Glenmoore | CigarCraig's Blog

Today is Father’s Day, and recently on LivingSocial.com, which is a site like Groupon.com for the Philadelphia area, a local cigar store chain called Light’n Up Cigars ran a special for $20 worth of cigars for $10. Of course, I purchased one of these, and both my wife and daughter surprised me with one for Father’s Day. So this afternoon I hopped on the old scooter and took a ride to two of the shops in the area. You had to specify which of the 5 shops you wanted the deal at and I received certificates for two different shops. I headed to the Glenmoore, PA location with is about 10 miles or so from home. I shopped through the humidor for a bit and settled upon 3 cigars, an Casa Fernandez Aganorsa Leaf, an Alec Bradley Family Blend, and a Perdomo Reserve Champagne, all cigars I have yet to smoke. From there I took the 12 or so mile trip down PA Rt 401 and made my way to the Frazer, PA store. I selected a pair of Fuente Hemingway Best Sellers, and a Brick House. I thought both stores seemed a bit sparse in their stocks as there were a lot of empty boxes. The clerk in the Frazer store blamed the winter months and the economy, both valid points, but I would have expected more cigars in the store, especially with the added business coming in from the special coupon deal. I have one more coupon to use and the pessimist in me thinks I should probably use it soon, although my suspicions are probably off base and I’ll see the stocks restored in the next month or so. The Frazer, PA store has a very large walk-in humidor, while the Glenmoore store’s is smaller, but the later store has a more comfortable lounge area. The cheap bastard in me is appalled at 6 cigars for $40, but I guess the same cigars for $20 is a great deal.

As I compose this edition, I am smoking my annual Father’s Day cigar, an Esperanza para los Niños. I Have smoked one of these every Father’s Day since I bought a box in 2000. I detailed the background of this cigar in my June 20th post last year, so I won’t repeat it. I’m enjoying this tasty, well-aged cigar with an IBC root beer which was a gift from my son. As it has been for years, it’s a chocolaty maduro that’s burning very well and goes well with the root beer. This is a tradition which I can only continue for another 4 years, at which time my prized stash of these will be exhausted, never to be replenished. I will savor each and every one until then, and remember that they were made “For the Children”.

Contest

For the last couple weeks you will, no doubt, have noticed the name “Oja” coming up in my posts. I have been enjoying sampling these cigars made in Nicaragua and blended by Luis Garcia, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Nicaragua. I most recently smoked the 6 x 60 Mestizo (Habana2000) Artefacto. I really enjoyed the sweetness that dominated this cigar. It was a really nice cigar and I seem to be getting used to this idea of 60 ring gauge cigars (a good thing, since I also received a couple of Jonathan Drew’s newest cigar, the My Uzi Weighs a Ton). The other two lines, an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and a Brazilian Araparica wrapper, have also been very tasty, but this H2000 is my favorite of the bunch. Luis has very generously provided me with a BOX of the Oja Mestizo Artefactos which is the prize for this month’s contest! That’s right, a whole box of very nice cigars to be won by a lucky reader. The contest will run until Sunday, July 3, in honor of the July 4th holiday, and I’m going to have to make you work a little harder than the usual random selection that I normally do. In the comments of this post, place a link to a picture of ~~you smoking a cigar in a patriotic setting of some sort~~ any patriotic theme which includes a cigar or cigars. Let’s try to keep the photos g-rated and within the bounds of good taste (I have the power to edit and delete and disqualify at my discretion). I will close the comments at Midnight on Saturday, ~~July 2~~ July 9 and a selection committee of my choosing will select a winner. The only other proviso is that the photos must be publicly accessible, so all can enjoy, and I’m going to suspend the six month rule for this contest to give everyone a chance to win. This is a pretty big prize in my opinion, so let your creative juices flow! A big THANKS to Luis at Oja for providing such a great prize!