Tag Archives: Blackbird

August 16, 2026 · 9:28 am

Blackbird Glitch, Artista Colorado and Ferio Tego Metropolitan Cigars

I found a few more cigars in the pack from Smoke-Onos that I hadn’t smoked before and gave them a go this week.  First up was the Blackbird Cigars Glitch Habano.  This was a 5″ x 50 robusto with a Habano wrapper, Mexican binder and American and Dominican fillers, not that their website was any help with that info!  Originally, the Glitch cigars came about because of a mix up at the factory. The fact that there are Glitch line extensions makes me wonder about that, but I guess they just made tweeks on the original “mistake”.  These are very attractively priced,  around $7 in PA, and I was quite pleasantly surprised with the experience.  The flavors were interesting, what I would call exotic spices, and the burn and draw were perfect.  This was a really good cigar.  

 

I ended up with a few cigars from Artista, this one was the Colorado. The barcode label on this was wrong, it was for a Cimarron Maduro, but the band clearly said Colorado.  I want to try the Cimarron one of these days.  I spent a couple really nice weeks backpacking near Cimarron, New Mexico back in 1981, good memories. Not that I haven’t a good time in Colorado, but in this case it refers to a color, not the state.  This 5″ x 54 robusto has a very interesting blend.  It has an Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper, Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and Central American, African & Caribbean Proprietary Tobaccos in the filler.  It’s a good looking cigar, like it’s name implies, it’s a ruddy, reddish brown, very appealing.  This was another cigar with interesting flavors. I think there was a hint cayenne,  along with some chocolate. I found it quite entertaining.  This is another sub-$8 cigar that’s definitely worth a try.  Now to hunt down a Cimarron.  

 

Last up is the Ferio Tego Metropolitan Connecticut, in a 6½” x 52 torpedo vitola.  This is a classic Dominican shade cigar, it has a Connecticut wrapper with Dominican binder and fillers. I believe it’s made by the Quesada family.  The Metropolitan brand was acquired from Altria when the shut down the Nat Sherman cigar operations, so it’s possible that you could run across Metropolitan by Nat Sherman somewhere, but its been a few years, so that’s becoming less and less likely.  I’ve smoked some Metropolitan cigars in the past, but not a great many, this is the first Connecticut I’ve had. I just checked, and I have a Connecticut toro in the humidor with a Nat Sherman band (along with a VIP selection that I picked up at the townhouse many years ago).  Anyway, I enjoyed the cigar, it had the bready, woody, creamy  flavors one would expect.  I want to say these can be obtained for around $10, so this whole blog post has featured what are now considered value cigars.  

 

I wanted to fly someplace interesting this weekend to smoke some cigars, but Frontier wasn’t cooperating. I used to be able to find morning flights, with evening return flights, but now it’s not so easy.  Suggestions are welcome.  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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February 16, 2025 · 8:33 am

Villiger, Blackbird and Platinum Nova Cigars

I remember smoking the Villiger Cuellar line back in 2014.  I did an interview at the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival that year with Shawna Williams and Fabian Barrantes which, inexplicably, is the most viewed video on my YouTube channel. I started that day with the Cuellar Kreme, and have smoked many of them since, then the Cuellar Black Forest, with the San Andrés wrapper which is in my wheelhouse.  This year they released the Cuellar Caribe, with an Ecuador Habano wrapper.  These have all been made at Tabacalera Palma in the DR.  The Caribe is reportedly a spin on the TAA 2021 blend, although I didn’t find much similarity.  The binder and fillers are Dominican on this 6″ x 54 toro.  I recall the TAA 2021 wasn’t my favorite of the TAA cigars, it was decent, but woody.  This one had a strong citrus tang throughout, which I rather enjoyed. the burn and draw were perfect. This was a very enjoyable cigar.  

 

I had been hearing about a Blackbird Cigars Crow in a box pressed toro format and was intrigued. This may or may not be exclusive to SmokingPipes.com, which is the ecommerce arm of Low Country Pipe and Cigar in South Carolina.  Perhaps Tyler there will weigh

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in on whether this is an exclusive or not.  I knew they had them, and wanted some more of their definitely exclusive Flamingo Lanceros (I smoked one of those tasty buggers this week too), so I ordered them.  The Crow is my favorite cigar in the Blackbird line up.  It has a San Andrés wrapper, Habano binder and Nicaraguan, Pennsylvanian, Corojo, and Criollo 98 fillers.  This box pressed toro is the same size as the Gran Toro, but feels smaller somehow.  It was a really great cigar, I should have gotten more!  It’s dark, rich with some earthy espresso notes.  It’s everything I like in a cigar in the evening. I am generally a fan of the Blackbird cigars, but the Crow is my favorite by far.

