Tag Archives: EP Carillo

by CigarCraig | March 11, 2018 · 11:04 am

Jose Blanco at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge & a Cross Street Tobacco Visit

Friday evening I was privileged to attend one of José Blanco’s (of E.P. Carillo Cigars) educational tasting events at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge and Tobacconist in Limerick, PA. José has done over 900 of these events around the world, and they are unique. My first experience with his seminar was at an IPCPR show in 2011 in a room with several hundred people. It involved four separate cigars, if memory serves, not the single toro cigar with four stripes of different wrappers applied. This time there were fifteen in attendance, I dragged my amigo Mike along for the ride, I’ve gone to many events with Mike, but this is the first with an educational component. Mike has been smoking cigars longer than I have, and met a couple years ago when he was a winner of one of my holiday contests and we met at another local shop. I always enjoy smoking cigars with Mike. I don’t think I’ve had a bad time smoking cigars with José Blanco either, he’s never ruined a great cigar for me (if you’ve ever been to one of his events, or read just about anything about them, José’s theory is that a perfect cigar can be ruined by smoking it next to an asshole, so that’s my way of saying he’s not an asshole). Not to brag or anything, but I was able to partially identify three of the four wrappers presented on the special cigar, they were mostly educated guesses, or just luck. The one I missed was embarrassing, as it was probably a tobacco I’ve smoked as much of in my life as any. I’m intentionally leaving out specifics so José doesn’t have to have the factory change up the cigars, which he said the rollers only are able to make 50 or 60 of a day, and they would be very expensive if they were regular production. The base cigar was very good on its own, however, being able to taste the subtle differences each wrapper presents is neat and educational. Any time spent with Jose is educational and enjoyable, the attendees at the event were friendly and engaged in the event, a couple of them even claimed to be readers of this site! It was a fun evening complete with great cigars, and they even had a photographer, Brian Miller of http://www.chorusphotography.com there taking photos! He took a great photo of me, no easy task since I usually look like a deer in headlights in pictures. Find me on Facebook as I’ made it my profile picture. I wrapped the evening up with the Broadleaf wrapped EP Carillo Dusk in the toro size. I love the Broadleaf, and this one wears it well. It’s rich and had that cocoa/espresso thing going on which I gravitate toward.

Yesterday, all my troubles….nevermind, although the reference is appropriate since I was supposed to drop my wife off at the Fest for Beatles Fans in Jersey City yesterday and go visit Hoboken Cigars. Plans changed and we decided to head the other direction and go to Baltimore in search of Beatles books, my wife reviews books on her blog, Beatles-Freak’s Reviews, so we went to The Book Thing, went to Philip’s at the Inner Harbor for lunch (Crab Mac & Cheese!), then found another little used book store on the way to Cross Street Tobacco for an after lunch cigar. There was a cigar lounge closer to the Inner Harbor, but it was in Larry Flynt’s Hussler Club, which didn’t sound like a family friendly place. Cross Street Tobacco is a great little shop with a very well stocked humidor and a lively clientele. There were about 20 chairs in the shop, and they brought out some folding chairs at one point. Sanford was working, he’s been working there Saturdays since they opened in 1996. They had a great selection, it was hard for me to choose what I wanted to smoke. Of course, since I’m in Pennsylvania, the land of no cigar tax, I’m often sticker-shocked when I shop in other states. That being said, their prices weren’t terrible, I picked up a couple of Inch Maduro No. 62, at 5″ x 62 with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. I really like Connecticut Broadleaf! It had occurred to me the night before that I hadn’t smoked the Inch line at all, don’t know why, just never managed to pick any up. It’s not like I’m averse to large ring gauges, and I’m certainly a fan of Ernesto Carillo‘s work, and it had come up in conversation last night. We ended up talking to a patron who was a music fan who told us we had to visit Protean Books & Records, which is in the shadow of Camden Yards, a couple blocks away, which we ended up doing. I can’t recommend Cross Street Tobacco in Baltimore more highly. Although small, it’s a classic shop with a great selection and staff and a lively customer base. The cigar was great, as was the overall experience.

I got home late last night and needed to get Macha out for a walk, so I was thinking about what cigar might fit in with the theme of the weekend. I could smoke another E.P. Carillo cigar, I’ve accumulated a few here and there, or a La Gloria Cubana. Then I came across a Señorial Maduro El Cuadro by José Blanco. A corona gorda measuring 5¾” x 46, actually one of my favorite sizes, was perfect for a short walk and unwinding from a two-hour drive. Señorial is getting hard to find around here, although, and it pains me to say, a local shop had these on their clearance shelf. The Señorial Maduro has a Mexican San Andrés Negro wrapper, with Dominican binder and filler. This vitola was presented at the 2016 IPCPR show, and might have been the last domestic release of the brand. It was a lovely cigar with a sweet earthy flavor that made me happy. The cigar was neither too big or too short, it was just right. I linked to the Señorial Facebook page because the Las Cumbres Tobaco site seems to now be about make-up, fitness and breast enhancement, I have no idea what that’s all about. Anyway, the Señorial was great, buy them up if you can find them. Maybe I’ll smoke a Freya today, I haven’t smoked on of those since I was in Iceland, where it seemed like the appropriate cigar to smoke.

It was a great weekend, even if it’s an hour shorter than 50 other weekends in the year. The payoff for the shortened weekend is more daylight in the evening hours, which I like. That’s all for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Baltimore, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Cross Street Tobacco, Dusk, EP Carillo, Goose's, Inch, Jose Blanco, Seminar, Senorial

by CigarCraig | January 21, 2018 · 9:44 am

EP Carillo Classic Series Dusk Solidos Cigar

Yesterday I finally had the chance to revisit the EP Carillo Dusk. I smoked this a year and a half ago and really liked it, and was spending a few hours at the cigar store and this cigar caught my eye. I’ve been terrible about sampling the EP Carillo range, there have only been a couple I’ve tried, which is weird considering my admiration for Ernesto’s past work (and present, the La Gloria Cubana Coleccion Reserva was one of my most memorable cigars of 2017). I’m trying to remedy that, and am going to try to remember to pick up something from the EC range when I’m in the shop. I met up with a couple friends at the local CigarCigars branch to kill some time, and started off with the EP Carillo Classic Series Dusk Solidos , the 6″x 60 offering. I had previously smokes and enjoyed the “Obscure” double corona, so I figured I’d work my way down. I used my Adorini punch on this one, the 13mm side worked very well to open it up. I smoked a second one later that I straight cut and I think I liked the punch better for this one. Why, you ask? Only because there were a couple “flyaway” bits of cap that were a little annoying on the straight cut. This cigar has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper (which drew my eye to the cigar in the first place), an Ecuador binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I lit this cigar up around 11 am, and didn’t find it to strong for the time of day, I actually thought it would be stronger. I was not disappointed by this cigar. The burn and draw were spot on, which is a testament to the conditions in the humidor. The first time I visited this shop a few years back the humidor was not great, there were cigars with wrappers coming off, some moldy cigars, ever-all it was off-putting. Over the years they have gotten it under control and it’s now a very nice humidor and shop, I don’t mind visiting there at all, and it’s 2 miles from home. Back to the cigar. It’s good. Lots of rich espresso notes with some cocoa, just war I like. I ended up smoking the second one on my evening walk because I was talking and trying to get the Flyers game on the lounge TV, which turned out to be no easy feat. They have Dish Network which doesn’t seem to have the channel that the games are broadcast on, but Apple TV provided a workaround. I wanted to give the cigar my full attention. It’s very good, and I look forward to meandering my way through some other EPC offerings. I think I smoked my first one in 2011, so I have some catching up to do. It was great hanging out with Bruce and Mike for an afternoon!

I smoked another Tortuga Reserva Maduro El Coyote Negro, No. 500 yesterday too. The Frazer, PA CigarCigars shop has the better part of a box on a bottom shelf that has been there for some time. I grab a couple every time I go in, and I’m tempted to adopt the whole bunch and give them a good home, but what holds me back is that I really would like others to enjoy these, they just aren’t getting much of a chance down there at floor level. I also want to avoid seeing these on the deep discount table, that makes them look bad, and they are, in my humble opinion, exceptional cigars that deserve a better fate. I’m quite conflicted on this. It’s not like they wouldn’t be shared if they were in my humidor, that’s for sure. Maybe I’ll ask Steve, the manager, to throw a number at me…

Finally, here is an interesting infographic from the folks at Smokers Discounts. I imagine there isn’t anything new here for most of you, but there isn’t any bad advice, and the stats at the top are interesting, although I think the numbers probably include all cigars, not just the premium cigar we focus on here. I’d probably add a couple of parentheticals in the “picking the right cigar” part like don’t squeeze it enough to break it, and don’t wipe your nose all over it, especially before you buy it, but that;s just me.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigar store, CigarCigars, cigars, Dusk, EP Carillo, Tortuga

by CigarCraig | October 12, 2017 · 10:20 pm

An LH Premium Cigar and a La Gloria Cubana Event

Monday I smoked a cigar from the IPCPR show that Nick Syris (LH Premium Cigars & Smooth Draws Radio) gave me when I saw him in Island Jim’s booth. He was exhibiting in the same booth because 3R Cigar Distributors in Pittsburgh is distributing LH Premium cigars, as well as 1502, Leaf by Oscar and Island Jim cigars. The cigar Nick gave me is a collaboration between Nick and Island Jim Robinson, which was to be called La Vida Isla, but is moving forward as a “special edition” called the “Nick & Jim P.B.E”, Pre-Banded Edition. I know, the example smoked had a band, but the band Nick used on the samples is one he uses for his non-US LH brand. The cigar has an Ecuador grown Vuelta Abajo seed wrapper and binder and Nicaraguan & Peruvian fillers an is made in Costa Rica. This was a fantastic cigar, rich and meaty with the nice little spice that the Peruvian tobacco has (and I really like Peruvian tobacco). This is a medium bodied cigar that I could smoke every day.

Last night I attended an event at the International Tobacco (or is it CigarCigars, I’m not sure they’ve officially rebranded the store since acquiring it last summer) in the King of Prussia Mall. Yes, it’s a cigar shop in a mall that you can smoke in! I’ve talked about it before, let the wife shop in the largest mall in the country and hang out and smoke cigars, it’s a beautiful and dangerous thing! Anyway, they had a ticketed event featuring La Gloria Cubana cigars featuring Ernesto P. Carillo, who founded the La Gloria Cubana brand and sold it to what is now General Cigar Co. in 1999. Of course, Ernesto now owns EPCarillo Cigar Co. I’ve been fortunate to have met a lot of people in the cigar business, but this is only the second time I’ve met Ernesto, and he’s someone I hold in high regard, as I was a huge fan of his La Gloria and El Rico Habano brands in the 90s. There were 30 tickets sold for the event, and there were some of the people from several of the twelve stores in the CigarCigars chain (I think there are 5 or 6 of the stores within a ten mile radius of my home). Included in the ticket price were three La Gloria Cubana cigars, the new Coleccion Reserva in robusto, a Serie R No. 5 Natural and a La Gloria Corona Gorda Maduro from the original line. I lit up the Coleccion Reserva, I’ve smoked and enjoyed some IPCPR samples of this cigar, and in Ernesto’s talk he disclosed that the blend is a hybrid of the old El Rico Habano and the La Gloria Artesanos de Miami. It’s no wonder I like this cigar. It was a great event with hors d’oeuvres and Jim Beam spirits (of which I don’t partake). One of the things Ernesto also talked about was the way the cigar industry cooperates, crediting several people for helping him in the 90s when La Gloria exploded after getting a high rating in Cigar Aficionado, forcing him to open a factory in the Dominican Republic to try to meet the demand. This was evidenced even now by the fact that he is, once again, collaborating with the company which bought his brand. Great event with a legendary cigar maker and a great bunch of people. Thanks to Tom, Rami, Steve Mike, Tom and the rest of the staff for a good evening.

Tonight I did something I rarely do and lit up another La Gloria Cubana Coleccion Reserva, this time in the torpedo. I had a Serie R Esteli the other night which is a cigar I have really enjoyed over the last few years, along with its maduro counterpart. Perhaps the Coleccion Reserva is my new favorite in the LGC line. Is it the fact that I now know that it has a connection to the El Ricos of old that I loved? the cigar is perfectly balanced, has a touch of sweetness and spice and is a tasty smoke. Burn was perfect and flavors were awesome. It’s a good thing, because I bought a box and had Ernesto autograph it. I don’t have a lot of autographed boxes, this one joins Jorge Padron, Nick Melillo and Bernie Parent. I continue my 20 year love affair with La Gloria Cubana cigars, and my LGC dedicated humidor is overflowing!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigar store, CigarCigars, cigars, EP Carillo, Event, La Gloria Cubana

by CigarCraig | September 18, 2016 · 11:21 am

A Bobalu Oscuro, a New Nestor Miranda Cigar and an Oliveros All Stars

After the crazy first half of the week, I settled down a bit. I actually took Thursday off as we went up to Bethlehem PA to see the new movie “Eight Days A Week”. It was a very good documentary about The Beatles touring years, you can read my wife’s review on her blog Beatles-Freak’s Reviews . Friday evening’s cigar was another cigar from the selection I picked up from Bobalu Cigars. This cigar was from the Oscuro line which features a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Nicaraguan Ligero, Honduran Criollo 98 and Dominican Piloto and Olor. You can imagine what my expectations were for this one. This is a good example of how expectations can lead to disappointment. I got these in the Gordo size, because they only come in robusto and Gordo and I have too damn many robustos in my humidors. The cigar was well made, but instead of the heavy, coffee/cocoa flavor I expected, I got more of a medium sour flavor. It was a good cigar, I smoked it for a good two hours, but the sour flavor isn’t one I particularly enjoy. There were plenty of good points, and certainly there are people who appreciate the flavors in that cigar more than I do. I remain amazed that a factory in Austin, Texas is cranking out handmade cigars of excellent quality for a reasonable price. It’s a place I must visit one day when I finally make that Texas visit I need to make. Bobalu is still offering a special deal for my readers, click here to check that out.

Yesterday was a three cigar day. I started off in the afternoon, after getting some things done around the house and yard, with a new line extension to the Nestor Miranda Collection, the Corojo in the 4½ x 50 robusto size. In the past I’ve really enjoyed the Nestor Miranda Collection in this size, the Connecticut, Maduro and Habano are all exceptional, and this Corojo is a great addition to the portfolio. I was blown away by the abundance of a cinnamon spice quality throughout the cigar, it was quite delicious. I think the most memorable cigars I’ve smoked from the trade show for me this year have been cigars with unique flavors that I don’t often get in a cigar, which is what makes them memorable. There was another one, but I can’t remember it :-). I highly recommend trying the Nestor Miranda Collection, and especially this new Corojo. One minor complaint: Miami Cigar and Co. desperately needs to update their website!

I moved on to another trade show sample, the Oliveros Allstars Small Batch No. 5 Basso. Thankfully, Aging Room Cigar’s website IS up to date, as I had forgotten the story behind this cigar from the show, there was a lot of information given at once and the info on this one slipped through the ever-widening cracks. Oliveros All Stars is a collaboration between Rafael Nodal and Ernesto P. Carillo, it’s got a dark US grown broadleaf wrapper and Dominican fillers. The Basso is a 6″ x 54 toro (remember when Toros were 6″ x 50?) and they also have the Aria at 4½ x 48, the Fugue at 5½ x 52 and the Chord at 6½ x 52 Torpedo. The naming conventions are consistent with Rafael’s Music background. This is the sort of flavors I look for in a broadleaf cigar! It was dark and lush with the heavy espresso flavors I like, with some cocoa sweetness. It was a wonderful smoke. Collaborations are a funny thing in the cigar world, some say that the rarely work, I’ve had pretty good luck smoking collaborative efforts, but I think this one was a “win”. As an old friend came over for a while, I finished off the evening with a Last Call from AJ Fernandez, which seemed appropriate as it was getting late and was the last cigar of the day. Having just finished a fairly powerful cigar, I had low hopes for this cigar, it had some foot damage and looked bad in the humidor, so this was a perfect occasion to get rid of it in a humane way. About a quarter of the way in I couple really taste the wonderful flavors that this little cigar offers, and I was sad when it became too short to smoke any longer. I can’ wait to try the maduro version, although the Habano is fantastic.

Just Bitching…

Here’s a couple quick gripes about things I hear on podcasts that annoy me, stupid things, but things, and I’m naming names! On the Kiss My Ash podcast, they have a couple of commercials that bug me. First is a Joya de Nicaragua commercial that claims that the Quatro Cinco Reserva has tobacco from the Jalapeño valley, and I don’t know of a Jalapeño Valley in Nicaragua. Another is an ad that mentions what sounds to me like they are saying “Cigar Aprecianado” instead of Aficionado. may that one’s just me, my hearing isn’t great. I still love the KMA folks, it’s one of the podcasts I look forward to all week. The last one for today is from CigarDave‘s show last Saturday, where, in an attempt to be patriotic, he played one of the worst renditions of our nations national anthem I’ve ever heard. Admittedly, I’m a purist when it comes to the National Anthem, I don’t believe it should be embellished or artistically interpreted at all, just performed straight, as written. Nothing annoys me more than a performer adding his or her own spin to our nations anthem. That’s my opinion, I cringe when I hear poorly performed anthems, and that’s just the way it is. I was also in the car driving when I listened to CigarDave, and I didn’t feel like I need to stand, as what I was listening to was barely the piece of music that represents our nation. CigarDave, I’m deeply disappointed in that selection. Again, my opinion, I’m open to any criticism.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Aging Room, aj fernandez, Bobalu, cigar, cigars, EP Carillo, Nestor Miranda, Oliveros

by CigarCraig | August 28, 2016 · 7:02 am

A CAO Cigars Event, an EP Carillo and a Padilla IPCPR Release

Thursday we went to G & G Cigars in downtown West Chester, PA to see Ricky Rodriquez at a CAO event. G & G changed hands in the last couple years, and while the selection in the humidor changed a bit, it remains a very nice shop managed by Mike, who keeps a clean and inviting lounge. I picked up a few Flatheads in the 660 size and the Steel Horse Apehanger size and wandered into the lounge and sat down next to Ricky, who was deep in conversation with another patron. I have known Ricky since probably 2010, having spent some time with him in the Dominican Republic in 2011, and seeing him at the IPCPR show just last month. My son and I actually hung out with him and Ed McKenna the first night we were in Vegas at the Circle Bar in the Venetian, where he shared the new CAO Consigliere with us (the re-release of the Sopranos). I sat next to Rick smoking my Flathead 660 for close to ten minutes before he got up and my wife “introduced” us…it was a very amusing moment. It was fairly quiet in the lounge, so we had a great time talking about the cigar world, and the world in general with Ricky. He had been at another location about two miles from home that afternoon, but who among us working folks can make a 12-3 event on a Thursday? It worked out well, the Flathead line remains one of my favorites, and the one I smoked was quite satisfying and lasted until the parking meter expired. Ricky knows his tobacco and is always a treat to hang out with. If he comes to your area don;t miss the opportunity to hang out with him.

Friday I opened the IPCPR sample humidor (which, by the way, is a reasonably large Psyko Seven humidor that my wife won on a Best Cigar Prices Facebook Contest, totally legit and above-board, I checked! It’s a pretty darned nice humidor that can be had at a very reasonable price. It’s been working very well with Boveda packs. Enough of the commercial, and there will be more on Psyko Seven in the near future. Please note that nobody asked me to say anything about this) and pulled out an EP Carillo Dusk Obscure, the largest in this new line at 7″ x 54. The Dusk has a US grown wrapper, clearly a Broadleaf, an Ecuador binder and Nicaraguan fillers, made at Ernesto’s factory in the Dominican Republic. Having been a fan of Ernesto P. Carillo’s work over the last 20 years, it was a treat to finally sit down with him and meet him at the trade show. I don’t get starstruck by many in the cigar world anymore, but Ernesto was one of the people who I was nervous about meeting. The Dusk was a great cigar, and another cigar I will seek out to further sample. It was sweet and had the dark flavors I prefer.

Saturday I wound up a busy day with another IPCPR sample. Remember I said there seemed to be a lot more larger sized samples at the show this year? Well, I’ve been selecting the larger cigars as the weather allows, I’ll have plenty of robustos to get through the winter. I selected the Padilla Anniversary in the 7″ x 50 Churchill size. I’m not entirely clear which anniversary this line celebrates, the company has been around for about 14 years, but I don’t suppose it matters as special anniversary releases will be severely limited moving forward thanks to the FDA regulations. The Padilla Anniversary is a Nicaraguan puro made at Raíces Cubanas in Honduras. It’s got a Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan Corojo binder and fillers from Esteli and Jalapa. This cigar started out pretty smooth and built in strength, ending up to be quite a powerhouse. The burn and draw were perfect, with a good amount of smoke. The band is really beautiful, with the Padilla signature lion holding a trident. It’s quite stunning, and the presentation is completed by a cedar sleeve. This will be a regular release, although limited. It was quite a nice smoke for a Saturday evening.