Tag Archives: Jose Blanco

by CigarCraig | November 16, 2018 · 8:53 am

Podcast: Episode 11: A Chat with José Blanco at Goose’s

This week I ran into my friend José Blanco at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA one morning and smoked an EP Carillo Seleccion Oscuro Especial No. 6 while talked about the newest cigars and Jose’s blending events and other stuff. We could have talked for hours, but I like to keep things short and sweet!

I’ve said it many times before, if you get the chance to go to one of José’s tasting events, do it, it’s a great education and very entertaining! Tell José I said hello!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, EP Carillo, Goose's, Jose Blanco, podcast

by CigarCraig | March 11, 2018 · 11:04 am

Jose Blanco at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge & a Cross Street Tobacco Visit

Friday evening I was privileged to attend one of José Blanco’s (of E.P. Carillo Cigars) educational tasting events at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge and Tobacconist in Limerick, PA. José has done over 900 of these events around the world, and they are unique. My first experience with his seminar was at an IPCPR show in 2011 in a room with several hundred people. It involved four separate cigars, if memory serves, not the single toro cigar with four stripes of different wrappers applied. This time there were fifteen in attendance, I dragged my amigo Mike along for the ride, I’ve gone to many events with Mike, but this is the first with an educational component. Mike has been smoking cigars longer than I have, and met a couple years ago when he was a winner of one of my holiday contests and we met at another local shop. I always enjoy smoking cigars with Mike. I don’t think I’ve had a bad time smoking cigars with José Blanco either, he’s never ruined a great cigar for me (if you’ve ever been to one of his events, or read just about anything about them, José’s theory is that a perfect cigar can be ruined by smoking it next to an asshole, so that’s my way of saying he’s not an asshole). Not to brag or anything, but I was able to partially identify three of the four wrappers presented on the special cigar, they were mostly educated guesses, or just luck. The one I missed was embarrassing, as it was probably a tobacco I’ve smoked as much of in my life as any. I’m intentionally leaving out specifics so José doesn’t have to have the factory change up the cigars, which he said the rollers only are able to make 50 or 60 of a day, and they would be very expensive if they were regular production. The base cigar was very good on its own, however, being able to taste the subtle differences each wrapper presents is neat and educational. Any time spent with Jose is educational and enjoyable, the attendees at the event were friendly and engaged in the event, a couple of them even claimed to be readers of this site! It was a fun evening complete with great cigars, and they even had a photographer, Brian Miller of http://www.chorusphotography.com there taking photos! He took a great photo of me, no easy task since I usually look like a deer in headlights in pictures. Find me on Facebook as I’ made it my profile picture. I wrapped the evening up with the Broadleaf wrapped EP Carillo Dusk in the toro size. I love the Broadleaf, and this one wears it well. It’s rich and had that cocoa/espresso thing going on which I gravitate toward.

Yesterday, all my troubles….nevermind, although the reference is appropriate since I was supposed to drop my wife off at the Fest for Beatles Fans in Jersey City yesterday and go visit Hoboken Cigars. Plans changed and we decided to head the other direction and go to Baltimore in search of Beatles books, my wife reviews books on her blog, Beatles-Freak’s Reviews, so we went to The Book Thing, went to Philip’s at the Inner Harbor for lunch (Crab Mac & Cheese!), then found another little used book store on the way to Cross Street Tobacco for an after lunch cigar. There was a cigar lounge closer to the Inner Harbor, but it was in Larry Flynt’s Hussler Club, which didn’t sound like a family friendly place. Cross Street Tobacco is a great little shop with a very well stocked humidor and a lively clientele. There were about 20 chairs in the shop, and they brought out some folding chairs at one point. Sanford was working, he’s been working there Saturdays since they opened in 1996. They had a great selection, it was hard for me to choose what I wanted to smoke. Of course, since I’m in Pennsylvania, the land of no cigar tax, I’m often sticker-shocked when I shop in other states. That being said, their prices weren’t terrible, I picked up a couple of Inch Maduro No. 62, at 5″ x 62 with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. I really like Connecticut Broadleaf! It had occurred to me the night before that I hadn’t smoked the Inch line at all, don’t know why, just never managed to pick any up. It’s not like I’m averse to large ring gauges, and I’m certainly a fan of Ernesto Carillo‘s work, and it had come up in conversation last night. We ended up talking to a patron who was a music fan who told us we had to visit Protean Books & Records, which is in the shadow of Camden Yards, a couple blocks away, which we ended up doing. I can’t recommend Cross Street Tobacco in Baltimore more highly. Although small, it’s a classic shop with a great selection and staff and a lively customer base. The cigar was great, as was the overall experience.

I got home late last night and needed to get Macha out for a walk, so I was thinking about what cigar might fit in with the theme of the weekend. I could smoke another E.P. Carillo cigar, I’ve accumulated a few here and there, or a La Gloria Cubana. Then I came across a Señorial Maduro El Cuadro by José Blanco. A corona gorda measuring 5¾” x 46, actually one of my favorite sizes, was perfect for a short walk and unwinding from a two-hour drive. Señorial is getting hard to find around here, although, and it pains me to say, a local shop had these on their clearance shelf. The Señorial Maduro has a Mexican San Andrés Negro wrapper, with Dominican binder and filler. This vitola was presented at the 2016 IPCPR show, and might have been the last domestic release of the brand. It was a lovely cigar with a sweet earthy flavor that made me happy. The cigar was neither too big or too short, it was just right. I linked to the Señorial Facebook page because the Las Cumbres Tobaco site seems to now be about make-up, fitness and breast enhancement, I have no idea what that’s all about. Anyway, the Señorial was great, buy them up if you can find them. Maybe I’ll smoke a Freya today, I haven’t smoked on of those since I was in Iceland, where it seemed like the appropriate cigar to smoke.

It was a great weekend, even if it’s an hour shorter than 50 other weekends in the year. The payoff for the shortened weekend is more daylight in the evening hours, which I like. That’s all for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Baltimore, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Cross Street Tobacco, Dusk, EP Carillo, Goose's, Inch, Jose Blanco, Seminar, Senorial

by CigarCraig | January 17, 2016 · 10:19 am

An EP Carillo Robolo and a Freyja and Señorial Event at Suburban Tavern

Some retailers have a shtick….Stogies in Houston has a line of exclusive Lanceros, and, on the opposite end of the spectrum Best Cigar Prices has their Robolo series. Oddly, I’m a fan of both sizes. The Robolo is a 4½” x 60, a little longer than an Oliva Nub, and not quite as long as a 6″ x 60, obviously. I’ve smoked a few of what must be about 15 lines in this size, and find it to be a pleasant size to smoke in terms of smoking time and quality of the smoke and burn. Yesterday I lit up one of the newer additions to this category, the EP Carillo Robolo. This is the 4½” x 60 take on the EPC Core Line blend, and I don’t know that I’ve smoked many of the regular sizes in that line. Based on this example, I probably should give them a try. About half way through I hit a stretch of a very entertaining sweet spice, exotic tasting, I’m not sure what it reminded me of specifically, but it caught my attention and made me happy. This may be an odd size and perhaps a little big around for some, but in the case of the EP Carillo offering, it seems to work.

Last night I finally made it to The Suburban Tavern & Restaurant outside of Reading PA. This is a rather unique arrangement, there is a bar and restaurant on the first floor, and, with a separate entrance, the cigar shop and lounge upstairs. I enlisted Mike C., one of the winners in the 12SDoCG last month who lives in the area to ride shotgun. Thanks to another local reader and friend, Corey Z. for the twitter heads up that they were having a Las Cumbres Tabaco Event, I would be remiss if I didn’t take advantage of a chance to visit with José and Emma again. I had smoked a Freyja Valhalla (5½” x 50) earlier in the week, not knowing about this event, but I lit up another one last night. As I mentioned in my last post, it’s unusual when I smoke the same cigar twice in a week, when I do it either says there was a problem with the first one and I wanted to give it a fair shot, or that I really like the cigar. In the case of the Freyja, it’s the latter, what a great cigar. It’s a little sneaky in that the strength isn’t apparent from the start, if you aren’t careful with your pace, the second half can send you reaching for some sugar to settle your stomach. I avoided this last night by pre-gaming with leftover Beef and Broccoli and Pork Fried Rice. The Freyja is a flavorful smoke, I like the underlying earthiness of the Mexican binder, and the sweet spiciness. Emma killed it with her initial release, very tasty.

The Lounge at the Suburban Tavern’s Cigar Lounge is a comfortable and inviting place. It’s above the bar and restaurant, and you can get take-out from downstairs if you want. The front part had a walk-in humidor, the checkout counter, and some leather couches and a TV. Then there are another two rooms with leather chairs and couches, a table or two, and no shortage of ashtrays. The third room from the front is a bar area. Gary, the owner, tells me that he’s just begun selling memberships with after-hours entry, and lockers, and sales have been brisk. I poked my head in the humidor and it appeared well stocked and appropriately maintained. It was a 45 minute drive for me, but worth the trip as Gary was a gracious host and the clientele was friendly. If you find your self in the Reading, PA area, this is a safe haven!

The second cigar I lit up last night was the Señorial lancero. This Lancero is 7″ x 38, with the same Ecuador Habano wrapper, Esteli binder and Dominican fillers as the other sizes in the line. Even after smoking what I consider to be the stronger Freyja, the lancero was loaded with flavor. The burn and draw were excellent, and the rich, sometimes sweet flavors were pleasant. Somehow smoking cigars with the people who blended them enhances the experience greatly, especially when it’s people who are as passionate about the tobacco as José and Emma are. I added another Lancero to my collection, I should really take a look at what’s in that tray, I keep adding to it, I’ll buy two, smoke one and drop one in the tray. I probably have 20 or so lanceros of various brands. One of the things I enjoy most about that size is that they force one to slow down and really savor the experience.

That’s enough for today, gotta get working on something for the next post! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigar store, cigars, Emma Viktorsson, Frejya, Jose Blanco, Senorial, Suburban

by CigarCraig | September 7, 2014 · 9:23 am

Aging Room, Black Abyss, and Señorial Cigars, and a Contest Winner!

After staring the week smoking the newest offerings from Villiger Cigars, I figured I’d continue a trend and smoke some other cigars originating from the same factory in the Dominican Republic, Tabacaleras Palma. This seems to be the hot factory these days, and they are, no doubt, making some tasty smokes. I started on Thursday with the Aging Room M356 Forte. This is a really cool shaped perfecto, measuring 5 7/8″ x 40-56-40, tapering on both ends. This is a classic, old-school shape, I like it. The M356 has a Habano wrapper over Dominican Binder and fillers and is NOT a mild cigar. As a matter of fact, every example in the M356 line I’ve smoked has given me a little bit of a butt-whooping, and that doesn’t happen to me often. That being said, it’s a terrific smoke, it burned perfectly and was loaded with rich flavor. I wouldn’t smoke these on an empty stomach! One thing that confuses me about lines which use number in their naming is that I just can’t remember them! It’s a darned good thing they put it on the bands.

Friday I finally got around to smoking José Blanco‘s new cigar, Señoreal, in the Corona Gorda No. 5 size. My daughter doesn’t buy me a lot of cigars, but she lives a stone’s throw from The Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA, I asked her to grab me a few last week. This is another cigar made at José’s cousin Jochi’s Tabacaleras Palma. When José suggests that this may be his strongest blend to date, you can take that to the bank. This is a full flavored cigar with a mix of Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos wrapped in the Ecuador Habano wrapper. This is, perhaps, the perfect size for a cigar, 5½” x 46, and was recommended to my daughter by the tobacconist (I gave her very specific direction…and that was on my list). There must be a leaf in common with the M356, becuase this cigar also threatened to put a hurtin on me, I needed some sugar after I was done. José has a winner here, his first true solo effort is awesome.

I’ve smoked a couple of the sizes of JR Cigars new brand, Black Abyss. This is a San Andrés wrapped cigar made for them by Boutique Blends/Tabacaleras Palma. This week I smoked the Hydra (toro) and the Banshee (robusto). I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this cigar from the start, and I was right. These have a down and dirty, bold sweet and earthy flavor that I really like. It’s a no-nonsense smoke, and is priced very well staring in the $3 range. Both burned perfectly, the toro I smoked on a walk with the dog mid-week, and the robusto was smoked while waiting out a thunder storm in the garage. I got a lot of pleasure form these cigars, and would probably keep some around if I had room for more cigars. I think there’s a torpedo and a 6×60 left in my humidor, I’ll be interested in smoking those to see if one size stands out over the other. I think the toro and robusto were a tie.

