Tag Archives: La Aurora

by | August 12, 2012 · 5:50 pm

An Almost Regular Sunday Cigar Post

Since coming back from the IPCPR show earlier in the week I’ve been working on getting some of the videos we shot during the show.  I actually haven’t been smoking a lot of cigars lately, and really didn’t smoke many while at the show!  I started getting a cold while there, and everything has tasted funny for the last week, so why bother!  I had made a decision that while I was on the show floor, I was going to abstain from smoking cigars for two reasons: first that it’s one more thing to have in my already full hands, and second, I hate walking into one persons booth with another person’s cigar, it just seems rude.

 

On the opening night I smoked an Emilio AF1 athe “Gala” dinner, followed by an Alec Bradley Prensado Robusto at their after party.  I had brought both of these cigars along with me, and they were both exceptional.  The one cigar I did smoke on Friday was a pre-release ORTSAC San Andrés robusto, which was amazing.  I’ll get more when I can because I really want to experience it without the distractions of the show. Friday night we went to the Joya de Nicaragua party which was in an enormous tent in the parking lot of one of the Corona Cigar stores.  These Corona stores are amazing places, by the way.  They are set up in a super market style, with everything out on display in rows.  I purchased a pair of the new CLE Corojo Preferidos for future enjoyment while there, and went on to enjoy a wonderful Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Lancero at the party.  I know, I should have smoked the new Cuenca y Blanco which we were there to celebrate the release of, but when the lancero calls…

 

Saturday was our last day on the show floor.  At this point I just propped myself up with various over the counter cold remedies and soldiered on.  As you can see, and will see in the coming weeks, we shot a fair amount of videos over the course of the day.  After the show closed, we visited the Toraño hospitality tent for a smoke where we ran into our friends Mitch and George.  At the hospitality tent we had our choice of the new size they were debuting at the show, the LFC, which is a 4½x60.  Charlie talks about these in the video I did with him which I posted last week. I selected an Exodus 50 years, but they also had the Vault, the Loyal and the Master.

Mitch and George with an old car that had the steering on the wrong side

From there we went to see the downtown Corona store with Mitch and George.  We sat and ordered a pizza from across the street and from someplace a Gurkha Cellar Reserve Perfecto appeared which I smoked and enjoyed. I have Mitchell to thank for that, as well as the food and drinks, he really needs to take a couple bucks for this stuff one of these days!  George gifted me a very special cigar which I will report on when I can taste again, thank you very much! I would love to have smoked it then, but it would have been criminal in the state I was in.  The volume went up on the music at Corona, so we found where I parked the car and headed back to the other Corona location for the Miami Cigar/La Aurora party in the tent.  They had a live band there, it was very loud and smokey and a lot of the party had spilled out into the driveway, which had been closed off.  Everyone seemed to be there again, many of the manufacturers, retailers and bloggers.  It was very kind of Corona Cigar Co. to host all of these fine events.  I understand the Sunday night Drew Estate event was fantastic. We packed it in around midnight, it had been a long day and we had my 18 year old son and his friend to worry about.

 

We spent Sunday at the Magic Kingdom, riding the rides and having a nice day. Monday we made the long drive home, stopping for dinner at a Waffle House in NC, just because I didn’t think it would be right to drive down and back without eating there once!  We had a great trip.  Took too few pictures, smoked too few cigars, but had a great time seeing old friends.  I have to thank my publicist/ videographer/wife for putting up with me dragging her around the show floor and helping me out along the way.

Here’s a few random pictures:

Uncle Sam getting the most of the second hand smoke!

 

Kiss My Ash Radio going live from the show floor

Fake Cubans in a little grocery in Kissimmee near our hotel. I told the girl they were fake, she didn’t care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had asked for input into what you wanted to know from the manufactures, and I’m afraid I avoided the questions about the FDA.  I did this because I really want to remain positive about it, and I thought asking what plans they have should the FDA regulate cigars would result in being told that it would shut down all but the largest players.  In retrospect, maybe having a library of videos of people saying they’d be put out of business would make a point to the government, but I didn’t really want to bring down the excitement of the show and new products.

 

Stay tuned for plenty more videos over the coming weeks.  I’ll try to pair them with smoking the samples, if my taste buds ever return to normal!  I’ve  smoked a cigar or two since getting back, but have felt that it was a waste to have done so.  I didn’t even have a cigar in the pool today!

