Tag Archives: Goose’s Montecristo Lounge

by Craig Vanderslice | March 3, 2024 · 9:55 am

My Father, Metapa, and Perdomo 30th Anniversary Cigars

This week I smoked some cigars I bought on recent forays into some of my local cigar spots. All were new to me, although not necessarily new to the market. This happens, I don’t always jump right on the new stuff, and sometimes I miss out! Thursday evening I met up with my fellow Craig, and recent contest winner, at Cigar Mojo – The Grove, to hand deliver his prize. Shipping is always less expensive than visiting a cigar shop! I picked up a few cigars, and lit up a My Father The Judge in the 656 Toro size. This has been around for a while, I just never got around to it. Since Mojo carries a lot of My Father cigars I see myself catching up on them. I’ll grab something I haven’t tried whenever I stop in. This is a 6″ x 56 cigar, oddly they call their 6″ x 52 a Toro Fino, which seems like a toro to me. Maybe the 6″ x 56 should be a Toro Gordo and the 52 should just be the Toro? Not my circus…anyway, this has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and fillers, with a nice box press. This got off to a slow start, good, although fairly mediocre. It built up some sweetness, which I like, of course, and worked out to be a very enjoyable cigar, one I’ll smoke again. Naturally, the company was exceptional, I always enjoy time with my fellow Craig. We’ll definitely have another Craig cigar summit soon.

Friday evening had us attending a middle school theatrical production that one of the granddaughters was in, so I got a late start. I was going to skip a cigar altogether, but I had picked up a Foundation Metapa Corona Gorda at Mojo and it wasn’t that big, so I figured I’d light it up. Sometimes having a cigar too late gives me sleep issues, not the case this time, although I did get to bed a lot later than usual! I wanted to smoke a Metapa because these are being rebranded to Aksum, I guess to keep in line with the Tabernacle/Menelik/Ark of the Covenant theme. I’ve heard mixed reviews on this cigar, and maybe it’s the Maduro vs. Claro? I only had the maduro to chose rom, so that’s what I got, as if anyone would be surprised at that. This is a nice 5½” x 48 with a coil pigtail cap (I know there’s a name for it, just can’t remember it!). This was the best cigar I had all week. It started a bit heavy, cloying like licorice, which worried me. It settled in to a really nice, dense dark chocolate, not much sweetness, the kind with a high cacao percentage. I found this to be quite enjoyable, whatever the name, and I might have to see if I can find the claro version (although I still need to try the Olmec Claro!). It’s hard for me not to like Foundation Cigars, there seems to be something for everyone.

Last week I stopped in The Wooden Indian looking for some new cigars, and picked up some Perdomo 30th Anniversary Epicures in Sungrown and Maduro. These come with a lot of hype, and my expectations were high. I’m a big fan of the 20th Anniversary Maduro, probably my favorite Perdomo. I thought the 10th Anniversary Sungrown was my favorite of that line, which, oddly, only really came out a couple years ago. The 30th aren’t priced bad, I could see companies asking a higher price for their anniversary cigars, but Perdomo does things right in this respect. I admire them for keeping their cigars pried within reason. I decided that yesterday was going to be Perdomo day, so I started with the Sungrown. I chose the 6″ x 54 Epicure size because, well, that’s the size I like. This has a 15-year-old bourbon barrel-aged Cuban-seed Nicaraguan Sun Grown wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and has a nice box press. I think this one had a patch near the cap on the underside of the cigar, which I find to be unacceptable on a cigar like this, regardless of price. This, of course, came off and I had to do some wrapper surgery because I don’t care for the mouth feel of a flappy wrapper. Other than that, the burn and draw were very good, and the cigar had a sweet spice that was nice. Not blown away, I’ll stick with the 10th Sungrown.

I had high hopes for the Perdomo 30th Anniversary Epicure Maduro. This has the same 15-year-old bourbon barrel-aged Cuban-seed Nicaraguan wrapper processed to a maduro, not overly dark, but dark enough, with a nice oil. This is a nice looking cigar, again, lods of hype, best Perdomo cigar ever, yada yada…It was a good cigar. It had rich dark roast coffee and cocoa and was very nice. For me, I find that the 20th Maduro to have more that I enjoy, to be honest. I suppose I was expecting a more refined experience, and maybe my palate just isn’t acute enough to appreciate the subtleties of these cigars. I’m told that the 30th Connecticut is something special. Given I was never a fan of the Champagne, I actually disliked it ( a rarity), I always pass on the Perdomo Connecticuts. Perhaps I’ll give this one a try, for science.

The folks at Best Cigar Prices posted a bunch of pictures of the cigarlebrities that will be at their Smoke-onos event in May, but they didn’t ask for my picture. If you’re there, hunt me down! Also, keep an eye out for upcoming details about a multi-vendor event at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA which will be in the beginning of May. That’s more than enough for today, until the next time.

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 30th Anniversary, Aksum, cigar, Cigar Mojo, cigars, Foundation, Foundation Cigar Co., Goose's Montecristo Lounge, maduro, Metapa, My Father Cigars, Perdomo, Smoke-onos, Sungrown, The Judge, wooden indian

by Craig Vanderslice | December 25, 2022 · 6:00 am

Merry Christmas and a Couple of Cigars

This is going to be a short one, I mean, I have family stuff to do today, and I assume many of you do also. Not many people are going to have time to read a long post! So Happy Holidays to everyone! Go back to my last post and enter the contest! Maybe you’ll win some great stuff!

We’re enjoying a cold snap here, Friday started out a balmy 50 and dropped to the teens by evening. I got my cigar in early, my heaters can’t keep up with this bitter cold. I chose from a selection sent to me by my secret Santa this year, an Alec Bradley 2014 Fine and Rare. It was my first time smoking a Fine and Rare, I may smoke another Fine and Rare later if time and temps allow. This was a special smoke, a 7″ x 54 perfecto-ish cigar. I’ve had the same shape in a tubed Tempest ,I think. It didn’t seem like it was that big, but it smoked for a good two hours. When I say “good”, I mean really good! I seem to recall the Raices Cubanas factory having some quality issues around this time, which were not apparent in this cigar, it was perfectly built. I believe the blend is Honduran and Nicaraguan with a Honduran wrapper. I also seem to remember some ridiculous number of varietals in the blend on these. Seven? Anyway, this was a really delicious cigar, pretty nunced and refined, but full of flavor. It was bready, with some spice, but not much. It certainly was a special cigar befitting the season. TY MS for these! I look forward to future Fine and Rare’s.

Yesterday I stopped by Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA for a smoke or two. I intended to just pick one or two nice cigars out to smoke, but I started looking through the discount bin (buy 3, get one free) and found some gems, some CyB Corona Reals, Cornelius and Anthony Meridian Corona Gordas, Jaxx LTs (forerunner of the La Sirena LT) and even an Emilio AF2 (AJ Fernandez). So after I smoked a gifted Montecristo Epic, I lit up one of the CyBs I bought and it was delicious. These had a pretty short life, coming out sometime around 2013 when José Blanco (the B) worked at Joya de Nicaragua with Dr. Alejandro Cuenca (the C). It was originally called Cuenca y Blanco until someone pulled a trademark dispute. The cigar was really good, and I think I found all that he had in the bins. The cigar has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Dominican Piloto binder and fillers from Nicaragua and Peru. It’s woody and sweet with some spice, the spice probably from that Peruvian leaf. Good stuff! Goose’s is a great spot with a large selection and comfortable lounge. I’d like to get there more than I do!

That’s all for today, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Alec Bradley, cigar, cigars, CyB, Fine and Rare, Goose's Montecristo Lounge

by Craig Vanderslice | March 28, 2021 · 10:06 am

Altadis Know Your Wrapper Series Event at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge

Friday evening I attended an event, sort of. Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA hosted the Altadis USA Know Your Wrapper Series event, both in their lounge and virtually. They probably had 15 or so people there in the lounge, which is spacious, no worries there, and a few of us attending virtually, including myself, Tom Stroud, the Altadis USA territory Manager and his wife, John Remer, who host the Facebook Group and show Johnny Smokes Uncut, and a few others. In this event, each attendee purchased a box which contained seven corona size cigars that were puros of seven different wrapper varieties. The event was led by Travis Pappenheim, the National Education Manager at Altadis USA. He guided us through the tasting of the first couple of the puritos, presenting information on the growing regions and some of the cigars that used the various wrappers. This event was interactive, as Travis, even though he was located in south Florida, was taking questions from the lounge at Gooses, as well as interacting with the rest of the guests.

A few geeky thoughts on the puros: The first one was the USA Connecticut: It had some natural sweetness on the lips at first, but I thought it was fairly sour with some bitterness. It smoothed out after a while. The Cameroon was surprising, as a wrapper only it is very distinctive, when the entire cigar is Cameroon it runs over itself and that sweet, nutty Camerooniness I love is overwhelming and exhausting. The Ecuador Connecticut is smoother and creamier than the than the USA version. In my mind, it worked better as a cigar. I don’t care much for Criollo, and a 100% criollo cigar doesn’t thrill me, the saving grace was that it was the fourth cigar in a little over an hour. Travis gave some great advice, which was to smoke the Sumatra on a fresh palate, and since that is one of, if not my favorite, wrapper varitals, I smoked this one last night. Once again, it tasted like Sumatra should taste, but too much of a good thing. HAlf way in, I switched to the Broadleaf, another favorite wrapper. This was the only one in the selection that wasn’t a puro, because, Travis said, getting the Broadleaf puro to burnright wasn’t happening. Not surprisingly, this was the best smoking experience of the bunch as a cigar, as far as balance and flavor went, with sweet cocoa and coffee notes that I love. I saved the Habano for another time, maybe today, as I was worn out.

As a cigar geek, I found this to be a really entertaining experience, as I always do. I’ve done these sorts of things before and I always learn something, and it reinforces things I knew, and reminds me of things I forgot. My main takeaway is that there’s a reason that these are wrapper leaves and there aren’t puros made from the various leaves. First, they’d be really expensive cigars, and mostly, they aren’t balanced and just don’t really taste good. There was one (the US Connecticut) that Travis mentioned a surprise at the halfway point and suspect he had the leaf tips thee or something and I got a cinnamon sensation somewhere thereabouts, but that was about the only thing close to complexity I got. I also have had indigestion and a sour stomach for the last two days, and it might have something to do with the tobaccos, not sure. I haven’t eaten anything strange. I wouldn’t trade the experience though, Travis did a great job presenting and Goose was a wonderful host as always. I would have enjoyed being there in person, he has a great lounge, but between the time and “the times”, joining over Zoom was ideal. Thank you John for having me!

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

https://www.altadisusa.com/

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by Craig Vanderslice | December 20, 2020 · 10:46 am

CigarCraig’s 2020 Holiday Giveaway!

OK, I know it’s not the CigarCraig’s 12 Days of Giveaways, it’s been 5 years since that whole thing ended. We had a good run, but when the FDA scared all the cigar companies off of giving cigars away, it complicated things. I knew that trying to do twelve days of swag giveaways wouldn’t fly, and adding cigars out of my own humidor would break me (shipping already puts a hurting on me!). So it went the way of the Dodo. Fortunately, I find myself with some goodies accumulated over the year, so I put together one great present to close out the year! First, let me get something off my chest. Yesterday I smoked a Deadwood Leather Rose, which I really enjoy. It irks me when people call this cigar, and the other cigars in the Deadwood series, “infused”, or dare I say it, “flavored”. They are not. Sure they have a sweet cap, there are several traditional cigars that have a sweet cap. I don’t count the sweet cap as flavored. I really wish the folks at Drew Estate would be more vocal about this. I’d love to be able to reference a link on their site that states boldly “this (and the Larutan, for that matter) is NOT an infused cigar”. It uses non-traditional tobaccos, Syrian, Perique, Latakia, tobaccos more traditionally used in pipe tobaccos. I hate seeing social media posts that start something like “I don’t usually smoke flavored cigars, but I smoked a Sweet Jane…”and I feel compelled to say “you still didn’t! I feel like Drew Estate should help me out a little here! Heck, I’ve seen people argue with Vaughn Boyd (who owned Deadwood) for crying out loud! OK, enough of my ranting, I really enjoy the Leather Rose, and her sisters, and the Natural/Larutans too, although I don’t smoke many for some reason. They have a lot of flavor, and I like that.

Let’s get to the Giveaway! We have a lot of stuff s buckle up. Back in August I went to a Golf tournament Sponsored by Goose’s Montecristo Lounge, and Goose was very generous and supplied me with some Montecristo swag which included a Montecristo cap, a really nice Montecristo table lighter and a cutter in a humidor bag. I am adding a Montecristo Espada from my humidor, and I might find something else when I get to rooting around. Speaking of Drew Estate, since they canceled the Barn Smokers this year, they very kindly sent out they Barnsmoker swag. I’ll be honest, I was on the fence about giving up the backpack, it’s really nice, but I have a ton of backpacks, and I talked myself into giving this one up (my wife talked me into it as well). There’s another lighter and cutter (here’s a secret, this lighter you can get away with stashing in your luggage when you fly!), a bottle opener and a cigar stand. I put together a samper of Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua cigars from my humidor to go with it. Next there’s a nice Villiger ceramic ashtray, to which I’ve added some Villiger cigars (again, from my humidor, unsmoked!), and finally, a Foundation cutter (I forgot to add a Foundation cigar to try it on, one will be added!). So that’s an OK present, right? A little something for everyone, goodies for you, a hefty USPS bill for me! (I might do UPS since USPS has been sketchy as of late). Many thanks to my friends who generously provided these goodies! You know the rules! Leave a comment on this post to enter. No comments on Facebook, twitter or anywhere but this blog post will count. You must be of legal age in your jurisdiction to win (and prove it), and if you are selected as the winner, you need to e-mail me your information, please don’t make me track you down! I like to think the folks who win my contest are regular readers and, therefore, will see that they won! I’ll pick a winner next Sunday, December 27, 2020. Let’s see a ton of entries! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, whatever you like to celebrate.