Tag Archives: CRA

by | April 17, 2022 · 9:42 am

Upmann, CAO and Black Label Trading Co. Cigars and a Rant

 

There seem to be few cigars in Altadis portfolio that fit my preferences. I probably say this every time I post about an Altadis cigar, and it probably doesn’t endear me to the marketing folks there! I do have some friends there that are aware of my feelings. I keep trying though. There are exceptions, and I can pretty much count on enjoying anything Altadis produces in conjunction with A.J. Fernandez. I smoked the z Nicaragua Heritage by A.J. Fernandez in the Toro size this week and was pretty surprised.  This is a 6″ x 54 toro with a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper. The binder and fillers are all Nicaraguan tobaccos grown by A.J. Fernandez. I found this to be a powerhouse cigar, much stronger than I expected. I likened to to the Gispert Intenso. I personally liked it a lot, but I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who enjoys the original H. Upmann by A.J. (which I also enjoy!). It’s a totally different cigar, the difference between a Latte and an espresso, I would imagine.

 

I’ve had the occasion to smoke a couple of the new CAO Pilón Ańejo cigars over the past couple weeks, and the one I smoked yesterday was fairly impressive. The first one I smoked maybe wasn’t rested sufficiently from it’s travels. This 5½” x 54 robusto has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper. The blend is rich and savory, consisting of Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers,  a Honduran Habano binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. Curiously, this is a different blend than the original Pilón, which has an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan binder. That kind of blows my plan of doing a back to back comparison between the two! I like Sumatra wrapped cigars, so this one works for me. It was a good, smooth cigar without any problems. I found it to be enjoyable, pleasing woody flavors without much sweetness. A good cigar. I may still pull out a Pilón from the original release and see how it stack up against this one, just for kicks. 

 

OK, here’s my rant of the week. I know it’s Easter Sunday, and happy Easter and passover for those of you who celebrate. Earlier this week the CRA posted this meme, and the subsequent apology, on their Facebook page, and it caused a bit of a kerfuffle.

There were those who defended it, thought it was funny, etc. While it might be funny in a Facebook group that is predominantly a men’s social group, it’s not the kind of thing I believe the folks at Cigar Rights of America should be devoting their resources to. Let’s set aside the misogynistic nature of the meme, make no mistake, the divisiveness of the message was no small part of the backlash that this caused. I take issue with the fact that I’m paying the CRA to advocate on behalf of the cigar industry, and I have been since 2009. It’ not a lot of money, but the point is that our money isn’t to pay for an entertaining Facebook group. Whoever is running things there, and I don’t think that’s clear since Glynn Loope left, should be posting legislative updates up the page, not funnies. The CRA complains about membership and wants to be taken seriously and fails to set a good example of why they should be in a public forum. I hold them to a higher standard. I think their apology missed this point. Anyway, that got my hackles up this week!

 

Last night I went over to Son’s Cigars where James and Angela Brown (and Levi) from Black Label Trading Co. were there holding an event. This was possibly the biggest event at the shop since they opened last summer. Angela Brown is rarely at events, and I had only met her at an IPCPR show several years ago, so it was nice to see her again. there was a contingent there from Mane Street Cigars in Woodbridge, NJ for the event, and I’ve known Alex, who manages the shop, for many years (here’s the story of when I met Alex). I selected and smoked a Lawless Churchill, 7″ x 48 (close enough), with an Ecuador Habano Rosado wrapper and Nicaraguan Binder and fillers. This was a delicious cigar, it’s really right in my wheelhouse. It has rich, dark fruit and cocoa flavors. I must grab a handful next week when I’m back at the shop. It might be one of my favorites in the line. Lovely cigar, lovely people, good times. 

 

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

 

CigarCraig 

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by | July 8, 2018 · 10:40 am

Some Classic Fuentes, A La Madrina and a Murcielago Cigar

Once again, there’s been a lot of news in the cigar world this week, the best of which was the announcement that the warning label requirement has been delayed (here, and Forbes has a nice piece about it too.).  I don’t understand the logic behind requiring cigar boxes to have warning labels covering 30% of the box when cigarettes have no such requirement, nor do I want my website covered in warning labels. It’s ridiculous. We better start putting warning labels on cars, trucks and buses, then! It’s all quite annoying. What’s also annoying is the next time there’s a call to action in the cigar community and there are less than 30k responses, there’s a certain Facebook group that likes to brag about how many members it has, but that number doesn’t mean crap if they don’t do anything when it matters! Contacting your elected officials really does make a difference, unlike the FDA, these people are obligated to read your opinions. Let me get off my Sunday morning soapbox and get on to this week’s cigars!

