Tag Archives: Griffin’s

by CigarCraig | April 29, 2012 · 10:19 am

A Griffins, a Band and a Tortuga EL and Some News

Thursday was a big day for my youngest son and his band, Air Sur La Terre. They’ve been playing together for a few short months and are really coming together. They were interviewed on a local AM radio station in the afternoon, the podcast version can be heard here, and played at an open mike night at a coffee house in the area. While at the coffee house, I decided to take a Griffins 500 for a little walk down the street to check out a new “smoke shop”. I walked in, cigar in hand, and asked if smoking was permitted, and was told no. So I turned around and left. I noticed two cabinet humidors with what appeared to be a very modest selection of cigars. They seemed to specialize in roll-your-own and “glass wear”, so you get the impression that premium cigars are not the focus. Now I know, and don’t have to worry about going there again! On my way back to the coffee house, I snapped a picture of the Griffins in front of the iconic Colonial Theater in Phoenixville, PA. This theater was immortalized in the classic 1953 movie ” The Blob”. The kids put on a great two song set, they have videos (I took them with my iPod, so please forgive the quality) as well as their single, “Fade Away” on their website. The cigar is a classic Connecticut shade wrapped cigar with plenty of flavor and a perfect burn.

Tortuga Edicion Limitada 2011 Torpedo that Victor Vitale had sent me a while back. The EL 2011 is made in the Dominican Republic with Honduran and Dominican fillers and Nicaraguan wrapper and binder. It’s a pretty cigar, they wrapper is dark and a little mottled and it’s rolled with a very pointy head. Draw and burn were very nice, although it needed a few touch ups here and there which can be contributed as much to the breeze as the cigar. It had a really good flavor, and was solidly medium in strength to me. If you can find these, try them. I will admit that of the three cigars in this line, the EL 2011, 1948 Connecticut and 1950 Maduro, the EL was third on the list behind the Connecticut and Maduro, with the 1950 Maduro being my absolute favorite. The Connecticut and Maduro each had unique flavors that really distinguished themselves to me, and the Edicion Limitada while an excellent cigar, didn’t hit me with any of those surprises. This is an exceptional line which deserves your consideration, and Victor is a terrific guy, and I appreciate the opportunity to try these special cigars.

News

On the cigar event side, Butthead’s Tobacco Emporium announced that they are going to host a series of cigar events in their stores in Connecticut which they will stream live video from and offer the same deals to their on-line customers. This is a pretty cool way to see what’s going on at the events if you can’t get to them yourselves, or live someplace where there are few events. You can see the press release for this at Cigar Coop’s site here, and here is a sample promo video for your entertainment.

httpv://youtu.be/kJS4qV2yi_8

More News

In other news, You may recall a month or so ago I posted an article about the IPCPR‘s Internet Media Membership. I’m pleased to announce that the organization had decided to change the membership in such a way that the benefits are more equal to the other membership levels. I still need to figure out the details, but it looks like I’ll be attending the show. Thanks to last year’s media members for their contributions and to Bill Spann and the board for their consideration. Also, I’d like to welcome a new sponsor, BnB Tobacco to CigarCraig.com. They have a great selection and prices, so check them out the next time you shop.

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

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under Events, News, Review

Tagged as BnB, Butthead's, cigar, cigars, Griffin's, IPCPR, Phoenixville, Tortuga

by CigarCraig | February 26, 2012 · 11:25 am

An A.Turrent, a Griffin’s and Some Beverage Suggestions

Thursday night I took a late walk with a A. Turrent Puro Corojo Robusto. It was another reasonably balmy February evening, and this 4½” x 54 cigar seemed just about the right size for the time allotted. I received this cigar in a sampler from the Altadis booth at the IPCPR show and have been slowly working my way back into those cigars. This cigar had a very nice look, the wrapper was very smooth and without a flaw. The burn was perfect and the draw was easy with just the right amount of resistance. I really enjoyed the flavor of this Corojo cigar, it was rich and satisfying. For years Mexican tobacco has gotten a bad rap, although I never really minded it, heck, I started out smoking TeAmo maduros way back when. Certainly the San Andreas tobacco is a pretty hot tobacco these days, and this cigar has a San Andreas Corojo wrapper and some fillers mixed in with Nicaraguan Corojo. I absolutely LOVE the San Andreas maduro wrappers, I wonder how this cigar would be with that wrapper? Thanks to Enrique Seijas for the tour at the show and for the samples.

