Tag Archives: La Aurora

by CigarCraig | June 15, 2011 · 8:05 pm

Cigars So Far This Week: Rocky Patel, Oja,Hoya de Monterrey, 601 La Bomba

Off to a good start this week, I mailed my application for an Internet Media Membership for the IPCPR, in hopes of attending the trade show next month in Las Vegas. As I previously reported, I made my reservations over the weekend, so that part is already taken care of. I look forward to attending with the appropriate credentials, as well as seeing a lot of old friends and meeting a bunch of friends I haven’t yet met!

So, I started the week with a gifted Rocky Patel torpedo, a dark cigar with a secondary band identifying it as a Fusion MM. Information was hard to come by on this cigar, but I surmise that it is a Maduro Maduro, judging by both the flavor and the MM on the band. I received this cigar in a package from Tommy Berry, who I told that it was MY job to send cigars, not his! Kids these days, they never listen! Thanks for a tasty treat in this cigar! I don’t smoke a lot of RP cigars, not for any reason really, they just never seem to appear in my humidors. This dark cigar took a few clips to get past a pretty tight bunch at the foot, but it burned and drew nicely after I found the right spot. Chocolaty and smooth, it was all I look for in a maduro cigar. It was good for a walk to the store, and another 45 minutes or so on the front porch upon my return.

The next cigar so far this week was another sample from Oja Cigars, from Nicaragua. I mentioned before meeting Luis, the manufacturer of these cigars, at Cigar Safari and he was kind enough to send me some samples. This example was a powerhouse, strong, dark flavors in the 6″ x 50 toro with what I believe to be a Brazilian wrapper. I’ll get into more details after I’ve had a chance to enjoy more of these, and keep an eye on this name, and watch for a chance to win some of these here in the not too distant future.

In the “New Inmates in the Humidor” department, I used my Groupon for Stogieboys.com last week to purchase a box of Hoyo de Monterrey Sabrosos in Maduro. The transaction went well, and I received the box in two days. The Hoyos are an old-school petit corona, and I fired on up after a week’s rest. It was a nice smoke that will smooth out with some age. It had the sort of mouth coating feel that licorice gives, and was a nice little smoke. I had to wait until I made some room in the coolerdor before placing the order, but the little box of maduro beauties fit in very nicely. These will be a very nice smoke for the winter “Take A Cigar For A Walk” times, as 5″ x 40 is a very manageable quick smoke.

Tonight, as I’m writing this, I’m smoking a 601 La Bomba which I received a few weeks ago in a little box along with a 601 and a Murcialago, both of which I’ve enjoyed thoroughly in the past. This cigar, measuring a nearly perfect 5½” x 46, has a long tail on the cap, reminiscent of a firecracker. A harbinger of things to come? I think so. This cigar was a chore to light, it very stubbornly took the flame, but when it was lit, it assailed the taste buds with a ton of spicy cigar goodness. It grabs you by the collar and demands your attention. If I were to guess, I’d say that this is loaded with ligero, as it slapped me around the block, and went out easily if ignored for too long. Every re-light was almost a pleasure though, as that strong, spicyness stayed with this cigar to the end. I’m working on nubbing this one, as I beads of sweat begin to form on my brow. As cool as this cigar is visually with the long tail, that is soon gone, and the real fun begins. Perfect burn and draw, and tons of smoke. A clear winner in the taste and power department.

Well, it’s time to test the theory that sugar cures a case of the nic-sweats and grab a glass of sweetened iced tea before mowing the lawn, don’t expect straight lines in the grass after the last cigar! It’s a good thing I have a small yard and it’s not too hot out! Many thanks to Tommy, Luis and Eddie for thesse cigars, and I hope to see at least two of you in Vegas in a few weeks. I also hope to finally meet Jose Blanco, whom I just learned (story here) is retiring from La Aurora. I’m sure he’ll be sorely missed there, but I doubt he’ll disappear from the cigar world for long!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

Filed under Editorial, Review

Tagged as cigar, Cigar Safari, cigars, general, hoyo de monterrey, La Aurora, maduro, Oja, rocky patel, Take A Cigar For A Walk

by CigarCraig | May 29, 2011 · 5:04 pm

Gee, I Smoked Some More Cigars This Week! La Aurora, My Joya de Nicaragua Blend, and a Dirty Rat

It’s the Memorial Day weekend, and time to remember all those who gave their lives in service to the country so that we have a shot at enjoying a fine cigar once in a while! Thank You! Now, on to some cigar nonsense!

I caught an article this week via Twitter that Guillermo Leon had completed his purchase of the La Aurora cigar division from the parent company, Grupo Leon. I couldn’t think of a better cigar to celebrate this event than a La Aurora 107 Lancero that I had picked up when I met up with him last month at The Wooden Indian (the day my grand-daughter was born. Hard to believe she’s 4 weeks old already!). I took this cigar for a walk with my wife to the local convenience store, about a mile round trip. It certainly was a very nice cigar. There was a time in the recent past that you could almost expect a lancero to be plugged, but I haven’t had one that wasn’t perfectly made in some time. As a side note, I’ve been finding that a lot of the cigars I’ve been smoking have been well made. Either my selections have improved or there is an over-all trend in higher quality standards in the industry. Not complaining! It used t really annoy me when I’d invest my valuable cigar time and have a difficult stick. Back to the 107, I’ve now smoked this in the corona and lancero and enjoy the blend. I think the lancero is more of a good thing. I should try some of the other sizes. While these aren’t exactly what I look for taste wise in a cigar, they do give me a lot of pleasure, and I strive to keep an open mind.

I selected one of the cigar that I brought back from Cigar Safari in Nicaragua for my Friday night cigar. This was one of the ones that were made for us as a result of our blending session at Joya de Nicaragua. I chose the the Corojo wrapper, and a Sumatra binder as well as Seco from Condega. I focused on Esteli for the Viso and Ligero, with a little Condega Ligero thrown in for good measure. What I ended up with was a fairly strong cigar, both in flavor and body. I loved it, make no mistake, but it rivaled the Joya de Nicaragua Dark Corojo in sheer power, as a matter of fact, I commented to my son that I thought I had blended an Antaño Dark Corojo! He had smoked the first of his batch, and he had used much more ligero in his, and it wasn’t bad, his shade wrapper may have toned it down a bit. I smoked this cigar down to finger burning size, while it was one dimensional, it was a good dimension! I wouldn’t smoke these often, and I have four more resting to see how they develop over time. I continue to be amazed that a cigar that was rolled a mere 8 weeks ago is so perfectly smokable! Thanks to Mario Perez at Joya de Nicaragua and Jonathan Drew for this exercise. I’m reminded that I need to find some Cabinetta Lanceros sometime soon…great cigar! I actually think the Cabinetta Serie is my favorite blend from JdN for overall balance.

Saturday was a beautiful day, so for my evening walk I went with a Liga Privada Dirty Rat pre-release version that Steve Saka had sent me in January of 2010. This cigar has since been released as a Liga Privada Serie Unico as of last years IPCPR show. I’ve had several of these between the pre-release samples and the production line and they have all been exceptional. Deep and dark, these are well made and seriously satisfying. The stalk cut, Connecticut Habano wrapper is a thing of beauty and just tasty as all get out. I lamented to my wife at the time that I should have grabbed one of the longer prototype Rats I brought back from Cigar Safari, as this cigar was finished too soon. I could have easily spent another hour enjoying the deliciousness of the Dirty Rat. Truly a spectacular cigar.

Today is another day, not sure what I’ll pull out of the humidor yet, and tomorrow could present more opportunities still. Tuesday we head to NYC for a private cigar event, which we’ve been looking forward to. Everyone have a safe and enjoyable holiday, and remember all those who paid the ultimate price so that we can enjoy what we enjoy!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

Watch for a new discount code from StogieBoys.com coming soon.

3 Comments

Filed under Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as cigar, cigars, dirty rat, drew estate, Guillermo Leon, joya de nicaragua, La Aurora, Memorial Day, Serie Unico, Take A Cigar For A Walk, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | May 8, 2011 · 9:47 am

A Para Japon, a Rodrigo Toro and LGC Serie N Cigar Contest Winner Announced!

Today is Mother’s Day, so take care of the mothers in your life today instead of reading this nonsense you goons! I’ll be selecting something nice to smoke in honor of my mother, my children’s mother, my daughter the new mother, and moms everywhere. So do something nice for all the mothers in your life!

This week I smoked one of the Para Japón cigars from La Aurora which I won in a contest on CasasFumando.com. This is one of the blogs in my regular rotation that I recommend, Tony and Daniel produce some very nice reviews on a regular basis. Although I don’t drink, they always seem to pair their cigars with interesting looking beers and beverages. If you don’t visit regularly check them out. Thanks to them as well as the folks at Miami Cigar and Company and La Aurora Cigars for the opportunity to smoke this cigar which I may not have otherwise had the chance to smoke. The proceeds of the sale of these cigars will go directly to relief efforts in Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck that nation on March 11. I remember seeing the devastation on TV while we were in Nicaragua. The cigar is a 5″ x 50 Robusto that has been aging at La Aurora for several years, they had made these and had them aging. When a group of bloggers were visiting the La Aurora factory and suggested this project, they decided to use these cigars and came up with bands and packaging in a very short time. Kudos to all involved in getting a cigar to market so quickly for a noble cause. On to the cigar, it has a fairly dry Nicaraguan wrapper and woody flavor. The burn was excellent and I enjoyed it to a finger burning nub. A very nice cigar.

I decided to continue on a Dominican theme and selected a Rodrigo Toro for my evening walk last night. Fellow Pennsylvanian George Rodriguez generously sent me a sampler of these and I had previously smoked the Robusto and Lancero, the latter being my favorite of the two. The toro is 6″ x 50 and the example I smoked was badly cracked at the foot. The crack wasn’t too detrimental but it did effect the burn a bit as the wrapper separated from the binder a little and it required a few touch ups. The wrapper was what I would call “rustic”, not the prettiest cigar. The Lancero remains my favorite so far, with the torpedo remaining. The flavors were nice enough and it wasn’t bad, it just didn’t work as well for me as the Lancero did. Still a nice cigar, I’ll be interested in seeing where these fall retail price-wise.

I promised to announce a winner of another five-pack of yummy La Gloria Cubana Serie N JSBs and I am a man of my word. I’d like to thank Team La Gloria, as well as Victoria from General Cigar Co. for providing a box of these fine cigars to give away. After this there will be one more fiver for next month’s contest, after which I’ll have to start scrounging for some more contest prizes. I still have a few items in the contest box though, so never fear! Anyway, the winner of a five-pack of Serie N cigars is Allen, selected randomly using the random number generator at Random.org. Congrats Allen, please e-mail me your address so that I can send these out to you!

That’s it for now, Happy Mother’s Day all,until the next time,

CigarCraig

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3 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, general, general cigars, La Aurora, La Gloria Cubana, Para Japon, rodrigo

by CigarCraig | May 4, 2011 · 7:24 pm

La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003 and Emilio AF1 BMF

Today I am bringing you a contrast of sorts. Two very different cigars, both excellent. The first was a gift from Chris Lenzo, the Miami Cigar & Company sales rep whom I met on Saturday when I was celebrating the birth of my grand-daughter with Guillermo Leon at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA. The second was a sample provided by Gary Griffith of Delaware Cigars for review. Both were enormous in size and pleasure!

The La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003 is a very special cigar. My understanding is that there were only 12,000 of these produced in 2008 from 5 year old tobacco that was entirely from the 2003 crop. It’s a big beautiful figurado shaped cigar, measuring a whopping 7.2″ x 52, but it felt bigger! The wrapper was stunning and it was well made, a tribute to the few rollers that can make this shape cigar. It held the ash for my entire 1 mile walk, it looked like I was just getting started when I got back to my front porch, where I spent the next hour and a half luxuriating in the delicate nuances of this cigar. What a special treat that I dedicated to my daughter the new mom. It is definitely a rare and expensive cigar that I won’t likely have the chance to smoke again anytime soon! A special treat, thank you Chris!

Last night, after Alan Price had inquired on Sunday, I decided to sit down with an Emilio AF1 BMF for the evening. This is another enormous cigar, 6″ x 58, with a dry, dark Mexican maduro wrapper (one of my favorites!). I was thinking about the front-mark BMF, trying to work out it’s significance. I ruled out “By My Father” since it’s a published fact that this is made by A.J. Fernandez in Esteli, not Pepin Garcia. I haven’t looked up the price on these, so “Blow My Fortune” is a possibility. I settled on “Big Mother F***er” since that seemed to fit the best, because it is a gigantic cigar. This cigar is bold out of the gate. It’s very much in line with my cigar preference, it’s full bodied, it’s full flavored, and has the dark roast, dark cocoa flavors I look for in a maduro cigar. This is another cigar that occupied nearly 2 hours of my time. It burned dead even and had a perfect draw, neither too firm nor too loose. I can’t wait to smoke the other sample, which is a standard 6″ x 50, toro I believe. Gary has something with the Emilio and the Grimalkin, (which maybe could be called a BMF too?) which, while very different cigars are both excellent. I may have to grab a few the next time I visit the Wooden Indian as they are listed as a retailer.

Just prior to writing this post I received an e-mail from Tommy Berry, Jr., who has been busy purchasing a house and passing his ham radio license test. He admits to slacking off and not sending “Take a Cigar for a Walk” updates. I hope when things settle down he can get back to walking and sending in some reviews!

Don’t forget to leave a comment on my last post for a chance to win a five pack of La Gloria Cubana Serie N cigars, and also see the bottom of this entry for information on a discount code generously provided by StogieBoys.com!

Until the next time,

Cigar Craig

Don’t forget the Stogieboys.com Discount code:

Promo code: CigarCraigBlog (enter in promo code box in shopping cart)

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Expires 6/30/11

2 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, Emilio, Grimalkin, La Aurora, La Gloria Cubana, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | April 17, 2011 · 3:21 pm

Sunday Cigar Ramblings: La Aurora 107, Vegas de Santiago Lancero

Finally a bright, sun-shiny Sunday afternoon, which would be perfect without the gusty wind. Wind or not, here I sit on my deck, in the sun, smoking a Vegas de Santiago Don Luis Secreto del Maestro maduro lancero. This is a beautifully made cigar, with a little bit of a pigtail cap. It measures7.5 x 38 and is referred to on their site as a Laguito No.1. Actually, this size isn’t listed on the website, but is available by request. I had been contacted some time ago by Lani and Rudi at Vegas de Santiago asking what I liked in a cigar, and I did a little daydreaming and mentioned that I would be interested in what the Sectretos del Maestro blend would be like in a lancero, and while I was dreaming, what would it be like with a maduro wrapper. A few weeks later a package of 5 of these show up in my mailbox! Anyway, I had smoked one over the winter, and I decided I needed to smoke one again, and I had the time for a 7½” cigar. The ash is a little brittle, but the burn is fantastically even and the draw is perfect. The flavors are very nice, it’s medium bodied and quite pleasant. It’s not a dark, chocolaty/espresso maduro, which is what I look for in a maduro, but still a very nice cigar. Vegas de Santiago is a kind of unsung Costa Rican brand that has been around for a long time and makes really nice cigars at a very good price point.

Friday evening after coming home from work, then running to the cycle shop to pick up the scooter after getting inspected and the belt changed, I decided to take a La Aurora 107 Corona for a walk. My son, Corey, who went with me to Cigar Safari, decided to come along and smoke one of the cigars that we blended (on paper, from the emergency hospital!). At that point on the trip he wasn’t feeling well and made up an Equador Connecticut Shade wrapped, mostly seco, blend that he said tasted a little ashy. His blend was bound to be super mild, I hope that they round out a little for him with age. The 107 was one that I picked up on a visit to De La Concha in Manhattan last year. It’s the only size I’ve smoked in the line, and it was a very nice cigar. Burn and draw were perfect and while the flavors aren’t exactly my style, it was still a very satisfying smoke.

I want to thank Tommy Berry for sending me some cigars this week! I told him that sending cigars was MY job, but he didn’t listen and sent a nice package anyway. I’m glad to have a Diesel in my humidor again, and Rocky Patel‘s are always quite welcome! There are another two that I’m not familiar with and have been too lazy to research. Hopefully Tommy will fill me in on those two. Thanks buddy! I hope your house buying is moving forward and I look forward to you next “Take a Cigar for a Walk” submission!