Tag Archives: general cigars

by CigarCraig | October 21, 2011 · 7:15 am

General Cigar Dominicana Trip – Day Three Photos and Summary

Day 3 was very busy. We received the tobacco for our blends, learned to bunch that tobacco and put it into molds, toured the box factory, wrapped our cigars then took a trip to the Centro Leon museum and the monument which inspired the La Gloria Cubana Obilesco.

The day wrapped up with dinner at Camp David Ranch with spectacular views of Santiago and delicious food and company. An awards ceremony of sorts ended the day with our own blend Macanudos presented to us, a special sampler commemorating the trip, a box of La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro and a certificate.

It was a fantastic trip, General Cigar really went out of their way to welcome us and show us every facet of the cigar production. We were provided with cigars to smoke along the way, and many of us became reacquainted with cigars we had forgotten about. I really enjoyed the Macanudo Maduros, Crü Royale and 1968, what they refer to as the yellow box Partagas and the Partagas Black, as well as the regular old La Gloria Cubana Wavell and the Retro. I’m sure it sounds like I’m “drinking he kool aid”, but General Cigar is a company that has it’s act together. They take care of their people, they make extremely high quality cigars that taste great, and care about what they are doing. Thank you to everyone involved for making my last 4 days a memorable experience, especially Victoria McKee Jaworski who did a terrific job setting this whole thing up.

That’s it for now, stay tuned for more detailed reports over the coming weeks!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Trip Report

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Dominican Republic, general, general cigars, La Gloria Cubana, macanudo, Partagas, Santiago

by CigarCraig | October 19, 2011 · 7:30 am

General Cigar Dominicana Trip – Day Two Photos and Summary

Day two of out visit to General Cigar covered a lot of ground (so to speak). We visited the tobacco processing, rolling and packaging and growing.

We started with a visit to the filler processing facility, where we saw the stripping, sorting, and preparation for storage in the warehouse.

From there we toured the rolling galleries and all of the finishing operations. What strikes me besides the absolute enormity of the operation is the controls in place at every step. It’s no wonder that you rarely have a bad cigar from General. Every employee we were introduced to had been there for 10, 15, 30 years and loves what they do.

We finished the day with a tour of one of their farms from the seeds being planted to seedlings being planted in the fields. Again, plants as far the eye can see. It’s very early in the growing season so the fields are filled with tiny seedlings, I can only imagine how beautiful it will be in a few months when they are mature.

Following the tours we dined at a gazebo overlooking the valley, where we had an opportunity to hang around and chat with members of the management including el Jefe, Dan Carr. There was a little rain and lightning, and some bats, but no one noticed much. It was a terrific end to a long and informative day.

I’ve included some more photos of the day, once again, I’ll work on captioning them at a later date.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Trip Report

Tagged as cigar, cigar rollers, cigars, farms, fields, general, general cigars, rollers

by CigarCraig | October 16, 2011 · 7:34 am

The Heartbreak Of A Damaged Liga Privada T52

First off, I’d like to welcome Oja Cigars, my latest site sponsor. Click on the ad on the right and try their cigars if you get the chance. Oja has four lines of cigars in several sizes, all made in Esteli. It’s no secret that these have become a favorite of mine over the last several months. Each line has a little something special to distinguish itself from the others. Thank you to Luis Garcia and Oja Cigars for the support!

As I was rummaging around the humidor picking out some cigars to pack for my trip, I noticed a Liga Privada T52 robusto that had a cracked wrapper. Imagine my horror. This particular cigar came from the Drew Estate Blogger Party in Vegas at the IPCPR show, so it had been through a lot in it’s life. Vegas isn’t kind to cigars. Anyway, once i find a damaged cigar in my humidor, it has to go. No question about it, it can’t continue to exist with the rest of it’s perfect brethren. Maybe I’m shallow, or bigoted. Certainly my CDO (that’s OCD in the correct, alphabetical order by the way!), but that’s just the way it is. So I smoked it. I peeled off the cap and used it as a bit of a band-aid of sorts, although the cap didn’t cover the entire crack, but it turned out OK. I was expecting it to explode when it heated up, but it didn’t. As usual, the T52 was a terrific cigar, despite the damage. It burned like a champ, didn’t explode, and, while not as enjoyable as a perfect cigar, it delivered in the flavor department and was very satisfying. Liga Privada, be it No.9, T52, or Serie Ünico, are exceptional cigars, one of the few cigars I consider worthy of the price-tag.

