Indian, it was on the high side of what I like to spend, but I wanted to try it.  This cigar is made by Espinosa, at the A.J.Fernandez’ San Lotano factory, for Guy Fieri’s 56th birthday. Obviously, it has a 56 ring gauge, and looks to be made using the San Lotano Oval molds.  I like a 6″ x 56, and I liked the Oval shape.  It has a San Andrés wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  Can anyone tell me why the word “Sandwich” sounds like “Sangwich” when persons of Cuban descent say it?  I went through a phase of smoking cigars with the ring gauge of my age for a while, now that I’m 60 I’m over that. I loved this cigar, which is a shame because it’s limited and expensive.  It started with a nice spice over cocoa, and mellowed into a chocolaty treat, with a hint of the spice.  I dug it, even though when I met Guy at the PCA show a few years ago he really could have cared less and my request for Erik Espinosa to get in the picture with us was ignored. I don’t get starstruck and fawn over celebs, some of them don’t like that.  Anyway, I don’t regret the purchase at all, it wa sa really good smoke, probably the best I had all week.  It was my Pi Day treat.

 

We are in the midst of a string of March holidays, so on Friday I was compelled to smoke a Diamond Crown Julius Caeser Toro.  We all know that March 15 marks the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC.  We know the exact date because he invented the calendar we use.  He instituted that just a year before his death.   Anyway, he was a heck of an Emperor, but I guess his friends thought he was a dick, so they stabbed him. I may be oversimplifying things a little. A few millennia later some Hungarian folks named their son after him, and US immigration screwed up the spelling on his paperwork and Julius Caeser Newman started a cigar company that makes some great cigars.  The Diamond Crown Julius Caeser is made at Tabacalera A. Fuente, has an Ecuador Havana wrapper, Dominican binder and Caribbean and Central American fillers. They could just say Dominican, Nicaraguan and/or Honduran fillers, but they can be vague if they want. I enjoy Diamond Crown cigars, from the mild Diamond Crown, to the bolder Maximus and Black Diamond, and this falls in between.  I find the flavor to be largely sweet wood, which is a nice change of pace for me.  I like this cigar a lot, I remember smoking one of these a long time ago with a shop owner who has since passed, before a big celebrity cigar launch dinner.  It didn’t give me any stabbing back pain either.

 

Saturday ended up being a Connecticut Shade day, which isn’t normal for me, but I had a couple shade cigars I hadn’t smoked yet, so I figured I’d give them a go.  The first one I have smoked, but there’s a new size launching at the PCA show that I had a chance to smoke.  It was the Powstanie Connecticut Justice, a 5½ x 46 Corona Gorda which Mike Szczepankiewicz blended nine years ago for the birth of his son.  This is made at the Nica Sueño factory like the rest of the Powstanie cigars.  I really like the Robusto that Mitch shared with me late last year.  This shape seemed different, it didn’t have the character that the larger ring had, although I still found it to be exceptional. This was a really good shade cigar with some body, which I think must come from the PA Broadleaf binder in large part.  For someone who doesn’t gravitate to shade wrapped cigars, this is a really good one, and worth a shot, but I don’t even think it’s due to be released until next month, some additional age won’t hurt this one. If you come across any Postanie cigars, try them, they are all really quite good.

 

Finally, I smoked an Aganorsa La Validacion Connecticut Robusto that I got at the Wooden Indian a few weeks ago when Fabien and Mike King were there doing an event. Aganorsa is a brand I struggle to find a favorite in. There’s a few I like, and some I don’t, and I can’t seem to remember which is what.  So I buy them and smoke them and enjoy them or not and start the cycle over again. I don’t care for Criollo ’99 too much, so that probably has something to do with it.  I think this series is one I like, and I definitely liked this Connecticut. It was medium bodied, nutty with some wood and spice and really a nice cigar.  I’m going to remember that I really like the La Validacion line (I just went back and checked and I did like the Maduro and Corojo!).  

 

Today is Green Cigar Day, or as some call it, St. Patrick’s Day, so pick out a nice Candela and drive the snakes out of your country!  Why have none of these companies made a Candela Culebra in honor of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland?  Because it would suck and it wouldn’t sell, that’s why. I’ll suggest it to Saka. I mentioned him making a Candela Lancero on my last Podcast episode with him and he poopoo’d it, now he’s making a lancero box featuring the candela. I’d write more today but I used a lot of letters on Mike Szczepankiewicz name. Anyway, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | February 11, 2024 · 12:05 pm

La Sirena LS LEs, a Mexican Mermaid and a Wooden Indian 60th Anniversary Cigar

It’s probably quite apparent I have an affinity for the majority of the cigars in the La Sirena portfolio.  I’ve been a fan of the brand for a long time. The La Sirena brand came into existence the same year I started this site, 2009.  Back then it was a owned by Miami Cigar and Co., and the Classic La Sirena brand was made at the My Father factory.  If you ever come across La Sirena cigars that have the Miami Cigar barcode label on the back, snatch them up. Don’t get me wrong, the current iteration are made at La Zona, and might be my favorite cigar from that factory. In the early years they made some limited editions, an A size and a Solomon (the Dubloon), which had Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers instead of he Habano wrapper. This was the inspiration for the La Sirena LS LE Lancero, and the newly released (at the recent TPE show) box pressed 6″ x 60.  I had the great fortune of smoking both this week, something I’ve been looking forward to. First up was the Lancero, a 7½” x 39 version.  These are made at Tabacalera La Isla, which is owned by Hostos Fernández Quesada, nephew of Manolo Qusada, and cousin of Terence Reilly.  La Sirena has worked with the Quesadas before, they make their Oceano brand, not to be overlooked. In an effort to balance out the paragraphs, see the next one for the blend info!  This cigar was excellent, it exceeded expectations. The burn and draw were perfect, assuming it’s smoked slowly like a lancero should be smoked.  It was good for at least 2 hours. There were dark, rich cocoa and coffee with some earth and spice, a total package. These were made in 2022 and are being released at a rate of 1000 per year over four years.

 

The next night I had the La Sirena LS LE Box Pressed Gordo. This is 6″ x 60 but feels smaller due to the press.  I get the idea that Danny Ditkowich is a fan of the 60 rings, as many of his Tobacco Plaza Anniversary cigars have been larger rings.  My guess is that if the Lancero was Arielle’s smoke, this was her father’s.  Gordos don’t bother me at all, although I’m not a fan of anything too much over 60.  The blend, which I said I was going to mention in this paragraph to fill things out, is a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, San Andrés binder and fillers from the DR, Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. This is the same blend as the Lancero, we might imagine the proportions are quite different! The 2024 production of these was 100 boxes of ten, pretty small.  Comparing the two is unfair, but fun as they are the same blend in polar opposite formats.  Where the Lancero was straightforward and focused, the gordo was mellower and more complex.  This could be the proportions or the temperature of the burn or some of both. It’s a great cigar, which compares more with the Mexican Mermaid in my mind than my memories of the Broadleaf La Sirenas of he past.  I do have an A and a couple Dubloons around that I could potentially smoke to compare, but age factors in. Better to let these beauties stand on their own as excellent cigars. 

 

Speaking of the La Sirena Mexican Mermaid, I smoked the Robusto yesterday, a size I hadn’t previously smoked for some reason.  I’ve smoke a bunch of the toro and the 4″ x 50s, and what they call a lancero but is more of a lonsdale.  To recap, the Mexican Mermaid is made at La Isla, has a Mexican wrapper and binder and fillers from Mexico and the Dominican Republic.  Sounds like a lot of Mexican tobacco, right?  So I started out on Te Amo Maduros back in the mid-90s, so I have a high threshold for what’s now called San Andrés tobacco.  I found the 5″ x 50 Robusto to pack a punch, it was earthy with a lot of strong, black coffee notes. I love this blend, besides the classic La Sirena, it’s one of my favorite cigars.  

 

Friday I posted about the Wooden Indian‘s 60th anniversary Aganorsa Leaf Supreme Leaf. There isn’t much more I can say about the Wooden Indian again, great humidor, great lounge, great staff. I’m a year older than the store. Now, the store hasn’t been under the same ownership for all those years, I want to say that Dave Mayer has owned it for close to 20 years.  They have grown a lot in the 14 or so years since I first stopped in the store, and have a very good e-commerce business. I heard about this a few weeks ago when I spent an evening at the lounge with Fabien Zeigler and Mike King, and was excited to give the cigar a try. This is a Supreme Leaf in a box pressed 5″ x 56, an Aganorsa puro with a Corojo 99 wrapper.  There’s some tie in with Privada, and Wooden Indian sells a lot of their stuff, but I don’t hold that against them. The brand originally came out at the 202 TPE show.  The cigar was pretty darned good, on the woody end of my spectrum, burn and draw were excellent. I like some Aganorsa Leaf cigar more than others, and this was a good one.  Hit up the folks at WI and five this a shot if you’re a Supreme Leaf fan!

 

That’s all for today. I have to go swear at some house projects after lunch and then have some cigars.  I guess there’s some sort of sporting/popular culture event going on today, if you’re into that, enjoy!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | January 28, 2024 · 11:01 am

Adventura, Aganorsa, JFR and DTT Cigars

I was looking at some of the gifted cigars I have this week and pulled out a couple that seemed topical.  Not for any other reason than Abe is a friend and Smoke Inn is a great retail establishment, take note that their event, The Great Smoke, is coming up on February 24.  Hopefully I’ll make it to one of these some year, I’ve heard good things. My secret Santa this year gifted me an Adventura Sociedad Secreta which was a Great Smoke release last year I believe, and actually has ties also to Secreto Cigar Bar in Detroit.  This cigar is a cool size, 6″ x 48, a size I like a lot.  It’s midway between a toro and a Lonsdale, pretty cool. This cigar is made by Henderson Ventura in the DR, and has a San Andrés wrapper that has been aged four years, Broadleaf binder with five years’ age, and 3-5 year aged fillers of Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. I’ll be honest, when I read the blend I was surprised, because I would not have thought it had that combo of wrapper and binder.  It lacked the darkness and earthiness I associate with those tabacos, but did have a nice, sweet woody flavor. It was medium bodied at best, and quite tasty.  I typically am not a Adventura fan for the most part, but this was quite nice.  Thanks to Craig for allowing me to try this!

 

I had a couple more cigars I picked up at last week’s Wooden Indian visit, and smoked a Aganorsa Leaf Signature Maduro in the toro size. To be honest, I wasn’t going to get this, until I was informed I had a $5 credit on my account and figured, what the hell, I’ll put that towards another cigar!  Perfect cigar logic right?  Why take the discount on the cigars I’m buying already when I can get one more for $5 off?  It made sense to me at the time.  Anyway, this looked like one I’d like, and, for the most part, it was. This 6″ x 52 Toro has an Aganorsa Corojo wrapper, over Aganorsa binder and fillers, all gown in Nicaragua.  Apparently there’s some media tiempo in the blend, I would expect that to give it some oomph, but the cigar was so packed at the head that it was a snugger than normal draw. It was good, some nice spice and good tobacco flavor.  I can’t seem to remember which Aganorsa cigars I really like and which one’s are just OK, until I try another, this falls into the latter category.  I should find a place to write this stuff down! 🙂

 

Non-cigar related, my wife and I took a little road trip to see Patterson Great Falls in Patterson, New Jersey yesterday, we had no idea there was a waterfalls in New Jersey.  It was pretty nice, I hope the guy who found it wasn’t canoeing down the Passaic River! Apparently Alexander Hamilton founded the city around the falls and built an industrial complex after the Revolution.  Neat history and cool waterfalls.  On the way home we stopped at Ringing Rocks Park in Bucks County, PA, which has a boulder field that some of the rocks ring when hit with a hammer.  Strange to see this naturally occurring boulder field, again, I wonder who figured out that they ring? Anyway, I came home to a losing Flyers game and had a cigar.

 

The cigar I chose was another Great Smoke release, this one from a few years back, the DTT-EX-38, another secret Santa gift, this one from Mitch (TY!).  This one was an exclusive for the ’21 Great Smoke, which was the one that was virtual, an 8 hour telethon style event.  I think Carlito Fuente stole a Sakasquatch on the broadcast. This was a cigar Saka had been working on for several years using a Costa Rican Morron ligero if I understand correctly. He made some for the Great Smoke, and is either still working on the blend, or has given up, hard to say.  This was a fascinating cigar. It was 5″ x 46 with a pigtail, nice size for the time I had before dinner. It was very chocolaty, but a weird, chocolate that coates the palate. Loads of flavor. This had a long finish, I might still taste it 17 hour later and having had another cigar after it.  I think the people that were able to get these had a special treat, and I’m fortunate that I had the chance to try one.  

 

Finally, as I was leaving last week’s Aganorsa event, Fabien handed me a JFR Corojo Robusto “to smoke on the ride home”. I didn’t, of course, it wasn’t that long a ride.  This is another Aganorsa puro, featuring the Aganorsa Corojo wrapper.  It’s a dark wrapper, I had to look at the band to determine if it was the Corojo or the Maduro.  I have to smoke more of these JFRs, I think.  This was a good smoke, burned well, was fairly strong and had a lot of spice.  I liked it.  I’m not sure if it was the cigar or not, but I had weird dreams all night, the kind that you wake up, then spend the better part of an hour trying to figure out WTF that was all about, then falling asleep and waking from another weird dream.  I ended up getting up around three and watching Shazam on TBS until I fell asleep again (which didn’t take too long). Very strange. I didn’t eat anything spicy or anything like that, strange how the brain works.  Won’t prevent me from giving the JFRs more attention.  

 

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

 

Craig

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by | January 21, 2024 · 10:38 am

Some Aganorsa Rare Leaf and Statesman Cigars

Thursday evening I found myself faced with a dilemma, go to an event at the Cigar Mojo shop a mile from home, or a pop-up event at the Wooden Indian 15 miles from home.  The subject matter of the Wooden Indian event was far more appealing to me, so it made the choice easy, otherwise I’d have made a token appearance at Mojo and gone home to watch hockey.  It happened that Fabien Zeigler and Mike King of Aganorsa Leaf Cigars were in the area and were hanging out at the Indian, so I went, picked up some cigars, and hung out. Now, I’m hit or miss with the Aganorsa line, but there are a lot more hits than the event going on a the other place, and liking the people involved means more than liking the cigars in some cases.  I hadn’t seen Fabien since he left Drew Estate, and it’s always nice hanging out with Mike King and I feel right at home at the Wooden Indian.  I bought a selection and lit a Rare Leaf Maduro, it the Toro shape.  Their Toro’s are 6″ x 54, which suits me fine, and the wrapper is a San Andrés over Nicaraguan Aganorsa tobaccos.  I managed to pay attention to this one enough while conversating to know that it’s not one of the Aganorsa cigars that I don’t care for, it’s a perfectly decent, earthy mexican maduro with some rich cocoa and a little spice.  I’d definitely smoke this again, although it’s not replacing any favorites.  

 

I decided to follow it the next night with the Rare Leaf Corojo, also in the 6″ x 54 Toro size.  This has what they call a Nicaragua Café wrapper, Aganorsa Corojo 99 binder and Aganorsa fillers, sounds like a Nicaraguan Puro to me.  My impression of this one was that the flavor was largely on the wood end of the spectrum.  It was a good smoke, performed well, had some interesting flavors, a little citrus tingle here, some pepper there. When it comes to the woody and leathery cigars, I tolerate them, but it’s not something I’m going back to, unless I  forget and buy one again (which is becoming more and more likely!). I grabbed a couple more toros, and I’m pretty sure I smoked them before, and maybe even liked them!  I’m still way ahead of the game if I had gone to the event at the other shop.  There will be plenty of people coming to the shop by my house, I can miss one here and there. 

 

I received an email from Tommy Allen of Statesman Cigars in California asking about getting some exposure for his brand, I was intrigued.  Any time someone decides to start a cigar business in California I get curious. Is this guy nuts?  I need to know more.  So I figured he might be a good subject for the next video interview, which I’ll work on arranging, my “studio” is on the cool side this time of year. He sent me a couple cigars to sample, which I smoked yesterday. The cigars arrived in individual sealed pouches, and he shipped them separately in USPS Priority Mail boxes, which was unnecessary and overy costly.  He said it had to do with making sure the recipient got “as excellent an experience as possible”, which is a good thing.  Still could have put two cigars in one box, I’ve personally gotten ten in one of those!  Who am I to criticize though?  Taking  care of the customer is job number one, and it’s becoming less and less of a thing.  I started with what I believed to be the Bella Donna, their Habano blend.  Their cigars are all figurados, this was a 6″ x 56ish perfecto. I should have measured the ring gauge, but I did measure the length. This size isn’t listed on their site, which was a little confusing.  Regardless, or irregardless, depending on where you fall on that linguistic debate, it was a really nice smoke.  It burned well, once getting past the nipple, and had a perfect draw. This had the cane sugar sweetness I like, but it was pretty subtle, not at all cloying or overpowering.  Nice.  

 

The Maduro offering in the Statesman line they call the Nightcap, probably because one would smoke it in the evening, not because it looks like a hat one would wear to bed.  This is another perfecto, this one was 5 3/8″×52, not small, but smaller than the previous Habano cigar.  I definitely have to get into a video interview with Mr. Allen, I have a ton of questions.  They do say that the cigars are made in Esteli, nothing about who makes them, or any real info about the tobaccos.  The quality is good, the cigars are a little on the rustic side, but I not poorly priced at $11 for a figurado.  I’ve had a lot of more expensive cigars that weren’t as good.  The Maduro was a cocoa/coffee maduro with a little bit of strength, although approachable.  Good smoke. Like I said, I have lots of questions, stay tuned for more on Statesman.  

 

I’m to understand that there will be a multi vendor event on Saturday, May 4 at Goose’s in Limerick, PA.  I’m looking forward to this event, I’ll have more information as it becomes available.  

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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