Tag Archives: CigarCigars

by | October 11, 2020 · 11:02 am

Los Caidos, The Duke Cigars and a Charter Oak Habano and a Rant

Let’s just get past the fact that I slacked off on my Wednesday post and substituted two news pieces instead. Pure laziness on my part. I did smoke a few new to me cigars this week, so let’s focus on those here! First off was a cigar that was generously shared with my by my amigo Adam a while ago. This was a Los Caidos, which is made at Aganorsa and a dollar from each cigar goes to a charity to help the families of fallen police and firefighters. There are red and blue bands so the consumer can choose which department they wish to support, but both cigars are the same. It’s a tasty smoke, with some pepper spice, wood and earthiness. It burned well and provided a great smoking experience. If you bought these only to support the cause it would be OK, but you’d be getting a great cigar too. I think there’s a good message of unity on the band design as well. As always, thank you to Adam for sharing this with me!

 

A while ago Kevin at Cigar Prop (TY!) had shared some cigars with me and one of those was a large torpedo that had a cedar sleeve stamped “ The Duke Cigars First Edition”. This looked a lot like the presentation of the Green Grass Gringo by Kerr Viajante’s Stogie Road Cigars, so I jumped to the incorrect conclusion that it had something to do with him, but the correct conclusion that it originated from the house of Dr. Gabby Kafie. Dr. Kafie was kind enough to point me in the right direction, with was to Duke Cigars, which I should have figured out, I guess. Other than the cigar was a large torpedo, probably 6.5” x 52ish (I failed to measure), wrapped in a cedar sleeve, I know nothing about it. There’s no information anywhere I can find. One can assume it has some Honduran tobacco, and it had a really nice looking milk chocolate brown wrapper. Unsurprisingly, the predominant flavor note was cedar, but it was a nice, sweet cedar and I enjoyed it. It was a very nice cigar and I’d love to know more about it. From what Dr. Kafie indicated in his comments, it seemed to be an ongoing concern, but who knows in 2020. If you come across it and like cedar medium bodied cigars, grab one and give it a try!

 

I had heard about Foundation Cigar Co. releasing the Charter Oak Habano, and saw that they had been landing in some of my local CigarCigars shops, so I stopped in to the closest one to my house yesterday and grabbed a few. I don’t generally speak ill of these shops, but, having worked retail myself, and been a customer for even longer, I have a bit of a pet peeve about providing customer service, and I wasn’t really happy with what transpired (Steve, Art, Scott, Tom even, if you’re reading, pay attention!) I know that I’m not the typical consumer, but I’m not certain that the gentleman working the shop knows me, and when I walked in he was in one of the comfy chairs with the TV on with another patron (who was familiar to me and greeted me). I asked if they had the new cigar I was s looking for, and his response, without getting up, was something along the lines of “beats me”. I don’t think this response is ever OK. Now, I’m familiar enough to go look myself. If it were me working and anyone walked in I would be out of the chair asking “can I help you”, walking into the humidor if I was asked a question, especially if I didn’t know the answer. As a consumer, and former retailer, it pissed me off, frankly, and I hope someone from CigarCigars reads this, because I heard about a similar situation at one of the other stores (in Bucks County? Can’t remember, a co-worker mentioned it). In the challenging environment we live in, customer service is what’s keeping the doors open for you. Another customer would have walked out faced with that sort of reception. There are too many options. Enough of my rant, I bought Toros and Grandes (6″ x 60) and smoked the Grande last night. For a $7 cigar it’s fantastic, heck, it’s fantastic regardless of price. The Habano wrapper is sweet, reminiscent of a Sumatra, and maybe it’s a varietal and I’m forgetting. It’s good, real good. I would have gotten the torpedo, which is exclusive to this wrapper, but they only had the two sizes I got. I may have to smoke a Toro today. Honestly, you could have a box of these, the maduro and Connecticut in your humidor and have something for everyone and every situation, for a small investment. So the takeaway here is customer service is key and Charter Oak cigars are awesome. 

 

Enough for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

Share

6 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | September 27, 2020 · 10:34 am

Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Nicaragua and Bellas Artes Maduro Cigars

I mentioned that I picked up some new-to-me cigars recently, and one of those was the Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Nicaragua in the 6″ x 54 toro size. I can’t say as I’ve really taken to a great many Romeo y Julieta cigars, although I do recall enjoying the Reserva Real line the most. I have enjoyed a few of the newer RoMEo blends, although none were particularly mind-blowing for me. As with many cigars in the Altadis portfolio, it seems that the ones I’m drawn to are the ones that come out of the A.J. Fernandez partnership. There are some exceptions in the Montecristo line, but the only H. Upmanns I really like are the A.J variety, and this new Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real, blended by Rafael Nodal and Abdel Fernandez really hit my palate right. This is a Nicaraguan puro, made with tobaccos grown on A.J. Fernandez farms. It’s a beautiful looking cigar, milk chocolate colored wrapper, perfect draw and a solid ash. It was a pleasure to smoke. It kind of has a bready, sweet flavor, with some spice. It’s reminiscent of the Reserva Real, with a Nicaraguan spin, and I like it a lot. It’s a $9 cigar, and it wasn’t that long ago that I’d bristle at spending that much on a cigar, now I do it without much thought. Weird, huh?

