Tag Archives: connecticut

by | April 15, 2021 · 6:02 pm

News: Drew Estate Barn Smokers Return Beginning in August 2021

Well, it looks like the Barn Smokers are back! I’ve been to the Pennsylvania Barn Smoker twice, and the Connecticut Barn Smoker once and they were great, but there were a lot of people there! I can see where smaller crowds in a more controlled environment would be more enjoyable. I’m just a little sad that there won’t be one in PA. Read on, while I go find a Liga Privada of some sort to smoke tonight, and watch for a cool contest in the near future. 

Drew Estate Barn Smokers Return Beginning in August 2021

Drew Estate will resume its Barn Smoker program in 2021 after a year’s hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The company will host three Barn Smokers beginning with the Connecticut Barn Smoker on Aug. 14-15 in the beautiful Connecticut River Valley. The Kentucky Barn Smoker will follow in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on Oct. 9. Finally, the Florida Barn Smoker will take place on Nov. 13-14 in Clermont, Florida.

 

Drew Estate hosted its first Barn Smoker in 2014 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, bringing cigar consumers to the farms where Drew Estate sources some of its specialty, often rare tobaccos. Attendees are immersed into the real American tobacco experience by learning about tobacco growing, leaf processing and finishing and cigar making techniques. Each guest will receive special Drew Estate cigars and exclusive Barn Smoker swag, while tasting local cuisine and sampling premium spirits in a festival atmosphere.

 

Drew Estate’s 2021 Barn Smoker program will include a few small changes to protect attendees and Drew Estate personnel and event vendors from Covid-19. The Connecticut and Florida Barn Smokers, typically the two largest events in the Barn Smoker calendar, will each be spread over two separate event days, which will accommodate smaller crowds for each event session and each event session will require a separate ticket Additionally, Drew Estate will follow any local protocols required to ensure safety at the events.

 

As always, Barn Smoker attendees will enjoy an immersive deep dive into a variety of unique sensory activations that will focus on Drew Estate brands, including: Undercrown, Herrera Estelí, Pappy Van Winkle, Joya de Nicaragua, FSG, Tabak Especial and ACID, while chillin’ with Drew Estate ambassadors, including company founder and president, Jonathan Drew; master blender, Willy Herrera; and La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate factory spokesman, Pedro Gomez. Of course, your favorite Drew Estate sales force members will be at the Barn Smokers as well.

 

 

From the Wynwood Safehouse, Drew Estate’s founder and president, Jonathan Drew says, “Last year was tough for everybody and we all missed celebrating American tobacco, smoking and having a drink together … but 2021 is going to prove that we are all unbeaten and unbowed. This year’s Barn Smokers will have a bit more special meaning than before because we’re finally going be together again in #fellowship after a long period of isolation. I’m excited to bond with everyone and raise money for our Cigars For Warriors peeps.”

 

There are three ticket tiers available for each 2021 Barn Smoker—General Admission, VIP and VIP Plus Dinner. General Admission tickets enable consumers to attend one day of the Barn Smoker event and includes a packet of swag and 10 Drew Estate cigars. Consumers who purchase a VIP ticket will have early access to the farm to join us for a Tabak Especial breakfast experience and receive exclusive VIP Barn Smoker swag. The VIP Plus Dinner ticket will include an invitation to dinner with Drew Estate Ambassadors on the Friday night before each Barn Smoker, early access for a Tabak breakfast experience and admission for both days of the 2-day farm events.

 

Tickets and more information about the 2021 Barn Smokers are available at www.barnsmoker.com.

 

ABOUT DREW ESTATE

Founded in New York City in 1996, Drew Estate has become one of the fastest growing tobacco companies in the world. Under their mantra “The Rebirth of Cigars”, Drew Estate has led the “Boutique Cigar” movement by innovating new elements to the tobacco industry with their unique tobaccos and blending styles that attract new and traditional cigar enthusiasts. In their Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, the Nicaraguan headquarters, Drew Estate produces a variety of brands such as ACID, Herrera Estelí, Herrera Estelí Norteño, Isla del Sol, Kentucky Fired Cured, Liga Privada, MUWAT, Larutan by Drew Estate, Nica Rustica, Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Cigars, Tabak Especial, Undercrown, Florida Sun Grown, and Java by Drew Estate.

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by | August 23, 2020 · 10:46 am

A Liga Privada Serie Unico “A” and Some JRE Aladino Cigars

Friday wrapped up my first week at the new job, and I felt like it was a success, and my boss expressed his satisfaction, so it seems like it’s going to be a good gig. As I often do, I rummaged through the humidors looking for a cigar, and I wanted something befitting the occasion, but not only did I want something to celebrate the end of the work week (by the way, this is the first time since April of 2018 that I’ve worked Monday to Friday, 8-4:30, like a regular person!), but I also wanted something that would get me fairly deep into game 6 of the Flyers, possibly clinching, playoff game. I was in the NewAir CC-300H and spied a pair of Drew Estate Liga Privada Serie Unico “A”s, one each from two of the Barnsmokers I’ve been to on the top shelf. I also have a coffin with two that’s probably 6 years old in there, but these two were just sitting there on the shelf, vulnerable, so I took one to smoke. I figured this was a great occasion for a 9¼” x 48 cigar. I must have smoked one of these sometime over the past few years, because I should have had one more I think, but I can’t really remember. I took a walk, my usual one mile loop, and got back and had a double corona. By the time the Hockey game started I had a Churchill. The cigar got me through the first two periods. The timing was excellent. Flavorwise it was a nice cigar, T-52ish on the Liga scale. It has the Stalk Cut Connecticut Habano wrapper, which is amazing that the grow the leaves that large.  It starts a little milder than a normal Liga, but the smoke has a mile of tobacco to filter it. It was a great tasting cigar, not overly unique or exciting, but interesting enough to not get bored with it over the two and a half hours I spent smoking it. Would I smoke another one? You bet! 

 

I’m smoking an JRE Aladino Connecticut Robusto as I type this, more as we go along. CigarProp Kevin sent me an Aladino sampler and apart from the Maduro, Toro and Lancero I really haven’t smoked any JRE cigars. I’ve been working my way through the sampler this weekend. I started with the Aladino Corojo Reserva. One can’t help but notice the similarity between the Aladino band and the old Camacho bands, and the similarity extends to the authentic corojo in blend and the fact that the flavor of the cigar harkens back to the many Camacho Corojos I smoked in the 90s and early 2000s, when Julio Eiroa and his son Christian owned Camacho. I actually smoked my first Camacho in 1996, but it was pre-Christian’s involvement I think. This is a bold smoke with rich leather and spice and I liked it a lot, as much for the sentimentality as the flavor. It was perfectly constructed, and a pleasure to smoke.

 

The Connecticut is very flavorful, not at all mild, and quite tasty! Perfect with coffee and staying lit while I’m ignoring it for long stretches while I type my nonsense. I was quite intrigued by the JRE Aladino Cameroon. Any time I see a Cameroon made by someone that’s not Fuente, La Aurora, Partagas, or someone who’s been making Cameroon cigars for decades, I look forward to seeing the interpretation. I love Cameroon, it’s a great tasting wrapper, and even when used as a binder it adds a little something extra (look at the CroMagnon, it has a Cameroon binder and I think that is part of what makes it unique). This is another Aladino that burned perfectly. They really know how to make cigars right in this factory. I’m guessing the whole Bayer Crop Science processes they use on the farms extends to the factory as well, with regards to the quality control processes. The Cameroon had the nutty flavor on top of a fairly full bodied core which is a little different. Cameroon was almost a background flavor and not dominant, as it is in many cigars with that wrapper. That was my take on it anyway. The same can be said for this Connecticut I’m smoking now, although the shade wrapper flavor is a bit more dominant, but the slight sweet grassiness is there, but it’s got a bit off ass to it! It’s no wimpy smoke. I have to say, my favorite Connecticut wrapped cigars hail from Honduras, and this ranks right up there. Very nice. 

 

So far, I have to say that to my palate, the JRE line suits me more than the CLE line. I’ve known Christian personally for many years (and he’s never once given me a cigar, btw 😁, no that it factors in to this), but I haven’t yet found a CLE cigar that trips my trigger. The Asylums I like. JRE, in my limited sampling, are outstanding, remind me of the tons of Camachos I smoked years ago, and get my attention. Thanks again to Kevin for sharing. Speaking of Kevin, and there will be more on this later, but head over to Smoke Inn and buy one of his samplers in their Battle of the Bands! All of the contestants are great, all of them are friends of mine, but I think Kevin is the new guy on the block and the underdog, and has a great sampler. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

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by | December 1, 2019 · 12:07 pm

An Epic Maduro, A Cohiba and a Couple of Joyas and a Rant

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and had plenty to eat and adequate cigars! I took some along to the feast I attended, but it was too windy and cold to enjoy one, so I waited until I got home and enjoyed an Ashton VSG on the porch. I usually reach for a classic cigar of some sort on days such as this, and after spending over five hours in the car and a long day of eating, the VSG was a delightful end to a long day. Because of the holiday it was a slow news week, and I was lazy about a midweek post, so I slacked off this week. Let’s make up for it today. Early in the week I dug deep in the humidor and pulled out one of the original Epic Maduro Double Coronas from my stash of Epic cigars. I knew it was an old one because it only had the Epic band, no second band with the “maduro” designation. Oddly, the website incorrectly lists the Double Corona as 5″ x 54, when it’s clearly 6″, Dean will need to look into that. This maduro is a Brazilian Arapiraca, over a Cameroon binder with Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers made in the Charles Fairmorn Factory in the DR, the same factory that makes Kristoff cigars. I think the Cameroon binder is one of the things that makes me love this cigar, I’m drawn to maduros with a Cameroon binder, Cro-Magnon immediately comes to mind. Age has been kind to this cigar, it was smooth, rich, with coffee and sweetness and some earthiness. According to Dean Parsons, Epic Cigars have been in “10x production” and have something new planned for 2020. I’m excited as I’ve never met an Epic cigar I didn’t enjoy! 

 

Also this week I smoked a Cohiba Connecticut again. I had listened to Sean Williams on a podcast and he talked about this cigar and I realized I hadn’t smoked it in a long time, so I thought I’d smoke one. Funny thing is I had hung out with both Sean and Dean at a shop in Philly a few years back, before Sean was with General Cigars, I hadn’t made that connection until just now. Anyway, I like their idea of a Robusto, it’s 5½” x 50, and it has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, San Andrés binder and the fillers are Brazilian Matafina, Jalapa, Nicaragua and Piloto Cubano and Olor from the DR.  I actually found this to be almost off-puttingly strong to start! Maybe my expectation of a mild cigar was the problem, but it just seemed overly powerful. It settled down, and was very good. It isn’t a mild cigar, it has some oomph, but it does have the creamy, grassy flavor of the Ecuador Connecticut. Overall it was a very good, satisfying cigar and, of course, the construction was spot on, and for a $16 stick, it certainly should be, heck, and $8 cigar should be constructed right, or a $4 cigar for that matter. If it isn’t made right, what’s the point? In another website gripe, Cohiba needs to update their website.

 

Let’s take a break and let me get something off my chest.  Long time reader Bob L. brought up a great point on a Facebook group yesterday regarding the etiquette behind using a product I’ve promoted here on my site. I feel that since I’ve used the product and endorsed it, I should weigh in here in more detail than I did in response to his post. Bob’s question was, more or less (I was going to quote it verbatim, but the post must have been deleted from the facebook group because I can’t find any reference to it!), is it appropriate to use the Cigarmedics HumidiMeter on a cigar in a store before you buy it? The short answer is “NO”, but I think some common sense reasoning and explanation is in order. After you buy the cigar it’s yours to do with as you please, but once you stick the probes of the Cigarmedics HumidiMeter in the cigar it belongs to you in my opinion. You’ve “broken the seal” by penetrating the cigar, no different from licking it or cutting it. In that thread there was some discussion of the utility of the tool in general, bruoght up by Skip Martin, who made some valid points. It’s important to know that this tool should be used to set a baseline. Different blends will smoke better at different moisture contents. It takes a while to get to know the acceptable range where generally cigars can be expected to perform well. Too wet and too dry should stick out like a sore thumb. Remember, as nice a tool as the HumidiMeter is, it’s a consumer item and is inexpensive, it’s not a lab grade instrument like Saka has, and Saka knows what absolute moisture level each one of his blends (he would say “ligas”), should be to smoke right. Also keep in mind that the HumidiMeter converts the absolute moisture number to a Relative Humidity equivalent number that we can relate to our humidors. This is all going a long way to say not to use the HumidiMeter in a store before you buy a cigar! 

 

OK,  The last two cigars I smoked were, once again, from my friends at Joya de Nicaragua. It seems like just last week I included a pair of Joyas in my Sunday Post, in actuality, it was. For some reason, some Joya de Nicaragua Numero Uno L’Ambassadeur ended up in my humidor, and I really needed to smoke one. This was originally the Number 1, only available as an event only cigar, or, before that, as a diplomatic gift for ambassadors from Nicaragua. It’s a Lonsdale with a fantail cap, measuring 6 5/8″ x 44, and has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper over Nicaraguan fillers, just like the Joya de Nicaragua Classico. These are not a cheap date either, and come in a beautiful blue lacquer box. Like the above mentioned Cohiba, also not inexpensive, this is a Connecticut cigar with some strength and loads of flavor. Skip the narrow ring gauge, wrapper to filler ration BS, smoked slower, this was a smooth as silk smoke, creamy, elegant with enough spice to keep it interesting. Super yummy, and deserving of the accolades it’s received, and many thanks to my friends at JdN for sharing these with me! 

 

Finally, I decided to give the Joya Black another try. Since these came out I wanted to like them. It has a San Andrés wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and filler, what’s not to like, right?  It’s always perplexed me why I didn’t love this cigar. OK, the first few I smoked I struggled with poor draws, tight, either over-humidified, or over-filled, not sure which. I let them sit in the humidor for a long time, smoked some from different batches, couldn’t really get any flavor. I decided to give one another go, this time in the Double Robusto shape, 5″ x 56. Draw was perfect, burn was perfect, it was either very mild, or there just wasn’t a lot of flavor. I remain perplexed. There is a sour note when I do get some flavor, and it just doesn’t seem to be a cigar I enjoy very much. I don’t get it. This is a real scratcher for me. I should absolutely love this cigar, it’s from Joya, it’s got the right components, what the heck? I the “Joya” series, I really like the Silver and Cabinetta, and I’m pretty apathetic about the Red, and the one that should be at the top of my list based upon my overall likes, is at the bottom. Weird stuff, man.  

 

That’s should about do it for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | November 13, 2018 · 9:34 am

News: Black Works Studio Announces Killer Bee Connecticut

Black Works Studio is next up today with news of a new Killer Bee. This looks like an interesting little cigar. I thing I smoked my first Killer Bee back in September! 

 

Black Works Studio (BLK WKS) is pleased to announce the release of Killer Bee Connecticut: Hand crafted in Esteli, Nicaragua at Fabrica Oveja Negra.

KB CONNECTICUT will be available at select BLK WKS retailers for a limited time. This is a small batch release that was offered to retailers who attended IPCPR 2018.

“The Killer Bee Connecticut is a cigar that I blended with the original Killer Bee, so I’m very excited to finally have it released as an addition to the Killer Bee line and the BLK WKS portfolio. With similar profiles to the Killer Bee, it may not be what you expect from a typical Connecticut cigar. The Connecticut wrapper gives an added creaminess and changes up the spice components quite a bit,” said James Brown, creator of BLK WKS and partner at Fabrica Oveja Negra.

KB Connecticut will be shipping in limited quantities this week.

Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Connecticut and Ecuador Maduro swirl cap & closed foot
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano
Filler: Nicaragua
Petite Corona – 4.5 x 46 (20 count) MSRP $10.00

BLK WKS cigars are an expression of art showcasing the talent, technique and tobacco behind boutique cigar factory; Fabrica Oveja Negra.
For more information contact info@BlackLabelTrading.com.

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by | February 25, 2018 · 11:11 am

A La Palina, a Nick & Jim PBE, a Man O War and another Gran Habano Cigar

I’ve managed to smoke nine cigars since we last talked, and I’ve got to say, they were all pretty darned good!  I went about 60/40 for cigars I knew I liked and cigars that were new to me.  I’ll throw a couple of comments about the latter at the end, but feel free to follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook if you care to see my daily consumption. A little behind the scenes: if you see me smoking something new on Instagram, and you don’t see it mentioned here, I had some issue with it that didn’t give me a good first impression. Feel free to ask privately about those, I make it a point not to publicly trash cigars unless there’s a very good reason.  LaPalina_NicaraguaConnecticut_RobustoAnyway, last Sunday I started the day off with a La Palina Nicaragua Robusto.  I don’t mind taking shots offering constructive criticism of companies websites, and I feel the need to point out that they seem to have the descriptions of the Robusto and Gordo inverted on this product page. Maybe not even the case, but it looks that way to me. This La Palina Nicaragua Connecticut was an amazingly good Connecticut shade cigar, rolled at AJ Fernandez Factory in Esteli with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I smoked this early in the day, while watching an afternoon Flyers game, and it wasn’t nearly as mild as I expected it to be. I put it at medium in strength, a very good smoke in my opinion. I don’t see a broad range of La Palina on my local tobacconist’s shelves, they have a staggering number of products, made in several great factories. Like any brand, there’s some I like and some I can take or leave, but I don’t remember hating anything in the range.

 

Nick&Jim PBEMonday I decided to revisit the Nick & Jim P.B.E. toro. I had really enjoyed the IPCPR sample that Nick Syris gave me when I saw him there, although when I smoked it I wasn’t sure that it was the collaboration with Island Jim Robinson that ended up being the P.B.E. (pre-banded edition, it was supposed to be called La Vida Isla, but there was a trademark issue). Here is a case of a not great name on a great cigar.  These are made in the factory in Costa Rica where Nick’s LH Premium Cigars line is produced (check out Nick’s interview on Coop’s Prime Time Show, linked here, for the whole story), the same factory that makes Atabey, Byron, MBombay, Vegas de Santiago and probably others.  The P.B.E. comes in one vitola, a 6 x 54 Toro, with an Ecuador Vuelta Abajo seed wrapper and binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and Peru. It’s likely the Peruvian tobacco that give this cigar something a little different and special. It’s a very rich and full tasting cigar, loads of flavor. I bought a fiver of these because I had enjoyed that  trade-show sample so much I wanted to try the regular production, my amigo Rodrigo Cigars had them available first, so I grabbed some. Good e-tailer to deal with, by the way.  The cigar has some wood and leather, but that Peruvian spice really adds something special to the flavor. I love toros, and I especially love the uncut foot.  I like the cigar a lot, the original name was much better!

 

ManOWar_SalomonThis one was a bit of a surprise. Wednesday was a rare February day with temps in the 70s, so I grabbed a large cigar for the evening walk.Last year some time I bit on one of CIs specials for three different Man O War blends in the Salomon vitola for something stupid like $5 delivered. Maybe there was shipping on top of that, I don’t remember, but the price was so cheap I would have been an idiot not to spring for it. The cigar was a whopping 7″ x 58, with a very nice shape, and the construction was excellent. It had a great, rich flavor that had a nice blend of spice, cocoa and coffee with a creamy mouth feel. This was a really good smoke, not surprising;y made by AJ Fernandez and distributed by Meier and Dutch, Cigars International’s distribution arm. This line is probably most often associated with CI, but it’s a gem, and I’ve had some really good cigars with the Man O’ War name on them.

 

GranHabano_Connecticut#1Finally, early yesterday I grabbed a Gran Habano Connecticut #1 robusto for an early morning walk.  This cigar was a 5″ x 50 robusto with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  I don’t generally have a cigar as early as I did, but we had to go to to New Jersey for a memorial service for a recently departed family member and there was a break in the rain. Macha hadn’t been for a Machawalk in a while so we headed out.  Whether it was the time of day, or the lack of a substantial breakfast, I don’t know, but this was stronger than I imagined it would be, and had a definite toasty flavor. Like the other Gran Habano cigars I’ve smoked lately, this one was very enjoyable.  The burn and draw were perfect, and I believe thees can be had at a reasonable price. This is a brand that has been around a long time and makes great cigars. This is another line I don’t see in local shops, perhaps the online sales hurts then in the B&M space. Great cigars, and I’m pleased to welcome them as a supporter of CigarCraig.com.

 

A couple of the other cigars I smoked this week included some cigars I know to satisfy me every time. I had a Dirty Rat, a Mi Querida Ancho Corto, a La Sirena Trident (La Zona made, I still have a few of the old My Father versions) and a Cro-Magnon Cranium.  I almost forgot last night’s Fuente Hemingway Best Seller maduro!  All great cigars that hit my palate right for one reason or another.  I never really plan what I’m going to smoke, some of the fun for me is picking something out of the humidor, sometimes it takes me 15 minutes to decide! One more thing that’s important for my Pennsylvania readers: It seems that there is still a bill out there that would ban smoking in cigar stores.  Go to http://capwiz.com/cigarrights/issues/alert/?alertid=77245626 and let your reps know that this is stupid, anti-small business and that they have better things to worry about!  Unless they plan to ban drinking in bars, and eating in restaurants, leave the cigar stores alone! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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