Tag Archives: cigars

by Craig Vanderslice | October 6, 2024 · 9:29 am

Jaime Garcia, Kristoff and Stolen Throne Cigars

Once again I picked up some new-to-me cigars at various shops. I can’t quite remember why, but I stopped in to the Cigar Mojo shop nearest to me and came across the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Suceser, which I initially misspelled, my mind saw the english version, which is “successor”. From what I can devine, this comes in two sizes with two different wrapper, which is interesting. I got the 6″ x 56 Toro with a Sumatra seed wrapper and there’s also a 6 1/8″ x 52 Torpedo which has a Habano seed wrapper. I have to hunt down a torpedo, I guess. I was unable to find any more information about the blend than that! I recently smoked the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial and was really into it, this was a very different cigar. I found it to be very spicy, much more so than the Broadleaf counterpart. The spice held on throughout the cigar. I liked it well enough, but I think I’ll stick with the Broadleaf, but I still want to try the Suceser Torpedo.

I’ve been hearing about the Kristoff Guardrail for quite a while and finally picked one up at a Cigar Cigars shop a couple towns over. I went there to meet a guy who wanted me to try out some Dominican cigars that he has an idea that he wants to import and give a go at selling. Young guy, filled with optimism…I’ve got my thoughts on the cigars which I’m going to share with him, but I’m not sure how to tell him it’s probably nore a great idea. Anyone in the industry want to offer this guy some advice? Anyway, the Guardrail is an homage to Kristoff’s owner, Glen Case, having a horrific motorcycle accident returning from a charity ride on a rented Harley. He was banged up pretty good, and we’re lucky he’s still with us (he’s genuinely a very nice man). This was the 6 ½” x 56 Matador size, has a Brazilian Maduro wrapper, bindier from the Dominican Republic and fillers from the Dominican Republic & Zimbabwe. I’ve honestly smoked more Zimbabwe tobacco in the last few weeks than I have in my life (and that could be said if I had only smoked one cigar with that tobacco, and I’ve smoked this and the CAO Thunder Smoke). This has a hint of the mesquite flavor that the CAO had, not as prominent bu there, along with some sweetness from the Brazilian wrapper. This was very nice, I’d smoke it again.

In another recent shop visit, this time the Wooden Indian, I got a couple of the new Stolen Throne Argos, this one is 6″ x 52 with a pigtail cap and a semi-closed foot. This is an interesting project with started as an exclusive to Winston’s Humidor in Midlothian, VA, with proceeds going toward animal rescue organizations. I don’t know if this is still the case, but knowing Lee Marsh as I do, I wouldn’t doubt that it is. Lee hates that I love the Three Kingdoms and Crook of the Crown, but am not a fan of the Call to Arms and Yorktown Fleet, the latter of which is growing on me. I think this Argos falls somewhere in between. It has a sour note that I find in the Yorktown, perhaps that’s the “roasted oranges” that is mentioned on the website (one roasts oranges?). I also got some leather and some dry baking cocoa sort of flavor. I found it enjoyable, and very much appreciate Dave at the Wooden Indian for hooking me up with these. I just wish these had bands, maybe whip something up on a laser printer or something? 🙂

That’s about all I have for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Argos, cigar, CIgar Cigars, Cigar Mojo, cigars, Guardrail, Jaime Garcia, Kristoff, Reserva Especial Suceser, Stolen Throne, wooden indian

by Craig Vanderslice | September 22, 2024 · 9:28 am

New Big Payback and CAO Cigars, a Jaime Garcia and a Vegas Cubanas

This week I smoked some cigars I received from General Cigars and Forged, along with a couple cigars I picked up locally that I hadn’t smoked before. I couple of them were obnoxiously large! First off was the Room 101 Big Payback 70s Maduro. I rather enjoyed the Olancho San Augustin (which they are now referring to as Sumatra, I never made that connection!) wrapped version that came out last year, despite its size. This one has a US Broadleaf wrapper (Connecticut? Massachusetts? Pennsylvania? My guess is the PA) over a Nicaraguan binder with fillers from the DR and Honduras, and it’s made at their factory in Honduras. I smoked this cigar for about two and a half hours and it burned well and had a pleasing flavor. It’s pretty much what one would expect, although the excessive ring gauge makes it fairly mild. It has earthy cocoa and some sweetness. Very nice cigar if you have a long time to do something like chat with friends or watch a game or a movie, as it doesn’t necessarily demand your attention. It has a $9 MSRP so it’s a good value.

I smoked a couple of the new CAO Arcana Thunder Smoke this week. After the Arcana Firewalker debacle, I was a tad concerned. This is an interesting blend, it has the Olancho San Augustin wrapper, a San Andrés binder and fillers from Africa: Zimbabwe, South Africa and Cameroon. I watched the final episode of The Grand Tour on Prime yesterday, and it just made sense to smoke a cigar with tobacco from Zimbabwe. I watched this on the recommendation of Nick from The Cigar Pulpit podcast, and a great recommendation it was. I’ve been a big fan of Top Gear, The Grand Tour, and many of the presenters offshoot shows for many years. This cigar, third in the Arcana series, the first was the Mortal Coil, followed by the abysmal Firewalker, then this one. This was a really enjoyable cigar for me. It’s got a unique Mesquite flavor going on, something rather different and pleasing. The band is oversized, but that’s about the only bad thing I can say about it! I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the Mortal Coil, which I liked a great deal.

I realized that My Father cigars were severely underrepresented on my site, and in my rotation, so I decided to branch out and pick something I haven’t tried before up every now and then. I grabbed a Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Super Gordo a week or so ago at a local shop. The Super Gordo is 5¾” x 66, in a torpedo format so the excessive girth isn’t quite so unwieldy. This does come in a 7″ x 70, which they didn’t have, nor would I have bought. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, an Ecuador binder and fillers from the Garcia farms in Nicaragua. Now that I remember, I smoked one of these last May in the Toro size and, although I had a cold, recall enjoying it. These are reasonably priced, hovering around $10 depending on the size. This Super Gordo might have been around $11. This was an exceptional cigar, I really liked it. It started out spicy, and the strength built up as it smoked, to a pretty full bodied cigar near the end. It had the sweet coffee/cocoa that I like in a Broadleaf wrapper. This was excellent. I want more.

Finally, I spied the Don Pepin Garcia Vegas Cubanas on the shelf, the green band is ey-catching. This is another line that has been around a while, but has eluded my attention. This is another reasonably priced cigar, I think the Generosos (6″ x 50) was under $9. Funny, ten years ago buying an $9 cigar to me was like buying a +$15 cigar today, it was very hard for me to justify! This cigar has a nice looking Habano Rosado wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. This is one I’ll pass on revisiting, I’m afraid. It was nice enough, although it had a floral component that didn’t really do it for me. Maybe it would be better in the morning, although floral isn’t ever really in my wheelhouse. I tolerate it, but it’s not a preference. If you enjoy floral cigar, this is for you! Next time I’ll pick up some other cigars in the Don Pepin line, I haven’t had any of them in a while.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Arcana, Big Payback, CAO, cigar, cigars, Don Pepin Garcia, Jaime Garcia, Reserva Especial, Room 101, Super Gordo, Thunder Smoke, Vegas Cubanas

by Craig Vanderslice | September 15, 2024 · 9:44 am

Brick House TAA, Tatuaje PCA and Villiger TAA Cigars

I stopped by my local Tobacconist Association of America retailer recent;y and picked up a few cigars I hadn’t tried yet. I got a couple TAA Exclusives and a PCA (Premium Cigar Association) exclusive. These are cigars that are only available to members of the respective associations, in the case of the TAA, the members have an annual meeting (usually at a tropical resort ironically outside of the US (technically they are still in “the Americas”). Selected manufacturers make exclusive cigars, some good, some not so much. I think I selected a couple of the better ones. I started with the Brick House Ciento por Ciento, which translates to 100 percent, and I’m not sure what the significance of this name is without doing more research than I feel like doing. I grabbed this one for three reasons: I typically like Brick House cigars, I hadn’t smoked this one, and it’s almost Bricktoberfest (starts tomorrow, my daughter’s birthday!). I don’t know how long these had been on the retailers shelf, but when I removed the band it had tan lines! The front face of the cigar wrapper leaf was faded, which is odd because the humidor at this shop has no sun exposure. Perhaps they moved them from another store, I don’ t know. It was only one side, kinda like my tan. Anyway, this didn’t seem to have any effect. This is a 6¼” x 54 Toro made in J.C. Newman’s PENSA factory in Esteli, and is a Nicaraguan Puro. The wrapper is from Jalapa and seems a bit lighter than the standard Brickhouse. It has a overall woody profile with a hint of citrus here and there. Good cigar and well priced, as a Brick House should be.

Next up was the Tatuaje PCA 2023, which came out in early 2024, of course. Tatuaje has probably been the best at making TAA Exclusives, and is a very big supporter of the PCA, which is a much larger organization. The point of offering this Exclusive is to get member retailers, and any retailer who isn’t a member is a fool, in my opinion, to physically come to the annual trade show to buy. This PCA exclusive is a 6 3/8″ x 54 Toro, made at the My Father factory in Esteli, and has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. This was a delicious cigar with. sweet exotic spices throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed smoking this, which isn’t unusual considering I enjoy most Tatuaje cigars I smoke. I may swing back and grab a couple more, although they are on the top end of what I consider well priced, around $15 I think. Great tasting cigar!

I’ve smoked a couple of the Villiger TAA Exclusives, however this one has eluded my notice. Villiger, like they do with a lot of their brands, uses a variety of factories. This was their second year making a TAA Exclusive, and they used the Tabacalera Palma factory in the DR. Their Trill brand was made there, which I don’t think is in their portfolio any longer. Like the Brick House, this cigar also had tan lines. I guess they are the opposite of tan lines really, there was some fading on the top face of the wrapper. This was a 6″ x 54 toro with an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Dominican binder and fillers. I’m generally a fan of Villiger cigars, there’s some I like better than others, but they make good cigars. This had a sweet wood profile, not my favorite, but pleasant enough. The cigar burned well and I think it was unter $10, not too bad. As I think about it (read: looked back on my own site), I have smoked the 2020 (E.P. Carrillo) and the 2022 (Espinosa), and I think the 2022 was my favorite. I guess I need to see if I can find the ’23 and ’24 versions if they exist!.

As I write this, I’m enjoying a cigar on my porch. I hate that it will be too chilly soon to do this. I found a Leccia Desnudo in the humidor and, while it isn’t my usual choice for a morning cigar, it’s got a few year age and is a nice, mellow maduro cigar, great with coffee. When these came out back in 2016 we hosted a Desnudo Sunday and did a video, which is here. Everyone remained clothed. That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 2021, Brick House, Ciento por Ciento, cigar, cigars, J.C.Newman, PCA, TAA, tatuaje, Villiger

by Craig Vanderslice | September 8, 2024 · 9:56 am

Don Doroteo and Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Cigars

I planned poorly this week. I put a cigar into the rotation that I thought was new to me, until I smoked it and double checked and I had smoked it back in 2022. I really like the H.Upmann by A.J. Fernandez line, and the Heritage is on the strong side, but very good. I would say more, but I already wrote about it in an April, 2022 post (here). So that left me short for today’s post. I need to go shop for some new to me cigars (not a mooch)! Anyway, I was pleased to receive some cigars from the folks at Don Doroteo Cigars to try, the Don Doroteo El Alcalde torpedo, with an Ecuador Sumatra binder and wrapper, and fillers from Brazil and Dominican Republic, where the cigar was made. These boast 15 year aged tobaccos, hard to believe from a fairly new company, you say? Considering they work with La Aurora, one of the oldest cigar factories, this becomes more plausible. If I remember correctly, the namesake of this cigar, Doroteo Delgado grew tobacco for the La Aurora company for many years, so there’s a connection. I think you have to like Sumatra tobacco to like this cigar. It starts out with a sour citrus flavor to my palate, with some cinnamon notes in the second half. This is a very entertaining cigar, flavorwise, and the burn and draw were outstanding, as they should be in a $30 cigar. I’m hit or miss with cigars from this factory, but this one kept my interest. Thank you to Gabriel Piñeres for sending these along!

There’s an animated series called ” “Sammy’s Smokes” in production which is looking for voice actors. Applications can be submitted here. Here’s the description from the site: “Seeking talented voice-over actors for an upcoming animated series, “Sammy’s Smokes,” which brings to life the quirky world of a smoke shop and its colorful employees and patrons. Set in the bustling city, this series combines humor, heart, and a slice of life, with each episode exploring the dynamics between the characters and their adventures within the community. We aim to capture a wide audience with our unique, engaging stories and vivid, dynamic animation style.” I wish I had the credentials to apply, I don’t think I fit any of the profiles they are looking for. I’m looking forward to seeing this.

It’s been a while since I’ve featured a Casa de Montecristo exclusive, probably before it was a national chain. I received a surprise package from Casa de Montecristo with a Southern Draw Rose of Sharon Dozen Roses. This is a CdM exclusive, and is a Salomon measuring 7 1/8″ x 58, a formidable size cigar. This has an Ecuador Connecticut shade wrapper over Nicaraguan fillers and binder, with some Dominican in the blend as well. It’s made at the A.J.Fernandez factory, like all of the Southern Draw line. I’ve smoked a bunch of this size cigars from this factory, and they really know what they’re doing, I touched the nipple foot of the cigar with a torch and it burned and drew perfectly, and ended up with an even burn once it got going. This isn’t a mild Connecticut, like most of the Rose of Sharon line, it’s got some body and loads of flavor. It has some baking spices and creaminess, with some leather. It was really quite good, and I enjoyed it for nearly two hours. Thank you Joe Gro for sending them! These are available at Casa de Montecristo locations as well as on their website (link is an affiliate link).

That’s all I have for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Don Doroteo, Dozen Roses, El Alcalde, Rose of Sharon, Sammy's Smokes, Southern Draw

by Craig Vanderslice | September 1, 2024 · 9:25 am

A Djeep Lighter, New La Gloria Cubana, Punch and Los Statos Deluxe Cigars

Welcome to the “last weekend of summer”. My birthday and Labor Day always get me down as they indicate the coming of cooler, and eventually cold, weather, which I dislike. I like summer. I like stepping outside in the morning and feeling warm. I like not having to bundle up. I know some people like autumn, but it just depresses me. I’m already looking forward to spring! Anyway, I was going through the checkout line at Walmart this week and my eye usually looks at the selection of lighters, and I saw something I hadn’t seen before, a Djeep Turbo Lighter. I figured for $5 it was worth a try. I broke a couple torches lately, although I still have plenty, but one more won’t hurt. It comes full of butane, ready to go, and really works well. It brings to mind the classic Blazer PB207, as it has a cap secured with a chain. It, thankfully, doesn’t have a switch to lock the flame on, which I always thought was a liability. The flame is adjustable and it’s refillable. I’ll use the heck out of it and see how it holds up, but initially I’m impressed. Djeep is a good name in lighters, the soft flame disposable has always done well, I think I had one Macanudo branded many years ago. There are probably cheaper torches that work just fine, but this is a brand name and is easily accessible. The link is to Amazon where they sell a six pack and is an affiliate link. If twenty of you buy these it might pay for the one I bought!

I received some new releases from Forged Cigars and General cigars a couple weeks back, and was disappointed to receive the press release, but not the cigars, for a new La Gloria Cubana, a long time favorite brand. Fortunately, my friend Phil of Comedy-Cigars-Music shared a couple of his with me. The La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado is a large figurado, 7¾” x 62, with a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. Each cigar has a secondary band with a signature of one of the team who created it, and they only use rollers with 15 or more years of experience. I had a busy week at the day job, and was ready to sit down and relax with a cigar Friday, and I chose this large cigar to do it with. This was a really good smoke. I’ve had some issues with some of the La Gloria releases lately, but this ain’t one of them. It’s huge, so it smoked for about two and a half hours, and had some nice cocoa flavors with some spice through the nose. Mid way through there was some interesting savory flavors, a cigar this large needs some transitions to keep it interesting. I really enjoyed this cigar, I think it’s very fairly priced at $15, and I really appreciate Phil sharing his with me.

Next up from Forged was the latest Matt Booth/Justin Andrews colab in the Los Statos Deluxe line, the Connecticut. I’ll be honest, I thought the other “LSD” offerings were OK, but I really like this one, and it’s really hard to get me excited about shade wrapped cigars. This one has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Esteli, Jalapa, Nicaraguan Habano, and PA Broadleaf fillers, and, get this, it’s made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory! No wonder I liked it. Before I read where it was made, I was thinking that this was a really good budget alternative to a Sobremesa Brulee, and now I know why! This is on a par with the Antaño CT and the Brulee as far as I’m concerned. I’ve smoked a couple of these and really enjoyed them, it’s a smooth, creamy cigar, with some cane sugar sweetness and an appropriate amount of spice. I need to find some of the other sizes, the Churchill especially. Look for the purple packaging, because you can’t see the wrapper to know what you’re getting!

Moving from the Forged division of STG to the General Cigar Co. side, I smoked the new Punch Golden Era in Lancero. Nearly a year ago I wrote about the robusto in this collaboration with Julio and Justo Eiroa of JRE Cigars. I remember getting the Golden Era along with the Macanudo Vintage Maduro 2013 and being confused by the fact that the Macanudo was the stronger cigar. Like I mentioned last year, unlike the Punch Rare Corojo, this Golden Era actually has Corojo in the blend, Honduran Corojo wrapper with Honduran Corojo and Habano fillers. This is a nice cigar with some bread and caramel notes. The press release incorrectly states that this is the only Punch lancero, unless the 7″ x 37 Chop Suey doesn’t count because it was limited. I think the lancero was better than the robusto, I planned to smoke one while writing this, but a persisting migraine made me scrap that idea. I’ll have one later.