Tag Archives: Kentucky Fire Cured

by Craig Vanderslice | March 24, 2019 · 10:51 am

Rodriguez Cigars, a Few Favorites and a Kentucky Fire Cured Revisit

Spring is upon us finally, although we got through this winter relatively easily. I always look forward to warmer weather! This week I enjoyed a few cigars I really love, the Umbagog Toro Toro, and the E.P. Carillo Seleccion Oscuro Especial No. 6, both 6″ x 52 parejos that’s my preferred size, and both maduros, with the former being Connecticut broadleaf and the latter being Mexican San Andrés Negro. The two cigars aren’t that similar, but both overwhelm the palate with rich flavors and have heavy espresso notes in common, with Umbagog being sweeter and the Oscuro Especial being earthier and dirtier. I love them both, and never have regrets when I light either one up. They are two cigars I could see having in a rotation (of about 20) if I were to hang up my blog hat and settle into some normal semblance of cigar consumerism. As it is, I like to enjoy one of these every now and again, they are both so good.

For some reason I have been wanting to revisit a Drew Estate MUWAT Kentucky Fire Cured lately, and I’m not sure why. I actually really like the Swamp Thang line extension now and then, heck, I’ll just say it, I’d smoke it more than now and then, I don’t so the novelty doesn’t wear off. I didn’t care for the KFC when I smoked a prototype at the factory in Nicaragua in 2013, it was too campfirey for me, but I’ve grown to enjoy the production version after some humidor time, and I have a handful that have been in the humidor for quite a while. So I went all in and grabbed a “Just a Friend” which is the 6″ x 52 toro, again, a size I like, and “fired” it up. I have a couple smaller vitolas, including a Flying Pig, floating around, but I figured I’d commit. It had the campfire on the pre-light, but no hint once lit, which is fine by me. I would put this cigar on the savory end of the spectrum flavor-wise, maybe leathery. It’s good, enjoyable, but I think I like the what the Candela adds to the blend in the Swamp Thang version better, it’s just a little more interesting to me. It’s not a cigar that I’d avoid, that’s for sure.

Last week I saw an article on Cigar Aficionados website about the formation of the Coalition of American Cigar Rollers, and one of the companies mentioned was Rodriguez Cigar Factory in Key West, Florida. I hadn’t heard of this factory until a few months ago when my neighbors who winter in Florida happened to send me a box of five of their Reserva Privada series Torpedos from a visit. I had set this little box aside in the humidor not knowing how long it had been out of proper conditions, and kinda forgot about it until this article reminded me of it, so I figured last night would be the right time to give one a try. The Reserva Privada has a four year aged Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, which is on the darker side in my opinion (I wasn’t sure it was Connecticut until looking it up actually), with Nicaraguan fillers and binder, rolled in Key West. The torpedo is a perfectly formed 6″ x 52 with a pointy head like a Perdomo torpedo and burned perfectly with an ideal draw, even though I snipped a rather small bit off the end to start. I was very impressed with this smooth, rich tasting cigar. It was elegant, with a caramel sweetness that was enjoyable. I am a bit jaded, and often go into cigars like this wondering if they will be either just another cigar, or worse, but this was a very nice smoke, and worthy of attention. It’s even priced well for a U.S. manufactured product.

That’s enough from me for now. It’s supposed to be nice today, and I have some things I want to get done in the yard, and I have the day off, so there are cigars to smoke too. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Coalition of American Cigar Rollers, drew estate, Dunbarton, E.P. Carillo, Kentucky Fire Cured, KFC, MUWAT, Rodriguez, Umbagog

by CigarCraig | December 23, 2015 · 7:52 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2015 Day 13: Drew Estate and Broc Jackson

Regular readers will know that around here it’s never over until it’s over! So today is bonus day number one (infer from that what you will), and today we have some great gifts I think you’re going to like. From our friends at Drew Estate, we have not one, but two 10 count bundles of MUWAT Kentucky Fire Cured Fat Molly, the 5″ x 56 chunky, oh, wait, that’s the name of another size in the line, chubby robusto featuring the fire cured Kentucky tobacco, giving it a unique smoky flavor. As if that wasn’t a great enough item for today’s giveaway, Broc Jackson, the jeweler who makes the great Drew Estate rings and pendants that Jonathan Drew and his team wear, has provided a hand made, silver Kentucky Fire Cured pendant and chain. Broc’s work can be found here, and he can be reached at kensingtonwatchservices(at)yahoo.com. The pictures don’t do it justice, it’s a beautiful piece. He offers a one year warranty on his work and also does custom pieces. Retail value is $290 on the pendant, and the Fat Molly’s go for about $64 each, so this is a very nice gift indeed.

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of hand delivering two of the presents again this year. I met Mike and Andrew, winners of days 5 and 6, at a local shop, spent way more than the cost of postage, but it’s OK, I’d rather support my local brick and mortar shop. The winner of the day 12 Gurkha package is Chad Miller. I secretly hope that he is local as this will cost me a fortune to ship! Chad, send me your info! Thanks again to Bianca and everyone at Gurkha!

You know what to do now, leave a comment here, check back tomorrow to see if you won!

RULES

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on the post of the day, if you can, try to post what you know or how you feel about today’s present, the folks donating the gift should get some feedback for their troubles! It’s not a condition to win, but it’s nice to have something to read. We did this last year and it benefits everyone. Once you’ve won, you’re out, let everyone else have a chance. Must be over 18 to win. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 12 days, Broc Jackson, cigar, cigars, Contest, drew estate, Kentucky Fire Cured, KFC

by CigarCraig | April 23, 2014 · 9:54 pm

1502 Black Gold, 601 La Bomba, Merlion and a Kentucky Fire Cured Cigar

Last time I said I was going to smoke some readily available cigars as opposed to the limited and discontinued stuff I was smoking last week. I think I managed to accomplish that, and smoke some pretty tasty cigars in the process! Sunday afternoon I lit up my last 1502 Black Gold Toro, a cigar I really like and will have to put some more in my humidor. I recently received all three 1502 blends in lancero format, so look for those recaps in the not too distant future! Anyway, I love the way they partially close the foot on these, I get a little extra blast of wrapper flavor on lighting. Always well made, the Black Gold is the maduro offering, and I dig the dark, rich flavors and excellent construction. This is a 99 on the CigarCraig rating scale, I need to pick up a few more to have on hand. The whole line is highly recommended and another winner distributed by the House of Emilio.

Monday my wife and I went out for a while, when we got home, I opted for a short smoke, so the new 601 La Bomba Sake Bomb was the cigar of choice. I received a pair of samples a week or two ago from Epinosa Cigar Co., and, quite frankly, I probably could have been more patient and let these rest a little longer. I really enjoy the La Bomba line. It’s one of my go-to cigars whenb I just want something satisfying and familiar. I’m partial to the Atom in this line, although I’ll happily smoke any of them. Anyway, the reason I said I should have waited was that the little 4½ x 42 Sake Bomb might have still been a little overhumidified from it’s journey. The draw was a bit more firm than I would have liked. Still, it had the great flavor that I expect from the La Bomba line. I like them because they are pretty strong, but really flavorful. The Habano wrapper is flawless, and, although I’m not a fan of footbands, the presentation is really cool. My example didn’t have the long fuse that it should have had, but we just cut that off, don’t we. I’ll revisit this in a few weeks, it’s a nice little size. Given that I don’t drink, I have no idea what Sake tastes like, but I’m quite sure there’s no flavor comparison. This is a solid 97 until I revisit it.

Monday evening I picked another smaller cigar, however, this one is a limited edition. It’s a currently available limited edition, so I figured it would fit with this weeks theme. The Merlion Sea Lion from La Sirena is a cool shaggy footed perfecto, measuring 5½ x 47 in a perfecto shape that tapers pretty severely, so that the 47 ring gauge is pretty meaningless. I prefer the La Sirena line over the Merlion line typically, but this blend made at the La Aurora factory was very good. The burn was perfect, the shape is really fun to smoke. These come in a box of ten, with one cigar bearing a maduro wrapper. Odd that I didn’t smoke that one first, I know, but I am afraid that I’ll really love it and I won’t have another. I wanted to make sure I liked the Ecuador Corojo wrapped version too. I smoked this to the tiniest of nubs, and this is another cigar that’s going to be hard to leave along. I look forward to smoking the maduro, and maybe I’ll smoke both wrapper varieties side by side one day to compare and contrast. Try one if you get a chance, it gets a 98 because it’s a cool looking and smoking cigar.

Tonight I decided to smoke a cigar that I’ve smoked before (although not in this size), but is popular and currently available. The My Uzi Weighs a Ton Kentucky Fire Cured from Drew Estate was released at last year’s IPCPR show and was highly anticipated. This cigar is made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory in partnership with Drew Estate, and features fire cured tobacco which gives it a distinctive campfire aroma. I personally am not a fan of this aroma in a cigar and samples I’ve had in the past, including a pre-release sample in Nicaragua, have left me wanting. This one was a nice smoke, perhaps the size works better for me, but I didn’t get the heavy smokey flavor. The burn was perfect, until it got to the band, where there’s a layer of the Fire cured tobacco on the head, not unlike the Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta made in the same factory. Like the Cabinetta, that tobacco on the head of the cigar doesn’t want to burn. While this wasn’t my favorite cigar this week, it was still pretty good, and I wouldn’t hesitate to smoke this again. It’s certainly unique in the world of premium cigars. I’m going to give it a 97 for construction and appearance.