Last night I sat down with an Aging Room Haváo Sharp (Torpedo). I had my reservations, but I wasn’t going anyplace, so if I found another Aging Room cigar that was going to do a number on me I was ready. This line has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, although it’s by no means mild. It’s full of flavor. Actually the website lists it as “Mild Plus”, but I think it’s a pretty big “Plus”. I loved the silky, creamy smoke that poured off this cigar, and the dead even burn. One reason I despise this time of year is that it’s getting darker earlier, which makes it hard to see my cigars! In this case, I stared to get a papery flavor then realized I was burning through the band. I hardly ever do that! I thought this was a great smoke, and can’t help comparing it to the Villiger Cuelllar Connecticut Krēmē made at the same factory. Both are bolder than usual Connecticuts and both are loaded with flavor. This is a “must try”.

Here’s a video from the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival with Rafael Nodal of Boutique Blends. If you ever get the chance to meet Rafael, you will come away with the impression that you’ve just caught up with an old friend. He’s a tremendously nice gentleman.

Contest

Monday I promised that I’d select a winner today for the CAO Flathead tin sign and Flathead 554 Camshaft and Sparkplug cigars. there were some great pairings, and some of you threw my count off with replies to replies! No big deal, I can manage! So Random.org’s random number generator selected 21 out of 44 entries. By my count, Ray Holthaus is the winner! Ray, send me your address so I can pack these goodies up and send them along! I hope you watched and enjoyed the video, I thought jum and Bruce did a fine job of describing their experiences. Thanks to everyone for entering and stay tuned for more contests!

I have some yardwork to do today, and we had a PODS container dropped off so we can start getting ready to move sometime in the future! Plenty of stuff to move, plenty of weeds to pull! I’ll provide cigars to anyone who wants to help! 🙂

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Aging Room, Black Abyss, Boutique Blends, cigar, cigars, Contest, Jose Blanco, JR Cigars, Rafael Nodal, Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival, Senoreal

by CigarCraig | June 20, 2012 · 8:38 pm

A Monte Pascoal Cigar, Beatles and Other Assorted News Items

It’s been an odd week! Since Sunday I’ve only managed a couple cigars, one of which was a Monte Pascoal Corona and the other doesn’t warrant mention, unfortunately. The Monte Pascoal is a Brazilian puro and a very nice cigar. I’ve heard it described as “Cubanesque”, but I don’t get that. What I get is a well made and tasty smoke. I’ve smoked several sizes and I think this corona is one of my favorites. It’s loaded with flavor. The other cigar I had, which will remain nameless, was a disappointment, it didn’t draw well, and wasn’t particularly pretty, and the flavor was just OK, nothing special. I could excuse some of these in a cheap bundle cigar, but not in a Super Premium cigar. I’ll write it off as another failed experiment and more forward.

News

In an odd cross-over, my friend Mitchell Orchant, of C.Gars Ltd., recently came into possession of, and sold, a rare framed presentation of Beatles banded cigars. The story is currently featured on BeatlesNews.com. I guess I need to hold on to the Burt Reynolds and Mickey Rooney cigars I have buried in a humidor someplace (I always wondered why the Mickey Rooney is a Churchill and not a robusto!)

In other news, I received an e-mail this week from Enrique Seijas telling me about his new project since leaving Altadis. CigarCountry.com sells name brand, premium cigars, and you can get them with custom printed cello or cedar sleeves. The price is extremely competitive and I’m seriously looking for a good reason to buy a box with my name and website on the cello. I wish they’d been around when my daughter was married, and they are a great step up from the usual “It’s A Boy/Girl” cigars. It’s a very cool idea, check it out.

Some upcoming events to look forward to: The Chattenooga Tweetup in August (info here). The Delaware Cigar Festival in September (info here, apologies to non-Facebook users!) I got an e-mail from Sir Stogies, a really nice little shop in Gilbertsville, PA saying that Jose Blanco was going to be there on Tuesday, June 26 at 11am. Another case of the day job getting in the way of fun! Another event I plan on trying to get to is a Drew Estate event on Thursday, June 28 at a much more realistic time of 6pm, at the Humidor at the Leaf, which is Famous Smoke Shop’s retail store in Easton, PA. Of course there’s the Jose Blanco blending event hosted by Buttheads Tobacco Emporium tomorrow, June 21, which will be a first of it’s kind live stream event.

I’ve come up with about as much non-sense as I can muster, but I have one more piece of business to attend to. It seems that our winner of the last contest never came forward to collect his prize. I sent two e-mails and didn’t get a reply. So I have to select an alternate winner. Random.org spit the number 18 at me this time, which corresponds to my old buddy Bob Greene. I’ve known Bob for years, and I’m certain he will enjoy Mitchell’s book! Bob, please send your mailing address so I can get this stuff out to you!