Tag Archives: BG Meyer

by CigarCraig | November 18, 2018 · 11:18 am

La Palina, BG Meyer and 1881 Perique Cigars

I was just grabbing random cigars this week, although a bit of a theme seemed to develop. I had a few cigars with what I would call glassine paper decorative wrapping, and two with names referencing the 1880s. Strictly coincidence, But one of those things I noticed as I went back over the weeks smokes. As I mentioned in Friday’s post highlighting the latest podcast episode, I had the pleasure of meeting up with the professor, José Blanco at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA, and smoked an EP Carillo Seleccion Oscuro Especial No. 6. The cigar was delicious, and the company was exceptional as usual. It also snowed this week, too early in my opinion! We’ve had winter weather in autumn, I have the porch winterized, but I can’t get my propane heaters working, so I have to figure out how to get at least one of those working. I miss summer! Anyway, allow me to highlight a couple of cigars I smoked this week.

Last year I really enjoyed the La Palina El Año 1896 Oscuro. Since I last smoke this cigar in 2017 they have moved the production from PDR in the Dominican Republic to Placencia’s factory in Honduras. I believe the original had a San Andrés wrapper and Dominican binder and filler, while the new version has a Costa Rican Oscuro wrapper, Dominican binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s box pressed, and the cigar I smoked, and I smoked two this week, was a 5″ x 50 (maybe 52, hard to tell with a box press) Robusto. Basically this is a different cigar from the original El Año 1896 Oscuro from last year (and allegedly the 120 Anniversary I smoked a week or two ago!) I enjoyed it, it was a very good cigar in its own right, but in my mind I wanted to compare it to the cigar I smoked previously in the same bands and presentation and it wasn’t the same to my recollection, and how could it be? I don’t want to be negative, because this version of the El Año 1896 Oscuro is an exceptional cigar, if you never smoked the former version, you are going to be very happy smoking this cigar. Either way, you can ‘t go wrong with this cigar!

The other cigar with the glassine paper wrap that happened to smoke this week was a BG Meyer Standard Issue Toro. This was a Camacho “Board of the Bold” line, which was something Davidoff had going with brand ambassadors Mike Ditka, Matt Booth and Rob Weiss, the last of which headed the BG Meyer line. Rob Weiss was the guy behind the HBO show Entourage. There’s some debate over whether this line is even available anymore or not, I tend to believe it’s discontinued, I’m sure there are still cigars floating around in the wild. This cigar was probably an IPCPR sample from a few years back, and I did smoke this back in 2015 and liked it. This one burned very well, had a nice, savory flavor and was quite enjoyable. I’d say this aged well, if you can find these around snatch them up and smoke them, even better if you find a close out deal. Everything I see points to this being a Nicaraguan Puro made in Honduras.

Friday night I got home from work late and went looking for a short smoke, and spied a short, squat torpedo from Tabacalera Incorporada in the Philippines, an 1881 Perique Torpedito. The 1881 Perique line is really interesting, it uses Philippine and Louisiana Perique tobacco and is rolled in their factory in Manila, not the usual combination one finds in the premium cigar market. Perique is generally used in pipe tobacco, and it’s usually on the strong side by itself. so the combination of the Filipino tobacco and the Perique throws a bunch of red flags for me, but in the case of the 1881 Perique, it comes together to make a really tasty cigar! Usually when I have a cigar this late, I’m up all night having weird dreams, this time wasn’t the case for whatever reason. I couldn’t find a size listed, but it was probably a 4″ x 54ish torpedo and burned perfectly, and had only spend maybe two hears in the humidor, enough to be properly rested, but not enough that I would consider it “aged”. It was smooth, had a savoryness, with a hint of a sweetness, and some spice from the Perique. I have some of the Maduro and “Bold” floating around that I need to revisit now that smoking this little Torpedito. I’m not sure how widely these are distributed in the US, I know that Daughters and Ryan is the distributor, and I also know that Tabacalera sells them directly on their website. If you are in the mood for something different and interesting, these are worth a try, don’t be scared off by the perique or Filipino tobaccos, they work well together! Don’t forget to keep an eye on CigarProp.com and Amazon for the new, super-cool CigarProp ashtrays when they become available (as seen in the picture)!

That’s all for today, it’s a day off and the end of the week starts the busy season! I need to try to line up some goodies to give away for the holidays! Any manufacturers, brand owners or retailers can reach out to me at craig@cigarcraig.com if you’d like to get in on CigarCraig’s annual holiday giveaways! They always generate a lot of interest! I know the FDA doesn’t allow companies to give away cigars, but I’ve been known to give away my own cigars from time to time! I have workarounds! Anyway, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as /, 1881, 1881 Perique, 1896, BG Meyer, Camacho, cigar, cigars, davidoff, El Año, La Palina, Tabacalera

by CigarCraig | June 26, 2016 · 9:03 am

A Sobremesa Event, Tabequeros by Hamlet and a BG Meyer Cigar

I smoked a bunch of nice cigars this week, starting off with my traditional Father’s Day Esperanza para los NiÃ±os which smoked very well for a 17-year-old cigar, and still had a nice, rich flavor. I followed that with an Aging Room Maduro, another great smoke with a great flavor. Both were up my alley, and hit the spot. Â There was also anotherÂ La Gran Llave torpedo from Michael Argenti’s newest venture, which was also a great smoke. Yet another wonderful cigar out o f the AJ Fernandez Factory. On anpther note, my wife ordered me a box of Sam Leccia‘s new cigar, Desnudo, which I’m excited to try (and she wants the box!). I have mixed feelings about the upcoming trade show. Everyone is going to be releasing new cigars to meet the August 8th FDA deadline. Considering that cigars in the last 10 years have been the best that they’ve ever been, how many of the hundreds of new cigars that are going to be released aren’t going to be ready? Another aspect in my mind is how are retailers going to be expected to buy all these new brands with shelves that are already full? It’s all deeply troubling and depressing. Anyway, on to more positive things…

Thursday night I had the privilege to be invited to a lounge event at The Wooden Indian cigar shop. My old buddy Steve Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust was there to talk for a solid three hours on everything tobacco. He covered 10,000 years of tobacco history, how cigars are made, the economics of cigars and how our government is going to goof if up. Always a great story-teller too. I took my old friend Scott along with me, and his mind was sufficiently blown I think, and I learned a great deal from the talk. I also bought a bunch more Sobremesas, smoked a Torpedo Tiempo and an El Americano over the course of the evening, and even got my hands on the new Short Churchill size (4Â¾”x48). Of course, the cigars were perfect, the Torpedo, despite Steve saying it was his least favorite size, had an interesting sweetness that I haven’t found in the other sizes. I can’t wait to try the newÂ Mi Querida, with a broadleaf wrapper. I could have gotten one if I had bought a box of Sobremesa, andÂ Dave, the proprietor of the Wooden Indian, smoked one and seemed to be quite impressed (judging by the tiny nub he begrudgingly dropped in the ashtray. It’s always a treat to see Steve, and I had a great time hanging out with Scott and smoking some great cigars. Â Just for fun, I scrounged up a picture of Steve from a cigar event in 1997. Pardon the quality, but back then you had to scan printed pictures to get them on to the web, it wasn’t as easy as whipping out your phone.

Friday I wrapped up another week with a cigar I had been anticipating for quite a while. I purchasedÂ a Tabaquro toro at a visit to Jacoub’s Cigar & Tobacco Outlet in Ridley Park, PA a few months ago. I had been wanting to try the cigar, blended by Hamlet Paredes, a rather well-known Cuban cigar maker, who made this cigar with Rocky Patel. I think this is my new favorite cigar from the Rocky Patel stable, following the Super Ligero line. This cigar features a San AndrÃ©s wrapper, a double binder of Brazilian and Mexican leaf, and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s rumored that Hamlet never touched anything but Cuban tobacco before working with Rocky, but he really came up with a great cigar. It’s got a bit of kick to it, a pleasing mix of sweet and savory, and provided a satisfying smoking experience Â from start to finish. All I can say is “yum”. I liked the TabaqueroÂ a lot.