 

Yesterday afternoon after running some errands, and watching it snow, I picked out a Churchill to sit on the porch and watch a movie.  I selected the Platinum Nova Cigars 5 Boroughs, a 7″ x 50 cigar that came back with me from the TPE show.  This cigar was new to me, but it’s apparently been out for a couple years. It’s another San Andres wrapper, with Corojo and Cubita double binder and Nicaraguan fillers. The double binder is something new to Nova cigars, as is the band, which is different from the rest of the Nova line which uses the same band with secondary bands.  The wrapper is not pretty, it’s mottled, and they are usually the tastiest!  This had some interesting flavors, some earth and coffee again, a hint of spice, nothing that I don’t like.  I only saw one other review for this and the reviewer hated it, and he’s wrong, it’s a good cigar. I’m not sure it’s $18 good (to me, I’m a cheap SOB), but it was objectively a good cigar, and I enjoyed it.  Burn and draw

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were right, it was the right length for a movie, and I was happy.  

 

I’m working on another cigar adventure in a few weeks, hopefully the logistics work out.  It’ll be a quick in and out again.  I will travel light, but I always want to take cigars, and I have to pick the right travel humidor. As much as I like this one, it’s not TSA friendly! I may just take a ziplock or use the Captain America-ador as my carry on! That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig          

 

 

 

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November 3, 2024 · 9:29 am

A Special Blackbird Cigar and Some New Macanudos

I had the opportunity to purchase some cigars a few weeks in advance of their release thanks to Tyler Caldwell at Smokingpipes.com.  I met Tyler a few years ago at the Stillwell Star release event at Low Country Pipe & Cigars in South Carolina.  I hung out with him again at the last PCA show I attended, super nice dude.  He had a hand in blending the new Blackbird Cigars Flamingo, which is a Smokingpipes.com exclusive.  You may recall that Smokingpipes.com (Low Country is their retail outlet) is owned by Laudisi Enterprises, and recently acquired Caldwell Cigars (Tyler Caldwell/Caldwell Cigars? No relation, but it’s a bit funny!).  They have a great shop if you find yourself in the Myrtle Beach area.  Anyway, the cigar is called the Flamingo, has a pink band and a really nice hat if you’re a hat guy. I might have to become a hat guy, they are piling up over here.  It’s a 7″ x 38 lancero format, has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and Broadleaf, Nicaraguan and Dominican in the filler. That’s a lot going on in a Lancero!  It’s made in Jonas Santana’s Blackbird factory in the DR. I like Jonas, I like his cigars, this should be a treat. If I had a complaint, it would be that it’s too short!  This is a delicious cigar, it’s bold, has some warm, savory spices, and some light floral notes in the background. I smoked a couple of these and really enjoyed them. Smoking time was around an hour and fifteen nimues, and I was careful not to oversmoke it, but it was so darned tasty I might have smoked faster than usual (puffs per hour, not overdrawing).  Jump on these when they become available later this month, all parties involved did a great job. Thanks to Tyler for allowing me to purchase cigars early! 

 

I recen

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tly received some new Macanudo cigars from the folks at General Cigar Co., and I was excited to try them.  The first one that jumped out at me was the Macanudo Emissary España Limited Edition Torpedo. I really thought the Emissary España in the robusto was a great cigar, not at all what one expects from a Macanudo. This cigar has a U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf Claro wrapper, aged 5 years, a Nicaraguan Condega binder, aged 6 years, with Dominican Piloto (aged 5 years), Colombian (aged 5 years), Nicaraguan ASP (aged 6 years),

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and Havana seed tobacco grown in Riolobos, Spain (aged 10 years).  The wrapper is described as Claro, but I thought it was pretty dark, not maduro dark, but not light).  The torpedo is 6″ x 52.  The Broadleaf is apparent, it’s loaded with cocoa, and I get a citrus tang. It’s a heavy cigar, recommended unless you’re expecting a Macanudo Legac

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y or Inspirado experience. If you don’t go stronger than than an Inspirado White, this one might be troubles

ome.  Great cigar, I really like it, and want to try it in a Churchill. 

 

The Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll series has eluded me until the No. 3, which means they didn’t send me No.s 1 and 2.  I wouldn’t have gone looking for these, being a non-drinker I don’t hunt down cigar with any liquor associations.  I will try them when they are presented to me, but I certainly have no frame of reference for anything alcohol related.  These aren’t flavored, of course, but have tobacco that is aged in French Oak barrels that was used for Flint Knoll’s 2021 Royal Appointment Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s offered in a beefy 7″ x 52 double corona they call a “Churchill”.  The blend is Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, US Broadleaf binder and Brazilian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Dominican fillers.

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  I only smoked one sample so far, I had a strange time with it.  Flavors were delightful, it had some sweet wood and baking spices.  Perhaps this needed to be a little bit dryer, is alternated between producing rich mouthfuls of smoke, to requiring double/triple puffs to get anything. very strange. At some point I’ll dry one down a little and give it a try, fr

om what I could tell it was a delicious, sophisticated, medium bodied cigar.  Folks with better palates than I  rave about it. 

 

That’s all for today. I have some cool plans for this coming weekend, involving hockey, cigars, a cigar factory and a farm.  Guesses can go in the comments, maybe I’ll have a giveaway for a correct answer! Next Sunday’s post may be a little late. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig 

 

 

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January 18, 2024 · 2:00 pm

News: Blackbird Announces Superb Addition to Core Line

I’ve been very selective about the news items I post, some of it is laziness, I admit.  This one caught my eye and I can’t wait to tery them.  I’ve been a Blackbird fan

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since talking to Jonas and his crew at the

TPE four years a

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go, and they make some really good cigars that I enjoy quite frequently.  Hopefully these

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find their way to a shop near me (Mark W?  Tell me where!).  

 

 

‘‘A TRIP TO PARADISE’’

 

After years of hard work and dedication, we at BLACKBIRD continue to strive to make sure our customers have the best experience with each and every cigar we produce. With this mindset, we realized that we needed a bigger space, better bands, better boxes and of course… better cigars. As a company we took a big step and built a new factory to achieve the goal and at the same time support our community in the Dominican Republic by creating more jobs.

 

The first goal was achieved. Every single cigar that was being made at the factory during 2023 was in flawless conditions. Since our focus had been in continuing to perfect our production, Blackbird had not added a new cigar to our core line. We have produced several other products but no new additions to our core line.

 

However since we succeeded with our 1st goal, it was now time to add a new blend to our core line. So in the 3rd quarter of 2023 we started tobacco hunting in different countries and meeting with different tobacco growers until we found the ones that understood the quality that we were looking to have on every single cigar produced at the Blackbird Factory. One of the growers showed us an Ecuadorian Habano Wrapper with incredible quality that put a smile on our faces because we didn’t have any habano wrapper on our core line.

We started blending with that wrapper and the challenge began… We did too many blends, mixed with too many tobaccos in the filler that, honestly it was exhausting. But one day, after several tests, a burned out palate, at 3 in the morning we decided to try the last blend… suddenly the room went silent… we all realized that THIS blend felt like we had just arrived in Paradise!

We named this cigar SUPERB in reference to the Bird of the Paradise and because

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of how it felt when we lit up the final blend.

SUPERB It’s a medium strength bodied cigar, designed to create a savory and lingering taste of nut meg but creamy to the palate. Also some hints of cedar can be captured which when combined with the white pepper, will turn your most dull day into a paradise.

This new addition will become available during TPE 2024 in our re- designed core line wooden boxes of 21 count.

