Tag Archives: Four Kicks

by | December 24, 2023 · 9:16 am

Mule Kick, Metropolitan, Maria Lucia and the Contest Winner!

It only just occurred to me that that the last three cigars I smoked started with M, must be fore Merry Christmas!  Of course, today is Christmas Eve, so it’s time to start your Christmas Shopping guys!  It’s also the day I’m announcing the winner of the contest sponsored by Cigars.com, but I’ll get to that later!  In the spirit of the season, I smoked some gifted cigars this week, the first of which was from Steve from Tampa, who was up visiting on business a few weeks ago. He gifted me a Crowned Heads Four Kicks 2023 Mule Kick LE, a 5 7/8″ x 52. Funny, I thought it was a toro, but I was off by an eighth of an inch.  This one has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over a Dominican binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers,  and is made in the Tabacalara La Alianza factory by Ernesto Carillo. I think this is the seventh iteration of the Mule Kick, and probably the first I’ve had, the Crowned Heads stuff isn’t ever really on my radar, I don’t see them in the stores near me that often. This was a great smoke, loaded with dark chocolate and spices.  Ernesto has been a master of Sumatra for as long as I can remember, which, in this case, is a long time (my memory is suspect, short-term and names is terrible, long term isn’t so bad). Many thanks to Steve for the opportunity to smoke this, I look forward to your next visit, who knows, I may get to your neck of the woods before you get back here!

 

Next up were a couple of selections from my Secret Santa this year. Quick bit of housekeeping: If you participated in the CigarCraig Secret Santa (The CCSS moving forward), and have not fulfilled your obligation, please do so. I know of one package that’s in transit. Everyone that’s been involved has done it multiple times, so I don’t worry, and I try to be hands off and just a participant. Feel free to let me know if you have comments of concerns.  My CCSS was a fellow Craig and in my area, so much so that I ran into him while out shopping Friday! So I selected the Nat Sherman Metropolitan Host Maduro Hampton, a 7″ x 50 cigar.  You might be saying, “Craig, Metropolitan is a Ferio Tego brand now” and I’d say you are correct. You also might not know that Nat Sherman closed their doors in 2021 and Michael Herklots bought the rights to the names and kept the brands alive. This particular cigar is one of the older ones, purchased at the Nat Sherman Townhouse in NYC. I believe it has a Broadleaf wrapper, over Honduran fillers, made by the Eiroas if I’m not mistaken.  This was milder than I imagined it would be, but it was loaded with sweet cocoa flavor and very tasty. Perhaps any strength it had was tempered by time, but it was very good.  I enjoyed the crap out of this and it’s one that I’ll likely never see again. Thanks for the opportunity Craig! 

 

Another cigar in Craig’s CCSS pack was the Luciano Cigars Maria Lucia, another Broadleaf wrapped cigar.  This is a tribute to Luciano Meirelles’ mother, who passed when he was twelve, and has the artwork of his daughter on the band. The cigar is 5¼” x 54 with the Broadleaf wrapper,  double binder of Ecuadorian Sumatra and Ecuadorian Habano 92 tobaccos, and a fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Peru. This is going to sound strange, especially given the source, but the flavor was bready to me, like a dark bread, a pumpernickel or the brown bread that comes in a can. It was on the heavy side, which I liked, even though I smoked it before dinner (after a nap). I have met Luciano a couple times, and have enjoyed his cigars. I would like to explore more of his work, I think. Good stuff.

 

Let’s give some stuff away!  You might recall, Cigars.com has provided me with a really nice Montecristo travel humidor, along with a RoMEo cap and a Romeo y Julieta can cozy.  I am going to add some cigars to the humidor before I ship it, they will be Cigars.com exclusives from my humidor, more or less.  The sponsor doesn’t know I’m doing this, but I can’t send out a package without cigars! Anyway, I’ve consulted the Google Random Number Generator and Tim McCabe is the winner! Please send me your address so that I can get this stuff out to you!  Remember if you buy from Cigars.com, or JRCigars.com, please use the affiliate links on the left sidebar, I could use the cash!

That’s all for now, enjoy the Holidays! I guess I need to scrounge up some goodies for a New Years Giveaway!  Stay tuned! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 29, 2019 · 10:52 am

A Four Kicks, an Island LifeStyle and a Gran Habano, and Some Other Cigars

It’s been a busy holiday week. When Christmas falls on a Wednesday, it seems to make things a little nutty. I imagine if I had a job it would be even worse. I continue to pound the pavement, but it’s a tricky time to try to get an interview! I have confidence that things will open up after next week. I managed to have a cigar or two since my last post, and I did skip a midweek post due to the holiday. I took part in a Secret Santa on one of the Facebook Groups, so I smoked a gifted cigar from Adam just before Christmas, a Four Kicks Maduro Lancero LE 2018. While I don’t have a great deal of experience with the Crowned Heads line, I am a big fan of the EP Carrillo cigars, and this cigar is made at Tabacalera La Alianza, S.A. factory, in the DR, and I like Maduros and I like Lanceros. I felt like this cigar would be a treat. My friends, I was not wrong, this cigar was, indeed, a treat. It’s a true Laguito No. 1 Vitola, 7 ½” x 38, with a fantail cap. The burn and draw were perfect, and I took care, as I usually do, to smoke it slowly so as not to overheat it and get a hot, bitter taste. It was delicious maduro espresso and dark chocolate and I dug it. I met Adam at the PA Barn Smoker and am looking forward to the next time we can hang out and have a cigar together, he and his wife are super-cool folks. Thanks for the experience! 

 

I don’t recall if I mentioned it or not, but a few weeks ago I popped over to Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA for a bit and hung out with Ryan and Rick from Island Lifestyle Importers. I’ve hung out with them at the IPCPR show, and been a big fan of their Tommy Bahama cigar accessories and, of course, their Island Lifestyle Aged Reserve line of premium cigars. While I was there I smoked their Aged Reserve Maduro in the Churchill size, and revisited it this week. They have changed their production from Perdomo to Oliva, oddly enough due to FDA regulation on box counts. Is that screwy or what? By the way, their factory was a tightly held secret, I tried for a long time to get them to spill, to no avail. This Maduro is a Nicaraguan wrapper, and is a beautiful oily maduro wrapper. The examples I’ve smoked have been absolute perfection, burn and draw were spot on, well balanced and right up my alley flavor-wise. Rich black coffee with some cocoa sweetness and some earthines, and good to the nub. Completely enjoyable. I also dig the Sungrown too, but this Maduro is great. The “Churchill” is large, 7″ x 54, I called it a Double Corona, but it’s a great smoke. I love the lighters, cutters and other cool stuff in the Tommy Bahama line too, it’s cool and works great. It was great seeing them and I hope to see them at the TPE show.

 

One of the other great cigars I smoked this week was a Gran Habano Gran Reserva No.5 2012 Corona Gorda. I love a Corona Gorda, much more than a Corona or Robusto. It’s like a scaled down Toro. For whatever reason, I’ve just always been a fan of the 5 1/8 x 46 shape, although there have been a few lines that I’ve preferred other sizes. In this case, they use the top 10% of the Corojo No.5 leaf and give the finished cigars additional aging. The wrapper and binder is Nicaraguan and the filler is Nicaraguan and Costa Rican and it’s a darned tasty blend. It’s smooth and rich. I always enjoy the Corojo No. 5, and this is a more refined version. I’m not entirely sure what they cost, or where to find them, but they are good, and I’d buy them in a heartbeat! Good stuff!

 

What else did I smoke?  I had a RoMaCraft Baka, a Diamond Crown Black Diamond, a Davidoff Escurio, a Joya Cinco Decadas, and, of course, one of my favorites this year, a Don Juan Calavera Connecticut. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 10, 2013 · 8:37 pm

Getting Ready for Vegas, a Perdomo, a Four Kicks and a Nica Rustica

In the week leading up to our trip to the IPCPR show in Vegas I’m losing track of what I’ve smoked!  I had to go back and check twitter and Instagram to refresh my memory. My wife is right, I need to take a note book along this time to write things down along the way. I’m certain to forget something in the information overload that is the IPCPR  show. Case in point: I smoked a couple cigars on Sunday, I think a CAO Concert and a Gurkha Seduction. Both are cigars that are on my “go to” list when I want to smoke something, enjoy the heck out of it, and not have to worry too much about it. The Concert went very nicely in the pool, and the Gurkha was perfect after a end of the weekend rainstorm complete with a double rainbow. These two cigars capped off a pretty great holiday weekend for me.  I had to go look up what I smoked!

 

Perdomo_10th Maduro RobustoMonday evening I grabbed one of the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduros I had picked up recently. I was in the mood for something new and I really don’t smoke a ton of Perdomo cigars for whatever reason. I’m not sure if it goes back to the 90s when I had a string of bad luck with the brand or what. This cigar was pretty darned sublime. The flavor was right up my alley, chocolatey and espressoey  and well balanced. Well worth the $5.25 I paid for it. It was a lovely smoke and I’ll certainly have to pay a little more attention to this brand. Yes, I know that chocolatey and espressoey aren’t real words (I already had that argument with the spell check…).

 

Four Kicks_RobustoLast night I selected a Four Kicks robusto that was gifted to me a few months ago in New Jersey by Alex “StogieCop” Martinez. I’ve enjoyed a few different sizes in this line, and they are nice cigars to be sure. I kind of wanted to get some older (ie. last years) cigars smoked before going to the trade show and being inundated with new stuff. This was a worthy smoke, although I just can’t get as excited about it as some do, perhaps it doesn’t suit my preferences as much as some others. Still a terrific smoke, thank you Alex for allowing me to revisit this one.

 

DE_NicaRustica_ToroChanging gears, tonight I wanted to preview a cigar that I gather is being released at the show this year. In the past few weeks I’ve smoked some NicaRoma cigars from Villiger,the Nica Puro from Alec Bradley, so I thought I better smoke the Nica Rustica that’s coming out from Drew Estate. I was given a sample a few months ago when I visited the factory and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit intimidated by this stick! Will at Cigar-Coop.com posted a nice write up on this last week, where he notes that the blend includes a Nicaraguan Rustica tobacco grown in Esteli that is among the most potent of tobaccos it’s wrapped in a San Andreas binder (yay!) and a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper (another yay!) and will be offered in a 6″x52 toro shape. The example I smoked had an unfinished foot and a pigtail head. It certainly was a rustic looking cigar, and had a wonderful syrupy sweetness on the wrapper.  You an feel the tingle of the nicotine in the mouth, and there is a ton of flavor. This is like a Liga Privada on steroids. I have yet to find anythig remotely subtle about this cigar, it’s just loaded with great, in your face flavor and strength. I’m sitting on the deck finishing this off as I type, and I already look forward to smoking another one. Now, I have to admit that I don’t know if this is the finished blend or not, but I hope it is close.  I remember Steve Saka saying that production capacity was holding this release back, apparently they made some room to produce a bunch of these. At the reported under $7 price tag, this is a no brainer for anyone who doesn’t mind having your ass kicked around the block a few times. Highly recomended and anticipated!

 

That’s it for tonight. The next post will probably be from the IPCPR show. I’ll do my best to get some interesting and entertaining video here, assuming I can get some WIFI connections here and there.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | April 14, 2013 · 10:59 am

An Inka, a Four Kicks, Italian Cigars, News and a Recluse Contest Winner!

Inka_Rojo_FiguradoAfter yet another disappointing Flyers loss Thursday night, we stopped into the cigar bar and I lit up a little box pressed torpedo that Mitchell Orchant of C.Gars Ltd gave me to try at the IPCPR show last year.  This was the Inka Secret Blend Rojo Figurado, which is a 4″ x 52 little torpedo that is a Peruvian Puro. I gave this cigar a clip with the V-cutter, which is a little weird on a torpedo, but it works.  This is an incredible little smoke, it’s a medium to full bodied cigar with a terrific flavor akin to something with a Habano wrapper.  I wasn’t too surprised, knowing that Mitchell had a hand in the blend, and that he survives on a steady diet of Havana cigars.  I’ve enjoyed the heck out of the Inkas I’ve smoked, and am looking forward to trying something in the Azul line too.  It’s unfortunate that these have UK pricing, I would happily drop $4 or $5 on this little guy, but $8 is a bit steep. Great smokes that are worth trying if you have the chance!

 

FourKicks_CoronaGordaFriday evening’s walk featured a Four Kicks Corona Gorda that I had purchased a few months ago when I visited a shop, and I cannot remember which shop it was.  I’m late to the party on this one, I admit, I figured it was time to give it a go and see what the hubbub was all about.  I trust most readers are familiar with this initial release from Crowned Heads, made up of the folks formerly of CAO, and blended by Ernesto Carillo in his factory in the DR.  This is one of my favorite cigar sizes, 5-5/8” x 46, and I have to admit that my expectations were high.  It was a nice smoke, very enjoyable, but didn’t blow me away.  Maybe it’s just not my particular cup of tea from the start, but as it progressed it grew on me and by the time I was done I was pretty pleased (with the smoke, not that I was done!).  I was recently gifted a robusto by  Alex the StogieCop, so I look forward to sampling that size, and I think I still have a Headley Grange with about 9 months of humidor time on it that will be interesting to revisit.  Gotta give the guys at Crowned Heads credit for getting back in the game with some good smokes.

 

Saturday I decided would be Italian day, and I’ll tell you why.  I’ve been hearing about fire cured Kentucky leaf here and there.  It’s apparently featuring prominently in one of Sam Leccia‘s new blends, as well as a new My Uzi Weighs a Ton from Joya De Nicaragua/Subculture Studios.  When I hear fire cured Kentucky tobacco my first thought is the Italian Toscano style cigars (that sounds odd, but it’s true).   Back in 2000 my wife travelled to Italy and brought me back some Antico Toscano cigars that I enjoyed. These cheroots can be cut in half for 2 short smokes, or smoked all at once.  I received a 5 pack of Toscano Classico and a 5 pack of Toscanello Aroma Caffé from the folks at Italiansmokes.com, along with a discount code for you guys to use on their site (CIGCRAIG10).  I lit up a Toscanello after running some errands, and was outside vacuuming out the car.  I was surprised by this little cigar, I expected an overpowering and cloying coffee flavor, but it was very subtle. These are strong, but very pleasant little smokes that are certainly quite durable.  I probably spent 45 minutes with this little guy.  I can see keeping these around for a nice, short smoke.  After a nap (during another losing Flyers game), I took a walk with a Toscano Classico.  I chose the Intero method of smoking this, which is smoking it all at once instead of cutting it in half.  Again, I was very surprised by the flavor of this cigar. It’s a distinctive flavor that one doesn’t get in a premium, Caribbean/Central American cigar.  I would say these are strong, but not harsh.  Certainly cutting one of these in half and either sharing it or saving half for later is an option that is perfectly acceptable and may even make a bit of difference in the flavor.  An added benefit to this style of cigar is that you will look cool smoking them, like Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti western!  Thanks to Cedric at ItalianSmokes.com for sending these along.

 

Contest!

This contest has been a bit longer than usual, but I think it’s worth it.  The prize is spectacular in my opinion and someone is going to be very pleased I’m sure.  Once again, my thanks go to Scott at Iconic Leaf, along with his wife Kelly and JR Dominguez and everyone involved.  They are making excellent boutique smokes and I can’t express enough how much I enjoy them.  They have a bunch of neat sizes and shapes and are magnificently constructed.  Thanks to everyone for entering and answering the question “What do you know about Recluse Cigars?” and thanks to Scott for jumping in and answering some of the questions along the way.  I’m still waiting for an answer about 2 Guys shipping to CA, so sit tight.  Once again I’ve numbered all of the entries, taking out my comments as well as Scott’s and any duplicates and consulted the Random Number Generator at Random.org.  I entered  the number 47 and it returned number  20, which corresponds to Steven Miller, who needs to send me his address so I can ship this lovely box to him!  Stay tuned for next month’s contest which may have something  to do with Drew Estate since I’ll be visiting there in the next few weeks.

 

One more thing:

This comes from Matt Pera regarding the Midwest Smokeout:

You can expect one of the biggest and best cigar shows in the U.S. People travel from all over the world to attend this event. We expect nearly every state to be represented, along with at least four foreign countries. We will have legends from the cigar industry in attendance, including Carlito Fuentes, Tony Gomez, Lou Rodriguez, Victor Vitale and Clay Roberts. A ticket to the Midwest Smoke Out includes 14 of the world’s finest cigars, premium tastings of first-class wine, beer and spirits, gourmet food, live entertainment, and a few surprises along the way.

The event is not just for smokers. We have found that people who do not partake in cigars still want to attend the Midwest Smoke Out to get in on fun. For these people, we are offering a $95 ticket that does not include the 14 premium cigars.

We launched the Midwest Smoke Out in 2010 because we saw a glaring need in the Chicago area for an event that allowed cigar lovers to light up and mingle. Anti-smoking legislation in Chicago has made it more difficult to find places where you can enjoy a good cigar and good company. Our event fills that void and has really become an occasion that people look forward to all year.

Every year we add new features to improve on our success. We have new cigars, new spirits, and fresh entertainment. We are also really engaging people via social media this year. During this final month leading up to the Midwest Smoke Out, we are offering weekly contests on Facebook and Twitter that give people a chance to win free tickets to the event.

When you walk into the Midwest Smoke Out, you know that you are attending a lavish affair. The sweet smell of cigar smoke hangs in the air, live music plays in the background, friends are sharing laughs while enjoying top-shelf drinks – whiskey, gin, craft beer, vodka, tequila, wine, you name it – and mingling with some of the most beautiful women in the Midwest. Booths are set up throughout The Venue at Horseshoe Casino, where vendors offer gourmet food, premium cigars, fine cocktails and more. Luxury cars are situated at various sites on the event floor to be admired. This is a place where people are encouraged to relax. It is a time to unwind, forget the stress of daily life, and just have fun.

While cigars are a highlight of the night, we are very proud to offer a variety of fantastic items for people to enjoy. That includes the best in wine, liquor and beer, mouthwatering gourmet food, the chance to meet some of the most influential people working in the cigar business, exceptional entertainment and much more. We work hard to make sure people who attend the Midwest Smoke Out are spoiled from start to finish.

Visit www.MidwestSmokeOut.com for all the details and let me know if you go and how it is. I’d be happy to post a  guest review of the event here.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | September 28, 2012 · 6:18 pm

IPCPR 2012 – Headley Grange Estupendo by Crowned Heads

The Headley Grange Estupendo was the cigar that Jon Huber wanted to make that tasted like the first few seconds of Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks”, which was recorded at the former poorhouse in Headley, UK called Headley Grange. On my way out of the IPCPR show on my second and last day, I stopped by to say hello to Jon Huber of Crowned Heads and he laid a couple of Headley Grange samples on me. I decided to smoke one Thursday night to see how it was. In the interest of full disclosure, I have yet to try the Crowned Heads initial release, Four Kicks, but after sampling the Headley Grange, I may have to. The 5½ x 52 size of this cigar is just about perfect for me. It’s a little longer than the robusto that can be a little too short when one is really enjoying a great cigar. Obviously the quality is outstanding given that it’s made by Ernesto Carillo in his factory in the Dominican Republic. The cigar lit and burned very nicely, and smoked for around 1½ hours. I find that I’m smoking slower in the past couple years, which I view as a good thing. The cigar was loaded with deep, rich flavor, which makes me understand the comparison to the drums at the beginning of “When the Levee Breaks”, but I found myself thinking it tasted more like “Hot Dog” from the “In Through the Out Door” album, it made my taste buds dance a little! This was a really good smoke, which wasn’t awfully surprising. I should have added a Four Kicks to my purchase last week at Total Tobacco but I didn’t. I guess I’ll have to go back! Bottom line: delicious cigar, a must try.

 

Here’s a quick interview with Jon Huber at the IPCPR show, I appreciate him hanging around a bit after the show closed to record my last video of the event.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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