I’ve been alluding to my upcoming trip, and the day has come. This time tomorrow I’ll be waking up in Santiago, Dominican Republic, and getting ready for a 3 day tour of the General Cigar factories and fields. Stay tuned for updates along the way. I’ll be taking pictures and video along the way and will try to upload something interesting over the next couple days, dependent upon connectivity. Myself, and my 14 fellow bloggers will have a full schedule of educational activities and tours. I feel very fortunate to be able to have this experience and share it with my readers.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

Filed under Review, Trip Report

Tagged as cigar, cigars, dirty rat, Domincan Republic, drew estate, general, general cigars, IPCPR, La Gloria Cubana, liga privada, macanudo, Oja, Partagas, punch, Santiago, t52, travel

by CigarCraig | October 8, 2011 · 9:42 am

La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale Club

My love affair with La Gloria Cubana started in the mid 90s. You could buy them right from the El Credito factory on Calle Ocho in Miami, and for $5 less you could get a bundle instead of a box. Then they opened the factory in the Dominican Repuplic and there were the people that preferred the Miami rolled cigars over the ones from the DR, even though they were using the exact same raw materials. I could never tell the difference, but that really doesn’t mean anything. Then the company changed hands, the Serie R came out, another excellent cigar, more transitions in management, and now, under General Cigar, the team is coming out with one hit after another, most recently with the Artesanos Retro Especiale. I received a couple of samples at the IPCPR show and Friday night was the night to fire one up. First, it’s a really nice looking cigar. The band is beautiful, keeping the general theme of the traditional La Gloria band, but giving it a more retro look to compliment the gorgeous packaging. The wrapper is Connecticut grown in Honduras and is golden brown. It burned perfectly from start to finish, and it was smooth and elegant in flavor and appearance. Like it’s siblings, the Artesanos De Miami, Artesanos De Tabaqueros and Artesanos De Obelisco, this is a unique and special cigar.

I know this video is a rerun, but it’s certainly relevant to this post as it features Yuri Guilllen, General Manager at El Credito, and one of the masterminds of La Gloria Cubana talking about the Serie N, the Artesanos De Obelisco and the Artesanos Retro Especiale.

Don’t forget to visit my sponsors, and get on over the IPCPR.org, or CigarRights.org (or use the link in my sidebar) and send letters to your elected officials regarding the FDA and Premium Cigars! If the FDA has their way, we’ll never again see wonderful works of art like the packaging for the Retro Especiale, not to mention having premium cigars to enjoy in the first place!

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under IPCPR, Review, Video

Tagged as cigar, Cigar Rights of America, cigars, connecticut, El Credito, general, general cigars, IPCPR, La Gloria Cubana, retro especiale

by CigarCraig | October 2, 2011 · 5:18 pm

October Is Here: Berger & Argenti, Chateau Real and Macanudo Contest Winners!

It’s autumn here in south-east PA, and the evenings are getting shorter. This time of year I tend to gravitate toward maduro cigars more, not sure why that is, I just do. I have my winter stock of smaller, maduro cigars in half of a box of Chateau Real Small Clubs and three quarters of a box of Hoyo de Monterrey Sabrosos all ready for the cold winter walks. I have a severe dislike for fall and winter, so next spring can’t come soon enough.

Earlier this week I had a yen for a Berger & Argenti cigar, so I grabbed a Classico Belicoso that I received at the IPCPR show. This one wasn’t quite as tasty as the Mooch Schnorr, but it was still very nice, and for some reason the 5¾” x 50 belicoso shape felt very elegant in the hand. I know, that sounds a little un-manly, but it’s seemed like it would feel just right while wearing a tuxedo, and what’s more man;y than a tux. I don’t know where that while line of thought came from, but it did, and there it is. As I said, this was a very tasty smoke and burned nicely. I have enjoyed the heck out of the recent samplings from Berger & Argenti. I’ve still got some Mooch maduros and Entubar Quad Maduros to look forward to. The Entubar is a very good candidate for my annual Halloween cigar.

Friday evening I just wanted something good and familiar, that I wouldn’t have to think about much, so I grabbed a Chateau Real Maduro Gran Cru Perfecto from my dwindling supply. I love the Mexican maduro wrapper on this cigar. I don’t think they are making the Chateau Real in maduro any more which is a shame, I guess I didn’t buy enough of them to keep them in production. It’s a nice, medium cigar that always hits me right, always draws well and burns straight, and I will be sad when these are gone! Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the Claro version of this cigar, but it’s quite a bit different with the maduro wrapper. Thinking about it makes me want another! Will power….

I need to select a pair of winners. The Macanudo Millionaire contest closed last week, so I hope everyone got their entries in. These Macanudo four packs are quite unique in that the cigars are all 6 x 60 versions of the regular line, the maduro, the 1968 and the Crü Royale. So, the winners, as selected at random using the random number generator at Random.org. The numbers generated were 1 and 6, which correspond to kekoa kai and Kyle! Congrats gentlemen! Make sure you get in touch with me with your contact info so I can send out your prize!