Tag Archives: broadleaf

by | November 27, 2011 · 5:36 pm

Holiday Weekend Cigars: Joya de Nicaragua, La Sirena and a 777

I hope everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving had a wonderful day, filled with family, food and cigars!  We kept it small this year, my wife cooked up a delicious meal, and my brother-in-law joined us and enjoyed a cigar with me after the meal.

 

I first enjoyed a Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Lancero on the first day of Cigar Safari in Nicaragua last March.  Jonathan Drew passed them around on our way to dinner after an amazing day of travel and sight-seeing.  The cigar was amazing, so when I spied one in the gift pack from the blogger party that Drew Estate threw at the IPCPR show, I was quite pleased.  So I selected that cigar for my post-turkey smoke, and gave my bro-in-law it’s shorter, fatter sibling, a Cabinetta robusto.  Obviously, the lancero lasted a little longer thank the robusto, but it needs to be smoked slower, but it waswonderful.  Smooth, reasonably mild, with nice flavors, this is a cigar that I need to get more of, and I don’t like not having one size or another of the Cabinettas in my humidors.  It’s a perfect cigar for any time of day.

 

Friday, following another family feast, I decided the La Sirena Prince that I picked up at the Delaware Cigar Festival was in order.   This robusto is a little hard to find behind the enormous band.  Fortunately, once the large band is removed, a smaller one is still there so you don;t forget what you are smoking.  I found this to be a tasty treat, wrapped in a dark, broadleaf wrapper.  I quite enjoyed this cigar, it burned perfectly and had a unique flavor that defies my ability to describe. All I know is that I liked it, and thanks to Chris Lenzo of Miami Cigar and Co, for hooking me up with this after someone bought up all of the cigars they had brought to the expo!

 

Saturday turned out to be a very nice day, so I grabbed a Jesus Fuego 777 Maduro Belicoso for my evening walk.  I really like these cigars.  They have all of the deep, dark flavors I want out of a maduro.  I had previously only smoked the coronas, but this Belicoso came from the hand of Jesus Fuego himself at the IPCPR show.  Terrific cigars and not unreasonably priced.  The burn was a little ragged in the first half, but ended up being perfect in the last half.  Jesus Fuego is pretty consistently coming out with some great cigars.  You can see a little video I took of him here.

 

As I write this I’m enjoying a La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale on a mild evening. I’m contemplating taking a ride up to Easton, PA next Saturday to attend the LGC Event at Famous Smoke Shop.  I haven’t been up there yet and look forward to seeing the new store.  I’m also plotting something special for the Christmas holiday season, so stay tuned!  Finally, don’t forget to check out the special deal mentioned in my last post.  Get your free calendar and a cigar from PipesandCigars.com !

 

That’s enough for now, until the next time,

 

CiagrCraig

 

 

 

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by | September 11, 2011 · 8:15 am

Weekend Cigars: A CroMagnon, A La Casita Criolla, G&G Cigars, and a Marco V

First off, I’d like to welcome our latest sponsor, CigarChoice.com.  As with all of my sponsors, please pay them a visit and consider them when doing your online shopping!  You will find their ads in the right-hand sidebar, as well as on the CigarCraigsList and Links pages.  I appreciate their support, but my opinions or my content will never be effected by outside sources!

 

After the torrential rain subsided this week, I was in the mood for something special, so I grabbed a CroMagnon Cranium that Skip Martin handed me at  the IPCPR show.  I guess this makes me a cigar weasel, but I suppose I’m in good company (this is a bit of an inside joke among those who follow Skip on Twitter).  This line is a collaboration between Skip and Michael Rosales of Adrians Premium Costa Rican Cigars, however it’s manufactured in Esteli, Nicaragua with Nicaraguan tobaccos wrapped in a Cameroon binder and finished off with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.  The cigar is rustic looking, but solid.  I anticipated loving this cigar, and I was right, broadleaf AND Cameroon?  Lovely combination!.  It had just the right punch and deep, dark flavors that were the perfect ending to the week.  Highly recommended, although only available from Havacigarshop.com.

 

I had some time on my hands Saturday, so I paid a much overdue visit to G & G Cigars in West Chester, PA, just 10 miles down the road from home.  I run into the owner, Doug, at the IPCPR show more than I do in his store.  Why? I guess I just don’t get out much.  The shop is in the middle of a busy college town/county seat in part of what was once the Warner Theater. As a long time area resident, I can remember going to matinees in that theater, but it’s been closed for decades and is currently being renovated into a hotel.  The shop is well appointed, has a generous selection of cigars and was staffed by a very nice gentleman named Tony, who made me feel quite welcome. I picked up a couple of the new La Casita Criolla corona from Tatuaje Cigars, since I had read about these, and they sounded like something I’d like.  These are made entirely of Nicaraguan Broadleaf, which is quite unusual.  Again, I was right, I DID like it.  This corona burned great, and had tons of dark, rich flavors, which came as no surprise. While $6.50 is generally outside of my comfort zone for a corona, I really wanted to try this one.   I was invited to sit in their members only lounge, and enjoyed a good hour or so with a diverse and interesting group of gents.  The store has a membership program where for $50 per year you can use the lounge and attend monthly special events.  On the one hand, I find it odd to not have a place open to the regular (non-member) clientele to enjoy a cigar after purchasing it, as well as having events that aren’t open to the general public.  However, it is a small shop, and they’ve obviously found something that works for them.  Very nice shop, and a very nice cigar to go along with it.

 

As I’m writing this, I’m enjoying a M. Vito x Marco V Cuban Perfecto Platinum Reserve, which was given to me by Marco V at the IPCPR show.  It’s a big, beautiful, dark perfecto wrapped in Brazilian Arapiraca.  I’m finding it to be on the lighter side of the medium that it says on the website, but it still has a nice flavor and is generally well behaved.  I selected this so that I could include a video from the show of Marco, as well as a video of a gentleman who was sharing his booth, Gunnar, who’s a very interesting German fellow.  Since it seems to be football season, it’s only appropriate to show off Gunnar’s creation, The Football Cigar, which is an actual premium cigar, despite it’s novelty appearance.  The Marco V is a nice cigar, the ash is a little flakey, but it’s pleasant and well made.   Both Marco and Gunnar are really nice folks and I thank them for taking their time with me at the show.

 

Here’s Marco telling us about his line of cigars:

And here’s Gunnar talking about his Football Cigar:

That’s it for now, don’t forget to write to your elected officials imploring them to co-sponsor the legislation that’s in both the House and the Senate to save Premium cigars from certain destruction at the hands of the FDA (right sidebar). Both Cigar Rights of America and the IPCPR have excellent tools on their sites to make writing to your legislators easy.  Also, only a few days left to enter the Macanudo Millionaire 4-pack contest where I’ll select two lucky winners on Wednesday, September 14!  Go HERE to enter!

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 6, 2011 · 10:39 pm

Fourth of July Cigars and a TACFAW: My Uzi Weighs A Ton

fathersday_haul_2I decided to take a drive back down to Light’n Up Cigars in Frazer, PA to use my last LivingSocial Coupon that I got from my daughter for Father’s Day. My sons had some stops they wanted to make, so we made the cigar shop one of our stops.  The shelves were nearly bare.  They had gotten some boxes of Art Decos in, from the looks of the full tin boxes, so I grabbed one of those, as well as a La Traviata natural (which I still haven’t tried, I had the Maduro and wasn’t impressed), and an Alec Bradley American Classic, probably for next July 4th.  Another three new inmates in the asylum.

party_shortI have a couple of traditions when Independence Day comes along. As the 4th is my wedding anniversary, as well as our nation’s birthday, I always like to exercise some civil disobedience and smoke a fine Havana cigar.  This year I went with a very old Partagas Short.  While not a huge cigar, it’s got enormous flavor.  I love these little guys and this one had been sitting around the humidors for the better part of the last decade.  It burned great and was a very nice companion while the grill got fired up.  Nice little cigar.

cao_americaAfter burgers and hot dogs while waiting around for fireworks to start, I decided on a CAO America Constitution that I had received at the CAO party at the IPCPR show in 2008.  High marks for presentation on this dos capas cigar, with a nice Connecticut Broadleaf over a Connecticut shade wrapper, only revealing a pinstripe of the shade wrapper, a very nice spin on the barber pole wrapper.  The cigar was very nice, although not really overly distinctive.  It was a good cigar, no question, but not one I’d go out of my way for particularly.  Love the band and, in this case, I’ll even tolerate the foot band.

Take A Cigar For A Walk

MyUzi5x60Tuesday I felt the need to take a power walk.  Some people will take hand weights on their walk.  I decided to take a heavy cigar.  A couple weeks back I received a package from Jonathan Drew with two of his new cigar, My Uzi Weighs A Ton in the 5″ x 60 and 7″ x 60 sizes, along with a really cool Liga Privada cap, which matches my hair color in black and silver. This new line is from Jonathan’s Subculture Studios and Joya de Nicaragua, using tobacco from both Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua and rolled at the Joya de Nicaragua factory.  I opted for the 5″ x 60 for my walk, which took me almost 3 miles.  Based on the description of the blend of this cigar, I must admit I was expecting a little richer flavor.  The burn was perfect, which is to be expected from cigars rolled at the Joya de Nicaragua factory, and has Jonathan’s hand in it.  The Mexican wrapper wasn’t as flavorful as I would have thought, and I expected more from the Brazilian filler.  I still really enjoyed this cigar, and I can’t wait to smoke the 7″ monster.  I think I’ll use a stopwatch with that and a 7″ lancero and see if my theory that length is the biggest factor in smoking time holds true.  Many thanks to Jonathan for sending me these goodies!

In The News

The Monday Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article on a new shop in town, Xhale Lounge.  I dropped Brad, the owner a note and hope to catch up with him in Vegas, and eventually visit his shop. Here’s a link to the story: http://articles.philly.com/2011-07-04/business/29736221_1_cigar-shop-cigar-industry-cigar-smokers It was nice to see an article about something so  un-PC as a cigar shop!  The paper had large, color photos and everything!

That’s it for now.  Don’t forget to go back and enter the contest that ends this Saturday.  Leave a comment with a link to a patriotic picture on any post since the contest started back on June 19th.  Since there were some technical difficulties on my provider’s end, I felt like I should loosen up the rules.  There have been three very cool entries and it will be hard to pick a winner so far.  Please make it even harder with more entries!

Until next time,

CigarCraig

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by | October 27, 2010 · 7:29 pm

This Week’s Cigars: Cigar Factory New Orleans Sampler – Wednesday October 27, 2010

Back in August, you may recall, my family took a trip to New Orleans and one of the souvenirs I picked up was a three cigar sampler from Cigar Factory New Orleans.  Actually, my son and I both picked up the sampler, and smoked them together.  I’ll include my interpretation of his impressions along with my own.  The sampler was packaged in a very nice slide top box, containing a box of matches and a brochure with information about the blends.  We visited both locations while we were there and were impressed with the talent of the rollers as well as the knowledge of the folks working there. Over the course of the last week my son and I smoked the 3 coronas that were contained in the sampler box.  I selected the order starting with what I judged the mildest an moving up to what I figured would be the strongest.

The first cigar was the 5 ¼” x 44 Plantation Reserve corona.  This cigar had a Connecticut shade wrapper, which led me to expect a mild cigar.  While certainly not a strong cigar, I wouldn’t characterize it as mild.  Corey enjoyed this one more than I did.  I found it to have a bitterness that was off-putting.  It burned and drew perfectly and was a very nice looking cigar.

The second cigar was the Vieux Carre Cafe, which at 6″ x 46 is less of a corona than a lonsdale, but still a very nice size.  This one sports an African Cameroon wrapper, however, I didn’t get that usual Camerooniness that I associate with that wrapper.  Maybe I just got another dud, because I thought this cigar lacked any real character, there were even some just plain bad flavors every now and then.  Again, Corey enjoyed his example, despite a small wrapper split at the head.  Again, the burn and draw were spot on.

The third cigar in the box was the Tres Hermanos Numero Tres, a 5¼” x 46 corona gorda.  This is just about my favorite size wrapped with a Broad-leaf Maduro wrapper.  As a broad-leaf fan from way back, my expectations were again high.  This time I wasn’t disappointed.  It started out very aggressively, with a big spicy blast of flavor.  It settled down pretty quickly to a fairly full bodied and full flavored hour or so of cigar goodness.  Clearly my favorite of the trio.  These folks do know how to construct a cigar, because the burn was razor straight and the draw was perfect. Corey concurred and even commented that he would consider purchasing this cigar again. I have read reviews of cigars that mentioned dried dark fruit and, until now, I never thought I’d taste such a thing in a cigar.  I think I actually did taste something akin to dried plums or something similar.  I say this risking ridicule as I really don’t consider myself much of a cigar reviewer.  This is a cigar both my son and I smoked to a finger burning nub.

In summary, Corey enjoyed all of the cigars in this sampler, while I only really enjoyed the Tres Hermanos.  This sampler was around $22, which I thought was expensive, but I accepted it as being in a tourist area and figured it was a souvenir.  They sell these in boxes of 10 and 25, and are not really too unreasonably priced in those quantities.  I would actually consider buying the Tres Hermanos again.  My one criticism is that their website gives only very vague information about the blends. I would like to know if the Tres Hermanos is wrapped in a Connecticut Broad-leaf or some other kind of broad-leaf, or if there is any local tobacco in the blend.  The best part of the whole experience was having been in the storefront factory and watching them roll cigars, as well has sharing the experience with my 21 year old son.  If you ever find yourself in the Crescent City, stop in and try some of their cigars!

That’s it for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | August 25, 2010 · 7:55 pm

The Week’s Cigars So Far: CAO, Dirty Rat, Chateau Real…and a Contest! – Wednesday August 25, 2010

Got the week of to a good start with a really nice CAO VR Moby, a 6″ x 50 maduro toro.  I have enjoyed the three examples I’ve had which my wife bought for me for Valentines Day.  They were part of several 5 pack samplers she got from Cigars International.  I believe these are made for CI.  I think these are a nice, medium maduro that is very well made.  I’m not one for identifying specific flavors, but peppery is definitely a flavor descriptor that I’d use with this cigar.    I don’t know that I would drop a c-note on a box of 20, but I suppose they are worth $5 each compared with a lot of cigars out there.

I decided to wrap up the weekend with a treat and grabbed a Liga Privada Dirty Rat from the humidor.  This was one that Steve Saka had given me a few months back.  I have to say that this is just about cigar perfection.  The corona size is very appealing to me, and it’s just a really pretty cigar.  The dark and oily wrapper, the funny pigtail, it’s just so appealing.  Then you light it, and it burns razor straight with a nice flat coal and draws perfectly.  Steve says they cost more to make than the double coronas, and considering this little corona had five different filler tobaccos packed into it’s stalk cut Connecticut wrapper, it’s no surprise at the cost.  The leaves have to be scissor cut to fit them in.  Lot’s of labor involved but what a fantastic smoking experience.  I’ve enjoyed all of the Liga Privadas I’ve had, and I don’t often spend upwards of $10 on a cigar.  Exceptional cigar that will be worth the occasional splurge when they hit the shelves sometime this September.

Monday I went for a Chateau Real Gran Templar in claro.  Another cigar I really like and is consistently good.  I decided on this particular cigar since I had just come off the excellent experience of the Dirty Rat, and wanted something quite different, but without any surprises.  This cigar shared the excellent construction with its cousin the Rat, and had a clean and smooth flavor.  The Connecticut shade wrapper was without flaw and quite pretty.  Another cigar that’s more expensive than I generally prefer, but worth it. I really think Drew Estate is making good cigars, but I have to say that while their website is nice and flashy, it’s kind of a pain if one wants to link directly to a specific cigar and sometimes takes a little while to load up.  It does have a lot of good information though, which is better than some sites.

On to the contest!

Since I smoked a couple Drew Estate cigars this week, let’s go ahead and give away a DE hat and a Liga Privada cutter.  As a special bonus I will sweeten the deal with a brand new Liga Privada T52 in the Belicoso size.  While I was visiting the IPCPR show and saying goodbye to Saka, he threw several of these at me, so I feel the need to pay it forward!  I have yet to send out a cutter prize without including something to use the cutter on anyway, but this time it’s something that may not be in the stores yet.  So there ya go, that’s the prize.  Since I’ve been having trouble with my feline assistants lately, I’ll work on figuring out a clever selection process.  So leave me a comment which will be your entry.  I always enjoy comments anyway, but for some reason it seems that I get more when I give stuff away…not sure why that is…so bring on the comments and win some awesome stuff courtesy of Drew Estate!

That’s it for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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