 

Yesterday I had the occasion to visit one of the several local CigarCigars stores, this time the one in Downingtown, PA. Beer fans will know that name as the home of Victory Brewery. It’s the town I lived in when CigarCraig.com launched in 2009. Anyway, my friend Kevin,  who had been the manager of that store, was celebrating his retirement, passing the reins to Tom, and they were having a little celebration. I stopped to pay my respects. They also had an A.J. Fernandez event, ironically, so I bought so more AJF cigars. I finally, after many years, met Art Toll, who is one of the owners of the CigarCigars empire, and we had a nice chat, I even got some inside info. More on that as it develops. We’ve “known” one another for many years, but hadn’t met in person. This is not uncommon in the virtual world, I “know” people for 20 years that I haven’t met yet. Anyway, one of the cigars I picked up was the Bellas Artes Maduro in the Short Churchill size. Saka’s Short Churchill is a Robusto or Hermoso sized cigar, where this one is a 6″ x 48 thin toro, or fat lonsdale. Maybe it’s a long, fat gorona gorda, heck, I don’t know what it is, Saka has a 6″ x 48 in the Umbagog line he calls a Corona Gorda. It’s a good size whatever you call it and this one was delicious. Brazilian Matafina wrapper over a San Andrés binder with Nicaraguan fillers. This is my kind of cigar, deep, rich chocolate flavors, with some pepper. Delicious cigar. Of course I’ll miss hanging out with Kevin at the shop, and I’m sure he’ll have a wonderful retirement travelling the country. 

 

Have you ever lit a cigar and struggled to get smoke, but when you blow through it smoke billow though it like a california wildfire? That pisses me off. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

Share

1 Comment

Filed under Review, Stores

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | January 12, 2020 · 10:24 am

Protocol Probable Cause, Alec Bradley Gatekeeper, and Some PCA Throughts

There was big news this week regarding the largest four cigar companies deciding not to present at the PCA (formerly IPCPR) show in July. This dominated the news and discussion, so I figured I better add my $.02 for what that’s worth. I’ll start my saying that I bowed out of the IPCPR/PCA a few years ago as I just lost my will to keep getting shaken down for $400 a year to spend triple that out of my own pocket to promote their show when the organization made it clear they didn’t want me there. Argue with me if you want, call me names and say I should support the industry, but I do this as a hobby, I go to the show on my vacation time, out of my own pocket. Everything I do supports the industry, they aren’t going to miss my four bills. The TPE, on the other hand, gave me a press pass, offers early access and a media space, like other major trade shows, ones who value the media (yes, that was snark), and no, the TPE didn’t offer me anything except a press pass, once again, the rest of the trip is out of my own pocket. OK, so the big 4 aren’t going to the show, and Villiger, who isn’t big in “premium cigars, but is still a huge company, pulled out last year. I’m sure everyone gets any show specials from these companies whether they are at the show or not, so that isn’t a big thing. Of course, the Drew booth was always something to see, but How necessary are these huge booths? For that matter, how necessary are any of the huge booths at the show? I think the show is way too big for such a small industry, myself. What do I know. The PCA says that the 4 companies account for 12% of the floor space, which is pretty significant, but do they make up 12% of the dollars? more? Less important, to anyone who has attended the show, who remembers the last time someone other than a major company sponsored the opening gala? They ran out of food in the first 15 minutes and I paid $6 for a bottle of water, that’s what happened! All that rambling, and I’ve said nothing new, but I’m really interested in seeing this TPE show, not only the premium cigar part, but maybe the some of the other exhibits. I need to see if I need an appointment with General Cigars, because their IPCPR booth tours were always a highlight. 

