Tag Archives: esperanza para los ninos

by | June 16, 2024 · 9:14 am

Devil In Disguise, La Lina and Micallef Blue Cigars

It’s just after 8am on Sunday, Father’s Day, and I’ve just lit up a My Father El Centurion H 2K CT corona to smoke while I write this.  I love summer!  I can sit on the porch on a beautiful Sunday morning and enjoy a cigar with coffee.  This cigar is several years old (the price tag of $7.50 was still on it) and smoking well. Looking forward to a lovely day.  Yesterday Lina and John Remer of New Tobacco Village in Whitehall, PA launched a cigar called the Devil in Disguise, a toro made by Espinosa Cigars.  I believe this to be exclusive to New Tobacco Village and I’m quite sure they can be ordered through their website. I stopped in this store once and it was a really nice shop. It had a very welcoming feel, and loads of great cigars.  I regret not stopping in yesterday when they launched the new cigar.  The Devil in Disguise is a toro with a Habano Rosado wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  I smoked one Thursday and found it to be really quite good, it started with a pretty good dose of a citrus tang, which lessened through the smoke, but remained there.  It was quite enjoyable.  Burn and draw were perfect and I dug it.  John and Lina are nice people, I remember the first time I met John, he was doing one of his Facebook lives from an event and was standing right next to him and commented on the post, which he read, then someone told him I was right there.  It was a little funny. 

 

Speaking of Lina, she is the proprietor of New Tobacco Village, and, I assume, who the La Lina cigar was named for.  John and Lina got married at a Vegas wedding chapel at the last PCA trade show, which was attended by a star studded cast of characters.  I was invited, but wasn’t in town at the time.  I’ve actually had this La Lina toro in my humidor for a few years. I ran into John and Lina at a TPE show and was given this cigar.  The La Lina Limited Edition is also a toro, and appears to also be available on their website.  This cigar has an Ecuador Habano Oscuro wrapper, Indonesian binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers.  I found it to have a leathery flavor, with some sweetness in the background. It was a very good cigar, and well priced for an LE. There are links above to purchase both of these cigars, not a paid ad, but the cigars were provided to me gratis.  A couple cigars get you a lot here at CigarCraig.com!

 

I ordered some of the latest Firecrackers from 2 Guys Cigars and added a couple other cigars I wanted to try but don’t see locally often. As long as I’m paying for shipping, right?  One of the cigars was the new Micallef Blue in a toro size.  I really liked the Micallef Black, and who can argue with the prices of these?  They are both good $8 cigars.  The Blue has a Mexican San Andrés Sumatra wrapper, Ecuadorian habano binder and filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. I smoked this soon after receiving it, but I gave it the Humidimeter check and it was ready to go. 2 Guys always does a great job fulfilling orders quickly with great communication.  The predominant flavor on the Blue, to me, at least, was leather. I didn’t get any sweetness at all. I didn’t not enjoy it, I just prefer the Black in this case. It’s great that they are producing affordable cigars, especially good affordable cigars, especially when the came on the market not too many years ago with very expensive cigars. I suppose the next cigar in this line will be a claro of some variety. White would be the clichè choice, with Red for a rosado.  Whatever they go with, I’m sure they will be decent cigars.

 

At some point today I’ll smoke my traditional Father’s Day cigar, the Esperanza Para Los Niños, which is a 25 year old cigar at this point.  Thank you to my old friend Roger F. for allowing me to continue this tradition! You can search this site for the whole story, but this cigar was made by Christian Eiroa when her still owned Camacho and the blend was chosen by a group of guys from  the alt.smokers.cigars usenet group. It was sold to benefit children orphaned by hurricane Mitch which devastated Honduras in October of 1998. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 21, 2020 · 10:49 am

Providencia Spectrum and Espinosa Comfortably Numb Cigars and Other Stuff

Happy Father’s day. Later today I’ll smoke the last cigar from a box of cigars I bought for Father’s Day in 2000. It’ll be a hard cigar not to save, but I’m going to bite the bullet and light it anyway. I didn’t smoke the whole box one every Father’s Day, it took a few years for me to develop that tradition. I had smoked a few and shared a few, but over the years I had a few gifted to me as well to supplement the inventory, thanks to Mike Perry for extending my tradition for a few years by sharing some of his aged stash with me! So today will see the last Esperanza Para Los Niños toro, a cigar made by Christian Eiroa in 1999 with the help of some guys from a usenet group who met up in Danli and selected this blend and sold it with proceeds going to children orphaned by hurricane Mitch. $85 a box was a fortune for me at the time, a bargain now for an excellent cigar, which was heavy bodied, not unlike the old Camacho Triple Maduro. It’s always an adventure smoking a 20 year old cigar, I’m rather looking forward to it, but it’ll come with some sadness as I’ll never have another! I still have the box someplace though! 

