Tag Archives: IPCPR

by CigarCraig | August 18, 2013 · 12:29 pm

IPCPR 2013 – Ortega Cigars: a Cubao, a Serie D and Minis

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Eddie Ortega and his cigars, going back as far as the REO. While I haven’t gotten around to sampling any of his Wild Bunch series, I have enjoyed the heck out of the Serie D line. At the show Ortega Cigars re-released the Cubao line, and I smoked No. 5 Friday evening, at least I think that’s what it was. I should have measured it because there’s still some confusing information on the internet about this line. Many retailers still list this as an EO Brands line. It’s still made by Pepin Garcia in Nicaragua in the same blend as before. Sumatra wrappers aren’t always my first choice, but this is a darned tasty and perfectly constructed cigar. I certainly look forward to smoking more in this line.

Eddie was a tough guy to get to talk to at the IPCPR show, but I finally got a few minutes in between customers near the end and talked to him about his new cigars. Here’s a short video:

Saturday afternoon I smoked the Ortega Serie D no. 8 natural. This is a brilliant cigar, although not as brilliant as the maduro in my opinion. I always appreciate a well made cigar, and these always burn perfectly. Its got a pleasing flavor that’s satisfying and always makes me a little sad when it’s finished! Perhaps I need to get larger sizes! The maduro Serie D is awesome! Side note, when you see a picture like this one it means I was either too lazy, too negligent, or in too big a hurry to smoke the cigar to take a proper picture. Fortunately I compulsively put almost every cigar I smoke on Instagram. Sorry. 🙂

New at the show this year are the Ortega Minis. These are 4″x 38 little guys sold in 4 packs in Connecticut, Habano and Maduro wrappers. Many have speculated about the packaging for these, as they come in a cardboard box reminiscent of a Marlboro cigarette pack. Certainly the argument can be made that the premium cigar industry wants to distance itself from anything to do with cigarettes, and I have to agree. However, Eddie likes the packaging and it is what it is. The cigars are pretty amazing. Last night I started with the Ecuador Connecticut wrapped version, then smoked the Habano. They were both tasty smokes, with my personal preference leaning toward the Habano. The Connecticut was good, don’t get me wrong, and it wasn’t a mild and flavorless cigar at all. If anything it had a little acidic bite that will mellow with age. The Habano was full flavored and both cigars burned perfectly. I actually used the 5 Star Perforator on both with good results. I smoked the Maduro after the trade show closed in Vegas, sitting outside by a fountain at one of the entrances to the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. Regular readers will not be surprised that this was my favorite of the bunch. It was rich and full of my favorite cigar flavors of espresso and cocoa. I will be picking up some of these, regardless of what I think of the packaging. These are all cool little smokes, they are like smoking half a lancero. Pretty darned yummy.

That’s it for now. We are having a little graduation/birthday party for our oldest son, Corey today, so I have to get ready for gusts to arrive and fire up the grill. I think today may be a lancero day for me, I’ve got a few in mind, unfortunately, an Ortega Serie D Maduro isn’t one of them (but is on my wanted list!).

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

Filed under Accessories, IPCPR, Review, Video

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Cubao, IPCPR, Mini, Ortega, Serie D

by CigarCraig | August 14, 2013 · 7:27 pm

IPCPR 2013 – Ezra Zion Cigars: Eminence and Tantrum and the Five Star Perforator Tool

Last year we met the guys from Ezra Zion at the show (here’s the post) and have gotten to know Kyle, Chris and Alan since. I can’t say I agree with their politics or spiritual views all the time, but I can say that they make fine cigars and are passionate about tobacco. Whereas last year they had a booth along side their Cigar Federation booth (a cigar social media site for which the same group is responsible), this year they were in the booth with the rest of the House of Emilio brands. Between the Cigar Federation and Ezra Zion they were the book ends of the booth. On to the cigars: I am a big fan of the Inception (or Jamais Vu as it’s now known) and I smoked the Tantrum and the new Eminence this week. Here’s a video we did with Kyle at the show a few weeks ago telling us about the newest blends:

Monday evening I fired up the Eminence. This was a dark, fat belicoso that had a wrapper that was reasonably flame-retardant. I suspect a few months in the humidor should solve this, but despite having to light it pretty often it was a big old pepper bomb from the start. It was a lot spicier than the usual San Andreas wrapped cigars I appreciate so much. I really enjoyed this cigar, and I’ll pick up a few the next time I get to my local “House of Emilio” shop, let them set for a while and see if I still have a burn problem.

Last night my wife and I went out to dinner, so I grabbed the little Tantrum to walk the meal off. This is a little firecracker, but it’s not nearly the spice bomb that the Eminence is. I actually used a new tool I’ve been testing on this, the Five Star Perforator. This little device has five piercers in a spring loaded enclosure. What one does is press this into the cap of the cigar and it puts five nice little holes in the cap. I’ve had good results with cigars that have a loose draw, but that’s a difficult cigar attribute to figure out before cutting the cigar! I’ve found myself piercing the cigar, finding I can’t get enough smoke, trying again with a little rocking or twisting motion like the website suggests, then using a punch, V-cut or straight cut, depending on what I have on me. Certainly this is an interesting piece to have on the key chain (which in my case could have more cigar devices on it than keys!). I’m old and set in my ways, so sometimes I just grab the V-cutter or guillotine and do it right the first time. If I know a cigar has a history of being rolled loosely, this is a great tool to use. Anyway, the Tantrum is a great little 4″x44 cigar, although the price point is on the high side for it’s size. I think I paid $7.50 or $8 if I recall. Keep an eye out for the Ezra Zion cigars and give them a try, and see it one of the Five Star Perforators is a tool that would work for you.

Don’t forget to go back to Friday, August 9th’s post and enter to win a box of La Gloria Cubana Gilded Age Toros courtesy of Famous Smoke Shop! There’s only another 5 days to enter, and I know this is longer than most of my contests, but I wanted to give plenty of people a chance to enter.

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

CigarCraig

Comments Off on IPCPR 2013 – Ezra Zion Cigars: Eminence and Tantrum and the Five Star Perforator Tool

Filed under Accessories, IPCPR, Review, Video

Tagged as cigar, cigars, cutter, Emilio, Eminence, Ezra Zion, five star perforator, IPCPR, Tantrum

by CigarCraig | August 7, 2013 · 8:50 pm

IPCPR 2013 – Flor de Gonzalez Cigars with Yadi Gonzalez

I’ve been sampling through the range of cigars by Flor de Gonzalez over the last few days. I have smoked a few of their mixed filler line and enjoyed them, they make a tasty Churchill and large torpedo in the $2 range. I won a 5-pack of the 90 Miles robustos a few years ago and enjoyed them quite a bit. I was introduced to Yadi Gonzalez at the IPCPR show by Antonio Lam of Reinado Cigars and got to sit down with her for a few minutes and hear about what’s new.

I was interested to try the 1980. When Yadi said it had a San Andreas wrapper AND an Ecuador Broadleaf binder I was very interested. It was a darned good smoke, although maybe I jumped the gun smoking it so soon after bringing it back from Vegas. It will be an awesome smoke all the way through in another month or two. The one I smoked was incredible up until the last third, which had a hint of ammonia, which is why I think another few months in the humidor will benefit the cigar. I’m looking forward to smoking more of these.

The Reserva Selecta in the No. 4 size (5 3/4 x 48) has a neat pigtail cap and is a very smooth, subtle and refined smoke. This one gave me a lot of enjoyment sitting on the back patio on a sunny Saturday afternoon. It burned perfectly and I easily could have lit another one right away. I thought this cigar was very different from the others in it’s delicacy and complexity. This is the cigar you smoke in a tuxedo, although I thought it was darned good in the shorts and t-shirt I was wearing. Very good!

