Tag Archives: EP Carillo

by | February 7, 2016 · 9:47 am

El Centurion, a Couple Cigars at Cigar Brothers and a Viva Republica and a Test

ElCenturian_RobustoI mixed it up a little this week. I had determined that whatever was up with my tasters last week had passed, hence the Bugatti post, so I pushed forward.  My methodology for determining this, not that you asked, was to smoke familiar cigars for a few days. Fairly straight forward, and it also lets me enjoy some favorites, like a Nica Rustica, La Sirena and BCP’s SixZero Robolo. So I grabbed a My Father Cigars El Centurian Robusto, which is 5¾” x 50, which is a bit long for a rubusto, but I’m OK with that. The blend, from what I can tell, is a sungrown Criollo 99 wrapper, with Nicaraguan fillers of four varietals,  Criollo, Corojo Habano, and Sancti Spiritus. I typically don’t care for Criollo 99, there’s just something about it that I don’t get excited about. While I think the El Centurian is a good cigar, it certainly performed well, was well constructed and didn’t have an objectionable flavor, it just isn’t one of the cigars that I might reach for again. Nothing wrong with it, just not in my wheel house, it’s a shame because I really like the presentation and want to like it. I never had the pleasure of smoking the original blend of this cigar.

 

Yesterday I met up with Mike C., who, along with his daughter, are producing WineadorArt, and we visited Cigar Brothers Cigars in Berwyn, PA.  There’s a couple of things I like about this shop, one of the brother’s who owns the place EPCarillo_NewWaveCTResis named Craig, nothing not to like there, right?  It’s in an old house, with the store on the lower level and the lounge in the upstairs rooms, of which there are two. Hanging out there is basically like being at home and being able to smoke and watch TV, it’s small enough for intimate conversation with out interuptions or distractions. The weakness is the lack of a large space for events, and, my opinion, maintaining proper storage conditions in the store area, which is one large humidified space. We bought some cigars and went upstairs to smoke. I started with an E.P. Carillo New Wave Reserva Connecticut Belicoso D’Oro. This cigar is 5.7″ x 52 with a well-formed torpedo head. It’s got an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf Binder, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. I enjoyed this  cigar, but I was expecting something a little more Connecticut Shade, if that makes sense. The wrapper was darker than I expected, which intrigued me and lead to the purchase. It burned well, and was tasty enough, just fairly un-UC_Torounique to me. It was a great cigar to just sit and smoke during conversation without having to think about it. I bought a couple more which I’ll leave in the humidor for a while and revisit. I then moved on to the Undercrown Shade in a toro size. Cigar Brothers had these very reasonably priced and I like them well enough to want to keep some on hand, so I added to the inventory I had at home. While this cigar smoke fairly well, I got the sense that it was not quite as dry as I prefer, going back to what I mentioned about the challenges of having your store be a humidor. I might have had better luck than Mike since the cigars I chose had thinner wrappers, and his selections for the day had thicker wrappers that suck up more humidity. Picking your spot in the shop to buy cigars you plan to smoke there I think is key, and take the ones in the area closer to the humidifiers home to leave in your humidor for a while. I hate to criticize, because I love everything else about the shop (especially Craig’s dogs, who visit from time to time), but having a over-moist cigar be a disappointment in a great environment is a bummer.

 

VivaRepublica_Advanced Warefare_PetiteSince I had already smoked two cigars while out, when I got home and took Macha for her walk, I went small, with a Viva Republica Advanced Warefare Petite. This 4″ x  41 little guy packs a punch, it’s a peppy little cigar! It’s made at La Aurora in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, with Dominican, Nicaraguan and Pennsylvanian leaf in the filler blend. Jason Holly, the brand owner, is a Pennsylvania guy and works for Miami Cigar and Co. as a brand ambassador, among other things. So this was a perfect smoke for the half-hour or so it took Macha and I to make our mile-plus walk. Burn was perfect, it was quite satisfying for a short smoke and it fit the situation well. It’s a great cold weather cigar because it’s loaded with flavor, although it’s tough handling small cigar with gloves.

 

The folks at Bobalu Cigars in Austin, TX have this clever test on their site. Here’s a link, or you can take it right here if whatever you’re reading on supports the embedded page. I thought it was very challenging and well done. Tell you what, I’ll send a 5-pack to the first person to match my score, take a screenshot of your score and post it in the comments or if you can’t do that be prepared to e-mail it as proof. Deadline for entry is Next Sunday, Feb. 14. Good luck!

Test Your Cigar Knowledge

[pageview url=”http://bobalu.com/blog/test-cigar-knowledge/” border=”yes” scrolling=”yes”]

 

 

That’s enough from me for now, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 6, 2015 · 10:24 am

EP Carillo, MBombay, Henry Clay, and Señorial Cigars

After today’s post, the next time you’ll hear from me will be Friday’s kickoff of the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways!  I don’t want to hype it too much, because the last couple years have set the bar pretty high, but I don’t think there will be too much disappointment.  As usual, I stress out about things, getting photos and presents and having posts written and ready to go, but as my wife always reminds me, usually the only way people know there were problems is if I tell them, otherwise it looks like everything goes off without a hitch.  There are always things that make me crazy, but it’s too much fun to give up on. The upside for me is I get a bit of break from having to pay attention to the cigars I smoke over the two-week period, and I try, whenever possible to smoke what’s being given away. Anyway, I know you all are looking forward to the chance to get some great cigar goodies for the holidays, and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you.

 

EPCarillo_RoboloI managed to smoke a few interesting cigars this week, and one of them was an EP Carillo Robolo, which is an exclusive size for Best Cigar Prices, who shared some samples with me. The Robolo size is 4½” x 60, and I have to admit, I really enjoy the size. It’s a happy medium ass far as I’m concerned. It’s a little longer than the Nub sizes from Oliva, it’s not the time commitment of a 6″ x 60, and most of the examples I’ve smoked in this series have smoked very well. Best Cigar Prices has just about every major brand you can think of made just for them in this size, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, Alec Bradley, Boutique Blends, the works. Anyway, I found the EPC Robolo to be quite delicious, it had some woody notes, and sweet creamy coffee. I liked it a lot.  I’ve been pretty much un-Wowed by the EPC offerings, which is odd considering I am/was such a big La Gloria Cubana fan, but this one does it for me. Don’t forget you can use the code CRAIG1099 at BestCigarPrices.com for a discount and cheap shipping!

 

MBombay_VintageReservaKeSara_NikkaI also received some MBombay KeSara Vintage Reserve Nikka samples last week, and after a rest in the humidor I decided to give one a spin this week. This cigar is a very col size, 6½” x 46, with a pigtail cap. The tobacco in this Vintage Reserve line is aged three years longer than that in the regular KeSara line, and the Ecuador Connecticut wrapper is aged in hybrid Spanish Cedar and Sandlewood boxes for up to none months. I can’t pick out Sandlewood in the flavor, but I will say that the cigar is quite tasty and burns perfectly. I love the size, it’s a very elegant and refined cigar, and of the highest quality. I’ve enjoyed many cigars from this company, I think their regular old Connecticut Churchill is one of the best in the category of Connecticut wrapped cigars. It may be an obscure brand right now, but they make some great smokes. By the way, these come from the same factory in Costa Rica that makes the Selected Tobacco cigars (Atabey, Byron, Bandolero) and Vegas de Santiago. Very high quality cigars come out of that facility.

 

HenryClay_TattooI had a cousin of mine comment that I should get a hand tattoo since I post pictures on Facebook and Instagram with a cigar in my hand, so the only tattoos I am likely to get on my hand are going to be in my hand in the form of a cigar, in this case, the Henry Clay Tattoo. Not that I’m anti-tattoo, it’s just not my thing, I’m a live and let live kinda guy. I bought a couple of these cigars a few months ago at The Humidour in Maryland, and the one I smoked there was great, it just burned a little wet, not much, but a little. After a few months in the humidor, this cigar was perfect. Unlike the original Henry Clay cigars that Pete Johnson modeled this after in his collaboration with Altadis, it’s aesthetically beautiful. The Henry Clays I remember from the 90s came tied in a wheel of 50, and were packed wet, so they came in all kinds of gnarly shapes.  The Broadleaf wrapper on this was dark and oily and had a nice sweetness, while it still had a heavy, savory meatiness that is quite satisfying.  These were a limited edition that sold out at the trade show, so I’m not entirely sure how many of these you’ll find in the wild, but it’s a great smoke, try one if you find them.

 

Senorial and JoseYesterday we stopped in at The Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA where Jose Blanco and his wife, Emma Viktorsson were having a Las Cumbres Tabaco event. Little did I know, there was also a four store cigar crawl going on where four stores in the area had a van load of customers travelling to one  another’s stores. While we were there the bus from Sir Stogies in Gilbertsville, PA showed up with about 15 guys. I ran into Walt White from Stogie Review who is a regular up at that shop, who I hadn’t seen in a long time. We got the heck out of there before the buses from Cigar Mojo and Top Shelf Cigars got there. I kinda would have liked to have known about this event in advance, it seems like a fun day, although we already had plans later on. Maybe the next time. Anyway, I bought some Señorial  maduros in the lonsdale size (and I have a mental block with the name, I always spell it Señoreal, which is incorrect. It’s right there on the band, I don’t know what my deal is with that) and some Freyja “Sessrúmnir” Corona Largas, and lit up the Señorial maduro. What a great medium bodied smoke with loads of flavor, although what would you expect from Jose Blanco? Dave always puts on great events at The Wooden Indian, and Jose and Emma are great folks.  We left there and went to a great Beatles symposium in New Jersey (“Ticket to Rider” review here) to cap off a great Saturday.

 

That’s all I feel like writing about now!  I need to do some more prep work for the contests and get to spending a relaxing Sunday at home! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | January 7, 2015 · 8:36 pm

MBombay, La Sirena, EP Carillo, Inka Secret Blend and a Quesada Cigar

MBombay_Classic_ChurchillIt’s gotten darned cold here in PA, my enclosed porch is nice, but tonight I’m sitting in a Cigar Cigars store that’s two miles from home smoking a Quesada Oktoberfest that was on the half off table. Nice smoke, just getting it going. Sunday I smoked a couple Churchill sized cigars, a MBombay Classic with a Connecticut shade wrapper that was fantastic. It was creamy and well behaved and kept me company while I was on the phone holding for Verizon to no avail. Great afternoon cigar, ultra-premium well balanced and tasty. Not something you see everywhere, but worth finding. Later I had a La Sirena Trident Churchill from the original My Father made production and these are aging nicely. I look forward to comparing it to the new La Zone made line. Speaking of La Sirena, I wrote an article about the Oceano in the current issue of Prime Living magazine, which can be found on page 55 of the on-line version.  It’s nice to see a main stream magazine featuring a Cigar Notes piece in very issue. I’m proud to be a part of it.

 

EPCarillo_Core Maduro_EncatoMonday I lit up an EP Carillo Core Maduro Encanto that I brought back from the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival. This cigar had a gnarly CoConnecticutroadleaf Maduro wrapper, very rustic. I usually find this to be a good sign! I was right, it was a really tasty cigar, loads with rich, dark flavors of espresso and dark cocoa. I haven’t smoked a great many EP Carrillo cigars over the past couple years.  Of course, I was a fan of the La Gloria Cubana line going back to the mid-90s, but I haven’t gotten around to sampling many of Ernie’s newer cigars. This one was a winner, right up my alley. The ugly broadleaf wrapper is really quite tasty and ads a nice sweetness.  Another great smoke with a great draw and burn.

 

InkaSecretBlend_coronaLast night I selected a cigar that’s due for its US launch in a couple weeks, but has been exclusively available at CGars Ltd in the UK. I’ve smoked a couple of these in various iterations over the years, and remember an interesting evening sitting at Casa Fuente in Vegas with Mitchell Orchant and his manufacturer in Peru, Genaro, testing prototypes. There was an ashtray loaded with cigars that only had an inch smoked, which brought questions from the waitstaff. Clearly they have improved the smokability of these as every one they lit up that night seemed to be plugged. I remember running into Genaro at the Draw Tester booth at the IPCPR sho and he was looking into the machines. Anyway, this is a Peruvian Puro and I like Peruvian tobacco. The cigar was 6″ x 46, had a roll reminiscent of a Havana, a bit on the loose side, but had a great burn and draw. There was a nice sweetness and it was a really great smoke. I have smoked the 6×60 size and think the 6×46 size is a better representation of the blend.

 

imageThis Quesada Oktoberfest is really good, even in the 6×60 size. Very rich and flavorful, but the shop closed at 7pm, so I had to take the rest of the cigar home to finish on the porch. I tried taking the dog for a walk, but the temps are in single digits and neither of us were happy about it. It’s a long burning cigar, well worth the $5 I paid for it from the discount rack.  I suppose the size didn’t sell well, but it was  a really tasty cigar, and I am quite glad I picked up a couple. It was very nice, with a savory flavor to it. The Cigar Cigars shop is only two miles from home, so I can see visiting it with some regularity.  It’s got a nice selection and a Montecristo Lounge that while I haven’t set foot in yet, looks comfortable. I’m happy sitting in the front of the store as it’s quite comfortable as well.