Friday night we went to a little coffee house nearby to see my son play with his latest band. Even though the place has “Coffee and Tobacco” on the window, there’s no smoking allowed thanks to our states indoor clean air laws. Considering the size of the place, it’s probably not a bad idea. The area where the band played was an upstairs room with was pretty small. There were probably 50 people in a 20×30 or so room, with limited seating. The band was very good, despite my obvious bias, and I had some time before the show to enjoy a Griffins 500 on the sidewalk in front of the place. I am constantly impressed with the quality of this mild cigar. Burn and draw are outstanding and it’s loaded with flavor. I suppose you have to like a Connecticut shade wrapped cigar to like these, but I think it’s a nice smoke. I was an old guy smoking a cigar among a bunch of teenagers smoking cigarettes, but that’s OK, I was one of them once…

One often asked question I see is regarding beverages to go with cigars, and the question that catches my eye most often is the non-alcoholic beverage question. As one who gave up drinking long before I took up cigars, I’ve made a few conclusions of my own in that area. Of course, coffee is a great cigar companion, but there are times when only a cold beverage will do. I’ve often turned to root beers in this case. I particularly enjoy Stewart’s or IBC, but recently the brewery in town here started bottling their root beer and its phenomenal. Unfortunately, it may only be available in the Victory Brewpub retail store, but if you see it anyplace, give it a try. My absolute favorite cold beverage cigar accompaniment is Reed’s Ginger Brew. It’s a little like Ginger Ale on steroids. I love the “Extra”, but it actually can over power a lighter cigar because it’s so spicy. The Raspberry is quite good, and the Spiced Apple Brew is very refreshing on a hot day as well. I’ve been a fan of these since being introduced to them at a herf in 1999 , and pick up a couple four packs whenever I get a chance. Here’s a Food Network video about the product and the company:

httpv://youtu.be/6sebjdI4aj4

So, if you’re looking for a nice, non-alcoholic drink to go with your cigar, check out some root beers or ginger beers, and if you can find Borgnine’s Coffee Soda, you can’t really go wrong with that, but it’s darned near impossible to find. If anyone does know of a place to get ut, please let me know! It’s really my holy grail of cigar beverages.

That’s it for now, I may try to find a nice cigar and take a Sunday walk.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

5 Comments

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

Tagged as A. Turrent, altadis, cigar, cigars, connecticut, Corojo, Ginger Brew, Griffin's, IBC, IPCPR, Reed's, Root Beer, San Andreas, Stewart's, Victory

by CigarCraig | January 11, 2012 · 7:41 pm

A Few Short Smokes: Chateau Real, American Eagles and a Griffin’s

I dipped into the little guys for the early part of the week. Â It’s been cold, and time has been limited. Â I usually save up the little cigars for this time of year, coronas, half coronas, short 30 or 45 minute cigars that taste good, and are perfect for a quick mile or so walk around the neighborhood.

I began the week with a favorite, the Chateau Real Small Club Corona Maduro. Â I believe these are discontinued, which is a shame, because I really like the Mexican maduro wrapper on these. As with everything from Drew Estate, they always burn well, and, let’s face it, a four inch cigar doesn’t have a lot of room for error. Â I bought a box of these sometime in the fall of 2009, and just dug into the last half of the box. Â Nice little smokes!

Last night I grabbed an American Eagles Half Corona, which I received a few months back from Chris at Sardell Imports. Â This is a camouflage wrapped cigar, it had a beautiful Connecticut shade wrapper that’s overlaid with maduro and candella pieces to give it the camo look. Â Sure, it’s gimmicky, but it’s a really solid cigar, perfect burn and draw, and a rich mid to medium bodied flavor that is really nice, smooth, creamy and delicious. It a fun cigar, quite tasty and well behaved. I have a whole comedy routine ready for the day I smoke one in a public place and someone complains about it. Seriously, a Â portion of the proceeds from these cigars go toward the Semper Fi Fund, and they are blended by Hendrick Kelner, so they are very high quality. I side note, there was a cigar shop in the hotel I stayed at in the Dominican Republic that sold these.

This evening I decided to break into one of the boxes of Griffin’s 500 coronas that I inadvertently won on a face book contest. I swear, I have no recollection of entering, although I must have because a beautiful Griffin’s Humidor and two boxes of these beauties showed up at my door last month. Â I can always use more humidor space, and these cigars are nice. Â These 5 1/16″ x 42 coronas are a classic Connecticut shade cigar. Mild, but no shortage of flavor. Of course, the construction was perfect, as these come from the house of Davidoff. Â I honestly have never had a Griffin’s before, always priced outside of my comfort zone. Â This will be a great cigar for that first balmy Saturday morning on the deck with coffee.