Tag Archives: Cigar Mojo

by | October 6, 2024 · 9:29 am

Jaime Garcia, Kristoff and Stolen Throne Cigars

Once again I picked up some new-to-me cigars at various shops.  I can’t quite remember why, but I stopped in to the Cigar Mojo shop nearest to me and came across the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Suceser, which I initially misspelled, my mind saw the english version, which is “successor”.  From what I can devine, this comes in two sizes with two different wrapper, which is interesting.  I got the 6″ x 56 Toro with a Sumatra seed wrapper and there’s also a 6 1/8″ x 52 Torpedo which has a Habano seed wrapper.  I have to hunt down a torpedo, I guess. I was unable to find any more information about the blend than that!  I recently smoked the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial and was really into it,  this was a very different cigar.  I found it to be very spicy, much more so than the Broadleaf counterpart.  The spice held on throughout the cigar. I liked it well enough, but I think I’ll stick with the Broadleaf, but I still want to try the Suceser Torpedo.

 

I’ve been hearing about the Kristoff Guardrail for quite a while and finally picked one up at a Cigar Cigars shop a couple towns over.  I went there to meet a guy who wanted me to try out some Dominican cigars that he has an idea that he wants to import and give a go at selling.  Young guy, filled with optimism…I’ve got my thoughts on the cigars which I’m going to share with him, but I’m not sure how to tell him it’s probably nore a great idea.  Anyone in the industry want to offer this guy some advice?  Anyway, the Guardrail is an homage to Kristoff’s owner, Glen Case, having a horrific motorcycle accident returning from a charity ride on a rented Harley. He was banged up pretty good, and we’re lucky he’s still with us (he’s genuinely a very nice man). This was the 6 ½” x 56 Matador size, has a Brazilian Maduro wrapper, bindier from the Dominican Republic and fillers from the Dominican Republic & Zimbabwe.  I’ve honestly smoked more Zimbabwe tobacco in the last few weeks than I have in my life (and that could be said if I had only smoked one cigar with that tobacco, and I’ve smoked this and the CAO Thunder Smoke).  This has a hint of the mesquite flavor that the CAO had, not as prominent bu there, along with some sweetness from the Brazilian wrapper.  This was very nice, I’d smoke it again.

 

In another recent shop visit, this time the Wooden Indian, I got a couple of the new Stolen Throne Argos, this one is 6″ x 52 with a pigtail cap and a semi-closed foot.  This is an interesting project with started as an exclusive to Winston’s Humidor in Midlothian, VA, with proceeds going toward animal rescue organizations. I don’t know if this is still the case, but knowing Lee Marsh as I do, I wouldn’t doubt that it is. Lee hates that I love the Three Kingdoms and Crook of the Crown, but am not a fan of the Call to Arms and Yorktown Fleet, the latter of which is growing on me.  I think this Argos falls somewhere in between.  It has a sour note that I find in the Yorktown, perhaps that’s the “roasted oranges” that is mentioned on the website (one roasts oranges?). I also got some leather and some dry baking cocoa sort of flavor. I found it enjoyable, and very much appreciate Dave at the Wooden Indian for hooking me up with these.  I just wish these had bands, maybe whip something up on a laser printer or something? 🙂 

 

That’s about all I have for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

Share

2 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

by | March 3, 2024 · 9:55 am

My Father, Metapa, and Perdomo 30th Anniversary Cigars

This week I smoked some cigars I bought on recent forays into some of my local cigar spots.  All were new to me, although not necessarily new to the market. This happens, I don’t always jump right on the new stuff, and sometimes I miss out!  Thursday evening I met up with my fellow Craig, and recent contest winner, at Cigar Mojo – The Grove, to  hand deliver his prize.  Shipping is always less expensive than visiting a cigar shop!  I picked up a few cigars, and lit up a My Father The Judge in the 656 Toro size.  This has been around for a while, I just never got around to it. Since Mojo carries a lot of My Father cigars I see myself catching up on them.  I’ll grab something I haven’t tried whenever I stop in.  This is a 6″ x 56 cigar, oddly they call their 6″ x 52 a Toro Fino, which seems like a toro to me. Maybe the 6″ x 56 should be a Toro Gordo and the 52 should just be the Toro?  Not my circus…anyway, this has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and fillers, with a nice box press. This got off to a slow start, good, although fairly mediocre.  It built up some sweetness, which I like, of course, and worked out to be a very enjoyable cigar, one I’ll smoke again.  Naturally, the company was exceptional, I always enjoy time with my fellow Craig. We’ll definitely have another Craig cigar summit soon.

