Tag Archives: History

by CigarCraig | July 25, 2012 · 7:35 pm

Some Cigar History and the Hoyo de Monterrey Contest No.4 Winner

I’ve been smoking some great cigars this week, but all are cigars I’ve mentioned before here. I enjoyed the heck out of a Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ on Sunday, although I personally wish it was a happier occasion to smoke this cigar (for those who don’t know why, pay a visit to StogieReview.com). I also had a really nice Monte Pascoal robusto, perhaps my favorite in the line, as well as a Room 101 Namakubi Papi Chulo, which was awesome.

So to break things up a little, my research department tracked down some goodies from the New York Times for me. Here is an ad from December 10, 1938. Note that there was a “National Commission for Propaganda and Defense of Havana Tobacco”! How ironic does that sound?

Next we have this ad from December 11, 1939 for Macy’s Havana Humidor. Wouldn’t it be great if you could walk into a Macy’s and buy a fine cigar? Talk about a miracle on 34th Street!

You can click on either of these articles to enlarge them.

Contest

Today I’ll select the fourth winner in the month-long Hoyo de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros contest. Sunday I will have the final installment in this series, but when I’ll announce the winner will be anyone’s guess! I’ll be driving toward Orlando and the IPCPR show and updates will be dependent upon Internet availability. Please bear with me, I’ll get a winner announced as soon as possible. This weeks winner of six excellent Hoyo Reposado en Cedros cigars, as selected by the random number generator at Random.org, is comment number 7, which corresponds to smoke770. Please send me your coordinates so I can get these in the mail to you! Thanks again to General Cigar Co. and to everyone who entered! There’s still time to enter the Box-a-Day contest at hoyodemonterreycigar.com!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

7 Comments

Filed under Contest, History

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, general cigars, History, hoyo de monterrey, IPCPR

by CigarCraig | February 29, 2012 · 7:18 pm

Macanudo, Partagas and CAO Cigars – Maduro Week

A few weeks ago I received some samples from General Cigar Co, including the new Macanudo and Macanudo Maduro Gigantes, measuring 6″x60. I’ve become a fan of the Macanudo maduros, sure they are a mild cigar, but they have a load of flavors that I like. When I was visiting the factory in Santiago last fall, by the 3rd day I had smoked so many cigars, and I lit up a Macanudo maduro and first, I could taste it, and second, it tasted good. I probably smoked nothing but the Mac Maduros for the rest of the day. So, I was excited to try the 6″x 60 Gigante. Many say that this format waters down the blends, but I haven’t really found that to be the case. I admit to really enjoying the 60 ring cigars, I feel like it’s a guilty pleasure, but I haven’t really had a bad 60 ring cigar. I’ve mentioned before that 50 ring feels puny now, a robusto feels like a quick smoke. The Macanudo was a very tasty cigar that was good to the last drop and had the exceptional construction one would expect.

I sometimes get in a bit of a rut, and smoke a few related cigars in a row, and this was one of those weeks. Monday’s cigar was a Partagas Black Label Magnifico. This a jet black 6″x54 toro that I revisited in the DR, and remembered how much I enjoyed them. The dark, Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper is oily and beautiful. It is a bit stronger than the Macanudo, of course, but packed with flavor. Of course it was perfectly made, as I witnessed first hand at the factory, they can’t seem to make a bad cigar there. Partagas Black Label=yummy smoke!

Last night I was in the mood for something a little smaller, so I once again dug into the General Cigar Co. samples and picked out a CAO La Traviata Maduro Luminoso. This is a newly released size in the Maduro line, measuring 4.5″ x 50. I’ve smoked the La Traviata Maduro before and was quite unimpressed. It was one of those cigars that everyone raved about, but I just didn’t get. It seems like I had a dud (I think it was a trade show sample from a couple years ago), because this Rothschild was delicious. It was just about the perfect size for my one-plus mile walk and held the ash for almost half of the cigar. Another Connecticut Broadleaf, I know….I love that wrapper leaf, and combined with a Cameroon binder it was very surprising to me that I didn’t like the first ones I smoked. This one’s back on my radar and one I’ll pick up the next time I see them. I do have a complaint about the CAO website though. It’s really slick, but one thing it lacks is a listing of the sizes of the cigars in each line. If you want to know where the events are, it’s great, but if you’re looking for the sizes and names of the various cigars, one should be able to find it without having to go to retailers sites. It’s a surprising omission, Rick? Ed? Please feel free to comment on this and set me straight!

News

Once again, from the pages of history, this newspaper clipping appears in the October 18, 1838 Philadelphia Inquirer. It seems to be a mouthpiece for a cigar with a cotton filter. Pretty cool to go back 175 years and see the new inventions of the times! Obviously this modern development caught on in other areas of tobacco consumption, but when was the last time you saw a cigar holder or mouthpiece, let alone a filter?

That’s all I got! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

8 Comments

Filed under News, Review

Tagged as CAO, cigar, cigars, connecticut, general, general cigars, History, La Traviata, macanudo, Partagas

by CigarCraig | February 1, 2012 · 8:53 pm

A Toraño, a La Palina and a Vegas de Santiago Cigar

We have been having unseasonably nice weather here in south-eastern PA, so I’ve taken to smoking some larger cigars than I normally would this time of year. Last winter we’d had probably four feet of snow, not conducive to enjoying a fine cigar. Daytime highs near 60 have left the evenings prime for long walks with excellent cigars.

Sunday afternoon I selected a Toraño Loyal BFC, and I think, like the Emilio BMF, I know what the letters stand for. This 6″ x 60 cigar could be considered a Big Fricken Cigar. I had picked this up sometime over the last few months at a local shop, and it wasn’t awfully expensive, because, let’s face it, I don’t buy too many cigars that are awfully expensive. This was a nice, medium bodied cigar that smoked very well. At the price point around $5, this is a really tasty, well made cigar.

For Tuesday’s evening walk I was joined by a La Palina El Diaro Torpedo, which I receive a month or so ago from the folks at La Palina, who is also an advertiser on this site. The cigar is a classic torpedo size, 6 1/8″ x 52, which is always a favorite of mine. I have to say that I think I like the robusto better in this cigar. The torpedo was good, don’t misunderstand, but is lacked something that the robusto had. I think i found the smaller size slightly more refined than the torpedo. As I was smoking it, I couldn’t help but wonder what this blend would be like with a maduro wrapper. Again, a very nice cigar, but something was missing for me.

Tonight’s cigar was a Vegas de Santiago Secretos de Maestro Don Luis Laguito No.1 maduro. This cigar came into my possession over a year ago after a conversation with Rudi and Lani, the manufacturers in Costa Rico. I have had an association with this folks going back to a couple of events my wife and I hosted which they generously donated their cigars for the attendees. Vegas de Santiago makes some really nice cigars at a very reasonable price. They send me some of these cigars in what they refer to as a maduro wrapper. This is maduro in the sense that the Cuban maduro cigars are, darker than their “natural”, but not the dark, heavy wrapper that we see in a broadleaf or Mexican maduro. The cigar is a beautiful chocolate brown, and it well made with a nice pigtail cap. I enjoyed the heck out of this cigar, except that there were a couple hints of ammonia near the end, which confused me since these have been buried in the humidor for over a year. An enjoyable smoke on a relatively balmy evening (for February 1st, light jacket and no gloves is a treat!).

My wife has been doing some research and in so doing came across the Philadelphia news papers archives. Here’s a comic from the Philadelphia Inquirer dated June 6, 1922 that is as relevant now as it was then. You may need to click on the image to open it in a new window to read it.

On a final note, I’d like to welcome my newest advertiser, 1st Class Cigar Humidors. They have some really nice stuff on their site if you are in the market for a humidor or accessories!