I’ll see what other goodies I can scrounge up for the rest of the week! I think I better put my rating scale on the “about” page so it’s clear. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 1502, 601 La Bomba, cigar, cigars, drew estate, Emilio, Espinosa, Kentucky Fire Cured, La Sirena, Merlion, MUWAT, Sea Lion

by CigarCraig | May 19, 2013 · 10:36 am

Some New Cigars: Cuban Grande from Perseo and Michael Lington Cigars

First order of business: I have yet to hear from the two (2) winners of my last contest. I’m itchin to put together the prize packs, but I need smoke770 and PapaLloyd L. to send me their current addresses! You’d think it would be easier to give stuff away! I may have to add a rule stating that any prizes unclaimed after thirty days will be donated to Cigars For Warriors ! So let’s go guys, e-mail me so I can ship this stuff out! I need the humidor space. 🙂

After wrapping up a couple weeks worth of Cigar Safari reporting it’s time to get back to boring you to tears with the cigars I’ve smoked this week. I decided to dive into some of the new and unusual stuff I’ve been generously gifted recently. As far as cigars I smoked on Cigar Safari, they were all pretty darned good! Keep an eye out for the new Kentucky Fire Cured which will be released under the My Uzi brand. It’s unique, and if you like a smoky, barbecue flavor it’s a must try. This thing has the powerful aroma of campfire off the foot, and has a smokey taste that’s not overpowering. It wasn’t up my particular alley personally, but I look forward to trying it when the production starts. Jonathan Drew is VERY excited about it and it will be worth a try, for sure.

A few weeks ago on my New Jersey adventure, I met up with Matt R. (@MattSRoss81) and he handed me a bunch of cigars on the flawed premise that I had sent him cigars and he “owed” me. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but all were cigars I hadn’t tried yet, and of particular interest were a pair of 6″ x 60 cigars called Cuban Grande, from Perseo Cigars (Roxor). I can’t find any information about these on their website, or elsewhere, so I’m going to stick my neck out a bit and hope I don’t hurt any feelings! This is a well made cigar with a fairly common looking, dry, medium brown wrapper, probably habano, which has a very nice aroma. The burn was very nice, it had a pleasing flavor, but wasn’t especially unique or special. I would put this in the “budget” category and say it’s a nice everyday smoke and hope it isn’t too expensive. I’ve fallen into this trap before and had the same thoughts about a $12 “super premium” cigar, on the other hand I’ve had cheap bundle cigars that smoked like premiums, so who am I to judge. I appreciate Matt sharing these with me, I always enjoy trying new things, and this was a nice smoke.

Yesterday I dug into some cigars that another loyal reader and friend, DB (@USAF_test) sent along. When I met DB in California a few weeks back he told me about this friend of his who is a Jazz musician and cigar lover who has his own line, Michael Lington Cigars. He sent me a Classic Robusto and a couple Connoisseur Toros. I selected the Toro first, since I was taking a long walk and needed a larger cigar. As an aside, I like a regular old 6″x 50 toro, in these days of chubby cigars, this almost feels like a corona. Anyway I used the V-cutter and got a really open draw. Looking into the cut, one could see that the cigar was loosely packed (it seems like a lot of cigars I’ve smoked lately have been very tightly packed, so this was a welcome change). One of the striking details of this cigar was the dark grey ash. It burned well, it tasted good and was a good smoke that lasted well over an hour, which was a concern initially based on the draw and fill). These are available through Butthead’s Tobacco Emporium‘s online presence, Fumée, and are fairly priced.

My evening walk featured the Michael L ington Classic robusto, which is wrapped in what I assume to be Ecuador Connecticut. this is a very pretty cigar, the V-cut showed a more dense fill than the Connoisseur, and the draw was perfect. I’ve given up on having expectations based upon wrapper color, so I wasn’t surprised when I got loads of medium bodied, flavorful smoke. Oddly the dark grey ash was very similar in appearance to the Connoisseur, strange given the vastly different wrappers. I enjoyed this cigar, although, like it’s sibling, it was a nice, everyday kind of cigar that isn’t priced badly. Too many celebrities decide to put their name on a cigar and price it in the stratosphere, kudos to Mr. Lington for putting his name on a solid smoke at a good price. I hadn’t heard of Michael before DB brought him to my attention, but he’s a gifted alto sax player (my dad teaches alto sax so I’ve grown up hearing it played!). I hope he doesn’t mind, but here’s a video from his site of him playing God Bless America at a Dodgers Game (being a Flyers fan, this one jumped out at me. He’s no Kate Smith, but he’s pretty good!)

httpv://youtu.be/e_rDU26nV2I

There you go, three cigars that are new and interesting. Over the last few weeks I smoked some old favorites that I’ve posted about before. Having a few weeks worth of trip report posts allowed me to catch up a little and smoke some cigars without having to pay attention to them and document them. It’s nice to just grab a cigar and smoke it once in awhile! Also, please join me in welcoming Best Cigar Prices to the CigarCraig.com family. These guys have been around for a long time and have terrific customer service. I looked to them way back when I interviewed George Hamilton as they carried a Hamilton House cigar that was dirt cheap and not too bad. They were very helpful on the phone on a Saturday and I ended up ordering a box as well. Fine folks, check them out. Thanks to them for the support, and thanks to Matt and DB for sharing these cigars with me!