Got the week of to a good start with a really nice CAO VR Moby, a 6″ x 50 maduro toro. I have enjoyed the three examples I’ve had which my wife bought for me for Valentines Day. They were part of several 5 pack samplers she got from Cigars International. I believe these are made for CI. I think these are a nice, medium maduro that is very well made. I’m not one for identifying specific flavors, but peppery is definitely a flavor descriptor that I’d use with this cigar.  I don’t know that I would drop a c-note on a box of 20, but I suppose they are worth $5 each compared with a lot of cigars out there.
I decided to wrap up the weekend with a treat and grabbed a Liga Privada Dirty Rat from the humidor. This was one that Steve Saka had given me a few months back. I have to say that this is just about cigar perfection. The corona size is very appealing to me, and it’s just a really pretty cigar. The dark and oily wrapper, the funny pigtail, it’s just so appealing. Then you light it, and it burns razor straight with a nice flat coal and draws perfectly. Steve says they cost more to make than the double coronas, and considering this little corona had five different filler tobaccos packed into it’s stalk cut Connecticut wrapper, it’s no surprise at the cost. The leaves have to be scissor cut to fit them in. Lot’s of labor involved but what a fantastic smoking experience. I’ve enjoyed all of the Liga Privadas I’ve had, and I don’t often spend upwards of $10 on a cigar. Exceptional cigar that will be worth the occasional splurge when they hit the shelves sometime this September.
Monday I went for a Chateau Real Gran Templar in claro. Another cigar I really like and is consistently good. I decided on this particular cigar since I had just come off the excellent experience of the Dirty Rat, and wanted something quite different, but without any surprises. This cigar shared the excellent construction with its cousin the Rat, and had a clean and smooth flavor. The Connecticut shade wrapper was without flaw and quite pretty. Another cigar that’s more expensive than I generally prefer, but worth it. I really think Drew Estate is making good cigars, but I have to say that while their website is nice and flashy, it’s kind of a pain if one wants to link directly to a specific cigar and sometimes takes a little while to load up. It does have a lot of good information though, which is better than some sites.
On to the contest!
Since I smoked a couple Drew Estate cigars this week, let’s go ahead and give away a DE hat and a Liga Privada cutter. As a special bonus I will sweeten the deal with a brand new Liga Privada T52 in the Belicoso size. While I was visiting the IPCPR show and saying goodbye to Saka, he threw several of these at me, so I feel the need to pay it forward! I have yet to send out a cutter prize without including something to use the cutter on anyway, but this time it’s something that may not be in the stores yet. So there ya go, that’s the prize. Since I’ve been having trouble with my feline assistants lately, I’ll work on figuring out a clever selection process. So leave me a comment which will be your entry. I always enjoy comments anyway, but for some reason it seems that I get more when I give stuff away…not sure why that is…so bring on the comments and win some awesome stuff courtesy of Drew Estate!
That’s it for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