Yesterday after enjoying a Leccia Luchador El Hombre (one of my favorite cigars) at Delaware Park while watching the horses (we came out ahead!), I came home to enjoy a BG Meyer Gigantes 56×6 on the porch. It was a beautiful day, watched the ponies with ourÂ grand-daughters, saw the Budweiser Clydesdales, managed to get some things done around the house, and kicked back with this cigar. I would have sworn this was a 6×60, it had a large feel to it, but maybe just the name “Gigantes” influenced my judgement. This one was 6″ x 56, with a Habano wrapper, Brazilian binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican filers. As seems to be the case with Davidoff’s Honduran brands, it’s hard to find a website with all the info. I did find some info on the Davidoff of Geneva retail page, and was surprised to see typos in the product description. Â I can’t understand why they don’t have BGMeyerCigars.com, or something, and have the same gripe when I go looking for Room 101 info (and probably Cusano if I looked, which I haven’t). Anyway, the cigar is good. It’s got some pepper, some coffee/cocoa and sweetness, very much in my wheelhouse. I dug it.

There’s probably something I’m forgetting, but I’ll wrap this up now. I have an article to write for Prime Living Magazine that I have to smoke some great cigars for, so I better get busy with that! Â Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as BG Meyer, cigar, cigars, Dunbarton, Hamlet, Saka, Sobremesa, Tabaquero, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | November 29, 2015 · 1:48 pm

Padilla, Byron, Cohiba, Norteño, Gurkha and BG Meyers Cigars

I hope everyone out there who celebrates it had a peaceful and nutritious Thanksgiving! Ours was small, with a delicious dinner followed by a good cigar. Lets remember how fortunate we are this time of year and consider that there are those who don’t have great cigars or even a good meal. Throwing a little something to your local food bank now and then won’t hurt. That’s enough of the public service announcement portion of the blog post, what did I smoke this week? Last week I mentioned the new Reserva line from Padilla, so I lit up the Padilla Reserva Corojo 99 robusto this week, since Criollo is generally not one of my favorite wrappers I saved it for last. The Corojo was another really nice cigar, with a unique flavor in the background, not unlike its San Andrés sibling. I’m looking forward to trying the Criollo 98 version now. As I am prone to do, I feel the need to criticize the Padilla website. It’s just white, literally nothing there, and has been for a couple of weeks.

Wednesday I decided to celebrate the end of the holiday shortened week with a Byron Serie Siglo XIX Grand Poemas, a 6″ x 56 toro, with undisclosed filler, wrapper and binder. These are made in Costa Rica (Same factory as MBombay and Vegas de Santiago I believe), under the watchful eye of Nelson Alphonso. Some of come in cool Humiditubes, like the Atabay line from the same company, but this was a sample/gift from David Garofalo, who distributes the company’s cigars. I can see why smokers like Dave, who likes milder cigars, loves these and puts them at the top of their all-time favorite lists. It’s absolutely perfectly constructed, in every way. Burn is straight as an arrow, draw is ideal, and it’s got a very pleasing flavor in the medium bodied range. Obviously every detail was attended to in the making of these cigars, and the quality shows, and it should since it’s not a cheap date. Personally, there are quite a few cigars I consider expensive that I’d buy two or three of before buying one of these, but it’s a special cigar, for sure, and I’m very glad for the opportunity to have smoked them. There are three series in this line, the XIX, XX and XXI, and the significance is that the XXI (19) is how they imagine the cigar was blended in the 1800s, when the Byron brand originated, with the XX symbolizing the 1900s and the XXI the 2000s. Who’s to argue?

After a delicious and satisfying Turkey dinner on Thursday, I was rummaging through one of the humidors when I came across a Cohiba Siglo III in a yellow cardboard box which was a gift from a friend several years ago. It seemed like the right time to smoke this, and I haven’t smoked a great many Cuban Cohibas in the past. I had no idea the age of this cigar prior to it being in my possession, which can be an issue with Cuban cigars, but I considered the source, and figured it was ready to go. 20 years ago Cuban cigars were considered very strong, but I think they are more on the mild side now. Back in 1999 I went to a cigar breakfast in Vegas where Bolivar Belicosos Finos were the featured cigar kind of as an irony, as that cigar was one of the strongest cigars out there at the time. This Cohiba reminded me of the Byron in a way, it was mild, subtle and sophisticated. The cigar was a nice size too, 6.10″ x 42 and burned well. I think it was a great way to end the day. I am certainly thankful that one of the harder decisions I have to make is what cigar to smoke.

After dabbling in the mild, subtle and complex end of the cigar pool for a few days I wanted to switch gears and go for a cigar I knew would be a heavy, rich, uncomplicated flavor factory. The Norteño Edicion Limitada from Drew Estate practically jumped into my hand. This is a Churchill sized cigar with an oval-shaped box press, measuring 7″ x 48, with a San Andrés wrapper, Honduran binder and fillers from Jalapa and Esteli. This is one of those cigars I mentioned above that I’d buy two of over one Byron, just because it has the sweet, cocoa, espresso flavor I really like in a cigar. This is another winning blend from Willie Herrera, pretty limited and exclusive, and $14 too, it’s definitely worth a try.

Yesterday I tuned into the afternoon Flyers vs. Rangers game on my tablet and say in my back porch and smoked a cigar while I watch the second and third periods. A Gurkha Royal Challenge Maduro Toro caught my eye, the colors in the band were what did it, and the dark, oily wrapper. I would have liked a little more resistance in the draw on this one, it was very open, and I worried that this would overheat the cigar and ruin it, so I was careful not to overdraw. I started out with a little bit of a bitter flavor, not the sweetness that the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper would normally have. It was almost dirty tasting at the start, sometimes I like that. I was initially regretting my choice, but after an inch or so it settled into a pretty tasty smoke that got me midway into the third period, which allowed me to watch the dramatic conclusion on the larger screen (tablet battery was about to die anyway). This was from that orange boxed sampler from the IPCPR show (gave one away here), and was the only true 6″ x 50 toro in the bunch. There were some things I liked about this cigar, but there were also things I didn’t. The game turned out great though, the Flyers have had trouble scoring goals and winning in Madison Square Garden, and didn’t have either of those problems yesterday.

I finished the day off with a BG Meyers Standard Issue toro, which was in The Cigar Authority Care Package. This was 2 Guys Smokeshop/The Cigar Authority’s Cigar of the Year last year, and I have to say that I kinda get why. I smoked it while listening to the show, I got one right for a change! It seems like I either forget I have the cigar, don’t pay attention to which cigar is on the show, or something. I think I still have one cigar from each of the last two care packages leftover because of my lack of focus (to be fair, one wa a Tortuga Cedros No.5, and I have a bunch of them and have smoked them before). Anyway, the BG Meyer is from Camacho, in their Board of the Bold series with Mat Booth, that football guy (Mike Ditka), and this one which is fronted by Rob Weiss, who created the TV show “Entourage”. It didn’t burn as well as the other cigar I smoked this week, but it wasn’t crazy bad, just needed a couple touch-ups. It was meaty, savory and pretty darned good. Camacho did some pretty good things last year, and this line might well be one of them. Again, not unlike the Room 101 line, finding a website to reference was impossible. You’d think the folks at Davidoff would understand that.