Tag Archives: Cornelius and Anthony

by CigarCraig | October 21, 2018 · 10:32 am

A Bunch of Cigars, Another La Flor Dominicana Event, and a Joya Contest Extension

I’ve been a slug this week. I literally had to look at Instagram to recall what cigars I smoked. One reason is because I still have a little bit of a cold, so I’m hesitant to smoke anything new or noteworthy, and another is my preoccupation with my search for a day job. The latter seems to have taken a positive turn just in the nick of time, and I hope to be smoking something special in celebration in the near future, once this annoying sinus funk releases its grasp on me. So looking back through my IG feed, I did rather enjoy a Hoyo La Amistad Gold Robusto, which is 5″ x 54. This was one of the first big brand AJ Fernandez colabs, and continues to be a fantastic smoke. Of the three in the series, Gold, Silver and Black, oddly I think it’s my favorite (you’d expect the Black to be, and I love the Black, I find it very close to the Punch Diablo though, with the main difference being the binder – Broadleaf on the Diablo and San Andrés on the Black). Even with palate impairment, the rich, sweet flavors are quite enjoyable, a main reason I reached for this cigar.

In an effort to further promote the Joya contest that’s currently in progress, which I’m going to extend , by the way, I smoked a Joya Silver Toro again. I am going to give it another week because I want to get some more entries, and more exposure for Joya de Nicaragua and the Wooden Indian, especially their new online store! I even posted on a Facebook group which always brags about their 30,000 members, and I got 3 entries (thanks!, I do appreciate them!). 10% would have been overwhelming, right?, but 3? Anyway, the Joya Silver Toro happened to be right on top of the humidor too, so it was a lazy selection, and I really love that cigar. I can the Cinco Decadas El General being on deck as one of the afore-mentioned celebration cigars coming up, and it shares some traits with the Silver. The Silver is a great medium bodied smoke with a great price.

An old friend stopped by this week and I shared a favorite cigar with him, Cornelius and Anthony Señor Esugars. Due to time constraints, and my inventory limitations, he had the robusto and I gad the Corona Gorda. This is a friend I’ve known since early in High School, we played drums together in band, and, to my delight, he loves cigars. I’ve observed the cigars he tends to likes and decided that the Señor Esugars would be a good fit for him, and I wanted to smoke one anyway, so it was a win-win. In the C&A line, I always seem to gravitate to the Toro, but I can’t complain about any vitola in this particular marque. As always, the San Andrés wrapper has that sweet, rich, earthy flavor I love. It’s great catching up with an old friend over a great cigar.

Finally, I happened to catch wind of a Flor Dominicana event at Old Havana Cigars on Friday evening, and, figuring I’d soon be having limits on my available free time again, why not go down and see Kyle and the folks down there and have a cigar. I had a La Flor Dominicana Colorado Oscuro No. 5, the 5¾” x 60 Gordo. In an unusual move, I only bought the one to smoke, although I wish I had at least gotten another one or two to smoke when I had a better palate. I’ll go back for more later. It was a good smoke, although I had to relight a few times, maybe because I was chatting with friends (you’ll remember Nik from Episode 7 of the CigarCraig Podcast…) and other distractions. I have a hard time remembering a La Flor Dominicana cigar that I didn’t like, maybe I’ll grab a Chisel of some sort out of the humidor today!

That about does it for today. To recap, The contest for the Joya de Nicaragua goodies, travel humidor (filled!), hat and cutter, will be extended until mid-week, probably Wednesday, so go back to last Sunday’s post and enter if you haven’t already! I’ll continue spamming….er….spreading the word , feel free to share it as well, at the risk of reducing your own odds of winning! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Cornelius and Anthony, Hoya de Monterrey, Hoyo La Amistad, joya de nicaragua, Joya Silver, La Flor Dominicana, wooden indian

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 | September 23, 2018 · 11:12 am

Two Events at BnB Cigars: Southern Draw and Cornelius and Anthony Cigars

I had a relatively busy week this week, making the drive into Philly two days in a row to visit Vince at BnB International Cigars in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, Robert Holt of Southern Draw Cigars was making an appearance there, and I hadn’t seen him since the 2017 IPCPR show. I had a bone to pick with Robert, as I had stopped receiving his media e-mails over the last year and was trying to figure out which thing it was I did that might have offended him, I thought we had left off on pretty good terms. As it turns out, he had replaced a lost phone or something and had missed getting my address back in his database, and had been wondering why he hadn’t heard from me! We got it sorted out like gentlemen, it’s all good now, keep an ear out for the next episode of the CigarCraig Podcast this week featuring Robert.

Anyway, I had a great time at BnB hanging out with Vince and Frank, and had a chance, finally to smoke their Flor de Cesar, which is their own cigar made at James Brown’s Fabrica Oveja Negra in Esteli. Vince told me they were going for something different from other cigars in the Black Works portfolio, and I’d have to agree, the Flor de Cesar was a very nice cigar with a sweet spice, almost floral side to it which was very nice. These have a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper that Vince tells me is the same as a wrapper that RomaCraft uses on the Wanderlust (right?), but a lower priming, which they bought all of for this cigar. It has a Honduran binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Brazil. I thought it was well-balanced and medium bodied and a pleasure to smoke. I have a Toro on deck to sample, which I look forward to, but the Robusto was of exceptional quality, and is reasonably priced. BnB Inernational has an online store where these can be purchased, which is not to be confused with the BnB Tobacco which has been a long time advertiser on CigarCraig.com.

Since it was a Southern Draw Cigars Event I lit up a Jacobs Ladder Lancero out of the white Ignite jar. They had both the white and black jars on the counter, and one had a white band and one had a dark band, but they were the same cigars. Give the upcoming podcast episode a listen for information on the Ignite project, it’s a charity cigar, and Southern Draw is all about giving back, which is admirable, and I’ve seen a lot of cigar companies with good intentions end up failing, and Robert is doing the exact opposite. my only criticism is that if you don’t know what this is, the bands really don’t identify it, no where on either band does it say “Southern Draw” at all. I suppose I should have asked Robert about this at the time, I didn’t really even notice until I got home and put cigars away. If you know, you know, but if you don’t, you’re in for a rough research project. I can see a conversation in a cigar store something like “I had this great cigar, it has a band that said “Top Rung”, do you have that, I want to buy a box. it had a white and copper band with some Latin on it too.” Like when I worked in a record store and people would come in and say “I heard this song on the radio, it went something like la la la love la la…. do you have that one?” Anyway, I’m a big fan of the Southern Draw Jacobs Ladder, as a matter of fact, last winter it was wicked cold and I was walking Macha and I was wearing mittens and smoking my last Jacobs Ladder Toro. I was almost home and realized I no longer had the cigar in my hand. I panicked and turned around and retraced my steps to find my cigar on the street, fortunately undamaged, so I could finish it. I love the larger ring gauge in this blend, but the lancero version is spectacular as well. Robert loves that format, so his lanceros always seem to be on point. Smoked slow, the dark, bitter espresso flavors are right there, over smoked and it will be too harsh, but a nice, slow pace and this lancero is good to the last drop.

Thursday brought a Cornelius and Anthony event back at BnB. I decided to brave rush hour traffic and spent a good half an hour longer than usual on the Schuylkill Expressway and head back to see my friends Todd Vance and Miguel Montanez, along with Vince and Brian. Bnb is a great little shop packed to the rafters with great cigars, I recommend visiting if you find yourself in the Philadelphia area. Anyway, I grabbed myself a Cornelius and Anthony The Gent Toro and repaired to the rocking chairs on the sidewalk in front of the store with Todd to enjoy the cigar. The Gent is quickly moving up my list of favorite Cornelius and Anthony cigars, I’ve now smoked the Robusto, Gordo and Toro, and, as per usual, the Toro stands out as my favorite, although it’s a very fine line in this blend, they have all been quite good. The price is really good on these too, it may be the lowest priced cigar in the Cornelius and Anthony line, and it’s the only box pressed cigar. This is a cigar that may become a household name around here. I know my amigo CigarProp Kevin dug this one, as well as the Cornelius, and who can blame him on that, what’s not to like? Hunt down CigarProp on Youtube and check out Kevins videos, by the way. Speaking of Cornelius, I smoked a Lonsdale earlier in the week which was spectacular! It’s right up there with the Toro as my favorite of the brand. I dream of one day seeing a classic Churchill in the Cornelius blend, I think the 7″ x 47 would be drool-worthy. Spoiler alert: I’m going to go through the humidor and pick out some cigars for a contest coming up this week, definitely stay tuned.

Robert gifted me a 300 (trescientos, gotta remember that!) Manos Corona Gorda at the event which I eagerly smoked Friday afternoon. This cigar has Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, a binder from Cameroon, and a blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers and is the “natural” version, with the 300 Hands being the Maduro version having a Nicaraguan wrapper and Indonesian binder. These two cigars are meant to spotlight the number of people involved in making a premium cigar, and is another project that gives back to those people through charitable donations by Southern Draw. Again, check out the upcoming podcast episode where we talk about this in detail. This is a very reasonably priced cigar, considering the quality of construction, flavor and the fact that some of your dollars are going to help people. There is a lot of nice, clean tobacco flavor in this cigar, the Cameroon binder adds that neat nutty little sweetness that I like, and the cigar just tastes good. this is a winner and I can’t wait to try the 300 Hands.

I smoked a bunch of other cigars this week, a Cornelius and Anthony Venganza, a Wiseman Maduro, a Protocol Lancero, a Providencia El Santo and a Punch Diablo, which were all excellent, and have either been covered here before, or I have future plans to write about. All of them were yummy, not a bad cigar in the bunch, I’m enjoying a good stretch of cigars, at least, I could use some luck in some other areas! Again, watch for an upcoming podcast and contest! So, that’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as BNB Cigars, cigar, cigars, Cornelius and Anthony, Southern Draw

by CigarCraig | July 20, 2018 · 10:54 am

Two New Cigars: The Gent and The Mistress from Cornelius and Anthony

One of the big things I miss about not going to the IPCPR show is getting early access to new cigars, there’s a list of stuff I’m looking forward to trying. Perhaps Sunday’s post will cover some of the cigars I hope to try based on news I’ve heard from or before the show. Fortunately, when my friends at Cornelius and Anthony heard I wasn’t making it to the show this year, they were kind enough to send a parcel my way with a couple of their new offerings, the Gent and the Mistress. I posted a news item on this back on July 5th, but I had seen ads for these in industry publications months ago and was intrigued, being a fan of the brand. There are very few brands where I can say I like every cigar in their portfolio, this is one. I have a least favorite, but I still would smoke it over a lot of other cigars. So I was excited to try the Gent and Mistress, which are limited production.

The Gent is a box pressed cigar, in this case a 5″ x 52is robusto, with a Rosado wrapper of undisclosed origin (Ecuador?), a US (believe it to be Virginia) binder, and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. Like all other cigars in the line, save for the Cornelius, this and the Mistress are made at La Zona in Esteli. These are also available in Corona Gorda (5 ½” x 46), Toro (6″ x 50), Gordo (6″ x 60), I look forward to trying the Toro as I almost always find the toro to be my favorite vitola across the board int he Cornelius and Anthony brand, but that’s just me. Anyway, I believe the Gent to be the first box press in the range, and it’s a very suave and sophisticated cigar. It’s not without some strength, as a gentleman should have, but it’s character is very refined and elegant. There’s some spice, and some pleasant flavor, and I really enjoyed this cigar quite a bit. I highly recommend this cigar, and it climbs into the top five in my favorite C&A cigar list.

