Tag Archives: c-gars ltd

It’s Been a Long Week: J.Fuego, Partagas, My Own Blend, News, and a Contest Winner!

I had a long week!  I worked at my second job last weekend, went to a one year old’s birthday party, we went to NYC on Tuesday, and my youngest son graduated from high school Friday night.  I still managed to get a few cigars in though!

 

Going way back to Sunday, I sat down that afternoon with a J. Fuego 777 Zero robusto.  Jesus gave me this cigar at the IPCPR show last year, and I’ve been looking forward to smoking it.  I’ve really enjoyed the maduro and Corojo in the 777 line, so I was sure I’d like this one.  Visually, the cigar is stunning.  The wrapper is flawless and the triple cap was very prominent, a certain sign that it was the work of a skilled torcedor.  I loved this cigar.  Like many Ecuador Connecticut wrapped cigars these days, it leaned more to the side of medium than mild.  As I suspected, it burned beautifully and was a perfect smoke for a fine Sunday afternoon after coming home from the birthday party. I can highly recommend the entire 777 line, give them a try.

 

I dug into the samples of the new Partagas 1845 cigars this week.  these arrived just after Memorial Day, so I wanted to let them rest a little after spending the long weekend in the hands of the USPS.  I couldn’t resist any longer and selected the robusto, which measures 5½ x 49, as it does in the regular Partagas line.  I like the size quite a bit.  A quick aside: the Partagas 1845 website is well done. It presents all the information, sizes, blend information, bios of the team, very well done.  I was critical of the CAO website and was told it was a work in progress, but they still don’t have any size information and they should take a look at their sister site for  some inspiration!  The cigar is well done also.  It’s a solid, satisfying medium smoke with loads of flavor. It’s reminiscent of the Partagas line, with a little something extra. A fine smoke and I look forward to working through the rest of the sizes.

 

Friday evening was my son’s graduation ceremony, and before we left I had time for a special smoke.  I selected one of the cigars I blended on my Cigar Safari trip last March.  I’ve smoked a couple of these and been really happy.  For those who don’t recall, the blend was a Mexican Oscuro wrapper Indonesian binder,  seco  from both Esteli and Dominican Republic,  half a leaf of Esteli ligero and filled it out with Brazilian Mata Fina viso.  The size is 5×44, and they were rolled by the team that rolls that Liga Privadas.  The construction was perfect, the flavor was dark and delicious and it was the perfect cigar to celebrate the end of an era, our participation in the public school system!

 

Yesterday I went back to Partagas, but this time it was a Partagas Black Magnifico.  This is a big, ugly cigar, but boy, is it good!  I love the Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, great smoke.  I sat on my front porch for nearly 2 hours enjoying this cigar.  I can’t actually recall a Partagas cigar I didn’t like, from either manufacturer, they all bring something a little special to the table.  It’s an iconic brand, it’s usually reasonably priced and readily available.

 

News

I’ve received a ton of press releases this week, and everyone else has gotten them published, so here’s a little recap:

CAO Cigars and Two Foot Fred to Rock CMA Music Festival – TheCigarmy.com

Butthead’s Tobacco Presents a Virtual Cigar Workshop – Cigar-Coop.com

Dona Flor Cigars Reaady To Unveil Its “BRAZILIAN BLACK TREASURE” To The U.S. Market – ACigarSmoker.com

Emilio Cigars Upcoming Releases – Halfwheel.com

 

Thanks to all of my fellow bloggers for taking care of this so I don’t have to! 🙂

 

Contest!

Today is the day we announce the winner of the contest.  The winner will receive a signed copy of the book “Once Upon a Time in Cuba” , by Mitchell Orchant and Micheal Mirecki.  I’ll, no doubt, include some other goodies with the book as well.  I return to Random.org to select a number between 1 and 31.  The number is 28, which corresponds to the 28th comment which was made by “Tonbofrogman”.  Please e-mail me your address so I can get this out to you!  Thanks to Mitchell for contributing this great prize and for his support and kindness!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

 

Share

2 Comments

Filed under Contest, News, Review

A New York City Cigar Dinner Cruise and a Contest!

For the third year in a row my wife and sons and I were invited on a three hour New York City dinner cruise hosted by our dear friend Mitchell Orchant and his wife and daughter, along with Guy Hancock.  Mitchell and Guy are international cigar merchants and host this party for their friends and customers.  The venue was the Cabana, a Marco Polo Cruises boat out of the New York Sky Ports marina.  We were able to board about an hour early, which was great since we had left home plenty early to avoid traffic and delays.  We were each given really cool goodie bags with a couple cigars, some candies, little bottles of whiskey, cutters, matches, a lighter, all sorts of terrific stuff.  There ended up being over 90 invited guests, and the boat had plenty of room on two decks.  My sons both lit up the Grafton Reserva corona from their gift bags, which is a house brand for the Decent Cigar Emporium in Dublin, Ireland.  This is made for them in the Dominican Republic and the boys enjoyed it and reported that it was a nice, mild smoke.  I lit up a Room 101 Connecticut that I had gotten at the event I attended several weeks ago.  The Room 101 Connecticut is a very nice cigar, rich and flavorful with a perfect draw.  After we set out to cruise the East River, and we finished our first cigars, sushi was being served and a jazz combo was playing on the lower deck.  A lavish buffet was set out with salad, chicken, eggplant and manicotti, everything one could want.  Once again, Mitchell outdid himself and pulled off a fabulous evening.  After dinner my son, Corey, and I lit up some special cigars that we brought back from Cigar Safari last year,  Liga Privada Dirty Rats in a 7″ x 44 size.  The additional length seemed to mellow the blend a little and it was a fantastic smoke, loads of flavor and the extra two inches really added to the cigar.  My son Christian enjoyed an Acid Kuba Kuba.  The weather, which was threatening, held off and it ended up being a really nice night, kudos to the captain for steering around what little rain there was.  Of course, the views of the city from the river are spectacular.  The new Freedom Tower is stunning and we got good views of the Statue of Liberty as well as the East River bridges.  We saw some old friends, and met some new ones, as usually happens at these sorts of events.  We always enjoy getting together with Mitchell of C.Gars Ltd. and his family, and thank him once again for including us.  Thanks, as well to Guy of The Decent Cigar Emporium for also being a gracious host.  All great folks whom I’m proud to call friends.

 

Contest

Mitchell was kind enough to  provide me with an autographed copy of his book, “Once Upon a Time in Cuba” to give away to a lucky reader.  Don’t worry, it’s mostly pictures!  I’ll throw in some assorted goodies along with the book as well.    Usual rules apply, leave a comment to enter, if you’ve won in the past six months you’re ineligible (excluding the Christmas Giveaways).  I’ll close the contest and announce the winner on my Sunday, June 10, 2012 post. Many thanks to Mitchell at C.Gars Ltd. for providing these goodies.

 

See below for some pictures from the evening’s festivities.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

Share

33 Comments

Filed under Contest, Events

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways Day 10: AJ Fernandez/Emilio

We’re getting close to the end, I sure wish I could run contests every day, but I think 12 days in a row is enough for just about anyone.  We’ll go back to monthly (or as the spirit moves me) after the first of the year.  I can always find something to give away!  Now, once again we consult Random.org for a number, and that number is 3.  So would Brian please e-mail me so I can send you your gift certificate! (I save postage on this one!)

 

Today on CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways we have a selection of cigar from AJ Fernandez!   We have two San Lotano Oval Toros and two San Lotano Habano Robustos.   Cigar Journal just named the San Lotano Oval as #2 best cigar of 2011, and it is a really nice cigar!      Co-sponsoring today is Emilio Cigars.  The AF series are made and named after AJ Fernandez and are exceptional cigars!  Gary Grifith has provided 3 each of the AF1 and AF2s.

 

Thank you to Clay Roberts at AJ Fernandez  and Gary Griffith of Emilio Cigars for their generous contributions, and to AJ for making exceptional cigars!

 

You know what to do! Leave a comment to enter and good luck!

 

Until tomorrow,

 

CigarCraig

 

Share

62 Comments

Filed under Contest

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways Day 9 : C-Gars, Ltd

I’m pleased to report that yesterday was another record-breaking day on CigarCraig.com!  Obviously, having great prizes like we’ve been having might have something to do with that, and today is no exception!  But, I digress…the business at hand : selecting yesterday’s winner.  The Random Number Generator spit out the number 28, which corresponds to Zack the Stogie Man.  I have to say, I saw something like this coming.  There are a handful of folks who entered that are fairly local to me, and it would save me some cash in  shipping if I could hand deliver.  This particular prize is being shipped by BOTL, LLC!  So, Zack, please e-mail me your address so I can forward it on to Marc.  And now, on with the show:

 

Today on CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways we have a £50 Gift certificate for your choice of accessories from the fine folks at C-Gars, Ltd.,  a fantastic merchant from the UK.  Mitchell and his crew specialize in customer service and will go out of their way to set you up with the accessory of your choice! They have tons of great accessories to choose from.  As of today, £50=$78USD.

 

 

 

Thank you to Mitchell, Michelle and Laura at C-Gars Ltd. in London for offering this generous prize!

You know what to do! Leave a comment to enter and good luck!

 

Until tomorrow,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

nbsp;

Share

59 Comments

Filed under Contest

12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways Countdown! A Monte Pascoal, a My Uzi and a Cain

It’s been a busy week, I’ve been gearing up for the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways and the weather was mild and rainy for the fist part of the week, and cold at the end.  This didn’t stop me from getting in a few interesting cigars though!

 

Mid way through the week I took a walk with a Monte Pascoal Minuto.  This Brazilian puro is a tasty little firecracker of a smoke.  The cigar is 4 3/8″ x 42, with Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper and binder and Mata Fina and Mata Norte fillers.  The word on the street is that the smaller sizes are stronger than the larger sizes, based on the higher wrapper to filler ratio, but I find this difficult to comprehend given that the blend is so heavily weighted toward the same tobacco variety. Perhaps I’ll ask Wes at Tabacos Mata Fina USA about this the next time I see him.

 

Last night it was cold.  I needed to get some cash, and the nearest ATM is probably a mile and a half away, so I grabbed the 7″x 60 My Uzi Weighs A Ton pre-release sample Jonathan Drew sent me quite a few months ago. This cigar is a joint venture between Joya de Nicaragua and Drew Estate/Subculture Studio, and was released at this years IPCPR show. Certainly this monstrous cigar would last me the entire walk, and then some.  There’s nothing more frustrating that finishing the cigar before the walk.  Anyway, this cigar had a nice flavor, and as has been said many times by others, it’s not a killer strong cigar as the name may imply.  It’s just a really nice, balanced, medium bodied cigar that was an excellent companion for the 3 mile walk!

 

Yesterday I felt inspired to smoke a Cain Daytona Corona after a big Olive Garden meal with my wife.  I really needed a couple laps around the block to burn off the pasta!  I love the Cain line, but most of them are just too strong for me.  Not the Daytona!  It’s another medium bodied cigar that’s packed with delicious flavors.  What led me to this cigar was a meeting earlier in the day with my areas Oliva rep, Mike Staiber, who provided a terrific prize for the upcoming contest.  Always nice to see Mike, and I wish we’d have had the time to sit and smoke one together.

 

Speaking of the contest, it starts TOMORROW!  Keep any eye here bright and early each morning for the next two weeks for a fantastic parade of prizes!  Leave a comment to win and check back every day for the winner and the next prize!  This is a contest that is unprecedented in the history of CigarCraig.com!  Many thanks to the following companies who have made this contest possible:

La Gloria Cubana

Villiger Stokkebye

Brothers of the Leaf, LLC

Miami Cigar and Co.

Oliva

CAO

Cigar Journal

Pipes and Cigars

C-Gars Ltd. 

Tabacos Mata Fina USA

Oja Cigars

and more to come!

 

My deepest gratitude for everyone for helping to make this a terrific 12 days of contests!

That’s it for now, more tomorrow!

CigarCraig

Share

13 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk