Tag Archives: fuente

by | February 25, 2015 · 8:43 pm

Brick House, Leccia Luchador and Arturo Fuente 8-5-8 Cigars

I continue to have trouble NOT reaching for maduros and darker wrapped cigars! I guess it’s a winter thing, I’ll try to reverse the trend, but, honestly, I’m loving most of the cigars I’m smoking lately! The My Father Connecticut I smoked a week or two ago was a really good change, but I have to wonder how I would have felt smoking it outdoors in the cold. The darker, heavier wrappers just seen to hold up better both structurally and in flavor, when the mercury drops.
BrickHouse_MightyMaduroSunday’s cigar was a Brick House Mighty Mighty Maduro from the folks at JC Newman. This is a Nicaraguan puro, manufactured at their factory in Esteli. This is a large cigar, 6¼” x 60, and very well built. The burn and draw were perfect. I haven’t been screwing around lately experimenting with various cutters, I’ve been using a straight cut on most (exceptions being punching small ring cigars sometimes). I can’t tell you how tired I am of bundling up then making sure I have all the tools I need before I walk out the door to have a smoke. It’s taking me 15 minutes to do all the prep needed, grabbing a cigar, tools, taking a picture, posting on Instagram, then I always forget something….anyway, this was a good smoke, and these are reasonably priced. It’s got a thick, rich flavor of cocoa from the dark brown and oily Brazilian wrapper. I think it’s a darned good cigar.

 
Leccia_Luchador_ElHombreThe lure of the Luchador was too strong for me to resist this week, so Monday had to feature the Leccia Luchador El Hombre for my attempt at an evening walk. It’s still too cold, barely getting a mile in in this weather, but the porch provides shelter from the worst of the elements. This cigar is one of my absolute favorites from last year, and continues to be right up there on my list of favorite cigars. It’s not overpowering, but full of flavor, and I still get some jalapeño and dark chocolate in the flavor profile. It’s entertaining and satisfying and I dig it. Happy to say a box of these will be moving into the cabinet humidor when it finally shows up in a couple weeks.

 
AFuente_858_SungrownA few weeks ago one of my vendors at work sent me a pile of cigars from Fuente. His story was that a friend or business associate of his is friends with someone in the Fuente family and regularly sends him care packages. This bag he sent me had some Opus, an Añejo Shark (a cigar I haven’t smoked yet) some Hemingways, a Don Carlos, and a couple Sungrowns. It was a very impressive selection, even for someone as jaded as myself. I figured I’d dig into the bag last night and came out with the 858 Sungrown. Of course, I’ve smoked a bunch of the 858 in natural and maduro, but it’s been a dozen years easily. I always enjoyed the cigars, so I was looking forward to this one. The difference is the Ecuador Sungrown wrapper with is nice and dark, and a cedar sleeve with a black band and ribbon (the regular line is still green on the band, right?). I love the size of this cigar too, 6” x 47, which makes it chunkier and longer than a corona gorda, but not quite as big as a toro. I ended up having a very nice time smoking this cigar. There was a nice sweetness and it burned pretty well. These tend to be in the $6-$7 range from what I can recall, and I think that’s a good price, or at least it’s a very good cigar for that price. It’s certainly a cigar I would revisit often if I had them in the humidor. Tasty!

 

That’s about it for today. Look forward to a contest in the near future, as well as some cool news next week.  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 7, 2014 · 9:56 am

Flor de Gonzalez, Gurkha and Opus, Countdown to the 2014 12SDoCG

This will be my last post before kicking off the fourth annual CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways!  This year may just be the best yet! I have an absurd amount of cigars in the  2014 12SDoCG coolerdor!  Stay tuned for the big kick off on Thursday, December 11 (yes, a day earlier than I originally announced).  Tell your friends and neighbors, subscribe to the e-mail list, keep an eye CC_Logo_xmas_son Twitter and Facebook!  Don’t miss the chance to win some goodies from our generous sponsors, listed here in no particular order: Drew Estate, Joya de Nicaragua, General Cigar Co., Miami Cigar and Co., Arandoza Cigars, Nomad Cigars, Smoke Inn, 2 Guys Smokeshop, Gurkha Cigars and Tortuga Cigars. Thanks to all these great friends for their contributions and support!  For those of you who don’t know or remember, the rules are simple!  Leave a comment on  the day’s blog post to enter. After day one, I’ll announce the winner of the previous day’s giveaway, and the current day’s present. It makes my life  easier if the winner e-mails me with their address, instead of me having to track them down, but no need to send your address proactively!  Once you’ve won, you’re done! All decisions are final, you’d be surprised at how difficult is can be to count through thousands of comments to find the winner! OK, hundreds, but in the pre-dawn hours it’s tough! I will throw a new twist in asking a question each day about that days sponsor, let’s try to give these brands a little useful feedback for their troubles.  So that’s the deal, have fun with it!

 

90Miles Reserva SelectaI have managed to smoke a couple cigar over the last few days, starting with a Flor de Gonzalez 90 Miles Reserva Selecta in a pigtailed 5 ¾”x 48 size they call Natural Robusto.  It’s a very comfortable size for me, almost a corona gorda, but a few ring gauges fatter. This cigar has been in the humidor since the 2013 IPCPR show.  It’s a nice, medium bodied cigar with a refined, well aged sweet tobacco flavor.  I have long been a fan of the Flor de Gonzalez offerings, and this is probably my second favorite in the range, second to the San Andrés wrapped 1980, but it’s hard to go wrong with anything from the 90 Miles line-up.

 

Gurkha_Seduction_robustoFriday my wife and I trekked up to New York City to go to the 34th Annual John Lennon Tribute at SymphonySpace on the upper west side. This tribute featured Debbie Harry, David Johanson, Marshall Crenshaw, Kate Pierson and Ben E. King, among others. It was a great show with the performers singing John Lennon ad Beatles songs.  We would have liked to meet up with any cigar friends who were still in town from the Big Smoke Thursday night, but we got in a little late and ended up walking down Broadway, smoking a Gurkha Seduction Robusto.  This cigar is one of the last few from a box I got in 2011.  These have been a favorite of mine, as they aren’t too mild or too strong, the flavor is sweet and spicy and they just do it for me.  I think I have two left, time to keep an eye out for more, I guess!

 

Opus X Fuente FuenteSaturday was an ugly, rainy day, spent working on more home renovation projects.  By the end of the day I just wanted an hour or so of relaxation, so I picked out a special cigar that has been hanging out in my humidors for at least ten years, a Fuente Fuente Opus X Fuente Fuente.  This is a classic, in one of the original sizes released back in 1995.  The Fuente Fuente is 5 5/8″ x 46, a corona gorda and one of my favorite sizes. I am always hesitant to smoke a cigar like this, I’m afraid of being disappointed, I suppose. This cigar was excellent. The years in the humidor really smoothed it out to a nice, medium bodied cigar with nice flavors.  It burned with the grace that a well aged cigar burns with, no draw or burn issues at all, just about right.  I didn’t find it to be overly complex, but I rarely do. I’d like to get a couple more of these someday, one to smoke fresh, and another to forget in the humidor for a while and compare notes.  It’s amazing that these cigars, after being on the market for nearly 20 years, still sell for ridiculous prices (I remember seeing them in a shop in Vegas in the late ’90s for $110 each, I tried to sell them one of mine!), but Holt’s is right down the road and they sell them for MSRP. It’s not a cigar I’d spend more than a little over MSRP on, but it’s a classic, and worth smoking now and then.

 

That’s it for now. Don’t forget to check in Thursday for the 12SDoCG!  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | November 21, 2012 · 8:55 pm

Thanksgiving Week Cigars – Cain, ORTSAC, Reinado and an Opus X

It’s the eve of Thanksgiving, and leading up to the holiday I smoked some tasty cigars!  I know, what makes this week any different, you ask?  It’s one of the many things I have to be thankful for.  In addition to having a nice home and a wonderful family, we have some great cigars to smoke!  Things could be a lot worse, and they are for a lot of people.  Anyway, I smoked a few cigars this week, so here’s a little recap:

 

I started off the week, or ended the weekend, with a really nice Cain F 550.  This is a beautiful 5¾ x 50 cigar with loads of flavor and strength.  I have enjoyed the Cain line since it’s launch, generally prefer them with some age.  This one I believe came from the IPCPR show, so it didn’t have too much age, but enough to round out the rough edges. The tubed lancero in this line is awesome, and this cross between a robusto and a toro was just as tasty.  Smoke one after a nice steak dinner, you won’t be disappointed!  I’ve got Cains scattered around the humidors and I’m thankful that I do!

 

Monday evening I just knew I had to try the ORTSAC 1962 Habano.  I received a pair of these along with the ORTSAC 1962 San Andreas that I raved about in a previous post.  This was a different, but outstanding cigar.  It was well rounded and smoked very well.  If you’re keeping score, I didn’t really much care for the regular ORTSAC 1962, but the San Andreas and Habano have made me a believer.  Since I’m a fan of the Tortuga line from Victor Vitale’s stable, I’m quickly becoming a fan of this gentleman’s blends.  One can’t be expected to like everything, but the last several blends have been winners for me.  Victor is a heck of a nice guy too, and I’m looking forward to meeting up with him for a smoke in the not too distant future.

 

Tuesday I selected a Reinado Grand Empire Reserve for my evening smoke.  I was given this robusto by brand owner Antonio Lam at the IPCPR show last August.  I spoke with Antonio for  minute at the show, you can watch the video below.  This is a lovely Nicaraguan cigar that burned perfectly and provided me with in excess of an hour of smokey enjoyment.  It was savory with a little sweetness that made my palate happy.  I’ll hunt down a few of these to keep in the humidor as it was a really nice smoke.

 

To celebrate the end of a short work week, and the beginning of a four day weekend, I cracked open my “special” humidor.  This humidor was a gift to me for my tenth wedding anniversary.  My wife had a furniture maker friend make it, so it’s truly one of a kind.  It’s been the home to the small selection of Havanas as well as some higher end cigars.  It’s been about ten months since I really smoked anything from this humidor, I pulled a couple of Romeo y Julieta Coronitas en Cedros from it to celebrate my youngest son’s 18th birthday.  Anyway, it’s my obligation to test a cigar from there periodically to make sure they are in good shape so I selected an Fuente Fuente Opus X Super Belicoso that must have spent the last decade or so resting in there.  I can’t remember the last time I smoked an Opus X, it could have been in 2000.  I initially thought the unlit wrapper smelled like cocoa beans, but my wife smelled cedar and I have to go along with her on that.  I guess the conditions in that humidor are acceptable, because the cigar burned great and was loaded with classic cedary flavors.  It was a great smoke, I wish I could remember where it came from.  It had a $13.49 price sticker on the amber cello, and I haven’t priced these recently so I don’t know what that means!  I think there are a couple more Opus X cigars floating around in there, I suppose I’ll have to smoke another one of these days!

That’s it for now, enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday if you are in the US.  If you are in the rest of the world, have a great weekend!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | March 18, 2012 · 11:28 am

A Buena Vista Cigar, An Oliva at Old Havana Cigars, a Green Camacho and a Cain

Thursday evening I grabbed a Buena Vista Short Churchill that I was given by Gary Heathcott, the company’s director of global marketing  when I was waiting for a Coke at the Cigar Journal awards reception at last year’s IPCPR show.  This cigar is unique in that it’s an Ecuador Puro and it’s rolled by Cuban rollers that come to Ecuador on special visas to work in the factory.  The cigar had a stunning appearance, very smooth and even in shape and color. I grabbed this based on the size, it’s a 4¼”x 54, so it’s a short, fat cigar, and I only had an hour to smoke.   I have to say that I really enjoyed the smoke, it was good, but not as unique as I had hoped.  There was really nothing especially different about it.  It was a good tasting cigar.  I had to touch it up frequently as it wanted to burn faster on one side, but not a bad cigar.  If this is priced right, I’d say give it a try, if it’s too expensive, I’d personally choose something else based on this sample.

 

Friday evening my son and I attended and Oliva event at Old Havana Cigars in West Chester, PA.  I’ve been to several events there and it’s always pretty crazy.  Nice bunch of folks there and I always enjoy spending time with the local Oliva Rep, Mike Staiber.  I picked up some cigars and promptly fired up a Serie G Maduro box pressed belicoso. This is a cigar that I haven’t smoked many of, and I don’t know why.  It’s got a really tasty broadleaf wrapper and really hit the spot.   I also grabbed a few of the Cameroon in the same size.  For my troubles, I was rewarded with a couple free Nub Habanos (it was buy 5, get 2 free).  Lots of people buying cigars, quite a few picking up boxes and getting all kinds of freebies and swag to go along with it.  My son had a Cain Daytona in a corona size that he enjoyed as well (and is one of my favorites).  We had a good time talking with Mike (@olivastaiber on twitter.  Follow him!), who I’ve known for quite a while and is a great cigar rep and a very cool guy.

 

Of course, Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day, so that called for a candela cigar.  Several years ago I picked up a box of the Camacho Monarca Candela because I really liked them and they were a nice change of pace.  We had to go to a percussion competition at my son’s high school, in which he plays bass guitar in the ensemble, so I grabbed one of these for our walk to the school.  If you have never had a candela cigar, you should certainly try one.  It’s a different flavor, a little more vegetal or grassy, but refreshing in a way.  In this case, we have the Camacho Corojo with the candela wrapper, so it’s no slouch when it comes to strength, as many candela, or as the were once called, American Market Selection (AMS) can be on the mild side.  Astral is a cigar that comes to mind in the mild candela area, as does the Arturo Fuente 8-5-8. La Flor Dominicana and Illusione have recently put their spin on this once popular wrapper.  Anyway, this box of Camachos has been consistently loose in the draw department, so I’ve taken to punching these to make them a little better in the draw department.  Pretty strong for a noon-time smoke, but really tasty with a long finish, so long that I could still taste it several hours later after another cigar and dinner.

 

On the walk home from the event I had grabbed a Cain Habano Tubo on the way out the door, so I fired it up.  This was the 550 Cain in a spiffy aluminum tube, and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and had a mile or so to walk, so I was lamenting my decision to grab this one as I lit it up.  My fear turned out to be misplaced, because it was a damned tasty cigar!  I spent another 20 minutes with this on the porch when I got home, it was just too good to put down.  Perfect burn and draw.  Strong, but balanced and, dare I say, complex.  Every now and then an interesting flavor would dance across my palate, something I’ve missed in past Cain Habanos.  Perhaps this one was well aged, or aged better in the tube, I don’t know, but it was likely the best Cain Habano I’ve had.

I don’t usually have a two cigar day, but the weather was so great, despite it being a very busy day, I had two spectacular cigars walking to and from the high school.  The competition was excellent as well, lots of talented kids, and I’m a drum geek as well as a cigar geek, so I always enjoy stuff like that, cigars or not.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | March 4, 2012 · 3:13 pm

A.Fuente, an Emilio and a Sunday Morning Camacho Cigar with Family

Thursday evening I found myself on the phone with Verizon support.  I had been fighting with them about the upstairs TVs that we were initially promised would work without a box, only to find that we needed a special box.  Not that $4 a month is a lot for the box, but it  was the principle of it, and they figured out a way to give me a box for free so we could have more than one TV in the house again.  I had to call to get the box activated, and had been looking forward to an evening cigar. After several minutes listening to the planet’s worst hold music, I decided to grab a cigar and wait on the porch for them to pick up.  I grabbed an Arturo Fuente Hemingway Best Seller, put the phone on speaker and fired it up.  I’ve long been a fan of the Hemingway line, at least from the Signature down, as anything larger just doesn’t do it for me for some reason.  I would have preferred a Short Story, since I didn’t know how long I’d have, but I didn’t have any on hand.  The Best Seller is a great cigar.  I love the “Camerooniness” of the line, that wrapper really really is delicious on these.  It’s not too cheap of a cigar, but I had picked a few of these up last year with a Groupon for half off, so they weren’t too bad.  I got about half way through before the representative picked up and I went inside to get squared away, which did eventually happen.  I went back out and re-lit the cigar, but I didn’t get to smoke as much of it as I’d have liked.  Still, a terrific way to temper the frustration of having to deal with phone support.   I really think they want you to hang up, but I wasn’t giving them the satisfaction!

 

Friday evening’s walk called for a good smoke, so I grabbed an Emilio AF2 BMF and my elder son and I hit the bricks (concrete mostly, but actual bricks in a few places…it’s just an expression!).  I had picked a few of these up at my local shop a few months back.  Needless to say, this is a solid cigar, and sizable at 6″ x 58, truly a big MF!  I find this to be milder than the AF1, but loaded with flavor, a little sweet, and delicious.  I blame myself for this, but it’s a much better warm weather cigar than cold, but that’s my problem.  I wanted to smoke it, and the colder weather wasn’t going to deter me.  Still a solid smoke, highly recommended by me for whatever that’s worth!

 

I had picked up an odd cigar at my local shop, JM Cigars in Exton.  It was labeled with the shop owners name, and I was told that it was made by Rocky Patel (but I bought one anyway!).  This was a 6½” x 48 cigar, with what looked like a dark Habano wrapper.  Unfortunately, it burned a little crappy and was pretty ho-hum in flavor to me.  I don’t smoke a lot of RP cigars anyway, as they don’t really suit my palate for whatever reason.  Maybe I don’t smoke the right ones, maybe the breadth of his lines confuses me and is a pit of a turn off, I don’t know.  I still like to try peoples house or personal blends, and this experience won’t stop me from picking up the occasional oddball cigar when I see one.  I was told at the shop that this batch wasn’t as good as the first batch, but just because I didn’t care for it doesn’t mean that it isn’t someones favorite cigar, and for around $4 it was worth trying.

 

Sunday morning my wife, youngest son and I went out to breakfast with my brother-in-law, who was in town visiting.  My son, Christian, recently turned 18 and has been enjoying the occasional cigar, sometimes with me, sometimes with his friends.  As can be expected from someone in his demographic, he’s been digging the Acid line, trying a few here and there.  So Christian, my Bro-in-law Jeff and I stopped at JM Cigars for a post breakfast digestif.  Jeff had asked me to recommend an inexpensive daily smoke a while back and I told him to try the National Brand robustos from Camacho, which he loves (and he’s from New Jersey, so he gets a real good deal purchasing in PA because of the taxes).  I wanted something all three of us would appreciate so I grabbed a handful of Camacho Habana Monarcas.  I’ve loved this line for years, and haven’t had one in forever. Even though I typically don’t care for Criollo wrapped cigars, this one works really well, I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.  The cigar is light enough for the novice and has enough flavor and body for someone who has a cigar or two a day or a long-time cigar nut like myself.  It was nice to sit in the lounge and chat for a while. Myson and his uncle share the rock climbing gene, so they have a lot in common, and Jeff and I are roughly the same age and have known one another for 26 or so years, so the three of us, despite the disparity of ages, were able to have a nice, relaxing hour or so with a fine cigar and one-another’s company.  It also went a long way toward aiding in the digestion of an over-indulgent breakfast!

 

News

The annual Habanos Festival just ended, and I wasn’t there.  I did notice an interesting press release about the lots in the auction that is held every year. Looks like a nice box, but the price is a little steep for me!

Cohiba Cigar Humidor Sold for 475,500 USD, Equipped With Microprocessor-Controlled Adorini Humidifiers.

Humidor bought by Italian entrepreneur at 14th Habanos Festival in Cuba. The humidor comes with microprocessor controlled adorini humidifiers, 520 Cohiba cigars, and remote-controlled hydraulic system to open the humidor.

Why the heck you’d need to open your humidor from across the room is beyond me, but it sure sounds cool!  I guess you have to let those 520 Cohibas living inside get a breath of fresh air once in a while.

 

Anyway, that’s it for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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