Central Park | CigarCraig's Blog

Tag Archives: Central Park

by CigarCraig | April 24, 2013 · 8:33 pm

C-Gars Ltd., Club Macanudo, the New Palio Lighter, the La Palina Maduro Toro and a Cain F Cigar

Sunday my wife and I drove up to Manhattan to meet up with our good friend Mitchell and his wife, along with some of his other friends at Club Macanudo. We got into the city early, so we wandered around Central Park a bit, even rode the Merry Go Round, visited Tiffany’s and just enjoyed a nice spring day. For those who don’t know, Mitchell operates C.Gars Ltd., the mail order division of Turmeaus Tobacconists established 1817, along with Robert Graham, Global Whisky Shop, Agedcubans, Humidorsonline, Havana Samplers, LCDH Hamburg, Great Gifts Etc. Mitchell is also the international distributor outside of the US for Palio, as well as several other brands that he sells in the UK and the rest of the world. We settled into Club Macanudo to smoke some cigars and socialize. The club is a beautiful space with a bar, private lockers and a full restaurant, serving a Sunday brunch menu until 7 pm. Jenn and I shared a delicious french toast and fruit bowl after I finished my first cigar, a Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2, which Mitchell had handed me when we arrived. This was a delicious cigar, on the milder side for a Havana, but full of flavor and perfectly constructed. I don’t smoke many Havanas any more, as much as I enjoy that distinctive little flavor that only a fine Havana has, a twang, if you will. I think the cigars coming from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Honduras are more interesting and superior in many ways. This was an exemplary smoke though, very nice. Looking at the cigar menu there was a bit startling. New York cigar prices are already high, but the prices there were more than double NY retail prices. I was going to joke that their prices were higher than Mitchell’s, but I try to avoid insulting my host if I can manage it! I didn’t take detailed notes, but I recall seeing a cigar that is $6.00 here in PA being $25. As I said, shocking. Fortunately, I had cigars with me, but Mitchell shoved a Partagas Serie D No. 4 in my paw so I had to smoke that. He mentioned that it was young and possibly quite strong, but I’m a fan of the Cuban Partagas line and found this to me a nice smoke. On the fuller side of medium with a very nice flavor. Perhaps with five years of age this will be a stellar smoke, but it was pretty darned tasty now. It’s always a great time hanging out with Mitchell, his lovely wife and his group of friends, and it’s nice to get a day away with my wife!

As if these special cigars weren’t a treat enough, Mitchell gifted me the new Palio Lighter in matte black, with “Seleccion Orchant 2013” inscribed on it. I’ve been lusting after this lighter since I spoke with Marc Aub of BOTL, LLC at the IPCPR show last August and he was showing it off (video here). This is a substantial lighter with a large fuel capacity, a fuel window and covers over the jet, as well as the filler hole. They’ve made it very easy to adjust the flame height with a little drop down turny thing on the adjustment screw (pardon the technical jargon). This is a brilliant lighter which I’m proud to have in my possession. It lights a cigar very nicely too. I’ll use it non-stop (except when I travel) and report on how it performs, but I have no doubt it will be flawless.

The first cigar I lit with the Palio lighter was a La Palina Maduro toro. I fell in love with the Robusto in this line last year when it was released, although I only smoked a few samples. Its everything I desire in a San Andreas wrapped cigar: smooth, chocolaty, and delicious. Of course it’s well made, although the draw could have been a little bit better. I enjoy the heck out of most of the La Palina cigars I’ve smoked, but this maduro is my favorite hands down (who among you who reads regularly is surprised?).

Tonight I grabbed a Cain F 5.75×50 that probably came from the IPCPR show last year. This turned out to be a poor choice for me, not because it wasn’t a great smoke, it was, but it was just too strong for me tonight. I’m tired and it kind of kicked me in the butt. It made it more difficult to sit down and write this post! I should have chosen something milder! Still a nice smoke, but strong. I think I like the tubed lancero best in this line.

News

I came across this in my inbox today and thought I’d pass it along since it struck me as a unique promotion that I’ve never seen before:

On Thursday, April 25th, cigar superstar Rocky Patel will be here at BestCigarPrices taking your calls!* Order any in-stock box of Rocky Patel cigars between 4-5pm ET for a chance to talk to Rocky LIVE while he personally hand-signs your box of cigars. CALL TOLL FREE 1-888-41-CIGAR.

