Tag Archives: Emilio

by CigarCraig | August 17, 2011 · 6:36 pm

Top Shelf Cigars in Skippack, PA, An Emilio And A Cusano CRA

Sunday we took a drive to Skippack Village, PA to check out Top Shelf Cigars. Skippack Village is a quaint little shopping area with all kinds of little shops and businesses. We located the cigar shop, which is tucked away in the back of a building. It was pouring, which it hasn’t really done all summer, so I shouldn’t complain, but couldn’t it rain overnight, or during a working day? It should always be nice and sunny on days off….but I digress. The shop has a nice little patio area, and I’m told that they have an event there on the first Thursday of every month with a cook out and specials which is very popular. I may have to try to catch one of these events in the near future. Anyway, it’s a nice little shop. They have cabinet humidors lining the outside walls with a counter in the center, so the store is in a “U” shape. On one side they had a couple couches and a TV. The humidors were well stocked, which is a departure from the mostly empty boxes I’ve seen in a lot of stores recently. I was impressed with the selection, they had a fair amount of what I consider to be reasonably priced lines, which are often absent in some of your nicer shops. Most of the major brands were represented, as well as a selection of their house brand, which I believe the gentleman there said was made by the folks at Don Leoncio/Pinar del Rio. They didn’t have a lot of the new items in yet, but were making room. The regular Cain line was marked down, for example, and, as if I needed any more cigars, I felt compelled to pick up a couple each of the Habano torpedos and Maduro 660s for $4.95 each. If you find yourself in the Montgomery County, PA area stop in and have a cigar. I’m pretty picky about cigar shops, and this one carries my seal of approval (worth the paper it’s printed on…..)

Some of this weeks cigars:

Emilio AF2 – the last of a pair that Gary Griffith sent me. I finally got to meet Gary at the IPCPR show. Yup, the guy operates not 25 miles from my home and I have to go 3000 miles away to meet him, pathetic, I know. Gary is a great guy, and introduced me to a few folks at the show which I’m grateful for. He also is 3 for 3 with the cigars he’s generously shared with me, the Grimalkin, and the Emilio AFs 1 and 2. I really dig all of them, and really can’t pin down a favorite, I like each one for different reasons. The AF2 is just a lovely medium to full bodied cigar that I enjoyed with my last bottle of Reed’s Ginger Brew, on my front porch watching the rain come down.

Cusano CRA Edition – I don’t have too much information on this, except that it came as a result of my renewal of my Cigar Rights of America membership last December. It has what I’m going to guess is an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper that gave the smoke a dry mouth feel and had a little bit of acidity. Not a bad cigar, but, to me, it wasn’t particularly memorable either. Unfortunately I went 0 for 2 on the CRA cigars, as the Casa Fernandez wasn’t exceptional either. Can’t complain, they only cost me $2.50 each over and above the cost of the membership, and are for a good cause. Every year I hope for a CRA edition Opus or Liga Privada…hasn’t happened yet. Still, it’s nice for the sponsoring manufacturers to provide some different cigars for joining. If I may vent a little: As a CRA member, I find it a lttle insulting when the CRA gives away a years membership, AND a 10 pack of the CRA edition cigars with the paid admission to certain events. I don’t want to take away from the events, because we NEED cigar events, and the CRA NEEDS members to fight so that we can continue to HAVE cigar events. But I feel like giving away the memberships ($35 for the membership, $99 for the 10 pack of cigars, $125 for admission to an all day event, admittedly a great deal for the attendee) defeats the purpose of raising funds for the organization. I guess I feel like my contribution is going toward giving other people free memberships instead of fighting for our freedoms. Of course, the gamble is that all the people receiving the free memberships will join next year, but I think the majority will either expect a free renewal at the event next year or won’t even think about contributing because it doesn’t represent a value to them (it was free). Anyway, I think giving the memberships away dilutes the funds available to fight the fight, and I don’t think I like that…your opinions and comments are welcome and appreciated, maybe I’m not seeing the whole picture and someone will set me straight! Again, no offense to the event that I have quite obviously failed to name, I wish I could attend, it sounds like a good time!

I haven’t really dug into the trade show samples this week, but here’s a fun little video from the show:

That’s about all I have for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under Editorial, Review, Stores, Video

Tagged as cain, Camacho, cigar, Cigar Rights of America, cigars, CRA, Cusano, Emilio, IPCPR, oliva, Skippack, Top Shelf Cigars

by CigarCraig | July 3, 2011 · 8:24 pm

Sunday Cigar Recap – La Gloria, Emilio, Oja

Another week, another little cigar mash-up. I’m trying to think of something else that would be interesting to write about, but time and inspiration elude me. I’ve been slowly lining up plans for my trip to Las Vegas and hope to bring you some interesting content from the IPCPR show. In the mean time, don’t forget to enter the current contest to win a box of Oja cigars. I’m a little disappointed with the turn out. Did I make it too difficult asking for something more than just a comment to enter? Perhaps I need to open it up to any comment, and I’ll give 2 entries for a link to a patriotic picture (the couple people who have done that deserve a little extra chance for going to the trouble!). What do you think? The contest post is here, this is really a very nice box of cigars, made in a prominent Factory in Esteli. There’s nothing in the rules that I can’t enter….I’d love to have this box in my humidor!

Enough begging for you to enter a contest to possibly win a free box of cigars, on to the quasi-reviews. Thursday I received another box from Gary Griffith containing two of the brand new Emilio AF2 Toros. Having had a challenging day (heck, the whole week has been a challenge) at work I couldn’t wait to fire one up. I usually like to give new arrivals some rest after their journeys, but I figured these only came from down the street in Delaware, and were nicely packaged with a water pillow, so what the heck. Interestingly, these cigars have Pennsylvania ligero. I’ve only previously really heard about PA broadleaf wrapper being used, but I suppose if you can grow wrapper in PA, you can get ligero, it’s not like it comes from a different plant or anything! Anyway, this is a nice smooth cigar, different than the AF1 which is more aggressive (but damned tasty!). This cigar has a more golden wrapper than it’s predecessor, but the construction is top notch and the flavor, and I can’t think of a better way to put it, is more refined. I’ve enjoyed everything Gary has sent me, and will pick some more of these up the next time I see them in a store. I like the copper colored band on these too.

My Friday Take A Cigar For A Walk cigar was a La Gloria Cubana Serie N JSB, courtesy of General Cigar. I’ve enjoyed the Serie Ns I’ve had, and this one was no different. These are lush and flavorful. I’ve recently heard these described as “German chocolate cake in a cigar format”, which isn’t far off. I do wonder if these might not be better cold weather cigars, as this cigar didn’t really have the depth of flavors that I remember from ones I smoked earlier in the year. You may remember that I took part in Team La Gloria’s “Serie N Day” on a very cold evening in PA, and was reminded a couple times that it was in the 80s in Miami!

Saturday I lit up a Oja Mestizo Artefacto, a fat toro (6 x 60). I have enjoyed the samples I received from Luis, the brand owner and creator of this line of cigars. The Habano wrapper, while fragile, is very tasty. I like the Connecticut and Oscuro, both for different reasons, but the Mestizo I think is my favorite because there is a sweetness and balance that I find appealing. I’m looking forward to speaking at length with Luis at the trade show and learning more about this brand.

It’s Independence Day tomorrow, as well as my wedding anniversary, so I always smoke some special cigars, we’ll see what cigars I choose and you’ll hear from me again mid week. Until then, enter the darned contest, enjoy the 4th of July festivities safely, and smoke some good cigars!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

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

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, Emilio, general, La Gloria Cubana, Oja, Take A Cigar For A Walk

by CigarCraig | May 18, 2011 · 9:53 pm

Grimalkin Toro and Emilio AF-1 Toro Cigars and “Old Wave” by Garry Berman

Over the last two evenings I had decided to couple two cigars with a new book, “Old Wave, a Comic Novel” by Garry Berman, author of several books including “We’re Going to See the Beatles”, “Best of the Britcoms” and “Perfect Fool: The Life and Career of Ed Wynn”. The cigars are two toros, generously provided by Gary Griffith of Delaware Cigars.

The Grimalkin is made at a factory in Nicaragua that we all know of, but I’m not at liberty to divulge. It’s a terrific cigar, layered with subtly and complexity. Similar to “Old Wave”, the story of an ’80s New Wave band who had one and a half hits, and owned the first half of 1983. The book is the story of the bands comeback after a 25 year hiatus, where the main character, Terry, has been managing his family health food store in a small New York town. He’s barely kept in touch with his band mates and is convinced to get them back together for a revival tour of sorts with several other bands of the era. It’s a comedic romp through the trials of re-connecting with the group and is loaded with more similes than a simile writers convention. Much like the Grimalkin, the read is easy and entertaining, with characters as interesting and compelling as the flavors dancing around my palate. Even burn, perfect draw with a signature similarity to other cigars from the same factory, yet with refreshing flavors that keep you thinking. The story bounces back and forth from present day, to stories from the past. Two thumbs up for the cigar, and the book is holding my interest much like the cigar did.

