Tag Archives: Dignity

by CigarCraig | January 29, 2014 · 7:00 pm

Dignity, Alec Bradley Nica Puro, Ezra Zion and Foundry CE&M Carbon Cigars

Thanks for all of the positive feedback on my last post. It just frustrated the heck out of me when states want to do stupid things like declaring that you can’t smoke in a cigar store (or private anything…don’t get me started!) when there are so many other more productive things they could be worrying about! Anyway, despite the frigid weather, I managed to smoke some cigars this week.

I made the mistake of taking this Churchill sized Dignity White Gold Reserve cigar for my Saturday afternoon walk. First off, this cigar is 7” x 52 with a slight box press. Don Juan Gross, the man behind Dignity Cigars, and a very cool guy, gave this to me at the IPCPR show last year. Here’s the blurb from the website:

“A rich medium body, spicy aroma and a sweet tangy pop of caramelized flavor nicely accented with a light note of spice perfect for a summer evening. This unique cigar is composed of tobacco all from the same plant and aged over 3-years.”

Here’s why I say I made a mistake selecting this cigar: the part above about it being perfect for a summer evening sounds about right. The delicate flavors of this cigar got lost in the cold, winter air. I do have to ask Don Juan about the “tobacco all from the same plant” line, as that just seems like a logistical nightmare that would make the cigar’s cost out of reach of your everyday Saudi prince. I can’t imagine being able to track 4 or 5 leaves from one plant for 3 years through the curing, fermenting and aging process. Perhaps I’m reading too much into that verbiage, but it just sounds like an outlandish claim. I am glad I have one more example of this cigar that I can save for a summer evening, and that can’t come soon enough!

Sunday evening I went to a cigar that’s one if the cigars on my go-to list, the Alec Bradley Nica Puro Robusto. There are a handful of cigars that I can count on to satisfy me, cigars I smoke when I want to enjoy a cigar without having to think too hard about it. We had a busy afternoon with our daughter and granddaughters, and the dog needed walking so I grabbed one of these and hit the road. It’s a well made, great tasting cigar that’s on the stronger side of medium. It’s a cigar that I put up there with the Nica Rustica, Joya de Nicaragua Antaño 1970 and Dark Corojo and the 601 La Bomba in terms of personal satisfaction and enjoyment. Not to say it’s the same as any of those, and none of them are the same as the others, but they are all cigars that consistently float my boat and are ones I reach for when I just want to enjoy a cigar without thinking.

Monday evening I selected a Ezra Zion Inception robusto which I had purchased last summer when I went to hang out with Kyle, Chris and The Don, the guys behind Ezra Zion Cigars and Cigar Federation, at a local shop (The Wooden Indian). These are now called Jamais Vu instead of Inception, and I think that’s because JSR Cigar Distributors in Texas also has a brand called Inception and the Ezra Zion guys, being the nice guys that they are, backed off of the name to avoid a trademark issue. I always appreciate when I hear about folks in the cigar industry resolving their differences in a civil, gentlemanly manner. Inception or Jamais Vu, it’s a tasty smoke, although again the cold weather may have been a detriment to this cigar. I gave it a V cut, and when I got back from my walk and into some light I noticed some really gross tar bubbling from the cut. I’m quite please that none of that nastiness came in contact with my tongue or lips, or it would have been all over! I cut the end off (twice) and the cigar finished off fine. These are really nice cigars, reasonably powerful, dark flavors and good strength, it would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the goo. Second lesson learned, no V cuts when the ambient temperature is below about 25 degrees Fahrenheit (the first was not to smoke mild cigars in the cold). One piece of advice, if you ever have the misfortune of encountering the oozing tar and cut it off, make sure you give that cutter a good cleaning afterwards.

Tuesday evening I grabbed a Foundry Compounds, Elements and Musings Carbon which I had picked up last week when I visited Goose’s Tobacco Lounge. This cigar is listed at 5 ½” x 60, but doesn’t really feel like a 60 ring gauge, not sure why. It’s also listed as being made with Nicaraguan and “lower 48” tobacco, which I guess means that there’s absolutely no tobacco from Hawaii or Alaska. there is also something refered to as “Smoke It”, which could either be a mystery tobacco, or simple instructions. Honestly, I don’t care where the tobacco in this cigar came from because it’s delicious. This is a $5.00 cigar here in Pennsylvania, and worth every dime. My only complaint was that the cap had almost nothing holding it on and really wanted to unravel on me after I gave it a full cut (not taking chances!). It worked out OK, though, some salivary juices stuck everything back where they belonged and I was treated to a really nice cigar. It was a little bold in a smooth way, like smoking a Hershey’s Special Dark candy bar. The flavor cut through the cold air nicely and I hated to put this cigar down. The Foundry site has very little information, but according to the information at Cigar-Coop.com, this is a regular production cigar and that’s a good thing. I can see picking up some more of these, although I don’t think a box is in my future as these come in boxes of 75. The Carbon is a solid smoke for the money, if you come across some, give them a try. I think they are yummy, and when I put it next to the Compounds, Elements and Musings Vanadium I get my initials!

Remember, the Famous Smoke Shop Coupon Codes expire Friday. Get over there and use them or we may not see coupon codes from them again! I used one myself, so I know they work.

Discount codes:

CAPULET5 – Free 5-pack of Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet with any $75+ purchase

MONTAGUE5 – Free 5-pack of Romeo y Julieta House of Montague with any $75+ purchase

CAPULET20 – $20 off any $100+ purchase of Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet

MONTAGUE20 – $20 off any $100+ purchase of Romeo y Julieta House of Montague

Another coupon code you can use is from our newest sponsor, BuyDiscountCigars.com. You can get $5 off your order if you use the code “CigarCraig”. Welcome aboard! They seem to get some good stuff over there, give them a look.

This video is always on the left sidebar, but please check it out again. We shot this back in August of 2012 and it’s as relevant today as it was then. Please have a look again and join Cigar Rights of America if you haven’t already.

httpv://youtu.be/Z0AKcX7olKI

That’s all I got, until the next time,

CigarCraig

7 Comments

Filed under Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as Alec Bradley, Carbon, cigar, cigars, Dignity, Ezra Zion, Foundry, general cigars

by CigarCraig | September 29, 2013 · 11:09 am

Stooges and Stogies©, A Toraño, and Undercrown and a Dignity Cigar

Three Stooges Cigar Band Magnet Last night we attended the very first Stooges and Stogies© event hosted by Chester County, PA author Jim Breslin. Jim had his friend Chris set up an outdoor screen and a projector (the old fashioned kind with reels and film!), set out a spread and had some kegs of microbrews on tap, and we watched Three Stooges shorts all night. I thought this was a great idea and took along some cigars to share. Of course, Stogies and Stooges go together, there were stogies present in several of the episodes we watched, which ranged from the early original Moe, Larry, Curly line up, wartime Moe, Larry, Shemp editions, to some later episodes featuring Moe, Larry and Joe Besser. Hilarity ensued. I lit up a Casa Toraño Maduro Lancero for the pre-screening meet and greet and it was perfect. The Lancero size needs to me smoked slowly, so it’s almost the perfect size for socializing. Of course, I really enjoy the flavor of this maduro, lots of chocolate and espresso and it couldn’t have burned better. I was almost tempted to light up another one when I came across an Undercrown Corona Viva in my case. This may be my number one repeat cigar, I’ve smoked a bunch of these over the past year and they never are a disappointment. They are terrific dark, rich cigars that suit my palate. I paired both cigars with a frosty bottle of Reeds Extra Ginger Brew and laughter.

Here are a few pictures from the event:

This was a great idea for an event, thank you to Jim and his wife for hosting it and inviting us to enjoy it along with you. Well done!

Rewinding a little, earlier in the week I took a walk with a nice Dignidad Del Hombre Orudam X Torpedo from Dignity Cigars. I first met Don Juan Gross at the 2011 IPCPR show. It’s funny the things that stick in your head, it was at the General Cigar reception at a nightclub called Lavo, I think, when I walked up to the bar to get a Coke and Don Juan introduced himself. I talked to him at his booth the next day, and have seen him at the shows for the last two years, but we never managed to get time for an interview (one of several regrets I have from this past year’s show). Don Juan makes some fine cigars in Costa Rica, and is based out of California. Super nice guy. Anyway, he laid this Torpedo on me in Vegas and I just got around to smoking it. It started off with a really nice sweetness and burned arrow straight. about half way through there was a flavor change, and I don’t often pick up on those. I’m sure they happen all the time, but I’m either not paying attention or don’t have the palate to discern them. Anyway, I picked up a distinct bitter flavor, not a bad flavor, it just amused me that it switched from sweet to bitter that quick. I think I have a couple more specimens from the Dignity line floating around, so I’ll be looking forward to revisiting it. I know I have an enormous Diadema measuring 9 ¼” x 55 from his SMOKE OF ART series that he gave me last year that I just haven’t found the time to smoke. If you run across the Dignity line, give it a try, and if you have a chance to meet Don Juan Gross, take advantage of it, he’s a super nice guy.

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

CigarCraig

1 Comment

Filed under Events, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Dignidad Del Hombre, Dignity, drew estate, Three Stoooges, Toraño, undercrown

by CigarCraig | November 20, 2011 · 2:58 pm

A Monte Pascoal, an ORTSAC 1962, a CAO OSA Sol and a Video

My Wednesday “Take a Cigar for a Walk” cigar was a Monte Pascoal Belicoso courtesy of Wes Gensel at Monte Pascoal. I recently included one of these in a prize pack and figured it might be a good idea to sample one myself before I give them all away! This is a 5½ x 52 belicoso that really burned well. It’s a Brazilian puro that has a very nice, well balanced flavor. I often think of Brazilian wrappers being maduro, which this one is not, but I’d love to try this cigar with an Arapiraca wrapper. One does not often find a Brazilian puro, but this is one to seek out and try.

Friday I took the heater out on the back deck and fired up an ORTSAC 1962 Bulletproof Robusto. I got this from the IPCPR show, where an old friend happened to be working in the booth. Mike introduced me to Victor Vitale who gave me the tour. I included a video of Victor talking about this cigar before (here). I think the name ORTSAC is dumb, I don’t mind saying it. However, it’s a well made and reasonably tasty cigar, although it wasn’t overly distinctive to me. One of the interesting things about this cigar is that it comes packaged in a ballistic nylon/kevlar “box”, which really does nothing to enhance the flavor of the cigar, but it is kind of neat and stands out on the shelf. Again, dumb name, pretty OK cigar.

Saturday’s “Take a Cigar for a Walk” cigar was an CAO OSA Sol Lot 54. This is a hefty 6 x 54 cigar that I’ve enjoyed before. I really enjoyed this one. In the past, I’ve thought that the Lot 50 was better, and that may be true, but this particular example was much better than the previous one I smoked. These have a “bright”, kind of refreshing flavor to them that I enjoy. Good for a mile or so and the necessary “cool down” in the front porch afterward.

Since I don’t have too much to say this time around, so I thought I’d include a video from the IPCPR show. I met Don Juan of Dignity Cigars at a General Cigar event which was held at a swanky night club. I had just wandered in and was at the bar to get a Coke and he introduced himself. We made arrangements to meet the following day on the show floor. He gave me one of his organically grown and eco-friendly Costa Rican puros at the time and I recall enjoying it, although it’s really hard to pay a lot of attention to samples smoked at the show. Needless to say, I didn’t take notes, but I will pick one up to re-sample the next time I come across one. Here’s a little video from the show, standard volume disclaimers and apologies apply! Thank you to Don Juan for taking the time to talk to me, he’s a super nice guy!