 

Friday evening had us attending a middle school theatrical production that one of the granddaughters was in, so I got a late start. I was going to skip a cigar altogether, but I had picked up a Foundation Metapa Corona Gorda at Mojo and it wasn’t that big, so I figured I’d light it up.  Sometimes having a cigar too late gives me sleep issues, not the case this time, although I did get to bed a lot later than usual!  I wanted to smoke a Metapa because these are being rebranded to Aksum, I guess to keep in line with the Tabernacle/Menelik/Ark of the Covenant theme. I’ve heard mixed reviews on this cigar, and maybe it’s the Maduro vs. Claro?  I only had the maduro to chose rom, so that’s what I got, as if anyone would be surprised at that. This is a nice 5½” x 48 with a coil pigtail cap (I know there’s a name for it, just can’t remember it!).  This was the best cigar I had all week.  It started a bit heavy, cloying like licorice, which worried me.  It settled in to a really nice, dense dark chocolate, not much sweetness, the kind with a high cacao percentage. I found this to be quite enjoyable, whatever the name, and I might have to see if I can find the claro version (although I still need to try the Olmec Claro!).  It’s hard for me not to like Foundation Cigars, there seems to be something for everyone.

 

Last week I stopped in The Wooden Indian looking for some new cigars, and picked up some Perdomo 30th Anniversary Epicures in Sungrown and Maduro.  These come with a lot of hype, and my expectations were high.  I’m a big fan of the 20th Anniversary Maduro, probably my favorite Perdomo.  I thought the 10th Anniversary Sungrown was my favorite of that line, which, oddly, only really came out a couple years ago.  The 30th aren’t priced bad, I could see companies asking a higher price for  their anniversary cigars, but Perdomo does things right in this respect.  I admire them for keeping their cigars pried within reason.  I decided that yesterday was going to be Perdomo day, so I started with the Sungrown.  I chose the 6″ x 54 Epicure size because, well, that’s the size I like.  This has a 15-year-old bourbon barrel-aged Cuban-seed Nicaraguan Sun Grown wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and has a nice box press.  I think this one had a patch near the cap on the underside of the cigar, which I find to be unacceptable on a cigar like this, regardless of price.  This, of course, came off and I had to do some wrapper surgery because I don’t care for the mouth feel of a flappy wrapper.  Other than that, the burn and draw were very good, and the cigar had a sweet spice that was nice.  Not blown away, I’ll stick with the 10th Sungrown.

 

I had high hopes for the Perdomo 30th Anniversary Epicure Maduro.  This has the same 15-year-old bourbon barrel-aged Cuban-seed Nicaraguan wrapper processed to a maduro, not overly dark, but dark enough, with a nice oil.  This is a nice looking cigar, again, lods of hype, best Perdomo cigar ever, yada yada…It was a good cigar. It had rich dark roast coffee and cocoa and was very nice.  For me, I find that the 20th Maduro to have more that I enjoy, to be honest. I suppose I was expecting a more refined experience, and maybe my palate just isn’t acute enough to appreciate the subtleties of these cigars. I’m told that the 30th Connecticut is something special.  Given I was never a fan of the Champagne, I actually disliked it ( a rarity), I always pass on the Perdomo Connecticuts. Perhaps I’ll give this one a try, for science.  

 

The folks at Best Cigar Prices posted a  bunch of pictures of the cigarlebrities that will be at their Smoke-onos event in May, but they didn’t ask for my picture.  If you’re there, hunt me down!  Also, keep an eye out for upcoming details about a multi-vendor event at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA which will be in the beginning of May.  That’s more than enough for today, until the next time.  

 

CigarCraig

 

Share

1 Comment

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | October 22, 2023 · 10:38 am

Some Tatuaje Cigars and a Visit to Legacy Cigar Lounge

This week was a week of events, I didn’t necessarily smoke any new cigars, but some that were new to me.  Nothing in my contract says I have to write about new to the market cigars every week, although I do try to stay current. Fortunately, due to the generosity of a long time reader, I have some new stuff coming up, so stay tuned!  This week was the tenth anniversary of Cigar Mojo, a local shop which I have been friendly with since the beginning.  I was there for the soft launch and have watched their progression from their first shop and lounge, to their current location, to a second location.  I really wanted to make the trip to the flagship location, only 10 miles down the road in King of Prussia, PA, but I had a physically exhausting day, and didn’t have it in me to deal with the traffic, and, honestly, be social.  I just wanted to relax at home and watch hockey. So I went to the new location (which is a mile from my house), and picked up a couple of Tatuaje 10th Anniversary cigars, which seemed appropriate. I got the Bon Chasseur size, because the 5 3/8″ x 52 shape appeals to me, in both the original and the Tuxtla blends, and smoked one Thursday and one Friday.  I started with the original. I should have adjusted my expectations going into this cigar. I was rather expecting a heavier cigar, but it was much more subtle, refined, I guess with a name like Bon Chasseur, it’s going to be a little hoity-toity. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper over Nicaragua binder and filler.  They have a closed foot, and the wrapper has a lot of citrus tang in it, so that is apparent on lighting. It remains citrusy and sweet throughout,  and was a really delicious cigar.  I suppose I always grab the broadleaf Tatuajes, so this one surprised me, it was quite different.

 

Maybe the citrus wasn’t all in the Ecuador Habano wrapper of original Bon Chasseur,  because I sensed it in the Tuxtla version as well. This is the same size and blend, with the difference being the Mexican San Andrés wrapper. Again, I had a preconceived notion going into this one, having smoked tons of Mexican wrapped cigars over the years.  Oddly, the wrapper didn’t overwhelm the rest of the blend, it literally was like smoking the same cigar I had smoked the night before with a subtle difference.  What was that difference, you ask?  Oddly, it was an almost cloying earthy sweetness, not unpleasant, but noticeable. Oddly, as much of a fan I am of the San Andrés, I’d probably give the nod to the Ecuador Habano in this match up, for me. I liked the balance and elegance of the original blend, adding the Tuxtla wrapper while interesting, detracted from the sophistication a little for me.  But that’s just me, I’ve enjoyed the other Tuxtla versions, I guess my next back to back experiment will have to be the Belle Encre.  I look forward to walking over to the Cigar Mojo shop by me in ten years to celebrate that anniversary!

 

Last night my wife and I took a ride to Reading, PA (think Reading Railroad in your Monopoly game), and visited the new Legacy CIgar Lounge in West Reading. Rick and Adrean, a husband and wife team, opened in August and have a really nice spot. A lot of places in the country have full service cigar bar setups, PA isn’t really one of them, in my experience. There are cigar stores with lounges all over the place, but there aren’t a lot of full bar, kitchen, humidor establishments around.  Legacy fits that niche.  It was a 45 minute drive, and I know I just balked about going 10 miles to an event Thursday, let me explain.  It could literally take me the same 45 minutes to make the ten mile trip to Mojo at 5:30 on a Thursday as it did to go 40 miles to Legacy on a Saturday at the same time. Combine that with the Saturday afternoon nap, and I think you see my point.  We had been reading about Legacy for a few weeks, they have been active on social media promoting the business with videos, and seemed engaging enough, so we figured a visit was in order. I’m not a bar guy, but they appeared to have a well appointed bar, and we had seen something on the menu on the website and were disappointed when it wasn’t on the printed menu we were given. We asked, and they were happy to make us the Bacon Jams Grilled Cheese, which was delicious. 

 

It didn’t hurt that they were having a Protocol Cigars cut and light event there, so there would be at least one familiar face present! Kevin Keithan was there, with a selection, and I got the impression that this was a trial for the brand and they were thinking about bringing them into the humidor. I bought some Protocol cigars and enjoyed a Cyber Crimes unit. This is a box pressed Churchill, with a Nicaraguan Rosado Habano wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and filler, made at the La Zona Factory. This cigar was on the cedary side with some spice and a creamy quality, quite different from the Blue and Red label Protocol cigars. We did miss seeing Juan, I wonder if he took part in the Karaoke, that might have been worth staying for!