The 90 Miles Churchill was a longer version of the robustos I’d enjoyed in the past. One thing that struck me while I smoked this was how I’ve come to feel like a 7” x 47 cigar isn’t a really big cigar any more. The 60+ ring gauge cigars obviously dwarf what used to be considered a large cigar, and I guess I’ve become desensitized. Funny that a corona doesn’t seem like a toothpick or anything, but the 47-52 rings seem smaller. That’s neither here nor there, the 90 Miles Churchill is a nice, solid smoke for any time of day.

The Q-ban Fuerte is a full bodied Nicaraguan cigar. The foot of this cigar had a dark core, likely the ligero, that comprised about half of the cigar. I really enjoyed the flavor, but again some humidor time is going to do wonders for this cigar. If I had to line these up in order of preference, this would come in in the middle, with the 1980 being first, the regular line being fourth, and the Q-ban and Reserva Selecta exchanging places depending on my mood. All four lines were very enjoyable and cigars I’d reach for again and again, and would be happy sharing with friends.

That’s all I have for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

Comments Off on IPCPR 2013 – Flor de Gonzalez Cigars with Yadi Gonzalez

Filed under IPCPR, Review, Video

Tagged as 90 Miles, cigar, cigars, Flor de Gonzalez, IPCPR, Q-ban Fuerte

by CigarCraig | August 4, 2013 · 12:58 pm

IPCPR 2013 – Acid Shorty, Natural Shorty, San Bajito Robusto and Shorty Rossi

The IPCPR show always seems to have it’s share of celebrities, Arnold Schwarzenegger was spotted at the show on the first day (not by me!) as well as Mike Ditka, and previous years have seen the likes of Ron White and Dennis Rodman walking the floor. Shorty Rossi, the star of Animal Planet’s Pit Boss, has also been a fixture at the show for a few years. I met up with him this time and he took a few minutes to tell me about some of his new cigar offerings being distributed through Meier and Dutch, which is the wholesale arm of Cigars International. I had the opportunity to smoke a couple of them this week, here’s what I thought:

The Acid line isn’t one I gravitate to, I can usually smell them a mile away, and except for a late night Kuba Kuba Maduro in Nicaragua a few years ago, I haven’t really had too much to say about the line. I’ve been to the factory, I’m confident that they use the finest materials, and I know they are rolled very well. So I was a little hesitant to choose the Acid Shorty Friday evening for my walk, after a long week I usually select a “sure thing” from the humidor. This is a 4″x 60 cigar with a very sweet cap, candy sweet, diabetic coma inducing sweet. It also had an herbal aroma off the foot. It turned out that this was a very nice cigar. It didn’t have the cloying incense, aroma-therapy kind of flavor I expected. It was medium bodied with a nice, sweet tobacco flavor. I enjoyed this cigar once the sweet cap was gone. I’d smoke this again.

Also from the Drew Estate factory is the Natural Shorty. This is a 4″x 50, a little more manageable than the 60 ring, and the perfect size for a rainy Saturday afternoon walk. Again, the sweet gum on the head was overwhelming. This is “short and sweet” taken to the extreme. I’ve smoke a few of the Naturals, but none recently, and I remember them using some fairly unique tobaccos, Turkish, maybe some Perique or something from Louisiana or something. This is one that I wished was longer, because it was a nice smoke, again, once the sweet cap was gone. Unique, for certain. Again, I’d smoke this again, but I’d probably try to wipe some of the sugar off first…it’s just too much for me.

