Tag Archives: general cigars

by CigarCraig | February 13, 2013 · 8:51 pm

General Cigar’s New Site, a My Uzi Weighs a Ton and a 1502 Emerald

The news came down today that General Cigar Co. launched their new website at www.CigarWorld.com. I probably signed up for membership on the site in 1997, and somehow or other I won a couple boxes of Macanudos, a box of 25 Price of Wales and a box of 10 Prince Philip. For a newbie such as I was, these boxes were quite a treat, and I have fond memories of taking my kids trick-or treating on Halloween for a couple hours enjoying one of those giant cigars. I never quite got into web forums, but not long ago started making random appearances on the CigarWorld forums. I know I have a handful of loyal readers that are regulars there. From just a little bit of poking around, I see that the “Products” section is a big improvement over the old site. I used to get frustrated that I couldn’t find a size chart, or when I did it was a .PDF file. Now you can easily find the sizes in a given marque, as well as some blend information. I’m happy to see that one of the biggest cigar companies out there has updated their site to accurately reflect their product offerings. Well Done!

A few weeks ago I received a pair of the My Uzi Weighs a Ton Digital Son 6 coronas from Will at Cigar-Coop.com. This size is exclusive to Outland Cigars in North Carolina. I recently gave away some MUWAT Baitfish, which were originally an exclusive for another shop, but have now been released to regular production. I still haven’t smoked a Baitfish, and I have to admit that the 60 ring original MUWATs were not really what I expected. I thought they were a little bland, quit honestly. Not the case with the Digital Son 6 (and I would guess the Baitfish), as I found this to be a super tasty smoke. It had some spice, it had some sweetness, and it was really a brilliant smoke. As per normal, I smoked it while walking the dog on a brisk Monday evening before a Flyers game. Many Thanks to Will for passing this on to me, I will smoke the second one soon as I won’t be able to keep myself from it. Jonathan Drew and the Folks at Joya de Nicaragua hit a home run with this size.

Tuesday evening I smoked a 1502 Emerald Toro. I was waiting to smoke this until warmer weather, my though process being that it was a milder cigar, not appropriate for winter smoking. I heard through the grapevine that it was loaded with flavor, so I couldn’t wait any longer. This is a nice box pressed toro, 6 x 50, and like the Ruby and the Black Gold, it features the wrapper folded over the foot of the cigar. This gives a burst of the wrapper flavor off the light, which is really quite unique and interesting. The cigar is solidly medium and full of flavor. To say that this is my least favorite of the line isn’t really fair to the cigar, it’s a stellar cigar. It I were to rank the three lines, the Emerald would be Excellent, the Ruby Amazing and the Black Gold Un-freaking-believable. The 1502 line is exceptional, and thanks to Gary Griffith for sending me some to try. I look forward to smoking more of these and meeting Enrique Sánchez, I don’t know how I didn’t meet him at the Delaware Cigar Festival.

My hosting provider change has occurred, and I hope everything looks and acts the same as it did before! I’m still trying to figure the e-mail out, so if you need to reach me, send me a direct tweet (@cigarcraig), or leave me a comment. I should have it all fixed up soon. The process was daunting and stressful, but the support at Bluehost.com was very good and walked me through everything. I’m pleased with their service so far, please let me know if you see any problems!

That’s it for today. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

That’s it for now

3 Comments

Filed under News, Review

Tagged as 1502, cigar, Cigar-Coop, cigars, CigarWorld, drew estate, Emilio, general cigars, Outland

by CigarCraig | January 23, 2013 · 8:04 pm

A Casa Magna, a Partagas 1845 and a Villiger – Now it’s Too Darned Cold for Cigars!

Over the last two days the temperatures have dropped significantly here, into the teens and single digits. This, of course, means it’s time for smaller cigars, or worse, no cigars at all! Now here’s the dilemma: the smaller the cigar, the harder it is to hold while wearing gloves! So I got to thinking, maybe I’m going at this wrong. Maybe I should smoke some larger cigars that are easier to manage with gloves? Well, that sounds good on paper, but then you get into a great cigar and you don’t want to put it down! Then you have to be outside longer and freeze more (or burn through more bottled LP gas in a barely adequate heater). So I’m torn between the small cigar I can’t smoke all of because my fingers will freeze, or potentially wasting a larger cigar and/or freezing my ass off in addition to my fingers! Then there are some smaller cigars that I don’t want to waste in the cold! Cigars that I know will have some complexity that’s lost in the cold air. You’d think a Nub would be a good choice, but they too can be unwieldy with gloves on. And what if you like mittens? You’re screwed trying to smoke a cigar wearing mittens. Seriously, I can handle about 30 degrees without any wind or precipitation pretty comfortably, but once the mercury drops lower than that, or it’s windy, it’s too damned cold and I really can’t enjoy the experience as much. That’s my rant to today, now on to some tasty smokes!!

