Tag Archives: Cavalier

by Craig Vanderslice | September 24, 2023 · 10:36 am

E.P. Carillo, Cavalier Geneve, Macanudo Vintage and Punch Golden Era Cigars

I split up the work week this week with a day trip to Atlantic City to sit on the beach one last time, do you know they don’t allow smoking on the beach in New Jersey? That sucks! Having a cigar is about the one thing I enjoy about going to the beach! The stupid thing about the smoking ban is that we all know it’s really another litter law, because a certain group of smokers can’t seem to pick up after themselves! There’s already litter laws, how about enforcing them! Anyway, I had picked up a few new to me cigars last week and smoked them this week! The first one was the E.P.Carrillo Allegiance in the Confidant size. This is a 6″ x 52 toro with a box press, and has a pretty Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers which all come from, and is manufactured by, Oliva Cigars. It’s kinda funny that when Ernesto started his factory, I think he was more interested in making cigars for other people, then he had success with his own brand (again), and now he’s having other people make his brand! I’ve loved Ernesto’s cigars since the mid ’90s anyway. This one was a surprise, or maybe not. I got a large dose of the cane sugar sweetness I often get from Sumatra, and it stuck around through the cigar. I liked it a lot, it was a nice change. I definitely want to smoke this again, I’d like to smoke this with a friend to compare notes, I think that would be interesting. Great smoke in my opinion.

Next up was another cigar I picked up on the same shopping foray, a Cavalier Geneve Inner Circle Toro. This is made at the company’s factory in Honduras, Fábrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A., and does not have the signature gold leaf diamond applied to the wrapper. The wrapper is Nicaraguan Habano, Honduran Habano binder and fillers from Dominican Republic, Honduras , Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. Considering the blend, especially the presence of Pennsylvania leaf in the filler blend, I was surprised that this was as mild as it was. Oddly, I got a hint of white sugar on this one, maybe I have a sweet tooth lately. It was very nice, mellow, with subtle sweet tobacco notes throughout, some light coffee perhaps. Whenever I see PA tobacco in the blend I buckle my seatbelt, not needed in this case. I couldn’t have been happier with the gracefulness of this cigar, it was a delight.

A few weeks ago I mentioned picking up a Captain America Invicta case to repurpose as a travel humidor, and this week I put some foam trays in it. I bought a pack of 12″ x 12″ acoustic foam “tiles” from Temu for a little over $10 delivered. I cut four of them to fit the case, and, if I’m being anal retentive, can put 24 large cigars in the case. Of course, it’ll fit way more than that if I cram cigars in. So if you picked up a case at Harbor Freight, or a Pelican case if your well off, or got your hands on one of these Invicta watch cases, and were wondering where to get foam trays to lovingly cradle your precious cigars for safe travel, here’s your solution! I chose red because I thought it looked cool with the case, they have other colors. I suppose now I’m going to be expected to show up toting this case with me whenever I go to events now…

I had a few cigars from General Cigar Co. left to smoke that I had been saving for the right time, and yesterday was the time. I say that because they are robustos, and I often like to take longer to smoke than a robusto will give me. I know, it’s a hard problem to have. I took the afternoon yesterday, since it was rainy, to work on starting to winterize my porch, which is my smoking lounge. This was a great time to light up a Macanudo Vintage Maduro 2013 Robusto. I’ve always liked the Macanudo Vintage Maduro offerings, this one was a surprise. The wrapper is a ten year old Connecticut Broadleaf, the binder is Honduran Olancho San Agustin, and the fillers are Dominican Piloto Cubano (two different primings), Nicaraguan Jalapa and Brazilian Mata Fina. This was a very bold cigar, surprisingly so for a Macanudo. A pleasant surprise, for someone who can be frustrated by a mild cigar. The cigar started with a shot of espresso, and didn’t let off too much from there. It had loads of roch coffee and cocoa with some spice and we really quite heavy. It frequently distracted me from my project, and reduced the profanity level significantly. I may remove the cedar from a few of these for long term aging, I’d hate to see these become too woody. That reminds me, I have a side by side experiment with some Diesel Esteli Puros I need to do one of these days.

Finally, a cigar I’ve been looking forward to trying is the Punch Golden Era. Like the EPC Allegiance, this is another partnership, this time General Cigar worked with Justo and Julio Eiroa and made this cigar at Fabrica Puros de Aladino SA in Honduras. You know the Punch Rare Corojo that doesn’t actually have any Corojo in the blend? This cigar does actually have Corojo, and it’s Corojo from the undisputed masters of Corojo. Funny enough, this and the Macanudo were switched for me, where I expected this to be a powerhouse and the Macanudo to be milder, this was the mild cigar. The Punch Golden era was bready, creamy and maybe a little nutty, not at all what I expected. It wasn’t anything like an Aladino, or an old Camacho, or any Punch I can think of. It was quite nice, but very surprising for an all Corojo cigar. If you like Corojo, and you want a different (in my opinion) take on it, give this a try. If you like smooth, creamy, elegant cigars, also give this a try! It’s certainly a tasty cigar, but challenged my expectations.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Allegiance, Cavalier, Cavalier Geneve, cigar, cigars, E.P. Carrillo, Golden Era, Inner CIrcle, macanudo, Macanudo Vintage 2013, punch

by Craig Vanderslice | April 2, 2023 · 9:38 am

Toscano, Gurkha, Dos Niños and Cavalier Cigars

I started off this week with something a little different. I had a Toscano Master Aged Serie 3 in the humidor from last year’s PCA show, and I decided it was time to give it a try. I’ve been enjoying Toscano cigars for over 20 years, my wife brought me some from a trip to Italy in 2000 (Anticos), and I’ve been a fan. I bought some more when I went to Italy myself a few years back, Unfortunately, I have so many other cigars to smoke, these get pushed to the back of the rotation. They are dry cured, so they are great to keep in the car in case of emergency, and it’s totally acceptable to cut them in half. The Master Aged 3 I smoked is a high end Toscano, made with aged Kentucky tobacco, which is fire cured and tastes like it. I probably should have cut it in half, because it had a hole in the middle of the cigar, under the band, which I had to cover with a finger to get a decent amount of smoke. I only realize as I type that I could have cut it in half, it never occured to me when I was smoking it. that would have saved me some frustration! It was a bold, tasty cigar with the smoky, bar-be-cue type of flavors which is nice from time to time. I still think the Modigliani is the best Toscano I’ve smoked.

I bought a Gurkha Ghost Gold a few weeks ago after hearing someone rave about it. I like the original Ghost well enough, so I wanted to give this a try. They have replaced the Brazilian wrapper with a Habano, grown in Ecuador. I have to give a little critique of the Gurkha website here, on the Ghost pages there are some errors, the Gold list all three sizes the same, when it should be the Shadow at 5″ x 54, and the Exorcist at 6″ x 60, with the Asura, 6″X 54 being the only one correct. There is also an inconsistency in the blend info, one place it says a Criollo 98 binder and Mexican in another. I tend to believe it has a Mexican binder. This was a very nice smoke, I smoked it while watching Blazing Saddles, which may be a little ironic. The cigar burned well and had a nice, creamy sweetness. I dug it, although it wouldn’t make any lists for me. I’d smoke either the Ghost or the Gold again.

Another PCA show leftover was a Dos Niños robusto, which I believe to be the Corojo variety. The guy behind this cigar is someone I’ve known for many years, from the Usenet days, named Chris Kelly. There are an abundance of Chris Kellys in the cigar business, one owns Tesa Cigars in Chicago, one is one of the owners of Ezra Zion/Cigar Federation, and one is the owner of Leaf Lovers Tobacconist in the incorrectly named town of North East, PA. (it’s near Erie, with is in the North West part of the state). It’s the third one who owns the Dos Niños brand. From what I remember, he started this brand rolling the cigars himself in his shop. If I also remember correctly, which is a crapshoot, by the way, the are now produced by Francisco Almonte of DBL Cigars, and distributed by Sutliff. This cigar started off bold, which is why I think it was the Corojo as opposed to the Habano. It had a rich, heavy chocolate flavor that was quite good. It was less of a sweet chocolate, but very lush and satisfying. I quite enjoyed the cigar, although I’ve been passing it over for the last 8 months, worried that if I smoked it and didn’t enjoy it I’d hurt a friend’s feelings. No issue, it was very good. I’ve spent my weekend power-watching House of the Dragon before my free trial expires, and this got me through an episode and a half, pretty good for a 5″ x 50 robusto.

Finally, I smoked a Cavalier Geneve White toro last night. I was watching TV, and a wicked thunderstorm passed through, knocking out the power for 45 minutes or so. Oddly, when the main TV came back on, and we were trying to watch hockey, it didn’t have any sound. I was quite unhappy since the TV was only a few months old. I did some Googling, and came across an unlikely solution which involved turning the TV off, unplugging it, then holding down the power button in the remote for 30 seconds. Seemed far fetched, but I was desperate. It actually worked. Reduced my stress level considerably. This all went down after I finished the cigar. I first encountered this brand at the 2016 show where I met Sebastien Decoppet, who started this brand shortly before that. He’s a young, hip guy with the beard and tattoos, last time I talked to him was in the Starbucks line after the ’22 TPE where he was kind enough to buy me a coffee. Phil of Comedy-Cigars-Music fame sent me this Cavalier Geneve White toro, which I hadn’t had the chance to try yet. This 6″x 52 cigar has a Habano wrapper, a Connecticut binder (guessing broadleaf, shade isn’t used for a binder often, if ever), and Habano fillers, probably made in Cavalier’s own factory in Honduras. Again, I was distracted by a reasonably violent thunderstorm, but this tasted very good, on the mild to medium side, with some bready notes and some spice. I can never taste the 24k gold leaf when I burn though it, but it’s a cool touch. I’ve enjoyed the Cavalier cigars I’ve smoked, although it’s been limited to a handful of the “Black” varieties. This White was really good, and another thanks to Phil for sending this!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Cavalier, Cavalier Geneve White, cigar, cigars, Dos Niños, Ghost, Ghost Gold, Gurkha, Master Aged Serie 3, Toscano

by CigarCraig | September 28, 2016 · 9:19 pm

A Room 101 Event and a Cavalier Geneva White Series Cigar

Sunday I had mentioned that we were going to Cigars International‘s Downtown Bethlehem store where Matt Booth was having a Room 101 event. We got there (it’s about an hour and a half drive), to find out there was a Celtic festival going on, making it difficult to find a place to park! After driving around for another thirty minutes we finely found a place to park and made our way to the store. The Downtown store is a a small shop with a couple of chairs but a rather large selection. Fortunately, it was a nice day, and they had tables and chairs on the sidewalk. There was a lot of foot traffic, mostly oddly costumed folks in kilts and whatnot. They even had Celtic music playing on street side speakers. And then there was Matt Booth. This was a cool event, as there weren’t lines of people there for the event, so there was a lot of good one on one time with Matt. He even had his attorney there, which, if you follow him on social media, is what he calls his young son, who is about as cute as can be. I bought a hand full of cigars and lit up a Room 101 Big Payback Connecticut Hueso, the 6″ x 60 gordo in the line. This was a very good cigar, and to my surprise, Matt was smoking one as well, in the robusto size, and said that it’s his recent go-to cigar. It was a nice, smooth and very flavorful cigar, quite a nice smoke for a beautiful afternoon in good company. I had gotten some of the Nicaraguan wrapped Big Paybacks too and almost regretted not getting more of the Connecticut, although I like the original Big Payback as well. If you ever have occasion to spend some time with Matt Booth, jump on it, he’s one of the more interesting gentlemen in the cigar industry!

When I got home I lit up a Room 101 Uncle Lee, a cigar Matt made to pay tribute to his uncle who introduced him to cigars. I only bought a couple of these as they only had a couple left, I would have bought a 10 count box if they hadn’t already sold out. The Uncle Lee is only made in the Ranfla size, the 6½ x 50 perfecto size that you find in Room 101’s Johnny Tobbaconaut line, the new Chief Cool Arrow, and the Namakubi line. This was a really interesting cigar with an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan Corojo binder and Honduran and Dominican Corojo fillers, so lots of Corojo. There was a flavor sensation akin to mint that wound it’s way through the smoke. This was a really nice cigar, I enjoyed the crap out of it, and may have to pick up a box. Matt mentioned that CI bought the remaining inventory, so they might be the only game in town for that cigar. It was a really nice cigar day.

Last night I went into the IPCPR sample humidor and pulled out an interesting cigar from a booth we just happened upon on our last day at the show. Cavalier of Geneva is a Swiss cigar company, and their cigars feature a 24 carat gold diamond on the wrapper. I smoked the Cavalier of Geneva White Series Diplomate, a 5½ x 56 with a pigtail cap. the cigars feature a five country blend, Habano wrapper, Connecticut binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Paraguay. The cigar was a nice, well-balanced smoke, on the milder side in strength, but medium in flavor. It burned well, and the gold embellishment on the wrapper had no effect in flavor or burn, but it was kind of neat to watch it burn. These were supposed to be available in the US as of August 1, and are being distributed by Dallas Texas-based CigarArt. I’m very interested in trying the maduro in this line, and I should have smoked it tonight, but, for whatever reason, I decided against it. The San Andrés Negra wrapper over Arapiraca binder sounds quite intriguing.