 

That’s about it for today.  I need to get it together and get Mark’s goodies shipped out to him. I need to find a big enough box to hold it all!  I’ve been slacking. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | April 7, 2013 · 9:53 am

A Weekend In North Joisey: Casa Hispaniola in Englewood and Cigar Emporium in Lyndhurst

article-05This weekend I’ve been in Secaucus, New Jersey hanging out with my wife while she helps some of her clients out at the New York Metro Fest For Beatles Fans.  This festival takes over the entire Empire Meadowlands Hotel, and let me tell you, it’s an interesting group of folks.  I’ve been Tweeting short videos via Keek here and there.  I love the Beatles, don’t get me wrong, but there’s a reason one of my wife’s sites is Beatles-Freaks.com!  There’s no shortage of loonies here. I’ve been poking fun via Keek and Twitter, but it’s probably not that much different than a herf or cigar festival is to the outside observer (OK, maybe there aren’t too many people dressed as their favorite cigar maker at cigar fests..).  It’s certainly something to be experienced.  Fortunately, while my wife was busy with her duties at the show, I was able to visit a few cigar shops and smoke some cigars.

 

Friday evening I ventured north to Englewood, NJ to seek out Casa Hispaniola.  This is the retail/lounge arm of Hispaniola Cigars.  Through a series of Tweets I had the great pleasure of meeting with Hugo Melo, one of the owners of the company.  This is a nice little shop and lounge in what appears to be an upscale suburb of New York City.  The shop has cabinet humidors lining two walls, plenty of comfy seating and quite a relaxing atmosphere.  The selection was reasonable and certainly included the Hispaniola line of cigars, of which I smoked a Tres Carabelas, a name which refers to the three ships that Columbus sailed to explore the new world. This 5″ x 50 rubusto was smooth and tasty, and I found it to be fairly strong, on the high side of medium to me.  It’s a Dominican puro, wrapped with a ruddy wrapper which is described as a “Havano Oscuro Vuelta Arriba”. Hugo mentioned that it contained several leaves of ligero, which was evident in the burn, it required some touch ups, but nethier the draw or flavor seemed to be compromised.  In short, it was a tasty treat.  Prior to Hugo’s arrival at the shop I enjoyed a La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor robusto, and, as I stated in my previous article’s comments, I can be reasonably certain that this is the same as the UK/Europe market’s La Aroma del Caribe Mi Amor. It was a stellar smoke, spice at the start and nice cocoa/coffee flavors throughout.  It was a great way to spend and evening and reinforces the theory that a cigar shop is a safe haven for any traveler, one feels at home and a stranger can sit down and join in on the conversation and feel at home.

 

Saturday, after a very surreal late Friday night, seeing everything from people with Beatles t-shirts, to a Jake Blues impersonator (?), and after a decent continental breakfast at the hotel, I managed to make my way a few miles to Cigar Emporium in Lyndhurst, NJ.  I had put out some correspondence to some of the locals, and Alex Martinez (Stogiecop.com), Matt Ross (@MattSRoss81) and Antonio Lam (Reinado Cigars) were kind enough to take time out of their Saturday and bring some friends along as well to smoke a few cigars with an out-of-towner.  The shop is very nice. The walk-in humidor is expansive and I like the fact that it’s down a few steps from the lounge area.  I don’t know why I liked that, but it was different and sets it apart from other shops. The selection was quite good, and the prices were typical New Jersey prices.  I selected an EP Carillo Core Maduro Club 52 to get started.  This was a very nice cigar, not strong at all, but very well balanced and flavorful.  I followed that with an enormous San Lotano Oval Gordo, a 6½” x 60. The “oval” presentation makes this easier to handle, and it’s a tremendous smoke.  This lasted me close to two hours. I was there for about 5 hours, and it went by in a flash.  I appreciate these guys coming out, it was great to see Antonio again and actually get to talk to him as opposed to interviewing him at the IPCPR show, and I look forward to smoking his Grand Empire Reserve again (stay tuned).  I was also quite happy to finally meet Alex and Matt after having corresponded with them both over the years.  Thanks for a great afternoon, and thanks to the staff of Cigar Emporium for their hospitality.

 

 

I have a few hours to kill this afternoon, maybe I’ll head back to Cigar Emporium since it was so close and so good.  It’s been a great weekend.  Don’t forget to go back to Wednesday’s post and enter the contest to win some excellent Recluse Kanu No. 1 cigars.  I’ll select a winner in next Sunday’s post, so leave a comment answering the question: “What do you know about Recluse Cigars?”

 

Also, don’t forget the promo codes that are currently available for your use:

You can use the code “MPCGRS10” on CigarFromBrazil.com to get %10 off any purchase on the site. The Monte Pascoal cigars are very nice.

ItalianSmokes.com has a special offer code for you, it’s CIGCRAIG10 and will get you 10% off your purchase of their selection of Toscano style cigars.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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