Previous paragraph aside, Sunday was a almost balmy January day with temps near 50. After the Flyers lost once again, I took Puccio (that’s the dog, we call her Pooch) for a nice walk with a cigar that the fine folks at StogieBoys.com sent me to smoke, a Casa Magna Domus Magnus Primus. This cigar is a beauty. It’s 6½” x 55 with a nice box press. The cap is finished with a neat little pigtail which is a nice presentation that I, for some reason, always like, but you have to cut the thing off to smoke the cigar so it doesn’t add too much to the smoking experience. Beautiful cigar with a lovely sun grown wrapper adorned with a very classy band as well as a foot band. So we’ve established that it’s a good looking stick, and I’m happy to say that it’s a great tasting stick as well. It burned perfectly to a tiny nub and had a very rich and meaty flavor that was mouth coating and quite satisfying. I quickly forgot how upset I was with the Flyers and got lost in the cigar, it’s that kind of smoke. It was like a great steak, it was that satisfying. I’ve only smoked a couple of the Casa Magnas and this, by far, is the best one I’ve had, and is a cigar I can’t wait to smoke again! Thanks to Sheryl and the folks at StogieBoys.com!

Twenty-four hours later and it’s gone from pretty comfortable for January to pretty darned cold!! I decided it was the perfect time to smoke a nice, little Partagas 1845 Corona Extra. This is a great size regardless of the weather. It’s 4½ x 46, which is a good inch shorter than what I think of when I think Corona Extra, but I like the size anyway. I received a four cigar sampler quite a while ago from General Cigar Co. and really enjoyed the middle two sizes, saving the smallest and largest cigars for the right time (the largest is a 7¼” x 54 Double Corona that just seems enormous). While the draw was a little snug on this little cigar, it had a very enjoyable flavor like it’s larger siblings and burned well. I smoked it to a finger freezing nub (see above), it was good. This is another cigar that has that dense, meaty delicious smoke that hits the spot for me. Very nice, I am surprised this one didn’t have more of a push at the IPCPR show, I can’t actually remember it being prominently featured in their booth (I’ll go back through the pictures, I’m probably wrong…).

Last night was the coldest yet, and the dog was pestering me for a walk, so I grabbed a Villiger Export Maduro for a short walk. This is a machine made “dry cured” little square pressed cigar that has long been a favorite. I guess it gets cold in Switzerland, so it makes sense to smoke one of these in the cold! Another advantage is that these don’t need to be kept in a humidor, so they don’t fall victim to some of the nastiness that can occur when moisture meets cold air! These are like little chocolate bars, it’s hard not to just eat them when you peel off the paper wrapping, but don’t, these taste better when smoked. I actually hadn’t had the maduro before now, the natural has been an old standby for years. I liked the maduro just fine, and will smoke them interchangeably with the naturals because I don’t get a whole lot of difference. Nice smoke, didn’t last the ¾ mile walk, which is good because I couldn’t wait to get inside to watch the Flyers lose once again. These are great little quick smokes you can leave in your glovebox or desk drawer. Highly recommended.

So that’s what I have for now. I hope the darned weather warms up a little before long! I know, I shouldn’t complain, there’s a lot of places colder, wetter, snowier, rainier than it is here, but I complain, what can I say.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

16 Comments

Filed under Editorial, Review

Tagged as Casa Magna, cigar, cigars, Domus Primus, general cigars, IPCPR, Partagas, Take A Cigar For A Walk, Villiger

by CigarCraig | January 16, 2013 · 6:27 pm

A Cigar Shop Visit, a Cain, a Perla del Mar, a Rodrigo and a La Gloria Cubana

Sunday I decided to go hang out at one of my locals shops that I’ve been to a few times and had mixed feelings about, Light’n Up Premier Smokeshop in Ludwigs Corner, PA. This shop is about 5 miles from home and I pass it on my commute every day. In the past I’ve had less than competent service, and limited selection. This visit, along with my last, was better and I want to give another chance. I spent a few minutes browsing the humidor and found the selection to be adequate although sparse. There were numerous empty boxes on the shelves which I suppose is excusable in the off season, but not something I like seeing, especially when it’s something that interests me. I would have picked up a couple more of the Padilla Reserva Maduros if they had them, but they did not. I ended up picking up a Cain Daytona torpedo and smoking it in the shop while talking with Rudy, the gentleman working in the shop, and several of the patrons who came in for a smoke. I think there was a football game on the TV too. I also picked up a couple other cigars I wanted to try as well. The Cain Daytona Torpedo was an excellent smoke, I like all of the Cain cigars, but I think the smoothness of the Daytonas makes it my favorite. It doesn’t pack quite the punch that the rest of the line does. I spent about 2 hours at the shop and the worst thing I can say about this visit is that they close at 4 pm on Sundays, not that I would have hung out longer on this particular occasion, but it would be nice if they were open a little later.

After dinner I took the dog for a walk with one of the other cigars I picked up at the shop, a Perla del Mar 3¾x56 stubby, fat little robusto. I have a sample from the trade show floating around someplace in the depths of the humidor, but I was too lazy to fish it out and figured the shorter size would be better for a damp and dreary evening. By the way, don’t visit the website with a full bladder, just a bit of friendly advice. This cigar is from J.C. Newman and is made in the same factory as the Brickhouse and El Baton in Nicaragua. It’s a Nicaraguan blend with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper. I found it to be a pleasant smoke, medium bodied and flavorful and well behaved. It’s a good, well priced cigar. Personally, I’d love to see a Brickhouse maduro in the same size.

Monday’s evening smoke was a Rodrigo Forteleza Absoluto, a sample I received from Gary at Emilio Cigars, the distributor for Rodrigo Cigars. George Rodriguez had sent me samples of his original line a while back and I really dug the lancero over the larger ring gauges, so, I was looking forward to smoking this pretty little pigtail capped corona (5 ⅛” x 43). It started out pretty bold, and continued to be a full bodied, full flavored smoke. This is a very nice cigar! I can understand why this had such critical acclaim. I found it to be quite a satisfying smoke. I’ll try this in a larger ring gauge one of these days when I run across them in a shop someplace.

Tuesday I was having a little trouble deciding what to smoke, so I went with an old friend, the La Gloria Cubana Retro Especiale Club. This is a cigar that I’ve smoked quite a few of, and 5¾“ x 47 is a really nice size for me. It’s a different cigar than what I generally gravitate toward, it’s bright and mellow as opposed to dark and spicy, but it provides me with a nice change and the cigar is interesting enough to keep my attention, but not particularly challenging to smoke. Once in awhile I just want to smoke a cigar without thinking about it too much and the Retro Especiale is one like that. This isn’t a knock on the cigar, quite the opposite. I’ve always enjoyed the La Gloria Cubana line and have some of the new Trunk Show samples to smoke, but they are just enormous! Too large for winter smoking. I also continue to beat myself up for not picking up the Rabito de Cochino 3 pack when I saw it at Cigars International on my last visit. That’s a cigar I’ve wanted to try and I can’t believe I didn’t grab one. I will, no doubt, smoke more Retros this summer.

I received an email today about a new product and I’d be curious to know what you think of it? I’m far too impatient to use matches to light my cigars, but this is a pretty slick match case/striker combo that could be a great gift item for the cigar smoke who has everything, and I’m told the target MSRP will be around $8, so it’s priced right. Check it out at http://www.quirky.com/products/215-Strike-new-match.

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

CigarCraig

6 Comments

Filed under Accessories, Review, Stores

Tagged as cain, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Fortaleza, general cigars, JC Newman, La Gloria Cubana, Light'n Up, Perla del Mar, rodrigo

by CigarCraig | January 13, 2013 · 9:41 am

End of the Week Cigars: a Padilla, a Dunhill and a Gurkha

We’ve been having unseasonably warm weather here, not particularly warm, but not sub-zero winter weather either. I certainly prefer balmy temps but I’ll take not getting frostbitten fingers in January over the alternative. Not that the weather generally keeps me from my enjoyment of a fine cigar, I am more likely to try something new when I know that shivering isn’t going to knock the ash off.

Thursday I grabbed a Padilla Reserva Maduro that my local Oliva rep, Mike, handed me when I met up with him last month.
He was delivering the very impressive prizes for Day 12 of the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways and slipped a couple Padilla cigars to me (Oliva is distributing Padilla cigars). I haven’t smoked many Padilla cigars over the years, and the few I’ve smoked I’ve really enjoyed. Of course, if I have some cigars to smoke and one is a maduro, you know that’s the one I’m smoking first! This was a beautiful dark and oily toro sized cigar, in the neighborhood of 6×50. The band has a really cool lion with the secondary band identifying it as the Reserva Maduro. I looked, but the website doesn’t have any information, but I bet a dollar that this is a San Andreas wrapper. It wowed me from the get go with everything I love in a maduro cigar. Overall a really enjoyable experiences, I will have to get my hands on more of these and add them to my list of favorites! Yum.

Friday night was rainy. I took the dog for a quick walk sans cigar as I’ve found the combination of dog, umbrella and cigar to be way too much to handle in the rain (and I’m guessing it would be no easier without the rain). I put the dog in the house and set up in the garage with a Dunhill Aged Reserva Especial 2003 which I received as a sample from the folks at General Cigar Company. This cigar is a Robusto Grande, measuring 5½” x 54 and is wrapped in a stunning U.S. Connecticut Shade wrapper. Clearly this is a cigar better suited to a walnut paneled parlor in front of a roaring fire than a garage on a rainy night, but my walnut paneled parlor was in the shop :-). This is a milder cigar with loads of bright flavors that kept me interested for the nearly an hour and a half it took me to smoke it. I’m looking forward to smoking another one of these, but with a $15 price tag it probably won’t be on my personal buy list, just too rich for my blood. Delicious smoke though.

Saturday was a very nice day after a rainy, foggy start. I took the dog on a nice long walk with a Gurkha 125th Anniversary Toro. This came in a sampler from the IPCPR show which was presented in a very cool package which is reminiscent of the sort of thing fine silverware settings might me stored in. Very cool presentation for trade show samples, but what else would one expect from Gurkha? Along with the 125th is a Ghost, a Seduction, a Cellar Reserve and a Royal Challenge, all in a 6″ x 54ish chunky toro shape. Admittedly, I’ve been intimidated by the Gurkha line in the past due to the vast number of lines and my inability to every be able to keep them straight. I do love the Seduction, and I’ve sampled a few more that have made me want to explore the line further. The 125th is a solid cigar. The construction was darned near perfect, I love watching a well made cigar burn and this was beautiful. It was medium bodied and seemed to me like the kind of cigar that a lot of people would be able to enjoy. It was a very enjoyable 2 hour smoke, or a 3 mile walk with a 45 minute “warm down” on the patio. I still have a selection of Gurkha cigars that I haven’t tried yet. I’ll get to them when the weather warms up as they all seem to be in that toro or larger size. I smoked the Ghost a few weeks ago and enjoyed it, but was a little dissapointed, I guess I was expecting something different. I’ll smoke it again under better circumstances.

That’s about all I have for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

5 Comments

Filed under Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Dunhill, general cigars, Gurkha, oliva, Padilla

by CigarCraig | December 26, 2012 · 9:26 am

Winner of Day 13 of CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways!

We’ve finally reached the end of this amazing journey. It was a wild ride, and I’d go so far as to say that this was one of the best cigar related contests out there. Over the course of two weeks we gave away 265 cigars and a bunch of t-shirts, hats, cutters, ashtrays and even a lighter. I could never have pulled off such an enormous project on my own, so I have to thank some people before I announce the final winner for 2012. First my wife, Jennifer, who puts up with my insanity, moderates the new comments while I’m at work and is my greatest supporter. Thank you for making this year great. Of course the sponsors need thanking for offering all the great stuff we had to give away. They are:

StogieBoys.com

Foundry Cigars/General Cigar Co.

Tobaccos Mata Fina USA

United Cigar Retailers

Villiger Cigars North America

CAO Cigars/General Cigar Co.

Oliva Cigars

Drew Estate

All of these folks provided an unprecedented amount of wonderful stuff. Thank you to all of them for their participation! The next group that I want to thank are you, my readers! Without you I’d just be doing all of this for my own amusement, and I get tired of my same old jokes! Thanks to all who entered the contests. I hope some of you stick around as I wander through my cigar journey.

DE_Undercrown So, once again I’ve been torturing you with minutia, when all you really want to know is if you won the box of Drew Estate Undercrown and all of the associated goodies that come with it! We had 98 entries and Random.org selected 87. By my count that is cigarsonist. Please send me your contact information so I can ship all this stuff off to you!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc. I’ll be back on Sunday, maybe I’ll put together a list of my favorites of the past year, or something like that. Hard to say what I may pull out of my sleeve!

Until then,

CigarCraig