Tag Archives: JR Cigars

by | July 21, 2024 · 7:00 am

Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto JR Cigars Exclusive

I’m having a busy weekend here, so today’s post will be dedicated to the Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto.  JR Cigars has been sending me some of their exclusive cigars for me to write about, and this was the most recent.  The links in these posts are affiliate links, so if you shop at JR, do me a favor and do it through these links. I don’t seem to have a lot of success with affiliate links, over the last nearly 15 years I don’t think I’ve made more than $100.  I keep trying though.  Maybe I’ll use the links myself to buy more of these Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez cigars, because they are right up my alley!  I’m going to be right upfront when I say that there are very few Montecristo cigars that float my boat, I would even go as far as to say that Altadis cigars in general mostly don’t do it for me.  There are some exceptions, and the vast majority are made in partnership with AJ Fernandez.  The cigars JR provided me were robustos, 5″ x 52 and have an Oscuro Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, a Mexican San Andrés binder, and aged long filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, and the United States, or Honduras, the website actually says two different things!. Based on the flavor and strength, I’m inclined to believe that there’s Pennsylvania or Connecticut broadleaf in the blend.  

 

 

I’ve smoked a handful of these this week, and I was really quite pleased with them!  They have an espresso or strong, black coffee thing going on, with a hint of some sweetness about half way through the cigar. Lately a robusto is only good for about an hour, so larger sizes in this blend interest me.  This is a bold, premium cigar at a great price.  The presentation is nice too, although the wrapper is so pretty it’s a shame to cover it up with the large sleeve!  By now my regular readers probably know what style of cigars I like, and if you find yourself liking the same cigars, this one is a no-brainer.  Every sample I smoked burned perfectly, which shouldn’t be a surprise given their provenance. This is my new favorite Montecristo. JR has a whole line of “Crafted By” cigars, I’d love to see a sampler of them, there’s some I’d love to try.  

 

I’m off today to Harrisburg, PA to visit Harrisburg Beer and Cigar and Cindy Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust.  I’ve been wanting to get out to visit Nick and James, and we don’t get to see enough of Cindy, usually that Steve guy is taking the spotlight. It might be a good chance to replenish some of my DTT cigars that have run low.  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 5, 2024 · 6:00 am

Mil Dias Box Pressed Robusto JR Cigars Exclusive

Once again I bring you a cigar that’s exclusive to JR Cigars (and cigars.com).  Last month they sent me the Crowned Heads Mil Dias Box Pressed Robusto  5″ x 55.  I’ve never been high on Crowned Heads, there have only been a few cigars that I’ve enjoyed, they have been few and far between.  I do like Miguel Schoedel, the national sales manager, so I try to keep an open mind.  I’ve been smoking a bunch of this Mil Dias Box Press lately and I have really enjoyed them.  This has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Peru and Costa Rica.  As the name of the cigar suggests, it’s a 5″ x 55 box pressed robusto.  I’ve smoked these in the morning, afternoon and evening and found that they fit well any time.  While it’s listed as medium to full, I put it squarely in the medium category.  It has some bready notes, with some light wood and sweetness.  This is a very good cigar and I find myself wanting to smoke more, which really doesn’t happen to me often.  I would never have thought I’d be so enamoured with a cigar from this company.  It seems that they came out with a Mil Dias Broadleaf this year, I’ll have to give that a try!  

 

 

Links in this post are affiliate links, so if you shop at JR Cigars, feel free to use these links, it doesn’t cost you a dime and might put a couple dollars toward my continuing to do this! There are some links on the left side of my page.  Thank you to JR Cigars for their support!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | May 17, 2024 · 8:22 pm

JR Cigars Exclusive Deadwood Girl With No Name

Drew Estate’s Deadwood line has really taken off in popularity over the last few years.  The line is an expression of the Natural, later Larutan, line, which uses varieties of tobacco which is more usually used in pipe tobacco. It’s even cased like pipe tobacco, giving it a sweetness.  I used to argue that these aren’t flavored or infused, but technically they are flavored, in as much as an aromatic pipe tobacco is flavored.  Recently Drew Estate has begun producing The Girl With No Name, exclusively for some of the large retailers.  This iteration has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, as opposed to the maduro wrapper on the Fat Bottom Betty, Sweet Jane, Crazy Alice, and Leather Rose.  JR Cigar’s exclusive is a robusto size, 5″ x 50.  You can get a 5-pack at JR’s for $23, which is pretty reasonable.