 

On to some cigars I actually smoked! I went on a brief Southern Draw bender on the heels of their press release announcing the cancelation of all of their public events for the rest of the year due to pandemic concerns. Personally, I find this to be a responsible decision, as areas that seem to be lax in their preventative measures seem to have a higher infection rate, and who amung us doesn’t want to protect their families? I think the Rose of Sharon Desert Rose is one of the top Connecticut shade style cigars out there, and the Kudzu Lustron is definitely a top notch cigar as well! I smoked both, they are the same box pressed torpedo vitola and are delicious. Speaking of box pressed torpedos from a Texas-based cigar company, I also smoked a cigar from Providencia Cigars. This cigar is called Spectrum, and my assumption is that it has an autism charity connection, considering the colorful puzzle pieces on the band. I can appreciate this theme. If I were to guess, I’d say it was 5″ x 52ish, and the only information I have on it is that it has a Sumatra wrapper that was characterized as delicate and thin. I was advised to avoid wind and humidity due to the fragility of the wrapper, so I did. This is an abso-friggin-lutely delicious cigar! As with just about every Providencia cigar I’ve ever smoked, the cigar burned perfectly. This was the rival of another Sumatra wrapped, honduran made cigar I love in flavor, balance and overall enjoyability (Don Juan Calavera). There’s a sweetness that I really dig, I really have to buy a mixed bag of old-timey hard candy and try to isolate that flavor, but there’s a candy sweetness that makes this cigar a great desert smoke. Absolute joy. I don’t have any idea what the availability of this is or was, but try it if you can. 

 

I believe the Espinosa Comfortably Numb Vol.1 is a Meier and Dutch distributed brand, which is the distribution arm of Cigars International. I picked this one up a few years ago at the CI store in Hamburg when Erik Espinosa was there the day Cigar Fest tickets went on sale. I was just there for the spectacle of it all, hundreds of people lined up outside for hours in the freezing cold for tickets, not my bag, baby. This is a toro with an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Corojo binder and Nicaraguan fillers and is surprisingly mellow. It almost smoked like a shade wrapped cigar. It doesn’t have the grassy flavor, but it does have a sweet, nutty flavor that is pretty nice, and it seemed to have aged pretty well. I say “aged”, it was February of 2018 when I picked this cigar up, so, it’s hardly aged compared to a lot of things, but it held up. Tasty cigar, and not badly priced. I’d be very tempted to sample the madur version, the Vol. 2, the next time I happen to be in a CI store, or if I see it in a shop. Older folks will note the Alton Kelley/Wes Wilson inspired band design.

 

Speaking of “aging”, I smoked one of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Famous Smoke Shop 80th Anniversary cigars from last October last night and it was spectacular. There’s not a lot of Saka’s cigars I don’t like, but this one is pretty special. Well, on with the day, have a great one, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 17, 2012 · 7:03 pm

Father’s Day Cigar: Esperanza Para Los Niños, an Emilio and Some Odds and Ends

As has been my tradition for the last 13 years, I smoked a special cigar for Father’s Day.  I wrote this in my June 20, 2010 post:

Since purchasing a box of Esperanza Para los Niños in 2000 for Father’s day I have smoked one of these every year since.  The cigar is a beautiful box pressed maduro that was made by Christian Eiroa of Camacho to raise money for children orphaned by Hurricane Mitch, which devastated Honduras in 1998.  Christian was an active contributor to alt.smokers.cigars at the time and brought several people to his facility to work on the blend for this cigar, with the proceeds going to charity.  They came up with this amazing blend and sold 45,000 cigars through their dedicated website.  I purchased a box of toros, of which I have one left after smoking and gifting them sparingly over the years.  Tonight I smoked a Chruchill which was gifted to me by a good friend who won a box a few years ago and knew that they were very special to me.

I smoked the second to last Chruchill from the above mentioned batch and it smoked perfectly.  What was once a powerful cigar has mellowed, but is still loaded with delicious chocolaty flavors and was a great after breakfast cigar. Sure, it could have burned a little straighter, but it was exceptional tasting and I smoked it to a nub. Several other cigars from this batch had trouble around the band, an ammonia flavor that I wouldn’t expect from such an old cigar.  This one was outstanding.  I believe I have 3 left, one more Churchill,  a Torpedo and the last toro from the box I purchased in 2000, which will be the last one I smoke.  It was really dis-heartening when I came across a batch of these on close-out for $50 a box in 2002 when I was in a state of unemployment and buying a box of cigars wasn’t a possibility. When these are gone, they will be missed, but not forgotten.  Thanks to my kids for a nice Father’s Day!

 

Rewinding to Thursday, I needed a sure thing in anticipation of a long weekend (I worked at my second job both Friday and Saturday nights, I generally only work every 3rd Saturday, so this schedule wiped me out).  I selected an Emilio AF1 that I had picked up at Classic Cigar Parlor in Doylestown, PA a few weeks back.  They were clearing them out at $5 each so I cleared them out!  Like the above cigar, this is a great maduro, I love San Andreas maduro wrappers, and this is a great one.  It’s got a little bit of strength to it,  but is always a solid smoke and always hits my tastes just right.  It was the perfect cigar before taking a few days off from smoking.  Some of my favorite smokes have this wrapper. Maybe it’s because I started smoking Te Amo maduros years ago, or maybe the wrappers are really exceptional lately, I don’t know, but give me a San Andreas wrapped cigar and I’m a happy camper.

 

I apologize for the brevity of this installment, but I’m tired out from a busy weekend. To add insult to injury, a routine WordPress update caused my access to the dashboard (and thus, my ability to update the site at all), which caused me no shortage of grief.  All fixed now.   In unrelated news, I saw this on Antiques Roadshow last week and thought it was cool.  It’s a smoking jacked made from “cigar silks”, the ribbons used to tie half-wheels of cigars back in the late 1800s.  I recognized Upmann and 7-20-4 brands represented. What a lot of work went into making this!   Every now and then you see some neat tobacciana on there, I remember seeing a quilt as well as a really neat Hindenburg ashtray.

 

I’ve generously given the winner of Mitchell Orchant’s book, “Once Upon a Time in Cuba“, one more day to get in touch with me to collect his winnings.  I see I’m going to have to add some wording to the rules regarding getting in touch with me to collect the prize!  I naively expect people who enter to follow up to see if they won, or, at least, respond to direct e-mails!  Silly me!

 

Enough for now, it’s time to grab some “Z”s before the work-week begins again tomorrow! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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by | June 19, 2011 · 7:58 pm

Father’s Day Cigars, A Ride, and a Big Oja Contest!

Today is Father’s Day, and recently on LivingSocial.com, which is a site like Groupon.com for the Philadelphia area, a local cigar store chain called Light’n Up Cigars ran a special for $20 worth of cigars for $10.  Of course, I purchased one of these, and both my wife and daughter surprised me with one for Father’s Day.  So this afternoon I hopped on the old scooter and took a ride to two of the shops in the area. You had to specify which of the 5 shops you wanted the deal at and I received certificates for two different shops.  I headed to the Glenmoore, PA location with is about 10 miles or so from home. I shopped through the humidor for a bit and settled upon 3 cigars, an Casa Fernandez Aganorsa Leaf, an Alec Bradley Family Blend, and a Perdomo Reserve Champagne, all cigars I have yet to smoke.  From there I took the 12 or so mile trip down PA Rt 401 and made my way to the Frazer, PA store. I selected a pair of Fuente Hemingway Best Sellers, and a Brick House.  I thought both stores seemed a bit sparse in their stocks as there were a lot of empty boxes. The clerk in the Frazer store blamed the winter months and the economy, both valid points, but I would have expected more cigars in the store, especially with the added business coming in from the special coupon deal.  I have one more coupon to use and the pessimist in me thinks I should probably use it soon, although my suspicions are probably off base and I’ll see the stocks restored in the next month or so.  The Frazer, PA store has a very large walk-in humidor, while the Glenmoore store’s is smaller, but the later store has a more comfortable lounge area.  The cheap bastard in me is appalled at 6 cigars for $40, but I guess the same cigars for $20 is a great deal.

As I compose this edition, I am smoking my annual Father’s Day cigar, an Esperanza para los Niños. I Have smoked one of these every Father’s Day since I bought a box in 2000.  I detailed the background of this cigar in my June 20th post last year, so I won’t repeat it.  I’m enjoying this tasty, well-aged cigar with an IBC root beer which was a gift from my son.  As it has been for years, it’s a chocolaty maduro that’s burning very well and goes well with the root beer.  This is a tradition which I can only continue for another 4 years, at which time my prized stash of these will be exhausted, never to be replenished.   I will savor each and every one until then, and remember that they were made “For the Children”.

Contest

For the last couple weeks you will, no doubt, have noticed the name “Oja” coming up in my posts.  I have been enjoying sampling these cigars made in Nicaragua and blended by Luis Garcia, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Nicaragua.  I most recently smoked the 6 x 60 Mestizo (Habana2000) Artefacto.  I really enjoyed the sweetness that dominated this cigar. It was a really nice cigar and I seem to be getting used to this idea of 60 ring gauge cigars (a good thing, since I also received a couple of Jonathan Drew’s newest cigar, the My Uzi Weighs a Ton).  The other two lines, an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and a Brazilian Araparica wrapper, have also been very tasty, but this H2000 is my favorite of the bunch.  Luis has very generously provided me with a BOX of the Oja Mestizo Artefactos which is the prize for this month’s contest!  That’s right, a whole box of very nice cigars to be won by a lucky reader.  The contest will run until Sunday, July 3, in honor of the July 4th holiday, and I’m going to have to make you work a little harder than the usual random selection that I normally do.   In the comments of this post, place a link to a picture of you smoking a cigar in a patriotic setting of some sort any patriotic theme which includes a cigar or cigars. Let’s try to keep the photos g-rated and within the bounds of good taste (I have the power to edit and delete and disqualify at my discretion).  I will close the comments at Midnight on Saturday, July 2 July 9 and a selection committee of my choosing will select a winner.  The only other proviso is that the photos must be publicly accessible, so all can enjoy, and I’m going to suspend the six month rule for this contest to give everyone a chance to win.  This is a pretty big prize in my opinion, so let your creative juices flow!  A big THANKS to Luis at Oja for providing such a great prize!

That’s it for now, Happy Father’s Day and until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | June 20, 2010 · 7:42 pm

Weekend Cigars: La Aurora, Liga Privada, Esperanza – June 20, 2010

Today was Father’s Day, and leading up to it, I managed to smoke a few cigars this weekend.

Friday started the weekend with a La Aurora 1495 Robusto.  This cigar was well made and burned and drew nicely.  I didn’t particularly care for the flavor.  It had a rustic Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper, which I verified through a brief exchange with La Aurora company president Guillermo Leon via Twitter.  I was actually unaware that this was also offered in Cameroon, Corojo and Brazilian maduro until Guillermo asked me which wrapper it was.  I think I would like this in any of these other 3 wrappers over the one I smoked.  It’s pretty special to be able to communicate with someone of Señor Leon’s stature so quickly and easily, something that was not so easy in years past.  Most people involved in the cigar business are very approachable, but to have almost instant access is pretty cool!

Saturday my daughter and her husband took us out to the Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner.  After a great meal, which I partook of all 4 food groups (Filet, bacon wrapped scallops, and a piece of chicken from my wife’s salad), we came home and my children presented me with a very exciting Father’s Day gift.  They established a bank account for me to use to save up for a trip to Drew Estate’s Cigar Safari!  What a great gift and they even chipped in cash to get me started.  Now I just have to get to saving up so I can go to Nicaragua and visit the Drew Estate factory!  I had chosen a cigar to smoke after that great dinner, but quickly put it away and decided a Liga Privada No.9 Parejo since it seemed much more appropriate.  The cigar was exceptional as usual.  These are amazing cigars which are satisfying and delicious while not being overwhelming.  For those who don’t know, the Liga Privada line was blended as the personal cigar for company president Steve Saka.  I first became acquainted with Steve through the alt.smokers.cigars Usenet group in 1996.  He was a prolific poster on that group for many years until he took a job with JR’s Cigars, then eventually became president of Drew Estate.  He rarely is seen without a Liga Privada clenched in his jaw.  This is a cigar that is so smooth and satisfying that you really could smoke them all the time.  A tremendous cigar that I reserve for special occasions.

Since purchasing a box of Esperanza Para los Niños in 2000 for Father’s day I have smoked one of these every year since.  The cigar is a beautiful box pressed maduro that was made by Christian Eiroa of Camacho to raise money for children orphaned by Hurricane Mitch, which devastated Honduras in 1998.  Christian was an active contributor to alt.smokers.cigars at the time and brought several people to his facility to work on the blend for this cigar, with the proceeds going to charity.  They came up with this amazing blend and sold 45,000 cigars through their dedicated website.  I purchased a box of toros, of which I have one left after smoking and gifting them sparingly over the years.  Tonight I smoked a Chruchill which was gifted to me by a good friend who won a box a few years ago and knew that they were very special to me.  Oddly, the several cigars I’ve smoked over the past few years from this batch have been wonderful, lush and heavy maduro cigars, but when approaching the band have hit an almost amonia stretch.  I find this odd in a twelve year old cigar.  Still, this remains a special cigar to celebrate Father’s Day with, and I will continue to do so for the next few years.  That last toro will be the last to go, probably close to two decades after it was rolled.

I’m quite pleased to note that CigarCraig.com has risen two places on CigarTopsite.com from 19 to 17 in the past couple weeks.  Thank you very much to all of the folks who’ve paid a visit and mentioned and linked to the site.  This is something I enjoy writing, and it humbles me to know that there are folks who check in on a regular basis.  A Thank You is also due to my lovely bride who got me started on this and puts up with my obsession!  Keep an eye open for another contest coming up soon as July closes in on us!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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