 

CIGA

R COMPOSITION
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Undisclosed
Filler: Undisclosed

 

OFFERINGS
Robusto Gordo 54×5, Box of 21 (MSRP $196.56 Box / $9.36 Per cigar)
Toro 52×6, Box of 21 (MSRP $225.28 Box / $10.72 Per cigar)

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July 16, 2023 · 10:14 am

Some Blackbird Cigars and Some Villiger Cigars

I had a different idea of what today’s post was going to be, but that plan changed at the last minute. To be honest, the plan was tentative, at best. I’ve got some new and not so new cigars to talk about this week, lets start with the not so new, but great cigars.  When I went to the TPE show in 2020, right before the world shut down, I met Jonas Santana and his crew from Blackbird Cigars.  Jonas flattered me by knowing who I was, after 4 years of doing this it still takes me aback. Jonas had worked for Artista (then El Artista) who I had been working with, so he was familiar with my work.  I’ve kept up with Jonas over the years and while this old white dude may not be able to keep up with a young, hip-hop cat, we connect on the cigar level, I dig his smokes.  The Crow is my main jam, but this week I decided to take a wander through the range again as it’s been too long.  What prompted this was one of my wife’s cigar band furniture projects, which required a bunch more Blackbird bands!  So I had to by more cigars. I picked up some Toro singles locally, and bought a Robusto sampler from my friends at Trash Panda Cigars.  Let’s talk about the Cuco first. This is probably the last cigar I’d go to because it has Criollo on the band and that tobacco usually doesn’t work for me. This is listed as a Brazilian wrapper, Indonesian binder and Dominican fillers, so I imagine it’s a Brazilian Criollo wrapper, perhaps that makes the difference for me, because I quite enjoyed this cigar in both Robusto and Gran Toro vitolas. It’s medium bodied with some cocoa and a hint of spice. very nice cigars. 

 

The Finch from Blackbird is one of two Sumatra wrapped cigars in the portfolio, the other being the Rook.  The Finch is only available in the Robusto size, has an Indonesian binder and US and Dominican fillers. It’s just me, but I think if I were going to have one cigar in my lineup that was just a robusto, I might call it the Rook, thinking like the chess piece, but I suppose finches are small birds so I get it. It’s a bird themed line, not a chess themed line, what am I thinking?  I guess what I’m thinking is that while I really enjoyed the Finch I forgot to take any notes, so I don’t really have anything to say about it except that I found it quite enjoyable and it makes me want to pick up a few more.  I do recall a bit of the sugar cane I get from Sumatra sometimes, along with a sweet spice, perhaps from whatever US tobacco (PA maybe?).  Good smoke.  As I type, I’m smoking the Unkind in Robusto, which has a dark Cubra (Brazil) wrapper and works exceptionally well with my black coffee. Even the shade Jackdaw has some pop to it and is quite tasty. It’s hard to go wrong with the Blackbird line, Jonas is doing some great things at his factory in the DR. 

 

A few weeks ago I received a few new cigars from the folks at Villiger Cigars.  I’ve had a very long history with Villiger. If you dig through my site (or YouTube channel), you’ll find interviews going back to 2012 I think.  They have gone through some transitions, probably

made some mis-steps, but they’ve always made good cigars.  A few years ago they brought on René Casteñeda to head North American sales.  René was previously with

Miami Cigar and Co. and La Aurora, and is a super-nice guy.  The Villiger Miami started out as a cigar for him to have to share with his friends and visitors to his office.  It’s made in their ABAM factory in the DR, where they make Flor de Ynclan and a ton of cigar for the European market. Last year they put this out in a Lancero, this year it was released in a toro format. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, undisclosed binder and fillers, except that they say there is some Peruvian leaf in the filler blend.  This is a really nice, complex blend, with some delicate flavors.  It’s one of those cigars that you want to think about while you smoke it. I got a little citrus tang, with some nuts, light coffee, and a hint of cocoa. 

 

Finally, I smoked the Villiger 1888 Nicaragua in both the Toro and Robusto.  The 1888 was the first premium cigar that Villiger made back in 2009, and it was reissued around 2017 with updated blend and branding, made in the Dominican Republic.  The 1888 Nicaraguan is made in the Villiger de Nicaragua factory, which in my imagination is somehow a part of the Joya de Nicaragua factory. I could ask around and verify this I suppose, but that seems like work.  The cigar has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Pennsylvanian fillers. I’m generally partial to cigars with PA tobacco, considering it’s grown within an hour from my home, and I tend to like Sumatra.  This was a Medium bodied cigar in both vitolas, and had some sweet coffee/cocoa flavors.  I don’t recall favoring one size over the other, but almost always like a toro over a robusto.  I have a corona yet to try, but I expect that to have slightly sharper flavors.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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