Tag Archives: cigar rights

Another CigarMojo Event, an Alec Bradley, a Recluse and a CAO Cigars Contest

Thursday came around and one of our favorite lounges in the area was having an early Father’s Day event, so we (my wife and I) took a drive to King Of Prussia PA for a visit.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Philadelphia area, King of Prussia is the home of the larges shopping mall on the east coast.  It’s big, actually two malls, and it’s evolved from a strip center in the ’60s to what it is today. There is a cigar shop in the mall with a smoking area, which is nice when your wife wants to shop and doesn’t require you  to play the part of Sherpa.  Cigar Mojo is down the street a bit, occupying a free standing building nestled between a cemetery and a Wawa (another fairly regional convenience store chain with a nearly fanatical following).  They were concurrently having an Alec Bradley event with “The Player” Jon Lipson, a Xikar event with local rep Rich, and a Cigar Rights of America membership drive with Alan Price.  Having stocked my humidors with Alec Bradly cigars at the last couple events I’ve been to, I perused the generously stocked humidor and came out with a handful of reasonably new singles. Trae does a very good job of having the newest releases on hand. I picked up a couple of the new Tattoo from Tatuaje, some Leccia Luchador El Castigo, a Cro Magnon, and a Nica Rustica. I always get the CigarCraig discount, where they add 10% 🙂  I smoked one of the Luchadors, which I really think is my favorite cigar to come out in the last year.  I hadn’t smoked this size, which is the  6″x60, and it was great.  I love the interplay of sweet and spicey that goes on. Once again, The guys there at Cigar Mojo put on a great event, if you ever find yourself in the area, check them out.

 

Mojo_Google Streetview

 

AB_Lineage_ToroFriday I took my usual evening walk with a cigar that was generously gifted to me by Jon Lipson, the new Alec Bradley Family Blend “The Lineage” in the toro size.  This cigar has a nice caramel colored wrapper with a pigtail cap which is from Honduras. The rest of the cigar is a mix of Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos. I should have given this cigar some more humidor time, I think, because it smoked a little bit moist. It has been raining here all week, so it’s damp everywhere.  Still, the cigar had very nice flavor, was solidly medium bodied to me, although if it were drier it may smoke a little more on the full bodied side. I’m looking forward to trying this one again because the flavor was very appealing and the finish was clean.  It opened up in the last third and gave an indication of its potential for me.

 

CubaAliadosCRASaturday I had two cigar opportunities, one sitting in my favorite beach chair out back soaking up some sunshine. I smoked another Cigar Rights of America cigar that I’ve had for a few years. This one was a Cuba Aliados Miami, and I hadn’t smoked a Cuba Aliados in years. Back in the day, Rolando Reyes made the Puros Indios and the Cuba Aliados. The Puros Indios were tasty, but almost always had a draw like a dowel rod.  This one was a nice smoke, medium bodied, fairly normal good tobacco flavor and burned well without dropping ash anywhere it shouldn’t have. I had the Perfecto Cigar Holder clipped to the chair arm, which reminds me, I need to do a whole post on some accessories I’ve been using lately. I enjoyed the cigar and had a very relaxing time sitting in the sun reading a book. Don’t forget to let the FDA know how you feel about regulation of premium cigars, and if you aren’t already a member of the CRA, join!

 

Recluse_Amadeus_ToroLast night I took a walk with a new cigar from the folks at Iconic Leaf, the Recluse Amadeus. This is a box pressed Ecuador Connecticut wrapped beauty in a toro size, 6¼” x 50.  Iconic Leaf uses the entubado method throughout their lines, and this one smokes no different, nice, open draw and even burn. This is another Connecticut Shade cigar with a little more spice and body. I’ve always liked the flavor that the Connecticut wrappers have as a change of pace, so this trend of slightly stronger shade cigars is welcomed.  This sample came without bands, but I’m to understand they will be using a similar design in white as opposed to the black bands they use on the OTG and Draconian lines.  Tremendous cigars all around. Interestingly (to only me, probably), Trae’s, of Cigar Mojo fame, uncle came to him with a scap of paper with the name Recluse Draconian written on it as a cigar he was looking for. I was able to educate Trae and his uncle on the line. Perhaps he’ll look into stocking something from Iconic Leaf.

 

Contest

 

CAO_Signs Contest2It’s, once again, time to give away some CAO goodies!  This time we have two of the cool tin CAO Flathead signs and a four pack of the new Flathead Spark Plug, which is a delicious little box pressed 4½” x 50 smoke.  I’m doubling up the signs because, quite frankly, it cost me a bundle to ship these things.  I’ll have one more contest coming up with these, I’ll look for  more cost effective shipping method for sure. Anyway, my problem, not yours! Leave a comment to win, and I’ll pick a winner on Wednesday. Thanks again to Gary and Ricky from CAO for providing these goodies.

 

That’s it for now, Happy Father’s Day to everyone who either is, or has a father. I’m going to enjoy my special traditional cigar, a Esperanza par los Niños from 1998. I was recent;y gifted more of these by my dear friend Mike Perry, so I can continue the tradition through 2020!  Thanks!

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Kristoff CRA, 601 Bunker Buster and La Jugada Cigars

I’ve been largely absent from writing and social media since my wife’s father passed away this week.  My wife has been busy making arrangements and tomorrow he’ll be laid to rest in New Jersey. I’m sure everyone understands why I missed my Wednesday post for the first time in several years.  I smoked many cigars with Mario over the years, I remember him telling me early on that cigars cooled you off on a hot day, and he had a story about coming through customs at the Canadian border with a three pack of Havanas, having them confiscated, and telling the agents “I hope you f**king enjoy them!”.  He would lick and chew up the cigars I gave him and ruin them, then complain about them not being too good. It didn’t matter to me really as I was happy to share. We lived with him for the last year and a half or so, so it’s going to be weird not having him around. May he rest in peace.

 

KristoffCRASince it’s been hectic around here, I haven’t really smoked too many notable cigars. Sunday I lit up a Kristoff maduro of some sort which came from the Cigar Rights of America, and I can’t recall which year I got it, maybe this year. I took my favorite summer chair out in the yard and enjoyed this maduro cigar while catching up on podcasts. It had a nice pigtail cap and closed foot, it was a really good looking cigar.  Since this is supposed to be a special blend just for the CRA, I don’t know the blend, nor will I speculate on it. It was reasonably heavy in body and full of dark, decadent flavors. I haven’t smoked a bunch of Kristoff cigars, but I should probably try some more based upon this cigar. I have about five more of these special CRA editions that I’ve accumulated over the years that I’ll get to in the near future.  Don’t forget, time is running out to leave your comments on the FDA site.  Just do it.

 

601_BunkerBusterLater in the day I realized it was June first, so I figured I’d smoke a 601 of some sort.  I had recently received some 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster, which is the newest micro-blend from Smoke Inn. This cigar is a 5 ½” x 56 box pressed figurado that’s lighter in the hand that one would expect. This cigar wasn’t as potent as it’s La Bomba cousins, and I smoked an Atom on Tuesday to get a bit of a comparison.  I enjoyed the Bunker Buster immensely on it’s own merit, but I don’t think it packed the punch for me that the regular line does.  It’s a really cool shape with a wide open draw and even burn, despite feeling under filled.  If you like the 601 line, you have to give these a try if you can, and even if you aren’t a strong cigar fan, try it because it’s not as strong as you’d think.

 

La Jugata Habano BelicosoLater in the week I smoked another cigar from Erik Espinosa’s La Zona factory (the 601 Atom might be a leftover from the My Father factory, it’s been in my humidor for a while), the La Jugada Habano.  This is another really great cigar with a perfect burn and draw, and full, rich flavors. This is a great cigar to take a nice long walk with. It’s a 6 1/8″ x 52 belicoso with a beautiful Ecuador Habano wrapper.  The website recommends a full meal before this one, but since it’s been a crazy week for me, I can’t remember what I ate, but it was a very good smoke.  I think both the Prieto and Habano lines are really good cigars from Moya Ruiz Cigars.

 

montecristo_petitedmundoYesterday, after the majority of guests left our home where the post-funeral reception was held, I lit up a little Montecristo Petit Edmundo that has been in the humidor for about a year.  This is a cool little robusto, measuring 4 3/8″ x 52, which is a unique vitola in the Havana range.  I picked this because it was pretty short and it was on the top row of the humidor.  I enjoyed this cigar so much that I picked up a toothpick to finish it off.  It had some sweetness and that unmistakable Cuban “twang”.  I felt like my father-in-law would have enjoyed this cigar.  I wished it had been longer, but it was tasty. While I don’t feel that Cuban cigars are really any better than Nicaraguan, Honduran, Dominican, etc. cigars, they certainly have a distinctive flavor that you don’t find in others, and I happen to enjoy it from time to time.  Real ones are worth sampling.

 

That’s it for today.  It’s been an exhausting week, more for my wife than me, so we’re trying to grab a little bit of normal while we have a chance. Tomorrow will be another busy day as we drive to New Jersey for the cemetery portion of the funeral.  Hopefully the coming weeks settle  down and we can get our bearings.  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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Cigar Rights and Some Alec Bradley Cigars

I usually present the cigars I’ve smoked over the last few days, but I had a weird experience this week, and I’m going to hold off on talking about those cigars until I give them some more humidor time and revisit them. All I’ll say is I smoked two cigars that had a really odd finish, and while they were from the same company,  they were made in completely different factories. Unless they had a common component that had a flavor that just didn’t play well with my chemistry,  I’m going to give them a do-over in a couple weeks. It was weird and had me second guessing myself! In other news, Cigar Rights of America has published a response to the FDA’s deeming document with excellent recommendations on how to respond, and we MUST respond in numbers, or life will change negatively for many thousands of people. Glynn Loope, the director of the CRA made a comment that no cigar related anything should be published without including a link to http://cigarrights.org/fda-response.php. I created a simple animated 125×125 graphic and included it at the top of the right-hand column on this site (scroll down for mobile users), I don’t think my advertisers will mind being bumped down a spot for this. Anyone who wants to use it is free to to so, and if someone with talent in creating graphics (I have none) wants to improve upon it, please do. We need to make an intelligent and unified response to the FDA’s proposed destruction of cigars as we know them.

 

JMs_AB_JLYesterday was Saturday, and I had received an email earlier in the week that one of my long time favorite local shops was having an Alec Bradley event. I’ve been begging to get email notices about JM Cigars events for years, and finally got on the list! I figured it would be rude if I didn’t stop in. Jonathan “The Player” Lipson, the local Alec Bradley rep, is a good guy and I like Alec Bradley cigars. I smoked a Nica Puro robusto, of course, one of my go-tos, mostly to see if that odd taste I was getting was me or not. It wasn’t, as the cigar was excellent as usual. The event was well attended for a spring Saturday afternoon. I’m not sure if it’s just that Jonathan does a lot of events or what, but I find myself going whenever I see one pop up, and, as a result, I seem to have quite a few Alec Bradley cigars in my humidors. I picked up a few American Sungrown torpedos too, for five bucks these are impossible to pass up!

 
AB_Maxx_RoboloAfter a blustery storm blew through,  I decided to keep with the Alec Bradley theme, and took a walk with an Alec Bradley MAXX Connecticut Robolo, which is a BestCigarPrices.com exclusive (the size, not the blend It turns out the Maxx Connecticut line is a BCP exclusive, thanks to Jason there for the update).  Something about the 4½x60 size appeals to me, not sure why that is.  This cigar has fillers from Nicaraguan, Colombian, Mexican, and Honduras, with a Connecticut wrapper, which I assume is Ecuador Connecticut judging by the flavor and the price point, however both BestCigarPrices and Alec Bradley’s sites just say Connecticut, so I could well be wrong. These can be had in the five dollar range. I found this to be a really nice, milder smoke with great flavors. The burn and draw were very good, and I burned my fingers a little finishing it up. It probably smoked for over an hour, not bad for a four and a half inch cigar. In the Maxx range, I’ve only had the Brazilian wrapped version, which is exclusive to another retailer, and I really liked that cigar. This one was tasty, perhaps a better choice for earlier in the day than I smoked it, but a very nice cigar. Thanks to Jason at BCP for providing this sample.

 

That’s all for now.  It’s Mother’s Day, so if you have one in your life, try to do something a little special for her today.  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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D & S Cigar Lounge and Fratello Cigars

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful spring day, so, after cleaning up some more of the tree limbs from one of the winter’s ice storms, I dusted off he scooter and took it for a spin. Now, when I say scooter, I actually mean scooter. I have a 400cc Yamaha DnSstoreMajesty because I’m a geek, what can I say. It’s big enough to go on the highway and gets 65 mpg. Loads of fun. Anyway, I took a ride out to Lancaster, PA to visit D&S Cigar Lounge. I had met Shaun, the owner,  at the 2011 IPCPR show and have been meaning to get out there since. This is a really nice shop in a strip mall outside of downtown Lancaster, and features cabinet humidors lining the walls in the front of he store, and a very well DnSloungeappointed 1502 Lounge in the back with a bar, TVs, and plenty of leather chairs. The lounge was pretty populated for the first really nice Saturday in a while. I hung out in the front of the shop with Shaun. Their selection is very good, with a nice variety of boutiques and mainstream brands, priced well.

 

fratello_DnSThey were having a Fratello Cigars event, and Omar de Frias was there too. I met Omar at the trade show last year where he was the talk of the town. Imagine a really tall dude, born in the Dominican Republic, works for NASA in DC, makes a brilliant cigar in Nicaragua, and manages to have store events too. This is a hard working dude, and really a super nice guy. I bought a handful of toros and robustos and proceeded to fire up the 6½ x 52 toro. A little part of me is regretting not picking up some of the 6″x60s too, as these are really tasty smoked.  They have a Fratello_ToroNicaraguan Habano wrapper with a Ecuador Sumatra binder, and the filler is a blend of Nicaraguan and Peruvian tobaccos, and all this works really great together.  These are manufactured in one of my favorite factories, but I’m not allowed to say which one.  Omar also said that they are working on a box pressed torpedo in this line, and hinted at working on either a Brazilian or San Andrés wrapped sequel. I am excited to try both, they sound yummy.  The toro started out with some spice, and smoothed out in the middle, with some spice coming back at the end.  I smoked this one to a finger burning nub and enjoyed every last puff. I gave it a V cut which worked quite well.

 

Fratello_RobustoThe 40 mile ride home was uneventful, and I decided to smoke the robusto on my evening walk (I had a delicious dinner of Chicken Parmesan my wife made that I had to walk off!)  I thought the robusto was a little spicier than the toro, which is OK, and obviously the stretch in the middle where it smooths out is shorter. I like that it’s a little bit longer than a standard robusto, it’s 5½ x 52.  These are really tasty cigars, if you see them, grab one, and if you don’t, ask your tobacconist to get them!  Omar tells me he’s in 100 stores now, which is a heck of a deal for a small manufacturer.  I’m happy I got a chance to catch up with Omar and finally pay a visit to Shaun at D & S Cigar Lounge in Lancaster. Here’s the video of Omar from the IPCPR show last July:

 

httpv://youtu.be/IHjzjuaVquU

 

I work with a guy who collects bottles, and he brought this turn of the century bottle for me to take a picture of to share with you all.  It’s hand blown, and the detail is really incredible. He suspects it was a way to get a nip secretly, back when it was far more acceptable to smoke in public than to drink!  Now you’d sooner be vilified for even looking like you’re smoking than having a drink! Support Cigar Rights of America!

bottle

I don’t want to forget to mention that in between doing all that yard clean-up and heading to a cigar event, I also appeared on the “Blogger’s Corner” segment of Kiss My Ash Radio yesterday. I don’t think Abe (the host, and owner of the Smoke Inn stores in Florida) is very happy with me for reviewing a cigar that’s virtually impossible to buy any more. I’ll have to prepare better in the unlikely event I’m invited back 🙂 . Anyway, if you don’t already listen, check out the podcast version, if you can’t listen live Saturday mornings. I look forward to hearing what my bud Eddie Ortega had to say on the show, he was the guest in the “Meet Your Maker” segment and was there in the studio.

That’s it for now! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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The Ethical Challenges of Cigar Smokers in America, Are We Bad Citizens?

It’s been so cold here this week that I haven’t been able to bring myself to go out for a cigar.  It was certainly too cold to go for my usual walk (although I managed to have one in the snow yesterday), and once I got home from work, going out to a cigar shop for a smoke didn’t feel like a good idea either.  This cold and snow and stuff is getting to me!  C’mon Spring! Maybe because Winter got off to an early start we can expect it to get warmer sooner?  We’ll have to wait until February 2nd to see what the groundhog has to say (that’s the only event of any importance happening that day, right? 🙂 ).  Anyway, when I don’t smoke any cigars, you get the benefit of one of my rants.  Today’s editorial is on smoking bans and regulation.

 

This week we learned that my home state of Pennsylvania had bills in both the state house and senate (Thank you Halfwheel) that aim to remove exemptions in the 2008 “Clean Indoor Air Act”.  The exemptions these bills want removed are tobacconists, bars, casinos, private clubs and “other places”.  This is an obvious assault on freedom!  Private Clubs?  Really?  Shouldn’t not only private clubs, but private businesses be allowed to decide what legal activities can go on in their businesses? What next?  Private homes? Your yard?  There is also proposed legislation in PA to ban smoking in your car if there are children present. Hey, I get protecting kids, don’t get me wrong, but this is legislating what should be common sense, and taking away personal liberties at the same time!  There is legislation like this popping up all over the country, so we need to pay attention! Cigar Rights Of America lists them all.

 

Beside the myth of second hand smoke (OSHA has Permissible Exposure Limits for all of the measurable chemicals in tobacco smoke, see here) , what are some of the reasons cited for smoking bans? Park and beach bans cite litter as a reason. Gee, aren’t there already laws against litter? How about enforcing existing laws instead of making up new ones?  I would be willing to bet that every public park and beach in the US (and elsewhere, I would guess) has laws on the books regarding litter. You drop something, you pick it up or get a fine.  I’m even fine with calling a cigar butt litter, even if it’s biodegradable.  I don’t need to see a chewed up stinky cigar butt on the ground.  Put it in the right place, it’s not that big a burden, right?  We are, as a rule, considerate, responsible cigar smoking citizens, are we not?  Another popular anti-smoke angle is that we don’t want people to think that smoking is “normal”.  Kids see adults smoking and want to do it, sure, I get that.  What about a little thing called PARENTING?  Can you imagine what the orphanages would look like if parenting was legislated and enforced? For example, I smoked in front of my three children all of their lives, and I smoked cigarettes too up until about 7 years ago.  I never worried about them sneaking cigarettes or cigars, and they never did!  Both my sons joined me for a cigar on or after their eighteenth birthdays. My eldest son, who went to Cigar Safari with me in 2011, probably hasn’t smoked a cigar in a couple months (has a humidor with a bunch of pretty decent cigars), but will join me for a smoke from time to time.  My youngest has smoked on and off, and goes to a hookah bar with friends from time to time.  The nannies would paint me as a bad parent, perhaps, but I see success! They were adults when they smoked their first cigars,  capable of making their own choices.  My daughter has never smoked as far as I know, I think our setting a bad example turned her off to the habit, she rebelled by being far more conservative than her mother and I. Another win for us! Anyway, the point is, raise your kids to know….wait, I don’t really have to expand on that….raise your kids!  Don’t rely on society to do it for you! If we outlaw all the things we don’t want our kids growing up doing there won’t be anything!

 

I’d like to implore everyone to be vigilant and contact your legislators when ever one of these bills comes up, not only locally, but nationally as well. These people work for us, they need to hear from us. Cigar Rights Of America has tools that allow you to send a pre-written e-mail to your elected officials.  Fill in your zip code and it automatically fills in the right people, again, both state and federal governments. While you’re there, make sure to send an e-mail to your Federal legislators about the FDA regulating our cigars out of existence! You can do that here. I don’t even think you need to be a member to use these tools, but for $35 a year it doesn’t hurt.  Please let these people know that we are voting citizens and we value our freedom to enjoy a legal product (which, by the way, governments are making a ton of money on!). It’s not going to stop at tobacco, you know, and all of these bans put people out of work!

 

On a related note, my father-in-law pointed out this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about The State of Pennsylvania  subsidizing films that feature smoking.   Anti-smoking zealots will target anything smoke related, but I bet they have a cocktail or two and get behind the wheel of their pollution producing automobiles (or worse, take a bus?). Do these people really go to movies and look for things to complain about? The article is here.

 

Finally, I’d like to point you to a couple articles by one of my favorite musicians, Joe Jackson. I don’t know that Joe is a cigar smoker, and many of his works relate to U.K. smoking bans, but it applies to us here in the colonies as well.
From Spiked-Online.com:

[pageview url=”http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/9278#.UuUPZtIo6IX” title=”A dozen reasons to stub out the smoking ban” border=”yes” scrolling=”yes”]

 

Also, check out Joe’s essay “SMOKE, LIES AND THE NANNY STATE” which he published in 2007. I’m going to go line up some Joe Jackson tunes and have a cigar.

 

One final thought: Maybe if states that banned smoking were not allowed to generate income from tobacco taxes, they’d think twice about bans.  Once they get rid of tobacco, you better believe they will come after something else you like.  Live and let live, folks! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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