Tag Archives: cigar rights

by CigarCraig | January 12, 2014 · 10:21 am

A Romeo y Julieta Montague, a Padrón and a Paul Stulac Cigar

A few weeks ago, you may recall, we culminated the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways with a special Day 13 featuring Famous Smoke Shop‘s two new proprietary Romeo y Julieta cigars, the House of Capulet and the House of Montague. Honestly, I always feel better giving away cigars I’ve smoked before and can comment on, but when they have a great pedigree and I know the folks behind them I’m OK with it. When I was shopping for the Compounds, Elements and Musings Vanadium box a couple weeks ago I decided to pay a little more than I had to and use one of the coupon codes Famous Smoke Shop provided and get a free five pack of the Romeo y Julieta House of Montague Robustos along with it. Of course, I couldn’t resist smoking one of them this week. This is a 5″ x 54 chunky robusto with a nice, Brazilian maduro wrapper, with a Dominican Olor binder and Dominican, Brazilian and Nicaraguan fillers. I found it to be a nice, well made cigar on the medium side with solid chocolate/cocoa maduro flavor. This is a cigar I would share with friends without hesitation, that is if I don’t smoke the four more myself! Here are the discount codes again, if you happen to make a purchase from Famous Smoke Shop give these a try! Also, if Mickey, the winner of This year’s day 13 wants to send me reviews, I’d be happy to include them here, he can be an honorary “Craig” for a day!

Discount codes:

CAPULET5 – Free 5-pack of Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet with any $75+ purchase

MONTAGUE5 – Free 5-pack of Romeo y Julieta House of Montague with any $75+ purchase

CAPULET20 – $20 off any $100+ purchase of Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet

MONTAGUE20 – $20 off any $100+ purchase of Romeo y Julieta House of Montague

New Years Eve I stopped in to one of my local shops, JM Cigars, for a couple cigars and walked out with a few Padrón 3000 Maduros. I would have gotten 2000s, but they didn’t have any maduros at the time. The 3000 is 5 ½ x 52 and isn’t the prettiest cigar, it’s rustic, but it’s a classic Nicaraguan puro which has been on the market for quite a while, and has remained pretty much the same. Padrón is the model of consistency, and they remain at the top of the heap in the cigar business without releasing new lines all the time. This is probably why I’ve been negligent in smoking Padrón cigars in the last few years, too many new cigars to smoke! So, after lighting this cigar Friday evening, I found myself wondering why the heck I let this happen. This is a great smoke, right in my personal wheelhouse. It’s got kind of a dry, dusty cocoa flavor, with perfect draw and burn. I must make a note to keep more of these on hand, and maybe even grab a couple of the 2000 naturals to reacquaint myself with that side of the line. As awesome as the Padrón “Thousand Series” cigars are, I know the Anniversary series are even more awesome, but I still have trouble shelling out that kind of dough for a cigar. I may have to break down and do it one of these days though. I probably haven’t smoked one of the high end Padróns since a Millenium back about ten or so years ago.

Yesterday I figured I’d try something new to me, and selected a Paul Stulac Angel out of the IPCPR sample humidor. I think I’ve smoked a Paul Stulac cigar before, I seem to recall smoking a Skull torpedo, but I really don’t remember the cigar and I didn’t include it in a blog post. This Angel is another chunky robusto (I was trying to figure out if I had a theme this time, and that theme seems to be chunky robustos, but it was strictly coincidence!) at 5″ x 58, although it didn’t really feel that fat to me. This is listed as “available in Ecuadorian or Brazilian Maduro Wrapper”, and I have no idea which one I smoked, but my guess is the Brazilian Maduro because it was pretty dark and didn’t taste to me like a Habano. It was a good smoke, well behaved and tasty to a finger burning nub. There was a flavor that was interesting, and maybe a little overwhelming, and I don’t quite know how to describe it except for perhaps mesquite, it was a savory flavor. This was definitely different from what I generally reach for, which is cool, that’s why there are so many cigars! If they all tasted the same it wouldn’t be any fun. IF the FDA gets a hold of premium cigars we can say goodbye to new and different cigars, so join Cigar Rights of America and write to your elected officials! Paul Stulac is (or was) a Canadian cigar retailer, ask him what it’s like in Canada with their regulations! Blacked out windows, no displays, no events, you can’t even look at the cigars you want to purchase. We don’t want that to happen here!

That’s all I got, until the next time,

CigarCraig

6 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as cigar, cigar rights, cigars, Famous Smoke Shop, JM Cigars, Montague, padron, Paul Stulac, romeo y julieta

by CigarCraig | August 11, 2013 · 4:23 pm

Drew Estate Charity Event at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA

Yesterday was The Wooden Indian‘s annual Drew Estate event with auctions benefiting TECHO, who helps build affordable housing in Esteli, Nicaragua. Chris Stone and Pedro Gomez of Drew Estate were there as well as the local Xikar rep, Rich. Both companies contributed many items for the raffle, which, according to Chris Stone, raised $5000. This kind of money can build houses for three families in Nicaragua! For those who don’t know Pedro Gomez, he has been working at Drew Estate for seven years, and running the Cigar Safari for the last five years. Pedro knows everyone in Esteli, keeps the tours running smoothly and serves as the translator and tour guide. Pedro recently moved to the US to do events as the Drew Estate Factory Spokesman. It’s an opportunity that only a few folks from Esteli get, and he’s dedicated to bringing the same professionalism to the events in the US that he brings to the Cigar Safari. Fortunately for Cigar Safari attendees, he will be back in Nicaragua for the three months a year that the run the tours! I’m not sure if the Safari would be the same without Pedro’s expert guidance!

In addition to the company reps, this event brought people from far and wide. There were Drew Estate Ambassadors, several members of the Facebook C.A.T.S. (Cigar Aficionado Trades and Sales) group and others. As I said before, they raised $5000, and the two big ticket items were a custom Humidor finished by Jessi Flores, the creative director at Subculture Studios at the Drew Estate Factory in Esteli,and a basket loaded with rare and unusual Liga Privada cigars. The Humidor went home with our local Cigar Rights of America ambassador (and Emilio Cigars rep) Alan Price. There was a group who conspired to win the basket, four gentlemen from the C.A.T.S. group who called themselves The A-Team, complete with t-shirts! They were smoking Liga Privada A’s at the event (which were eventually replaced by more when the won. They had a bundle of No. 9 Tubos (these were Steve Saka’s pocket cigars from what I know, so I guess they didn’t need them anymore!), a bundle of Velvet Rats and various other rare and unusual Ligas. Quite a score, and I hope they didn’t have any fights over anything there was fewer than four of! Congrats to all the winners, and a job well done to Dave Mayer and his Crew at the Indian, the folks at Drew Estate and Xikar.

While I was at the event I picked up a few more Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Lanceros and smoked on while there. This is a sentimental favorite as it will forever remind me of my first trip to Cigar Safari, as Jonathan passed around a bundle on the bus before they were released, and we watched them rolling them at the Joya de Nicaragua factory. It’s also a darned fine smoke suitable for any time of day and should appeal to a wide range of tastes. Later that evening I pulled out a Herrera Esteli Lonsdale which was equally as fabulous as the Cabinetta. This burned perfectly and was sweet and smooth and delicious. This is another cigar that’s appropriate at any time. Loaded with flavor! As I write this I’m working on an Undercrown Corona Doble. Certainly larger than I usually smoke, but great for a gorgeous Sunday afternoon on the deck typing away. Whereas the JdN Cabinetta and the Herrera Esteli are loaded with complexity and subtlety, the Undercrown is dark, rich and bold. All great cigars!

Don’t forget to go back to Friday, August 9th’s post and enter to win a box of La Gloria Cubana Gilded Age Toros courtesy of Famous Smoke Shop! There’s only another 5 days to enter, and I know this is longer than most of my contests, but I wanted to give plenty of people a chance to enter.

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

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under Events, Stores

Tagged as cigar, cigar rights, Cigar Safari, cigar store, cigars, drew estate

by CigarCraig | April 21, 2013 · 8:07 am

Sunday Cigar News, a Monte Pascoal and Another Joya de Nicaragua

Today’s installment is going to be a short one. My wife and I are heading to New York City to meet some friends at Club Macanudo this afternoon and want to get an early start. Is it unusual to drive 2½ hours just to smoke a cigar or two? When you can manage it, it’s well worth the time to meet up with friends you only see a couple times a year. I bet it’s been ten or twelve years since I was at Club Macanudo. I’ll select some special cigars to take along to enjoy, and we’ll have a good time in the big city. In other news, a week from today I’ll be on my way to Nicaragua for a return visit to Drew Estate’s Cigar Safari. This may interrupt my usual posting schedule a bit, but I will endeavor to post updates along the way as time and technology allow.

To recap a couple cigars I smoked this week, I slipped in a Monte Pascoal Minuto Thursday before going to an abysmal Flyers game which left me so disgusted that I didn’t bother stopping in the cigar bar for a post-game smoke. These are dynamite little cigars, and this one may have had a year or so of age, which didn’t hurt it. I enjoyed the heck out of this small Brazilian Puro. If you don’t see these in your local shop, you can use the code “MPCGRS10” on CigarFromBrazil.com to get %10 off any purchase on the site. I’ve smoked a bunch of cigars in this line and they are tasty smokes.

Saturday I took an afternoon walk with a Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo. I thought I knew what this cigar was, but the size didn’t match up to any of the sizes listed on the website. It was a 6″ x 50ish box pressed cigar, it certainly wasn’t the 54 ring gauge Poderosa. Then I remembered when I met up with Peter from ACigarSmoker.com last year he gave me a sampler of Joyas from an event they had recently had which had 4 or 5 toros, of which this cigar may have been included. Anyway, this line is one of my favorites for flavor, although I can stand a little less power. It also evokes some great memories of smoking one in the factory in Esteli two years ago. Sadly, this particular example was a little tighter than I would like and it gave me a little more frustration that pleasure. I’m sure I’ll have the chance to smoke another one of these in the next week or so. I still love the flavors in this cigar and am never deterred by the occasional bad experience.

News

From Cigar Rights of America:

S. 772 Joins H.R. 792 – As Key to Warding off FDA Regulation of Cigars

With an historic act of political leadership for all those that have a passion for premium cigars, U.S Senator Bill Nelson, D-Florida and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, R-Florida, have again joined together in a spirit of bi-partisan leadership to send a loud and clear message to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – “Leave Our Cigars, Alone!” Early this morning, it was assigned the bill number, S. 772.

However, Senators Nelson and Rubio are not alone this year in the launch of a bill to protect premium cigars from destructive regulations by the federal government.

In another display of bi-partisan cooperation, a diverse coalition of U.S. Senators have joined S. 772 as original co-sponsors. They include Senator Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana (and Chair of the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee); Senator Jon Tester, D-Montana; Senator Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, and Senator David Vitter, R-Louisiana.

Cigar Rights of America commends the leadership of these Senators for our cause of Cigar Liberty from the tyranny of federal regulation. To have such legislation filed two years in a row, is a testament to the perseverance of all that share in the camaraderie of a great cigar. It is recognition by these members of Congress that by the FDA even contemplating the regulation of cigars, the agency is going beyond their legislative intent.

H.R. 792 Climbs to 61 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives!

This month’s new co-sponsors of H.R. 792 include: Dan Benishek (Michigan); Tim Huelskamp (Kansas); Steve Chabot (Ohio); Trey Radel (Florida): Bill Huizenga (Michigan); Todd Rokita (Indiana); Dina Titus (Nevada); Andy Barr (Kentucky); Glenn Thompson (Pennsylvania); Howard Coble (North Carolina); Chris Collins (New York); Lee Terry (Nebraska); Robert Whitman (Virginia); Kurt Schrader (Oregon); William Owens (New York); Frederica Wilson (Florida); Patrick McHenry (North Carolina); Wm. Lacy Clay (Missouri); Bill Shuster (Pennsylvania); and Kerry Bentivolio (Michigan).

Please call their offices and commend their leadership for Cigar Liberty. Go to the full co-sponsor list, and if your member of Congress is not on it, call them and say “SIGN ONTO H.R. 792 and S. 772! Or…you’ll remember on Election Day.”

