Tag Archives: Cigar Safari

by | June 15, 2011 · 8:05 pm

Cigars So Far This Week: Rocky Patel, Oja,Hoya de Monterrey, 601 La Bomba

Off to a good start this week, I mailed my application for an Internet Media Membership for the IPCPR, in hopes of attending the trade show next month in Las Vegas.  As I previously reported, I made my reservations over the weekend, so that part is already taken care of.  I look forward to attending with the appropriate credentials, as well as seeing a lot of old friends and meeting a bunch of friends I haven’t yet met!

So, I started the week with a gifted Rocky Patel torpedo, a dark cigar with a secondary band identifying it as a Fusion MM.  Information was hard to come by on this cigar, but I surmise that it is a Maduro Maduro, judging by both the flavor and the MM on the band.  I received this cigar in a package from Tommy Berry, who I told that it was MY job to send cigars, not his!  Kids these days, they never listen!  Thanks for a tasty treat in this cigar!  I don’t smoke a lot of RP cigars, not for any reason really, they just never seem to appear in my humidors.  This dark cigar took a few clips to get past a pretty tight bunch at the foot, but it burned and drew nicely after I found the right spot.  Chocolaty and smooth, it was all I look for in a maduro cigar.  It was good for a walk to the store, and another 45 minutes or so on the front porch upon my return.

The next cigar so far this week was another sample from Oja Cigars, from Nicaragua.  I mentioned before meeting Luis, the manufacturer of these cigars, at Cigar Safari and he was kind enough to send me some samples.  This example was a powerhouse, strong, dark flavors in the 6″ x 50 toro with what I believe to be a Brazilian wrapper.  I’ll get into more details after I’ve had a chance to enjoy more of these, and keep an eye on this name, and watch for a chance to win some of these here in the not too distant future.

In the “New Inmates in the Humidor” department, I used my Groupon for Stogieboys.com last week to purchase a box of Hoyo de Monterrey Sabrosos in Maduro.  The transaction went well, and I received the box in two days.  The Hoyos are an old-school petit corona, and I fired on up after a week’s rest. It was a nice smoke that will smooth out with some age.  It had the sort of mouth coating feel that licorice gives, and was a nice little smoke. I had to wait until I made some room in the coolerdor before placing the order, but the little box of maduro beauties fit in very nicely.  These will be a very nice smoke for the winter “Take A Cigar For A Walk” times, as 5″ x 40 is a very manageable quick smoke.

Tonight, as I’m writing this, I’m smoking a 601 La Bomba which I received a few weeks ago in a little box along with a 601 and a Murcialago, both of which I’ve enjoyed thoroughly in the past. This cigar, measuring a nearly perfect 5½” x 46, has a long tail on the cap, reminiscent of a firecracker.  A harbinger of things to come?  I think so.  This cigar was a chore to light, it very stubbornly took the flame, but when it was lit, it assailed the taste buds with a ton of spicy cigar goodness.  It grabs you by the collar and demands your attention.  If I were to guess, I’d say that this is loaded with ligero, as it slapped me around the block, and went out easily if ignored for too long.  Every re-light was almost a pleasure though, as that strong, spicyness stayed with this cigar to the end. I’m working on nubbing this one, as I beads of sweat begin to form on my brow.  As cool as this cigar is visually with the long tail, that is soon gone, and the real fun begins. Perfect burn and draw, and tons of smoke.  A clear winner in the taste and power department.

Well, it’s time to test the theory that sugar cures a case of the nic-sweats and grab a glass of sweetened iced tea before mowing the lawn, don’t expect straight lines in the grass after the last cigar!  It’s a good thing I have a small yard and it’s not too hot out! Many thanks to Tommy, Luis and Eddie for thesse cigars, and I hope to see at least two of you in Vegas in a few weeks.  I also hope to finally meet Jose Blanco, whom I just learned (story here) is retiring from La Aurora.  I’m sure he’ll be sorely missed there, but I doubt he’ll disappear from the cigar world for long!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | May 15, 2011 · 8:44 pm

This Weeks Cigar Re-cap, Liga Privada, Rocky Patel, Etc.