The Mistress is in the round, also was the robusto version, and is offered in the same sizes as the Gent above. The cigar has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, the US binder (presumably Virginia again, I’m making assumptions based on the company owner’s ties to Virginia family tobacco operations going back generations) and Pennsylvania filler. There is nothing I can find anywhere that indicates that there is anything but PA tobacco in the filler, this would have been great to have included in last week’s post about cigars with PA tobacco! Unlike a Gent, a Mistress carries a less wholesome connotation. I’m sure mistresses can be nice people, but let’s face it, they are involved in cheating and deceit, and this one might have been a deceitful bitch! First, I was mightily impressed with the strength, and it takes some strength to be the other woman, I suppose (or stupidity, never had one, don’t plan on getting one!). It had great rich flavor, and a load of spice and sweetness that I really dug. As I took the band off and got ready to finish it up, I started to feel the power of this strumpet, she was having her way with me. I put her down at this point, and went in to the house and found the metaphorical stuffed bunny in the pot on the stove (this is a movie reference), tried to get some sugar, but ended up hugging porcelain and having a bad night all around. Now, not blaming the cigar, maybe it was something I ate. As a cigar geek, the thought went through my mind to have another one to see if it did the same thing again, but I really wasn’t feeling that masochistic right away…if it was the cigar, she’s a sneaky bitch, be careful around her! Wow, not sure if I should have included all that, might not present the cigar in the best light…let’s go with bad food, yeah, that’s it, dinner didn’t agree with me, bad coincidence. I still want to try the toro!

Of course, I was gun-shy after having a bad night so I dialed back last night I smoked the Cornelius and Anthony Aeriel Corona Gorda to complete the C&A trifecta for the week. This is a great Ecuador Connecticut Shade wrapped cigar that’s by no means mild, but full of flavor and burns well. I can’t say I prefer this in one size over the other, as the Corona Gorda is a great representation of the blend, but it might just be because the smaller ring gives the impression that there’s a bit more strength than a larger gauge. Another great cigar from La Zona and Cornelius and Anthony. Despite my experience with the Mistress, give it a try and let me know what your findings are, I really am curious (and a little sadistic, maybe?). I’ve got a lot going on and I’d love to eliminate the cigar from the possible cause of my distress the other night!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Aerial, cigar, cigars, Cornelius and Anthony, Gent, Mistress

by CigarCraig | July 5, 2018 · 9:32 am

News: Cornelius & Anthony to Release The Gent & Mistress

From the “better late than never” file, here’s the details on Cornelius & Anthony’s two new releases. I these mentioned in a trade publication some time ago, and was waiting for the press release, then kinda felt left out when I started seeing it come out around the blogosphere. This morning I was scouring Gmail for another unrelated email and came across this one in the “spam” folder! Thanks Google! So, it’s not particularly breaking news, but, as a fan of the brand, I would be remiss if I didn’t pass on the details.

Cornelius & Anthony Premium Cigars is proud to release The Gent and Mistress lines at this summer’s 2018 IPCPR trade show in Las Vegas. Both The Gent and Mistress are produced at the La Zona factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Both lines will be released in 4 sizes and presented in boxes of 20. The Gent and Mistress are limited production releases only available to retailers attending the 2018 IPCPR. They will be available again next summer, 2019.

THE GENT

The Gent is a cigar that takes sophistication to the next level. From the feel of its velvety Ecuadorian Rosado wrapper in your hand, to a finish that is silky smooth; The Gent exudes an elegance of flavor that is unforgettable.

Gentle spice from richly aged Nicaraguan and Honduran filler tobaccos warm the senses. Together with a perfect hint of sweetness from our US grown binder, The Gent has a beautiful depth of flavor. This box-pressed cigar has a legendary refinement that draws you in from the first puff to the very last. This luxurious blend is one you

MISTRESS

The Mistress is an intoxicating blend intended to ignite your senses.

This multi-faceted cigar is dense with bold flavor. Robust filler tobaccos from Pennsylvania provide a hearty spice that will arouse your palate. Wanton sweetness from our US grown binder along with an alluring Ecuadorian Habano wrapper unify this spice; creating a cigar with unmatched depth and character.

Made with passion, the Mistress is incomparably balanced and delivers vivid flavor from start to finish.

Variety is the spice of [cigar] life!