 

HdM Epi 2It was Independence Day week, also my wedding anniversary, and I used to smoke a nice Havana cigar as a form of civil disobedience to celebrate, but that’s not that much of a thing any more, it’s just a tradition now. I selected my last Hoyo de Monterey Epicure no. 2 that was gifted to me around six years ago, so I figured it would be ready to go. For a change, I only had to have one Cuban cigar, because this one worked right!  It was sweet, floral and medium bodied, and the floral finish stayed with me quite a long time. We went to a friends for a picnic and I enjoyed the finish throughout the day (I had packed plenty of cigars, but it turned out to be a non-cigar crowd, so I waited until I got home). This one came from an Englishman, and it was really quite good. People

 

ArturoFuente_Anjejo50After the picnic, while sitting on the porch listening to Pennsylvanians enjoy their newly legal big-boy fireworks which scare my poor dog into hiding under an end table, I lit an Arturo Fuente Añejo No. 50. I had smoked a Hemingway Classic earlier in the week, there are certain cigars I like to keep in the humidor and smoke every now and then, these are two of them, although the Añejo is less of a “classic” than the Classic, I Fuente_HemingwayClassic_Maduroguess.  The aptly named Classic has basically tasted the same for the last 20 years that I remember smoking them, an amazing feat. The Añejo is a particularly appealing cigar to me. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper aged in Cognac barrels, and the binder and filler was originally the Opus X blend, because they lost an Opus wrapper crop one year and put broadleaf on instead. Whether this is still the case or not, I don’t know, but it’s a delicious cigar with great flavor. I can’t wait to brew up a Moka pot of Fuente Espresso with one of these.

 

La Madrina ToroI continued working through the Dapper Cigars samples from last year’s IPCPR show, and the La Madrina captured my attention. Like the El Borracho last week, they go into detail on their website about the make-up of the blend which borders on the ridiculous. Here’s what they have to say about the blend of the La Madrina: Wrapper: Ecuador / La Luchita / Cuban Seed Habano / Oliva Tobacco Co; Binder: Mexico / San Andrés / San Andrés de los Perros S.A. de C.V.; Fillers: Nicaragua / Esteli / Guadalupe / Oliva Tobacco Co.; Nicaragua / Jalapa / Cofradía Relleno / Oliva Tobacco Co; Dominican Republic / Habano ‘92 / (Undisclosed) / Oliva Tobacco Co, U.S. / Pennsylvania Broadleaf / Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Co.. We are seeing more and more vague blend descriptions due to looming FDA regulations, and I made the comparison last week to Steve Saka, and he’s said himself that he’s backed off from specificity in this regard for this reason. They can pretty much say “US tobacco” and “Imported” tobacco, and get away with just about anything. Anyway, that’s a whole ‘nother discussion. The La Madrina was a tasty smoke, which I enjoyed to a finger burning little nub. This was the 5 ¼” x 54 Toro (confusing, the Robusto is 5.62 x 50 and the Toro is 5 ¼ x 54, and Dapper Cigars website doesn’t come up in a google search…so much confusion!)  Anyway, there is a lot of nice flavor going on with this, nuttyness, dark chocolate, rich tobacco, I liked it a lot. It’s interesting to see PA Broadleaf in the filler, I have some cigars with PA tobacco lined up this week. Good stuff.

 

Murcielago_ToroGrandeLast night I smoked the new Espinosa Murcielago made at AJ Fernandez new San Lotano Factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua. The size was a Toro Grande at 6½” x 54 with a box press, a San Andrès wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers. I’ve been a fan of the first two iterations of this brand, and was hopeful that this would continue to work for me, and wasn’t disappointed. Great smoke, nice balance of spice and sweetness, with the dark flavors I love. It was an easy two hours of enjoyment, the construction was what one expects from AJ Fernandez, and is consistent with Espinosa’s  brands.  This size might be a CI exclusive, I picked it up at the Hamburg store last winter when we were there for an Espinosa event, as I don’t see the size listed on the Espinosa website (also hard to find in a Google search, whats up with that, is is just me?) The Bat continues to impress, loved it when it was Eddie Ortega’s favorite cigar and it was made at My Father, love the third generation.