Sunday’s post will be a rare guest post, since I will be travelling to Nicaragua for Cigar Safari. I’ll be touring the Drew Estate operation along with several of my blogging brethren (and some real journalists :-)). Expect another full report akin to my last report from March of 2011. Many thanks to the folks at Drew Estate for this opportunity! So stay tuned, I’ll try to get something posted while I’m there, internet access willing!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

9 Comments

Filed under News, Review, Stores, Trip Report

Tagged as Best Cigar Prices, cain, Central Park, cigar, Cigar Safari, cigars, Club Macanudo, drew estate, hoyo de monterrey, La Palina, macanudo, NYC, palio, Partagas, rocky patel

by CigarCraig | October 10, 2010 · 8:31 pm

The Week’s Cigars: 601, Camacho, La Aurora – Sunday October 10, 2010

Autumn is my least favorite time of the year. The days get shorter and there just seem to be fewer opportunities to enjoy a nice cigar. Undeterred, however, I did manage to get a few interesting cigars in this week, as well as a cigar store visit.

I started out smoking a 601 Habano Robusto, which I had gotten a couple weeks back when I met Eddie Ortega at Old Havana Cigars in West Chester, PA. I had previously smoked and enjoyed some 601 cigars a few years ago that I had received as samples at the IPCPR show. I had really enjoyed the samples, which I believe were green and maybe red banded varieties. This one was a fine cigar, it had a nice taste, it burned very well and all in all was nice. It didn’t “wow” me like the previous samples, which was a disappointment, but despite my expectations, was still a very nice cigar. I think, when given the option, I’d probably opt for the Murcialago over the 601.

Friday evening was a nice, warm evening, so I selected the last Camacho Corojo Monarca from my humidor. I have had this one for years and had passed it by more than once. I love these cigars and smoking the last one was a little sad to me, but I finally said the heck with it and fired it up. It was a disappointment. It really didn’t burn very well, although the draw was fine. It was very bitter tasting to me, not as rich as I think this cigar should be. I figured it would lose a little of it’s punch over several years storage, but I didn’t think it would actually turn bad. I’ve smoked many of these in the past and always enjoyed them, I guess I’ll have to pick up a few more and give them another shot. I’ve enjoyed Camacho cigars since I first reviewed a Monarca in 1996, which I liked better than a Montecristo #2 in a blind review. I still have a few Candela Monarcas that always make me smile.

Saturday October 9 was the anniversary of John Lennon’s birth, he would have been 70. As a Beatles fan, and the husband of the public relations person for several Beatles related artists, we decided to make a trip up to New York City where one of her clients was having a gallery show and demonstrating her craft. We got there plenty early and walked over to De La Concha on 6th for a cigar. I have been itching to smoke the La Aurora 107 corona and I haven’t been able to find them around home. They had them, and I was pleased to find that they were priced at $7.77, which I thought was OK considering NY taxes. Most of the cigars there were over $10, which offends my sensibilities being from Pennsylvania where there are no oppressive cigar taxes. Despite the sudden onset of a head cold, the La Aurora 107 corona was a really nice cigar. I look forward to ditching this cold so I can properly enjoy the one I brought home. Burn and flavor were terrific. I’m guessing that if i can find these in PA, or most places that aren’t New York, it’s probably a very reasonable cigar, maybe in the $4.00 range. From De La Concha we headed to the Gallery at 25 Central Park West. There was good foot traffic as there had been a viewing of the movie “LENNONYC” a few blocks further down Central Park. Shannon is “the Worlds Greatest Beatles Artist”, and has a huge collection of Beatles related art. She capped the evening off by painting her vision of what
John Lennon would have looked like today. It was incredible to watch the image take shape. I stepped out for a bit at one point and encountered a very nice old guy taking a Davidoff 3000 for a walk. He was in his 70s, lived in the building the gallery was in, and enjoyed his cigar while walking the street as he had family visiting. It was nice see someone enjoying his cigar in NYC.

I couple posts ago I promised to select three people to send some Hamiltons House Selection Torpedos to, so I once again consulted Random.org and selected the following people:Joel Solomon, Joel Scott and Keith911, please e-mail me their addresses so I can mail you each a cigar. Congrats to the winners!