Tag Archives: Eddie Ortega

An Ortega Mini Cigar, a Nestor Miranda and a Short Story

Ortega_Mini_MaduroIt’s been Maduro week so far!  Monday turned out to be very cold and windy, and after taking Macha on a car ride (she loves the car) to PetSmart for a little outing in lieu of out evening walk, I hit the back patio with an Ortega Mini Cigar in maduro.  Oddly, I was about to grab a little A. Flores Gran Reserva half corona when I came across the Ortega Mini Maduro from the 2013 IPCPR show. These are both made in the PDR factory in the Dominican Republic, which didn’t occur to me until I lit up the Ortega. I enjoy everything that I’ve smoked from Eddie Ortega, especially the Serie D maduros, and these little 4″ x 38 cigars are perfect for a half hour or so in my protected, but unheated patio.  It smokes like a much larger cigar, with all the richness and flavor. It’s kinda like the last half of a lancero without the time commitment.

 

Nestor Miranda Collection_Maduro_RobustoTuesday was a little better, although still pretty cold, so I went with a Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro in the 4½ x 50 Robusto size.  I’ve had the good fortune of smoking a few of these and it’s a really tasty cigar. It’s made in Don Pepin Garcia’s My Father factory, so it’s got a bit of the signature spice that one would expect, but is loaded with smooth, cocoa flavors and burns and draws exceptionally well. The new bands on these are very cool, the maduro having the red accents with black and silver foil, which makes it tricky for an amateur like me to photograph, but is quite striking otherwise.  This is a tasty smoke, as is it’s Habano wrapped sibling. I am looking forward to sampling the Ecuador Connecticut one of these days when the weather is better. I find that lighter cigars get lost in the cold weather, and the risk of the fragile wrapper splitting is greater.  Jason Wood at Miami Cigar an Co. did a really nice job on this line.

 
Tonight I got off to a late start after replacing the guts in one of the toilets. I’m hesitant to replace these commodes with modern ones, I never realized how much I missed the flushing power of the old three gallon flush johns.  Somehow it seems more efficient to use three gallons once, as opposed to 1.6 gallons twice or more.  Another case of shortsighted Fuente_ShortStory_Maduroover regulation I suppose.  Along those lines, I re-upped my CRA membership today, something everyone should do. Anyway, I just came in from enjoying the heck out of an Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story Maduro that I had bought 2 years ago.  A business associate just sent me a bag of Fuente cigars, and there was a Short Story Maduro in there, so I figured it was as good a time as any to burn the one I had been holding on to.  Because of the way the head of these is finished, I recommend a straight cut as opposed to the punch. There was a fold that the punch didn’t get and I wasn’t getting a good draw, even after burning through the perfecto tip.  A quick snip and it was free flowing broadleaf goodness all the way down to a tiny nub.  The Short Story has been a special treat for me for nearly twenty years, but the maduro is a relatively new version for me. I loved it, but there’s nothing quite like the Cameroon wrapped SS. Either way this is a cigar that should be experienced, if it seems pricey for such a little cigar, and I can get thing in the $6 range here in PA, I think it’s a classic, and a great value as it gives an excellent smoking experience.

 

That’s all I have for now. I have a cigar I need to smoke this week for an upcoming Prime Living Magazine article I’m in the midst of writing, you can check out my prior articles in the Gentleman’s Room area of their website.  This month features Arielle of La Sirena‘s Oceano, a very tasty smoke.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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IPCPR 2012 – Ortega Premium Cigars with Eddie Ortega

After starting off Saturday’s Delaware Cigar Festival with an Ortega Serie D maduro, I decided to fire up the Serie D No.8 natural that was a IPCPR show sample. It’s well documented that I love the Serie D maduro. The San Andreas maduro wrapper on that cigar is stunning and “D”licious and I’ve enjoyed several of the sizes offered. Of course, I was excited to sample the Natural version. The wrapper is an Ecuador Habano Rosado and is quite attractive. It burned wonderfully, but I got the sense that it was still a little young. Six months to a year in the humidor will do wonders for the already very nice smoke. I picked up a couple of these at the Delaware Cigar Festival and kind of regret not grabbing more of them, but there were so many other cigars there I wanted to try!

 

Here’s a little video from the IPCPR show with Eddie Ortega, one of the many folks in the cigar industry that I’m pleased to call a friend. Every time I see him he asks about my family and life and is just a tremendously cool dude.

 

http://youtu.be/1GnKamfvrTY

 

I was going to grab a Serie D Maduro tonight, but time got away from me so I grabbed an Cain Daytona No. 4 instead.  I love the Daytona line the best out of the Cain range of cigars, and this corona, along with the rare Lancero are my favorites!  Always well made and tasty!  I grabbed a few of these at the Delaware Cigar Festival also, and couldn’t resist firing one up.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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A 601 La Bomba, a San Lotano Oval, News and a Contest Winner!

While perusing CigarEvents.com it came to my attention that Eddie Ortega of EO Brands was going to be making an appearance at my local shop, JM Cigars, in Exton, PA. After dinner my son and I made our way over there.  We promptly purchased some of the last 601 La Bombas that they had and fired one of these badboys up and visited with Eddie for a while. I have been patronizing this shop since the mid-90s and it’s one of the best around.  The shop was packed and the LA Bomba was awesome. I had only previously had a pre-release sample, which I loved.  These are terrific cigars with a little bit of strength.  It’s always a good time hanging out with Eddie, and I got to catch up with an old friend, Rob, after the shop cleared out.  Nice bunch of folks, and a fine way to spend a chilly Friday evening.

 

Saturday’s walk cigar was a San Lotano Oval which I received from Clay at AJ Fernandez a few months ago.  These cigars are unique in the fact that they, as the name implies, are oval shaped.  I smoked the 6 x 54 toro, which looks like it was squished.  The shape is very comfortable to smoke, and, like a box press, it doesn’t roll off the table when you set it down. there’s a bright flavor in this cigar that I enjoy but can’t put a finger on.  All I know is that this is a tasty, well made and interesting cigar! I look forward to a maduro version one day!

 

News

There were two new entries into the blogosphere recently that I think are notable.  First, Frank Seltzer, who you see writing in all the big cigar magazines and around the web, is now contributing to the JR Cigars blog.   Frank is a real journalist, and I’m proud to say he’s an old friend.  He has a couple articles in the latest JR catalog as well.  Also breaking into the blog world is Gary Griffith of Emilio Cigars, with “From Seed To Smoke“.  Gary’s pretty prolific on Twitter and he’s making some outstanding cigars and is a heck of a nice guy who I’m also proud to call friend.  I look forward to reading what he has to say.  I HAVE to get down to Delaware and visit him at his shop one of these days!

 

Contest!

Let’s get to the part you’ve all been waiting for, the selection of this month’s contest winner.  The prize consists of the following: a Drew Estate cap and a Liga Privada cutter, a Stogieboys.com Cigar Journal, a C-Gars Ltd. ring gauge card, a Liga Privada T52 Belicoso, a Monte Pascoal Belicoso and a American Eagles Half Corona.   Thank you to all of the generous sponsors of this contest. As usual, I created a spreadsheet of the eligible entries and assigned them numbers based upon the time of the entry.  I consulted with the Random.Org True Random Number Generator for the winning number.  The number 19 came up, which corresponds to an entry via Twitter by @s5592c, aka Steve Christopher.  Congrats to Steve and thanks for reading!  Please e-mail me your contact info so I can ship this stuff out to you! Thanks to everyone for entering, and keep an eye out for next months contest!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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Filed under Contest, News, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk