Tag Archives: cigar store

by CigarCraig | November 3, 2012 · 8:46 am

My Visit To The New Cigars International Superstore In Hamburg, PA

Friday I took a vacation day so that I could visit the newest super store in the Cigars International empire in nearby Hamburg, PA. My eldest son, Corey, and I drove up for the grand opening celebration. The first thing one sees when approaching the location is the Cabela’s store that sits on a hill, you can see this place for miles. The Cabela’s is enormous. In the shadow of Cabela’s is the newest Cigars International store.

Mike, who appeared to be the general manager, gave us a little tour of the place, along with Joe Winder, our local Perdomo rep. He walked us through the cigar store area, pointed out the downstairs bar and lounge complete with a pool table, then took us upstairs to the second bar and lounge. We walked around the outdoor deck and saw the view of the surrounding area. Across the parking lot they have an amphitheatre. He told us that they have a state of the art sound and entertainment system, if there’s a band playing in the amphitheater he can pipe it into any or all of the bars and lounges in the building. They also have what they call the “Man O War room”, a private meeting room overlooking the store as well as a lounge dedicated to the armed forces.

Corey and I bought some cigars and sat down in a couple comfy leather chairs to enjoy a smoke and take in the surroundings. The waitstaff is very attentive, they have waitresses moving throughout the store, inside and out, taking care of your beverage needs, and rumor has it that they have an agreement with the neighboring Red Robin restaurant where you can place an order and have it delivered in fifteen minute intervals. Did I mention the size of the store? You may or may not have visited the Cigars International Super Store in Bethlehem, PA, or JR‘s in New Jersey, or even Corona Cigars in Orlando. If you haven’t, you’ve probably seen pictures or heard stories about the enormity of those stores (the JR’s in North Carolina don’t count, as the cigar stores are located inside big outlet stores with every consumer good imaginable). This new location is easily twice the size of any of the aforementioned shops. I’d venture to say that Corona in Orlando may have them beat in variety of cigars, they just have a ridiculous number of facings, and I can’t speak to the 2 Guys and Smoke Inn chains as I have yet to have the pleasure of visiting them. It’s the biggest full service cigar store and lounge I’ve seen. At 4 o’clock they had the official opening, and half of the place cleared out to get in a line outside that went clear out to the parking lot. Everyone received a gift bag with a Gurkha Beauty cigar, a $5 CI gift card, and a commemorative pint glass, which Corey and I got on the way out (prompting a return to the cashier to purchase some more cigars, clever bastards!

It was nice to hang out in a comfortable setting and have a cigar with my son for the afternoon, get a chance to hang out with Dave Lafferty of Drew Estate for a while and see Nick Perdomo again. These pictures don’t do the place justice.

Antelope: is that Undercrown lion looking at me?

While there I smoked another Alec Bradley MAXX Brazil robusto that was delicious, and Corey had a Diesel Grind Robusto (I picked up a couple on his recommendation and smokedone on my evening walk, a very nice, smooth smoke!)

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under News, Stores

Tagged as Alec Bradley, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Cigars International, diesel, drew estate, Gurkha, Perdomo

by CigarCraig | October 28, 2012 · 9:43 am

A Camacho Cigar Event, a Room 101, a Genesis, an El Mejor and a Quick Contest

Last weekend I stopped in at International Tobacco in the King of Prussia Mall (one of the largest in the US, located just outside Philadelphia). I stop in here whenever I visit the mall, they have a nice coffee bar where you can sit and have a cigar and rest up from all the shopping :-). When I was there I found out that they were having a Camacho event to celebrate the addition of that line to their product mix. I like Tom Smith, the area Davidoff/Camacho/Cusano rep, so I figured since it’s 20 minutes or so down the road I’d stop in.

Having picked up a handful of Camacho Corojo Maduro Monarcas that I didn’t need last weekend, I purchased a couple Room 101 Daruma Lanceros and a Mostro (5″ x 60), and a couple of LegendArio just because I hadn’t t tried either and Tom recommended the Daruma. I got 2 of the 5 free for the event, which eased the financial pain a little . I sparked up one of the Lanceros and got to socializing. Tom introduced me to a gent named Chris, who was a former blogger, and we struck up a conversation about all things cigar. Chris introduced me to his friend Jay, who lives down the road from me. We had a terrific discussion of cigars, among other things, and I look forward to running into these guys again one of these days. The cigars was as outstanding as Tom had indicated. It was full bodied as one would expect, and the beauty of the Lancero format is that it forces you to smoke it slowly and really savor all that it has to offer. It was a very nice evening. Tom, the owner of the shop does a nice job with events, and I look forward to seeing Tom, the Davidoff rep again in the near future.

This seems like an appropriate place to throw in the video interview I did with Matt Booth at the IPCPR show. I managed to catch Matt right as the show closed and he graciously consented to spend a few minutes with me. Matt is a super-cool dude and his cigars are pretty awesome too. Which reminds me, did they have the Room 101 San Andreas at International Tobacco and I missed them? Anyway, here’s the video:

httpv://youtu.be/HpSABzpP4mI

Back to the retailer sponsored “reviews” I’ve been doing all week. The last two cigars I receive from Cigars International were the Genesis The Project by Ramon Bueso Robusto and an El Mejor Robusto. You may recall the last time I said that I started smoking this in order of my personal interest. I hadn’t heard of the Genesis The Project cigar until receiving it, and the name Ramon Bueso wasn’t familiar to me. The wrapper was very mottled and wrinkly, which doesn’t really show in the picture here. I thought the band was reminiscent of the Liga Privada band, adding a little to my preconception. Just a disclaimer, these opinions and biases are my own. The Genesis was a pretty powerful cigar and, despite it’s ugliness, it performed well. It wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, but it certainly had plenty going for it. I’d say if you like a full flavored cigar with some strength, give this one a try.

As far as the El Mejor is concerned, I’ll admit to having a bias based on my impression that this is strictly a house brand. I’ve learned over the years to have lower expectations of house brands, that’s probably wrong, but that’s the way I feel. This cigar had an attractive, milk chocolate colored Corojo wrapper and lit and burned quite nicely. Once again, this one didn’t exactly wow me, but it was a solid, straight up cigar, certainly not a waste of time, and something I would smoke again, and I did smoke both cigars to a finger-burning nub, if that says anything.

I really appreciate Scott sending me these samples, and I hope to get to meet him this Friday when I go up to Hamburg, PA for the grand opening of their newest Super Store. I know some folks consider CI, Famous and the like, the Walmart of cigar stores, and I can see their points, especially when those people own local shops in the areas where these large companies open stores. Considering what we face from the government where cigars are concerned, I have trouble finding fault with someone who’s willing to shell out millions of dollars to build a cigar store. I am looking forward to seeing the new store, but there’s a lot to be said for the personal experience of sitting down in a small, family owned tobacco shop and enjoying a smoke!

Contest

One last thing, and you’ll have to act fast! I’ve been tweeting this week about a little contest. Today is the 2nd Annual #TickNTweet Virtual Walk, which benefits the Tick Borne Disease Alliance in their efforts to to help us build awareness, promote advocacy and support initiatives to find a cure for Lyme and other Tick-Borne diseases. I am a Lyme disease sufferer myself, so this is something important to me, especially since I live in the worst county in the country for Lyme disease. If you go to our page and make a donation, I’ll choose a random person and send a 5 pack from my humidor, and I promise there will be some great cigars in there. I personally appreciate any consideration you may give to this. Today is the last day to get in on this. Thanks!

That’s more than enough for today. Hopefully this storm that’s been getting all the hype doesn’t cause too much damage (Walmart’s water aisle was empty! There’s going to be plenty of water falling from the sky folks!). Stay safe out there!

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under Contest, Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as Camacho, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Cigars International, El Mejor, Genesis, International Tobacco, IPCPR, Ramon Bueso, TBDA

by CigarCraig | October 24, 2012 · 8:46 pm

A Few Cigars International Exclusives: MAXX, Punch and Man O’ War

The next series of retailer driven reviews are brought to you by Cigars International. I was approached by Scott, a web guy at CI, and he sent along some of their exclusive products. Of course, my CDO (that’s OCD in the correct, alphabetical order) makes me worry too much about the order that I smoke the cigars, so it’s a constant battle. Should I smoke them alphabetically? Lightest to Darkest? Shortest to longest? I decided to smoke them in the order of my own personal interest level. I hadn’t previously smoked, nor in most cases even heard of most of the included cigars. So I started with the one which intrigued me the most.

The Alec Bradley MAXX Brazil was a beautiful, dark robusto. Whether I’ve ever stated it publicly or not I don’t know, but the robusto is my default size. 4”-5½” x 49-54, although a rather broad range, is the size range I find myself reaching for regularly. I rarely have the time to commit to a larger cigar, although I do like toros, and torpedos. I love the occasional corona or lancero too. I guess it would be safer to say my favorite size range is 4” to 7” x 38 to 60 ring. I’ve gotten silly and I digress. The MAXX Brazil was a fantastic smoke. It had that nice balance of flavor and strength. it’s not a heavy smoke, but very tasty and very satisfying. I loved the dark and rich cocoa flavors. This cigar suits my palate just about perfectly, and they are quite fairly priced, going for $3.00 to $5.00 each.

The next cigar I selected was a Punch Bareknuckle, this example being the Belicoso, weighing in at 5” x 50. Where the MAXX was smooth as butter, this Punch was a powerhouse. Despite the fact that the picture on the website shows a cigar with a smoking ¾” ash and an uncut cap, and I don’t care for footbands (another inconsistency in said photo) this is also an outstanding cigar. If you like the standard Punch line, this will appeal to you as well. It’s got a little more oomph, maybe a more concentrated flavor. Burn and draw were perfect and the belicoso shape was fun and interesting. Another winner.

Third up was the Man O’ War Side Projects Little Devil. This was a corona which fought with the previous two for my interest, but something in my head told me that this would be a tasty smoke, it being from A.J. Fernandez. I can’t think of a cigar from A.J. that I haven’t liked. I lit this cigar up and BAM!, there was a blast of loamy, musty, earthy tobacco goodness from the uncut foot. All that extra wrapper folded over the foot really shows how much flavor that Habano wrapper has. This cigar also burned very well and was very nicely presented with the unfinished foot and the little pig-tail head. These are still fairly priced at around $4. Steve Saka once told me that coronas cost almost as much to make as larger cigars, but they have to be priced quite a bit lower because of the perception that a smaller cigar has to cost a lot less than a larger one. So the people who buy larger cigars actually subsidize those of us who buy smaller ones! Anyway, this was a fun cigar to smoke.

I have two more cigars to smoke, I’ll cover those in Sunday’s installment. Tomorrow evening I’m going to visit International Tobacco in the King Of Prussia mall. This mall is one of the largest in the country, and it’s nice to have a shop in the mall where one can stop and smoke a cigar. They are having a Camacho event and I certainly like Camacho cigars. Probably an uninteresting fact, but the very first cigar I reviewed online was a Camacho Monarca back in 1996 when Steve Saka held a blind taste test on the alt.smokers.cigars news group, which eventually ended up on the now defunct CigarNexus website. I loved the Camacho, but one of the other cigars in the test was a Havana Montecristo No.2 that I called a dogrocket because it was so terrible. Anyway, thanks to Scott at CI for letting me try these cigars, they were all new to me and I think I found some gems. Is this post a big CI commercial? Maybe, but the cigars are good and well priced, worth a look if you have the chance.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

7 Comments

Filed under Review, Stores

Tagged as Alec Bradley, Camacho, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Cigars International, Man O' War, Maxx, punch

by CigarCraig | September 23, 2012 · 8:13 am

IPCPR 2012 – Oliva and Studio Tabac Cigars and a New Shop Visit

After enjoying the heck out of a Cain Daytona No. 4 the other night I figured it was about time to dig into some IPCPR show samples and see what the deal was with the new Oliva Serie V Melanio Torpedo. I smoked this cigar during my Thursday evening walk. Since we moved from a house “in town”, where I could walk to the local convenience store, or around the neighborhood, or a bunch of places, I now live in a more rural area where my walking options are more limited. As usual, it’s never about the destination, but the journey, so I just walk down the street for a while then turn around and come home to finish my cigar on the deck or back porch. I’ve been taking my son’s dog along and she loves all the new smells and sights, such as deer and the occasional fox. Back to the Melanio. What a beautiful cigar, just about perfect in appearance, 6½” x 52 and nicely box pressed. The Nicaraguan tobaccos in the blend are largely from Jalapa, which accounts for the bit of sweetness in this very powerful blend. It’s a pretty great cigar. I’ve enjoyed the few Serie V’s I’ve smoked and this one is a really nice addition to the line.

Friday evening I selected a Cain F Maduro that was in the same batch of samples from the trade show. My usual experience with Cain cigars tells me to leave these rest for a year or so to mellow out a little, but in the interest of providing timely information and experiences, I had to smoke this gorgeous robusto. The cigar was about 5 x 50 with an oily, dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. While this was certainly a powerhouse, it was loaded with deep, dark flavor. I love the Cain line in general, especially with a little age, and the Daytona is a wonderfully well balanced smoke on the high end of medium, but I sure hope I come across this maduro again. What a fantastic smoke.

While at the trade show I had the opportunity to sit down with Bryan Scholle, the face of Studio Tabac, and talk about what’s new. Here’s a little video we took at the show, many thanks to Bryan for taking a few minutes to talk to me. It was the first time we’d met, and it was like we’d know one another for years. Bryan is a very cool guy, if you have a chance to catch him on the Studio Tabac tour, do it.

In Other News

Yesterday I stopped in to the new Total Tobacco shop in Newtown Square, PA, not far from home. This shop is a part of the Delaware Cigars empire, so Gary Griffith was on hand for the grand opening. They are still waiting for some displays and fixtures, but the large walk-in humidor is very well stocked with many fine cigars. I could have gone nuts, but I showed some restraint and only picked up a couple cigars I’ve wanted to try, but haven’t seen locally, notably, a Room 101 OSOK as well as a Cro Magnon EMH. I’d be shocked if there’s another retailer in the area that has the RoMaCraft Tabac line, but there were all of the CroMagnon sizes as well as Aquataine in Connecticut shade and maduro. They have a great selection and the prices are in line with the pricing we enjoy in Pennsylvania. I’ll make a point to stop in from time to time to see how the shop progresses. One downside is that there’s no smoking in the store, but the selection makes up for that and they have chairs on the sidewalk outside to enjoy a smoke on a nice day. It’s always nice to see my friend Gary and I wish them the best of luck with this new location.

I’ve gone one quite long enough, that’s all I have for now. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

4 Comments

Filed under Events, IPCPR, News, Review, Stores, Video

Tagged as cain, cigar, cigar store, cigars, delaware cigars, IPCPR, oliva, Take A Cigar For A Walk, Total Tobacco

by CigarCraig | August 19, 2012 · 8:12 am

Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop & Liga Privada Lounge’s Drew Estate Charity Auction

Yesterday was a beautiful Saturday in Southeastern PA, and my wife and I had the great fortune of attending a Drew Estate event at the Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop in Havertown, PA. I love visiting this shop about 45 minutes from home. Dave Mayer and his staff are always very friendly and professional. The shop and Liga Privada Lounge is a very inviting and comfortable place to shop and relax. On this Saturday they were having a “Get Lit with Drew Estate ” event and Marvin Samel was, once again, in attendance. Since first meeting Marvin at their old location a few years ago, I make it a point to visit the store when he’s there. This time they were having several contests, including a “power smoke”, which involved smoking a Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo to the band in the shortest amount of time. I passed on participating in this, as much as I love that cigar, because I didn’t want to ruin my palate for the next week, not to mention making myself sick on such a beautiful day!

I managed to shoot a quick video of Marvin where I asked him to speak about the threat we currently face with the possibility of the FDA regulating premium cigars. This is something that Marvin has dedicated the last year or so of his life to fighting, even moving to Washington DC to concentrate on the battle. Thanks to Marvin for helping preserve our rights! Here’s the video, which will be featured on the left sidebar along with Tommy Zarzecki’s video promoting Cigar Rights of America. Alan Price, our local Cigar Rights of America ambassador was there signing up new members. If you aren’t a member yet, go sign up!

After the contests, they had a series of raffles. Tickets were given with purchases, and I was fortunate to win a beautiful Xikar lighter courtesy of Xikar, who’s rep David was also on hand. Many thanks! I also purchased a raffle ticket for some baskets that had been assembled. One basket of just about every Xikar product imaginable as well some Liga Privada cigars. The other basket contained box upon box of rare Liga Privada and Drew Estate offerings, as well as some hats, booze and other sundries. All of the proceeds of these raffle items were going to Un Techo Para Mi Pais in Nicaragua to help build homes for the less fortunate, a charity that Drew Estate has embraced in their neighborhood in Esteli. The crowning event was an auction of an original painting by Jessi Flores, the director of Subculture Studio and the artist responsible for so much of the design work at Drew Estate. The painting was of all of the Liga Privada cigars that they have produced to date, a beautiful piece of art that we would have loved to have hanging in our home. I managed to capture the action in this nine-plus minute video. It ended up in a bidding war between Cortney, who works at the Wooden Indian and my wife, Jennifer. Unfortunately, Cortney wasn’t to be outbid, and the painting ended up fetching $1500, enough to build a house for a family in Esteli.

httpv://youtu.be/agYrYiDVEMw

While at the event I enjoyed an Undercrown Corona Viva, which is an excellent smoke, maybe my favorite in the line so far. It was rich and well balanced and characteristically well made. It was the perfect smoke to enjoy the wonderful company at the lounge. When I got home I grabbed a Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Robusto as I put away the Cabinetta Lanceros and Undercrowns I had purchased. I absolutely love this line and every one I smoke brings back memories of my visit to Nicaragua last year. The cigar is smooth and creamy, delicious.