Last week when shopping I picked up this year’s Tatuaje TAA release, the 51th, a box pressed robusto, with the “America” in Tobacconist Association of America crossed out on the band and “Mexico” written over it. It also has a sombrero wearing cactus in place of the Native American in the logo. I guess this has a Mexican wrapper! Previous TAA releases have had Connecticut Broadleaf, This years has the San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler in a 5″ x 52 box pressed robusto. Being a cheapbastid that I am, I’d much prefer the $12 toro over the $12 robusto, but it was my anniversary and I was treating myself. I had a long day Friday, so when I got home late, a shorter cigar was in order anyway, so a good, shorter cigar was a perfect choice. This, my friends, was such a cigar. I like Tatuaje cigars, I like San Andrés cigars, and I really liked this cigar! It checked all the boxes for me, and if it had been a toro it would have been perfect! I even like the box press. It had the espresso with some spice that I like, and a hint of bittersweet chocolate, it was the perfect way to wrap . up the day. I’ve smoked a few of the Tatuaje TAA releases and have yet to be let down.
Please direct your attention to the J.C. Newman Perla Del Mar graphic on the right sidebar (or elsewhere depending on how you view the site). Clicking on it will direct you to a contest where you can enter to win a nice humidor and cap. I’ll make it easy, here’s the link—> https://www.jcnewman.com/perla-del-mar-humidor/ . The Perla del Mar is a nice smoke, and that humidor is pretty sweet. I know Bob Langmaid has probably entered already 😃. Anyway, the folks at J.C. Newman surprised me last week with some goodies, and one item stirred some memories, so I’m compelled to bore you with a tale. When I received a box of ten Cuesta Rey Centenario Pyramid No. 9 it took me back to a cigar event I attended in 1999 in North Carolina. There was a guy there who I had met for the first time who I had only previously known from his usenet newsgroup postings, much like many of the other people on that cigar crawl. Mike was a strong personality, extremely likable and overly generous. I was a young guy, had a young family, and was just starting my cigar journey, I barely had one humidor at the time! Mike won a box of Cuesta Rey Centenario Pyramid No. 9 and gave it to me. It wasn’t to his liking, or he had plenty and felt like sharing, or whatever the reason, but I was humbled and treasured the gift. At the time, having a box of cigars was very special to me, even a box of ten! So when I received the same box, twenty years later, I was moved. what makes it more special is that Mike had passed away a dozen or so years ago (and he was a few years younger than I), so I was able to think of Mike again and remember some old times. Last night I smoked one of the Centenario Pyramid No. 9s. It’s been a long, long time since I smoked one, so I can’t really recall if they are the same or not, I have to imagine they are close, just because companies like J.C. Newman are in it for the long haul, and pride themselves n consistency, and it’s made at Tabacalera A. Fuente. I will say that it was a very enjoyable mild to medium cigar. It has a Connecticut Shade wrapper, but it doesn’t taste like a Connecticut shade cigar, if that makes sense. It’s been added to the classic section of my humidor, with some other Fuente cigars. I’m thankful for the chance to remember a departed friend who’s generosity touched me.
News
From across the pond, C.Gars Limited announces that they are opening a second La Casa del Habano in the UK. The first La Casa del Habano is in Chester. At this writing, no photos were available, the photo here is from Google Street view.
C.Gars Ltd is delighted to announce the opening of our 2nd La Casa del Habano franchise in Knutsford- Cheshire on the 24th July.
La Casa del Habano – Knutsford
10 Minshull street
Knutsford, Cheshire
WA16 6AG UK
We look forward to welcoming the Cuban Ambassador as well as Jemma Freeman of Hunters & Frankau as guests of honour to the to the opening event.
The premises comprise of a ground floor cigar shop and walk in humidor with client lockers and a first floor comfortable sampling lounge. The full range of La Casa specialities including Coleccion Habanos books and limited edition humidors will be well represented.
LCDH- Knutsford will be managed by Turmeaus tobacconist trained team Andrew, Liz and Sandra under the guidance of Sara and Calum ( Master of Cigars ) from LCDH – Chester.
Managing Director Mitchell Orchant said ‘Opening a second La Casa del Habano is very important and allows us to continue our substantial growth in Havana cigars sales. It will enable us to have additional availability of La Casa specialities to satisfy our customers insatiable demand.’
About C.Gars Ltd:
C.Gars Ltd was launched in 1997 and is the largest specialist cigar merchant in the UK. This family business sells premium cigars and related goods from its website, 24/7, every day of the year. C.Gars Ltd owns and operates specialist cigar shops in the UK and has an associate company in Ireland.
Please welcome Fox Cigars to the CigarCraig family! I’m happy to have them on board, they have some great deals and have great shops in Arizona. Click the banner on the left to get to their site and watch for some special things we’ll be working on with them in the future. That’s all for today! Next Saturday is the Drew Estate PA Barnsmoker. If you’re going to be there, please find me and say hello! Until the next time,
CigarCraig
since, my wife and I even attended his wedding in London back in 2006, which led to my only appearance in Cigar Aficionado magazine (December 2006 with Dennis Haysbert on the cover). So, even though I’ve been a very infrequent customer of his over the years, we’ve maintained a friendship. So that’s how we ended up in Brooklyn on a Tuesday evening, smoking great cigars with some old friends. 
The event was held at The Liberty Warehouse, overlooking the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor. The food and deserts were amazing, and we saw several old friends. There was a great latin band playing throughout the evening. If it hadn’t been so 
windy, we would have spent more time outside watching the ships in the harbor, but cigars don’t deal with the wind well, and the cigars provided were the best of the best. It was a fantastic evening, celebrating a milestone for a great business and family, with great friends. One of these days I hope to get back to the U.K. and visit some of Mitchell’s shops! 
I smoked one of the cigars last night from the party, the La Gloria Cubana Exclusivo Andino, which is exclusive to the Andes in South America. I haven’t had a Cuban La Gloria in 20-some years, and I have been off of Havanas for the most part over the last decade or so. This was an excellent cigar, rich and buttery with some spice. I quite enjoyed it, thank you, Mitchell for it and for an incredible evening. 
