Tag Archives: Kudzu

by | June 21, 2020 · 10:49 am

Providencia Spectrum and Espinosa Comfortably Numb Cigars and Other Stuff

Happy Father’s day. Later today I’ll smoke the last cigar from a box of cigars I bought for Father’s Day in 2000. It’ll be a hard cigar not to save, but I’m going to bite the bullet and light it anyway. I didn’t smoke the whole box one every Father’s Day, it took a few years for me to develop that tradition. I had smoked a few and shared a few, but over the years I had a few gifted to me as well to supplement the inventory, thanks to Mike Perry for extending my tradition for a few years by sharing some of his aged stash with me! So today will see the last Esperanza Para Los Niños toro, a cigar made by Christian Eiroa in 1999 with the help of some guys from a usenet group who met up in Danli and selected this blend and sold it with proceeds going to children orphaned by hurricane Mitch. $85 a box was a fortune for me at the time, a bargain now for an excellent cigar, which was heavy bodied, not unlike the old Camacho Triple Maduro. It’s always an adventure smoking a 20 year old cigar, I’m rather looking forward to it, but it’ll come with some sadness as I’ll never have another! I still have the box someplace though! 

 

On to some cigars I actually smoked! I went on a brief Southern Draw bender on the heels of their press release announcing the cancelation of all of their public events for the rest of the year due to pandemic concerns. Personally, I find this to be a responsible decision, as areas that seem to be lax in their preventative measures seem to have a higher infection rate, and who amung us doesn’t want to protect their families? I think the Rose of Sharon Desert Rose is one of the top Connecticut shade style cigars out there, and the Kudzu Lustron is definitely a top notch cigar as well! I smoked both, they are the same box pressed torpedo vitola and are delicious. Speaking of box pressed torpedos from a Texas-based cigar company, I also smoked a cigar from Providencia Cigars. This cigar is called Spectrum, and my assumption is that it has an autism charity connection, considering the colorful puzzle pieces on the band. I can appreciate this theme. If I were to guess, I’d say it was 5″ x 52ish, and the only information I have on it is that it has a Sumatra wrapper that was characterized as delicate and thin. I was advised to avoid wind and humidity due to the fragility of the wrapper, so I did. This is an abso-friggin-lutely delicious cigar! As with just about every Providencia cigar I’ve ever smoked, the cigar burned perfectly. This was the rival of another Sumatra wrapped, honduran made cigar I love in flavor, balance and overall enjoyability (Don Juan Calavera). There’s a sweetness that I really dig, I really have to buy a mixed bag of old-timey hard candy and try to isolate that flavor, but there’s a candy sweetness that makes this cigar a great desert smoke. Absolute joy. I don’t have any idea what the availability of this is or was, but try it if you can. 

 

I believe the Espinosa Comfortably Numb Vol.1 is a Meier and Dutch distributed brand, which is the distribution arm of Cigars International. I picked this one up a few years ago at the CI store in Hamburg when Erik Espinosa was there the day Cigar Fest tickets went on sale. I was just there for the spectacle of it all, hundreds of people lined up outside for hours in the freezing cold for tickets, not my bag, baby. This is a toro with an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Corojo binder and Nicaraguan fillers and is surprisingly mellow. It almost smoked like a shade wrapped cigar. It doesn’t have the grassy flavor, but it does have a sweet, nutty flavor that is pretty nice, and it seemed to have aged pretty well. I say “aged”, it was February of 2018 when I picked this cigar up, so, it’s hardly aged compared to a lot of things, but it held up. Tasty cigar, and not badly priced. I’d be very tempted to sample the madur version, the Vol. 2, the next time I happen to be in a CI store, or if I see it in a shop. Older folks will note the Alton Kelley/Wes Wilson inspired band design.

 

Speaking of “aging”, I smoked one of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Famous Smoke Shop 80th Anniversary cigars from last October last night and it was spectacular. There’s not a lot of Saka’s cigars I don’t like, but this one is pretty special. Well, on with the day, have a great one, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | November 24, 2019 · 11:05 am

A Trinitas, a Couple of Southern Draw and a Couple of Joya de Nicaragua Cigars

I had had some plans this week that didn’t come together, more on that later, but I wanted to highlight a few cigars I smoked during the week, as I normally do on Sundays. First one that was really the standout of the week was the Providencia Trinitas Corona. This is a new size, adding to the 6″ x 52 perfecto (read about it here), with the same San Andrés wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan Ligero fillers. In my February 2018 post I pointed out that they misspelled “lijero” twice in the description, and they still haven’t fixed it, I’m insulted that they don’t read ?.  Anyway, of course I’m a sucker for the San Andrés wrapper, and I’m not afraid of ligero, however it’s spelled, and despite my love of the toro, there’s something about a corona gorda that always appeals to me. I believe this one might be a little shy of a corona gorda, and a little more than a corona, listed at 5¾” x 44, it falls squarely in between the two. I actually find coronas to be too small for my liking, so this was outstanding, 46 ring would be perfection. Anyway, we’ve established that I approve of the size, wrapper and perceived strength profile. The flavor did not disappoint. Since it’s a smaller ring gauge, one has to smoke it slower or it overheats and has a sharper flavor, so I smoked it slowly and savored the spice, earthiness and cocoa/coffee flavors I like in this type of cigar. Despite the “tripple ligero” designation on the band, it wasn’t overly strong, just about the right amount of strength when smoked  at the right pace. Awesome cigar, just like it’s perfecto sibling. The folks at Providencia Cigars produce some darned tasty cigars! 

 

I revisited a few Southern Draw favorites this week.  I had every intention of heading out to Colmar, PA to the CigarCigars store there on Thursday for the Southern Draw event with Robert Holt, as I hate when he’s in the area and I don’t get to say hello, but a wicked toothache ruined my day, and I didn’t feel like going anywhere. I managed to get a dentist appointment and I had some interviews the following day I wanted to be prepared for, so I decided to stay home. I had pregamed with a delicious Southern Draw Rose Of Sharon Desert Rose the night before. This is a really tasty shade cigar, with what they describe as an Ecuador Cloud Grown Claro wrapper, which is probably a more accurate description of Ecuador Connecticut. It has Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan Ligero and Dominican Piloto Cubano in the filler as well, in a 5½ x 52 box pressed belicoso shape. It’s a stunning cigar in every way.  As great as the regular Rose of Sharon line is, the Desert Rose steps it up a notch in strength and body I think. It’s no mild Connecticut cigar, that’s for sure, it’s loaded with rich, creamy flavor, and is really a delightful smoke. When I decided not to go to Colmar (to be honest, my tooth hurt so bad, if I hit a bump in the car it hurt), I grabbed a Southern Draw Kudzu Lustrum. I figured at least I could be there in spirit. The Lustrum is the company’s five year anniversary cigar, made with some very special materials. The wrapper is a Nicaraguan Habano, but it’s the Media Tiempo priming, which is a notch above Ligero, and is rare, especially large enough to produce wrapper leaves. The binder is from Ometepe in Nicaragua and the fillers are undisclosed, although one might assume they are some variation on the Kudzu blend of Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania (if I remember correctly). This is made in a the same mold as the Rose of Sharon, a box pressed 5½ x 52 belicoso. This is another lovely cigar, for a whole different set of reasons. It’s got some spice and some coffee/cocoa and savoriness and I love it. The Kudzu is really good, this is a special Kudzu. Like all of the Southern Draw portfolio, these are both made at the A.J. Fernandez factory, and I can’t recall ever having a SD cigar with anything but perfect construction. I’m sorry I missed seeing Robert, he’s a super-nice dude.

 

Joya de Nicaragua has been dropping some goodies on me lately, and I love everything about JdN. They had announced the release of the Joya Copper, an addition to their Joya line (Red, Black, Cabinetta, Silver), exclusive to Cigars International. It was one of those press releases I didn’t share because a ton of other sites had posted about it by the time I saw it, and it wasn’t a wide enough distribution really. Raise your hands, how many people heard about the Joya Copper?  Anyway, long story short, the Copper Joya Copper comes in 4 vitolas: 4 ½ x 52 Consul (MSRP $6.60), 5 x 46 Corona Gorda (MSRP $6.30), 5 ½ x 52 Robusto (MSRP $7.10) and 6 x 50 Toro (MSRP $7.80). All come in boxes of 20.  I copy/pasted that part. It’s a Nicaraguan puro, with no other details about the blend. These will be sold in the CI stores only through the end of the year, and they will be available online after the first of 2020. I’m not sure why, but the packaging and band give me a golf vibe, with the dimpled background. So far, I’ve only smoked the Consul, the 4½” x 52 robusto size. It fit into the time I had available. I’m hoping these age well because it was a good cigar, but I found it to be unremarkable, and I suppose I expect to be more pleased with a Joya. Now, I’ve not had good luck wrapping my head around the Black and the Red, fine cigars, just haven’t tripped my trigger, so there’s that. I have the other three sizes yet to smoke, and these had only been in the humidor for a week, so let’s not jump to any conclusions yet. It was properly humidified, as I checked it with the Cigarmedics Humidimeter. Back in 2013 when I went to Cigar Safari with a bunch of bloggers, we discovered a cigar that, at that time, was only being sold in the Spanish market called Rosalones. We smoked a bunch of them and some of us were taken with them. They must have listened to us, or it was a coincidence (probably the later), but Rosalones showed up after that in the catalogs. At some point I bought a ten count box of them in the Gran Consul size, with is a 4¾” x 60 figurado that Joya de Nicaragua has used on their Antaño 1970 line, and Saka used on the Todos Las Dias Double Wide Belicoso. I don’t know that this size is even around any more and I only have a few left, but boy is this a good smoke! For an inexpensive cigar, these deliver the goods. Medium bodied, classic Nicaraguan richness. I’d have to see what’s out there now and sample them, but these have aged well and are just dandy smokes. 

 

Well, that’s more than enough for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | August 4, 2019 · 8:59 am

Smoking Some New Southern Draw Cigars This Week

I spent the week smoking some new cigars from Southern Draw Cigars, thanks to a generous care package from Robert and Sharon. They were very busy this year producing some new cigars and sizes, and this was their fifth year in business, which is quite a milestone, and they’e been very successful in a short time. If you follow this site, you saw a lot of press releases about these cigars in the weeks leading up to the IPCPR. This is largely due to their partnership with A.J. Fernandez, who makes all of their cigars, but Robert is very involved in all of the blending. He’s not an absentee brand-owner by any means, I’ve sat with him and had this discussion, and while he is relatively new to the industry, he gets his hands dirty, and spends time in the factory and buys the tobacco and really is involved in the process. I have a lot of respect for him and his family, and I’ve had he pleasure of meeting Sharon and her parents, and they are all super nice folks. SO I had to start the week trying out the Lustrum, with is the brands fifth anniversary cigar.

 

Lustrum is a take on the Kudzu, which was their first release. Makes good sense. I always enjoy a Kudzu, and I really enjoyed the Lustrum. The Lustrup is a 5½ x 52 box pressed Belicoso, with a Nicaraguan Habano Medio Tiempo wrapper, Nicaraguan Ometepe binder and Nicaraguan Proprietary fillers. Media Tiempo refers to a priming above ligero, which doesn’t happen on all tobacco plants, so it’s a small, rare leaf, with a lot of power and flavor. I loved the pepper, wood and coffee notes, and thought it was an amped up version of the Kuzdu. It was a special cigar and a nice celebration of Southern Draw’s five years. I liked this cigar a a lot, might be my second favorite of the new stuff, second to this next cigar.

 

From what appears to be the same mold, the next cigar I smoked was the Rose of Sharon Desert Rose. I know, I usually start with the maduro, I’m getting there. I’m very selective about the Connecticut shade cigars I smoke. Let me rephrase that, I’m not that selective about the ones I smoke, but the ones I really enjoy are on a pretty short list. Rose of Sharon is on that list. So I was excited to try the latest Southern Draw cigar with the pink band, the Desert Rose. They’ve used a heartier wrapper on this, calling it a Ecuadoran “Cloud Grown” Claro, which I suppose allows for it to be box pressed, where box pressing a thinner shade wrapper seems to be more difficult. The binder is Nicaraguan Habano  fillers of  Corojo 99 and Piloto Cubano ligeros from Honduras and the Dominican Republic. What all this ends up producing is a beautiful, medium bodied cigar, with a buttery smooth flavor, with a hint of spice. Pretty yummy.

