Tag Archives: Arturo Fuente

by | October 27, 2024 · 9:50 am

A Few Arturo Fuente Cigars and a Visit with José Blanco

Let me start with this:

This is an excerpt (about 4 minutes) from my final podcast episode in 2019 with Steve Saka where I plant the notion of a Candela Lancero in his head.  First he says it won’t happen, then he backpedals a bit to leave the possibility open. As we now know, he’s made one, and actually likes it.  I didn’t spring for the Lancero sampler, so I may never know what it’s like.  The whole podcast should still be available wherever podcasts can be found (I know it’s on Spotify and Apple Podcasts), it was an interesting and unique conversation.

 

This week I went on a bit of an  Arturo Fuente binge.  José Blanco was in town being chauffeured around by Michael Rushing, the region’s sales rep for Fuente and J.C.Newman. I met up with them at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA. I took a half day off work because, when José is in town I gotta go hang out with him.  I’ve had the very good fortune of knowing José for quite a while, I think the first time we met face to face was at the 2011 IPCPR show where he did a tasting session (he was with La Aurora at the time).  It was in a room with about 500 people.  One on one time with him is rare, so I made the most of it. Today is José’s birthday, wish him a happy one of you see him! They were visiting Cigar Mojo – The Grove afterwards, so I met them there, it’s on my way home after all. It’s always great talking to José, and it was great to meet Michael. I never have any regrets when I visit the Wooden Indian, Dave and his team are always gracious hosts. 

 

I picked up some cigars while visiting the shops, some Arturo Fuente cigars that I hadn’t tried, or hadn’t smoked in many years.  Before I get to them, let me tell you about the Casa Fuente Churchill that I smoked.  This was a generous gift from my friend Stace, who I sent a few things to, not expecting him to return fire. The guy friggin apologized for taking so long!  No apology needed for something that wasn’t expected!  Anyway, what didn’t surprise me was the quality of the gift. One of the cigars was this Casa Fuente Churchill.  This line used to only be available at the Casa Fuente in Caesars Forum Shops in Vegas, but they made it more available a few years ago.  This is a 7¼” x 48 Churchill with a Cameroon wrapper over Dominican binder and fillers. I love the size, and it was a beautiful cigar.  It was definitely a sweet, nutty cigar with some exotic spices that kept me entertained.  Perfect burn and draw.  I think the only other Casa Fuente I had was gifted to me at Casa Fuente in Vegas maybe a decade ago (TY Fich).  This is a brilliant cigar.  

 

When I picked out cigars I went with a theme.  I could have done the 858s in all three wrappers, maybe I should have, but I decided to sample cigars across the Sungrown range.  It’s come to my attention that the 858 Sungrown is now a regular release, not just a seasonal thing.  This is a good thing, because the 858 Sungrown is a spectacular cigar, especially for $8ish.  The 858 is 6″ x 47, a short Churchill, or a thin toro, I don’t know, nor do I care.  This has some cedar and spice, along with a licorice sort of sensation. This is a cigar I want a box of, my only criticism is that I wish they put the green fuente band on this like the rest of the 858s, since it doesn’t seem to be a special release any more, it seems to me it should be consistent with the Grand Reserva line.  

 

I also picked up a Cuban Belicoso Sungrown, which is in the Chateau Fuente line.  This is a 5¾” x 51 belicoso, also with the Ecuador Sungrown wrapper over Dominican binder and fillers.  Also priced in the $8ish range, this has some similarities to the 858 SG, but concentrated. I thought it started with some bitter wood, then got more licoricey, as in it was more pungent and cloying on the palate than the 858. Fortunately I’m not opposed to that, so I enjoyed it, and it lasted nearly 90 minutes, which exceeded my expectations for what I consider a short cigar.  

 

Finally, I smoked a Queen B Sungrown, also in the Chateau series.  This is a 5½” x 52 torpedo, similar in size to the Cuban Belicoso, but shorter and pointier.  This has basically the same blend description as the 858 and the Belicoso, Ecuador Sungrown wrapper, Dominican filler and binder.  All three of these come wrapped in a cedar sleeve,  which is pretty obvious by the pictures. I’m not generally a fan of the sleeves, if they sit in the humidor too long in the sleeves the cigars end up just tasting like wood, which is fine if you like that. I don’t.  I think if I had a box of any of these I’d remove the sleeves for long term storage.  The Queen B is sort of in between the 858 and the Beli, it’s got the cedar and licorice, but not as pungent as the Beli but more pronounced that the 858.  As with all of these, burn and draw were perfect.  I’ve long been a fan of the Fuente Don Carlos, Hemingway, and Ańejo lines, but these Sungrowns are really good. I’ve been kind of lax in branching out across the brand, but I need to, there’s some great cigars, and they have been for many years.

 

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

CigarCraig

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by | December 10, 2023 · 11:01 am

Boliche Blvd, Some Classic Fuentes and a 1502 Cigar

This week I found myself out and about more than usual!  Monday I met up with my friend Steve Tabak from Tampa at the Cigar Mojo location nearest to me.  I stopped into the Cigar Mojo original location on Thursday for their Fuente event, then was back at The Grove location Friday for a 1502 event. That’s enough running around for me for this month!  Anyway, Monday I picked up a few of the new Boliche Blvd by West Tampa Tobacco.  I had smoked a pre-release sample several months ago before I knew exactly what it was, and was looking forward to trying it again.  This is made at the NACSA factory, which is the same factory that makes Dunbarton’s Mi Querida and Red Meat Lovers cigars, among others.  This is a 6″ x 60 and is presented in boxes of 50, it’s a big box, and they only made 500 boxes.  The blend has not been disclosed, all that is said is that the tobacco is sourced from the Oliva Tobacco Co., who owns part of the NACSA factory, so it could come from anywhere.  It’s a medium to full bodied cigar, and I’m standing by my original impression that it’s more on the savory side than sweet. I smoked two this week and enjoyed them, not as much as I enjoy the Attic, Red or even the Black, I’m afraid, but I like that sweetness for the most part. Definitely a high quality cigar and worth a try! I wish I had gotten a chance to catch up with Ricky while he was in the area this weekend, but I hung out with Steve, which is always cool!

 

I stopped in to the King of Prussia Cigar Mojo location (King of Prussia is the name of the “town” in PA, home of one of the largest shopping malls in the country), because one doesn’t often come across Fuente events, and I wanted to see what was up.  By the time I got there, maybe two hours after the event started, a lot of the selection was picked over. They had some nice sampler packs though, but I couldn’t justify the spend this time of year, I have a good many Fuente cigars in the humidor as it is. I did pick up some Hemingway Maduros,  Short Story, Best Seller and a Classic, as they are few and far between.  In my opinion, Fuente does some great work with Broadleaf, putting it on the Opus bunch to make the Ańejo made a better Opus, in my opinion. I think the Ańejo is about my favorite in the Fuente line. Don Carlos and Hemingways are a close second, and putting the Broadleaf on the Hemingway is a treat. The lounge was full at Mojo Thursday, so instead of sitting on their heated outdoor patio, I opted to go home and enjoy the Classic Maduro in my own heated patio.  I love the over-roasted coffee flavor of this cigar, it’s not subtle or complex, it’s just good, and it’s fairly priced.  I smoked the Best Seller yesterday and it’s more of the same, or I guess it’s less of the same, because it’s a smaller format!  The neat thing about the Best Seller is that it has a really tight draw until it burns past the “nipple”, then it opens up and is perfect.  The Classic is basically a Churchill in a perfecto shape, 7″ x 48,  while the Best Seller is 5″ x 55.  I’ve been smoking the Hemingway line for over 25 years and they never fail to disappoint. 

 

Friday I stopped back into the Cigar Mojo The Grove location, with is close to home, to see an old friend, Enrique Sanchez of Global Premium Cigars.  He was there with Ron Melendi, who is brokering the 1502 line in the Northeast. It’s been years since I have hung out with Enrique, it was great to be able to relax and enjoy a 1502 Ruby Toro with him and Ron.  The 1502 Ruby Toro is a 6″ x 50 with a box press, and is made by Plasencia in Nicaragua. The wrapper is Ecuador Habano and the fillers are from Esteli and Jalapa in Nicaragua. As much as I love the Black Gold (the Maduro in the 1502 line), this Ruby really does it for me. This isn’t a new cigar, if you searched it on my site you’d find that I mentioned it back in 2012, back when 1502 was part of the House of Emilio distribution group.  A lot has changed over the years, but this cigar remains consistent, it’s really good! There’s some spice and some citrus sweetness.  I arrived fairly late at the shop, hung with the guys until closing, then went home and finished the cigar. I did, indeed relax and enjoy this cigar. I enjoyed catching up with my old friend, and finally meeting Ron, whom I’ve known of for years, I used to visit his shop in New York City, De La Concha from time to time.  

 

I never said this was a new cigar blog, but a blog about my smoking experiences, although I do try to smoke newer stuff.  This week was some oldies, but goodies!  There are a lot of classic cigars that are worth smoking. I like to have certain Fuente cigars in my humidor all the time, I just love smoking them, and sometimes I don’t get around to them as much as I’d like.  In other news,  Secret Santa names have been selected and I’ll be working on putting my SS package together today. Don’t delay!  Finally, stay tuned for a giveaway or two in the coming weeks!  Tis the season!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 7, 2022 · 12:01 pm

News: Fuente & Padrón Legends Cigar Project To Be Unveiled July 10, 2022

This is going to be a big deal at this weekend’s PCA show, maybe bigger than Guy Fieri’s appearance! There were no pictures included with the press release, I’ll try to get some when I’m there.  

 

Carlito Fuente and Jorge Padrón are proud to announce the release of their Legends cigar project. Please join the Fuente and Padrón families Sunday July 10, 2022 at 3:30 pm at the PCA Trade Show, Booth # 1321 for the unveiling of these extraordinary cigars.

Carlos A. Fuente, Sr. and José O. Padrón were friends and colleagues for over 50 years. They shared common bonds – a passion for the finest Cuban cigar-making traditions and deep respect for their family names. They passed these values on to their children. Their sons, Carlito Fuente and Jorge Padrón, together with their families, have partnered to honor and remember the Fuente and Padrón family patriarchs. For the first time, the families are collaborating on a joint project, a commemorative 40-cigar box in honor of their fathers and their legacies.

The box is detailed with colors, symbols and photographs illustrating the rich family histories and contributions to the cigar industry made by both families. Inside, there are two trays of 20 hand crafted cigars. One tray features cigars made by Padrón in honor of Carlos A. Fuente, Sr. The second tray features cigars made by Fuente in honor of José O. Padrón.

Specially designed bands honor both patriarchs with family symbols and the words the two men lived by – “Familia,” “Perseverancia,” and “Legado” (Family, Perseverance, and Legacy). Both families have selected rare and beautiful tobaccos to create legendary cigars worthy of the extraordinary men they honor.


In keeping with their fathers’ tradition of giving, a percentage of the proceeds from the sales of this collaboration will be donated to the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation and the Padrón Family Foundation.

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by | January 2, 2022 · 10:01 am

New Year Cigars: EP Carillo, Rare Pink and an All Saints Saint Francis

Happy New Year to everyone! As CigarCraig.com enters it’s 13th year I hope to continue to bring you the same level of rambling nonsense you’ve come to expect from me! If all goes to plan, I will be attending the Tobacco Plus Expo in Las Vegas in a few weeks, so that should bring some exciting content (I hope), and maybe some insight into what’s coming up down the road.  I can’t say I’m excited to be getting on a plane, but it’s a necessary evil, I suppose. Anyway, 2022, huh? Crazy. 2021 went by in the blink of an eye it seems, not a great year for a lot of people, pretty good for some. As is my custom, I try to smoke some good cigars through the New Years “holiday”, so I dug out some special ones.  New Years Eve I came across a cigar that had been gifted to me a while ago by a friend in Florida who I hope is doing OK. This was a E.P. Carrillo 10 Year Anniversary Limited Edition Perfecto.  These are 6½” x 56 perfectos that came out in 2019 in a box with 10 each of the La Historia blend and the Encore blend, of which this was the latter. I believe the Encore blend is a Nicaraguan puro, made in the DR. It’s an excellent cigar, somehow it avoids being a heavy Nicaraguan cigar, sure it’s a bit earthy and peppery, but there’s a light citrus that’s sophisticated and delicious. This was a good choice for the last cigar of 2021. Make no mistake, I was asleep by 10.

