Tag Archives: J.C.Newman

by | July 17, 2022 · 8:00 am

PCA 2022: J.C. Newman Cigar Co. with Eric Newman

Can’t say we’ve had the best week here at Casa Vanderslice.  I, naturally, quickly passed the Covid on to my wife, so we are both feeling crappy.  I tried a couple cigars, but I think my sense of smell is all but gone, which effects cigar flavor significantly.  I expect I’m going to take a break for a while longer.  I need to get back to work and get caught up there, as stuff stacked up (literally) last week while i was “on vacation”.  Not the way I wanted to use that Paid Time Off.  Let’s continue with the video interviews I did at the PCA show.  I want to thank Ed O’Neil for helping out with the camera work. He had been at the show with Kevin (CigarProp), and needed something to do on Sunday and generously offered to help me out.  My set-up isn’t as fancy as Kevin’s, but we got the job done. I had a nice talk with Eric Newman of J.C. Newman, makers of some of my favorite cigars.  In the video he talks about the new El Baton cigars, the Diamond Crown Black Diamond, and the Cuesta Rey made in the Tampa Factory.  Of course, their booth featured a cardboard replica of the El Reloj factory in Tampa, which was quite impressive.

 

 

Thanks to Eric for taking the time and to Sydney for her hospitality!  I was able to finally meet Adria, who has been my contact there for several years, in her last official event with the company. Maybe we’ll see her around Philly sometime! That’s all for today. until the next time,

 

CigarCraig 

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by | May 8, 2022 · 9:42 am

Cuesta-Rey No. 95 Cameroon Cigar and Random Thoughts

This week J.C. Newman announced the release of the Cuesta-Rey No. 95 Cameroon to celebrate the 127th anniversary of the company.  It’s going to be a factory exclusive, so one will have to visit the El Reloj factory to get them.  The cigar is a 6½” x 42 lonsdale with an African Cameroon wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder and Dominican fillers.  They’ve put a $15 per cigar price on this and will sell them in 5-packs.  Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that Cuesta Rey No 95 used to be sold in three or five packs in most pharmacies that sold cigars. There were bundles of Craftsman’s Bench in several varieties, Berings, a bunch of cigars in tins, Macanudo Ascots, and Cuesta Reys.  I’m quite sure I’m remembering this right.  I don’t think I ever bought any cigars at the drugstores, they weren’t in humidors, and, at the time when the drugstores still sold tobacco, I had plenty of good options to get properly stored and curated selections of cigars. It was nice to know these were available in an emergency! I do understand why pharmacies got away from selling tobacco products, but they sell a whole lot of other unhealthy stuff there, so it’s a little hypocritical. Anyway, here’s a little excerpt from the J.C. Newman press release:

 

“After the Cuban Embargo was imposed in 1962, my grandfather, Stanford J. Newman, scoured the world for new types of tobacco. He discovered exquisite African Cameroon Wrapper (ACW) and was the first premium cigar maker to use it in the United States. Stanford wrapped ACW with a Connecticut Broadleaf binder and long filler tobaccos grown in the Dominican Republic to create the Cuesta-Rey No. 95. It was smooth, elegant, and flavorful, and became the top-selling premium cigar in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.  Sixty years later, we are proud to have recreated the original blend of my grandfather’s most famous cigar, the Cuesta-Rey No. 95.”  – Drew Newman
 

Cuesta-Rey No. 95 Cameroon is handmade in J.C. Newman’s historic El Reloj cigar factory in the “Cigar City” of Tampa, Florida.  It’s a 6.25 x 42 cigar that retails for $15 each.  Beginning today, J.C. Newman is selling this special cigar in limited edition packs of 5 cigars as a factory exclusive.  Cigar enthusiasts who visit J.C. Newman’s cigar museum, take a factory tour, or attend a special event at its El Reloj factory will be able to enjoy this very special cigar.   

 

It’s impressive that the cigar is made in the Tampa factory, which accounts for the price being what it is.  I had the good fortune to smoke a couple of these this week. It’s been a long time since I smoked a 95, a long, long time. I want to say the standard No. 95 is made by Fuente in the DR, and doesn’t have the Broadleaf binder, but I could be mistaken.  Had I taken the time and thought about it, I would done a comparison, but I’ve been lazy lately.  I’ve found myself smoking a lot of cigars that I like lately and not smoking new stuff. Selfish, I know. Anyway, this was a really good tasting cigar. Actually, the first one annoyed me a little as the first half failed to burn very well and didn’t really get going until the second half, but the second one was perfect.  It had the nutty “Camerooniness” that I expect, with some sweetness from the broadleaf.  It was unique enough to be special, and worth trying. Visiting El Reloj is on my list of things I want to do in the near future, it’s just a matter of making my way south sometime soon. 

 

Since I spent the week smoking some cigars I know I liked, I really don’t have much else to talk about today. I was impressed with the mentions of cigars on NBC’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby yesterday. I know cigars are a tradition there, but they could easily have censored them.  There was probably something stupid that someone did or said that I thought about talking about, but I can’t think of it now.  I did hear that the Smokin’ Tabacco CFCF Charity Raffle has been extended, so check out https://go.rallyup.com/smokintabacco/Campaign/Details and get in on that.  Also, don’t forget the Red Meat Lovers Club Battleship, Beef and Bourbon for the Ship event in June. Tickets are available here. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | May 1, 2022 · 9:46 am

A Selection of Cigars: Hits and Misses

This is going to be a bit of a weird post. I, of course, smokes a bunch of cigars this week, and had some mixed results. I probably should follow the rule of not saying anything at all if you don’t have anything nice to say, but it’s not all negative. SOme of it is personal preference, some of it is something else. There are also some standout cigars that I’ve probably mentioned here before but merit repeating. Let’s start with the CAO Arcana Firewalker. This cigar is a nice, big 6½” x 56 cigar, with a massive band. It employs a strange method of fermentation for one of the Nicaraguan filler leaves where they bury the pilon in volcanic soil for two months. Sounds like a fun story, and I don’t doubt it, but this wasn’t where I had a problem. The cigar tasted fine, I rather enjoyed the flavors. It was kind of bready, with a little cocoa and some spice, very nice. When I received these samples they were bone dry, as measured with my Humidimeter. Bone. Dry. The first one I smoked just kind of flaked apart. I let them rest in the humidor for a couple months, I guess, to get some moisture into them. When one had achieved what I felt was an acceptable level of internal moisture content, I gave it another go. For whatever reason, the Ecuador Habano Rosado wrapper on this one just wouldn’t burn. It was like the original H2000 wrappers 20 years ago. I would feel safe making childrens pajamas out of this wrapper, it was so flame retardant. I gave up on it with about 2 inches to go, after just about emptying my lighter relighting it. I guess I’ll leave the remaining samples in the humidor, and if I see some in a shop maybe I’ll try one to see if my batch was an anomaly. I hope it was because it was a good tasting smoke and I like the first Arcana a lot. If you’re keeping score at home, this is a miss.

 

One cigar I had which isn’t new, but one I really enjoy and bears repeating is the Crow Corona from Blackbird Cigars. I’m generally a toro guy, but I think I like this in the 6″ x 44 corona the best. The narrow ring adds a little more of an edge to the San Andrés wrapper that I like. I always like a good Mexican maduro, and this one really made me happy. I’m to understand that Blackbird has opened a new, larger factory in ght Dominican Republic. I’ve been a fan of their cigars, I can’t recall having a bad one, with the Crow being my favorite. They do a really nice job with Sumatra wrappers too. I will be putting some more Crow Coronas in my humidor, for sure.  In case you were wondering, this is a hit!

 

Another repeat is the Yagua. I smoked one from a 2021 box this week that was amazing. J.C. Newman just announced that they are shipping the 2022 release, with a second wave due in November. These have aged well, the one I smoked was practically round, which was strange. They say that this is wrapped in an “underfermented” Broadleaf wrapper. whatever that means, I ‘d say it works.  I had some distinct sensations of black licorice several times while smoking this cigar, and I really liked that. I enjoyed it so much I was tempted to smoke one the following day, alas, I should have followed my instincts! Again, a hit.

 

The Drew Estate Freestyle Live event is coming up on Thursday, May 12, and receiving a lot of buzz, so I figured I’d give the Mystery Cigar in the pack a try and see what the deal was. I tried the 6″ x 60 gordo first. This digital event is happening on the eve of the Florida Barn Smoker, and the cigars in the pack happen to be the same sizes that the 20 Acre Farm Mystery cigars were presented, leading some to believe there may be a connection. It’s possible, although many cigars are offered in robusto, toro and gordo, so that’s a bit of a stretch. I personally didn’t really like the cigar I smoked, it was heavily woody to me, and that’s not my preference. I don’t like FSG tobacco, so there could be something there, and I’m also not a big fan of the original Herrera Esteli, so it could be a variation on that. I don’t think it’s a riff on the MUWAT, as I grabbed a fiver of Baitfish yesterday and forgot how good those little guys are!  I’ll suffer through the rubusto I guess and see what I think of that size, maybe it’s different. I’ll be very disappointed if those guessing it’s in the Nica Rustica line are right. Big miss.

 

Let’s finish strong. OK, I lied. I picked up an Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Toro yesterday because I’ve been wanting to try it. It’ a 6″ x 54 with a “Nicaraguan Café” wrapper, and Aganorsa Leaf binder and fillers. I’ve been having trouble finding cigars in the Aganorsa range that suit my palate, quite honestly. Sadly, this was another one that did not. I’m sure it’s a great cigar, it certainly performed well, but the flavor left me wanting. This was another that I’ll call wood heavy in the flavor department. I also found it slightly drying. It was a bit sneaky strong. Everyone has different tastes, that’s what makes cigars so much fun, this one wasn’t for me. I’ll keep working thought the range, and I know there are a lot of cigars made by Aganorsa that I like! Unfortunately a miss.

 

That’s it for today, I’ll be smoking a few favorites today!  My part-time retail experiment has come to an end. ore on that, maybe, another time, but it was fun while it lasted. My Friday evenings are now free, who wants to herf?  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | April 28, 2022 · 6:39 pm

News: J.C. Newman Ships 2022 Yagua Cigars to Retailers

Here’s some news from J.C. Newman. I’m actually about to light up a 2021 Yagua after I finish writing this. I really enjoy them, they are a special cigar. I really need to make the trip to Tampa to visit the factory one of these days. It’s been on my wishlist for a while, and is especially so now that they have renovated the factory and have tours. I’m a big fan of a lot of J.C. Newman cigars, and have been for many years.

This is the first Yagua release of 2022

 

Today, J.C. Newman Cigar Co. began shipping 1,250 boxes of its acclaimed Yagua cigars to premium cigar retailers in the United States. This is the first release of Yagua in 2022. A second release is expected around Thanksgiving.

 

“Yagua is one of the oddest cigars on the market,” said Drew Newman, fourth-generation cigar maker. “Because Yagua breaks all of the rules for how premium cigars should be rolled, it continues to shock me that many cigar enthusiasts love Yagua and that the brand has gained an almost cult-like following.”

 

 

Yagua is a recreation of a farm-rolled cigar from Cuba. It is handmade at the J.C. Newman PENSA cigar factory in Estelí, Nicaragua with an underfermented Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. These special cigars get their unique shape from being tied together with pieces of the Yagua tree. Yagua is a 6” x 52 toro with a suggested retail price of $8 per cigar. Each box contains a Yagua-tree-wrapped bundle of 20 cigars.

 

“Our factory hates rolling Yagua because it is harder and slower to make cigars like they would have been rolled on a farm,” said Newman. “No two Yaguas are the same. They are truly one-of-a-kind cigars.”

 

The following is the story of Yagua:

My family has worked with tobacco for many generations. Growing up in Cuba in the 1940s, I spent countless hours with my grandfather in the tobacco fields of Pinar del Río. At our family farm, my grandfather would take fresh tobacco leaves from the curing barns and roll cigars without any molds or presses. To keep his cigars safe, he would tie a handful of them together using pieces of the Cuban royal palm tree, known as the yagua. When he was ready to enjoy his personal cigars, he untied the bundle. He loved how every cigar had its own unique shape. He called these cigars Yagua Palmiche after the palm tree and its bright red seeds. I still remember the rich aroma and taste of my grandfather’s cigars. Today, I’ve recreated Yagua Palmiche, rolling them the exactly how my grandfather did a century ago. These are the Cuban cigars I remember.

Lazaro Lopez, Co-General Manager
J.C. Newman PENSA Cigar Factory
Story as told to Drew Newman

 

About J.C. Newman Cigar Co.