The female singer in the band is a beautiful Russian woman named Svetlana, who is dark and glamorous, much like the Emelio AF-1 Toro. Svetlana loves the Brazilian music of the sixties, and the band, Magenta Nun, mixed the Brazilian rhythms with a New Wave style to create their signature sound. The Emilio AF-1 has a dark, sweet maduro wrapper loaded with delicious and exotic Nicaraguan fillers. It’s sweet and savory, and full of flavors that are lush like the tropical flavors of the music portrayed in the book. In the book, the band goes on a cross country tour with periodic vignettes of their comedic experiences, including injuries and incidents which mirror some of the groups escapades of their brief period of fame in the past. The humor tends to be as arid as the Sahara, and there are little names and phases that just make me chuckle. I like dry. The AF-1, however, is anything but dry, it’s sweet and savory, like a Brazilian Churrasco. Again, the cigar is well made and burns perfectly until the dramatic conclusion of the book.

Hopefully I haven’t lost anyone in my attempt to intertwine cigar review with a book review. In my opinion, all three are well worth your time. The book is an easy and entertaining read, especially since I played in a band in the ’80s, and there has been recent talk of reviving the group in some way. It struck a chord with me (a G Major). The cigars while different, complimented the read perfectly. I never had to worry about the ash falling in the pages, as both cigars had an ash that knocked off in solid chunks and the intricate flavors entertained me. Kudos to Garry and Gary for enhancing my last couple evenings. You can find “Old Wave” for sale at Amazon.com or through the Amazon store on the left side of this page.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

Don’t forget to visit Stogieboys.com

3 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as amazon, cigar, cigars, delaware cigars, Emilio, garry berman, Grimalkin, old wave

by CigarCraig | May 4, 2011 · 7:24 pm

La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003 and Emilio AF1 BMF

Today I am bringing you a contrast of sorts. Two very different cigars, both excellent. The first was a gift from Chris Lenzo, the Miami Cigar & Company sales rep whom I met on Saturday when I was celebrating the birth of my grand-daughter with Guillermo Leon at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA. The second was a sample provided by Gary Griffith of Delaware Cigars for review. Both were enormous in size and pleasure!

The La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003 is a very special cigar. My understanding is that there were only 12,000 of these produced in 2008 from 5 year old tobacco that was entirely from the 2003 crop. It’s a big beautiful figurado shaped cigar, measuring a whopping 7.2″ x 52, but it felt bigger! The wrapper was stunning and it was well made, a tribute to the few rollers that can make this shape cigar. It held the ash for my entire 1 mile walk, it looked like I was just getting started when I got back to my front porch, where I spent the next hour and a half luxuriating in the delicate nuances of this cigar. What a special treat that I dedicated to my daughter the new mom. It is definitely a rare and expensive cigar that I won’t likely have the chance to smoke again anytime soon! A special treat, thank you Chris!

Last night, after Alan Price had inquired on Sunday, I decided to sit down with an Emilio AF1 BMF for the evening. This is another enormous cigar, 6″ x 58, with a dry, dark Mexican maduro wrapper (one of my favorites!). I was thinking about the front-mark BMF, trying to work out it’s significance. I ruled out “By My Father” since it’s a published fact that this is made by A.J. Fernandez in Esteli, not Pepin Garcia. I haven’t looked up the price on these, so “Blow My Fortune” is a possibility. I settled on “Big Mother F***er” since that seemed to fit the best, because it is a gigantic cigar. This cigar is bold out of the gate. It’s very much in line with my cigar preference, it’s full bodied, it’s full flavored, and has the dark roast, dark cocoa flavors I look for in a maduro cigar. This is another cigar that occupied nearly 2 hours of my time. It burned dead even and had a perfect draw, neither too firm nor too loose. I can’t wait to smoke the other sample, which is a standard 6″ x 50, toro I believe. Gary has something with the Emilio and the Grimalkin, (which maybe could be called a BMF too?) which, while very different cigars are both excellent. I may have to grab a few the next time I visit the Wooden Indian as they are listed as a retailer.

Just prior to writing this post I received an e-mail from Tommy Berry, Jr., who has been busy purchasing a house and passing his ham radio license test. He admits to slacking off and not sending “Take a Cigar for a Walk” updates. I hope when things settle down he can get back to walking and sending in some reviews!

Don’t forget to leave a comment on my last post for a chance to win a five pack of La Gloria Cubana Serie N cigars, and also see the bottom of this entry for information on a discount code generously provided by StogieBoys.com!

Until the next time,

Cigar Craig