NEW PETITION DRIVE FOR THIS CRITICAL FEDERAL LEGISLATION

“Operation Cigar Liberty” needs you. In the spirit of H.R. 792, let’s put 792 (at least!) petitions from each Congressional District in America, into the U.S. Congress. That’s 344,520 petitions. All you need to do is fill in the blanks, and we take care of the rest. Starting today when you fill this out, it will automatically go to both of your U.S. Senators, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives. ACT, TODAY!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITON AS SEND A MESSAGE TO CONGRESS!

And on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue…

It’s official. The Obama Administration is proposing a fresh new round of tax increases (to the tune of 93%!), and this time on your cigars! President Obama wants new cigar taxes to go for education programs. SCHIP just wasn’t enough. Fortunately, that’s why there are three branches of government, and such a proposal should meet with strong resistance in the House of Representatives, and hopefully the Senate, as well.

Call The White House at 202-456-1111 and say “NO NEW TAXES, ON MY CIGARS!”

TAKE ACTION: Help Exempt Premium Cigars From FDA Regulation!

H.R. 792 / S. 772 – Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act

Between April 26, 2010 and December 21, 2012 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration publicly posted their intent to deem cigars as subject to federal regulation. Therefore, it’s incumbent upon the cigar enthusiasts of the United States to voice their opposition to any proposed new regulation of premium/traditional cigars by the United States Government.

Some of the measures FDA could consider, as we believe they are, include:

Ban on walk-in humidors, self serve cigar displays, and mail-order cigar sales;

Ban on all flavored cigars, that are enjoyed by legal-age adults;

Deface ornate, decorative cigar boxes, often considered an art form with grotesque images;

Ban on cigar events where free cigars (samples) could be available to legal-age adults;

Limits on cigar marketing and advertising;

Imposition of new ‘user fees’ [tax] on cigars, to finance regulations;

Limits on special release and small-batch cigars, due to mandates that cigar blends be submitted to FDA for pre-approval before release;

Limits on nicotine levels on cigars to near zero, severely impacting the flavor of cigars;

Ban on marketing cigar merchandise.

We urge you to easily take action now by clicking the button below!

It’s very important to write to your elected officials and implore them to co-sponsor these pieces of legislation! Our ability to enjoy premium cigars and all the great things associated with it depends on it! I promised I’d dig up some info on the New Jersey Cigar Festival, which, by the way, would not be possible under FDA regulation of premium cigars! See how important this is?

This year’s NJ Cigar Festival will be held on Saturday, May 11, 2013, from 11am – 4pm at the Park Avenue Club in Florham Park, NJ.

We hope you’ll be able to join us for what promises to be the New Jersey Cigar Event of the year!

As an attendee, you’ll have direct access to some of the most famous names in the industry, including Jon Drew, Jose Blanco, George Sosa, Arielle Ditkowich, Maria Martin, Antonio Lam and Willy Herrera. (Willy is even bringing a new, as-yet-unreleased blend with him, just for Festival attendees.) And My Father Cigars will be joining us, as well!

There will be plenty of product to buy at special prices, which you can enjoy while indulging in a buffet lunch featuring the delicious food that Park Avenue Club has become known for through New Jersey. And, of course, there will be free massages and hot towel shaves.

You can purchase tickets here, or visit Barrister Cigars (2565 Route 22 West in Union, NJ) and buy your ticket(s) in person using cash or a check and get a free cigar.

Looks like a great event featuring a great bunch of people!

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

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under News, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigar rights, cigars, Club Macanudo, joya de nicaragua, Monte Pascoal, New Jersey Cigar Festival

by CigarCraig | March 9, 2013 · 3:54 pm

Some Cigar News, a Toraño, a Dunhill, and a StogieBoys Contest!

There has been a great many news items coming out lately, and I won’t bore you with repeating what many of my fellow cigar blogger types have already posted. Punch has a new Rare Corojo and there’s a new cigar coming from a Kentucky based cigar company. If you haven’t seen the press releases for those, they are not hard to find. One item of interest that you won’t find anywhere else is the announcement of the new and improved website featuring the largest collection of cigar store Indians (Native Americans?) on the planet. OldCigarStoreIndians.com features the collection of Mark Goldman, formerly of Mom’s Cigars and House of Oxford, a New York City Cigar Store and distribution company respectively. The site features photos of Mark’s collection as well as a video from the PBS series “Antique Roadshow” featuring several pieces from the collection. This is a nice piece of cigar related Americana. Thanks to Bobby Holstein for sharing this site with me.

In other news, I received an e-mail from my Congressman, Jim Gerlach, in response to my letter asking him to support H.R. 792.

Dear Mr. Vanderslice :

Thank you for contacting me about H.R. 792. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

As you may know, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) in 2009 which provided the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with authority to regulate certain tobacco products. As enacted, the law focuses on under-age access to tobacco and named a few tobacco products subject to regulation: cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco. Because traditional large and premium cigars are not a product often used by youth, they were not included within the Tobacco Control Act’s scope.

Recently, the FDA has indicated it may advance regulations that would go beyond the new law by regulating premium cigars under the Tobacco Control Act. As a result, Rep. Bill Posey of Florida introduced H.R. 792 which would clarify the FDA’s jurisdiction over traditional and premium cigars. This bill has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for consideration. Should this bill begin moving through the legislative process, I will certainly weigh your views in deciding whether to support this bill. Right now, I am leaning in support of the bill since I don’t believe the FDA has the authority to promulgate these new regulations. But I do want to hear the proponents’ side of the issue too before drawing a final conclusion.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this issue with me. If I can be of any help to you or your family in the future, please do not hesitate to let me know.

With kind regards, I am

Sincerely,
Jim Gerlach
Member of Congress

I’ve e-mailed Congressman Gerlach dozens of times regarding the previous iteration of this bill without anything but a boiler plate response. I appreciate this specific reply and hope that he signs on. Pennsylvania is a very important state to the cigar industry, oddly enough. Since we don’t have a cigar tax, we have many of the larger distributors and mail order houses located here accounting for thousands of jobs, and millions in state tax revenue. I urge everyone to contact their representatives and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 792. There are links in the left sidebar of my site that will help you write the letter.

Back to the cigars!

Friday evening I decided to try the Toraño Vault A-008 Corona Gorda that was included with the Smoke Inn Special I picked up a few weeks ago. This cigar is a 5 5/8″ x 46 traditional Corona Gorda, and the blend is: Wrapper: Shade Grown Nicaraguan Colorado, Binder: Ometepe, Nicaragua and Jamastran, Honduras, Filler: Esteli and Condega, Nicaragua. First, I love this size, the corona gorda has long been a favorite of mine. This is a nice, dark cigar with a deep, rich flavor. It was packed with tobacco, resulting in a little bit firmer draw than I would have liked, but that didn’t keep me from enjoying the heck out of this cigar. Considering I got this cigar, along with two El Suelos and two My Uzi Weighs a Ton for under $14 delivered, I think it was well worth it. I have another one floating around someplace that I look forward to smoking. One of my readers, Duane, won a box of these in the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways, I’d be interested in hearing what he had to say about them. While I’m thinking about it, if any of the winners of anything from my site wants to submit a review of their winnings, I’d be happy to include it as a guest review. Anyway, great smoke, great size, great overall experience.

Saturday was a stunning day, so my wife and I took the dogs for a walk after a very disappointing Flyers game. As much as I like watching Hockey, I feel a little bit put upon when they play on a weekend afternoon. I kinda feel like I have better things to do than sit in front of the TV, and DVRing games never seems to work out. Anyway, I was looking for something interesting to smoke after the game and I came across a Dunhill Aged Cabraras in a tube. It’s an interesting story about where this came from. Back in 2005/2006 I administered a monthly cigar swap on the alt.smokers.cigars usenet group. Every month I’d ask for participants and pair people up and they’d exchange cigars. One particular time I paired myself with a gentleman from Australia, who sent me two of these cigars after the original shipment of cigars were never received. I was concerned that this mild, Connecticut shade cigar would be way past it’s prime. I have to say that this cigar held up very well over the years. It had the nutty/grassy kind of flavor that Connecticut shade wrapped cigars have, but there was an underlying strength of flavor that hinted at something more. There is Brazilian leaf listed in the filler of this, perhaps that’s what gave it a little extra flavor. Anyway, it was a great cigar, I’m glad I dug this one out of it’s hiding place and smoked it. I really should smoke more Churchill sized cigars, in this day and age 7″ x 48 doesn’t really seem that large!

