Tag Archives: Contest

by Craig Vanderslice | July 18, 2021 · 10:12 am

A Diamond Crown Maximus, A Flow and a Contest (Last Wednesday)

We had a special occasion this week, so that called for a special occasion cigar, so I pulled out a Diamond Crown Maximus Robusto No. 5. The Diamond Crown Maximus is another one of those cigars that has been on my list of “classics” for the last probably 15 years since it came out. It’s on the list of cigars I’d like to always have a box of in my humidor, along with Fuente Don Carlos, Hemingway, and Añejo of some sort, and a Padrón 1964. It’ made my Fuente, it’s wrapper is a corona leaf (top of the plant) from Ecuador making it very heavy and dark, so it’s got a very rich flavor. I absolutely love this cigar. It’s woody and earthy with some espresso and sweet notes here and there. I’ve never had a bad one. When it came out it was super expensive, now days it’s a deal. If you like lighter Connecticut shade cigars, you can’t go wrong with a Diamond Crown, if you want something with some more oomph, the Maximus is awesome.

I’ve been smoking a bunch of a new cigar from Danli Honduras Tobacco, my favorite little factory in Honduras that makes the Don Juan Calavera, Clown and Marchetti cigars that I love so much. The cigar is simply called Flow, and the box I received is marked “maduro”, but the cigars don’t seem maduro to me. I’ve asked for some clarification, but haven’t received an answer. Language barriers can be frustrating. I know they have a Connecticut, and I know a couple fairly local shops (within a 40 minute drive) might have some, so I have some research to do. As it stands with this one, and the ones I’ve been smoking, the blend is undisclosed! That being said, I’ve found that I really like the cigars, much like I like the other cigars in the DAHOT range. I would put money on it being a Habano wrapper, it’s got a little spiciness and cocoa, and the overall blend is very tasty. I appreciate the fact that the company only makes toros, and this line is no different, makes my life easier, as it’s my preference. As with any cigar from this company, and I think folks I’ve shared this with will back me up, if you see them, try them.

The subject line refers to a contest, and that contest was posted on Wednesday, so scroll back and enter to win some of my cigars (which I bought, by the way!) Who knows, there might be a Flow accidentally in the package as an bonus! I rarely just send out what I say I’m sending! So go back and enter! In addition to BCPs new ad promo, Ortega Cigars has updated their ad with a new promotion. They have a great deal on some excellent cigars. I was so impressed with the Connecticut I smoked last week that I threw an order in for some Connecticut Churchills at a really great price and they arrived very quickly with free shipping. Excellent product and service, and Eddie was in Nicaragua, so I have to assume that’s the norm. Anyway, I’m going to wrap this up and get on with my Sunday, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, Danli Honduras Tabacco, Diamond Crown, Flow, JC Newman, Maximus

by Craig Vanderslice | July 14, 2021 · 10:06 pm

Contest! A 90+ Rated All-Star Sampler

I’ve been lazy, and haven’t smoked anything new to write about over the last few days. So the obvious solution is to give some cigars away. I recently updated the Best Cigar Prices Ad on the site, and I immediately purchased the deal, which I, for some reason unknown, I almost always do. Like I need more cigars! So I figure I would turn around and give that sampler away! It’s not that I wouldn’t smoke any one of the five cigar, I was eyeing them tonight, but opted for something else instead. You see, I could mooch cigars to give a way, but over the last few years the FDA has made it illegal for cigar companies to give away cigars. There’s nothing that says that I can’t give away my own cigars though! So the deal is really good, if you don’t win mine, go buy them from Best Cigar Prices! Here’s the Sampler:

A Montecristo Platinum Toro, an Oliva Serie G Churchill Cameroon, a Romeo Y Julieta Habana Reserve Toro, a Rocky Patel Sun Grown Robusto, and an Alec Bradley Project 40 Robusto. You also get a Best Cigar Prices Double Blade 80 Ring Gauge Cigar Cutter. Like I said, it’s a nice little sampler, I would have ordered two, but it’s one per household and I couldn’t get away with it! Usual rules apply, leave a comment on this blog post to enter, nowhere else. You must be of legal age in your jurisdiction and able to provide proof, and Mitch Smith isn’t eligible because he just won the last contest! Good Luck and I’ll select a winner next Wednesday, July 21, 2021.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Best Cigar Prices, cigar, cigars, Contest

by Craig Vanderslice | June 16, 2021 · 10:45 pm

A German Engineered Cigar, a Couple Drunk Chicken Cigars and the Contest Winner!