 

That’s enough for now. It’ll be interesting to see what this week brings as the IPCPR starts next weekend. will it be a busy news week again or will everyone be busy moving stuff to Vegas, bitching about various things, heat, unions, viruses, etc…I’ll miss seeing everyone, but some things I won’t miss!  Safe travels to everyone going!  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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by | May 14, 2017 · 8:38 am

Joya de Nicaragua, La Sirena and Tatuaje Cigars and a Contest Winner

MiQuerida_AnchoCortaI continued this week’s cigar version of comfort food, smoking cigars I know I love and won’t disappoint. I just haven’t felt adventurous lately. I have some cigars I need to get around to smoking, I just felt like going with great cigars. I sat down and started writing this forgetting I had written about the Mi Querida from Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust on Wednesday. Since I didn’t want to abandon what I wrote, here it is:  Mi Querida is named after Gomez Addam’s often used pet name for his wife, Morticia in the ’60s sitcom The Addams Family…no, that’s not right, it’s actually an idiom for “my mistress”, side-chick or as they say in South Philly, “Goomad” (Saka couldn’t use “Goomad” because Antony Renzulli of Twin Smoke Shoppe named the Churchill in his La Zona made Renzulli line that). By now you’ve read everywhere that the Mi Querida is Saka’s broadleaf cigar, and it’s made at the NACSA factory in Esteli. This factory is better known for making inexpensive bundle cigars like Manteqilla, La Primadora, Villar y Villar, and part of them making Mi Querida, a true premium cigar, was Steve offering his manufacturing expertise to help that factory up their game, so to speak. Anyway, it’s a terrific smoke, and after smoking several sizes in the line, I think this robusto up there among my favorites, although I wouldn’t say no to any of the sizes. Sobremesa was the sophisticated, nuanced offering, Mi Querida is the straight-forward, sweet broadleaf maduro, full bodied flavor bomb. Yummy, well made and a staple in my humidor. I really need to get my hands on some Umbagogs!

 

Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo El Martillo - @joyacigarsAnyway, on with the current smokes of the week. Another all time favorite of mine is the Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo. I had a couple in the 5½” x 54 El Martillo size that Willie Herrera stuffed in my hand at the 2014 Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival. I distinctly remember the occasion, because he was smoking a Villiger Trill, which was relatively new at the time, commented that it was good,  and I was able to educate him on the origin of the cigar. Anyway, I dig the Antaño Dark Corojo a little more than I dig the regular Antaño 1970 line, which I dig a lot. It overwhelms the palate with strong, sweet, spicy and savory flavors and never fails to satisfy my palate. I’ve visited the factory twice and I love the place, along with most of the cigars they produce! There are very few Joya’s I don’t enjoy (the newer Red may be my least favorite), Rosalones, Sobremesa, Fratello…all great smokes from the oldest factory in Nicaragua.

 

LaSirena_DubloonFriday evening I went big. The Salamon is traditionally a 7¼” x 54 figurado, in the Diadamas family, a sizable cigar. The La Sirena Dubloon is exactly this size, is a Nicaraguan puro that was made at the My Father Factory. It has a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper over dual binders of Nicaraguan Habano and Corojo, and Nicaraguan Criollo and Corojo fillers. These were very limited and came in a box of eight, which I am half way through. This box came into my possession four years ago or so, and has been resting comfortably. This is a glorious size for a cigar, given you have the time to smoke one, and given that it’s properly made. With most cigars that are perfecto shaped, where they taper to a nipple at the foot, they are often a bit tight on the draw for the first puff or two. This particular one had a great draw out of the gate, and just kept getting better! It was meaty, savory and exactly what I was yearning for at the end of the week. Beautiful cigar, both in appearance and performance. I doubt there are many of these left in the wild, but if you can find some, grab them. I’ve smoked plenty of both the My Father and La Zona production La Sirenas and love them,  I think the blend ages very well.

 

Tatuaje_Black_CRA ToroYesterday it rained all day. It was cold, wet and nasty. After a trip to a local mall, where I stopped in to check out International Tobacco and see how their transition to new owners has come along (very well stocked, including the new 60 ring Davidoff’s which I passed on due to the $20+ prices. Not that the price was out of line, I just wasn’t feeling it). It’s great to have an oasis in the mall to get away from the hustle and bustle and and relax with a cigar occasionally. I came home and retired to the porch with a cigar that came from the “Oh F*ck I’m Lost” Tatuaje event pack that I had picked up last month. I’m a big fan of the Tatuaje brand, although I’m not a geek about chasing the rare cigars, or memorizing all the details, I wish I was, but there’s too much going on there for my grey matter to process. I asked Pete Johnson what was in the pack, and there were some Pudgy Monsters, something Tatuaje CRA Torocalled a Cheesesteak, and this Black Label CRA toro. I’m guessing this was from the batch that the CRA gives out with a membership or sells in the ten pack. I have a handful of CRA cigars that I’ve amassed over the 8 years I’ve been a member, but never got a Tatuaje. This cigar was incredible. Rarely am I this impressed with a cigar, it was perfection. The flavor was smooth as silk, but there was plenty of it. It had a unique spice flavor that grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go.  Holy crap this was a good smoke. I’ll have to check out some of the larger vitolas in  the Black line as I don’t remember this flavor, perhaps it’s unique to this special edition. It was worthy of the Poke and Smoke tool.

 

Contest!

To recap, the Philly Cigar Festival is only a couple weeks away, and since I can’t go, John, one of the organizers, graciously offered to allow me to give away my ticket. There are no strings attached to this, but I would be happy to post any pictures and /or feedback from the winners here on my site after the event. In this case, I want to live vicariously!  So I sorted through the entries, and consulted the random number generator, and came up with the number 6, which corresponds to Andrew Tomkovich. Please send me your contact info so I can get you your ticket.  Thanks again to the folks at the Philly Cigar Festival, I’m truly sorry I can’t make it.

 

That’s it for now, don’t forget it’s Mother’s Day! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | July 15, 2016 · 12:17 pm

IPCPR, CAA & CRA File Lawsuit Against FDA Today

I don’t usually post press releases, but I thought this one was important enough to pass along. Posted from my phone, so pardon the formatting.

Three major cigar and tobacco industry associations file suit against FDA’s deeming rule

CAA, IPCPR, & CRA ask District Court of Washington D.C. for declaratory injunction

For Immediate Release: July 15, 2016

WASHINGTON D.C. – The three major cigar and tobacco industry associations filed suit Thursday against the United States Food and Drug Administration’s “Deeming Rule.” The Cigar Association of America, International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association, and the Cigar Rights of America are asking the District Court for the District of Columbia for a declaratory injunction “vacate, set aside and enjoin the enforcement of the final rule” because it is violates numerous federal statutes as well as the federal rulemaking process. A full copy of the filing, which details nine counts against the FDA and the United States Department of Health and Human Services, can be found here (note: the link was not included in either press release I received).

“Just over one month ago, our three associations pledged to work together to develop the appropriate response to the FDA’s new deeming rule. After a thorough and detailed legal review, we are challenging this unlawful regulatory action in federal court to protect the statutory and constitutional rights of our industry and its members. The fact that all three of our organizations are acting in one voice speaks to the urgency and seriousness of this action,” said Mark Pursell, CEO of the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association.

The complaint challenges:

  • FDA’s improper application of the February 15, 2007 grandfather date to cigars and pipe tobacco, which subjects those products to more intrusive regulations than cigarettes and smokeless tobacco
  • FDA’s impermissible assessment of a tax in the form of user fees, and its allocation of these user fees only to cigars and pipe tobacco and not to other newly deemed products
  • FDA’s failure to perform an adequate cost-benefit analysis to take into account the effects of the Final Rule on small businesses as is required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act
  • FDA’s unjustified decision to require cigar health warning labels to be 30% of the two principal display panels of packages
  • FDA’s unlawful designation of tobacconists who blend finished pipe tobacco or create cigar samplers of finished cigars as “manufacturers,” which subjects those businesses to greater regulation than if they were “retailers”
  • FDA’s incorrect decision to regulate pipes as “components” or “parts” rather than as “accessories”

“The FDA ignored the law to craft these expansive and sweeping regulations and cannot justify many of the arbitrary and capricious regulations it purports to enact,” said Glynn Loope, Executive Director of Cigar Rights of America. “This lawsuit is a specific and detailed challenge to the FDA’s unprecedented assertion of rulemaking authority. “We are acting in one voice to protect the legal rights of our industry at all levels, from the manufacturer, the community retail tobacconist, to the adult patrons of cigars.”

Speaking about the lawsuit, Cigar Association of America President Craig Williamson said, “We all worked in good faith to inform and educate the FDA on the unique nature of our industry, its members and our consumers. We hoped the FDA would craft a flexible regulatory structure that accounted for the uniqueness of our industry. Instead, we got a broad, one-size-fits-all rule that fails to account for how cigars and premium cigars are manufactured, distributed, sold and consumed in the United States. The FDA exceeded its statutory authority and violated the federal rulemaking process when crafting this set of broad and sweeping regulations. This challenge asserts nine violations of federal law and rulemaking authority. We are asking the court to enjoin the enforcement of this unlawful regulatory scheme. We are confident that when the court reviews our case on its merits, we will prevail.”

Thanks to the CAA, IPCPR and CRA for their efforts to save the premium cigar industry.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | June 8, 2014 · 2:26 pm

Kristoff CRA, 601 Bunker Buster and La Jugada Cigars

I’ve been largely absent from writing and social media since my wife’s father passed away this week.  My wife has been busy making arrangements and tomorrow he’ll be laid to rest in New Jersey. I’m sure everyone understands why I missed my Wednesday post for the first time in several years.  I smoked many cigars with Mario over the years, I remember him telling me early on that cigars cooled you off on a hot day, and he had a story about coming through customs at the Canadian border with a three pack of Havanas, having them confiscated, and telling the agents “I hope you f**king enjoy them!”.  He would lick and chew up the cigars I gave him and ruin them, then complain about them not being too good. It didn’t matter to me really as I was happy to share. We lived with him for the last year and a half or so, so it’s going to be weird not having him around. May he rest in peace.

 

KristoffCRASince it’s been hectic around here, I haven’t really smoked too many notable cigars. Sunday I lit up a Kristoff maduro of some sort which came from the Cigar Rights of America, and I can’t recall which year I got it, maybe this year. I took my favorite summer chair out in the yard and enjoyed this maduro cigar while catching up on podcasts. It had a nice pigtail cap and closed foot, it was a really good looking cigar.  Since this is supposed to be a special blend just for the CRA, I don’t know the blend, nor will I speculate on it. It was reasonably heavy in body and full of dark, decadent flavors. I haven’t smoked a bunch of Kristoff cigars, but I should probably try some more based upon this cigar. I have about five more of these special CRA editions that I’ve accumulated over the years that I’ll get to in the near future.  Don’t forget, time is running out to leave your comments on the FDA site.  Just do it.

 

601_BunkerBusterLater in the day I realized it was June first, so I figured I’d smoke a 601 of some sort.  I had recently received some 601 La Bomba Bunker Buster, which is the newest micro-blend from Smoke Inn. This cigar is a 5 ½” x 56 box pressed figurado that’s lighter in the hand that one would expect. This cigar wasn’t as potent as it’s La Bomba cousins, and I smoked an Atom on Tuesday to get a bit of a comparison.  I enjoyed the Bunker Buster immensely on it’s own merit, but I don’t think it packed the punch for me that the regular line does.  It’s a really cool shape with a wide open draw and even burn, despite feeling under filled.  If you like the 601 line, you have to give these a try if you can, and even if you aren’t a strong cigar fan, try it because it’s not as strong as you’d think.

 

La Jugata Habano BelicosoLater in the week I smoked another cigar from Erik Espinosa’s La Zona factory (the 601 Atom might be a leftover from the My Father factory, it’s been in my humidor for a while), the La Jugada Habano.  This is another really great cigar with a perfect burn and draw, and full, rich flavors. This is a great cigar to take a nice long walk with. It’s a 6 1/8″ x 52 belicoso with a beautiful Ecuador Habano wrapper.  The website recommends a full meal before this one, but since it’s been a crazy week for me, I can’t remember what I ate, but it was a very good smoke.  I think both the Prieto and Habano lines are really good cigars from Moya Ruiz Cigars.

 

montecristo_petitedmundoYesterday, after the majority of guests left our home where the post-funeral reception was held, I lit up a little Montecristo Petit Edmundo that has been in the humidor for about a year.  This is a cool little robusto, measuring 4 3/8″ x 52, which is a unique vitola in the Havana range.  I picked this because it was pretty short and it was on the top row of the humidor.  I enjoyed this cigar so much that I picked up a toothpick to finish it off.  It had some sweetness and that unmistakable Cuban “twang”.  I felt like my father-in-law would have enjoyed this cigar.  I wished it had been longer, but it was tasty. While I don’t feel that Cuban cigars are really any better than Nicaraguan, Honduran, Dominican, etc. cigars, they certainly have a distinctive flavor that you don’t find in others, and I happen to enjoy it from time to time.  Real ones are worth sampling.

 

That’s it for today.  It’s been an exhausting week, more for my wife than me, so we’re trying to grab a little bit of normal while we have a chance. Tomorrow will be another busy day as we drive to New Jersey for the cemetery portion of the funeral.  Hopefully the coming weeks settle  down and we can get our bearings.  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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