I have to re-wind a little bit to last Sunday, when I enjoyed a fine Liga Privada No. 9 Parejo on Mother’s day.  It was one I had picked up in November of 2009 and was a superlative smoke.  If you’ve seen the Drew Estate ads with the ash with the Liga band (there’s one on my “cigarcraigslist” page), or the mural on the wall inside the Gran Fabrica in Esteli, that’s what the ash reminded me of, I taped it off to avoid incident, but it was solid as a rock.  It was a fine tasting cigar too, lots of flavor and not too heavy on the nicotine.  Very satisfying cigar that is a pleasure to smoke, and I smoked it to a very small nub.

Later in the week I pulled out a cigar from a gifted batch from Tommy Berry, my frequent “Take A Cigar For A Walk” contributing correspondent.  This cigar has two red bands, the larger said “Maduro” and the secondary band said “by Rocky Patel“.  A little research showed this to be a Thompson’s exclusive.  The cigar was a large pyramid that had a jet black wrapper that to my taste was San Andreas leaf, but I was unable to find any information to verify that.  The cigar was pretty good, although the thick wrapper leaf needed some corrections from time to time.  I took this cigar for a 3 mile walk and it fit that time interval very well.  Nice, fairly heavy dark flavors consistent with what I expect from a maduro cigar.  Many thanks to Tommy for sending an unnecessary gift. I look forward to his future guest reviews!

 

Tonight I decided to smoke a cigar that was given to me by Dave Mayer, the owner of The Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop in Havertown, PA.  I was talking with Dave about our Cigar Safari experiences when I visited the shop a couple weeks ago.  He had taken a group down a few weeks before we went, and I was telling him how much I enjoyed the cigar I blended.  He took me to his office to show me his blending sheet as his blend was similar to my own, with the exception of the wrapper, which was an Ecuador Connecticut Shade.  He gave me one out of his humidor, a gesture I very much appreciated. He had said that his cigar didn’t turn out very good, so I decided to fire it up and see for myself. His version was a fat toro, easily 6″ x 54, with the a fore mentioned beautiful shade wrapper.  He mentioned using the Brazilian Mata Fina filler and, I think, the San Andreas binder.  I can understand why he felt it was out of balance a bit. The sweetness of the Mata Fina competed a little bit with the dry sweetness of the wrapper.  It burned in the typically perfect manner I’ve come to expect from Drew Estate in general, and the Liga Privada rollers in particular.  All in all is waas a nice cigar, certainly different, but not at all offensive.  I’m thrilled to have had the privilege of smoking this cigar, I know that the cigars I brought back from Cigar Safari are precious to me, and I appreciate Dave sharing his with me.

That’s all I have for now, thanks again to Tommy and Dave for the gifted cigars.  Somehow gifted cigars always taste better, and it’s a part of the whole cigar culture that I enjoy the most, that is, gifting cigars, but being on the receiving end once in a while doesn’t suck!).

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | April 27, 2011 · 10:47 pm

Some Cigars I Smoked at Cigar Safari, a Punch and a Grimalkin

I realized recently that while I was recounting my experiences in Nicaragua on Cigar Safari, I didn’t really talk too much about the cigars I smoked.  One of the reasons was that I was tying in a contest to guess the number and I didn’t want to make it too easy to figure out, and the other was that there were so many other things going on that I really didn’t think too much about it!  One of the things that I noticed was that I enjoyed all of the cigars I had, and all of them performed perfectly.  From the first Liga Privada No.9 on the bus at leaving the airport, to the Tabak Especial Negra on the bus back to Managua, every cigar burned great and drew perfectly.  I didn’t say I was surprised, I don’t think I’ve ever had a poorly constructed cigar from Drew Estate, or recently from Joya de Nicaragua.  I smoked several of the Joya de Nicaragua Cabinettas, including a yet to be released Lancero, and I even had an Acid Kuba Maduro, and I didn’t hate it! I didn’t snap a picture of every cigar I had, but here’s a sampling:

 

