Tag Archives: Artista

August 2, 2026 · 9:25 am

Artista, PDR and Española Cigars

I’m struggling with it being August already! I want summer to be year round. I have this Frontier Airlines Go-Wild pass that I haven’t used yet this year, so at least when the weather starts to cool off here I can get to someplace warm. I’m still itching to take a day trip. Anyone want to meet up at your local lounge for a smoke or two? Anyway, I was going through the cigars from the Smoke-onos festival and pulled out a few I haven’t smoked for todays edition. First up was the Artista Harvest Sumatra in Robusto that Kevin of Artista handed me. This 5″ x 54 box pressed beauty has a Sumatra wrapper, a Cameroon binder and a proprietary filler blend of Dominican tobaccos. I feel like I must have smoked this before, I know I’ve smoked the Falu and Midnight from Artista, but I can’t find the Harvest in my notes anywhere. I like the presentation, the bands are sharp. This had a great burn and draw, it’s a cigar I definitely would not hesitate to buy and smoke again. It had that bright, citrus tang, but lacked the sweetness I associate with Sumatra. It was a very good cigar.

Next up was the PDR 1878 Recordando a Santiago Edicíon Capa Sungrown. I had no idea the name was so long, I just called it the 1878 Capa Sungrown. I got a late start on this one as we had gone to see the new Spiderman movie. I don’t know about you, but movie prices are wild. We get $5 tickets every now and then through T-Mobile, which helps, but a bucket of soda and a pail of popcorn are over $20. Sure they have free refills, but how much popcorn and soda can one consume? Makes waiting to watch movies at home attractive but there’s something about the big screen. I was watching Close Encounters last night and thought back to seeing it on the big screen and how much more spectacular it was. The theater is just more immersive. Anyway, this PDR cigar was quite tasty. It was a robusto, 5″ x 52 with a curled pigtail. It has an Ecuadorian Sun Grown Claro wrapper, Dominican Criollo 98 binder and the filler is Dominican Corojo Seco and Ligero. Again, this was a bright blend, with that citrus tang. Very nice.

If it seems like I’ve been smoking more robustos lately, it’s true. In some cases it’s because they work into the available time better, and in some cases it’s because it’s what I have. Right now, for instance, I’m smoking a Camacho Connecticut Robusto because I like a shade cigar in the morning, and I prefer a shorter smoke in the morning. I’ll take a toro or larger in the afternoon and evening most times, and If I want a certain cigar and only have a robusto, maybe I’ll have two. Yesterday morning, before getting on with my day, I had a cigar that I am unfamiliar with, an Española 1996 Connecticut Robusto. This is the premium line from JM Tobacco, who I’ve seen at past trade shows, but, since they are a west coast company, never saw around here. When doing some research, I typed in espanolacigars.com and found the domain to be available, while their website is españolacigars.com. I think if it were me, I’d register both domains. Anyway, this 5″ x 50 robusto has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, San Andrés binder and Dominican fillers. It was a nice medium mild morning cigar, with some nuts and wood flavors. It got my day started off on a positive note. I am not averse to trying the Maduro and Corojo in this line.

I was worried that I might not find enough to talk about in this post, but I managed to get some words out, all in less than a robusto time! That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

😃+

Cohiba Spectre, Rocky Patel Dark Star and Artista Falu Cigars

This week we made settlement on my parents house, the house I grew up in for the most part. It was the end of three and a half months of clean-out, and there’s still a ton of stuff we have to find homes for. But the stresses of having to run back and forth to the house are over. I needed a celebratory cigar, and General Cigars was very generous in sending samples of the ’24 Cohiba Spectre, which was just recently released. They have this cigar priced at $149.95, which is absurd, or course, but it makes this the second most expensive cigar I’ve ever smoked (Davidoff Dom Perignon from the ’70s was the most expensive). These are packaged in a ten count articulated cylinder that has the cigars in individual humidified tubes, with a travel humidor in the middle. My cigars came in cellophane. Clearly a lot of the pricetag is in the packaging, it’s probably a better value dropping the $1500 on the box! Not that the cigar isn’t great, I hate that I loved it. It’s a 6″ x 52 toro, with a 7-Year-Aged Havana Connecticut 2017 wrapper, Mexican San Andrés binder and Criollo 98 from Mao Dominican Republic, San Andrés, Vuelta Abajo fillers. It starts spicy, and progresses to a neat array of exotic spices throughout. It’s quite interesting and delicious. The only other Spectre I’ve smoked was the first one in 2018, and it doesn’t hold a candle to this one. I was very impressed.