Founded in 1895 by Julius Caeser Newman, J.C. Newman Cigar Company is the oldest family-owned premium cigar maker in America. J.C. Newman rolls its El Reloj, Factory Throwouts, and Trader Jacks cigars by hand-operated, vintage cigar machines at its historic cigar factory in Tampa, Florida. It also hand rolls its Brick House, Perla del Mar, El Baton, and Quorum cigars at the J.C. Newman PENSA cigar factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. J.C. Newman’s Diamond Crown, MAXIMUS, Julius Caeser, and Black Diamond cigars are handmade by Tabacalera A. Fuente in the Dominican Republic. With its longtime partners the Fuente family, the Newmans founded the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, which supports low-income families in the Dominican Republic with education, health care, vocational training, and clean water.

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by | January 20, 2022 · 8:58 am

News: J.C. Newman Cigar Co. Introduces José Gaspar Cigars

Here’s some news from the folks at J.C. Newman, who I hope to catch up with at TPE. Im told Bobby Newman will be there. I also read that they are working with a Ybor City chicken rescue, which, as a chicken owner myself, is something I can appreciate. Our eight chickens haven’t produced an egg in two weeks, bunch of freeloaders…

 

Tampa has two-century-old traditions: Since 1885, Tampa has been known as “Cigar City.” Since 1904, pirates have been invading Tampa and throwing a large festival called Gasparilla. Today, J.C. Newman Cigar Co. brings both traditions together by introducing José Gaspar cigars. Handcrafted by J.C. Newman, a 126-year-old, four-generation family business, José Gaspar cigars pack a punch perfect for any pirate.

 

“José Gaspar was one of most feared pirates in the Americas,” said Drew Newman, fourth-generation owner.  “Sailing from his base near Tampa Bay in the late 1700s, he terrorized the Gulf of Mexico and amassed a great fortune.  Gaspar celebrated victories with a bold and flavorful cigar.  This cigar honors his legacy and the tradition of Gasparilla.”

 

This year, J.C. Newman is releasing 10,000 José Gaspar cigars.  The 2022 release of José Gaspar is a 7’ x 50 cigar wrapped with a hearty, sun-grown, Ecuadorian Havana-seed wrapper.  The 2022 José Gaspar cigars are sold in packs of 5 cigars with an MSRP of $40.  José Gaspar cigars are only available at the following locations in the Cigar City of Tampa, Florida.

 

• Casa de Montecristo

• Cigar Castle

• Cigar City Brewery

• Davidoff of Geneva Since 1911

• Edwards Pipe and Tobacco

• Grand Cathedral

• Hotel Haya

• J.C. Newman Cigar Museum and Factory Store

• JR Cigars

• King Corona Cigars

• Tobacco Depot

• Vincent & Tampa Cigar Co.

 

“When pirates invade Tampa and parade down Bayshore Boulevard on January 29, they will be enjoying José Gaspar cigars,” said Newman. “Just like the pirates of Gasparilla, however, José Gaspar cigars will sail out of Tampa Bay at the end of January and will not be available again until next year.”

 

 

Shortly after J.C. Newman Cigar Co. relocated to Tampa in 1954, leading cigar makers invited the late Stanford J. Newman to become a pirate and join the Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, the organization that hosts the annual Gasparilla celebration. This invitation was a symbol that J.C. Newman had been welcomed and accepted into the cigar community in Tampa, which was then widely recognized as the fine cigar capital of the world.

 

About J.C. Newman Cigar Co.

Founded in 1895 by Julius Caeser Newman, J.C. Newman Cigar Company is the oldest family-owned premium cigar maker in America. J.C. Newman rolls its El Reloj, Factory Throwouts, and Trader Jacks cigars by hand-operated, vintage cigar machines at its historic cigar factory in Tampa, Florida. It also hand rolls its Brick House, Perla del Mar, El Baton, and Quorum cigars at the J.C. Newman PENSA cigar factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. J.C. Newman’s Diamond Crown, MAXIMUS, Julius Caeser, and Black Diamond cigars are handmade by Tabacalera A. Fuente in the Dominican Republic. With its longtime partners the Fuente family, the Newmans founded the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, which supports low-income families in the Dominican Republic with education, health care, vocational training, and clean water.

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