A Glimpse Into My Cigar Adventures!

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Villiger Cuellar Black Forrest and Assorted Cigars

I’ve been smoking some random favorites this week, along with revisiting some cigars to re-evaluate my opinions on them. I spent a while with my web host’s support folks trying to iron out some back-end issues I’ve been having and I think something got fixed with the RSS feed and Google indexing. The e-mails seem to be going out again and searches don’t seem to be coming up in Chinese anymore! That was annoying! Spending ten years creating content, I’d like my legacy to be properly preserved in google searches! So it’s all sorted out, I think. I’ve been looking at new WordPress themes too, I’ve been using the same site design since 2012, and it might be time to refresh it a bit. When I find the right layout, you’ll know it! Anyway, Here’s some of my thoughts on some cigars I smoked
this week. 

 

Southern Draw Jacob’s Ladder Brimstone – I love the shape, it’s perfectly constructed, and I really want to love the cigar, and it’s great, but I think I like the regular Jacob’s Ladder better. There’s something about the regular line that is richer, maybe the added strength of the Brimstone overpowers he blend for me. If I had smoked this before the regular line I might have had a different opinion, but I feel a little disappointed when I smoke these. I want it to be a better Jacob’s Ladder, and for me it just isn’t, something gets lost. 

 

Cornelius and Anthony Daddy Mac – As everyone
should be aware, I have a fondness for everything in the Cornelius and Anthony line, except, maybe the Daddy Mac. I’ve always said I liked it, but it was my least favorite in the line, and the second half of that statement id certainly always been true, but it’s time to stop sugar coating it and just give up on the Daddy Mac. The cigar just doesn’t appeal to me. That’s not to say it isn’t a good cigar, and there are plenty of people who love it, it’s got that leathery, earthy profile that I don’t personally dig. I need to reach out to Steven Bailey and ask him what the future of Cornelius and Anthony looks like. I’ve been seeing a lot of posts from this weekend’s LaZonaPalooza and the name C&A hasn’t come up. Inquiries at a recent visit to El Titan de Bronze, where my favorite Cornelius is made were not exactly positive. I need to know how I should ration my existing stock. 

 

Speaking of cigars made at LaZona, I also smoked a La Sirena King Poseidon, the brand’s 6″ x 60 vitola. This is another small brand that I’ve had a long time affinity for. The 6″ x 60 siz
e was an experiment, and I like it a lot, but I think I like the Trident, the Churchill size, better for a large vitola in this line. I love the Trident and Devine (belicoso) sizes the best in this line.  I still have a couple of the Tridents from a box that was made in the My Father factory, they are Devine…no that’s the Belicoso…you know what I mean. La Sirena’s family of brands, including Merloin, Oceano, and the 10th Anniversary, have a little something for everyone, and I enjoy the heck out of them. 

 

Let’s talk about this new cigar from Villiger, the Cuellar Black Forrest. This is made at the Tabacalera Palma in the Dominican Republic, which is where the Cuellar Krēmē is made, as well as one of my favorite Villiger cigars, the long gone and poorly named Trill. It’t box pressed and has a San Andrés wrapper and Dominican binder and filler and has a really interesting aroma out of the box. They often send samples in really nice little boxes of two or three, and while the presentation is top notch, one can’t help but think they might be better served saving that expense. Just a thought. This is a
beautiful smoke, and everyone has been smoking this and raving about it. It was different from what most think of San Andrés wrapped cigars. It didn’t have the heavy earth that is associated with Mexican leaf, but would still qualify as earthy I guess. It was solidly in the medium category and smooth, consistent with it’s Cuellar Krēmē sibling, it compliments it well as the maduro counterpart if that is the intent. I can recall smoking a Krēmē at the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival in 2014 and really enjoying it, and I might have one of similar vintage someplace in the humidor. This was a nice smoke that I’ll look forward to smoking again.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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News: Ventura Cigar Company Still Strong After Recent Layoffs

Kretek International, Inc., Parent Company of Ventura Cigar, restructures in anticipation of FDA Action within Overall Tobacco Industry.

Ventura Cigar Company has just announced the restructuring of its national sales organization in advance of new FDA regulations expected to hit the tobacco industry in the coming months. In a continually evolving environment, Ventura Cigar Company, through Kretek International remains a strong and profitable company and will continue to deliver high quality products and service to our valued consumers and customers.… Continue reading »

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News: Herrera Esteli Norteño Edicion Limitada Released to Drew Diplomat Retailers

I’m a bigger fan of the Norteño than I am of the rest of the Herrera Esteli line, so I’m always excited about this edicion limitada. Don’t get me wrong, I like Willie’s work, I’ve known him a long time. I actually met him and Sean Williams at the same time at the 2011 IPCPR show when Willie was blending Sean’s El Primer Mundo cigars at El Titan de Bronze.  I felt short that day, and I’m six feet tall.… Continue reading »

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CAO Orellana and Fratello Navetta Inverso Cigars

I felt like I needed to give the CAO Orellana a try again after giving them some rest time. The first one I smoked was unimpressive, and I felt like I should have been impressed. This is the fourth cigar in the Amazon Basin trilogy, which I guess isn’t a trilogy anymore. I wasn’t really impressed with the original Amazon Basin, which everyone
raved about,  however, the Fuma em Corda and Anaconda I thought were exceptional cigars. This Orelana, which is named after Francisco de Orelana the first European to navigate the Amazon river (is he the guy we have to blame for ruining brick and mortar retail? ) has a Brazilian Cubra wrapper.… Continue reading »

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The New Cigar Mojo in King of Prussia, PA

Yesterday I dropped by the new location of Cigar Mojo, the cigar shop and lounge in King of Prussia, PA.  They opened the first shop back in 2013, and I posted about it here. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long, they’ve had their challenges over the years, but Ive been to some great events, and it’s turned into one of the premier lounges in the area. To those not familiar with the area, the name King of Prussia sounds like an odd name for a town,  but it’s adjacent to Valley Forge, which holds a significant place in American History, and the Prussian troops played a large part in the Continental Army’s success, hence the area being named after their king.… Continue reading »

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