Anyway, until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | July 15, 2012 · 9:32 am

An Old La Aurora, Emilio Visits The Wooden Indian, and Another Hoyo de Monterrey Contest!

Friday evening I decided the time had come for a La Aurora Preferidos No.2 that has been knocking around my humidors for years.  I’m going to assume this was a Corojo wrapper, as it certainly wasn’t maduro or Connecticut, and it sure didn’t taste like Cameroon. On side note: on the La Aurora website they either have the Maduro No.2 pictured incorrectly, or the Maduro No.1 labelled incorrectly – Barry: get on that, would you bro!)  This cigar is a handsome 5″ x 54 perfecto, really quite a unique shape these days, although it used to be the standard, what cigars looked like 100 years ago.  As you can see from the picture, this poor cigar had a couple chips in the wrapper, no doubt from so many years rolling around naked in various humidors over the last 5 or 10 years, I honestly can’t remember how long.  This cigar burned perfectly, the draw and smoke were perfect, and it had that smoothness and refinement of flavor that years of age bring. I saved this cigar for a special occasion for so long, I finally decided it was time and went for it.  Glad I did, because it was a terrific experience.

 

Earlier in the week I received a message from Dave, the owner of the Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop in Havertown, PA letting me in on the fact that Gary Griffith and Nathan McIntyre of Emilio Cigars would be visiting Saturday at 9am.  Of course, my initial response was something like “9:00 on a Saturday morning?” But I sucked it up, threw on some clothes, and drove out to have a rare morning cigar.  When I arrived, the guys were all in the spacious walk-in humidor looking at the selection of Emilio cigars.  As I had yet to try the AF Suave, I picked up a handful of corona on Nathan’s recommendation, headed to the cash register, and fired one up.   What a tasty cigar, perfect for the morning, although it would certainly be satisfying any time of day.  Another winner from the Emilio stable.  It was great meeting Nate finally, always a pleasure spending time with Gary, and seeing  Alan Price, Emilio rep, CRA ambassador and all-around good guy was an added bonus.  As always, Dave and his staff at the Indian are always exceptional and entertaining.  If you ever find yourself in the Philadelphia area and want a great selection as well as a very comfortable Liga Privada Lounge (the first!), head west on Market street and find the shop, you won’t be sorry.  I wrapped up the day with an Emilio AF1 Toro, which was just delicious and may be my favorite in the line.

 

Contest

What am I going to do in a few weeks when I don’t have a Sunday contest to post?  We’ll, I suppose I’ll be at Disneyworld with my wife, and then getting IPCPR stuff ready for you after a short travel break.  Anyway, there’s still time to enter the Hoyo de Monterrey Box-a-day give-away at HoyodeMonterreyCigar.com, and I have another pair of Reposados en Cedros 3-packs to give away to a lucky reader who leaves a comment here and send me his (or her) address after the winner is announced on Wednesday.  The latter part is critical!  My last two winners, Allen and Joel, were very prompt and their packages are on their way. Let the games begin!

 

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

CigarCraig

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by | May 2, 2012 · 6:11 pm

A Namakubi, a Guillermo Leon and a Liga Privada

Sunday was a beautiful day, and we had plans to attend our grand-daughter’s first birthday party at my daughter’s house.  After I finished publishing Sunday’s installment, I had just enough time to relax in the sunshine with a cigar.  This was one of those circumstances where the cigar selection is very important, too large a cigar and there’s not enough time to finish.  Fortunately, I had picked up a couple small Room 101 Namakubis a few weeks back at an event at one of the local shops.  I selected the Roxxo for the morning smoke and it was terrific.  It’s a 4″ x 48 stubby robusto, made in the Camacho factory, a Ecuador Habano wrapper around Honduran and Dominican fillers.  Such a great size for an hour in the sunshine on a Sunday morning with a cuppa joe.  It had just the right balance of spice and sweetness.  Really a nice little cigar, I think I liked it better than it’s little bro, the Papi Chulo.  Two thumbs up.

 

Monday was actually my grand-daughter’s birthday, and we had such fun watching her at her party digging into her cake!  You may recall, a year ago I celebrated her birth at the Wooden Indian in the town where my daughter lives with Guillermo Leon himself.  I had picked up a couple of his Guillermo Leon Signature Corona Gordas and decided that it would be the perfect cigar to mark the occasion. A year of age hasn’t hurt this particular example, it was a tasty smoke.  I love the 6″ x 47 size of these and it burned very nicely.  While I don’t generally gravitate toward the flavor profile that comes out of the La Aurora factory, I certainly need to re-think that, because I’m enjoying more and more cigars that come from there,  and have always had a soft spot for them.  It goes back to my first box of cigars being La Aurora Bristol Especiales, purchased largely because my daughter’s name is Aurora.  I will always try cigars from La Aurora based on that small fact, and I’ll always find something to enjoy about the experience.  Always well made, and the Guillermo Leon Signature will forever remind me of the day my first grand child was born.

 

Tuesday evening turned out to be a nice, warm spring evening, so I felt like digging into my dwindling supply of Liga Privada cigars, and came up with a T52 Robusto.  I probably purchased this at an event a few years ago, so it was not without a bit of age.  I love it when a cigar is perfectly flat when you tap off the ash.  It’s a testament to the blender that he can select tobaccos that all burn at the same rate.  Astounding. really, after having seen how differently various leaves burn. Some leaves burn up almost immediately upon being lit (seco leaves) and others (ligero) smolder and barely burn at all.  It’s truly a miracle.  Anyway, I’m always impressed with a Liga Privada, and the T52 is no different.  One of the few cigars I’ll spend $10+ dollars on, and I don’t do it often.  An hour and  a half or so of satisfying relaxation in robusto form!

 

That’s all I have for now.  Don’t forget to get on over and sign the  Whitehouse Petition, if you haven’t already, and keep pestering your elected officials to keep the FDA out of our humidors!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | January 15, 2012 · 9:17 am

A Visit to Cigar-Ette City and Gary Griffith (and a Grimalkin)

Yesterday was a bit on the chilly side, so I figured I’d look for a nice, warm indoor smoking location.  I’ve been wanting to take a ride south of the boarder and visit Gary Griffith at his Peoples Plaza Cigar-Ette City store for a while, and decided the time had come.  I grabbed the GPS and hit the road, taking the 1 hour and 7 minute drive.  I got there a bit ahead of schedule and Gary greeted me warmly and we went into the enormous walk-in humidor. It was at that point that I realized the flaw in my plan: The State of Delaware frowns upon smoking indoors!  Here we have a store that sells cigars and other tobacco products, and you can’t smoke in it.  If you have been complacent in contacting your elected officials about the FDA issue, do it now.  Not being able to smoke in your local shop is only scratching the surface of the “inconveniences” we’ll face it the FDA is allowed to regulate Premium Cigars.

 

 

Anyway, all was not lost.  I wandered around the humidor for a while talking to Gary, and marvelling at the ridiculous amount of inventory.  He had all kinds of boutique brands that I don’t see a lot of in my local shops, but hear about everywhere.  The Viajes, Tatuajes, Illusiones, 262s, you name it.  Boxes stacked to the ceiling, I even saw a stack of the Para Japon cigars that La Aurora made to aid the Japanese earthquake relief. Of course the Emilio and Grimalkin lines were well represented, and I picked up a couple Grimalkin Robustos while I was there. The moral of the story is that one could leave a ton of cash behind in this store, and the prices were competitive with Pennsylvania prices given that the lack of a state sales tax offsets the cigar tax.

 

Here’s a little video I shot with Gary telling us about what’s coming down the line in 2012 for the Emilio family of cigars.  I know I’m excited to see what comes next.

 

httpv://youtu.be/VzeaLToxhR8

 

 

After I got home and fed, I still needed to smoke the cigar I set out earlier in the day to smoke, so I grabbed a Grimalkin Robusto and took a long and satisfying walk.  The cigar was awesome, although I believe more of the subtlety and complexity is apparent when the temperatures aren’t around freezing.  Still, this is an incredible cigar that everyone should try if they can.  My thanks to Gary for his hospitality, and for making dynamite cigars.

 

That’s it for now.  I used a new camera for the video this time, I’d like to know if you think the quality is better than my previous videos.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | August 14, 2011 · 8:47 am

Sunday Cigar Recap: Joya de Nicaragua, Brick House, Berger & Argenti, Broadway and a Contest Winner!

Here’s a few cigars I smoked this week:

Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Robusto – I just love these cigars.  I loved them before I watched them being rolled in the factory, and I love them more every time I smoke one.  Such a good cigar.  Well balanced, great tasting and beautifully constructed.  To me they are special because I watched them rolled in Nicaragua, and they are reasonably priced (which is astounding considering the extra steps taken in the rolling process), and suite my taste buds.  If you haven’t tried these, you should.  I will purchase a box of the lanceros at some point, it’s just a matter of time…

 

Brick House Mighty Mighty 6¼” x 60   – For some reason I’ve been in the mood for large cigars, and this was a big one. This line has been around a while and received glowing reviews and is another reasonably priced cigar.  I picked this one up on my Father’s Day cigar run.  Very nicely made with rich flavors.  A most enjoyable 90 minute vacation in a cigar.  This line received an award from Cigar Journal magazine for the best value Nicaraguan cigar last month at the IPCPR show, an event which I was fortunate enough to attend.  This is made by the folks at J.C.Newman in Nicaragua based on one of the company’s first brands in the US. Again, a very nice cigar for a fair price.

 

Berger and Argenti Entubar Double Corona (7 5/8” x 54)  – Another large cigar, this one carrying a warning band at the foot advising to toast the entire foot, not just the protuberance of ligero, under penalty of death.  I was tempted to ignore this sage advise, but having spoken to both Kiki Berger (who gave me this sample) and Al Argenti at the show, I decided not to risk it and did as instructed.  There is something to be said for the entubado method of construction as the burn and draw were spectacular on this cigar.  It tasted good too, the Ecuadorian ‘Desflorado’ Connecticut wrapper, which seems to be all the rage these days, was very nice (I believe “Desflorado” means “deflowered”, and I was under the impression that all of the tobacco plants except for the absolute healthiest and strongest specimens have the flowers removed, so I’m not sure what this means in the description, but it is a cool sounding word!).

 

Broadway by La Aurora – I picked this up last March on a family trip to NYC at De La Concha. This is a cigar that La Aurora made specifically to help New York tobacconists survive after the 75% Tax on cigars was put into place. I picked up similar themed cigars from Alec Bradley and Gurkha while I was there. This is a nice cigar that starts out with a little kick. It’s a 5¾ x 54 with a unique double wrapper of Ecuador Sumatra and Nicaraguan, with Dominican Corojo binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Peruvian fillers. Mine burned fairly well, although my son, who smoked one with me, had some trouble with the burn on his. We may need to check his humidor, I can imagine with a double wrapper, the right humidity is going to be the key to a good burn with this. I’m trying to figure out how they manage to reduce the manufacturing cost of this cigar for sale in New York, but use two wrappers. It seems counter-intuitive, but I suppose it works, because the cigar is pretty tasty.

 

Here is a quick video of Kiki Berger from Cuban Crafters at last month’s IPCPR show. I’ll take this opportunity to thank Don Kiki again for taking the time to talk to me, hooking me up with a Cuban coffee and some samples, and giving me this spiffy new Perfect Cut cutter. I’ve been using this a lot in the last few weeks and I like it a lot. Unlike similar cutters that I like a lot, this one has a resin (plastic) body that is very light in the pocket. My other favorite cutter is all stainless steel and quite heavy. This one does a great job, has a cool hole in the back so you can cut a torpedo and doesn’t drag your trousers to the ground!

 

In the News

Here are a few interesting links I came across this week, the first is about an old brand that was made up the road from me in Reading, PA. The second one isn’t really cigar related, but is a cool article about a Beatles themed bar in Havana.

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=325430#.TkPxXgeipfs.email

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/world/americas/08havana.html?_r=3

 

Also, many thanks to our local newspaper, the Daily Local News for including this site on their Blogtown page and featuring it on the front page of their site yesterday!

 

Contest!

I need to select a winner of my General Cigars prize pack.  As you can see, the prize pack has doubled since I announced it a week ago, thanks to Victoria at General Cigars for sending along some more goodies.  Be sure to get on over to http://www.macanudomillionaire.com and enter to win a trip to Vegas and a chance to win a million bucks.  We had 17 entries, with one being disqualified since he won in the last 6 months.  So I entered  16 into the random number generator and it spit out the number 11 which corresponds to Paul.  Please drop me an e-mail with your address so I can get this out to you!  I hate to have to work too hard to give stuff away, so get your contact info to me with me having to chase you down! 🙂

 

That’s all I have for now, and I think we can all agree that it was enough…so until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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