Tag Archives: General Cigar Co.

by CigarCraig | December 27, 2015 · 9:51 am

Contest Wrap-up, a Meet-up at JM Cigars, an Event at Mojo and a RoMaCraft Neanderthal

OK, a regular, non-contest post. How do I do this again? It’s been a crazy couple weeks, hasn’t it? Besides the 234 cigars, three ashtrays, two cutters, a lighter, and various other items, including one of a kind art and jewelry, there were some major holidays in there too. Time spent with family is the best part of the holiday for me, but doing this 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways is a load of fun too. My unending thanks to the following companies and individuals who made all this possible, in no particular order: Eric Whitfield, Broc Jackson, Jack at Duran Premium Cigars, David and his crew at 2 Guys Smokeshop, Victoria at General Cigar Co., Fred at Nomad Cigar Co., Victor at Tortuga Cigars, Jason at Best Cigar Prices, Abe and his gang at Smoke Inn, Mel and Ron at MBombay Cigars, Bianca at Gurkha and the folks at Joya de Nicaragua and Drew Estate! As I say every year, I could do this on my own, but it would cost me a fortune! Thanks to all of them and all of you for coming back every day and entering! Next year I have some different plans, but it should still be fun, that is, unless the FDA ruins everything! We’ll remain positive, keep calling your elected officials and letting them know that premium cigars should be exempt from regulation, and keep up your CRA memberships!

One of the things I did last week in, an effort to save on shipping and meet some new friends, was to hand deliver winnings from Days five and six. It turned out that Mike and Andrew were reasonably close by so we met up at JM Cigar in Exton, PA for a smoke. Of course, I spent easily twice what I would have spent on shipping on cigars, but that’s way more productive. While shopping I came across a lone El Rico Habano Maduro Gran Habanaro (double corona) in a box and it look so lonely I had to add it to my cart, so to speak. I haven’t smoked an El Rico in ages, I can remember back in the ’90s when this was one of the strongest cigars on the market, a real powerhouse. It was Ernesto Perez Carillo’s brand that took a back seat to La Gloria Cubana, and I smoked a bunch of them. It’s a minor brand now with General Cigar Co., only available in three sizes and maduro, where the original version was a natural wrapper. I thought the 7½ x 54 size would be a good size for sitting in the lounge, getting to know new friends, kinda cigar. It was good, but not as good as I remember my last one being, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as I didn’t want a cigar that would distract me from conversation. As it always seems to be, meeting up to deliver a prize beats USPS every time, I felt like I have a few more friends now, and look forward to meeting up with Mike and Andrew again soon. Thank you to them for adding to the spirit of the season!

Thursday I ran down to Cigar Mojo in King of Prussia, PA as they were having a Perdomo event and raffling off a tremendous Perdomo 20th Anniversary humidor. I like the Perdomo 20th a lot, especially in maduro, so I bought a hand full (as if I needed more cigars!) and got one chance in the drawing. The winner was a guy who bought a bunch of boxes of the 20th Anniversarys, so it’s hard to begrudge him the win. It was a beautiful box, but I don’t know where I would have put it, so it worked out in the end. I thoroughly enjoyed a 20th Maduro Churchill while hanging out and talking to our local Perdomo rep, Joe Winder (who is probably the very first cigar company rep I ever met many years ago at a cigar event in Pittsburgh), CRA Ambassador and all-around good guy, Alan Price, who was working at the shop, owners Wade and Trae and various other customers. I didn’t win the humidor, but I did put some great cigars in my humidor and had a relaxing afternoon.