 

 Obviously, it takes time (and money) to stock up the humidor, but they had a reasonable selection.  My wife, who hasn’t had a cigar in years, decided to have a Tatiana of some sort, which she enjoyed. Rick told us that they already had over 80 members signed up for their members lounge, and are working on a rooftop area, and downstairs event space as well. They have a nice setup, have live music quite frequently, and diverse collection of events, including Karaoke and Chess.  We exited before the Karaoke started, I wanted to get home in time for the hockey game, where I enjoyed a Protocol Probable Cause Corona Gorda, perhaps my favorite in the line. We had noticed several billboards for Legacy along the highway  so they are promoting this bigtime, and if they continue to provide a quality product, they will be successful. I suspect we’ll be paying a visit again.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

Share

3 Comments

Filed under Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

by | May 2, 2021 · 10:15 am

Some Blackbird Cigars and a Cigar Auction

I had some other cigars I was going to talk about besides the two or three Blackbird cigars, but I think I’ll save them for another day, as it looks like it’s going to be nice weather and I don’t want to be typing all day! So let’s get right to it! Wednesday evening I went to Cigar Mojo in nearby King Of Prussia, PA to an event featuring Jonas Santana of Blackbird Cigars. I had met Jonas last year at the TPE show and felt like we hit it off, so I wanted to hang out with him again and show my support. I’ve been impressed with the Blackbird line overall, and picked up a few of my favorites, this time in the Gran Toro size. I smoked The Crow in the toro size, as a matter of fact, I bought the last three they had. The Crow is their San Andrés offering, with a habano binder, and Nicaraguan, Pennsylvanian, Corojo and Criollo 98 fillers (before you ask, I’m not clear on where the Corojo and Criollo 98 come from, or what varietals the Nicaraguan and Pennsylvanian are. It’s odd that they mix it up that way in the description but it happens in multilingual scenarios). This is a bold and relatively strong cigar, I like it. The one I smoked had a wrapper split, which was noticed by Wade, one of CigarMojo’s owners, who, despite my protestations, had Mark Weissenberger, who’s the broker for Blackbird Cigars, stick a corona in my pocket to compensate. The wrapper problem turned out to not be an issue at all, it burned right through. I’ll admit that if I were a “normal” consumer I can see where a cracked cigar would be a replaceable event for a retailer, I give more leeway personally. Now, I’m not going to be taken advantage of, if I see a sales clerk drop a cigar I’m going to ask for another one, but I can live with life’s little inconveniences. As I was preparing to leave the event, I went to the table where Jonas and Mark were sitting and they happened to have been live with John Remer of Johnny Smokes Uncut of  the Facebook group of the same name. We hadn’t met before, but had been on a Zoom event together recently. He didn’t recognize me, had me on real quick, I left a comment on the live stream which he read eventually, then it dawned on him who I was, and hilarity ensued. It was one of a handful of events I’ve been to over the last year-plus, and it was nice to hang out and meet some people.

 

I smoked that Blackbird The Crow Corona yesterday. I generally avoid coronas unless I have some specific time constraints, it’s situational. What I like about this “corona” is that it’s more a Lonsdale or Cervantes than corona, at 6″ x 44. This is a great size, in my opinion, two more ring gauge and it would be perfect. Of course, because it burns a little hotter, it seems a little sharper in flavor than the 6″ x 54 Gran Toro, and it occurs to me that I forgot to mention the size of the Gran Toro above, so here it is. I needn’t repeat the wrapper/binder/filler, because it’s the same as above. I had some interruptions and smoke this cigar basically  in two sittings and it was as good on the relight after two hours as it was initially, which is something, I guess. I think I almost liked this one better in the Corona, I will have to do more research. 

 

I smoked The Rook later last night in the 6″ x 54 Gran Toro (I wanted to get the size in early before I forgot again, even though it’s the same as the Gran Toro in all the lines). I picked up some Rooks because I’m a Sumatra fan and I had smoked and enjoyed this in the Robusto size before. Like I said, this has a Sumatra Wrapper with a Habano binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. This is a milder cigar than the Crow, which is probably the strongest cigar in their portfolio, but it’s definitely medium bodied. It has a nice sweetness with some creaminess, with a little earthiness too. It’s really very nice. I only bought these in the Gran Toro, and now I’m wondering about the Corona, I’m feeling a little regret. Not too much regret as the Toro is very nice. If you are a Sumatra fan, this is a good one. 

 

 

Editorial

I’m not generally one to get into cigar auctions, but I recently sold an item (not cigar related) at auction and I thought I’d have a look at Scotty’s Cigars Auctions. Full disclosure: Scotty’s is an advertiser, but this is unsolicited, and I took part in this auction 100% as a consumer without their prior knowledge. I actually did it out of curiosity to see if people were looking at this feature, and, sadly, I don’t think people are! So I’m here (now that I won and got a great deal 😁) to tell you to go there and keep an eye out for their auctions! There were a couple great deal that have been missed out on already, I would have loved to have grabbed a box of H.Upmann AF Fernandez for $99.  I got a fiver of Sin Compromiso for $51 with a few dollars shipping, which I’m happy with, heck, I almost feel like a criminal. Like I said, I know they advertise with me, but they didn’t ask me to do this, it was totally a secret shopper kind of thing. I wanted there to be some action on the auction! By the way, I’m told that the website’s inventory is accurate, so if you see it’s in stock, it should be in stock!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

Share

Comments Off on Some Blackbird Cigars and a Cigar Auction

Filed under Editorial, Review

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

by | November 15, 2020 · 10:04 am

All Saints Dedicación Cigars

Thursday evening I went to Cigar Mojo in King of Prussia, PA where they were having a cigar event revolving around the Masters. There was chipping and putting involved in a tournament with brackets and everything. The winner received a bottle of booze and a box of cigars. This was all sponsored by All Saints Cigars, and Mickey Pegg was there for the event. The cost of the event was $25 which included two cigars and food, but I decided instead to buy a bunch more cigars and pass on the food., I showed up two hours late anyway and had no intention of participating in the event really anyway, apart from smoking the featured cigars and meeting Mickey finally. It’s been months that we’ve been trying to connect. Of course, the several months that I was unemployed and had tons of time on my hands would have been ideal, but but there is this pandemic going on limiting contact and stores being open and all. Now that I am gainfully employed, my time is limited, and we still have the limitations of the pandemic. Fortunately, Cigar Mojo has a large outdoor area, and a large enough lounge and is responsible about occupancy and masks and cleanliness. I felt like it was a good opportunity to venture out. I bought a selection of All Saints Dedicación cigars, along with a couple other new cigars and went and met Mickey.

 

I smoked the 6” x 60 “Huge” while there. The Dedicación has a San Andrés wrapper, which does not appear to be fermented to a Maduro to me, and Nicaraguan binder and filler. I also bought some of the 6 1/2 x 52 Commandant and Mickey hooked me up with a 5 1/2 x 50 Berkey. the later of the two being box pressed. I’m not going to break each one down individually, the Huge was smoked at an event while I was talking and distracted, but it was a really nice smoke. I smoked the Commandant on Friday. It smoked well and had flavors similar to the Huge, which were earthy for the most part. I found the Berkey to be the best of the three. It had a spice and sweetness that the other two didn’t seem to have. I also felt like the larger two burned faster than I would like, I think the smoking time on the smaller Berkey was darned near the same as the larger two. If I recall, Mickey said that the 6” x 60 would be the outlier flavor wise, I suppose I’ll give them all some humidor time and revisit them at a future date. I certainly won’t hesitate to buy more of this brand though, either front mark, the Dedicación of Solamente, both are excellent. Both are made at Rocky Patel’s Nicaraguan factory, but they are blended by Mickey Pegg. I wrote about his backstory in my Solamente post on September 30.

 

Reader’s Poll!

 

Instead of me selecting a cigar of the year this year, I thought I’d do something different. Let’s have a CigarCraig’s 2020 Reader’s Poll! E-mail me at craig@cigarcraig.com with your choice for the 2020 cigar of the year. I’ll compile the results and post them on December 31. Please be as specific as possible. It’ll be fun!

 

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

CigarCraig

Share

1 Comment

Filed under Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as , , , , ,