Tag Archives: IPCPR

by CigarCraig | October 22, 2017 · 11:34 am

A Perdomo 20th Anniversary and Macanudo Inspirados

Friday evening I was itchin for a great cigar, so I dug into a Perdomo 20th Anniversary Maduro line sampler I bought last year. I bought this for two reasons, first was so I could get a chance to win one of the great Perdomo humidors, which I did not, and second was because I love the Perdomo 20th Maduros and I knew I’d happily smoke every last one. I kind of avoid buying a box because it would be hard for me to smoke anything else. This sampler included six cigars, one in each size. It was Friday, so I went with the 7″ x 56 Churchill for my evening walk. I should have headed down to B&B Cigars in Chestnut Hill for their Black Label/Black Works event, but I didn’t have Friday traffic in me, and by the time I got there it would have been late. So I enjoyed the crap out of the Perdomo 20th Maduro, as I always do. It’s a little like smoking a Hershey’s Special Dark bar, it’s got loads of slightly bitter chocolate and espresso. It’s surely on my list of favorite cigars, and it’s not very pricey either. The Corona Grande is my favorite in the bunch, but this Churchill really was exceptional if you have the time.

Yesterday was a beautiful Autumn day, with sunshine and temps in the 70s. I got a fair amount of chores and errands done in time for a 1 o’clock Flyers game. As has been discussed previously, I’d much prefer watching on the small iPad screen on the porch with a cigar than inside on the big screen. I selected the new Macanudo Inspirado White Robusto to start the day. This is an interesting Macanudo. It has a six-year-old Ecuador Connecticut wrapper that is beautiful, an Indonesian binder and fillers from Condega and Jalapa in Nicaragua and San Andrés, Mexico. Fun fact: The regular old Macanudo Cafe line has always had a San Andrés binder. Anyway, the Inspirado White isn’t a mild, flavorless cigar, quite the opposite. It had some sweet earth and spice along with the nutty grassiness of the wrapper. Nice cigar, and the ash and burn was picture perfect (I guess I should have taken a picture!). This was a very enjoyable shade wrapped cigar.

The folks at General Cigar Co. sponsored this past year’s IPCPR opening gala with an amazing party featuring the Macanudo Inspirado White and Black. Honestly, they could have brought in a clown making balloon animals and provided a better opening gala than the previous year, but they had amazing food, a DJ, a station making T-shirts on the spot, and stations for the Inspirado Black and White showing off the tobacco. It was nightclubby and quite a party. All of the General Cigar Co. people were there, including Benji Menendez. They set the bar very high, oh, and there was an open bar too. I should have taken more pictures but I had a cigar in one hand and a plate in the other most of the time!

For my evening walk last night I took the Macanudo Inspirado Black out. This robusto was 4 7/8” x 48, has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and Nicaraguan fillers including a proprietary seed varietal grown in Esteli. General has an incredible library of seeds. This is a jet black cigar, the burn was perfect, but it didn’t have the nice, white, perfect ash it’s blond sibling had. Richness abounds, pepper, abounds, and dark, roasty flavors abound. While the White had some sophistication, this one has some raw, down and dirtiness to it that I loved. The Macanudos I started smoking 20+ years ago were noting like these two. Personally I put these up against similar cigars in the boutique category in enjoyment and performance. I was quite impressed with both Inspirados. I have a couple of the orange banded Inspirados, one from Iceland (the best-selling cigar in Iceland) and one Rick Rodriguez (CAO) gave me last year and told me to smoke it on a clean palate (maybe today to complete the trifecta?). So far I’m more impressed with the White and Black than I was with the orange banded Inspirado. One more interesting tidbit, there’s a competition world-wide, with the finals held in Europe, that has competitors seeing who can smoke a corona the longest without it going out. This competition uses the Inspirado, and the record is over three hours! Crazy!

Anyway, that’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Inspirado, IPCPR, macanudo, Perdomo

by CigarCraig | September 21, 2017 · 9:06 pm

Rolling Thunder, Veritas and Hoyo de Monterrey Cigars

While I was at the IPCPR show I stopped by the Veritas booth and while I was waiting to meet and talk to Chris Weber, I spoke with Dave Cribbin about this Rolling Thunder cigars. This week I smoked the Maduro .50 Caliber robusto, and I had every intention of smoking the Connecticut and Habano versions, but some other things came up. When Dave gave me the samples I had him mark the maduro since I couldn’t really distinguish between it and the Habano (the Connecticut is on the darker side too, but it’s a bit lighter). I believe these are in the “Pre-War Vintage” line, there’s also a “Boot Camp Blend”, which the website indicates is on the milder side. The Maduro has a Nicaraguan wrapper and binder, and fillers from Honduras (Habano) and Nicaragua (Jalapa and Esteli). This 5″ x 52 robusto, as I alluded to before, has a lighter shade maduro wrapper (or the Habano is dark), and was a very meaty, savory cigar, no real sweetness, but savory. I really liked the cigar, it was different than a typical maduro, and was well made. I am looking forward to smoking the other two samples I have.These are sold on the website, and there’s also a place to make an additional donation to Cigars for Warriors, which is nice.

I finally did get to talk to Chris Weber of Veritas Cigars at the show, he’s from Delaware, which is down the road from me, and I’d seen him checking in to local shops on social media. I smoked the Veritas toro this week and was really impressed. The 6″ x 52 toro, my preferred size, has a Brazilian Arapiraca Maduro wrapper, Dominican Olor binder and fillers from Peru, Colombia, Nicaragua & Dominican Republic. This one had the sweetness I like and was quite and exceptional cigar. The band is plain, black with white borders, and from the back it could be mistaken for another popular brand, but it’s not. The similarity is that it’s a terrific cigar, but it stands on its own in flavor and quality. This is a cigar I’ll be smoking more of, for sure.

I usually write a post on Wednesday evenings, but I blew that off to head back down to the Wooden Indian and have a smoke with Jack Toraño of General Cigar Co. I always seem to miss hanging with cigar makers, reps and brand owners/managers/evangelists, whatever, when I either find out they were in the area too late, or am at work while they are visiting stores during the day. When I saw Jack was in the vicinity, I reached out to him and he let me know he was stopping by the Wooden Indian. I picked up a few cigars while there (weekday special: buy 5, the 6th is $1!), and lit up a Hoyo La Amistad by AJ Fernandez. This isn’t a new cigar to me, and is one I really enjoy, which is why I bought more considering I still had some at home in the humidor. It was great catching up with Jack, a true gentleman and good dude. Always nice to see Rami, our local General rep, too. Thanks to Dan and Todd for hanging out a bit past closing time!

I picked up a couple of the new Hoyo La Amistad Silver while I was at the Wooden Indian, they only had the Churchill size, which is OK because I like Churchills and don’t smoke enough of them. A 6 7/8″ x 48 just doesn’t seem that big these days! This is another cigar from Tabacalera Fernandez which consists of an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers (Estelí, Condega). When I was talking with Jack about his fondness for the original Hoyo La Amistad, he said that the new-this-year Silver was even better. This surprised me because the original is really good, the Silver is better? I have to say that I really did enjoy the Silver, until it got to the last two inches when it got a little funky, but it’s pretty new and should definitely be stellar with some age. For me it’s on a par, and I can’t really say how it was different, it just was, and quite enjoyable. More to come on that one.

