Tag Archives: fuente

by | June 29, 2011 · 9:14 pm

Win a Box of Oja Cigars, Take A Cigar For A Walk with Partagas, Macanudo and Fuente

Last Friday my hosting provider had something go horribly wrong which resulted in all of my comments disappearing, not being able to leave any comments, and several other strange anomalies. In light of the fact that no one was able to leave any comments and enter the current contest, I’m extending the deadline to Saturday, July 9 at Midnight.  So go back to the contest posted on Father’s Day (here) and leave a comment with a link to a nice, patriotic picture to enter.  I really want to have to wade through a ton of entries, so get to it!  There are already two excellent entries. If you have trouble posting a pic someplace just e-mail it to me and I’ll make it work.  This is a great box of cigars, at least I think so.

 

On the Take A Cigar For A Walk (TACFAW) front, I’ve been hitting the pavement in training for my trip to Vegas for the IPCPR show, which, I’m proud to say, I will be attending as an Internet Media Member of the IPCPR.  It’s going to be a grueling experience, but I hope to provide my readers with a glimpse into the goings on of the trade show.  It’s amazing the lengths I’ll go to try to give you some interesting reason to visit!

 

 

I grabbed a Partagas Benji Menendez to start the week.  I had been looking at this one for over a year, it came from a bunch of cigars Jaso of Rock’s Smoke Shop sent me from the 2009 Trade Show.  It was a very nice cigar, well made and well balanced. It was like a refined version of the Partagas line, very smooth and tasty.

 

 

Next up was a Macanudo Crü Royale, which I was given at the show last year.  This was another one which I looked forward to smoking. It is, in fact, I Macanudo with some strength, not unlike the 1968.  Now, the first premium cigar I ever really tried was a Macando and it made me wonder what the big deal with “real” cigars was, but I have appreciated what most consider the mild and flavorless Macanudos in the past.  I appreciate the mellow subtleties of the Connecticut shade wrapper from time to time.  The Crü Royale is a very different beast, and really delighted me with it’s fuller body.  A must try.

 

 

Tonight I treated myself to a very old Arturo Fuente Don Carlos No. 3, which is a tasty corona.  I love the Cameroonieness in these, and while my experiences with Don Carlos are few and far between, there have been some memorable moments shared with cigars from this line. I’m reminded of a slots tournament in Vegas in 1997 at the first big herf I attended where I went out not knowing a soul and made some life-long friends, lost my $20 pretty quick, but enjoyed the heck out of a DC Robusto. Another tome I remember meeting a friend from out of town in Philly, sharing some of the first Presidente size when they came out, and running into some other friends and smoking the evening away.  Amazing how a cigar can evoke such memories of a decade or more ago.

 

 

That’s it for now, enter the contest, and take a cigar for a walk if you get a chance!

 

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 5, 2011 · 11:22 am

Cigar Adventures: NYC, an Alec Bradley New York, a Partagas, a Fuente and a Contest!

Last Tuesday was a day we had been looking forward to for some time.  We, once again, had the honor and privilege of being on the guest list for a New York City Dinner Cruise hosted by our friend Mitchell Orchant of C-Gars Ltd.   Mitchell is an old friend.  We first “met” through an e-mail and continued through the alt.smokers.cigars usenet group back in the ’90s.  We met face to face at a little herf in Vegas in 1999 known amongst those in the usenet world as “Boondoggle III“, which was held at the MGM Grand over a 3 day span.  This event comprised about 300 people who only knew one another through the wild west of the internet, an oddity at the time!  Anyway, we’ve been to Mitchell and his wife’s wedding in London, we’ve taken them sight-seeing in NYC, and been friends for a long time. Mitchell has taken to hosting this dinner cruise every year, which I reported on last year, which spends a couple hours cruising around Manhattan, with beautiful views of the skyline, the bridges, and the Statue of Liberty.  I thought it would be appropriate to enjoy an Alec Bradley New York Robusto, which I had picked up at De La Concha on my last visit to the city.  This is a very nice cigar!  This was created for the ridiculously highly taxed  New York State shops, designed to give the local tobacconists a little more margins in hopes that they can stay open!! Anyway, it’s a good cigar, pick some up if you see them in New York and support the oppressed businesses in the state.

Back to the event.  In attendance were  Marc Aub and Mike DaVersa of Brothers of the Leaf, LLC, makers of Palio cutters and Esencia cigars, whom I had met last year and seen at the IPCPR show last July.  Always a pleasure to chat with Marc, who’s as passionate as they come about his products.  Mitchell is the UK distributor for Palio Cutters, and just became the UK distributor for Arturo Fuente cigars, so, in addition to the fine Bolivar Belicoso Finos in the goody bag, there was a Fuente Hemingway Signature as well. These happen to be 2 of my all time favorite cigars that I rarely get to enjoy.We also got to catch up with some other old friends, Karen from Albany, George from South Jersey and even Barry from California.  I finished the night off with a Partagas Petit Coronas Expeciale from a box I had been waiting to arrive at cruise time last year.  I’ve really been digging these cigars and hope that the exchange rate comes down a little in the future so that I can get another box one day! I was even able to gift Mitchell a cigar, something that’s pretty rare as he always declines.  I had an extra Partagas Serie P No.2 that I got at his wedding coming up on 5 years ago. The Hunters and Frankau rep was handing these out at the reception, and Mitchell’s dad insisted I get an extra to take home.  I figured this would be a fitting “thank you” for the nice things he does for us.  At the end of the night Mitchell opened a box of Opus X Perfecxion X and passed it around, to cap off the evening.

Contest!

One of the neat items in the goody bags, was a ring gauge guide.  I managed to score a couple spares and will send one to a random reader who leaves a comment.  Heck, these will be cheap to mail, make that two!  So leave a comment to enter and see the rules on the winners and rules page, and I’ll make this one a short one and announce a winner on Wednesday if all goes to plan.  Give Mitchell’s site a visit when you get a chance and see all the neat stuff he’s got.  Also look for a mention of his book in the latest Smoke Magazine!

 

LAst night I selected a Fuente Anejo 50 that had been kicking around the box for a while now, maybe 4 years.  It was the first of this line that I’ve smoked and boy was it tasty.  It started a little slow, but it built into just the kind of cigar I like.  It had the nice, dark flavors I like and just the right level of nicotine.  Goes with out saying that it was well made, as it’s a Fuente.  I know these are pricey and availability is spotty, but if you have the chance, smoke one, I don’t think you’ll have any regrets. I selected this in honor of Mitchell’s a fore mentioned acquisition of the Fuente distributorship in the UK.

That’s it for now!  We have an update from  Tommy Berry coming up next time, so until then,

CigarCraig

Watch for a new discount code from StogieBoys.com coming soon.

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by | February 23, 2011 · 7:43 pm

Take a Cigar for a Walk: A Short Story And A Note from Tommy

After a particularly difficult day which included more of the demon snow and various work related lunacy, I decided to dig deep into the humidor and pull out a lonely old Fuente Hemingway Short Story for my evening walk.  For many years this was a favorite of my wife’s, and every one I came across went her way.  This one has been in my humidor for the better part of a decade just waiting for her to ask for it.  She informs me that that day will probably not come as she has gotten away from cigars, so I decided last night was the night to smoke it.  As I said, it’s been many moons since I enjoyed a Hemingway of any size, so I clipped it a lit it up.  It took a few minutes to burn past the tip and open up, but when it did I got that wonderful, although milder than I remembered, Cameroon goodness which I enjoy so much.  For a tiny cigar this one lasted for my entire 1+ mile walk and even had a little left for the all-important cool-down period on the front porch.  I haven’t priced these recently, but I remember when they were $103 a box, and $4 was a lot to pay for a little cigar, but this is a cigar that everyone who likes cigars should enjoy.  I’ve smoked most of the Hemingway line and the only one I never cared for was the Classic, which always had a metallic taste to me.  I bet I haven’t had a Signature in 10 years.  I may have a couple more floating around the humidor, I thin kI have a Work of Art in both Cameroon and Maduro wrappers, and there might be a Best Seller hidden someplace.  I’ll wait for warmer weather to smoke them as they are all well aged and I may have missed some of the subtleties of the Short Story smoking it in the cold as I did last night.

Here’s the latest from Tommy Berry:

This past week was a bit different for me! I spent some time outdoors, which with a desk job as an architectural designer is a nice change every now and then. I spent two days doing some surveying for a current project. Now, I could have smoked me a cigar or two…or even three each day…but I failed to remember my traveldor. However, I spent a total of six hours walking…walking…climbing…and only getting to enjoy my Copenhagen Moist Snuss/Snuff. (A habit that I don’t wish on anyone…but I guess it’s a cowboy thing down here in Texas!) Anyway, I was able to get in a lot of constant walking…a lot! It was a blast to be outdoors, but I have to admit that from my recent walks…I am very sore! That though is a plus…as obviously I am exerting some energy during each walk. I hope to get out for some time with a cigar and the next walk tonight (Monday).

With all of this going on, I have failed to “weigh in”. I have a goal to use this challenge to not only get healthier…but to lose weight as well. Soon, I will begin to update you with my current weight…helping more with accountability…in regards to actually losing weight…which will require eating less and properly…more often.

I would love to hear from some of you, if you are being challenged by this (in addition to those that have already commented on past posts) and what your thoughts and/or suggestions are.

Until next time…long “walking” ashes to ya!

Great to hear Tommy moving in a positive direction with his personal goals!  Let’s continue to support him through comments here or wherever you might encounter Tommy, as well as by taking a cigar for a walk yourself.  My offer still stands to publish any other guest reviews you wish to submit.

I’m going to try to make it to The Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop in Havertown, PA Saturday as they are having a Drew Estate event.  They had sponsored a recent Cigar Safari Trip and I’m looking forward to hearing about their trip.  I’m sure it will be the subject of a future article.  They have one of two Liga Privada Lounges in the country and it’s very nice as well as an enormous walk-in humidor.

Tommy stole my “Until the next time” line, so Adios Amoebas!

CigarCraig

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by | December 6, 2010 · 7:12 pm

This Week’s Cigars: Acid, Padron, Cohiba, Fuente – Monday December 6, 2010

I’m a little conflicted about this weeks reviews.  A week or two ago I received an unsolicited e-mail from the folks at Thompson Cigars offering to send me some samples for review.  Thompson has been around for many years, and has a bit of a reputation as an aggressive marketer.   I’ve been unfortunate enough to have smoked some of their house brands in the past, but I have taken advantage of the occasional deal advertised in magazines.  I have to think that they have been in the business for so long because they do something right, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. They were kind enough to send me four cigars for review, none of which were house brands.

One of the cigars was an Acid Blondie Belicoso.  To their credit, they had this cigar bagged separately from the other three.  I’ve become a big fan of Drew Estate’s traditional blends, Liga Privadas are in my top 5, and I even enjoy the occasional coffee infused Tabak Especial, but I never envisioned myself smoking an Acid.  Many years ago my wife smoked a Kuba Kuba and I tasted it and cringed.  So it was with some hesitation that I lit up this odd smelling Blondie.  Now there can be no doubt that they use excellent tobacco in these cigars, and they are expertly crafted.  I must admit to rather enjoying this cigar.  The saccharin sweetness on the head was a little much, but the flavor wasn’t terrible, mild and nutty.  It burned perfectly, was reasonably mild and inoffensive.  The next morning my wife mentioned that my jacket smelled like perfumed kitty litter…which I though was pretty funny!

The next cigar I smoked was a Padron Londres.  It’s been ages since I smoked one of these, and it’s nice to know they haven’t change.  You can always count on the Padrons to make excellent cigars, and this one was no exception.  It was a rustic looking cigar, the natural wrapper had seems that were lifted and veins galore.  As ugly as it was, it burned and drew right up there with the best of them.  It had bold flavors of Nicaraguan tobacco which was neither too strong, or too mild.  It was just right.  The 5½ x 42 size is among my favorites as well, which was a large part of my decision to grab this one next.

Following the Padron I smoked a Cohiba Lonsdale Grande which measures in at 6¼” x 47, which is a nice size for a cigar.  The Cohiba brand as a whole is not one I normally purchase, not sure if it’s due to the perception that I’m not getting the bang for the buck that I’d like, but I generally enjoy them when I’ve smoked them.  The Cohiba sports a nice looking and toothy Cameroon wrapper, which is the main flavor I get, which is good since I love a nice Cameroon wrapper.  The construction is excellent, as one would expect.  Overall I enjoyed this cigar, but, as I said, not one I would generally pick up.

The last cigar in the bunch was an Arturo Fuente Chateau Series King B, saved until last because this was the one I looked forward to the most.  This was a beautiful belicoso, measuring 6″ x 55.  It has a sun-grown wrapper with a reddish hue.  The flavor was fairly delicate and subtle, with some sweetness and cedar.  This is one cigar that I will look for in the future as it is definitely a cigar I’d like to smoke again.

All in all, this was a terrific bunch of cigars.  I am rethinking my opinion of Thompson Cigar Co.  As I said, they have been around a long time and are obviously doing something right.  I have purchased cigars from many of the major outlets, and they all write the same silly things in their catalogs, this cigar is better than Cubans, and other embellishments. It’s unfair of me to single one out, especially one that, as far as I can tell, is privately held and not owned by one of the big cigar companies, and has been in business for 85 years.   I appreciate them giving me the opportunity to sample these cigars. Please give them the benefit of the doubt as I have.

Don’t forget to enter to win some cool Joya de Nicaragua stuff by leaving a comment on my last post.  Contest ends December 19, 2010.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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