Tag Archives: Grimalkin

by CigarCraig | September 18, 2011 · 11:18 am

The Delaware Cigar Festival and Another Contest!

Saturday, September 17 marked the long awaited fifth annual Delaware Cigar Festival, organized and hosted by Gary Griffith, the Premium Cigar Manager of Delaware Cigars and the creator of Emilio and Grimalkin Cigars. The event took place at Delaware Park, which is already one of our favorite places in the area to go and waste some money on the ponies, or drop some pennies in the slots. The event was unique, as it is a big herf disguised as a charity event, although Gary won’t use the charity aspect to promote it. The format is that the manufacturers and reps sell their samples for $3 each, with all of the proceeds going to charity, which this time benefited the family of a slain police officer (news report here), this was just in the last few days and quite tragic.

Photo Courtesy of Charlie Greenbacker

For your entrance price you got a bag with about 20 or 25 cigars (nice stuff too, I looked!) and assorted swag, a nice picnic buffet with burgers, dogs, chicken, ribs and beans, and the opportunity to talk with the assorted cigar makers and reps who were there. Brands represented were: Inked Magazine, Rocky Patel, Arturo Fuente/JC Newman, Emilio Cigars with brand creator Gary Griffith, Drew Estate, Altadis USA, Oliva, Perdomo, La Sirena with Brand Ambassador Arielle Ditkowich, La Flor Dominicana, Cigar Rights of America, EO Brands with Eddie Ortega, Miami Cigar, General Cigar, 262 Cigars, Kristoff Cigars, El Primer Mundo with Sean Williams, Veritas Cigar Co., and The Cigar Agency. Keith Park from Prometheous was also there. All of these companies donated TONS of stuff, either cigars that were sold for $3 each, or stuff to be raffled off (we bought 10 tickets didn’t win a darned thing!). The attendance was capped at 300 people, including staff, press and exhibitors, so it was a nice sized crowd. It was rarely a problem to have a chat with the vendors.

In addition to getting to schmooze with some of my friends on the manufacturers side, I was able to hang out a bit with some fellow blogger types such as Barry from ACigarSmoker.com, Walt from StogieReview.com and Michael from CigarEvents.com. I also had the great pleasure of meeting one of my readers, Charlie, who won big in the raffle give-aways! These events are always about the people, and you just don’t meet nicer folks that those associated with cigars for some reason!

What a wonderful event that I would recommend highly next year if you are within a 3 or 4 hour drive. Gary is a fine gentleman and I appreciate him welcoming myself and my wife for the afternoon. It’s refreshing to see a retailer put on a “not for profit” event, and to have so many people there enjoying cigars and camaraderie. I’d love to see more manufacturers participate in the future as the event is for good causes and shows the cigar business in a positive light. The only downside was that the weather could have been a little nicer, it was overcast and under 70 until we drove off the premises, then the sun came out and it was nice! Hardly anyone’s fault. I managed to win about $4 on the ponies over the course of the day too!

In honor of the event, I’m going to have another quick give-away! I know, I JUST had one that ended this week, but we got a couple Rosie Napravnik Bobbleheads at the park for Racing Fan Appreciation Day and I thought I’d combine it with a beautiful Veritas Connecticut Salamone that I purchased from the Delaware based Veritas Cigar Co. at the event. So leave a comment to enter, and I’ll pick a winner next Sunday, September 25th.

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

CigarCraig

Photo Courtesy of Charlie Greenbacker

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Tagged as 262 Cigars, A Cigar Smoker, Altadis USA, cigar, CIgar Events, cigars, Contest, delaware cigars, Delaware Park, drew estate, El Primer Mundo, Emilio, EO Brands, fuente, general, general cigars, Grimalkin, joya de nicaragua, Kristoff, La Flor Dominicana, La Sirena, macanudo, Miami Cigar and Co, oliva, Partagas, Prometheus, rocky patel, Stogie Review, The Cigar Agency, Veritas

by CigarCraig | May 18, 2011 · 9:53 pm

Grimalkin Toro and Emilio AF-1 Toro Cigars and “Old Wave” by Garry Berman

Over the last two evenings I had decided to couple two cigars with a new book, “Old Wave, a Comic Novel” by Garry Berman, author of several books including “We’re Going to See the Beatles”, “Best of the Britcoms” and “Perfect Fool: The Life and Career of Ed Wynn”. The cigars are two toros, generously provided by Gary Griffith of Delaware Cigars.

The Grimalkin is made at a factory in Nicaragua that we all know of, but I’m not at liberty to divulge. It’s a terrific cigar, layered with subtly and complexity. Similar to “Old Wave”, the story of an ’80s New Wave band who had one and a half hits, and owned the first half of 1983. The book is the story of the bands comeback after a 25 year hiatus, where the main character, Terry, has been managing his family health food store in a small New York town. He’s barely kept in touch with his band mates and is convinced to get them back together for a revival tour of sorts with several other bands of the era. It’s a comedic romp through the trials of re-connecting with the group and is loaded with more similes than a simile writers convention. Much like the Grimalkin, the read is easy and entertaining, with characters as interesting and compelling as the flavors dancing around my palate. Even burn, perfect draw with a signature similarity to other cigars from the same factory, yet with refreshing flavors that keep you thinking. The story bounces back and forth from present day, to stories from the past. Two thumbs up for the cigar, and the book is holding my interest much like the cigar did.

The female singer in the band is a beautiful Russian woman named Svetlana, who is dark and glamorous, much like the Emelio AF-1 Toro. Svetlana loves the Brazilian music of the sixties, and the band, Magenta Nun, mixed the Brazilian rhythms with a New Wave style to create their signature sound. The Emilio AF-1 has a dark, sweet maduro wrapper loaded with delicious and exotic Nicaraguan fillers. It’s sweet and savory, and full of flavors that are lush like the tropical flavors of the music portrayed in the book. In the book, the band goes on a cross country tour with periodic vignettes of their comedic experiences, including injuries and incidents which mirror some of the groups escapades of their brief period of fame in the past. The humor tends to be as arid as the Sahara, and there are little names and phases that just make me chuckle. I like dry. The AF-1, however, is anything but dry, it’s sweet and savory, like a Brazilian Churrasco. Again, the cigar is well made and burns perfectly until the dramatic conclusion of the book.

Hopefully I haven’t lost anyone in my attempt to intertwine cigar review with a book review. In my opinion, all three are well worth your time. The book is an easy and entertaining read, especially since I played in a band in the ’80s, and there has been recent talk of reviving the group in some way. It struck a chord with me (a G Major). The cigars while different, complimented the read perfectly. I never had to worry about the ash falling in the pages, as both cigars had an ash that knocked off in solid chunks and the intricate flavors entertained me. Kudos to Garry and Gary for enhancing my last couple evenings. You can find “Old Wave” for sale at Amazon.com or through the Amazon store on the left side of this page.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

Don’t forget to visit Stogieboys.com

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Filed under Review

Tagged as amazon, cigar, cigars, delaware cigars, Emilio, garry berman, Grimalkin, old wave

by CigarCraig | May 4, 2011 · 7:24 pm

La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003 and Emilio AF1 BMF

Today I am bringing you a contrast of sorts. Two very different cigars, both excellent. The first was a gift from Chris Lenzo, the Miami Cigar & Company sales rep whom I met on Saturday when I was celebrating the birth of my grand-daughter with Guillermo Leon at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA. The second was a sample provided by Gary Griffith of Delaware Cigars for review. Both were enormous in size and pleasure!

The La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003 is a very special cigar. My understanding is that there were only 12,000 of these produced in 2008 from 5 year old tobacco that was entirely from the 2003 crop. It’s a big beautiful figurado shaped cigar, measuring a whopping 7.2″ x 52, but it felt bigger! The wrapper was stunning and it was well made, a tribute to the few rollers that can make this shape cigar. It held the ash for my entire 1 mile walk, it looked like I was just getting started when I got back to my front porch, where I spent the next hour and a half luxuriating in the delicate nuances of this cigar. What a special treat that I dedicated to my daughter the new mom. It is definitely a rare and expensive cigar that I won’t likely have the chance to smoke again anytime soon! A special treat, thank you Chris!

Last night, after Alan Price had inquired on Sunday, I decided to sit down with an Emilio AF1 BMF for the evening. This is another enormous cigar, 6″ x 58, with a dry, dark Mexican maduro wrapper (one of my favorites!). I was thinking about the front-mark BMF, trying to work out it’s significance. I ruled out “By My Father” since it’s a published fact that this is made by A.J. Fernandez in Esteli, not Pepin Garcia. I haven’t looked up the price on these, so “Blow My Fortune” is a possibility. I settled on “Big Mother F***er” since that seemed to fit the best, because it is a gigantic cigar. This cigar is bold out of the gate. It’s very much in line with my cigar preference, it’s full bodied, it’s full flavored, and has the dark roast, dark cocoa flavors I look for in a maduro cigar. This is another cigar that occupied nearly 2 hours of my time. It burned dead even and had a perfect draw, neither too firm nor too loose. I can’t wait to smoke the other sample, which is a standard 6″ x 50, toro I believe. Gary has something with the Emilio and the Grimalkin, (which maybe could be called a BMF too?) which, while very different cigars are both excellent. I may have to grab a few the next time I visit the Wooden Indian as they are listed as a retailer.

Just prior to writing this post I received an e-mail from Tommy Berry, Jr., who has been busy purchasing a house and passing his ham radio license test. He admits to slacking off and not sending “Take a Cigar for a Walk” updates. I hope when things settle down he can get back to walking and sending in some reviews!

Don’t forget to leave a comment on my last post for a chance to win a five pack of La Gloria Cubana Serie N cigars, and also see the bottom of this entry for information on a discount code generously provided by StogieBoys.com!

Until the next time,

Cigar Craig

Don’t forget the Stogieboys.com Discount code:

Promo code: CigarCraigBlog (enter in promo code box in shopping cart)

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Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, Emilio, Grimalkin, La Aurora, La Gloria Cubana, wooden indian

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