Tag Archives: cohiba

by | October 8, 2014 · 9:00 pm

A Montecristo, a Gurkha and a Cohiba, and Some Cigar News

CasadeMontecristo_Exclusivo I’m sitting here watching the first Flyers game of the season, trying to write. Hockey is the only sport I have any interest in, so it’s nice that it’s back!  Anyway, I stuck with some classic brands this week, starting off with a Montecristo which was given to me by Tom, our local Altadis rep a few weeks back at The Smokin Goose Festival. Goose’s Tobacco is a Montecristo Lounge, so they have the exclusive (and aptly named) Casa de Montecristo Exclusivo. Obviously, this cigar is only available at Montecristo lounges.  This is a 6″ x 60 with an enormous band in addition to a black and silver Montecristo band. The wrapper is Ecuador Sumatra, with Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  The cigar burned very nicely, and it had a reasonably sweet tobacco flavor. I enjoyed this cigar, I suspect I would smoke this again if I found myself in a Montecristo lounge and had $12 burning a hole in my pocket.

 

EastIndia_The Classic Cigar - Havana BlendTuesday I heard the news that Carlos Llaca Toraño is now the Director of Operations at Gurkha Cigars.  He was previously the Operations Director at Toraño Family cigars until their recent acquisition by General Cigar Co.  This prompted me to select the newest offering from Gurkha’s East India Trading Co., The Classic Cigar – Havana Blend in the XO size. The square press on this 6″ x 60 makes it feel smaller than it is. This is another nice smoking cigar which I found to have a pleasing flavor on the light side.  Once I realized that this wasn’t a powerful cigar I really enjoyed the delicate flavor.  At right around $8 each, this is a nice smoke. I only had to touch it up once or twice, otherwise it burned quite well.  This would probably be a nice morning cigar with a cup of coffee.

 

Cohiba_Nicaragua_N50Tonight I went with the new Cohiba Nicaragua in the N50 robusto size.  The samples I received from General Cigar Co. are cellophaned 5″ x 50, which only appear to be available in glass tubes commercially.  This is the first Cohiba to be blended and handcrafted in Nicaragua. The fillers are from Esteli and Jalapa and the wrapper is listed as Colorado Oscuro, no mention of country of origin. Obviously the Cohiba name comes with some expectations, whether positive or not, so I was interested to see what this new Nicaraguan blend brought to the table.  It started out very sweet, and developed very nicely. It burned like a super premium cigar should, a nice flat and even burn with a perfect draw through a V-cut.  I suspect these will age nicely, but they are smoking well now.

 

As I was getting a lighter out the other day I realized that I have a few of them laying around.  One thing that stands out to me is that the lighters I have range from a couple dollars to around $60, and with the proper care, the cheaper ones generally work as well as the expensive ones. In this picture you’ll notice that none of the three Blazer torches I’ve had over the last 17 years or so have survived.  The Zippo with the z-Plus insert has been the most impressive, as well as the Ronson. The newest addition is the Jetline triple torch (at about 9 oclock) which came from the Rocky Mountain Festival goodie bag. This is a very nice lighter. The yellow one will be recognized by some of my blogger bretheren, it actually has what is basically a Cricket lighter inside of it and I have had good luck taking it apart and spreading it out through my luggage when I travel. Only the white La Gloria lighter is a soft flame, hence it gets very little use. I have some other ones here and there, I hate not having a lighter handy!

 

lighters

 

News

 

The first big news relates to my mention of Carlos Llaca Toraño joining Gurkha, his cousin Jack Toraño, who was also displaced in the acquisition, has joined Roberto P. Duran Premium Cigars. Look for a press release in the coming days announcing this. Anyone who knows Jack knows what a great guy he is, and I’m very glad to hear he’s re-joining the workforce after a reasonably short hiatus.

 

In other news, The Charlotte Observer reports that the JR Statesville store will be closing at the end of the year.  There are three stores in North Carolina, and they are all large outlet stores with all kinds of merchandise from Jeans and toys, to cigarettes and premium cigars. If you ever drove down I-95 through North Carolina you can’t miss the entertaining billboards. Apparently the owner of the property isn’t renewing their lease and has plans to re-develop the entire shopping center that is aging. Seventy-seven jobs will be lost, however JRs says they will open a cigar only store nearby in the future.  The full story is here. This is the only North Carolina location I haven’t visited, I’ve stopped at the Selma store on the few trips I’ve made down I-95, and I had a tour of the massive distribution center in Burlington many years ago.

 

That’s it for now, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | October 23, 2011 · 4:40 pm

General Cigar Domincana Trip Report: Introduction and Blending Exercise

Time for some details!  Last week, accompanied by 14 fellow bloggers and all around cigar fiends, I had the distinct pleasure of touring the General Cigar Company‘s Santiago, Dominican Republic facilities.  Most of us converged on Sunday at the Miami Airport, as well as Michael Giannini, Yuri Guillen and Rick Rodriguez. Those of us who had met previously greeted one another and those of us who had not met made introductions. Upon our arrival in Santiago, Victoria McKee Jaworski, Director of Public Relations for GC, met us at the gate and shepherded us to a private lounge while our checked bags were retrieved, then filed smoothly through immigration. We got a firsthand look at the mayhem of driving in the DR, as a couple of young men on what appeared to be Honda Cub mopeds, or knock offs, with no lights, helmets or anything were literally run over by an SUV trying to pass our bus. Welcome to Domincan Republic! Leave the driving to the professionals! Ironically, Micheal Giannini had just been telling us about how the local law enforcement handles such incidents, they just take everyone to jail. We arrived at the Hodelpa Gran Almirante Hotel and were already checked in and there was even a gift bag in the room waiting for us. We quickly met up at the pool bar for cigars, beverages and snacks, and got to meet Benji Menendez and hang out with the group for a while. Already this was a great day!

 

Monday started with a fine breakfast in the hotel, followed by a presentation at the factory where we met Jhonys Diaz, the VP of Operations and his staff. They presented us with a slide show while we had coffee and cigars. The presentation touched upon every aspect of the operation, from seed to box, as well as the social programs they provide for the people. One really gets the feeling of family there, it’s quite amazing.

 

After the presentation, we moved through the factory to our first exercise, blending. Arranged on tables were about 15 piles of leaves, with bags of “fumas” in front of each. The fumas were small cigars of each single leaf. The idea was to smoke each one to get the flavor, then try to determine which ones would taste good together. This activity will burn up your tongue! Whoever suggested starting with the Ligero is an evil bastard! Like most things we’d see over the course of the trip, this is not an easy thing. The next step was to choose a couple tobaccos and have them rolled into another fuma, which we smoked, when that was a big mistake and tasted terrible, you made another. Of course, Michael, Benji, Rick, Yuri etc, were on hand to guide us. I have yet to try mine, and I have rather low expectations, no fault of the materials or guidance.

 

After the blending session it was lunch time. We were served a lovely buffet of Dominican fare (loved the rice and bacon!) in the conference room, along with coffee and cigars. We all relaxed in the air conditioning and reflected upon the difficulty of the blending exercise. By the way, it sometimes takes a year of trial and error to come up with a blend for a new cigar, so we shouldn’t feel too bad. Still, when one has the opportunity to actually play with different leaves like that it is a special event.

 

After lunch we were handed over to Edmundo Garcia, the Tobacco Operations Manager. He took us to one of the warehouses where the bales of tobacco are stored. This is another area where it’s amazing how they track everything with precision. Every bale is marked with the variety, size, color, etc, and kept in the climate controlled warehouse. They actually have tobacco beetle traps all over the place so they can react quickly if beetles are detected. Skip Martin (@chiefhava) was trying to weasel bales the whole time we were there, but he did ask some very good questions along the way, ones I wouldn’t have thought to ask.

 

Next we moved to one of the areas where they condition the leaves and hang them to rehumidify them. Then we saw pilons, or huge stacks of the leaves where the leaves ferment.  There is a dizzying number of steps in the process, sorting, re-sorting, shaking, stacking, re-stacking.  Each step is vital to the proper processing of the leaves and is carefully documented along the way.  If you think the cigar your smoking is a simple pleasure, and that cigars are expensive, you have to see it first hand to know how many people and how much time is involved.  The tobacco they were sorting to go into the production area was from 2003, to give an example of the time the tobacco spends in aging for a premium cigar.

 

After a very long day at the factory, having worked on blending, having toured several aspects of the manufacturing process, a weary group returned to the hotel, then went to a very nice Italian restaurant for a sumptuous feast, and another chance to enjoy one another’s company.  Of course, we capped off the night with more cigars by the pool, and eventually retired to rest up for another action packed day.  Throughout the day we were fed a delicious diet of Macanudo, Partagas, La Gloria Cubana and Cohiba cigars.  Sometimes we dismiss these cigars as pedestrian, however I’ve mentioned before, and it came up among the group, that these are fine cigars, and when you’ve seen all that goes into making them, you change your thought process a bit.  Personally, I’ve never strayed too far from the “Classics”, but still returned to some old favorites.

 

Watch for Day Two, coming soon!  That’s it for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | December 6, 2010 · 7:12 pm

This Week’s Cigars: Acid, Padron, Cohiba, Fuente – Monday December 6, 2010

I’m a little conflicted about this weeks reviews.  A week or two ago I received an unsolicited e-mail from the folks at Thompson Cigars offering to send me some samples for review.  Thompson has been around for many years, and has a bit of a reputation as an aggressive marketer.   I’ve been unfortunate enough to have smoked some of their house brands in the past, but I have taken advantage of the occasional deal advertised in magazines.  I have to think that they have been in the business for so long because they do something right, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. They were kind enough to send me four cigars for review, none of which were house brands.

One of the cigars was an Acid Blondie Belicoso.  To their credit, they had this cigar bagged separately from the other three.  I’ve become a big fan of Drew Estate’s traditional blends, Liga Privadas are in my top 5, and I even enjoy the occasional coffee infused Tabak Especial, but I never envisioned myself smoking an Acid.  Many years ago my wife smoked a Kuba Kuba and I tasted it and cringed.  So it was with some hesitation that I lit up this odd smelling Blondie.  Now there can be no doubt that they use excellent tobacco in these cigars, and they are expertly crafted.  I must admit to rather enjoying this cigar.  The saccharin sweetness on the head was a little much, but the flavor wasn’t terrible, mild and nutty.  It burned perfectly, was reasonably mild and inoffensive.  The next morning my wife mentioned that my jacket smelled like perfumed kitty litter…which I though was pretty funny!

The next cigar I smoked was a Padron Londres.  It’s been ages since I smoked one of these, and it’s nice to know they haven’t change.  You can always count on the Padrons to make excellent cigars, and this one was no exception.  It was a rustic looking cigar, the natural wrapper had seems that were lifted and veins galore.  As ugly as it was, it burned and drew right up there with the best of them.  It had bold flavors of Nicaraguan tobacco which was neither too strong, or too mild.  It was just right.  The 5½ x 42 size is among my favorites as well, which was a large part of my decision to grab this one next.

Following the Padron I smoked a Cohiba Lonsdale Grande which measures in at 6¼” x 47, which is a nice size for a cigar.  The Cohiba brand as a whole is not one I normally purchase, not sure if it’s due to the perception that I’m not getting the bang for the buck that I’d like, but I generally enjoy them when I’ve smoked them.  The Cohiba sports a nice looking and toothy Cameroon wrapper, which is the main flavor I get, which is good since I love a nice Cameroon wrapper.  The construction is excellent, as one would expect.  Overall I enjoyed this cigar, but, as I said, not one I would generally pick up.

The last cigar in the bunch was an Arturo Fuente Chateau Series King B, saved until last because this was the one I looked forward to the most.  This was a beautiful belicoso, measuring 6″ x 55.  It has a sun-grown wrapper with a reddish hue.  The flavor was fairly delicate and subtle, with some sweetness and cedar.  This is one cigar that I will look for in the future as it is definitely a cigar I’d like to smoke again.

All in all, this was a terrific bunch of cigars.  I am rethinking my opinion of Thompson Cigar Co.  As I said, they have been around a long time and are obviously doing something right.  I have purchased cigars from many of the major outlets, and they all write the same silly things in their catalogs, this cigar is better than Cubans, and other embellishments. It’s unfair of me to single one out, especially one that, as far as I can tell, is privately held and not owned by one of the big cigar companies, and has been in business for 85 years.   I appreciate them giving me the opportunity to sample these cigars. Please give them the benefit of the doubt as I have.

Don’t forget to enter to win some cool Joya de Nicaragua stuff by leaving a comment on my last post.  Contest ends December 19, 2010.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | July 29, 2010 · 10:17 am

CigarCraig’s Celebrity Cigar Chat with Jim Babjak of The Smithereens

This is the first in what I hope to be a series of short interviews with famous cigar smokers, CigarCraig’s Celebrity Cigar Chat.   Jim Babjak is the lead guitarist and founding member of The Smithereens, a band from New Jersey who enjoyed success in the  80’s and 90’s and continues to wow audiences to this day.  From classics like “A Girl Like You”, “Blood and Roses” and “Behind the Wall of Sleep”, to full album covers of the Beatles “Meet the Beatles” (Meet the Smithereens) and their latest, and one of my favorites of late, their treatment of “Tommy”, these guys rock with the best of them.  I had the pleasure of seeing them at the iconic “Stone Pony” in Asbury Park, NJ last summer and I think it’s the first time I can remember not standing still for an entire show and singing along with just about every song. Jim and the band still tour as well as enjoy many side projects including Jim’s album “The Music From Jim Babjak’s Buzzed Meg • Part 1”.  Jim is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, as well as a fellow cigar smoker.  I asked him these questions:

1. How and when did you come to be a cigar smoker?

“In the late 1970′s I belonged to the NY Rangers Hockey fan club. There was a weekend trip I took with a bunch of friends to a game in Montreal against the Rangers in 1977. It cost $50. It included the bus ride, hotel and ticket to the game. I went 3 years in a row. It was a trip sponsored by the fan club and it was a lot of fun. I would bring my guitar and have people on the bus singing songs by the Rolling Stones, Kinks, Beatles, Who, etc.

Someone on the trip said that you can get Cuban cigars in Canada, so I was intrigued by that and picked up a Romeo Y Julieta. I would rarely smoke a cigar back then. It was odd for a 19 year old. I guess I felt like I was more mature than I really was. My wife, who I was dating at the time, bought me my first humidor in 1979 as a Christmas gift. I still use it to this day.

I used to smoke cigarettes and the occasional cigar. I quit the cigarettes over 10 years ago and haven’t had one since. I do not inhale cigars like some ex cigarette smokers do.

When our band would tour Europe in the 80′s I would always pick up some Montecristo # 2′s. They were my favorite at the time.”

2. What is your “goto” (everyday) cigar? What is it you like most about that cigar and how long has it been your favorite?

“My younger brother Bill is also a cigar smoker and he turned me on to the Padron 1964 series years ago.

Pretty much, all I really smoke anymore is the Padron 1964 and 1926 series unless someone gives me a good cigar as a gift. They are expensive, but I would rather smoke less when I can afford it than to smoke more of a lessor quality cigar. It makes me enjoy it and appreciate it more.

My everyday cigar( I don’t smoke everyday, and I generally take a break between November and March, unless I travel to a warmer climate) is the Padron 1926 Principe for about 5 years now. It has a full flavor for a small cigar. It takes about 45 minutes to smoke. It just tastes good to me. I can’t describe it like experts would by saying it has a hint of chocolate, coffee, or whatever. I don’t analyze these things. I just know what I like and what makes me feel good.

Some cigars taste like crap to me and have a foul smell and taste. I will never bother to smoke them.

All the Padrons have a different flavor going on. The draw and pleasure I get from these cigars is very consistent.

When I have the time, it is the 45 Anniversary 1926 Padron. It is my favorite leisure cigar. I like it better than the 40 and 80 Anniversary ones.

I love a full bodied cigar.

I went to the Caribbean recently and I took my travel humidor filled with Padrons. I brought it with me as a backup. I tried the Montecristo # 2 and the Cohibas while I was there, but I prefer my Padrons to the Cubans.

I did have the Cohiba maduro in Spain last year and that was pretty good, but since it’s illegal to bring back I only had one there every day at sound check.”

3. What is your ideal situation for enjoying a cigar?

“Definitely by my pool on weekends in the summer, or at night on my deck.

I’ll usually pour myself a glass of Zaya 12 year old Rum from Trinidad, or 23 year old Ron Zacapa neat with a bottle of Mexican Coca Cola on the side.

I buy the Mexican Coke in bottles from my Sam’s club by the case. It is made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, so it tastes more like the Coke I enjoyed as a kid. I’ll never have soda from a 2 liter plastic bottle or from a can.”

4. Do you have the opportunity to enjoy cigars while touring?

“Absolutely, sometimes before a concert or afterward if the show is outside.”

5. If you could hang out and smoke a cigar with anyone, living or dead, who would that be, why, and what cigar would you smoke?

“Probably JFK smoking pre-Castro Cubans.

Seriously, I meet the most interesting people in my local cigar shop in Jersey City. Great stories and fun conversations are the norm. There are people from all walks of life, profession, age, income level, that have many interesting stories to tell and it’s the cigar that brings us together. It’s an eclectic bunch that under normal circumstances would never be in the same room otherwise. One minute you’ll be talking about Health care and the next minute you’ll be talking about a 3 Stooges episode.”

Many thanks to Jim for taking the time to answer my questions.  I really enjoyed reading Jim’s responses.  If you happen to be at Rock Con in east Rutherford, NJ this weekend (July 29, 30 and August 1, 2010) stop by and say hello.   Give Jim’s “The Music From Jim Babjak’s Buzzed Meg • Part 1” a listen at Amazon.com as well as the a lot of the Smithereen’s music at The Smithereens’ Amazon.com store.

That’s it for now,

CigarCraig

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by | July 21, 2010 · 5:12 pm

Mid-week Cigar Post: Cohiba, Punch, Maria Mancini – Wednesday July 21, 2010

Saturday, after posting about the recent Cohiba judgment in favor of General Cigar, I pulled a Cohiba Puro Dominicana out of the box of goodies my friend Jason sent me some time ago. Cohibas, Dominican or Cuban, have never been in my regular rotation. I’ve always enjoyed them, but they just don’t really have the “bang for the buck” that falls into my comfort zone. I smoked this particular cigar, which measured about 5½ x 50 and it was OK…good cigar, but not mind-blowing. With about 2 inches or so left it didn’t want to stay lit. I was a little bored with it anyway so I let it go out. Since I couldn’t find this listed in my 2008 Perelman’s Guide, I assumed that it was a sample from last years IPCPR show. I looked on line and was stunned to find that these retail for between $13 and $16 each! Well, there are a lot of cigars that cost a lot less that I enjoy a lot more, heck, one can get very nice Cuban cigars for half that or better (not that I advocate any illegal activities such as purchasing contraband cigars). I would almost be more inclined to pay that much for a Havana Cohiba…almost. I would like to try the Lancero one of these days, but I’m not going to go out of my way to get one.

Sunday after grilling some very interesting seafood sausages we found at Trader Joes, I lit up a Punch Gran Puro Rancho. The sausages were interesting, a casing stuffed with shrimp, scallops and white fish which I grilled until they were nice and hot with grill marks. We ate them on some Amorosos rolls, but we just weren’t sure how to condimentize them. I suppose tartar sauce would have worked. Anyway, this isn’t a grilling blog, it’s about cigars. The Gran Puro was a nice cigar, not overpowering and it worked well after the seafood sausage. It had the consistency I expect from a Punch. Burned and drew nicely. A very pleasant hour or so spent smoking while I walked to the convenience store to collect my lottery winnings ($7 in the Powerball! Woohoo!).

Tuesday brought the first really disappointing cigar I’ve had in a while. I was in the mood for a Maria Mancini, and grabbed a Robusto Larga. These are stored in the same humidor as the rest of the cigars I have been smoking, but this cigar seemed like it was over-humidified. It tasted fine, but the smoke took some effort to get to and just felt damp. It wasn’t plugged, nor did it have any wrapper flaws, it just seemed too wet. I stuck with it for a while, but did put it down sooner than I would normally. I shouldn’t be to upset that a $2 cigar wasn’t great, but I’ve had a lot of luck with this line. I have so little time in my day to enjoy a cigar that when I get a dud it hurts a little.

Blowing Off Steam

It seems that rants have become fashionable in the cigar blogosphere, so here’s mine:   Foot bands.  I don’t like ’em.  They make the first part of the cigar taste funny….ok, kidding here, I do take them off before I light ’em, but that’s a pain as far as I’m concerned.  If I have a cigar with a normal band I leave it on until I get to the point where it’s going to be in the way, unless it’s coming off by itself. Foot bands have to be removed, no ifs, ands or buts.  Sorry Rocky, Sam, whoever else uses foot bands, if I’m cigar shopping I’ll probably pass unless it’s a single I really want to try.  I wouldn’t buy a box of foot banded cigars as that would just drive me insane.  Since I have to take the band off to light it, besides possibly damaging the foot of the cigar, I sometimes forget what it is I’m smoking!   And how are my pretentious friends supposed to know that I’m smoking?  Where’s the fun in that? So if you are coming out with a new cigar, skip the foot band, stick with the traditional placement. While your at it, don’t pattern the band after the Cuban Cohiba either, that’s just cliche and hokey.

That’s all I got for now,Time to go smoke a cigar.

CigarCraig

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