Tag Archives: Big Sky Cigar Co.

by Craig Vanderslice | October 8, 2023 · 11:00 am

More Stolen Throne Cigars, a New West Tampa Cigar and a Big Sky Mad Minnow

This is going to be a wierd Sunday post. I started out by getting some more Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet cigars in both the Torpedo and Robusto sizes because I got some flack from last week’s post. If you’ll recall, I wasn’t a huge fan of the Yorktown Fleet, while being a huge fan of Stolen Throne’s three Kingdoms and Crook of the Crown. I like the Three Kingdoms so much that I said it was one of my favorite cigars of 2021. Look, not every cigar is right for everyone, and I certainly do my best to try to like every cigar I smoke, and find the good in everything, and there’s a lot of good things to say about the Yorktown Fleet cigars. While they don’t have a flavor that appeals to me, they burn perfectly, and I smoked all of the cigars beyond the band, the last two, a robusto and torpedo side by side. That’s right, I smoked two cigars I didn’t particularly like back to back, just to make sure. Just so it’s documented that I tried my best to like these cigars. Buy one and try it for yourself.

Friday evening my wife and I took our granddaughters to the Cirque de Soleil show that was in town, so we got home kinda late. It’s fun to experience things through the eyes of children, the Cirque show was good and the Chocolate fondue beforehand was fun as well! This was the perfect opportunity to have the Big Sky Mad Minnow before retiring. This is a small, 4¾ x 44, salomon (not salmon…Big Sky has a fishing thing going on) or perfecto cigar. It’s got a Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I’ll be honest, I was a little disappointed at first, because the draw was terrible, but I understand the shape of the cigar, and waited it out and it opened up after it got past the taper. This turned out to be a tasty little smoke, not to be oversmoked, lest it turn bitter. I ended up getting nearly an hour out of this little bugger, with some cocoa and pepper and a little hint of caramel flavors. This was a nice way to end a nice day.

From time to time knowing people has it’s upside, like when a friend shares something new he’s working on before it hits the market. I believe this is going to be the next release by West Tampa Tobacco Co., and he didn’t tell me I couldn’t talk about it, and he talked about it when he was at the New England Cigar Expo, so I’m going to tell you what I know about Boliche. This was a 6″ x 60 cigar, with a dark wrapper. It’s on the savory side, which makes sense since the name comes from a Cuban style of roast beef. This is being made by a yet to be named factory, maybe not in Nicaragua, I’m actually thinking it’s in the DR, just a feeling. From what Ricky says it’s going to be a limited run of 500 boxes of 50 and will be released at the March PCA show. It was a tasty cigar, once again, I find myself preferring more sweetness lately, something I haven’t been getting this week, but I certainly look forward to hearing more about this new cigar! It would surprise me if anyone else posted anything about this cigar yet!

Finally, in the Sunday blog post about cigars I didn’t like (kidding, sort of, it’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that they don’t suit my preference. They are all perfectly fine, high quality cigars, worthy of your time, money and consideration), I smoked a Stolen Throne Call To Arms Corona. More of a lonsdale, this is 6″ x 46, which is a really nice size, has a Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan fillers and binder. This is similar to the Yorktown, which has a Maduro Sumatra wrapper, although it isn’t all that dark, and I don’t get the sweetness I like in a maduro. I smoked this to test a theory, and I proved myself right. I’m not a big fan of the Call To Arms either. I generally like Sumatra wrappers, I’m not sure what it is that doesn’t hit me right with these. It’s OK, I’m not upset, I don’t feel cheated or anything, there’s an ass for every seat, or some such nonsense, and Stolen Throne has two seats for my ass. I think Lee Marsh would rather I love two of his blends and not care for two, than just like all of them, at least that’s the way I’m going to spin it to him when he gives me crap about this…Probably going to smoke a Crook of the Crown today.

That’s more than enough for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Big Sky Cigar Co., Boliche, Call to Arms, cigar, cigars, Mad Minnow, Stolen Throne, West Tampa Tobacco Co., Yorktown Fleet

by Craig Vanderslice | October 1, 2023 · 10:21 am

Brick House, West Tampa, Big Sky and Stolen Throne Cigars

I got a bit of a late start on Bricktoberfest, thanks to our friends at UPS, and maybe the weather. Every year (at least for the last 6) the folks at J.C. Newman celebrate Oktoberfest (which runs from September 21 through October 6ish I think) with a special release of their Brick House cigar. This is presented in a toro with a pigtail cap and is in boxes of ten. If you go to a participating retailer and buy five of any Brick House cigar you can get a really nice Brick House Pilsner Glass. I really like the 2022 version of this, and I haven’t had a chance yet to smoke the two side by side. The 2023 version has a rosado Ecuador Habano wrapper, and is supposedly blended to pair with an Oktoberfest style lager. I’m far too far removed from beer consumption to know if that’s true, might be. On it’s own it’s a solid cigar, if the Brick House blend is up your alley, and I like the Brick House line. I’d love to see this offered with a Broadleaf wrapper one year, beer guys, back me up, would a maduro go well with a dark beer? The Bricktoberfest is a tasty Nicaraguan cigar with some unsweetened coffee cocoa notes. Very nice.

Thursday evening I visited the CigarCigars store in Downingtown, PA, not far from where I lived when I started CigarCraig.com. Speaking of beer, those familiar with craft beers will know the name Downingtown as the home of Victory Brewery. I used to work in the adjacent building and would smoke cigars and drink root beer at their bar once in a while. Of course, that was over twenty years ago when such things were allowed! I stopped in the shop because they were hosting Rick Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco Co. for the evening, and I try not to miss an opportunity to see my friend Rick. I bought a handful of West Tampa Red, Black and White, but I wasn’t allowed to smoked any of those, Rick had a West Tampa Red Lancero for me. Last December when I saw him in Tampa he gave me the White and Black blends in the Lancero format and you might recall that I thought they were spectacular. Considering I’m a big fan of the Red in the traditional sizes, I had high expectations. In this case, I’m not going to say that this was a better expression of the Red blend than the Toro or Robusto, it’s different, as the Toro and Robusto are different from one another. It was a spectacular cigar, and if these ever make it into the wild, give them a try.

I’m getting to the end of the Big Sky Cigar Co. Samples, I’m down to the small ones now, and I’m smoking the Yellowstone, which is the Ecuador Connecticut wrapped robusto in the portfolio. I’m on my second one this morning, I smoked one yesterday afternoon and was quite happy. This has the lighter wrapper over some heavier Nicaraguan binder and fillers, so it’s not without flavor. The literature lists it as mild, but I don’t think that’s the case, I find it to be medium. There’s some spices, pepper especially through the nose, and solid cafe con leche. Oddly, as I’m writing, and smoking the Yellowstone, I’m listening to Frank Zappa’s Montana, and the Yellowstone River, for which the cigar is named, runs through Montana, though those dental floss plantations, no doubt. I’m happy smoking this cigar on a Sunday morning with coffee.

Finally, I happened to be in Havertown, PA yesterday and stopped in to the Wooden Indian because I saw that they had received a restock of the Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet, and I’d been wanting to give that cigar a try. Something makes me think there’s a tie in to Stolen Throne Cigars and the Yellowstone TV show, someone is going to have to let me know if I’m thinking of something else. Not that it has anything to do with anything, just popped into my head. I don’t think it’s a secret that the Crook of the Crown and the Three Kingdoms are personal favorites of mine, and I need to smoke more of the Call to Arms to form an opinion. I do like a Sumatra, and the Yorktown Fleet is a Maduro Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler, although the wrapper isn’t overly dark. I hate to criticize my friends at the Wooden Indian, but they need to put these back in the humidor as opposed to having them on the counter by the register, as I feel like the couple I bought were on the dry side. I am going to reserve judgement on this for when my remaining examples have some time in my humidor (internal moisture content read a little lower than I’d like, measured after smoking one). I didn’t find the flavors to be what I expected. Construction was perfect, and I look forward to smoking it again when it’s had some time, and I might look for the Robusto in another shop. I know Lee Marsh pretty well and I’m reasonably certain that what I smoked last night wasn’t his intention. Of course, my palate might have been out of whack too. I’ll come back to this one.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Big Sky Cigar Co., Brick House, Bricktoberfest, cigar, cigars, J.C.Newman, Stolen Throne, West Tampa Red, West Tampa Tobacco Co., Yellowstone, Yorktown Fleet

by Craig Vanderslice | 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Artista, Big Sky Cigar Co., Bitterroot, Centenario, Cuesta Rey, Madison, Midnight

by Craig Vanderslice | September 10, 2023 · 11:07 am

Meeting George Hamilton, a New Travel Humidor and Some Big Sky Cigars

Yesterday we took a ride south to Maryland and went to the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention pretty much with one goal. George Hamilton was there signing autographs. Since he has a bit of history in the cigar world, and on CigarCraig.com, I wanted to finally meet him.

I had visited his cigar bar, Hamilton’s, in the New York, New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and smoked his H.Upmann cigars in 1998, long before I had the opportunity to interview him (September of 2010, with the audio released in podcast form in May of 2018), He’s a longtime cigar smoker. When I talked to him in 2010 I realized how much he actually knew about cigars.

I made up a pack of some of my favorite cigars, a Fuente Don Carlos No. 2, a Diamond Crown Maximus, a Cohiba Red Dot and a Sobremesa Short Churchill (largely due to an anecdote Steve Saka recently shared about George asking him his thoughts on his cigar at an RTDA show in the ’90s). George was very excited by the gift, and said he was going to share them with his son who was in the Peace Corps. Also, we had a copy of his book, “Don’t Mind if I Do” which we had him sign while we were there. All in all, it was a very nice interaction, although he didn’t remember our conversation we had, not that I expected him to, heck, it was 13 years ago, and he’s a big movie star! I’d have fallen over if he had remembered. I would have loved to have been able to sit down and have a cigar with him. I imagine he’d have some great stories from his long Hollywood career!

While we were wandering through to Nostalgia Convention marketplace, and I was commenting on just how much ridiculous “stuff” there was, I saw an item that looked like it could be useful in our world, and bought it for $20. Some of you might say, Craig, you idiot, that’s a watch case, and I’d say, sheesh, who needs a military grade, crush proof, waterproof box for a couple watches? Hey, I have watches, I have a nice Seiko (an anniversary gift from an old job), and a few Timexes, all with dead batteries (except the Timex I got for my 15th birthday that works perfectly if I wind it up, they really do take a licking!), and I guess if you spend thousands on a watch you want to protect your investment. On the other hand, some might make the same statement about needing a case like this for cigars, and I have a half a dozen or so travel humidors of various sizes. I digress, this caught my eye because of the geek factor, it was white with a Captain America shield on it! It’s branded to go with Invicta’s line of Marvel watches, which, if I were wearing something other than a very expensive Fitbit that I get calls and texts on and provides me with various biometric feedback, which my 45 year old Timex does not, I might be into. I ordered some acoustic foam panels to cut to fit, but in the interim, the trays from my 20 year old Pelican travel humidor fit nicely. This thing will hold a crapload of cigars, easily 30, and, I’ll probably set it up as an overflow desktop humidor, because it looks frickin cool! Sure, you can go to Harbor Freight and get a nice case cheap, but it won’t look this good at the next herf, where you’ll either be revered or ridiculed. You can find them on Ebay!

I smoked some cigars this week from Big Sky Cigar Co., they generously sent me a bunch, thanks to their west coast regional, Kap, for the referral! More to come, but I got to two of them this week that I wanted to talk about. I started with the Big Sky Blackfoot. This is a 6″ x 54 toro with a San Andrés wrapper and Dominican binder and fillers. Big Sky works with Chico Rivas in the DR, a name I’ve been hearing a lot lately. This cigar didn’t taste at all like I expected it would, it had more of that dark fruit sort of taste, less of the coffee and earth I would have thought. This is a the fourth and last in the series of cigars based on rivers in Montana, and was just released at the PCA show in July. It was a neat cigar, certainly something different. Thumbs up.

Next I smoked the Bighorn 2.0, another San Andrés wrapped cigar, this time over Nicaraguan binder and filler. This one seems to be made in Esteli, at the TACASA factory, which, if memory serves, is the factory that makes, or made, Ortega cigars most recently. This cigar was much more along the line of what I expect from a San Andrés wrapped cigar. Loads of dark roast coffee and rich soil. It had a nice construction and was thoroughly enjoyable. I have several more cigars in the Big Sky line to sample, and am looking forward to them. This is a small brand that seems to have some legs.