Tag Archives: Contest

by CigarCraig | September 30, 2018 · 11:09 am

Hostage and La Misión from Providencia Cigars, Buenaventura, and a Contest!

This week I dug into the new cigars from Providencia Cigar Company. I warmed up last week with an El Santo, the box pressed toro with a Nicaraguan Sumatra maduro wrapper. I really enjoy that cigar, and was excited to sample the Hostage, their newest release. This release came with a story of Providencia Co-founder Jim Faber’s abduction at gunpoint on a Honduran youth soccer field (the story is here in the news item I posted earlier this month). Considering it’s speculated that Jim’s abductors were Mexican gang members, it’s ironic, or perhaps fitting, that this cigar has a San Andrés wrapper. The wrapper is roughly the same shade of brown as the El Santo, which isn’t as dark as many San Andrés maduros, but the real difference to me lies in the flavor. This cigar had a unique flavor that I didn’t expect. It was a warm, fresh-baked bready flavor, not the dark coffee, cocoa flavors I thought I’d get. I think there were some almost floral notes as well, very interesting and entertaining. I am very interested in smoking another one and probably will in the very near future. I have to find out who has these in the area, I know the guys who own Providencia have some south Jersey roots, we have to get them to visit Philly one of these days!

Another new cigar from Providencia hasn’t had the official press release come out yet, but I smoked it anyway because it looked really intriguing and I couldn’t wait, was a 7½” x 38 Lancero called La Misión. This cigar has a Honduran Habano wrapper, an Indonesian binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan filler and, as I said, is a traditional Laguito No. 1 in the Cuban Vitola de Galera. As with all of Providencia’s cigars, I believe this to be made in Honduras, and this is a difficult shape to produce, so I was quite pleased when it burned perfectly and was a pleasure to smoke until it burned my fingers. Flavor-wise, it was good, although perhaps I was spoiled by the unique flavor of the Hostage. I enjoyed the flavors it produced, they were good flavors of properly processed tobacco, with the cocoa and coffee flavors I like, with a leathery feel, and it was completely enjoyable. I loved the size, considering I’m not a fan of short small ring gauge cigars, I do like me a lancero, and I like them a lot. I look forward to sharing the story of the La Misión when it comes out, and appreciate to folks at Providencia sending me their new goodies to try.

Several weeks ago I stopped into one of the nearby CigarCigars stores to chat with Kevin, the manager there, and he had a box of Curivari Buenaventura BV 560 on the counter and said they sold like crazy, and at $5 and change, I guess I could see why. Since I had never smoked any of the Curivari line before, let alone the Buenaventura, and had heard of them, of course, I figured it was a no-brainer to give one a shot. Kevin did say it was a great cigar, and I agree with his assessment, it was a great smoke, I enjoyed it very much. Don’t let the 560 in the name fool anyone, it’s actually not 5″ x 60, it’s 5½” x 56 (I did some research considering Curivari doesn’t seem to list this line on their site with is befuddling, so I looked at several retailers and went with the consensus, with one large one seeming to have incorrect info). I’m hoping this is a regular item in the stores, because this is a winner at a great price, it’s another cigar with a really nice flavor, it’s sweet and earthy, not heavy and burdensome on the palate, a very good smoke.

Contest!

Time for another CigarCraig giveaway! This is a good one! Last week Kevin at CigarProp.com shipped out his Kickstarter round of the Lighter Bleed Tool 2.0. The Kickstarter was fully funded in something like 2 days, which is crazy, and it’s a super-useful tool. I’ve been using the 1.0 version religiously whenever I fill a lighter and it’s great, I never have to worry about damaging the fill valve of my expensive (or cheap) lighters with a screwdriver or other non-purpose-built tool when I bleed my lighters. Kevin very generously provided a Lighter Bleeder Tool 2.0 in Aluminum for today’s giveaway! Since I can’t not include cigars, I am CigarCraig after all, and since Kevin just did a whole series of reviews on his Youtube channel of Cornelius and Anthony cigars, and since Cornelius and Anthony cigars are among my favorites anyway, I selected a five-pack from my humidor to accompany the Lighter Bleeder Tool 2.0 for this giveaway! Let me tell you, the cigars I selected DO NOT SUCK! They are cigars that are my favorites and are hard to part with! Who knows what else might fall into the box while it’s being packed up. Check out Kevin’s videos, they are a hoot, leave a comment on this post to enter, and I’ll select a comment at random next Sunday, October 7, 2018. Must be of legal age to win, you know the rules. If you don’t win a bleed tool, they are available on Amazon too!

That’s all for today, hard to believe it’s the end of September already. I have to start thinking of wrapping the cigar porch for the cold weather smoking! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

36 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as Buenaventura, cigar, Cigar Prop, cigars, Contest, Cornelius and Anthony, Curivari, Hostage, La Misión, Lighter Bleed Tool, Providencia

by CigarCraig | August 19, 2018 · 11:05 am

Dapper Cigars Cubo Claro and Maduro and the Contest Winner!

But first, Thursday evening my wife and I went to Philadelphia’s Diner en Blanc, which is a picnic, of sorts, where everyone wears white, brings their own table and chairs and meets in places around the city, and it transported to a public space that is kept secret until the last minute. These happen all over the world and it’s quite a sight. In this case, Philadelphia’s had 5500 people, the largest in the US. Last year there was a cigar lounge set up with a local outfit, the Travelling Tobacconist, featuring an Airstream trailer, this year, no such luck, as it was held at Philadelphia’s City Hall, and the park surrounding it is non-smoking. We actually were sitting on a wall at the perimeter of the park enjoying a small cigar with a white band, and got chased one foot to the sidewalk…absurd. So while we were at the meeting point, which was at the subway stop outside of Citizens Bank Park (where, at the same time, Will Cooper will tell you the Phillies were having their heads handed to them by the Mets in the first game of a double header), I enjoyed a Macanudo Inspirado White with my buddy Bruce. I’ve known Bruce for 20 years, we go back to the old alt.smokers.cigars Usenet group days, and he now lives a few miles from me. I select appropriately themed cigars for this occasion, last year it was a Fratello Bianco, a Montecristo White, and my wife smoked a Leccia White. Some think this event is pretentious and a waste of city resources, and I’ve heard the term “white privilege” tossed around ignorantly. First, the organization pays it’s way on the set-up and cleanup, and donates generously to local charities. Regarding the “white privilege”, anyone who took a half a glance at the attendees of one of these events would see the most diverse group of people imaginable eating together side by side, hanging out, partying, having a good time. It’s a cool event. The local news even talked to me on camera, but I guess I was too cool for them to use on the news.

I’m still finding a couple of samples from last year’s IPCPR, and a couple of my good friends in the industry have shared some samples from this years show which I did not attend, so I need to make room. I had a couple Cubos from Dapper Cigars out of California that were begging to be smoked, so Friday was the day. I had to drop the car off in the morning so I grabbed the Ecuador Connecticut wrapped Cubo Claro toro for the walk home. First off, I appreciate any company that calls their shade wrapped cigar “Claro”, it’s way easier to type than Ecuador Connecticut or Connecticut shade. Sure, it’s ambiguous and requires clarification, so does Connecticut Shade anymore so why not? Dapper likes to provide specifics about their tobaccos, and I’ve compared this to Steve Saka when he launched Sobremesa. Funny enough, some of Dapper’s cigars are made in NACSA, where Mi Querida and Umbagog are made, but the Cubo’s are not made at NACSA, they are made at Tabacaleras Carreras S.A., which also makes, perhaps not surprisingly, Esteban Carreras Cigars.

Wrapper: Ecuador / Connecticut desflorado / CASJUCA / A.S.P. (Perez)

Binder: Nicaragua / Jalapa / Habano / Dorado / Oliva Tobacco Co

Fillers: Nicaragua / Condega / gk Relleno / Oliva Tobacco Co
Nicaragua / Esteli / Guadalupe / Oliva Tobacco Co

This was a really nice claro cigar with enough strength and body to be enjoyed any time of the day, not just in the morning, as I did. I’m not a regular morning smoker, it’s just no something I usually do, but now and then I have cigar in the morning and it’s usually a shade wrapped cigar or a coffee infused cigar, I guess I fall for the stereotype. This was a really good tasting cigar, it had the trademark shade wrapper flavor, but there was a bit of spice and rich tobacco flavor and it was a good, satisfying cigar. I was anticipating smoking the maduro later.

After dinner, which is my usual routine, I did smoke the Cubo Maduro Toro as I took my second walk of the day, a short one around the block. First off, this is a visually stunning maduro cigar. It has a beautiful oily wrapper, very even coloration, nicely made. Both this and the Claro were nice looking cigars, and the bands are very attractive as well. High scores for presentation. I haven’t seen the boxes, but according to the website they are packaged in natural cedar sliding lid boxes with Boveda packs, again, the information provided the website is extremely thorough. I found the Maduro to be considerably stronger than the Claro, which isn’t uncommon, and the spicy cocoa from the Mexican wrapper was much to my liking.

Wrapper: Mexico / San Andrés Negro / Turrent Family

Binder: Nicaragua / Jalapa / Cofradía / Oliva Tobacco Co.

Fillers: Nicaragua / Condega / gk Relleno / Oliva Tobacco Co.
Nicaragua / Jalapa / Cofradía / Oliva Tobacco Co.

I’m a little surprised with all the detail provided that they leave out the primings, that seems like a geek-point that should be there. As you might imagine, this was a cigar that hit me the right way, it was rich and decadent and I liked it a lot. I don’t see any of Dapper’s offerings around here, but I haven’t looked really hard, but they sure make some good cigars.

Contest!

I was a little over the top with my “contest entrant shaming” in my last post, sorry about that. I think it scared people off, because we only had 19 entries, and it’s been probably 8 years or so since I’ve had that few entries. maybe it’s summer and people are busy, maybe the economy’s good and people don’t want free cigars, I don’t know. I do know that that makes the odds better for those of you who entered! I said I was sweetening the deal, so I grabbed a few more cigars out of the humidor, three of which are from La Aurora, which, by the way, was the common thread I was really looking for, all of the cigars I mentioned in the contest post were made at the La Aurora factory in the Dominican Republic. So the prize is 10 cigars from La Sirena, La Auroa, etc. and a Stage V Clinger cigar holder. It’s also true that they all have two bands and they all have tobaccos from the DR, so I can’t exactly disqualify any of those answers as incorrect, so all entries count. In a strange twist, the random number generator spit out 15, and I had thrown out Brian I’s first entry, which was actually the first entry, and he ens up being the 15th comment. So Brian I is the winner! Please send me your address privately so I can get these goodies out to you! I guess I need to step up the contest game here! Apparently I’ve slacked off or something, contests used to be my bag, baby. Thanks to Stage V Clinger and my friends at La Sirena and La Aurora for their continued support!

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

CigarCraig

7 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Claro, Contest, Cubo, Dapper, La Aurora, La Sirena, maduro, Stage V Clinger

by CigarCraig | August 15, 2018 · 2:57 pm

E.P. Carrillo Dusk, Kristoff Cameroon and La Flor Dominicana La Volcada Cigars

OK, all of these cigars have something in common…they are cigars, they have a band, they are, in fact, made in the Dominican Republic, but that’s not what I was going for in my current contest on Sunday’s post. I’m disappointed that everyone is just parroting the first response, even though it is technically correct, assuming it’s the answer I was looking for and not giving it any further thought. Don’t worry, I’ll be fair and just pick a random comment like I always do. I’m also a little disappointed that there have only been 15 entries, where there are well over 50 by now when I just ask for a comment. Would it help if I said there would be another 5 great cigars included in the prize? Guess what? There’s now 10 cigars in the pack, several of them will be from La Aurora (if that’s not a hint I don’t know what is!) So go back to the last post and enter the damn contest and try to win some great cigars out of my humidor! If it has anything to do with me being between jobs and giving my own cigars away, faggeddaboutit! I’ve got plenty to share! </rant>

So far this week I’ve smoked a few cigars, two that aren’t new to me, and one that was. The E.P. Carrillo Dusk is from Ernesto’s “The Classics” line and has a dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Ecuador binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I had a lonely “Obscure” 7”x 54 double corona in the humidor which had been there for a while. I’ve been going through my larger size cigars with the long evenings and lack of employment. The Dusk, as ive mentioned before, hits me just right. There are still a mess of cigars in the EPC portfolio I need to explore, I keep grabbing this Broadleaf beauty when I see them in the shops. Espresso and cocoa all day long!

I was moving some cigars around and found a Kristoff Cameroon Matador, the 6 1/2” x 56 toro in the line, although it seemed smaller than that. I actually would have sworn this was a 6” x 50, I got it at an event, so maybe it was an event only cigar, I don’t recall. Whatever the size, it was a tasty smoke. As a rule, I’ve found Kristoff cigars to be, how should I put this diplomatically, not real exciting to my palate. This is funny to me, because I really like Dean Parson’s Epic Cigars which are made in the same factory. However, this Cameroon was really, really nice, it had the distinct Cameroon sweet spice with a little something sour in the background, Camerooniness, I call it. With the Kristoff signature closed foot, one gets a nice blast of that up front. I will keep trying to like the Kristoff line, I love the pigtail cap and closed foot and overall rustic feel of the line. I found a few of the “Pistoff” Kristoff too which I’ll revisit.

Finally, last night I revisited, again, the La Flor Dominicana La Volcada. Jonathan Carney at LFD sent me a few of these before they hit the stores and I had one left, and picked a couple up at the event I attended a few weeks back so I lit up that last pre-release cigar. It was un-cello’d, and I actually prefer my cigars to be stored in cellophane, another of my odd proclivities. This cigar is so limited that it does not appear on the company’s website! It’s available in one vitola, a 7″ x 48 Churchill with a pigtail cap, has a San Andrés wrapper, Corojo binder grown in Ecuador and Dominican fillers. This is another cigar, like the aforementioned Dusk, which hits my palate right, which is a shame, because it’s limited and not inexpensive. It’s not super expensive, but it’s not cheap. It’s got a nice spice and earthiness and the dark, rich flavors I like. I waffle between wondering if I should have smoked one I just bought and saved the older one, and the path I took, but tomorrow I won’t be concerned about that anyway, I enjoyed the crap out of the cigar, and I di for a good two hours or more.

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

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, E.P. Carrillo, Kristoff, La Flor Dominicana

by CigarCraig | March 21, 2018 · 7:45 pm

La Sirena Contest Winner Announcement

Today was the first full day of Spring, so of course it’s snowing like crazy! I got kicked out of work early (a good thing), and have shoveled the driveway twice already (my wife shoveled it once too) and I had a chance to smoke the new Macanudo Inspirado Red in a box pressed robusto which was incredible. More on that Sunday as we are here tonight to select a winner of the La Sirena cigars and a Stage V Clinger. By the way, in case anyone was curious, it’s a Stage “Five” Clinger, not a Stage “Vee” Clinger, which is odd since it’s kinda V shaped…but that’s what they’ve told me in the past. Also interesting, three years ago I had a similar La Sirena contest, I wonder if Lonnie remembers winning this, as he’s entered this time too (I suspect he remembers…). So, without further ado, Random.org selected Todd Arbogast as the big winner! Todd, please send me your address so I can get these goodies to you. I hinted that I might pick a runner-up, and the name Jack Campbell came up. So Jack, I’ll pick out a couple La Sirenas and a Stage V Clinger and get them to you.

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

CigarCraig

7 Comments

Filed under Contest

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, La Sirena, Stage V Clinger

by CigarCraig | March 18, 2018 · 9:54 am

A Camacho, EP Carillo Encore and a La Palina Candela Cigar

First, if you haven’t already, go back to my last post and enter to win a great selection of La Sirena cigars and a Stage V Clinger. I smoked a La Sirena King Poseidon this week that was awesome, I should have included notes about that in the post, as was pointed out by one reader. Sorry for the laziness! Depending how I’m feeling Wednesday, maybe there will be a runner up! Thank you to all of you who shared the link on social media! Anyway, smoked a few great cigars this week I thought I’d share thoughts and info on, first of which was a Camacho Nicaraguan Barrel Aged Robusto. This was an IPCPR sample, Davidoff does a great job with providing samples to the media, and they had a special media event at the trade show which included their “Golden Band Awards” for retailers. Am I surprised to not find the Nicaraguan Barrel Aged line listed on the Camacho website? On one hand, you’d think a big company like Davidoff would have the resources to keep their website up to date, on the other hand, it seems to be the norm to have an outdated site. It’s befuddling. Anyway, the Camacho Nicaraguan Barrel Aged Robusto is a 5″ x 50, with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Mexican binder and, Dominican Piloto Cubano, Honduran Corojo Ligero & Nicaraguan Corojo, with the Nicaraguan filler aged in Flor de Caña rum barrels for five months. It’s common knowledge that I’m not a drinker (quick rant: If you e-mail me saying you’ve been reading my site a long time and LOVE my work, following up with saying you know I’m a big whiskey and cigar fan makes me question your sincerity) , the last time I had rum it was Bacardi and Coke, so I wouldn’t be the one to ask about flavors from the barrel, but it is a pleasing cigar, with some interesting flavors that aren’t typical. There’s a nice sweet flavor along with some coffee and chocolate. I decided to smoke this because I had been on the hunt for the new Camacho Candela (and came up dry), as I’d smoked a box of the old Camacho Candela and wanted to see how it compared (I still have one in the humidor, close to 10 years old). Anyway, I liked the Nicaraguan Barrel Aged better, if memory serves, than the American Barrel Aged.

This week was the long awaited release of the E.P. Carillo Encore. This is a Nicaraguan Puro, and I was lucky enough to get one of these from Jose Blanco last week, with the suggestion that I let it rest a few days. This was an obvious ploy to keep me from posting about it too far in advance of the release :-). I also received a sample from the company a few days before the release. My schedule didn’t allow me to smoke it before the March 15 release date anyway, I lit it up on the 15th and boy is it a great cigar. I smoked the Majestic, the Robusto measuring 5-3/8″ x 52. It was medium bodied, and suave and elegant. It had some buttery sweetness that I really enjoyed. instead of taking this cigar on my evening walk, I waited until I got back to light this one up, and I’m glad that I was able to give it my full attention. I have been a slacker when it comes to smoking E.P.C. cigars for the most part, there’s a lot I haven’t smoked over the last 9 years since the company started, but I like this one the best. Granted, this is based on one sample from Jose Blanco, who probably doesn’t carry crappy cigars with him, but I was very pleased. The cigar has a nice box press, and is presented with a ribbon on the foot. I missed the first few minutes of the Flyers game to finish this cigar. I’m working on catching up on this brand’s portfolio, I have an Elite Series Seleccion Oscuro (I think, there are a dizzying array of cigars in the EPC line) lined up for today. Good stuff from a true master.

Yesterday I smoked a candela cigar, as seems to be the St Patrick’s Day tradition. As I said earlier, I still have a Camacho Candela from when Christian Eiroa owned the brand, but I’m leaving that one sit until I can find the new ones to compare to, and I have some Filthy Hooligans and RoMaCraft Fomorians around too, but I decided to give the La Palina Fuego Verde a try. Before I even look into this cigar, I have to say it was made at General Cigar’s factory based on the round head alone. I just checked and I was right, definitely manufactured at General, along with the La Palina Classic line. The candela wrapper on this cigar is from Honduras, with a Honduran binder and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s bright green, and has that grassy candela flavor one would expect, with some sweet tobacco flavors to balance it out. I thoroughly enjoyed this “Green Fire” offering, which is only available in one size, the 5″ x 50 robusto. I have a pretty high tolerance for candela, I like it once in a while as a change of pace and palate reset, but I personally put this in my top five easily. It had a satisfying flavor, was medium bodied, and was enjoyable. I still need to get my hands on the La Flor Dominicana and Illusione candelas, the chain of shops near me (6 of their 12 stores are within a ten mile radius of my house) won’t carry candelas because they don’t sell. I’ll keep looking. Hopefully me smoking a green cigar on St. Patrick’s day isn’t some sort of cultural appropriation or something that’s not politically correct. By all accounts, St. Patrick was anti-snake, and that makes him OK in my book.