 

New Years Day I decided to get the year started off with the Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Signature that I bought when we went down to South Carolina a few months ago. Technically the name for this is line is the Rare Pink Vintage 1960s Series, and uses the same molds as the Hemingway line, with a couple exceptions. It’s my understanding that some proceeds benefit a breast cancer charity, never a bad thing. I’ve always liked the Hemingway Signature size, it’s practically a Corona Gorda in a perfecto shape, 6″ x 46. Let’s face it, once the  nipple burns off it’s 5 5/8″, a traditional corona gorda. This certainly didn’t taste like a Hemingway, lacking the Cameroon wrapper (or broadleaf, they are a treat!). It has a rosado wrapper from Ecuador, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers from the best I can tell.  I thought it had an interesting sweet spice that set it apart from other cigars. The burn meandered a bit in the first half, but evened out in the second and was perfect until the end. I’d smoke another without hesitation, but I wouldn’t chase them down or pay more than MSRP for them, but that’s me. 

 

I’ve mentioned before that I toss around the idea of making a top whatever list of favorite cigars of the year. I decided that my ego doesn’t require the stroking of those who make the list, although I guess that’s a little cynical on my part and perhaps my readers would like to know what cigars I found worthy over the last year. I probably don’t have to summarize for my regular readers, but some notables over the last year were the Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms, Undercrown 10, La Sirena Mexican Mermaid, Casa Cuevas Patrimonio, Partagas Decadas 2021 and this cigar that I smoked last night, the All Saints Saint Francis. I smoked the Churchill, which I like a lot, it seems the Toro was The Cigar Authority/Two Guys Cigar of the Year, which is a pretty cool thing for Mickey Pegg and his partners. The Saint Francis is a stellar cigar, it’s rich, decadent, delicious. It’s desert. If I were making that list, it would have been tough to decide if the Saint Francis or Three Kingdoms were on top, hey are both cigars that if I have them in my humidor, I’m smoking them. I can’t wait to try the Saint Francis Colorado, although the bar is set pretty high.

 

One housekeeping note. I have changed the email subscription service I’ve been using for updates from Feedburner to Mailchimp because Feedburner is no longer supported, has become unreliable and may just go away at any minute. Today will be the first test to see if/how it works. I’m hoping for the best. There’s a new subscribe button on the left sidebar of the site if you’d like to receive e-mail notifications when the site is updated if you don’t already. I never share the e-mail addresses, I’ve been asked, the answer is always no. EDIT: I’ve deleted Mailchimp as the email that went out didn’t have any content and it didn’t look like it was going to suit my purposes. I’ve decided to try a WordPress plugin that looks like it should work, we’ll see the next time I post! PLease bear with me while I work this out.  That’s all for today, happy 2022! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

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by | July 12, 2020 · 10:51 am

Smoking Some Favorites: Marchetti, Partagas, Don Carlos and Some Heavy Lighter Thoughts

I didn’t get into anything new and noteworthy this week, tending to fall back to some favorite cigars. I’ll throw some highlights out. I’ve raved about the Don Juan Calavera line from Danli Honduras Tabacos in the past (recently rebranding to DAHOT). The have a box pressed maduro cigar called the Marchetti, named after one of the factory owner’s mothers, that’s absolutely wonderful, and has become a favorite “go-to” cigar for me. Like the other cigars in the company’s portfolio, I never have a construction issue, they always perform well, and they flavor is right in my wheelhouse, cocoa, espresso, and on the high side of medium bodied. It’s just about what I’d make if I were putting my name on a cigar. If you can get your hands on some of these, I highly recommend them, and I know they are showing up in more places. Great cigars! 

 

Photo stolen from Facebook

I followed, and stuck my nose into, a couple discussions in Facebook groups this week, one of which had to do with a photo of this gentleman, whom I believe to a mister Fifty Cent, lighting a cigar with a Bic lighter. In several separate threads he was harshly criticized for this, for various reasons ranging from ruining the flavor with “Bic fluid”, being a poser and not a “real” cigar smoker, to touching the flame to the cigar (which is legitimate). There seemed to be a lot of bigotry toward the Bic. One post having over 200 replies, many being quite harsh criticism of the man. Some industry professionals pointed out that the majority of the people who actually make the cigars use disposable lighters in the countries where cigars are made, while I made the case that the fire that comes from a Bic is the same as that that comes from a Dupont soft flame lighter. I would add that, by extension, the fire that comes from a $3 torch lighter is the same that comes from a $100 torch lighter. Cases were made that a “true aficionado” lights his cigars with a torch, cases were made that someone of this gentleman’s economic status should use a lighter that closer matches the watch he’s wearing. I think a lot of these comments and ideas come from newer smokers who have a strange notion of what smoking cigars is all about. They seem to forget that cigars pre-date torch lighters by about 475 years, and that maybe them looking down on someone for how they light their cigars can be applied to other prejudices and turned around. Maybe Mr. Cent in the photo just flew in from somewhere and couldn’t get his Dupont lighter through TSA and a Bic was all he could carry on the plane? Who among us hasn’t been in that position? I’m preaching to the choir, I’m sure, but let’s try to educate the newer cigar smokers to apply some tolerance, teach the proper etiquette, including the common sense stuff like a Bic is OK, while a Zippo isn’t (although, a Zippo with a butane insert is fine!). That’s enough of a rant for today! 

 

Another discussion I was party to was someone asking if others thought Cameroon cigars were horrible because he did. This is a pet peeve of mine, of course, Just because you think something sucks, doesn’t mean it sucks. Anyway, I offered that up, and suggested he just didn’t like Cameroon cigars and not to smoke them and move on, but it made me want to smoke Cameroon cigars. So I popped my head into the humidor and grabbed a Partagas Decadas Limited Reserve 2019. This a 5 ½” x 49 robusto with a ten year old Cameroon wrapper.  For the binder they use the Honduran San Augustine tobacco that General has been using in a great many cigars recently. The filler is Piloto Cubano from the DR and Ometepe from Nicaragua. Years ago the Limited Reserve had a green band and I really enjoyed them, this cigar still delivers the goods. It’s got the sweet, nutty flavor that I like in a Cameroon cigar. These are quite nice cigars, well balanced, fairly delicate flavors, I can see where someone who smoked nothing but full-bodied cigars might miss the subtleties in this. I’ve always favored Partagas cigars, this one hit the spot.

 

Continuing my Cameroon journey, how could I not smoke an Arturo Fuente Don Carlos? Besides La Aurora, who else is synonymous with Cameroon tobacco than Fuente? Some of my earliest premium cigar memories revolve around Don Carlos and Hemingway cigars. So I lit up a Don Carlos No. 2 last night, and, you know what? I swear they taste the same now as they did 20+ years ago! It’s quite a miracle. Now this is a cigar that I can’t imagine someone not being able to find flavorful. This is a classic, it’s a big torpedo, it burns perfectly, and is loaded with flavor! it’s got that sweet, nuttiness, with some coffee notes as well. It’s one of those cigars that every humidor should have. I know I sleep better at night knowing I have some in my humidor! Help me out, was this one of the original sizes with the Robusto and the No. 3? Or was it part of the expansion around 2000 with the Double Robusto, Presidente and No.4? I think it was one of the original sizes. Regardless, it’s a classic. Maybe I’ll smoke a Hemingway Classic today! 

 

That’s more than enough for today. There was some news this week, but it involved Fratello being distributed in Switzerland, and Casa Cuevas doing retailer only events, but I didn’t think that was of interest to too many people who read here (and you probably saw them elsewhere anyway). Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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