 

I smoked a few of these, as well as a Leather Rose for reference and quite enjoyed the cigars.  They do have a sweet cap. so if your opposed to that, this might not be for you. I smoked them with desert in mind, after dinner, and I enjoyed the sweetness, it’s a nice change of pace.  There’s sweet exotic spice, and some mellow nuttiness from the shade wrapper.  Burn and draw were perfect, which I’ve come to expect from Drew Estate products.  One thing I will say is that smoking another cigar after this isn’t recommended, the finish is quite long.  If you like the Deadwood line, I think this would be a nice change of pace, I might even like it more, it’s brighter and rather tasty! 

 

JR Cigars provided these cigar for me to sample, links included are affiliate links, Use code FORYOU for 25% OFF.  That’s all for now, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | April 7, 2024 · 9:40 am

Some Boneshaker Boneyard Cigars from JR Cigars

This is the third and final instalment of the Boneshaker series.  JR Cigars sent these three 4-packs to me without prior warning, and it seemed like an interesting idea do a bit of a vertical tasting, I guess.  It was fun to try the same blends in different sizes, in some cases it made a big difference.   This week I smoked the Boneshaker Boneyard series.  The base Boneshaker line and the Boneshaker Full Body Cast lines came in the same sizes. The Boneyard has the same names, but the sizes are different, with the exception of the War Hammer, which is the cigar I started with in all three lines.  The War Hammer is the 6″ x 60.  When I looked at the Bonyard “flight”, I noticed that the wrapper on this one was darker and oilier.  It was very attractive, to me at least.  This line is a Nicaraguan puro, made in the NACSA factory.  This one started with some heat, spicy pepper.  It had a heavy molasses sweetness and was unique and enjoyable.  My only complaint with this one was that the ash fell off unexpectedly about a half in in and made a mess.  

 

I’m not sure if it was the wrapper or not, but the other three cigars in this line were different, and not just the sizes.  Next up was the toro, the Maul. In the other lines it was a 6″ x 54, this one it was a 6″ x 50. The Nicaraguan wrapper was lighter than the War Hammer, and while it still stated spicy, it never fully developed that dark molasses sweetness. It was good, burned well, and I kept an eye on the ash. I think it was more woody tasting, with the molasses sneaking in during the second half. It’s funny how thin a 50 ring gauge cigar feels nowadays.  

 

The Mace in this line is 5″ x 52, as opposed to the 4½” x 60 0f the other two lines.  This one was oddly drying to my palate, and had a sourness throughout.  It also had a bit of a tight draw, which could have led to the flavor differences.  This was my least favorite of the bunch.  One wonders why the sizes for these were different when they came from the same factory. I think the other two lines were more consistent in flavor across the sizes. One would think that maybe this blend didn’t work in the other sizes? I wish the secondary band actually had the name of the line on it, it took me a while to get the stylized headstones and make the connection. 

 

The Morning Star had the biggest difference in size, with the Boneyard version being a 6½” x 52 torpedo as opposed to the 5″ x 56 belicoso.  I like a longer cigar, so this was OK with me, and I hoped that it would be as good as the gordo was.  This one reminded me of dark bread.  When I was a kid my mom would buy this date nut bread in a can, which we would slice up and eat with cream cheese.  Imagine bread in the shape of canned cranberry sauce.  I wonder if this is still around?  I’ll have to look.  Anyway, there was a dark molasses component to this one as well, and the burn and draw were spot on.  JR’s sells this line with the largest size coming in around $4 a cigar by the box, with is a great bargain.  If it were me, I’d go big in this line. I think the original Boneshaker line was my favorite of the bunch, but all of them were interesting, not your run of the mill bargain cigar by any stretch.  You can get an even better price if you go through this affiliate link!  Thanks to JR Cigars for allowing my to sample through the range of these three lines.  

 

We were going to head to the north-western part of the state today to catch tomorrow’s eclipse, but decided to stay home because the weather didn’t look favorable.  I’ll have to stop at a few local shops to see if any of them have any of the Ashton VSG Eclipse size, if not I have other VSGs on hand, as well as other sungrown cigars.  Hopefully the weather holds out here. I’d also like to welcome Flatbed Cigar Co. to the CigarCraig family. They make the Panacea brand and are based here in PA.  Look for some Panacea cigars featured in the near future as I bought a sampler (and the purchase experience was exceptional!). That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig 

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by | March 31, 2024 · 10:05 am

Some Boneshaker Full Body Cast Cigars from JR Cigars

This is the second of a three part series on the Boneshaker line of cigars from JR Cigars. This time I went through the Boneshaker Full Body Cast range, which is offerent in the same sizes as the regular Boneshaker line, a 6″ x 60 War Hammer, a 6″ x 54 Maul, a 4½ x 60 Mace and the 5″ x 56 Morning Star. This line has an Ecuadorian wrapper, a Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua. I smoked them in the same order as I did last week, starting with the War Hammer.  This is a 6″ x 60 Gordo.  The sizes are all named after medieval weapons, perhaps because the cigars are powerful, which I suppose they are.  The cigar starts with a strong pepper and some sweetness, which continues throughout.  Good burn and draw, nice cigar. 

 

Next was the Boneshaker Full Body Cast Maul.  This is the 6″ x 54 toro, me favorite size cigar. I have a Maul I use to split wood, although I don’t have a fireplace any more, and don’t cut down any trees.  Mainly I use it in place of a sledge hammer these days.  This cigar might have been a little more straight forward than the gordo, but not much.  I didn’t really note any difference, starts with a strong pepper and the Habano wrapper over the broadleaf binder gives it some sweetness.  Good smoke.  These all come out of the NACSA factory in Esteli.  

 

Saturday afternoon we had my daughter and her family visiting, so I did something I normally wouldn’t do, and smoked the Mace and the Morning Star back to back after they had left. I wouldn’t ever do this if I were evaluating different cigars, but I figured it would be OK with the same blend in different sizes.  I started with the Mace, the 4½ x 60.  One might call this a Nub, but that’s a brand, so is it a petitt gordo?  Gordo minor?  I have to say that it’s not a bad size for a cigar.  Sometimes one needs a four or four and a half inch cigar, and 60 seems to be the new 50.  Nothing overly different in the flavor profile.  I was watching hockey on the porch, so I followed the Mace with the Morning Star.  When I first looked at the size names I thought Morning Star seemed out of place, then I did a little research and see that it fits in with the rest. A Morning Star is a mace with a spiky ball, a pretty nasty looking weapon.  This is a 5 x 56 torpedo. Same profile, slightly different experience because of the shape. One interesting thing, not sure if it’s coincidental or not, but the last few nights after having smoked this line, I had some really weird dreams.  Maybe these have more nicotine than I think?  I didn’t have trouble falling asleep, except for after waking from the dreams and lying awake thinking WTF?  These are good smokes if you like them strong.  Personally I liked the regular line more, and I look forward to trying the Boneyard line extension next.  

 

As with last week, the links included in this are affiliate links. With the exception of one person making a large buy, I’m not getting much action from them. If you happen to buy from JR Cigars or Cigars.com, I could use a couple more dollars to buy cigars and you might get a discount!  If you celebrate, Happy Easter. I hope all your dried out cigars can be rehumidified and come back to life.  That’s all for today, until the next time. 

 

CigarCraig

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