Tag Archives: Alec Bradley

by Craig Vanderslice | January 12, 2020 · 10:24 am

Protocol Probable Cause, Alec Bradley Gatekeeper, and Some PCA Throughts

There was big news this week regarding the largest four cigar companies deciding not to present at the PCA (formerly IPCPR) show in July. This dominated the news and discussion, so I figured I better add my $.02 for what that’s worth. I’ll start my saying that I bowed out of the IPCPR/PCA a few years ago as I just lost my will to keep getting shaken down for $400 a year to spend triple that out of my own pocket to promote their show when the organization made it clear they didn’t want me there. Argue with me if you want, call me names and say I should support the industry, but I do this as a hobby, I go to the show on my vacation time, out of my own pocket. Everything I do supports the industry, they aren’t going to miss my four bills. The TPE, on the other hand, gave me a press pass, offers early access and a media space, like other major trade shows, ones who value the media (yes, that was snark), and no, the TPE didn’t offer me anything except a press pass, once again, the rest of the trip is out of my own pocket. OK, so the big 4 aren’t going to the show, and Villiger, who isn’t big in “premium cigars, but is still a huge company, pulled out last year. I’m sure everyone gets any show specials from these companies whether they are at the show or not, so that isn’t a big thing. Of course, the Drew booth was always something to see, but How necessary are these huge booths? For that matter, how necessary are any of the huge booths at the show? I think the show is way too big for such a small industry, myself. What do I know. The PCA says that the 4 companies account for 12% of the floor space, which is pretty significant, but do they make up 12% of the dollars? more? Less important, to anyone who has attended the show, who remembers the last time someone other than a major company sponsored the opening gala? They ran out of food in the first 15 minutes and I paid $6 for a bottle of water, that’s what happened! All that rambling, and I’ve said nothing new, but I’m really interested in seeing this TPE show, not only the premium cigar part, but maybe the some of the other exhibits. I need to see if I need an appointment with General Cigars, because their IPCPR booth tours were always a highlight.

One of the several cigars I smoked this week which was notable was another Secret Santa selection from my buddy Adam. I think I have one of these buried in a humidor someplace, but this one was convenient (I prefer smoking cigars FIFO when possible). The cigar was the Protocol Probable Cause Churchill, another great cigar out of La Zona. It seems like I’ve been smoking a few cigars from La Zona lately, or maybe I just smoke a few La Zona cigars frequently. This isn’t really a Churchill, it’s 6½ x 48 (a Churchill should be 7″ x 47, with some latitude on the ring gauge everywhere but Cuba), but it isn’t a Toro or anything else really either. Whatever you want to call it, it’s a nice size for my tastes. I had Saka’s Triqui Traca 648 this week too and it’s a size I really like. The Probable Cause has a San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and is a really great tasting cigar. It’s got some pepper and earth, with good, rich espresso that I like, and I really dug it. It seemed to have a slow spot in the middle, one of those dead spots that didn’t really have any smoke, weird when they do that, but I powered through and it finished great and I loved it! I’m going to have to dig around and see if I have another one, and keep an eye out for more. I know I have some blue banded ones and Themis around. Maybe it’s in the Lancero tray, that would be a treat! I don’t see Juan and Bill on my TPE list, but maybe I’ll see them there.

Yesterday my wife needed to go to the King of Prussia Mall (largest mall in the country, about 10 miles away from home) to shop, so she dropped me off at husband day care, ie. CigarCigars in the mall. CigarCigars shop there has been there for years, it used to be International Tobacco, but the CigarCigars chain bought it . few years ago. The store doesn’t have a mall storefront, it’s accessed down a corridor, but it has an exterior entrance. It’s a nice shop, with a decent selection and a comfortable lounge and a counter/bar to enjoy a cigar while your wife is out shopping. I decided to sample the Alec Bradley Gatekeeper, so I bought a Corona and a Toro, and lit the Corona, naively thinking I’d only have an hour to smoke. This cigar is one that Alec and Bradley Rubin worked on with Ernesto Carillo, and has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and a Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The Corona is 5 1/8″ x 42, but felt thinner to me. The cigar stared out with a funky flavor, it was earthy, leathery, maybe mushroomy…I don’t like mushrooms…I had a bad experience with them in the 80’s, but that’s another story. I was a little worried that, one, I was stuck with a smoke I wasn’t going to like, and two, I had an even bigger smoke I wasn’t going to like in my pocket. Oddly, about an inch in, the funk went away, and it sweetened up to a sweet leatheryness that I liked. It turned out to be a pretty tasty smoke and I had hope for the toro in my pocket!

When I got home and had some lunch, I decided to see how the Toro compared, kind of and A/B comparison (a double meaning, A/B, Alec Bradley, get it?). It was a rare January day in the 60s, so I took a nice walk with Macha and the Gatekeeper Toro. The Toro is 6″ x 52, a great size for a walk. See above for the blend specifics. The Toro performed, to my tastes, much better than the Corona. It lacked that funk in the beginning which almost put me off. It went straight to the sweet earthy, leather kind of flavors. While this isn’t my most favorite flavor profile in the world, it was pleasing, and a very nice smoke. In the latest round of Alec Bradley releases, my preference is for the Magic Toast, without hesitation, but I’d smoke this Gatekeeper again, and the band is pretty classy. It’s hard for me not to like cigars from EPC, although there have been a few.

That’s all for today. There was another standout cigar I smoked this week, but I’m awaiting more information, and I will smoke more anyway, so I’ll rave about it another time. Until then,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Alec Bradley, cigar, CigarCigars, cigars, Gatekeeper, IPCPR, PCA, Probable Cause, Protocol, TPE

by Craig Vanderslice | September 22, 2019 · 8:25 am

Macanudo Heritage Nuevo and Various Cigar Musings

It’s been an interesting week. I actually worked Monday through Friday this week, the first time in almost a year! Since take a vacation last week, and needing the weekend off to go to a wedding in Massachusetts this weekend, The schedule worked out that way. Next week I’ll get back to working weekends and having weekdays off. So I posted so quick news items, one of which was relevant to one of my favorite local shops, who’s annual charity event which I usually report on here I missed. I also only slipped one new cigar in. I did smoke some great cigars though. The Alec Bradley Magic Toast has quickly become my favorite AB cigar, passing the Nica Puro. That’s a cigar that is rich, full of flavor and complexity. It’s another cigar that is sweet and makes a great desert! I also had a late night that called for a short smoke, so I dug into my collection of Firecrackers and smoked a Kristoff Pistoff Firecracker. This is another little cigar that hits the spot. It’s got some pop like it should, but it’s not too strong. Burned perfectly and was good for about 45 minutes or so of relaxation after a long day. As I type I’m smoking a Don Juan Calavera Maduro, and I really am enamored with this line. I haven’t picked a favorite yet, The Maduro, Sumatra and Connecticut all smoke great. I brought a bunch of the Connecticuts for the wedding tomorrow, believe it or not, the presentation of the cigar fits in with the wedding theme, more or less. These are a really good Honduran cigar that hits my palate right.

Macanudo Heritage Nuevo is a new release this year from General Cigar. They claim to be using this line to be remaking Macanudo’s popular brands with unique tobaccos. In this case, they’ve based this off of the Café blend, but used an Ecuador wrapper instead of Connecticut. It has a Mexican binder and Mexican and Dominican fillers. I lit this cigar expecting a mild cigar, but I was surprised that it was fairly full flavored. As I got into it, I continued to be impressed with the strength. I’ve smoked many Macanudos in the past that I’ve had to over-smoke and they’ve become bitter and nasty and this one never got that way. It was a pleasure to smoke, with no bitterness at all, just creamy, smooth caramel flavors that were quite pleasant and fulfilling. This was another late night cigar that was very enjoyable.

Last week when I was on KMA Talk Radio, Adam asked me what I though of the PCA’s consumer day, and I, as usually happens, got sidetracked in my answer. What I wanted to say was that, although I have no skin in the game, I really think it was a bad idea, presented and communicated badly, and not thought through. Abe actually has the best idea, issue Consumer badges and charge for them. My rebuttal to that, however, is that they effectively tried to do that with the media, and it’s been a bit of a failure in my eyes. The IPCPR, now PCA, presented the Media membership as a “membership”, and I fear that Abes idea would be seen as the same. More on this another time.

That’s all for today. I’ve got a long day ahead of wedding followed by driving back to PA. I still need to hear from Michael Lanier, the second winner of the last contest. I also need to send a package to PJ, who I declared a winner when I met him in Florida last week, just because! Until the next time,

CigarCraig (on location)

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Tagged as Alec Bradley, cigar, cigars, DOn Juan Calavera, Kristoff, macanudo

by Craig Vanderslice | July 7, 2019 · 9:53 am

A Couple of Shop Visit, a Couple of Cigars and a Contest Winner!

Happy Sunday! I suppose it’s the end of a holiday weekend for a lot of people, I had Thursday off, and stopped into the CigarCigars shop in the King of Prussia Mall and picked up a couple cigars, one of which I smoked later to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Sure, I have plenty of natural Padron 1964 Anniversary Exclusivos, but I hadn’t had a Maduro in quite some time, so I picked one up. My wife spied a Foundry Compounds, Elements and Musings Uranium box with two cigars left in it, so I bought them and got the box. I’m pretty sure I’ve smoked Uranium before, although I don’t smoke many 7″ x 70s. The artwork is cool and I’ll rig a light in the box and it’ll be a nice shelf piece. Gotta give Mike Giannini credit for creative design! So my wife got a ring from Tiffany, and I got some cigars, it was a good day. The Exclusivo was exceptional, of course. I remember smoking my first one probably 20 years ago and they haven’t changed.

Friday evening I took a ride up to Suburban Cigar Lounge in Mount Penn, PA, which is near Reading. This is a really nice lounge run by Gary, over top of what is, by all reports, a very nice restaurant, which, if I’m not mistaken, his wife runs. I went to meet up with Boston Jimmie, of Stogie Press fame, who took his sweet time showing up. If you advertise that you’re going to be someplace from 7-10, showing up at 8:30 is not acceptable, I don’t care how things are done in Florida. 😜Anyway, Gary has a nice lounge with a friendly clientele, and his humidor has a modest but diverse selection from which I purchased some Alec Bradley Magic Toast Gordos, and RoMaCraft Aquitaine Mode 5s, and lit up a Magic Toast. I love this Magic Toast, it’s my kinda smoke. The dark, oily Honduran wrapper is beautiful, and the flavor is equally dark and lush. I smoked a Mode 5 next, and while I prefer the CroMagnon, the Aquitaine is damn tasty. This is a great example of how the wrapper can completely change the flavor of a cigar, as the wrapper is the only difference between the CroMagnon and Aquitaine lines. Jimmie finally showed up and hung out for a while. I hadn’t seen him since the 2017 IPCPR show, so it was nice seeing him again. Suburban Cigar Lounge is a great place to hang out of you find yourself in the area. I’m sorry I didn’t let long time reader Corey know I was going!

Last night I smoked the 2Guys Smokeshop exclusive Pistoff Kristoff Firecracker. Every year they do a special Firecracker release, last year it was the Mi Querida, prior to that it was the Fratello. I’ve managed to smoke a bunch of them, except for the original ones. It’s a small format, 3½ x 50, in a stronger blend. This was the second Pistoff Firecracker I smoked and I thought it was very good. I’m OK with the Pistoff blend to begin with, so I figured I’d be OK with this, and if I wasn’t, it wasn’t going to be a large time commitment. I do, generally, get an hour out of the Firecrackers, smoking them slowly. Because of the closed foot, a trademark of Kristoff, and usually a Firecracker trait, it starts with a blast of wrapper flavor, and some concern that the draw will be tight, once the wrapper burns, this one opens up to a perfect draw and has a good, bold flavor. It was strong, but well balanced. It looks like these are sold out, as is the case with most of the limited Firecrackers, but often the have second runs, and I would recommend these and others if you like small, strong cigars. They have all been exceptional in my opinion.

Contest

It’s time to select a winner in last weeks contest. To recap, I am giving away some great, in my opinion, Don Juan Calavera cigars from Danli Honduras Tabaco (from my own humidor, to protect the innocent), a Herics Cigar Tape, and a Cigar Prop and Light Bleed Tool from CigarProp.com. It’s possible some other goodies could fall into the box while I’m packing it up. There were 42 entries, and according to the random number generator, the winner is Bob Langmaid! I seems like Bob wins everything all the time, but I could only find one instance of him winning one of my contests, and that was almost 4 years ago. I’d rather have someone who hasn’t won before win, but Bob’s name came up, and he’s been fanatically religious about entering my contests for many years, so fair is fair! Please send me your address Bob!

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under Contest, Review, Stores

Tagged as 2 Guys Smokeshop, Alec Bradley, cigar, Cigar Prop, cigar store, CigarCigars, cigars, Contest, DOn Juan Calavera, Firecracker, Foundry, Kristoff, padron, Pistof, RoMaCraft, Suburban Cigar Lounge, Uranium

by Craig Vanderslice | June 5, 2019 · 10:04 am

News: Alec Bradley Announces Lars Tetens Cigar Lines

Twenty-some odd years ago when I started down this premium cigar road, Lars Tetens cigars were in my local shop, I can picture them alone on their little island, segregated from the “normal” cigars in the humidor because of their herbal infusions. Most were sealed in baggies, with odd and interesting artwork. In recent years I’ve come across them here and there, even met Lars at an event a few years ago, he’s still, shall we say, eccentric and enigmatic? It was a bit surprising that a company that I think of as pretty conservative in the cigar world would pick up the brand, but Alec Bradley did it, and here’s the press release about what they are doing with the line. I have to say, I’ve smoke the Serie D and it was quite good, and I have a couple other’s floating around someplace (I admit, they still scare me a little!) As the predecessor to the Acid line in the botanical infused space, if you’re into that these will be worth a try (Kevin 😉).