Contest!

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day next weekend, We have a StogieBoys.com prize pack courtesy of StogieBoys.com of course! Included in the prize pack is a box of Erin Go Bragh cigars, a Dominican cigar infused with Irish whiskey and made in the La Aurora factory. To go along with the cigars, there is a whole mess of cool StogieBoys.com swag, playing cards, can koozies, a lighter and v-cutter, a cap and t-shirt, and whatever other goodies the folks there decide to include! Thanks to Sheryl at StogieBoys.com for putting this fine St. Patrick’s Day Prize Package together! Please leave a comment on this page to enter and I will select a winner next Sunday, March 17th, 2013. Check out StogieBoys.com when you are shopping online, they are quickly becoming one of the major players in the world of online cigar retailers!

That’s it for today, I’ll be digging through the humidors today to find another interesting smoke, as well as picking out a short smoke to enjoy after tonight’s Flyers game at the cigar bar instead of sitting in the parking lot traffic!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

46 Comments

Filed under Editorial, News, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigar rights, Cigar Store Indians, cigars, Contest, Dunhill, E, Erin Go Bragh, H.R. 792, Stogie Boys, Toraño

by CigarCraig | March 6, 2013 · 7:11 pm

A 1502, a Partagas, a Liga Privada and a Bunch of News Items

I received a whole bunch of interesting announcements and news items this week, and, while I’m sure you’ll see them elsewhere in the blogosphere also, I feel compelled to include some of the more interesting items here today. The fist item comes from Abe Dababneh of Smoke Inn. I’ll be interested to see what they have up their sleeves. The press release reads:

JOIN THE CIGAR EVOLUTION

TRUST. This is the cornerstone of the foundation of Sindicato Cigar Group LLC (“Sindicato Cigars”). Sindicato Cigars was officially launched January 16, 2013 when a group of passionate cigar loving Tobacconists decided to extend their cigar knowledge and experience into making cigar brands. Their goal is to create a cigar company whose mission is to put the tobacco retailer and its customers first. The Tobacconist can trust that Sindicato Cigars will create quality brands that they can whole-heartedly support and that will never work against them. Consumers can trust that the collaboration of the country’s top cigar minds, who have listened to your words day in and day out, will create top quality brands based on the knowledge that those same consumers have provided. Today, Sindicato Cigars wishes to announce the hiring of Jim Colucci as the President/CEO of the company. Sindicato Cigars is very excited and honored to have Mr. Colucci, former Executive V.P. of Sales & Marketing for Altadis USA, at the helm of this new venture. Sindicato Cigars intends to exhibit its first 2 cigar brands at the IPCPR show this year in Las Vegas and looks forward to greeting all IPCPR attendees.

Please stay tuned for announcements regarding the release of Sindicato Cigar’s new brands and any behind the scenes action by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

facebook.com/SindicatoCigars

twitter.com/SindicatoCigars

instagram.com/SindicatoCigars

For all inquiries, please contact ask@sindicatocigars.com.

Thank you,

Sindicato Cigars

In other news, the folks at Stogie Boys are having a contest. I will be announcing a contest here sponsored by Stogie Boys Sunday, so there will be all kinds of chances to win stuff from them!

Contest Announcement

StogieBoys.com is hosting a contest! The contest will give 1 Winner, this prize package:

1 Burl 20 count Humidor

5 Erin Go Bragh Cigars

1 StogieBoys V Cutter

1 Digital Hygrometer

1 Humidisk

StogieBoys put together a great giveaway featuring some of their new products such as the Burl humidor and digital hygrometer. StogieBoys is also including the limited time stock of Erin Go Bragh cigars, these are Irish cigars dipped in whisky just in time for St Patricks day. The humidor even comes pre-seasoned and ready for use!

Contestants can enter by going to http://www.stogieboys.com/weekly-cigar-giveaway.html

StogieBoys created four ways to enter. First is to Join our weekly Deals and announcements newsletter. From there visitors can earn additional entries by liking StogieBoys on Facebook, following StogieBoys on twitter and joining StogieBoys daily deals and specials email. Each entry gives you an additional chance to win. Up to four chances can be entered each day giving visitors more chances to win.

This great contest ends 03/12/2013 at Noon EST.

Last but not least, if you happen to be in Vegas in April, look into this event benefiting Cigar Rights of America, brought to you by Stinky, of Stinky Ashtray fame:

Liberating Cigar Night

– Dinner & Cigar Socal:

Join fellow cigar aficionados for cocktails, dinner and fine cigars at the House of Blues Foundation Room. Celebrate your freedom to smoke cigars at this exclusive, members only, private club while taking in the exceptional panoramic views that the pinnacle of Las Vegas night life has to offer.

View and select your dinner entree and dinning time with the pull-down menu before placing your reservation.Your dinner reservation also includes:

* the Cigar Social event from 5:30 to 10:00 PM

Please Note:

Only one person per reservation. If you have a guest(s), place your reservation in the shopping cart and make your additional reservations for each person in your party. Use the “Reservation Name” field for your guest name.

Take your best shot on a winning bid at the silent auction:

• superb cigars by renowned makers

• premium cigar accessories

• gourmet dinners • premium liquors

• golf outings

• spa treatments

• rare sports memorabilia

All proceeds support your right to enjoy cigars via our champions at the Cigar Rights of America organization.

Your Dinner Reservation includes the Cigar Social:

Friday, April 12, 2013

• 5:30-10:00 PM

• House of Blues Foundation Room

Seating is Limited – Reservations & Prepayment Required.

Make your Reservations Now.

All Proceeds Benefit: Cigar Rights of America www.CigarRights.org

Event Location in the House of Blues Foundation Room:

Mandalay Bay Resort – 62ndFloor

3950 S Las Vegas Blvd

Las Vegas, NV 89119

http://www.stinkycigar.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=61

Enough of the news stuff, let’s get on to the cigars! Sunday I took a walk with a 1502 Black Gold. I was overly impressed with this when I smoked it back in October, and my opinion hasn’t changed. This is a big, box pressed torpedo with a dark, rich maduro wrapper. This manufacturer wraps the wrapper over the foot of the cigar so when you light it you get a blast of flavor. This is a neat little touch that sets this cigar apart. The dark, rich flavors also make this stand out. It’s a terrific smoke. If you see these for sale grab a couple. I know of a few shops in my general area that have them, and I’m sure Enrique Sanchez, the owner of this brand, can point you toward a retailer. He can be found on Twitter at @1502Cigars.

Monday evening my wife and I had a nice dinner at Outback. Sirloin and shrimp, with a little rice and broccoli to chase it down. When I got home I pulled a Partagas Petit Corona Especiale out of the “good” humidor. I figure I need to smoke something out of this humidor once in a while to make sure the cigars aren’t drying out or anything. I bought a box of these a few years ago and have enjoyed many of this little Mareva sized cigar. These are “old school” Havana Partagas, they have a distinctive flavor that you don’t often get in non-Cuban cigars. For a $5 cigar, it’s a treat. Sure, it burned crappy and I had to touch it up a few times, but it was a great smoke after a nice meal.

Tuesday I came across a Drew Estate Liga Privada T52 Belicoso that Steve Saka threw at me at the 2010 IPCPR show. I was astounded when I lit this up and was hit was a flavor reminiscent of Monday evenings Partagas! Remember I said the Partagas had a distinctive flavor? Well it does, but I ran across this same flavor in the T52. which made my day, quite frankly. This shape really was a nice presentation of the T52 line. It was perfectly made, and tasted great. It had a nice long finish that, like the Partagas before it, lasted well into the evening. I really can’t decide if I like the T52 better than the No.9. Know what? I don’t have to decide, because I can like them both the same for different reasons! That’s a beautiful thing about cigars! this T52 was an awesome smoke that I enjoyed until it was about a ¾” little nub.