On the “Take a Cigar for a Walk” front, Monday night I smoked another Punch Rare Corojo 10th Anniversary, courtesy of General Cigar.  This is the third one of these I’ve smoked and I enjoyed it quite a bit.  I taste hints of what I remember the Rare Corojo tasting like, which was very savory and full of flavor.  There was a time in my cigar smoking life that I would always leave new arrivals sit in my humidor for a year or so before smoking.  In this day and age, cigars seem to be coming to market ready to smoke, and I feel obligated to smoke samples sent to me in a timely manner.  It’s a bit of a Catch 22 for me.  I would love to see how these age, and, after smoking three of the five samples, I may allow the final two to sit in the humidor for a while more and revisit them in six months or so.

Along those same lines, I recently received some samples from Gary Griffith of Delaware Cigars and Emilio Cigars.  One of the cigars he sent was the Grimalkin Toro. This 6″ x 50 cigar was described as being made in a factory in Esteli which they cannot reveal due to contractual obligations.  I had my suspicions, which I think were confirmed after smoking one of the samples.  I’m not going to reveal where I think this is made because that wouldn’t be right.  I really enjoyed the first sample, it had a bit of spice to start out with and was pretty lush and tasty.  The construction was top notch and I enjoyed it to the band, which sports a cool pair of feline eyes on a green background.  It was definitely a visually appealing cigar and felt good in the hand.  I put it down at the band, it got a little funky, another aspect that would be remedied by some additional humidor time.  He also sent a couple of his Emilio cigars that I am looking forward to smoking. Again, a very nice cigar.  I’d love to try this in a corona or lancero.  Delaware Cigars has several locations in Delaware (duh), which is probably a half hour drive, I really need to make my way to one of the stores one of these days.  They also host a cigar festival at Delaware Park, a great racetrack, in September, I might have to see about making it to the event.

That’s about it for today, I still need to hear from Wayne Nye with his mailing address so I can send out the StogieBoys.com Stogie Registers.  I prefer to make one trip to the post office, so my apologies to MoBarbq and jimbobber for the delay in shipping.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | April 24, 2011 · 8:34 pm

Weekend Cigars: Rodrigo and Cigar Safari Blend, and Stogie Boys Contest Winners!

I was going to concoct a story about finding a dried up cigar last Friday, and putting it in the humidor and seeing if I could resurrect it, but that seemed too time consuming and maybe a little blasphemous, a long way to go for an ironic holiday joke. Anyway, I managed a couple of new cigars this week, I wanted to share the experience.

A few weeks ago I got into a conversation with a fellow Pennsylvanian, George Rodriguez of Rodrigo Cigars.  I couldn’t talk him out of sending me samples for review, and a package showed up early last week.  I am torn between wanting to allow new arrivals to rest for a while in the humidor and giving timely feedback on the cigars.  I was faced with a beautiful Saturday afternoon and time for a robusto, so I grabbed the smallest of the bunch and fired it up.  I received and Robusto, a Toro and a Belicoso as well as a Lancero, which isn’t listed in their literature.  The cigars are made in Tamboril, Dominican Republic with Dominican filler and binder and a Ecuador Habano wrapper.  The cigar burned reasonably well with a perfect draw.  The flavor didn’t really wow me on this one, it was pleasant enough, certainly not offensive in anyway, but nothing that made me take notice.  I’ll give the other three a little more time in the humidor, maybe it was just the Robusto that wasn’t for me. I can’t help but think I rushed smoking this one.  I’m looking forward to smoking the Lancero especially.  Thank you George for giving me the opportunity to try your cigars, I appreciate your generosity.  Look for Rodrigo Cigars and give them a try.

 

We had a family gathering on Easter Sunday and I decided it was time to try out one of the cigars that I blended while in Nicaragua on the Drew Estate Cigar Safari.  As I mentioned in my post “Cigar Safari Trip Report: Days 3 and 4“, Corey and I selected our blends on paper, without the benefit of actually touching and smelling the tobacco.  I went with a Mexican Oscuro wrapper, mostly because they didn’t offer Connecticut broadleaf and  I really like the Mexican wrapper on the Chateau Real Maduro.  While I never cared for Indonesian tobacco, I used it for the binder, basically because the description said it was sweet and aromatic.  I used Seco leaves from both Esteli and Dominican Republic, only a half a leaf of Esteli ligero and filled it out with Brazilian Mata Fina.  I chose the same vitola as the Liga Privada Unicos Dirty Rat, because I love that size, 5” x 44.  The cigars ended up being absolutely gorgeous with an oily dark wrapper.  I really loved the cigar!  It had a very full flavor, a lot of sweetness and coffee and cocoa, but was smooth as silk without a  hint of nicotine. I smoked it down to a finger burning half an inch. If I had been able to find a toothpick at my in-laws house I would have finished it.  These were rolled by the torcedors that make the Liga Privadas, so it was no surprise that the construction was flawless and it burned razor straight all the way down.  It burned for nearly an hour and forty minutes!

 

I promised to select some contest winners today, and I’m going to pick three!  As has become my custom, I’ve pasted the names of all of those who left comments into a spreadsheet and used Random.org‘s random number generator to make the selections.  Would  Wayne Nye, MoBarbq and jimbobber please e-mail me your contact information so I can send you your Stogie Boys Stogie Register, courtesy of StogieBoys.com!  Thanks to Paul at Stogie Boys and to everyone for  participating.  See the bottom of this post for the 10% discount code generously offered for my readers!

 

That’s it for now, hope you all had a great Easter or Passover, I know I made a pig of myself today!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | April 17, 2011 · 3:21 pm

Sunday Cigar Ramblings: La Aurora 107, Vegas de Santiago Lancero

Finally a bright, sun-shiny Sunday afternoon, which would be perfect without the gusty wind.  Wind or not, here I sit on my deck, in the sun, smoking a Vegas de Santiago Don Luis Secreto del Maestro maduro lancero.  This is a beautifully made cigar, with a little bit of a pigtail cap.  It measures7.5 x 38 and is referred to on their site as a Laguito No.1.  Actually, this size isn’t listed on the website, but is available by request.  I had been contacted some time ago by Lani and Rudi at Vegas de Santiago asking what I liked in a cigar, and I did a little daydreaming and mentioned that I would be interested in what the Sectretos del Maestro blend would be like in a lancero, and while I was dreaming, what would it be like with a maduro wrapper.  A few weeks later a package of 5 of these show up in my mailbox!  Anyway, I had smoked one over the winter, and I decided I needed to smoke one again, and I had the time for a 7½” cigar.  The ash is a little brittle, but the burn is fantastically even and the draw is perfect.  The flavors are very nice, it’s medium bodied and quite pleasant.  It’s not a dark, chocolaty/espresso maduro, which is what I look for in a maduro, but still a very nice cigar.  Vegas de Santiago is a kind of unsung Costa Rican brand that has been around for a long time and makes really nice cigars at a very good price point.

Friday evening after coming home from work, then running to the cycle shop to pick up the scooter after getting inspected and the belt changed, I decided to take a La Aurora 107 Corona for a walk.  My son, Corey, who went with me to Cigar Safari, decided to come along and smoke one of the cigars that we blended (on paper, from the emergency hospital!).  At that point on the trip he wasn’t feeling well and made up an Equador Connecticut Shade wrapped, mostly seco, blend that he said tasted a little ashy.  His blend was bound to be super mild, I hope that they round out a little for him with age. The 107 was one that I picked up on a visit to De La Concha in Manhattan last year.  It’s the only size I’ve smoked in the line, and it was a very nice cigar.  Burn and draw were perfect and while the flavors aren’t exactly my style, it was still a very satisfying smoke.

I want to thank Tommy Berry for sending me some cigars this week!  I told him that sending cigars was MY job, but he didn’t listen and sent a nice package anyway.  I’m glad to have a Diesel in my humidor again, and Rocky Patel‘s are always quite welcome!  There are another two that I’m not familiar with and have been too lazy to research.  Hopefully Tommy will fill me in on those two.  Thanks buddy!  I hope your house buying is moving forward and I look forward to you next “Take a Cigar for a Walk” submission!

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

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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