Coming back to reality, last week I had mentioned picking up some new-to-me cigars, and one of them was the Rocky Patel Dark Star, of course in the 6″ x 52 toro. I thought Rocky liked making toros 6½”? This is and interesting blend, it has a Honduran Corojo wrapper and Nicaraguan, Honduran & Paraguayan fillers. I always appreciate a good burn and draw, this had it, and it had what I consider to be bright, woody flavors. Around the band I got a sensation of cinnamon, which I found interesting. I probably don’t smoke as many Rocky Patel cigars as I should, I usually find something I like about them.

Another cigar I picked up was the Artista Falu in, you guessed it, toro size. I believe this is the third in their newest series, with the Harvest and Midnight being the others. This one has a Broadleaf wrapper, Indonesian binder and a proprietary blend of Dominican tobaccos. It’s a box pressed 6″ x 50 toro. I really like this series, they are fairly priced in the $12 range, and smoke really well. This cigar had a lot of dark dried fruit and espresso characteristics, and was squarely in my wheelhouse. I’ve had a good relationship with Artista for a long time, nice folks who make a good product.

Last night I smoked a Wise Man Claro, so I decided to smoke an old El Güegüense this morning to see how they compared. No similarity, they are very different cigars. Both excellent, grab up any El Güegüense you see! That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Artista, cigar, cigars, cohiba, Dark Star, Falu, rocky patel, Spectre

February 23, 2025 · 9:52 am

Grace O’Malley, Big Papi HOF and Fratello Bianco Nero Cigars

Info a

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bout this cigar isn’t going to be offic

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ially released until next Saturday, but I’m going to get ahead of things here. I hope Kevin isn’t pissed at me. When I was in Tampa last November, I was fortunate enough to accompany Kevin (CigarProp, Trash Panda) to Single Barrel Cigar Company to drop off the cigars that would become Grace O’Malley Pirate Queen Cigars. The Robusto size cigars, which were made by JSK Cigars, are 5″ x 54, and may be a tweaked version of the JSK Red Knight.

Here’s a quote from Kevin on

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the barrel selection:

We partnered with the crew at Single Barrel Cigar Company, aligning our pirate theme with the perfect aging vessel: a rum barrel. But not just any rum barrel. We selected a Sazerac Rye barrel that had previously held Myers’s Rum before making its way to Big Storm Distillery, where it finished yet another rum. This multi-layered history of spirits infused our cigars with unparalleled complexity.

The cigars were placed in the barrel on November 7, 2024, and remained there for 94 days, emerging on February 9, 2025.

As I’ve said ad nauseum, I haven’t had

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a drink in 35 years, so I don’t have much of a palate for spirits, and when I gave it up, the highest quality rum I drank was Bacardi (no offence to Kevin, I know it’s a staple for him, but it’s not a high end sipping rum). After smoking the Single Barrel Blanton’s Gold Maduro and enjoying it, I had some expectations for a cigar aged in a rum barrel. I was expecting sweet, it was a tasty cigar, but more of the barrel char flavor to me than sweetness. I did make a mistake though, I wish I had mooched a cigar off of Kevin before being put in the barrel, although at the time I had no expectation that I would get to sample the finished product. I smoked a couple of these, and they were consistent, and I enjoyed them for what they are, a quality cigar, with a boozy aroma from the start. Like I said, I’m not the guy for anything spirits related. However, I was

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able to figure out the proper way to use the cannon carriage cigar rest!

I smoked a couple more cigars I got at the TPE show a few weeks back this week, starting with the Fratello Bianco Nero, which was released last year. Omar gave me this cigar knowing how much I enjoy the Bianco, and this Bianc

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o Nero (Italian for White Black for some reason), is a tweaked version. It’s a 6″ x 58 box pressed perfecto, with a Maduro San Andrés wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan fillers. They only made 500 ten count boxes of these, and I wouldn’t mind

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having one of those in my humidor. This was a spectacular cigar, possibly richer in flavor than the regular Bianco (big fan of the Boxer), with loads of espresso flavors. I’ve had some really good cigars so far this year, and this is near the top of the list so far. Delicious.

Another cigar that came home from the TPE show with me was the Big Papi HOF from Artista Cigars. This was a 6″ x 54 toro, they also have a limited edition figurado that’s reminiscent of a baseball bat, and they only made 541 boxes, which is the number of home runs he hit during his major league career. Artista is a funny brand for me personally. I have a good relationship with Kevin Newman there, but there are only one or two cigars in their portfolio that really work for my palate. There are a couple other brands like that, and I keep trying, because I like the folks and want to support the brand. It’s kind of weird, I guess. Anyway, I smoked the Big Papi HOF yesterday and enjoyed it. It has a San Andrés wrapper, although not a dar maduro color, with Indonesian binder, and a proprietary filler blend, which one would assume is largely Dominican given David Ortiz’ roots. I got a woody profile with some subtle spice, not my favorite profile, and not what I expect from a San Andrés wrapper, but objectively quite a good cigar. I need to revisit the Harvest and Midnight and try the Falu in their Artista Series. Buffalo Ten is a really great bargain in any wrapper.