Shorty Rossi made his first entry into the cigar world with Cigar International‘s Diesel Shorty. I didn’t have any of those, although I like the Diesel line in general. He does have a line called San Bajito, and Niko of Meier and Dutch (and also a regular on the Over a Cigar show on Blogtalk Radio) was kind enough to provide me with a 4½” x 60 robusto. I enjoyed this cigar after dinner on the patio. This cigar is made in Nicaragua, and was a really nice, smooth, flavorful smoke. I got a nice sweet tobacco flavor at one point, no sweet cap on this one, just nice, sweet tobacco. I want to smoke more of these, especially after a few months time-out in the humidor. Shorty did a nice job blending this cigar.

Have a look at the video, Shorty give us some insight into how he ended up in the cigar industry as well how he got into the dog rescue business.

One of the things I appreciate about all Shorty’s cigars is that a portion of the proceeds go toward his Pit Bull rescue. The dog pictured above, the one I walk every night, is actually my youngest son’s dog. She is a Pit Bull/LAb mix that we got from our local SPCA. She’s a sweet dog whose enthusiasm can be mis-interpreted as aggression, but she really just loves everyone. We think she may have been given up because, we were to find out, she has seizures, and is now on medication to control them. So I believe in Shorty’s Pit Bull mission, and wish him continued success. His dog, Hercules, was there throughout the show and provided some comic relief at one point when he cleared the booth with a gaseous emission. I wish I had the video recording for that!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

1 Comment

Filed under Celebrity Cigar Chat, IPCPR, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk, Video

Tagged as chateau real, cigar, cigars, drew estate, IPCPR, Pit Boss, San Bajito, Shorty Rossi

by CigarCraig | August 1, 2013 · 6:48 pm

IPCPR 2013 – Sindicato Cigars with Abe Dababneh

When I got back from Las Vegas I had a package waiting for me from Sindicato Cigars, the company made up of a group of retailers and headed by Jim Colucci, formerly of Altadis. Of the three cigars debuting at the show, I have to say that the Hex intrigued me, so I had to light one of those up first. Vitola-wise it looked just like the Smoke Inn Micro-blend Tatuaje Anarchy Apocalypse, a 5¼” x 52 perfecto with a curly pigtail cap. It very much looked like a cigar I’d love, and I wasn’t wrong. This cigar burned perfectly and was delicious! It was dark and loaded with all the flavors I like, the espresso/cocoa/dark dried fruit types of flavors. It will be hard not to smoke the other sample and dig through the trade show samples in search of more. Seek out the Hex and give it a try.

Next up was the Affinity. This is a Ecuador Connecticut wrapped cigar that I believe Abe described as a Connecticut Shade with some strength to it. Now, I try not to be cynical (I don’t try too hard…) but this has been the theme for the last couple years, the Connecticut shade wrapped cigar that’s not the typical mild shade wrapped cigar. Nish Patel’s Zen, E.P.Carrillo’s New Wave Connecticut, everyone seems to have the Connecticut Shade wrapped cigar that is not your typical mild cigar. Anyway, the Affinity is a really nice cigar, nothing really surprising, but an enjoyable smoke that was quite satisfying and the biggest problem I had with it was the Robusto size was too short! This may not be too different from other cigars out there, but it’s very good. Well made and tasty.

Last night I tried the economy offering, the. Casa Bella. This was a corona sized cigar, which fit well into my schedule. This is a bundle cigar, hand made in the Dominican Republic, with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper. This has a really low price point, I think Abe says the 6″x60 is under $3.00! It’s mixed filler, but it was a tasty smoke, although I had a little problem keeping it burning in the middle of the cigar. Maybe it was a construction issue, but more likely it was my impatience in lighting it up a couple short weeks off the truck. For a two dollarish cigar it was pretty darned tasty.

It seems like the group of retailers known as Sindicato know what they are doing and have produced three nice lines. The Hex blew me away, and I enjoyed both the premium and budget Ecuador Connecticut offerings. If you see them in your local shop give them a shot. I don’t recall, but I don’t think these will be available on line at all, just in brick and mortar tobacconists. Here’s the video of Abe Dababneh telling us about the company and the three lines: