Over the weekend I took a CroMagnon Anthropology out for a walk. This cigar was given to me in Vegas by Skip Martin, the brand owner. The cigar was unbanded, and had a nice, oily Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. I really like the gran corona size, at 5¾ x 46, it’s just about the perfect size. The cigar burned perfectly and had a full flavor that strikes me just right. I always enjoy the flavor from a Cameroon binder, I think it adds a nice sweet component to the blend. Thank you, Skip, for the opportunity to enjoy this cigar and I wish you the best of luck with this and future endeavors!
Tuesday evening was was such a nice, pleasant fall evening that I wanted a nice big cigar. I had been eying a Berger and Argenti Entubar Quad Maduro torpedo that I brought back from the IPCPR show, as I had enjoyed the regular Entubar as well as the Mooch and Classico lines. I have to say that I was sorely disappointed with this cigar. It had some difficulty burning properly and the dark, rich flavors I expected from this cigar didn’t really kick in until the last couple of inches. Once it got near the band it came close to meeting my expectations, but by that time I was a little annoyed with the effort. I have another that I will try at a later date. I did get a bit of a nicotine hit near the end, which wasn’t unexpected.
I threatened to sprinkle in some videos and stuff from the General Cigar trip, so here is a few minutes of our tour of one of the tobacco warehouses. This was an amazing facility, with bales of tobacco stacked to the ceiling. Edmundo Garcia, General Cigar’s Tobacco Operations Manager, took us through the facility. Once again, the audio isn’t great, but it’s an interesting visual experience. You will notice some bright lights here and there with what look like white boxes, these are tobacco beetle traps and are monitored quite closely. Imagine a beetle outbreak among this multi-million dollar inventory?
That’s it for now, please go back to the last post and enter the contest. I’ve added some cigars to the package, a Liga Privada T52 Belicoso, a Monte Pascoal Belicoso, and an American Eagles Half Corona. Who knows what else may end up in there…I’m weird that way…so go back and leave a comment, I’ll announce a winner on Sunday!
It’s autumn here in south-east PA, and the evenings are getting shorter. This time of year I tend to gravitate toward maduro cigars more, not sure why that is, I just do. I have my winter stock of smaller, maduro cigars in half of a box of Chateau Real Small Clubs and three quarters of a box of Hoyo de Monterrey Sabrosos all ready for the cold winter walks. I have a severe dislike for fall and winter, so next spring can’t come soon enough.
Earlier this week I had a yen for a Berger & Argenti cigar, so I grabbed a Classico Belicoso that I received at the IPCPR show. This one wasn’t quite as tasty as the Mooch Schnorr, but it was still very nice, and for some reason the 5¾” x 50 belicoso shape felt very elegant in the hand. I know, that sounds a little un-manly, but it’s seemed like it would feel just right while wearing a tuxedo, and what’s more man;y than a tux. I don’t know where that while line of thought came from, but it did, and there it is. As I said, this was a very tasty smoke and burned nicely. I have enjoyed the heck out of the recent samplings from Berger & Argenti. I’ve still got some Mooch maduros and Entubar Quad Maduros to look forward to. The Entubar is a very good candidate for my annual Halloween cigar.
Friday evening I just wanted something good and familiar, that I wouldn’t have to think about much, so I grabbed a Chateau Real Maduro Gran Cru Perfecto from my dwindling supply. I love the Mexican maduro wrapper on this cigar. I don’t think they are making the Chateau Real in maduro any more which is a shame, I guess I didn’t buy enough of them to keep them in production. It’s a nice, medium cigar that always hits me right, always draws well and burns straight, and I will be sad when these are gone! Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the Claro version of this cigar, but it’s quite a bit different with the maduro wrapper. Thinking about it makes me want another! Will power….
I need to select a pair of winners. The Macanudo Millionaire contest closed last week, so I hope everyone got their entries in. These Macanudo four packs are quite unique in that the cigars are all 6 x 60 versions of the regular line, the maduro, the 1968 and the Crü Royale. So, the winners, as selected at random using the random number generator at Random.org. The numbers generated were 1 and 6, which correspond to kekoa kai and Kyle! Congrats gentlemen! Make sure you get in touch with me with your contact info so I can send out your prize!
That’s all I have for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
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Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Robusto – I just love these cigars. I loved them before I watched them being rolled in the factory, and I love them more every time I smoke one.  Such a good cigar. Well balanced, great tasting and beautifully constructed.  To me they are special because I watched them rolled in Nicaragua, and they are reasonably priced (which is astounding considering the extra steps taken in the rolling process), and suite my taste buds. If you haven’t tried these, you should. I will purchase a box of the lanceros at some point, it’s just a matter of time…
Brick House Mighty Mighty 6¼” x 60  – For some reason I’ve been in the mood for large cigars, and this was a big one. This line has been around a while and received glowing reviews and is another reasonably priced cigar. I picked this one up on my Father’s Day cigar run. Very nicely made with rich flavors. A most enjoyable 90 minute vacation in a cigar.  This line received an award from Cigar Journal magazine for the best value Nicaraguan cigar last month at the IPCPR show, an event which I was fortunate enough to attend. This is made by the folks at J.C.Newman in Nicaragua based on one of the company’s first brands in the US. Again, a very nice cigar for a fair price.
Berger and Argenti Entubar Double Corona (7 5/8†x 54) – Another large cigar, this one carrying a warning band at the foot advising to toast the entire foot, not just the protuberance of ligero, under penalty of death. I was tempted to ignore this sage advise, but having spoken to both Kiki Berger (who gave me this sample) and Al Argenti at the show, I decided not to risk it and did as instructed. There is something to be said for the entubado method of construction as the burn and draw were spectacular on this cigar. It tasted good too, the Ecuadorian ‘Desflorado’ Connecticut wrapper, which seems to be all the rage these days, was very nice (I believe “Desflorado” means “deflowered”, and I was under the impression that all of the tobacco plants except for the absolute healthiest and strongest specimens have the flowers removed, so I’m not sure what this means in the description, but it is a cool sounding word!).
Broadway by La Aurora – I picked this up last March on a family trip to NYC at De La Concha. This is a cigar that La Aurora made specifically to help New York tobacconists survive after the 75% Tax on cigars was put into place. I picked up similar themed cigars from Alec Bradley and Gurkha while I was there. This is a nice cigar that starts out with a little kick. It’s a 5¾ x 54 with a unique double wrapper of Ecuador Sumatra and Nicaraguan, with Dominican Corojo binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Peruvian fillers. Mine burned fairly well, although my son, who smoked one with me, had some trouble with the burn on his. We may need to check his humidor, I can imagine with a double wrapper, the right humidity is going to be the key to a good burn with this. I’m trying to figure out how they manage to reduce the manufacturing cost of this cigar for sale in New York, but use two wrappers. It seems counter-intuitive, but I suppose it works, because the cigar is pretty tasty.
Here is a quick video of Kiki Berger from Cuban Crafters at last month’s IPCPR show. I’ll take this opportunity to thank Don Kiki again for taking the time to talk to me, hooking me up with a Cuban coffee and some samples, and giving me this spiffy new Perfect Cut cutter. I’ve been using this a lot in the last few weeks and I like it a lot. Unlike similar cutters that I like a lot, this one has a resin (plastic) body that is very light in the pocket. My other favorite cutter is all stainless steel and quite heavy. This one does a great job, has a cool hole in the back so you can cut a torpedo and doesn’t drag your trousers to the ground!
In the News
Here are a few interesting links I came across this week, the first is about an old brand that was made up the road from me in Reading, PA. The second one isn’t really cigar related, but is a cool article about a Beatles themed bar in Havana.
Also, many thanks to our local newspaper, the Daily Local News for including this site on their Blogtown page and featuring it on the front page of their site yesterday!
Contest!
I need to select a winner of my General Cigars prize pack. As you can see, the prize pack has doubled since I announced it a week ago, thanks to Victoria at General Cigars for sending along some more goodies. Be sure to get on over to http://www.macanudomillionaire.com and enter to win a trip to Vegas and a chance to win a million bucks. We had 17 entries, with one being disqualified since he won in the last 6 months. So I entered 16 into the random number generator and it spit out the number 11 which corresponds to Paul. Please drop me an e-mail with your address so I can get this out to you! I hate to have to work too hard to give stuff away, so get your contact info to me with me having to chase you down! 🙂
That’s all I have for now, and I think we can all agree that it was enough…so until the next time,
Tuesday evening was was such a nice, pleasant fall evening that I wanted a nice big cigar. I had been eying a Berger and Argenti Entubar Quad Maduro torpedo that I brought back from the IPCPR show, as I had enjoyed the regular Entubar as well as the Mooch and Classico lines. I have to say that I was sorely disappointed with this cigar. It had some difficulty burning properly and the dark, rich flavors I expected from this cigar didn’t really kick in until the last couple of inches. Once it got near the band it came close to meeting my expectations, but by that time I was a little annoyed with the effort. I have another that I will try at a later date. I did get a bit of a nicotine hit near the end, which wasn’t unexpected.