That’s all for today, I’m working on another adventure for next week, so stay tuned!

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Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Artista, Bianco, Big Papi, cigar, CigarProp, cigars, Fratello, Grace O'Malley, HOF, JSK, Nero, Pirate Queen, Single Barrel Cigar Co., Trash Panda

September 17, 2023 · 10:22 am

More Big Sky Cigars, a Cuesta Rey and an Artista

I’ve been working my way through the Big Sky portfolio, this week I sampled the Madison and Bitterroot in the river series. The four cigars in this series, which include the Blackfoot and Bighorn that I discussed last week, are homages to to brandowners love of fishing those Montana rivers. I don’t fish, if I did I’d be happy just sitting, smoking a cigar and holding a pole, no need to be inconvenienced by actually catching anything. Seems like that would interrupt a good time! I was in a Habano mood Friday, so I lit up the Habano wrapped Madison. Big Sky doesn’t waste time on multiple vitolas, this one is a 6¼” x 52 toro, I like that for the most part, mostly because most of them are toros and I like toros. I don’t have to wonder how another size might be different or if I might like it better, that’s already been worked out for me, it is what it is. In the case of the Madison, it has a Habano wrapper, San Andrés binder and Nicaraguan fillers (Ometepe, Japlapa, Esteli and Condega, did they miss any?), made in the TACASA factory I’m guessing. I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor of this cigar. It was heavy on the cane sugar sweetness that I enjoy from time to time, and it mellowed, but never went away, as some subtle spice snuck in near the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar. For a guy who prefers heavy cocoa maduros, this was a really nice change and I could see keeping these around.

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I had a couple Cuesta Rey Centenario No. 60 Toros this week, a few weeks late as this would have been an appropriate cigar to smoke during my birthday week. Perhaps that’s why the folks at J.C. Newman sent them out! The Centenario blend is one that is nostalgic to me. Many years ago, late 90s, maybe 2000, I was at a big cigar crawl in North Carolina, and a friend who’s since departed won a box of the Pyramid No. 9 and gave them to me. It was a very special gift at the time, and became more cherished after his untimely passing. This is a Fuente made cigar, a darker Connecticut shade wrapper, with Dominican binder and fillers. Funny enough, it doesn’t have the classic shade wrapper flavor that one would expect, it’s more earthy and leathery. I actually don’t think I’ve ever had the Broadleaf version of this, and I want to try it. I enjoy the Centenario, it brings back a lot of memories.

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I stopped in to a local CigarCigars shop yesterday to make a small Cigars for Warriors donation, and picked up a few new-to-me cigars, one of which was an Artista Midnight. I haven’t had anything from Artista since they rebranded from El Artista. I’m a fan of the Buffalo TEN series, but I never really loved the Exactus or Puros Ambar lines they made. The Artista branding looked sharp, and I figured the Midnight was worth a shot, I like those guys and have had a good rapport with them in the past. Heck, if it wasn’t for El Artista, I wouldn’t know Jonas at Blackbird and enjoy his cigars. I picked up the Midnight in the Box Pressed Toro, of course, 6″ x 50, which has a Dark Ecuador Habano wrapper, Ecuador Connecticut shade binder and Nicaraguan, Dominican, and USA filler tobaccos. The wrapper had a mottled appearance, and expressed some nice oils as is heated up. It was a tasty smoke, dark and rich, with a unique and interesting spice, most likely that USA tobacco, tasted like some PA seedleaf to me. I liked this one, it’s a winner, and I’m going to have to pick. up the Sumatra wrapped Harvest the next time.

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Finally, as I’m typing this morning, I’m smoking the Big Sky Bitterroot, named for another river in Montana. This is a 6″ x 54 toro, with a Habano wrapper, San Andrés binder and Nicaraguan fillers. On paper, it looks like the same blend as the Madison, but it sure is a different cigar! The Madison had just the green Big Sky band, where this Bitterroot has a cream colored band with a secondary band with the cigar’s name. Maybe this was the first one in the line and they decided it wasn’t cost effective to continue with secondary bands? Different colored bands is a fine alternative. Of course, having the secondary band helps differentiate the cigars one they are out of the box. The Bitterroot is on the woody/nutty end of the spectrum, with a hint of sweetness. It’s medium bodied, has been a fine morning cigar for me, with a perfect burn and draw, like all of the samples I’ve enjoyed from this company. Stay tuned for a few more in next week’s edition. I’ve been impressed with the line.