Kanu | CigarCraig's Blog

It seems like the last few days I’ve been reaching for Figurados for some reason, I think five of the last eight cigars I’ve smoked were shaped cigars in one way or another. I don’t know why that’s significant, it probably isn’t, it just happened to be what I grabbed. None of the cigars featured here are new appearances on this site. I craved some favorites this week, what can I say. I’ve had a couple Recluse OTG Kanu #1 in the humidor for three or four years, I figured Wednesday was a good day to smoke one of these. The Kanu #1 is a cool 6″ x 54 box pressed perfecto, styled after a Kayak. It has a little “bun” pigtail cap that easily pinches off so you don’t have to cut it. I don;t know if this is a case anymore, but originally the larger sizes (the #2 is 7″ x 52 and the #3 is 8 x 58) had little o-rings or something on the head of the cigar telling you where to cut, because the recommended cutting them a little higher to get thee best draw. The #1, withe the pigtail pinched off had a perfect draw. The OTG line has a Brazilian maduro wrapper, Cameroon binder and Dominican fillers. I happen to be a fan of maduro over Cameroon, so I’ve been a fan of this line since it came out in 2012. It had a great bittersweet cocoa flavor with a little bit of spice. The Recluse line in general has been very good, I can’t recall a single cigar in their line-up that I didn’t really, really like. They are innovative and patient in their approach, and word on the street is that they will be releasing a TON of new sizes and line extensions at the show. It’s criminal that the FDA has companies like this in their cross hairs.

Friday I decided to wrap up the week with a Room 101 Johnny Tobacconaut Ranflactic (6½” x 50). If you’ll recall, I’ve bitched about this before, that this size is mis-labeled on a ton of retailers websites as 5.5 x 50 b(including the site I linked to, don’t get me started on the lack of a Room 101 cigar website or an easy way to find it on Davidoff/Camacho’s sites), when it’s the Room 101 Ranfla size renamed to fit the astronaut theme of the brand. It blows my mind that this hasn’t been fixed, but I suppose in the grand scheme of things, it’s really not that big a deal. It just seems to stand out to me and I don’t often see mistakes like this. This particular cigar came from a Davidoff trade show sampler from last year’s show, which has some Avos, some Camachos and some BG Meyers. I have more that I purchased that come in the paper sleeve much like the original Room 101 OSOK. I was really blown away by the first one of these I smoked, and I continue to be a fan. The perfecto shaped cigar has a nice woody, toasty flavor and a great burn. I don’t know how available these are as they only made 3500 boxes of twenty and released them last year, but, considering they are rather pricey, they may still be around.

Yesterday I managed to install two ceiling fans with a minimum of profanities, which is something for me. After dinner I sat down with a Joya de Nicaragua Cuatro Cinco Reserva Especial Torpedo. Joya de Nicaragua came out with the original Cuatro Cinco in 2013 to celebrate 45 years of operations in Nicaragua. The following year they came out with this tweaked blend, the Reserva Especial. Oddly, this isn’t a Nicaraguan puro, it has a Dominican binder, but the rest is Nicaraguan with a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan filers. I felt like the original Edition Limitada Cuatro Cinco release was a fantastic cigar, I saw it as a refined version of the Antaño Dark Corojo, which is a favorite. This Reserva Especial seems to be missing something that the original limitada had. Here’s the dangerous thing with comparing cigars: The Reserva Especial is a great smoke, it’s got wonderful construction, great flavors, and I would absolutely love it if I wasn’t comparing it to the original. This is just me, and I’m sure there are people who see the Reserva as an improvement, which makes another point, everyone has different tastes. Joya remains one of my favorite brands, there are very few cigars in the lineup that I don’t enjoy.

That’s it for now. It’s the Fourth of July weekend, so be careful out there, have fun and smoke some great cigars. I have a Prime Living Magazine article due that I need to put the finishing touches on (on which I need to put the finishing touches?), then I’ll be getting on with my day. So, until the next time,

CigarCraig

A few weeks ago I received some pre-release samples of the Recluse cigars from the Iconic Leaf Cigar Company. I wanted to smoke them before the IPCPR show, but I wanted to let them rest, and I saw another review or two on them and I didn’t want to be a follower :-). I did make a point to seek them out at the show and got to spend a little while talking with JR Dominguez about the line. I smoked the samples this week. It’s very unusual for me to smoke the same cigar twice in a week, but this was one of those times where the first sample intrigued me so much I had to smoke another. The fact that I came home from the show with another sample or two made the decision easier. The cigars I smoked were square pressed toros, nice dark wrappers and didn’t have bands. They burned perfectly, as JR explains in the video, they are rolled in the entubado method which accounts for the excellent draw and burn. There was a unique flavor that developed, it grabbed my attention and held on, making it hard to put the cigar down. If you see these around, give one a try, even if you suffer from arachnophobia! The spiders on the bands won’t hurt you! The photo here is of one of the Kanú vitolas, the No.1, that are explained in the video also. It’s a neat shape and will be fun to smoke.

Many thanks to JR and Scott & Kelly Weeks for the pre-release samples and for taking the time to talk to me at the show. Once again, give these tasty smokes a try if you get a chance, they are pretty darned delicious! A nice maduro wrapper over a Cameroon binder gets my attention every time.

I’m just about over my cold, thanks for all the kind words about that. Time to start digging in to some of the new stuff!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig