Tag Archives: general cigars

by CigarCraig | May 23, 2010 · 11:56 am

La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros – Sunday May 22, 2010

I was very fortunate to have come into possession of several samples of the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros 650s a few weeks ago, and it seemed appropriate to wrap up my General Cigar week with one of these.

Here’s a blurb from the official information about these:

Created by Team La Gloria Cubana to showcase the artistry of La Gloria Cubana “tabaqueros” (artisan cigar makers), Artesanos de Tabaqueros cigars are a stunning embodiment of the time-honored craft of cigar making. So exacting is the skill required to handcraft cigars of this complexity that Benji Menendez personally selected an elite group of just 18 master cigar makers, representing the cream of the crop from El Credito Cigar Factory in the Dominican Republic.

Meticulously crafted to combine two different wrappers and two distinct tastes in one eye-catching cigar, Artesanos de Tabaqueros is a world-class smoke that opens to a rich and intriguing spice and ultimately reveals a depth of flavor that can only be achieved through a precise balance of unique and rare tobaccos. Hand selected from General Cigar’s extensive library of Dominican and Honduran tobaccos, the cigars are dressed in both a supple Connecticut Shade and hearty Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper. The blend is made solely of proprietary tobaccos, each aged five years or more.

Presented with two different wood treatments to promote the unique tastes promised in each cigar, Artesanos de Tabaqueros cigars are protected in boxes of 25. The collection will debut in early April with three frontmarks, each named to according to its dimensions: 650 (6” x 50, SRP per cigar is $8.00), 652 Belicoso (6” x 52, SRP per cigar is $9.50) and 750 (7” x 50, SRP per cigar is $9.00).

Double Wrapper Examples

It’s a beautiful cigar, no doubt about that. The “dos capas” presentation is unique, and the way it’s rolled makes more sense to me than the Joya de Nicaraqua Cabinetta, where the last third of the cigar is the darker wrapper. I expect in the case of the Joya De Nicaragua, by the time you hit the wrapper change it’s very late in the smoke. I have one floating around someplace which I will smoke very soon so I can compare (and it will tie in nicely with my next contest!) The La Gloria is rolled in such a way that the first third is the Connecticut Shade and then it transitions to the Ecuador Sumatra. I have to admit, I was expecting a more dramatic transition, but the change was very subtle. It is definitely a great tasting cigar and it burned well, although not as evenly as I would have liked for a “special” cigar. I smoked this down to about an inch and a half before I put it down.

These are pretty neat cigars which are visually appealing and, as opposed to “barber pole” style dos capos cigars, actually have a chance at providing a noticeable flavor change. Many thanks to Victoria McKee Jaworski at General Cigars for giving me the opportunity to sample these. I’ve loved the La Gloria Cubana line since first smoking them back in the ’90s when everyone was talking about whether the best ones were rolled in Miami or the Dominican Republic. I distinctly recall a Corona Gorda that was SO good, but left me on the couch with my head spinning! As a matter of fact, the first good cigar my wife smoked was a La Gloria.

That’s about all I got for now, until the next cigar,

CigarCraig

Go Flyers!

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Tagged as Artesanos de Tabaqueros, blog, cigar, cigars, general, general cigars, joya de nicaragua, La Gloria Cubana, Tabaqueros

by CigarCraig | May 19, 2010 · 7:31 pm

Mid-Week Cigars: Punch Rare Corojo and Partagas Cifuentes Julio – Wednesday May 19, 2010

I started out the week grilling some pork chops and felt compelled to smoke one of the cigars out of the Punch Grill box. I selected the Punch Rare Corojo, since I’ve had these in the past and enjoyed them. This example was no different. This one was the 5¼” x 54 Magnum. The pork chops were good, and the cigar capped off a busy day very nicely. The Ecuador Sumatra wrapper was nice and tasty and the cigar burned quite well.

I’ve been “theme smoking” lately, so I grabbed a Partagas Cifuentes Julio (also from General Cigars) out of the humidor and went for a nice long walk. These are apparently seasonal blends, and I jumped the gun a little smoking a July cigar in May. Sorry about that. It still was a nice cigar. It was medium bodied with a long finish, tongue coating in a not unpleasant way. I had to correct the burn a few times and it wanted to tunnel a little, but both are forgivable considering how much I enjoyed the flavor. These are fairly beefy cigars in a 6″ x 54 format. This was a single that was amongst the goodies sent by my buddy Jason at Rock’s Smoke Shop. Thanks! Another winner from that collection.

I received a very nice delivery today from Vegas de Santiago. You may recall one of my loyal readers, DJ, kindly sent me a couple of these to smoke and I enjoyed them quite a bit. Rudy and Lani in Costa Rica are making some very nice cigars in beautiful presentations. One of these weeks real soon will be Vegas de Santiago week and I’ll smoke and review (and I use that term loosely, I’m a crappy reviewer!) some of them. I have a cigar from an event that they sponsored back in 2004 that I will finally smoke to compare and contrast. The wooden tubes are really cool and almost too cool to open.

Here’s another site for the blog junkies: Cigar TopSite. This is a simple listing of some of the more popular sites. CigarCraig.com has been listed there since the beginning. I’d LOVE to see it climb up the rankings, so if you wouldn’t mind spreading the word, I’d appreciate it. I’m almost as bad at self-promotion as I am at cigar reviews. I know what you’re thinking: “if more people follow the CigarCraig.com blog then there will be less chances for me to win some of the great stuff Craig gives away!” I understand, but the more readers I have, the better my chances of mooching quality goodies to give to you, my loyal readers (there will be a new contest soon!).

Well, that’s about enough from me, until the next time,

CigarCraig

Oh yeah…..GO FLYERS!

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Tagged as @cigarcraig, blog, cigar, cigars, Contest, Corojo, Flyers, general cigars, hockey, Partagas, punch, rare corojo, topsite, vegas de santiago

by CigarCraig | May 10, 2010 · 5:22 pm

The Week in Cigars, Liga Privada Contest Winner Announcement – Monday May 10, 2010

Here’s a little recap of what I smoked over the past few days: Friday night brought nice weather, and a Flyers playoff game that needed watching. I lit

up a ITC 10th Anniversary lonsdale for the game. I had been looking forward to smoking this, since I really liked the Indian Tabac line when it came out. Oddly, Rocky Patel’s cigars have been few and far between in my humidors for whatever reason and I’ve gotten away from the brand. I know Rocky Patel is the hot ticket in the cigar world, but I just haven’t jumped on that particular bandwagon. I admit I was expecting something different in the ITC. I found it to be very strong and harsh, when I expected something smooth and creamy. Maybe I just expect an elegant smoke from a cigar with two bands, I don’t know. It burned well and after while the harshness subsided a bit, but it was still a full bodied cigar. I’ll have to try another one sometime with the expectation that it will be a strong cigar. It just caught me off guard and wasn’t what I was expecting or looking for at the time. If I had done my homework I would have picked out something different. Another thanks to Jason for the opportunity!

The rest of the weekend cigars were ones I’ve discussed here before. Saturday’s was a very nice Chateau Real Maduro and Sunday’s was a Hoyo de Tradicion Toro. It was really windy all weekend which reduces the enjoyability of smoking outside. These are both cigars I enjoy quite a bit, the Chateau Real for it’s coffee and cocoa and it’s excellent construction and the Hoyo for it’s mellow chocolaty flavors.

For Mother’s Day I grilled up some shrimp and salmon for my beautiful wife (who has had a rough few weeks taking care of here parents and really deserved to be taken care of for a while). The kids pitched in and we had no shortage of tasty food. I used the Punch Grill Box. I picked up some mesquite chips and it seemed to work, not that there’s a whole heck of a lot that can go wrong with such a thing. I’ll probably be using this a lot this summer.

I’m sure everyone is saying “CigarCraig, c’mon man, who won the Liga Privada Sampler?” Well, the response was excellent and I got some really good guesses. After I started seeing the guesses I realized that I may have a problem selecting a winner. I decided the only way to determine a winner when no-one guessed the right numbers was to add both temperature and relative humidity together and select the winner that way. Thanks to all who entered and I hope the new readers stick around a while. The cooler’s hygrometer (which, incidentally, I recently found in a box and put in a fresh battery) read 62% RH and 66°F for a total of 128. The closest guess was 65% and 67° for a total of 132 by Joel Scott. Congratulations and please e-mail your snaily so I can mail this beautiful box of Liga Privada No.9 cigars out to you. Remember the rule: If you enter a contest, you have to take the prize!

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

CigarCraig

(go Flyers!)

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Tagged as chateau real, cigar, cigars, Contest, drew estate, general, general cigars, hoyo de monterrey, hoyo de tradicion, indian tabac, itc, rocky patel

by CigarCraig | April 26, 2010 · 6:49 pm

CigarCraig Contest Winners! Please Send Snailies! – Monday April 26, 2010

It sure is hard to give stuff away these days! I’m still waiting to hear from the winner of the Drew Estate Cap and Liga Privada Cutter contest. “Wallaper” please send me your address so I can mail your prizes! I love giving stuff away, but it’s so much easier to do when I have a mailing address!

I received a package in the mail today with the Punch smoker box that I mentioned in my last post. This is a real nice presentation, the box itself must weigh two pounds and it’s very well made. It has a instructions for use and a guide to choosing what wood produces certain flavors. The four cigars look tasty and were certainly well protected by the stainless steel box. I’ll try this out on the grill one of these days, although I’m not sure how much hamburgers and hot dogs will benefit! These are in stores now. I love Punch cigars, and have been looking forward to trying the Uppercut.

I did throw out a quick contest in my last post, didn’t I? A 5 pack of Hoyo de Tradicion Toros will be finding it’s way to Chris McCann, provided he will send me his address! Don’t make me hunt you down!! A big thanks to General Cigar for making this possible.

That’s about enough shilling for now! Next month will feature another excellent cigar give-away, so stay tuned. Also, I have a bunch of nice cigars I’m looking forward to smoking and talking about here.

Until the next cigar,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as box, cigar, cigars, Contest, drew estate, general cigars, grill, grilling, hoyo de tradicion, punch

by CigarCraig | April 23, 2010 · 9:16 pm

This Week’s Cigars: Puros Indios Viejo and Cain F, and a Contest! – Friday April 23, 2010

I started out the week with another cigar from my buddy Jason at Rock’s Smoke Shop, a Puros Indios Viejo Rothchild. I really enjoyed this cigar. It burned well, produced a nice amount of smoke and had a pleasant flavor. Purely coincidence that I should receive an e-mail from Cigars International advertising these for as little as $19.99 for a bundle of 20 in the corona size, and $29.99 for the toro and Churchill size. Quite a nice deal for a decent cigar if one were in the market.

I ended the week with a Cain F 550. I admit to being a bit fearful of this cigar. It’s billed as a stronger version of the Cain, which I’ve enjoyed the flavors of, but these seem to make me a little queezy. The Cain F was no different. I nursed this cigar, smoking it slowly. It burned razor straight, the draw was perfect, and it had a great flavor. I thought I was OK, but a half hour after finishing I got the familiar queeziness. It’s a little annoying to enjoy a cigar so much only to have it make you feel crappy afterward. Sorry Sam, you make some great cigars, but I will be approaching these with extreme caution in the future. I have a pretty good tolerance for strong cigars, but these just kick me in the tail!

In the news

This has been reported to death, but in case you didn’t hear, General Cigar announced a promotion in conjunction with CharBroil, The Punch “King of the Deck” . From the press release:

Consumers of legal smoking age are encouraged to visit their local cigar shop to purchase a Punch-branded steel smoker box while supplies last. Inside the smoker box, cigar enthusiasts will find one each of the following cigars: Punch Magnum, Punch Gran Puro Rancho, Punch Rare Corojo Magnum, plus the new Punch Upper Cut Robusto which is included free. In addition, the smoker box contains a coupon that can be redeemed online at www.charbroil.com for $100 off the purchase of a new Char-Broil grill valued at $399 and above. For the suggested retail price of just $19.99, this special offer also boasts the added benefit of the smoker box itself which, along with wood chips, can be used to add a rich, smoky flavor to the cigar lover’s favorite grilled foods.

Check out the website http://www.punchgrilling.com/ for some nice recipes and cigar pairings. Kind of a neat approach to matching cigars and grilling.

While I was having a cigar this evening I was listening to the Stogiefresh podcast, which I enjoy every week. Doc debuted a new segment featuring Adam Estrrem of the Newbie Cigar Blog, which I also peruse. The segment is called “Tools of the Trade” and reviews accessories. He reviewed a Xikar lighter and did a nice job, however I feel the need to point out a thought I had. He mentioned “wind proof” lighters and being able to blow them out. Here’s my thought: wind is basically oxygen moving at a higher than normal velocity. When you blow on a flame, you are basically expelling carbon dioxide which robs the flame of oxygen. It’s my contention that one’s breath will extinguish the most robust torch flame. I point this out to educate, not as a criticism, and hope it’s received as such. I’m not a scientist, so any scientific evidence to the contrary is gratefully accepted.

As I wait to hear from the winner of the last contest, I’ll throw another quick contest out: a 5 pack of Hoyo de Tradicion Toros will go to a randomly selected reader who comments on this post. Thanks to General Cigars for providing the cigars! Contest ends Sunday April 25 at Midnight.