Busy day ahead, so I’m going to give a quick rundown on a new and exciting cigar I smoked this week and re-run a piece I wrote for Prime Living Magazine back in 2016 which doesn’t appear to be on their website any longer. I haven’t been asked to write a Cigar Notes column for them for quite a while, and I think that’s because they haven’t published an issue in quite a while! It’s a shame, that was a fun gig, and I’m proud to have contributed articles to 21 issues of that magazine. How many other bloggers can say that? Anyway, A couple weeks back when I hung out with Steve Saka at Famous Smoke Shop I got a sample of his new creation, the Sobremesa Brulee. This is his entry into the Connecticut shade market. Steve goes into great detail in the CigarCrag Podcast episode, so please give that a listen, but his intention was to make a Connecticut shade cigar that was like the cigars he remembered from the 80s and 90s. I smoked the Brulee this week and I was thoroughly impressed (shocker!). It just might have been my father’s Connecticut! It has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, so in that way it differs from the COnnecticut shade cigars of 30 years ago, but it was smooth with a nutty/grassy flavor, but still had the richness one expects a cigar with the Sobremesa name to have. This is going to be a hit, I nubbed it, despite Steve’s concerns about the nubability, and, yes, it did start to turn a little beyond the band as he said, but it was a flavorful and satisfying cigar that I will add to my selection when it becomes available.… Continue reading
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NewAir CC-300H Climate Controlled Cigar Humidor Review
Back in July of 2015 I became the proud owner of a Newair CC-100 Thermoelectric Humidor, and it’s been functioning wonderfully ever since. It quickly reached capacity, becoming the home for many of my most prized cigars. I stored all of the various coffins, odd boxes and whatnot in it that get lost in the large cabinet, and don’t really fit in a desktop humidor. It also was decorated by Wineadorart.com with some great looking decals. Recently, the folks at NewAir offered me an upgrade to their CC-300H model, not only an upgrade in size but in features as well. Let’s take a look at the list of features that the CC-300 has before I tell you what I think of it!… Continue reading
News: Drew Estate Flying Pigs Soar into Humidors for their Seasonal Release
Gotta love the Piggies! There’s a pub in my town called the Flying Pig Saloon that is decorated with every kind of flying pig toy ot statue imaginable. I’m sure they have no idea what the Flying Pig cigar shape is, what Drew Estate has done with it, or what it’s place in history is. This is another one of Steve Saka’s many contributions to the Drew Estate portfolio, part of his legacy with the company.
Drew Estate announces today the seasonal release of their Flying Pig vitola, including Liga Privada No. 9 and T52, Undercrown Maduro, Shade and Sun Grown, as well as Kentucky Fire Cured.
The Flying Pig is one of the most desired vitolas in the company’s portfolio, presented in a 100mm x 60 ring gauge vitola, and is a favorite amongst cigar enthusiasts worldwide. The shape is based on a photograph of an 1895 cigar salesman’s size selection case. It is one of the most complicated vitolas to manufacture due to the unique size and signature pig-tail, which requires specialized training of the buncheros and rolleras at the factory.… Continue reading
An Old Excalibur, A Lars Tetens and an Alec Bradley Cigar
I took a little trip down memory lane this week, and smoked some interesting cigars. I did smoke some newer cigars, the Brick House Corona Larga was very nice (I’ll get to that another time) and I smoked another Norteño Toro which is the one cigar from the Herrera Esteli line that I really love. I also threw in a Cornelius toro for kicks. I spent my day off working on a huge building project in the backyard and felt a reward was in order, Listen to the current Retrohale podcast episode to see what those guys thought of one of my favorite cigars, Anyway, lets see what I thought of some of the older cigars I smoked this week.
About five months ago I was given a very well aged Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur Cameroon in the King Arthur size, which is a lonsdale (although they call it a corona, it’s a 6.25 x 45, so I guess it’s neither). Back around 2000 or thereabouts, General Cigar did one of their promotional taste test samplings where they sold a three pack and consumers voted on their favorite of the three, the winner became the Excalibur Cameroon, and there was much rejoicing. Rami, our local General sales professional here in PA, produced a box of these from his locker at an event I happened to be attending and gifted me one, and I decided with the weather getting nicer it was time to smoke this rare gem. Age was kind to this cigar, it held up nicely. Excaliburs used to be a staple cigar for me, back when a $5 Excalibur No.1 was an expensive treat, and the Maduros were quite the treat. I haven’t smoked one in many years, I might need to grab a few. It still had some of the delicate Cameroon sweet, nutty flavor, Camerooniness, if you will, that unmistakable flavor. Burn and draw were perfect and it was quite a joy to smoke. I believe these are still available, and reasonably priced.
There was a lot of news this week that I failed to post about, Altadis marketing Montecristo Minis, Placensia and Davidoff partnering on a cigar, and Fratello releasing a beer line, I missed out on those stories, but my colleagues in cigar media all reported on those stories. The one that was the most surreal was the purchase of a majority interest in Lars Tetens Cigars by Alec Bradley CigarsAlec Bradley Cigars. For those who may not know, Lars Tetens preceded Acid Cigars in the infused cigar market in the mid 90s, they were the first real counter-culture, herbal/botanical infused cigars, and were quite the rage for a while. They’ve continued to be available here and there, I had the opportunity to meet Lars at an event in 2015 as he lives, or spends a lot of time, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. 
At least until recently, his cigars could be found on several local retailers shelves. He gave me a sampler when we met, and I smoked one soon after, but left several of the more infused smelling examples safely ensconced in a ziplock in the bowels of the humidor until this week when I screwed up the courage to smoke another one. I selected a toro sized cigar called the Tropical Candy, with an Alec Bradley Lineage nearby as an emergency back up, Surprisingly, the cigar wasn’t bad, I finished it. Any infusion must have aged out, as it just tasted like a nice, sweet tobacco, and the burn and draw were fine, although it was a bit loosely packed. I was pleasantly surprised, no hallucinations, no weird dreams, no urge to skateboard or anything, Maybe I was a little let down! I kinda understand the acquisition from a FDA predicate standpoint, as these blends certainly go back to the 1990s. I’ll be very interested to see what Alec Bradley does with the line.
Of course, I had to follow up with an actual Alec Bradley cigar, but instead of the Lineage, I went with an old favorite, the Nica Puro. I got home from work late last night and grabbed a robusto from the humidor, and saw the Nica Puro (I misplaced the Lineage…), and I love the Nica Puro! I haven’t smoked one in a while and I knew it would hit the spot. I do believe this cigar is my favorite cigar Alec Bradley produces, although I have an affinity for several others. This one has a balance of strength and flavor that hits me right. It’s one of those cigars that seems to burn right every time, with a nice straight burn, flat ember, I forgot how much I really like this cigar. There’s a bit of spice, some dark espresso, just damned good tobacco. I always like to have these in the humidor. I like the Robusto in this line, but the Diamond Rough Cut is pretty good too.
That’s about all I have for today. I have to work a rare Sunday, so it’s off to work for me. Until the next time,
CigarCraig
News: Black Works Studio Announces Second Release of S&R
Black Works Studio (BLK WKS) is pleased to announce the upcoming release of S&R: Hand crafted in Esteli, Nicaragua at Fabric Oveja Negra. S&R will be available at select BLK WKS retailers for a limited time.“We are very excited for the second release of S&R. This cigar represents the broad spectrum of cigars produced under the Black Works Studio line. It;s medium bodied with tons of complexity and the perfect amount of white pepper spice to let you know this is a BLK WKS cigar. The Nicaragua & Dominican blend is wrapped in a beautiful cafe colored Sumatra wrapper and topped with the S&Rs signature pig tail. This year, playing on the serpent theme we made a very limited number of Lancero Culebras, so keep your eye out for those!” said James Brown, creator of BLK WKS and partner at Fabrica Oveja Negra.… Continue reading
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