Tag Archives: general

by CigarCraig | May 8, 2011 · 9:47 am

A Para Japon, a Rodrigo Toro and LGC Serie N Cigar Contest Winner Announced!

Today is Mother’s Day, so take care of the mothers in your life today instead of reading this nonsense you goons! I’ll be selecting something nice to smoke in honor of my mother, my children’s mother, my daughter the new mother, and moms everywhere. So do something nice for all the mothers in your life!

This week I smoked one of the Para Japón cigars from La Aurora which I won in a contest on CasasFumando.com. This is one of the blogs in my regular rotation that I recommend, Tony and Daniel produce some very nice reviews on a regular basis. Although I don’t drink, they always seem to pair their cigars with interesting looking beers and beverages. If you don’t visit regularly check them out. Thanks to them as well as the folks at Miami Cigar and Company and La Aurora Cigars for the opportunity to smoke this cigar which I may not have otherwise had the chance to smoke. The proceeds of the sale of these cigars will go directly to relief efforts in Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck that nation on March 11. I remember seeing the devastation on TV while we were in Nicaragua. The cigar is a 5″ x 50 Robusto that has been aging at La Aurora for several years, they had made these and had them aging. When a group of bloggers were visiting the La Aurora factory and suggested this project, they decided to use these cigars and came up with bands and packaging in a very short time. Kudos to all involved in getting a cigar to market so quickly for a noble cause. On to the cigar, it has a fairly dry Nicaraguan wrapper and woody flavor. The burn was excellent and I enjoyed it to a finger burning nub. A very nice cigar.

I decided to continue on a Dominican theme and selected a Rodrigo Toro for my evening walk last night. Fellow Pennsylvanian George Rodriguez generously sent me a sampler of these and I had previously smoked the Robusto and Lancero, the latter being my favorite of the two. The toro is 6″ x 50 and the example I smoked was badly cracked at the foot. The crack wasn’t too detrimental but it did effect the burn a bit as the wrapper separated from the binder a little and it required a few touch ups. The wrapper was what I would call “rustic”, not the prettiest cigar. The Lancero remains my favorite so far, with the torpedo remaining. The flavors were nice enough and it wasn’t bad, it just didn’t work as well for me as the Lancero did. Still a nice cigar, I’ll be interested in seeing where these fall retail price-wise.

I promised to announce a winner of another five-pack of yummy La Gloria Cubana Serie N JSBs and I am a man of my word. I’d like to thank Team La Gloria, as well as Victoria from General Cigar Co. for providing a box of these fine cigars to give away. After this there will be one more fiver for next month’s contest, after which I’ll have to start scrounging for some more contest prizes. I still have a few items in the contest box though, so never fear! Anyway, the winner of a five-pack of Serie N cigars is Allen, selected randomly using the random number generator at Random.org. Congrats Allen, please e-mail me your address so that I can send these out to you!

That’s it for now, Happy Mother’s Day all,until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Contest, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, general, general cigars, La Aurora, La Gloria Cubana, Para Japon, rodrigo

by CigarCraig | April 27, 2011 · 10:47 pm

Some Cigars I Smoked at Cigar Safari, a Punch and a Grimalkin

I realized recently that while I was recounting my experiences in Nicaragua on Cigar Safari, I didn’t really talk too much about the cigars I smoked. One of the reasons was that I was tying in a contest to guess the number and I didn’t want to make it too easy to figure out, and the other was that there were so many other things going on that I really didn’t think too much about it! One of the things that I noticed was that I enjoyed all of the cigars I had, and all of them performed perfectly. From the first Liga Privada No.9 on the bus at leaving the airport, to the Tabak Especial Negra on the bus back to Managua, every cigar burned great and drew perfectly. I didn’t say I was surprised, I don’t think I’ve ever had a poorly constructed cigar from Drew Estate, or recently from Joya de Nicaragua. I smoked several of the Joya de Nicaragua Cabinettas, including a yet to be released Lancero, and I even had an Acid Kuba Maduro, and I didn’t hate it! I didn’t snap a picture of every cigar I had, but here’s a sampling:

On the “Take a Cigar for a Walk” front, Monday night I smoked another Punch Rare Corojo 10th Anniversary, courtesy of General Cigar. This is the third one of these I’ve smoked and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I taste hints of what I remember the Rare Corojo tasting like, which was very savory and full of flavor. There was a time in my cigar smoking life that I would always leave new arrivals sit in my humidor for a year or so before smoking. In this day and age, cigars seem to be coming to market ready to smoke, and I feel obligated to smoke samples sent to me in a timely manner. It’s a bit of a Catch 22 for me. I would love to see how these age, and, after smoking three of the five samples, I may allow the final two to sit in the humidor for a while more and revisit them in six months or so.

Along those same lines, I recently received some samples from Gary Griffith of Delaware Cigars and Emilio Cigars. One of the cigars he sent was the Grimalkin Toro. This 6″ x 50 cigar was described as being made in a factory in Esteli which they cannot reveal due to contractual obligations. I had my suspicions, which I think were confirmed after smoking one of the samples. I’m not going to reveal where I think this is made because that wouldn’t be right. I really enjoyed the first sample, it had a bit of spice to start out with and was pretty lush and tasty. The construction was top notch and I enjoyed it to the band, which sports a cool pair of feline eyes on a green background. It was definitely a visually appealing cigar and felt good in the hand. I put it down at the band, it got a little funky, another aspect that would be remedied by some additional humidor time. He also sent a couple of his Emilio cigars that I am looking forward to smoking. Again, a very nice cigar. I’d love to try this in a corona or lancero. Delaware Cigars has several locations in Delaware (duh), which is probably a half hour drive, I really need to make my way to one of the stores one of these days. They also host a cigar festival at Delaware Park, a great racetrack, in September, I might have to see about making it to the event.

That’s about it for today, I still need to hear from Wayne Nye with his mailing address so I can send out the StogieBoys.com Stogie Registers. I prefer to make one trip to the post office, so my apologies to MoBarbq and jimbobber for the delay in shipping.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Editorial, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as cigar, Cigar Safari, cigars, Contest, drew estate, general, general cigars, Grimalkin, joya de nicaragua, punch, Stogie Boys, stogie re

by CigarCraig | April 10, 2011 · 6:37 pm

Sunday’s Cigar: La Gloria Cubana Obilesco and a Contest Winner

Last August while visiting the IPCPR show in New Orleans, I received a tour of the General Cigar booth where I was introduced to all of the brand managers, received information about all of their new releases and was given samples of those cigars. One of the cigars I received was the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Obilesco. This is a unique shape, it’s 5″ x 44-57 figurado, and square pressed. The shape is inspired by the Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration in Santiago, Dominican Republic, it looks like an obelisk much like the Washington Monument. The presentation is enhanced by a semi-circle box which is also quite unique and beautiful. The sample I had lacked the foot band which the production version has, which is fine by me since I find the secondary band on the foot to be a nuisance. This cigar lit easily and had a terrific draw. I really enjoyed the flavors, there was a sweetness that I found very enjoyable. All in all a wonderful cigar that I enjoyed while taking a short walk around the block and sitting on my porch talking to an old friend I ran into along the way. I’ve said before, I’ve been enjoying La Gloria Cubana Cigars for the last 15 years or so, and I can’t say I’ve ever had one that I didn’t enjoy. This cigar, as well as the Artesanos de Tabaqueros and Serie N are excellent additions to a classic line.

It’s time to give away another 5 pack of La Gloria Cubana Serie N cigars, generously provided by General Cigar. We had 32 entries, one of which I took the liberty of disqualifying since I just set him a 5 pack of these last week! As it turned out, it didn’t matter, and his number didn’t come up. I had to use a new random number generator since Random.org didn’t seem to be working. I chose one at mathgoodies.com, which provided me with the desired results. I’m happy to announce that a longtime reader and follower of my contests was selected as the recipient of these tasty treats. Lloyd, please e-mail me your contact information so that I can get these out to you. You called your shot! Congrats!

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

CigarCraig

5 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, general, general cigars, La Gloria Cubana, Take A Cigar For A Walk

by CigarCraig | April 4, 2011 · 8:02 pm

Tommy Takes a La Gloria Serie R For a Walk, and a Contest!

Finally! Tommy has re-emerged and is still walking and smoking! Here is his latest installment:

“Well, hello! I have been tied up getting ready to buy a new home, shopping for a home, and we just put in an offer today…so wish us luck! Over the past few weeks, I have enjoyed several much needed walks…with a cigar. One in particular that I want to talk about today is the La Gloria Cubana Serie R. This one’s been around for awhile now, but is always a great full bodied smoke. However, I had an issue with it keeping a solid and strait ash. This one kept canoeing on me. I plan to take another on a walk soon to see if it was the stick, my batch, or just me. But, with the “troubles” slowing me down a few times during the walk I still had a great time smoking this particular cigar. Something about walking, moving around…with a cigar has become very enjoyable. These “R’s” are a great “upper mid-class” cigar with great flavors and I love the look of the wrapper. Overall, it was a good walk…a good smoke, not great…but like I said earlier…I plan on taking another one soon and will report back as to how it went.

Long ashes to ya!

–Tommy”

I too have been walking. I took a couple walks with the new Punch Rare Corojo 10th Anniversary Robusto, generously provided by the fine folks at General Cigar. I enjoyed the two I smoked, although I can see where some age will smooth them out a bit. The cigars are very nice looking 5″x50 with a box press. I haven’t had a Rare Corojo in ages, but I remember them being a little richer in flavor. Certainly worth trying when they become available. I also smoked the last Cain Habano and it didn’t make me ill.

In honor of Tommy smoking a LA Gloria Cubana, it’s time to give away another five pack of the delicious Serie N JSB. Leave a comment to enter, wish Tommy good luck with his new home buying experience, or give him some encouragement in his fitness regimen, whatever. I’ll pick a winner on Sunday ,April 10, 2011. Thanks again to Team La Gloria for providing these cigars for my readers!

That’s it for now, thanks to Tommy for another fine contribution and my best wishes to him and his family for the momentous occasion of purchasing their first home!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

32 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as blog, cigar, cigars, Contest, general, general cigars, La Gloria Cubana, punch

by CigarCraig | April 1, 2011 · 6:27 pm

Take a Cigar For a Walk – Catching Up…

I’ve been busy reporting on my trip, then the La Gloria Cubana festivities, but I’ve been taking cigars for walks all along. I’ve been hoping to hear from Tommy but he hasn’t responded to my e-mails lately. I can only assume he’s busy with work and family, but I hope everything’s OK with him. I also am waiting for another guest “Take A Cigar For A Walk” report that I will post when I receive it. I don’t have exact dates for the cigars that follow, I could look them up but I’m too lazy and I figure it really doesn’t matter to my readers much anyway!

Back on St. Patrick’s day I took a Camacho Corojo Monarca Candela for a walk. I enjoy the occasional green cigar, and this is a powerhouse. I’m coming to the end of a box of these that I bought 2 years ago or so. The cigars from this box all have had a very loose draw, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the punch is the way to go with these. Great burn, that almost refreshing grassy organic flavor from the candela wrapper. Nice cigar.

My next TACFAW cigar was a 777 Maduro Corona. I picked up a few of these at my local shop around Christmas and really enjoy them. Well made, nice dark maduro flavors. I should try the 777 Corojo next time as I’ve heard good things about them. I can’t find a website for Jesus Fuego, can anyone point me to it?

After that I grabbed the last of the CAO Italia robustos I had. I want to like these. The examples I had didn’t burn worth a damn, they all ran up one side, burned unevenly, needed constant attention. I enjoy the flavor, the bit of Italian leaf gives them a little bit of a unique flavor, but the burn problems detract from the experience for me.

I was in a lancero mood one night and grabbed a Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Maduro Lancero. I had picked this up last summer on a visit to a shop about an hour away. I took the scooter for a spin and met up with Walt White of StogieReview and Dave Wagner of Oliva at Sire Stogies in Gilbertsville, PA. This one behaved much better that the one I smoked in the shop. Burned great and had a nice flavor. Good for 2 laps around the neighborhood (about 1.6 miles) and a cool down.

Sunday’s walk cigar was a La Gloria Cubana Serie N JSB. I enjoyed the one I smoked during Friday nights webcast so much I had to spark up another one. Don’t worry, I’m not dipping into the contest prize stash, but I will need to show some restraint! I did a little shopping around and found that several of the larger internet retailers are selling the Serie N for very good prices. One could get a box of 24 for under $90 delivered, which is not a bad price for these cigars.

Last night I dug out a Don Tomas Classico Corona Grande for my walk. I only have a couple of these left from a box I got a few years ago. I have enjoyed them quote a bit and the fact that they are tubed makes them a nice cigar to grab and throw in you r pocket. I gave this a punch since it’s a 44 ring and I’ve been playing with the punch lately for smaller ring cigars. I enjoyed this cigar while I took a nice long walk, but when I got home I noticed that I had some brown stains on my fingers. It seems there was some brown goo coming from the punch, which I clipped off as soon as I noticed. I didn’t taste anything, and I’ve had this happen in the past but haven’t experienced it in many years. I noticed afterward that my fingers smelled like I had been sifting through some Marlboro smoker’s ashtray, it was terrible! I had to use a scrub brush on my hands to get the smell off. I love the cigars, but I don’t want to have that happen again!