 

One of the several cigars I smoked this week which was notable was another Secret Santa selection from my buddy Adam. I think I have one of these buried in a humidor someplace, but this one was convenient (I prefer smoking cigars FIFO when possible). The cigar was the Protocol Probable Cause Churchill, another great cigar out of La Zona. It seems like I’ve been smoking a few cigars from La Zona lately, or maybe I just smoke a few La Zona cigars frequently. This isn’t really a Churchill, it’s 6½ x 48 (a Churchill should be 7″ x 47, with some latitude on the ring gauge everywhere but Cuba), but it isn’t a Toro or anything else really either. Whatever you want to call it, it’s a nice size for my tastes. I had Saka’s Triqui Traca 648 this week too and it’s a size I really like. The Probable Cause has a San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and is a really great tasting cigar. It’s got some pepper and earth, with good, rich espresso that I like, and I really dug it. It seemed to have a slow spot in the middle, one of those dead spots that didn’t really have any smoke, weird when they do that, but I powered through and it finished great and I loved it! I’m going to have to dig around and see if I have another one, and keep an eye out for more. I know I have some blue banded ones and Themis around. Maybe it’s in the Lancero tray, that would be a treat! I don’t see Juan and Bill on my TPE list, but maybe I’ll see them there. 

 

Yesterday my wife needed to go to the King of Prussia Mall (largest mall in the country, about 10 miles away from home) to shop, so she dropped me off at husband day care, ie. CigarCigars in the mall. CigarCigars shop there has been there for years, it used to be International Tobacco, but the CigarCigars chain bought it . few years ago. The store doesn’t have a mall storefront, it’s accessed down a corridor, but it has an exterior entrance. It’s a nice shop, with a decent selection and a comfortable lounge and a counter/bar to enjoy a cigar while your wife is out shopping. I decided to sample the Alec Bradley Gatekeeper, so I bought a Corona and a Toro, and lit the Corona, naively thinking I’d only have an hour to smoke. This cigar is one that Alec and Bradley Rubin worked on with Ernesto Carillo, and has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and a Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The Corona is 5 1/8″ x 42, but felt thinner to me. The cigar stared out with a funky flavor, it was earthy, leathery, maybe mushroomy…I don’t like mushrooms…I had a bad experience with them in the 80’s, but that’s another story. I was a little worried that, one, I was stuck with a smoke I wasn’t going to like, and two, I had an even bigger smoke I wasn’t going to like in my pocket. Oddly, about an inch in, the funk went away, and it sweetened up to a sweet leatheryness that I liked. It turned out to be a pretty tasty smoke and I had hope for the toro in my pocket! 

 

When I got home and had some lunch, I decided to see how the Toro compared, kind of and A/B comparison (a double meaning, A/B, Alec Bradley, get it?). It was a rare January day in the 60s, so I took a nice walk with Macha and the Gatekeeper Toro. The Toro is 6″ x 52, a great size for a walk. See above for the blend specifics. The Toro performed, to my tastes, much better than the Corona. It lacked that funk in the beginning which almost put me off. It went straight to the sweet earthy, leather kind of flavors. While this isn’t my most favorite flavor profile in the world, it was pleasing, and a very nice smoke. In the latest round of Alec Bradley releases, my preference is for the Magic Toast, without hesitation, but I’d smoke this Gatekeeper again, and the band is pretty classy. It’s hard for me not to like cigars from EPC, although there have been a few. 

 

That’s all for today. There was another standout cigar I smoked this week, but I’m awaiting more information, and I will smoke more anyway, so I’ll rave about it another time. Until then, 

 

CigarCraig

 

  

Share

1 Comment

Filed under Editorial, Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

by | October 10, 2019 · 10:52 am

Black Works NBK Tasting at CigarCigars in Downingtown, PA

Last night I had the pleasure of being among the fifteen lucky attendees of a guided tasting of the Black Works Studio NBK, hosted by Mick Grant, the Northeast territory rep for Oveja Negra Brands. The venue was the CigarCigars Shop in Downingtown, PA. managed by my friend Kevin Sirman. This was a bit of a different experience, as it involved three puritos of the components of the blend of the NBK. The NBK is a box pressed Gran Corona, measuring 6″ x 46 with an Ecuador Habano Oscuro wrapper and Nicaraguan Binder and filler. Mick had us light the NBK first, in my experience an unusual first step. He then passed out the first purito, the viso in the filler blend, which is from Jalapa. I admit, when I lit the cigar I had a thought that there was Jalapa tobacco in the blend. There’s a sweetness to the Jalapa tobacco that is distinctive, and smoking it separately makes it quite noticeable. Now we find the brilliance in smoking the finished cigar side by side with the individual leaf.  The second puro was the seco, which is from Ometepe.  I rather expected a bland, papery taste, but this Ometepe seco was very flavorful! There was a citrus or almost floral flavor. I found it drying, which Mick validated when he likened it to black tea, with the tannins being  drying on the palate. Finally, the last tobacco in the blend was the Esteli ligero. Of course, this tobacco was rich, dense, and full of flavor. I found that after smoking the ligero Purito for a bit, going back to the NBK took a little adjustment, as it seemed much lighter in comparison. Throughout the tasting, Mick answered questions about the cigar making and tobacco growing process, he was extremely knowledgeable and did a great job of leading this very educational experience. 

 

I’ve done a lot of these kind of events, and I always learn something from them and enjoy them a lot, and I thank Kevin, the manager at CigarCigars in Downingtown for giving me the heads up on this!  One of my favorite things to do though, is to bring a friend who may not have experienced this kind of thing before. My friend Greg, who I’ve known for 40+ years, loves cigars, and is a regular shopper at CigarCigars in Downingtown, but hadn’t had a chance to go into the lounge and have a smoke, let alone attend an event like this. Since we rarely get together, I invited him to this and enjoyed seeing how breaking down how a cigar is made, and what makes them taste the way they taste made sense to him. He seemed to get a lot out of the experience and I think it will enhance his appreciation of cigars. I encourage everyone to go to an event like this! Not everyone can go to a factory, this gets you a little closer to all the steps that goes into making a cigar. Finally, Thanks to Mick Grant for the great presentation. Mick just announced that he will be leaving Oveja Negra to move and pursue some personal family goals, and I wish him and his wife (who was also there last night) all the best and he will be missed! I’ve known Mick for a few years, with a couple of brands, and he’s the best.  

 

On a side note, I wandered into Nat Sherman‘s Townhouse on 42nd Street in Manhattan on Tuesday and had their Panamericana in the 4″ x 54 Robustico size. I wasn’t sure how much time I was going to have, and it worked out that that was exactly the right size for the time I had. It was a really great tasting cigar, and I had gone to the city without the expectation of having a cigar, so this visit was a bonus. It was also a $14 cigar, but it’s NYC, where you can walk down the street smoking a joint and it’s OK, but you’ll get all kinds of crap if you smoke a cigar. what a world…that’s all for today! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

Share

2 Comments

Filed under Events, Review

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

by | August 18, 2019 · 9:10 am

Southern Draw 300 Hands and Tatuaje Mexican Experiment and ME II Cigars

Wednesday evening I finally got around to trying the Southern Draw 300 Hands Connecticut in the Piramides size. This is a 6 1/8″ x 52 figurado, a classic size, with a US grown Connecticut shade wrapper, a Peruvian binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. Like all Southern Draw cigars it’s made at the AJ Fernandez Factory in Nicaragua. The wrapper is on the darker side for a Connecticut shade, and I found the flavor to be less grassy than most cigars in that genre. It smoked very well and was a very enjoyable cigar, well priced, with proceeds going to help less fortunate people in Nicaragua.

 

Thursday I stopped into the Downingtown CigarCigars shop to see Kevin, the manager there, looking for some “white” cigars for this coming Thursday’s Diner en Blanc. While I didn’t really find anything there, I did pick up some new cigars to try, including the Tatuaje Mexican Experiment and ME II in the Churchill sizes. I got a few others that will come up later as I get around to smoking them, and there was a E.P. Carillo event there which I hung around for the start of. Ali is the new EPC rep, and I’ve known here for quite a few years. I enjoyed a Seleccion Oscuro robusto there while talking with Kevin, which is one of my favorites in the EPC line. You know what I found really interesting about the Tatuaje Mexican Experiment and ME II?  They are priced at $10 (in no cigar tax PA) for any size. The box pressed 6½” x 48 Churchill seemed like the logical choice to me, so I picked up one in each blend. I started with the Mexican Experiment, of course, it would be insane to smoke the II first. There’s not much blend information about the to cigars, they have a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and are made at the My Father factory in Nicaragua. Honestly, I’d have to smoke these side by side to really be able to say what the difference is, perhaps the ME II was a bit more spicy than the Mexican Experiment. Both cigar were solidly in my wheelhouse, loaded with lush, heavy tobacco flavors with dark chocolate and espresso. I smoked these fresh from the store, for the most part, I should probably grab a few more to leave in the humidor for a year to see how they age, I suspect they would be spectacular, or more so, having spent some time resting.  I got my start smoking Mexican cigars back in the 90s, my father-in-law turned me on to Te-Amos and I found the maduros to be to my liking and I smoked a bunch of them. My first box buy was a box of toros, and I used to buy the Te-Amo segundos by the bundle. At the time Mexican cigars were not exactly considered the cream of the crop, I guess I was ahead of the curve! There is a difference between a blend and a puro, and all Mexican tobacco might be overwhelming, I get that. Certainly these two Tatuaje cigars are great for my palate, and I really enjoyed the Churchill size. The other three sizes offered (Robusto (5” x 54),Toro (5 ¾” x 50) and Belicoso (5” x 52)) are actually pretty close together, made it hard to make a selection. 

 

Off to work another Sunday, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

Share

3 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,