I had a 3 day work week, having Monday off, of course, then taking Thursday off to go to an afternoon Phillies game. We got to go on the field after the game(with about 10,000 other fans!) and walk the bases, which I did with an unlit cigar in my mouth! I don’t know how they could say anything, I mean the owner of the Phillies is John Middleton, who sold his tobacco company to Altria (Phillip Morris). who can forget the Middletons Cherry Blend pipe tobacco cigars? Anyway, before we left I sat on my deck and smoked a Room 101 Johnny Tobacconaut Maduro in the 5” x 50 Robusto size. This is made by A.J. Fernandez and is a Nicaraguan puro. I enjoyed this greatly with a cup of coffee while I absorbed some much needed sunshine. There were no real surprises, it was cocoa and espresso with some spice, just what I expected. It burned right, and was the right size to fit the time I had. I want to sample the toro, and at in the $10-12 range, these are well priced. Not as strong as the 17th Anniversary!
I took a bit of a shade journey yesterday. I started with the Tradecraft Vitruvian. Tradecraft, like Middleton, has it’s roots in the Philadelphia Area. The wrapper is an ASP Grown Ecuadorian Connecticut, with a Sumatra binder. the filler blend reads like something Saka would put in his blend write up: Filler: Tripa de Capa Habano 2000 & CT, Nicaraguan Jalapa, Criollo 98′ Seco (volado priming) and Corojo Seco. this is made by Wiber Ventura in the Dominican Republic. Oddly, this might be my favorite cigar in the Tradecraft line-up. If you know me, you know that the Gladius is right up my alley, but this shade cigar was delicious. It had loads of flavor; smooth, creamy and nutty, with enough spice to make it interesting. This is a cigar I’ll smoke again.
I had smoked a couple of another of a new cigar that I was going to feature here, but I couldn’t find much nice to say about it, so I pivoted and smoked an unbranded sample of something new from Micky Pegg of All Saints Cigars. This shade wrapped toro is going to be called the Saint Anne. I believe Micky told me that the final version of this is going to be pressed, and, like the other All Saints cigars, they are made at Rocky Patel’s factory in Nicaragua. I don’t kbnow what the blend is, but safe to say it’s an Ecuador wrapper over Nicaraguan fillers. This is the second shade cigar I smoked yesterday, and I rarely do that. Like the Vitruvian, this was a really excellent cigar, and it was also a Toro, which I like. It had more of the spice than the Vitruvian, along with the nutty, creaminess. Burn and draw were perfect. I was very impressed with this one.
That’s all for today, until the next time,
C