Alec Bradley Cigar Co. founder Alan Rubin first announced his acquisition of Lars Tetens Brands in April of this year. The acquisition created a partnership between the two cigar makers, Lars Tetens and Alan Rubin; as well as a sales and distribution agreement with Alec Bradley Cigar Co.

Since 1979 Lars Tetens has been renowned in the cigar world for innovating a unique and labor intensive conditioning process using essential oils and botanicals to make the most

Only a few weeks ahead of the 2019 International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) Trade Show in Las Vegas, representatives from Alec Bradley can confirm that the new online home for Lars Tetens is larstetenscigars.com; as well, they have announced the initial brands that are being relaunched in full scale.

“This is a very unique opportunity for Alec Bradley and Lars Tetens. We sifted through a ton of Lars’s grandfathered blends and lines and found the most unique items to feature as our first foray into the world of Lars Tetens” said, Alec Bradley Director of Sales and Marketing, Jonathan Lipson.

Always a character, Lars noted that “we are going to sell a shit load of these cigars!”

The following premium lines are being reintroduced:

-Cubagua, a complex, yet balanced blend offering earth, creamy and delicately spicy notes, featuring a sweet tip. Cubagua will be presented in 25 count boxes in the following sizes Robusto, Toro, Churchill and Gordo; ranging $8.96-$11.20 per cigar.

-Grass, a limited production line that features larger ring gauged pig tailed/closed foot medium bodied cigars, known for their distinct aroma, will be offered in 20 count boxes in Big (a 6X52 Torpedo) and Bigger (6X60) and will retail for $45.00 and $50.00 per cigar respectively.

-Serie D, a fuller bodied line emphasizing the importance of ligero, the boldest part of the tobacco plant. Lars credits the Serie D as being one of his most important lines. Serie D will be offered in three sizes: Robusto (25 Count), Toro (25 Count) and Gordo (20 Count) and will retail for $10.85-$12.90 per cigar.

-SS, shorthand for “Spicy Sweet” is a medium bodied line that features a spicy/sweet tip that is unique to Lars Tetens. SS will be offered in 25 count boxes in Robusto, Toro and Churchill with per cigar retail ranging from $9.85-$11.25.

-Sutton Place is a luxury line as smooth as sophisticated as the famous Manhattan street the line pays homage to. Sutton Place will be available in Petit Corona, Robusto, Toro and Churchill. All sizes except for Petit Corona will be offered in 25 count boxes. The Petit Corona will be offered in 30 counts boxes. Retail is set for $6.75-$11.20 per cigar.

-Steam Punk offers an experience to both the novice and connoisseur cigar smoker alike. The medium bodied cigar features a full flavored smoking experience that can be appreciated by all levels of cigar smoker. Steam Punk will be offered in 25 count boxes in two sizes- Robusto and Toro – and will retail for $9.95 and $11.60 respectfully.

-Phat Cigars, an eclectic line of pigtail/closed foot cigar featuring unique sizes and flavors will be available in the mild Brief XTC ($14.25 per cigar); the medium bodied Royal ($11.75 per cigar), Asadachi ($15.50 per cigar) and Shorty ($11.75 per cigar); and the full bodied Sun Fook Ka ($12.00 per cigar) and Churchill ($15.50 per cigar). Churchill will be available in 20 count boxes, as the rest will be available in 25 count boxes.

“As we are reacquainting the cigar world to Lars Tetens cigars,” said Alan, “Lars and I made a conscious decision to color code the boxes to represent the flavor and body levels of the cigars. Blue is mild, white is medium, orange is full and red is ‘Sweet N Spicy’. All of the boxes feature original graffiti artwork from Lars himself. Our goal is to expose as many cigar enthusiasts to Lars’s products in the easiest way possible. This is a very exciting opportunity and it is time to bring the Lars name back to prominence where it belongs!”

Lars Tetens cigars will be featured at the Alec Bradley booth at IPCPR 2019. Shipping is expected Mid-August 2019.To learn more about Lars Tetens, please visit larstetenscigars.com .

About Alec Bradley Cigars

Founded by Alan Rubin in 1996, Alec Bradley has been acknowledged as one of the world’s leading producers of fine, handmade premium cigars. Alec Bradley has received the cigar industry’s highest critical acclaim for its Prensado, Tempus, MAXX and Black Market premium cigars, to name a few. Their commitment to satisfying cigar enthusiasts worldwide is demonstrated by their passion for excellence, creativity and the highest quality standards.

About Lars Tetens

Lars Tetens is a man of so many talents he has been dubbed by his admirers as a contemporary Leonardo Da Vinci. People ranging from high-profile celebrities to politicians and presidents of Fortune 500 companies have retained him as their consultant on many varying projects, and are among his abundant admirers.

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by Craig Vanderslice | April 14, 2019 · 8:31 am

An Old Excalibur, A Lars Tetens and an Alec Bradley Cigar

I took a little trip down memory lane this week, and smoked some interesting cigars. I did smoke some newer cigars, the Brick House Corona Larga was very nice (I’ll get to that another time) and I smoked another Norteño Toro which is the one cigar from the Herrera Esteli line that I really love. I also threw in a Cornelius toro for kicks. I spent my day off working on a huge building project in the backyard and felt a reward was in order, Listen to the current Retrohale podcast episode to see what those guys thought of one of my favorite cigars, Anyway, lets see what I thought of some of the older cigars I smoked this week.

About five months ago I was given a very well aged Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur Cameroon in the King Arthur size, which is a lonsdale (although they call it a corona, it’s a 6.25 x 45, so I guess it’s neither). Back around 2000 or thereabouts, General Cigar did one of their promotional taste test samplings where they sold a three pack and consumers voted on their favorite of the three, the winner became the Excalibur Cameroon, and there was much rejoicing. Rami, our local General sales professional here in PA, produced a box of these from his locker at an event I happened to be attending and gifted me one, and I decided with the weather getting nicer it was time to smoke this rare gem. Age was kind to this cigar, it held up nicely. Excaliburs used to be a staple cigar for me, back when a $5 Excalibur No.1 was an expensive treat, and the Maduros were quite the treat. I haven’t smoked one in many years, I might need to grab a few. It still had some of the delicate Cameroon sweet, nutty flavor, Camerooniness, if you will, that unmistakable flavor. Burn and draw were perfect and it was quite a joy to smoke. I believe these are still available, and reasonably priced.

There was a lot of news this week that I failed to post about, Altadis marketing Montecristo Minis, Placensia and Davidoff partnering on a cigar, and Fratello releasing a beer line, I missed out on those stories, but my colleagues in cigar media all reported on those stories. The one that was the most surreal was the purchase of a majority interest in Lars Tetens Cigars by Alec Bradley CigarsAlec Bradley Cigars. For those who may not know, Lars Tetens preceded Acid Cigars in the infused cigar market in the mid 90s, they were the first real counter-culture, herbal/botanical infused cigars, and were quite the rage for a while. They’ve continued to be available here and there, I had the opportunity to meet Lars at an event in 2015 as he lives, or spends a lot of time, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. At least until recently, his cigars could be found on several local retailers shelves. He gave me a sampler when we met, and I smoked one soon after, but left several of the more infused smelling examples safely ensconced in a ziplock in the bowels of the humidor until this week when I screwed up the courage to smoke another one. I selected a toro sized cigar called the Tropical Candy, with an Alec Bradley Lineage nearby as an emergency back up, Surprisingly, the cigar wasn’t bad, I finished it. Any infusion must have aged out, as it just tasted like a nice, sweet tobacco, and the burn and draw were fine, although it was a bit loosely packed. I was pleasantly surprised, no hallucinations, no weird dreams, no urge to skateboard or anything, Maybe I was a little let down! I kinda understand the acquisition from a FDA predicate standpoint, as these blends certainly go back to the 1990s. I’ll be very interested to see what Alec Bradley does with the line.

Of course, I had to follow up with an actual Alec Bradley cigar, but instead of the Lineage, I went with an old favorite, the Nica Puro. I got home from work late last night and grabbed a robusto from the humidor, and saw the Nica Puro (I misplaced the Lineage…), and I love the Nica Puro! I haven’t smoked one in a while and I knew it would hit the spot. I do believe this cigar is my favorite cigar Alec Bradley produces, although I have an affinity for several others. This one has a balance of strength and flavor that hits me right. It’s one of those cigars that seems to burn right every time, with a nice straight burn, flat ember, I forgot how much I really like this cigar. There’s a bit of spice, some dark espresso, just damned good tobacco. I always like to have these in the humidor. I like the Robusto in this line, but the Diamond Rough Cut is pretty good too.