I smoked some new, lesser known, cigars this week, the first of which were some of the new NN01 cigars from German Engineered Cigars. Five years ago I wrote about the Rauchvergnügen cigar, the company’s first cigar. This new cigar is made at Tabacalera William Ventura in the Dominican Republic, and the components are undisclosed. The cigar is presented in one vitola, a 7″ x 48 Churchill, with a milk chocolate colored wrapper. By the way, the NN stands for “not named”, which is a name, isn’t it? In the past, I’ve had mixed results with cigars from this factory, in both personal taste and construction. In true German engineering form, the two samples I smoked were perfectly constructed, and burned well. I take that back, the first sample needed slight corrections a few times, but it hadn’t been in the humidor too long. They are very pretty cigars. I found them to be solidly medium bodied and smooth, with a nice sweetness, and a very pleasant smoke. The whole “German Engineered” thing is gimmicky, but if the cigars are good, who am I to say?

Since we have some chickens, I thought it would be fun to buy some of the Drunk Chicken Cigars and give them a try. This company describes itself as female/minority/veteran owned, and the cigars are made in the USA. They sell direct to consumer on their website and offer five varieties, of which I bought two, the original Drunk Chicken Cigars DCO in a 5½” x 50 Robusto and the Fat Hen, a 4″ x 60 torpedo. I have no idea where these are made, and didn’t take the time to contact the owner and ask, although one source I talked to who did ask said that the response he got was vague. Both cigar were well made. The Maduro was very good, it has a Mexican wrapper, Ecadoran binder and Nicaraguan Ligero filler (what else? it can’t all be ligero, can it? I guess it can…). This was a good Mexican Maduro cigar with some reasonable strength, but not too much, with a unique meatiness. There was a little something that made it unique, which I appreciated, considering it could easily be seen as a gimmick cigar. I’m curious about it being made in the US and being $10, but all told I was impressed and pleased with my purchase.

The other cigar I bought from Drunk Chicken Cigars was the Fat Hen in the Torpedo Shorty vitola. This is a 4″ x 60 torpedo, which I selected over the 6″ x 60 Gordo just for a change of pace. These have a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper, Ecuadoran binder and fillers from Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. My only disappointment with this cigar was the short smoking time, but I guess that’s what I got them for, although I thought it would smoke longer than the 45 minutes that it lasted. As I said, it was well constructed and smoked well. It had a nice spice and woody flavors. I showed it to one of my chickens and she tried to peck the cap off for me. Chickens will chase each other around with a piece of silicon caulk, so they aren’t too smart. Good cigar, Maybe I should have gotten the Gordos. It’s always good to have some short smokes around.

Contest!

OK, time to choose a winner! I’ve been tossing some cigars in the prize bags this week, I threw in an Undercrown Toro, and a couple Tabak Lonsdales. I’m sure a few more will fall into the box before it goes out. I don’t have to use Random.org anymore, Google has a random number generator now, and it selected Mitchell Smith, who asked about the Flow cigar pictured in the prize pack. I typically don’t comment in contest posts because it messes with my system, so I’ll answer him here. The Flow is a new line from Danli Hondura Tobacco, and I’m going to be featuring it here soon with my thoughts. So far I’m a fan, as I’ve enjoyed all the cigars I’ve smoked from that company. I’m still trying to get information about the blend. Anyway, Mitchell, please send me your information so I can pack all this cool stuff up and send it your way! Thanks to everyone for reading along as always!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, DCO, Drunk Chicken Cigars, Fat Hen, German Engineered Cigars, NN01

by Craig Vanderslice | June 9, 2021 · 9:28 pm

Contest! Drew Estate Swag and Some Cigars From My Humidor

OK, I’ve been teasing a contest for too long, and it’s been way too long since I’ve had a giveaway! So it’s time! I’ve had some goodies here that My friends at Drew Estate were kind enough to provide for me, and I’ll scrape together some Drew Estate cigars from my humidor to add as well. I’m sure I’ll find some more to throw in as the week goes by too! As it stands, here’s the stuff!