That’s all for tonight, I had thought of a clever contest concept, but then I forgot what it was! So when I remember it, I’ll put something together, although I did meet m contest quota for a bit, didn’t I? I’m sure you’ll disagree! Anyway, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as .50 Caliber, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Hoyo La Amistad, IPCPR, Rolling Thunder, Veritas, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | September 10, 2017 · 11:12 am

Gurkha, La Palina, Avo and a Quick Draw Cigar

I took the easy way out on Wednesday with the La Sirena video, so I have a bunch of cigars to talk about this week. Not unexpectedly, the video is now in the number three spot in views on my YouTube channel, behind a La Sirena interview from the 2012 IPCPR. That shows something, I have to figure out what that is…Anyway, I started the week with a teeth cleaning followed by a Gurkha Founders Reserve in the Rothschild 6×58 size. That’s what the box (of 10) that they gave me at the IPCPR show says, I initially thought it was the XO size, 6″ x 60, like there’s a huge difference between 58 and 60…and usually reliable sources list the sizes as Robusto (5 x 50), Rothschild (6 x 55) and XO (6 x 60), yet it says 6 x 58 right there on the box, and I measured one and it was close enough to the 60 hole to make me think it was a 60 (my ring gauge checker is old, it jumps from 56 to 60 and doesn’t go any larger). Gurkha fails to list the sizes on the website too, which is frustrating. I’ve bitched about it before, but the manufacturer’s website should be the last word in specifics on a cigar, not blogs of retailers. I’m worked up now, maybe I need to smoke another of the Gurkha Founders Reserve whatever size it is, because it was a really tasty Connecticut shade wrapped cigar. I really enjoyed the crap pout of the cigar, it was a really tasty medium bodied cigar with a great burn and draw. I suspect this is a brick and mortar exclusive, like the cellar reserve line, and is in the $10 price range, but it very enjoyable. Here’s a few pictures I took a the Gurkha booth at the show.

My eye was drawn to the La Palina Nicaragua Oscuro robusto next. La Palina’s website gives the sizes and nothing else. This is a 5″ x 52 Robusto, made at the AJ Fernandez factory in Nicaragua, and wrapped with a Ecuador Oscuro wrapper with Nicaraguan fillers. I’m not sure what “Ecuador Oscuro” exactly means, and the rest of the make-up is vague. Again, it hardly matters as it’s a tasty smoke. It’s up my alley with the rich, coffee/cocoa flavors I like, with a hint of spice. It burned well, had a good draw and was a very nice experience. I smoked a prototype of this a few years ago I think. On a side note, I’ve been obsessed with the Adorini Double Punch cutter, and have been using it all the time. It features two punches, 9mm and a huge 13mm. I find myself using the 13mm (which is about a half an inch, or 32 ring gauge) almost all the time, it opens up the cigar almost as much as when I use a guillotine cutter. It’s sharp and has a strong magnet that keeps the three pieces together. It’s a quality piece and I’m using it a lot. The La Palina Nicaragua Oscuro is a good smoke, I look forward to smoking the Nicaragua Connecticut.

Next up was a new offering from Davidoff’s Avo line, the Ritmo in the Syncro line. I’ve smoked a few Avo cigars, most aren’t in my wheelhouse, frankly, I don’t “get” a lot of them. Some people love them, everyone has different tastes, most of the Avos don’t do it for me. This one, on the other hand, was delicious. This cigar boasts a seven country blend, Ecuador wrapper, Mexican binder and fillers from Peru, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Brazil and Honduras. Yep, that’s seven, I counted. I really enjoyed this cigar, it was very good. Did I mention the size? It was the 6″ x 60 Special Toro, and the box press was very comfortable. It was creamy, with some wood and citrus notes, as well as some spice and bitter chocolate. This was definitely my favorite Avo ever. It’s sad that Avo isn’t with us any longer, and I hope Davidoff continues to pay homage to him by creating great cigars in his name.

Finally, I got home late last night and took a quick dog-walk with a Quick Draw Pennsylvania Petite Corona from Southern Draw. This is a 4½” x 44 cigar with a pigtail cap and a covered foot. This was perfect for my late walk. The Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper really has some oomph! It’s grown about 20 miles from where I live, so I’m drawn to cigars with Pennsylvania tobacco in the blend. Since this one had the pigtail cap, I skipped the punch and lopped off the cap with a Palio, and took torch to foot without toasting to get that blast of the PA Broadleaf that the covered foot offers. This was an hour of bliss, it had a nice kick, certainly satisfying and really quite a cigar. This is another cigar from Tabacalera AJ Fernandez. I don’t think I’ve had a Southern Draw Cigar that I didn’t like a lot. I’m sad that I missed Robert Holt on his recent swing through PA, I need to hurry up and become independently wealthy so I’m not stuck at work when all the fun stuff is happening! This little cigar has a big flavor and had an impressive burn time, I think I spent about an hour with it!

That’s all for now. Thoughts continue to be with our friends in the Houston area, as well as the many friends we have in Florida, which is being pummeled by mother nature as I write this. I hope everyone get through safely and with minimal destruction. Give what you can for the relief efforts, people need help.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Avo, cigar, cigars, Founders Reserve, Gurkha, IPCPR, La Palina, Quick Draw, Ritmo, Southern Draw

by CigarCraig | September 6, 2017 · 8:05 pm

IPCPR 2017: La Sirena Cigars

This is my last video from the IPCPR show, I had the opportunity to sit down for a few minutes with Mariah Ditkowich, the new face of La Sirena Cigars. What has been announced since the show is that Mariah’s sister, Arielle, who founded the brand in 2008 with Nestor Miranda and Miami Cigar and Company, along with her husband, Max, is expecting their first child later in the year. I’ve been a fan of the whole portfolio for a lot of years, from the original La Sirena made by Don Pepin Garcia, then by La Zona, the Merlion made by La Aurora, and the Oceano made by the Quesadas. While they didn’t have anything new at the show this year, Mariah, along with her mother and father were manning the booth. Give the video a watch, it’s already my most watched video from the 2017 show, and number six on the all time list on my YouTube Channel. Of course, best wishes to Arielle and Max, and continued good luck to the folks at La Sirena, a great family run cigar company!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, IPCPR, La Sirena

by CigarCraig | August 23, 2017 · 8:41 pm

IPCPR 2017 – 1502 Cigars with Enrique Sanchez

Any time I have the chance to visit with my friend Enrique Sanchez from Global Premium/1502 Cigars is a good time, and I had to stop by and hang out with him at his booth at the IPCPR show. Don’t let anyone tell you stories about where the name 1502 came from, it’s because 1501 was taken, not the year that Columbus “discovered” Nicaragua. Enrique had a small booth adjacent to Island Jim’s booth, as he recently changed his distribution to the group handling the Leaf by Oscar, Island Jim, Oscar by Oscar and others. I managed to mooch a 1502 Blue Sapphire from Enrique at the show, which I smoked last night. One thing I noticed about this cigar that was difference from his Ruby, Emerald and Black Gold was the lack of his patented “flavor-lock” foot, where there is a fold of the wrapper covering the edges of the foot, it’s not a closed foot, but the wrapper leaf is somehow cut about an eighth of an inch longer and carefully folded around the foot. I’ll have to find some of these locally to see if the production cigars have this or not, and, after smoking the Blue Sapphire, I will be looking for more to have on hand. This is a 6″x 52 toro, which he calls Toro Gordo, but most Toros seem to be 6″ x 52 any more. It’s a Nicaraguan puro, and is a very tasty cigar. It’s similar to the others in the line in that it burns perfectly, but the flavor is quite different. It has some woody flavors, some cocoa and earthiness and is quite a nice smoke that builds in intensity. The other major difference is that this cigar is round, not box pressed like the rest of the line. Perhaps this explains the lack of the extended wrapper? I really enjoyed this, and will be picking up some more as soon as possible. If you ever get the chance to meet Enrique, do it, he’s cooler than the other side of the pillow, and he, with the help of his friends at Placencia, makes some great cigars. Check out my short video with Enrique from the IPCPR show below, and “Relax and Enjoy” a 1502 cigar!