As it was a special occasion, I selected some other great cigars that are worth mentioning. For the second year in a row, I took my Christmas Eve walk with a Padron 1964 Anniversary Maduro Exclusivo, obviously a classic Nicaraguan maduro that’s like desert in cigar form. Absolutely delicious. Christmas day, after the kids and grandkids left, I sparked up a Fuente Hemingway Signature Maduro, again, a spectacular cigar that’s not unreasonably priced. It was rich, burned perfectly and hit the spot. Yesterday Macha and I took a four mile walk with a favorite Nica Rustica Belly, maybe I’m on a bit of a Maduro kick? I must be, because last night I lit up a cigar that caught my eye and I bought while at Mojo, a RoMa Craft Neanderthal HN, with a San Andrés wrapper. Of all the great cigars I’ve smoked over the last couple weeks, this might have been my favorite. This cigar has a couple of distinctions, first, it has a flat head, and a slight taper at the foot, which I didn’t really notice until I looked at the photo, and it still looks like a robusto, as the size is listed at 5″ x 52/58. Now that I look at it, it may taper from head to foot. It could have been shaped like a pretzel for all I care, it tasted fantastic. Not only does it have a beautiful dark and oily San Andrés wrapper, but it has a Connecticut broadleaf binder, and fillers from Pennsylvania, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. About half way in to the cigar I got a really interesting and delicious spice, which really intrigued me. This was a $12 cigar and honestly, I don’t think I realized the price point when I bought them, I might not have taken the plunge. I’m glad I did. I’ve heard from people That this was a super strong cigar, and it didn’t hit me that way at all, it was full-bodied and loaded with flavor, but I didn’t feel the nicotine at all. Stellar cigar from Skip and Mike at RoMa! I used a punch in the flat head of the cigar if anyone was curious.

You probably want to know who won the final bonus day contest, the great painting “Wind” by Eric “The Cigartist” Whitfield. It looked like only those who really wanted and appreciated this item entered (or everyone is sick to death of my contests), so I consulted Random.org and got the number 37, which corresponds to KRUK, who I know will give this a good home, despite the relative creepiness of his comment :-). Bryan, please send me your address so I can forward it on to Eric. Thank you all, and don’t despair, there could well be a Happy New Year contest!

That’s plenty from me, until the next time,

Cigar Craig

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Filed under Contest, Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as 12 days, 2 Guys Smokeshop, Best Cigar Prices, cigar, Cigar Mojo, cigars, CIGARtist, Contest, drew estate, General Cigar Co., Gurkha, JM Cigars, joya de nicaragua, MBombay, Neanderthal, Nomad, RoMa Craft, Smoke Inn, Tortuga

by CigarCraig | December 20, 2015 · 8:25 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2015 Day 10: Leccia Luchador

Here we are at Day 10 already! Last night my wife and I went out on the town, and ended up at Cigars International‘s Super Store in Hamburg, PA where they were holding an event with Sam Leccia and the MWF (Micro Wrestling Federation). They had a 12 foot x 12 foot ring in the center of the store and the place was packed. Sam greeted us at the door and we bought some Leccia Luchador cigars and hung out upstairs taking in the whole event. There were four rounds, one of which was a tag team, with much profanity and trash talking. It was hysterical, not at all politically correct, and loads of fun! There are a few pictures here to give you a little bit of an idea what was going on. Of course, the main event here today is the giveaway, which is a box of Leccia Luchador El Gringo Frogsplash (and I saw that move last night!). The Frogsplash is a 4½” x 70 box pressed cigar, featuring a dark Nicaraguan wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. The box press makes the 70 ring gauge quite manageable, and it’s a very flavorful smoke. I smoked the Squared Circle, a box pressed torpedo, last night and it was really good. Thanks again to Victoria at General Cigar Co. for sending this great Day 10 present, and to Sam for his hospitality last night and for making great cigars!

Yesterday we had a great pair of gifts from Smoke Inn, the latest in their Micro-blend series, Illusione Pactum and Drew Estate’s Pope of Greenwich Village. The winner is a long time reader and a name I hear often in other social media outlets as a reader and listener, one who participates in chat rooms and comments. Swede214 is the winner, Carl, please send me your address so I can get these great cigars out to you!

You know what to do now, leave a comment here, check back tomorrow to see if you won!

RULES

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on the post of the day, if you can, try to post what you know or how you feel about today’s present, the folks donating the gift should get some feedback for their troubles! It’s not a condition to win, but it’s nice to have something to read. We did this last year and it benefits everyone. Once you’ve won, you’re out, let everyone else have a chance. Must be over 18 to win. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Contest

Tagged as 12 days, cigar, cigars, Contest, General Cigar Co., leccia, Luchador

by CigarCraig | September 13, 2015 · 8:27 am

A Gurkha, a 1502, New Bolivar and Ramon Allones Cigars

Thursday I dug into the sampler pack that Gurkha gave me at the trade show, and came out of it with the newest addition to their Cellar Reserve line, the 12 year aged Platinum in the 6″ x 58 Hedonism size. This is a nice perfecto shaped cigar with a Ecuador Oscuro wrapper (and I can’t guess what actual varietal that might be, couple be a Connecticut fermented to a dark color, or something else…hard to tell). The band boasts a “blend strength” of 98%, again, not sure what that means as it was a perfect medium in strength to my palate. It also has a Nicaraguan binder and 12 year old fillers from Esteli, Congega and Jalapa in Nicaragua. It’s made in the Dominican Republic. Aside from all the marketing buzzwords and vague information on the blend, what I found it to be was a very good tasting cigar. It was creamy and smooth and quite nice. There was no shortage of flavor, it was by no means mild, and was probably my second favorite of the four blends in the Cellar Reserve line, second to the maduro Limitada with the Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper. I owe the Edicion Especial with the Corojo wrapper another shot as I smoked one in New Orleans outside in hot, soupy weather and it wasn’t the best representation of that cigar I don’t think. There are quite a few Gurkha cigars I like, and this happens to be one of them.

Friday I wrapped up the work week with a 1502 Black Gold toro that I had in the humidor for a couple years. This has always been my favorite in the 1502 range, it’s got a deep, dark maduro wrapper that I want to say is San Andrés from Mexico if I recall. I like the way the wrapper leaf is folded around the foot off the cigar on all the lines, it’s a nice touch, and you get a little bit more wrapper flavor on the light. It has to add cost to the process though. Anyway, it was 1502 owner Enrique Sanchez’ birthday Friday, so I thought it seemed appropriate to smoke one of his cigars. I had some trouble keeping this one lit for some reason, but it has the dark and dirty black coffee and earth flavor that I really like. All of the 1502 cigars are great smokes, this one, when it burns right, is always a favorite. Oddly, when I smoked the 1502 line in the Lancero size last year, I think the Emerald was my favorite, and the same with the coronas. Maybe the flavor I really like from the Black Gold wrapper needs to be tempered by more filler, too much of a good thing, you know.

As usual, when I toured General Cigar‘s booth at the IPCPR show, I had no idea what to expect from their Foundry division. I knew that Sam Leccia was working under that umbrella, but one never can tell what’s going on in the creative mind of Michael Giannini. I was surprised to find that his latest project was the re-imagining of the Bolivar and Ramon Allones brands. I sparked up the Bolivar first in the 550 size. This has an unfinished foot and a curly-q pigtail cap, and is a nice, dark cigar. As is the custom with Foundry, all we know about the blend is that it’s six country blend. If I had to guess, I’d say this has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, based on the delicious and lush espresso/cocoa flavor. As you might guess, I really liked this cigar, it had the dark, bitter flavors I like, with a hint of sweetness. It burned perfectly and that uncut foot gave a huge blast of wrapper flavor on the light. The box art is pretty sharp, featuring images of the bands that Bolivar has used over the one hundred or so years it’s been on the market. I am not over fond of the bands on the cigars, though, I am afraid it makes the cigar look like an inexpensive bundle instead of the fine premium cigar that it is.

The Ramon Allones 550 shares the same sizes as the Bolivar line, but is a Nicaraguan puro, and that’s all the information available on the blend. The presentation follows the same theme as well, with the Ramon Allones having a blue band where the Bolivar has red. I will never forget the first Cuban Ramon Allones I ever smoked, a “Specially Selected” robusto back in the late ’90s. This cigar was so peppery that I could still feel the tingle on my tongue the next day. I’ve had others since and never had that much pepper, but still enjoyed the cigars. The new version Michael Giannini has put together has none of that. Once again, the uncut foot showcases the dark Nicaraguan wrapper upon lighting, and it’s a blast of what I can only associate with sourdough bread. The sourdough flavor persisted throughout the cigar. Again, the construction was perfect, and it burned and drew great. I have to say, I would lean toward the Bolivar if I had to choose between the two, I’m not a fan of the sour flavors, but there are those who are, and the Ramon Allones is a very good choice if that is your preference. I look forward to trying both of these in the other sizes to see how they differ. Again, I’d like to see a classier band, but that’s just me, there’s no denying that they will stand out on the shelf.

One thing I’ve noticed as I’m writing this article is that companies are still slow to update their websites to reflect the new releases. It’s now almost two months after the IPCPR show where some of these cigars were released and the only information I can find are on media sites. I should think that should be a priority in 2015, and it’s not that difficult to expensive to do, like the old days when they would have to re-print a catalog or something. It’s just something that continues to befuddle me. On another note, since my wife is going to be selling books at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention near Baltimore this weekend, I am going to be looking for cigar shops to waste time in. The Humidour in Cockeysville, MD is first on the list, but if anyone is in the area please let me know, I will be down there Thursday, Friday and Saturday. That’s enough from me, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Review

Tagged as 1502, bolivar, cigar, cigars, Foundry, General Cigar Co., Gurkha, IPCPR, Ramone Allones

by CigarCraig | September 17, 2014 · 10:26 pm

Asylum and CLE Cigars, a Leccia Luchador and News

This week I decided to smoke a couple cigars from Fabricas Unidas, Christian Eiroa’s company, mostly because I wanted to slip the video I shot with Christian at the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival, but the cigars are good too. Christian was one of the guys I became acquainted with through the old alt.smokers.cigars Usenet group back in the ’90s. That being said, I’ve purchased just about every cigar that he’s been associated with that I’ve smoked. No mooching off this guy! Anyway, I had an Asylum Premium Toro that I purchased the end of last year (literally, it was December 31 of last year when I went to a local shop to meet a friend for a smoke). I’ve really enjoyed the Asylum line, it’s Nicaraguan and hits my palate just right. I’m glad they made the Asylum 13 Ogre line in more reasonable sizes than the 7″ x 70, although that was a tasty smoke too. The Asylum Premium Toro is a tasty, medium bodied smoke with perfect construction. This is a perfect after dinner cigar that was quite satisfying. I think there was a short Torpedo in the goodie bag from the Rocky Mountain Festival that I’m looking forward to smoking. Tom Lazuka and Christian have a hit with the Asylum line.

Last night I dug out a CLE Corojo Corona that I had purchased at Corona Cigar‘s Sand Lake location back in 2012 when the IPCPR show was in Orlando. At the time I found both the Corojo and the Cuarenta had a mineral taste that was quite off-putting to me. Apparently two years in the humidor has alleviated that problem. The Corojo is a Honduran puro and their corona is 5¾” x 46, which is just about the perfect size, actually a corona gorda in traditional terms. I thought this was a smooth, flavorful smoke with a good draw and burn. I used a V-cut which worked very well. I can’t find a thing wrong with this cigar now, and I may have to pick some more up and smoke one “fresh” to see if I get that flinty taste and these just need humidor time.

Here’s the short video. Christian had apparently stepped on some glass somehow the night before and was limping around. I think there were some spirits involved. I believe Rafael Nodal knows the story…

News

Once again we have big news, General Cigar Co. has brought Sam Leccia on. Barry Stein broke the news this morning on TheCigarAuthority.com. From the press release: ” General Cigar Company is excited to announce today they have hired Sam Leccia as “Cigar and Blend Specialist.” General Cigar has also acquired the Leccia Tobacco Company cigar brands, as part of the Foundry Tobacco Company, and will market and distribute the Black, White and Luchador lines, effective today.” I’m actually less surprised by this than I was with the Toraño acquisition, but I am a little surprised that Sam relinquished his independence. In honor of this occasion, I selected a Luchador El Hombre robusto for this evening’s walk. I maintain that the Luchador is one of my favorite new cigars this year. It’s like jalepeño dark chocolate with it’s spice and semi-sweet chocolate flavor. For me, it’s the ideal combination of flavor and performance, and always makes me with it was longer. I smoked this one until my fingers burned. Best wishes and congratulations to Sam in this new chapter in his story, I hope it works out well for everyone involved!

That’s it for now! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under News, Review, Video

Tagged as Asylum, cigar, cigars, CLE, Eiroa, General Cigar Co., leccia, Luchador, Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival

by CigarCraig | July 6, 2014 · 10:01 am

Independence Day Cigars, An American Puro, a CroMagnon, and Some Foundrys

It’s a holiday weekend, so, of course, our internet, TV and phones in the house mysteriously stop working and Verizon won’t be able to fix it until Monday. No idea what happened, it just looks like the optical signal isn’t making it to the house. So here I am, writing my Sunday post from Panera Bread (while noshing on a toasted Asiago Bagel with a schmear!). I did manage to smoke some cigars this weekend! I’ll miss watching Finding Bigfoot (best reality show on TV!) to night to end my weekend, but the weather has been spectacular, so I’m getting some things done outside!

Thursday evening there were some storms rolling in, and I mentioned before that the new dog isn’t a fan, so I decided to grab something short, and picked out a RoMa Craft Cro Magnon Knuckle Dragger that I had bought down at Cigar Mojo a few weeks ago. This is a beautiful Broadleaf wrapped 4″ x 50 petite robusto. I’ve only had a few of this line, despite knowing Skip Martin pretty well. I’m just not a very good weasel, I guess. This is a really brilliant cigar if you like strong, rich, dark flavors in a cigar. It burned perfectly, even though I had to turn around from my walk at the first rumble of thunder because the dog immediately turned toward home and started pulling. I finished the cigar in the garage, and it was a really great smoke, clearly Skip, Mike and the gang are doing things right.

Friday was July 4th, a significant date, in the US, as it commemorates our young country’s independence, as well as the day my wife and I tied the knot! Certainly celebratory cigars are in order. I started the day with an Alec Bradley American Classic Gordo in the pool, but the cap split badly when I cut it. It didn’t really effect the burn or flavor, it was a nice smoke while relaxing after doing some yard work. I followed it with a pre-dinner Partagas Petit Coronas Especiale from a box I bought about 4 years ago. I’ve smoked a bunch of these and really enjoy them, sadly I only have a few left. Every Fourth of July I try to smoke a Havana cigar as a form of civil disobedience, I think the founding fathers might take a moment from spinning in their graves and approve. I like the cigars too, I just think that there are many better cigars and Cuban cigars, while different, aren’t necessarily best. After going out to a nice dinner with my wife, I sat on the deck with the American Puro Corona Gorda from George Rico. I know, it’s a bit of a cliché, but I had it staring at me, so why not, and the Corona Gorda size was perfect for the occasion. The first thing you notice about this is that smokey, Kentucky fire cured tobacco, which was fairly dominant to me. Perhaps it was a happy medium between the Leccia Black and the My Uzi Weighs A Ton Kentucky Fire Cured cigars. This sample came from Gran Habano along with the 5 Vegas I talked about last time, and shared a similar lack of straightness, no big deal, just a minor offence to my CDO (OCD in alphabetical order, AS IT SHOULD BE!). I really enjoyed the heck out of this cigar, the Connecticut and Pennsylvania tobaccos complimented the smokey Kentucky leaf, and it was a surprise for me. I would highly recommend trying this cigar as it’s unique in the marketplace, and is pretty darned tasty!

Saturday ended up being a spectacular day, so we cleaned some more stuff up in the yard (this will be a recurring morning activity for the foreseeable future!), and hit the pool with a Foundry Compounds Elements and Musings Uranium: The X-Ray. I bought this at a local shop begrudgingly. I have been trying to smoke all of the cigars in this line, but that just might be impossible, so I had to get it. On the other hand, it’s a 7″x70 which is just way too big. This is listed as containing Honduran, Nicaraguan and “Mysterioso” tobaccos, one can never be sure what’s in any of the Foundry cigars, Michael Gianinni raids General Cigar’s tobacco library and picks out unique tobaccos from unusual places. This cigar was mild, had a nice flavor, which is why I stayed with it for over three hours. I went for a swim, read a book, went for another swim, got dressed and listened to a podcast on the deck, it was still going. Over all, it burned evenly and was a tasty smoke, although it took a while to get from mild to the low side of medium. I’m glad I tried it, but I don’t see this as a box purchase for me, although I dig the artwork, how can you not like a cross-legged skeleton flipping the bird! I have the CAO Flathead 770 in the humidor which is quite intimidating. I wrapped up the evening going out to see a friend play at a local country club, and meeting some other friends there, where we smoked a couple of the Foundry Compounds Elements and Musings Vanadium, which are aging very nicely. I may have to consider getting another of the V shaped boxes before they sell out.

That’s it for now, the Panera people are staring lo look at me like I’m overstaying my welcome! We are looking forward to getting things back to normal at home. Until the next time,

CigarCraig