 

Next up I made my selection based upon the time I had and I was in the mood for a double corona. Fortunately, one of this years Ignite cigars was a double corona, 7½ x 50, and is called Private Blend no. 3. There are two others, Private No.1, and Private No.4. I didn’t ask about Private No.2. Anyway, this year’s Ignite program includes a charitable donation to the Navy SEAL Foundation, and the band features the SEAL seal. This cigar has an Ecuador (presumably Habano) wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and proprietary Nicaraguan & Brazilian fillers. To me, this cigar had a totally different flavor profile than any Southern Draw cigar I’ve ever smoked, and I really enjoyed that. It was loaded with flavor, medium, smooth and rich, with some nuttyness, perhaps. This would be a great cigar for a long Sunday morning with a pot of coffee. a terrific cigar all the way to the end, and it took a good two hours to get to that end.

 

Ok, here’s the cigar you’d think I would have started this whole mess off with. If you know me, you know I love the Jacob’s Ladder. One time I was smoking my last one on a frigid winter night on a walk, and I noticed at one point that the cigar was no longer in my gloved hand and I panicked. I had to double back and luckily I found the cigar on the street, which, fortunately, was dry, as there was snow on the ground at the time. No damage, and I was able to finish the cigar, five second rule be damned. Anyway, I was excited to give the new iteration of the Jacob’s Ladder a try. This one is called Brimstone, and, as if it were possible, is another amped up version of the regular line. This guy is a 6″ x 56 perfecto, has a PA broadleaf wrapper, another US (PA?) maduro broadleaf binder and Ligero fillers from Nicaragua and the DR. This was a strong cigar. It’s a beautiful specimen, perfectly constructed, of course, and loaded with espresso and bitter dark chocolate and lots of pepper. It might have overpowered me a little, and maybe I like the regular Jacob’s Ladder more, but time will tell. Maybe this will be a better fall or winter cigar than a hot summer day cigar, who knows. This flies in the face of my usual tastes.

 

I wrapped up the week with the new size in the Cedrus line, the Toro. I have previously smoked the original size, the Belicoso, and I enjoyed it, but I’ve never been a great fan of the Indonesian wrapper. That being said, I like Sumatra wrappers, and that could be Indonesian, so maybe there’s some Indonesian wrappers I do like. Maybe I don’t know what I like. Either way, the 6″ x 52 toro is my favorite size, so that’s a plus. It has a Nicaraguan Habano 2000 binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I found this to be an interesting cigar. It started off rather spicy, with a tinglyness on the tongue. it smoothed out after a while, and continued with various spices throughout, and was a very entertaining ninety minutes of smoking enjoyment.

 

I didn’t get to the 300 Hands Connecticut, maybe tonight. Many thanks to Robert and Sharon for sharing their bounty with me.  There’s only so much time in the week. I have to work today, it’s been work, work, work the week! You can do me a favor though. I have an event coming up that that will require cigars with a “white” theme, so please suggest “white” themed cigars. For instance, in years past for this event I’ve smoked Montecristo White, Macanudo Inspirado White, Leccia White, and Fratello Bianco. See where I’m going with this?  Also, don’t forget to enter the contest that’s underway! That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | May 18, 2019 · 9:42 pm

Some Southern Draw Cigars at Cigar Cigars in Downingtown, PA

Thursday evening I stopped in to the Cigar Cigars shop in Downingtown, PA where my buddy Kevin, the manager there, was hosting Robert Holt of Southern Draw Cigars for an event. I ways enjoy visiting with Robert when he’s around, and he had been nice enough to drop me a message inviting me to hang out with him while he was in the area. I took the opportunity to finally smoke the Cedrus “The Hogan” upon arrival, which was among the handful of Southern Draw cigars I picked up while I was there. This 5.5 x 52 Belicoso is a beauty, and has a Besuki, Indonesia wrapper, Habano 2000, Nicaragua binder and Nicaraguan fillers. With the exception of Sumatra, I typically avoid Indonesian wrappers, however, this cigar had excellent flavor, lots of unique spices. Like all of Southern Draw cigars, it’s made in A.J. Fernandez’ factory, although you’ll never see the A.J. Fernandez name on any of the boxes, the cigars stand on their own merit.

 

I followed that with a Kudzu Robusto, which I selected because it was the shortest cigar I had bought, and I thought I had another one at home, but I was to later find out I was mistaken, it was a Firethorn I had at home. Oops, I guess I’ll have to grab some more Kudzus the next time I stop by the shop. It’s been a while since I smoked a Kudzu, but I always enjoyed the rich, chocolaty flavors of this cigar. It has an Oscuro Habano wrapper from Ecuador, Ometepe binder and Nicaragua and USA fillers. This one has some oomph to it, but it’s not the strongest cigar in the line. It’s well balanced and loaded with flavor.

 

Friday I went with my wife to a fundraising event for Outward Bound Philadelphia where she got to rappel 29 stories down the Two Commerce Square building. If you hunt down my Facebook profileFacebook profile you can see the video of her doing this, it was pretty gutsy! Our son is a course director for the organization and has been working for them for several years. It’s a worthy organization, if you have a chance, check them out and support them in your area. When I got home I figured I’d continue on the Southern Draw theme with another cigar I hadn’t had the chance to smoke yet, the 300 Hands Maduro in the 6.125 x 52 Piramides vitola. Of course, I am a Maduro fan, so I was looking forward to trying this one. It has an Esteli Maduro wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The 3oo Hands line is a value price line with proceeds going back to help the Nicaraguan people who make the cigars we love to smoke. The cigar is as I expected, a tasty, well-behaved maduro with cocoa and coffee flavor that was really enjoyable. This is another cigar I will buy more of. The Habano 300 Mano’s is an excellent cigar, but the Maduro is right up my alley.

 

Last night I went with the Jacobs Ladder, the one Southern Draw cigar i have trouble not smoking whenever i have them in my humidor. It took some restraint to let two days pass, let me tell you. I had a Toro, my favored size, I love the Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper on this cigar. One time I was smoking one of these, and it was the last one in my humidor, on a cold winter night while walking, and I realized it was no longer in my gloved hand, and I panicked, and retraced my steps looking for it in the dark, I found it and it was none the worse for wear and I was happy again. I really dig the Jacobs Ladder. This is the strongest cigar in the Southern Draw line, for now (I understand there may be something stronger coming down the line). While it;s strong, it’s loaded with flavors of espresso and dark chocolate, with the greats spice that the PA Broadleaf has. Out of the four cigar I smoked over the last three days, all had a perfect burn and draw, which is nice.

 

It’s always a pleasure hanging out with Robert, and Kevin always puts on a nice event at the Downingtown Cigar Cigars store. If you are a craft beer fan, you know Downingtown, PA as the home of Victory Brewery, and you may remember that it’s where I lived when CigarCraig.com started nearly 10 years ago.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | September 24, 2018 · 8:00 pm

Podcast: Episode 9: Robert Holt of Southern Draw Cigars

Robert and Craig Selfie

Photo by Robert

I met up with Robert Holt of Southern Draw Cigars at BnB Cigars in Chestnut Hill, PA last week and hung out for a while. I hadn’t seen Robert since I met him at the 2017 IPCPR show, so we caught up over some cigars. In this episode we talk about the rapid expansion of the Southern Draw brand, the core lines as well as the charitable outreach cigars they have going on.

 


 

Thanks to Robert for taking a few minutes, frankly, he’s a great interview because he’s passionate about his brand and does most of the talking.  Thanks also to Brian and Vince at BnB Cigars for having Robert in and allowing me to steal him for a few minutes. BnB is a great shop in Philadelphia, make sure to check it out if you’re in the area. There are so many great shops in the Philly area, someone should organize a crawl here!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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