There’s the Freestyle Live Travel Humidor, Xikar cutter and torch lighter! I’m also including a cool pair of cigar socks courtesy of Groovy Groomsmen Gifts! These are the “Sock it To ‘Em” style socks and are very nice socks! I’m also including a selection of cigars from my humidor, a bunch of my favorites, from La Sirena, Danli Honduras Tobacco, Joya de Nicaragua, General Cigar and J.C.Newman, as well as others to be added later, and at my whim.

As with all my giveaways, the rules are simple. First, you need to be of legal age in your jurisdiction, and willing to prove it if you win. To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post, one per person. No Facebook or Twitter comments will count, just comments on this blog post! I’ll select a winner next Wednesday, June 16, 2021. That’s it, easy stuff. Good luck!

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

CigarCraig

27 Comments

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, Danli Honduras Tabacco, drew estate, General Cigar Co., Groovy Groomsmen Gifts, J.C.Newman, joya de nicaragua, La Sirena, Socks

by Craig Vanderslice | January 10, 2021 · 11:01 am

Groovy Guy Gifts Good To Go Cigar Case and a Contest!

Check out this cigar case I got from the folks at Groovy Guy Gifts! If you aren’t familiar with this site, it’s a great site to shop for guy related gifts that can be personalized. They don’t just have cigar related items, they also have drinkware, knives, leather goods and other dude-related stuff. I’ve been dealing with them for a few years and they’ve always been top notch. They do very nice personalization work, which, along with prompt delivery, is the service you’re paying for, really, but the products are good quality. I happen to know where most of the products come from, and have a long time relationship with the retail arm of the company that makes a lot of the stuff, so I know a little about it. You can look back at some of my past posts about Groovy Guy Gifts, and their sibling site, Groovy Groomsmen Gifts. Full disclosure, Groovy Guy Gifts provided the product for this review, but that’s all!

Joe, the owner of the company, asked me to select an item from their new offerings, and I don’t like to pick the most expensive thing, and the item I really wanted to review was out of stock, so the Good To Go Cigar Case was my second choice. This is a nice looking, three cigar travel humidor, with a padded leatherette outside, and cedar lined interior, with a simple cutter in the lid. The sleeve for the cutter is formed pretty specifically for the cuter included, but a classic Davidoff Zino cutter might fit, I don’t have one handy, not many other cutters are going to slide into the sleeve. Like a punch in a lighter, I see the cutter in this case as a spare in case of emergency. I tried this out with three 6″ x 52 cigars, and they were easily accommodated. This is a nice case for a day or weekend out, I wouldn’t use it for longer than that. I don’t think you’d need to put a Boveda in it unless that weekend was in Las Vegas, or someplace dry like that, but there’s ample space for a Boveda pack. you could probably fit a slim lighter in if you wanted to (or traveled with Robustos). I don’t believe this is something that Groovy Guy Gifts customizes, buy it’s a nice item, and would be a nice gift.

Contest!

Speaking of Gifts, I thought it might be fun to make a gift out of this Good To Go Cigar Case, and have the first contest of 2021! I’ve loaded this up with some cigars I really like from my friends at Danli Honduras Tobacco. There’s a Flor Maya Connecticut and Habano, and a Marchetti. I just had a Marchetti again yesterday and it’s a fantastic box pressed maduro, one of my go-tos! The Flor Maya’s don’t suck either! I’ll probably add some other cigars, because I can’t help myself! So that’s a groovy case full of cigars courtesy of Groovy Guy Gifts and CigarCraig.com and all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post. It wouldn’t hurt if you checked out the cool cigar stuff at www.groovyguygifts.com too. You know the rules, one entry per person, must be of legal age, etc.