Tag Archives: La Palina

by CigarCraig | November 11, 2018 · 12:22 pm

La Palina, Tatuaje, Liga Privada and Something New from CigarProp!

Sorry, I’m short on planning this week, but fortunately the mailman left me something neat to talk about yesterday! But, before I get to that, I have a few cigars to talk about. I didn’t really get to anything new this week, while I had a mid-week “weekend”, consisting of two days off in a row, I busied myself with other things, and smoked some old favorites. Tuesday was election day, and between errands I smoked a Merlion Maduro toro and a La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel, both were really good, and cigars I enjoy frequently. It’s getting cold here, and today’s project will be to winterize the smoking porch and get the propane heater working, it wouldn’t light for me last night, much to my dismay! It was in the 30s and less than comfortable with only a little electric heater! Friday evening I had another favorite while I was a guest on the Cigar Hacks Podcast’s 52nd episode, a Cornelius and Anthony Señor Esugars Toro. They are an entertaining bunch originating out of the New England area, and it occurs to me that I listen to five or six podcasts from that area, I must enjoy hearing that accent or something. Event though they can be wicked hahd to undehstand sometimes, they are a funny bunch, I was honored that they invited me on.

I ran across a La Palina cigar that I wasn’t familiar with and decided to smoke it, then, ironically, I received a package with a few new samples a few days later. The cigar had a purple band and a “120” on the secondary band. A little research turned up that this was a 120th anniversary release for the brand, which makes sense considering the La Palina brand was launched by Samuel Paley in 1896, and this cigar had been in my humidor for at least two years. Some additional asking around turned up rumor that this might have been a pre-FDA deadline release of the El Año 1896 to get the blend in commerce kinda thing. If that’s the case, this cigar came out of the PDR factory and is the La Palina 120th Anniversary Oscuro Robusto. I want to say I got this from BnB Tobacco, so maybe they were one of a few retailers who had it? I can’t do more than speculate. I can say that last year I smoked the El Año 1896 made at PDR and really liked it, and I really liked this La Palina 120th Anniversary Oscuro and could see where it might have been the same cigar, although with age differences and time passed between smoking it’s always hard to tell. I do have some new versions of the El Año 1896 now made at Plasencia that are on deck for sampling this week which I’m very much looking forward to. The cigar was a nice smoke with rich cocoa and coffee note that I like, it burned well and had everything I like in a cigar. I doubt I’ll ever see another one of these, but if the new El Año is this good I’ll be quite happy!

The Tatuaje I smoked was a Cojonu 2006 that I had come across in the drawer of my New Air wineador all alone and looking lonely. I had purchased this cigar with a handful of others a while back at one of the Tatuaje bus tour events at Cigar Mojo in King of Prussia, PA. This cigar is in the Seleccion de Cazador – Miami range of the Reserva line and has a Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler. I’m surprised I hung on to this one so long as I don’t like having un-cello’d cigar in the humidor too long as they sometimes suffer from jostling around. I’m funny that way. When ever the cello on/off debate come up I always say leave it on if it’s on. The people making the decision that it’s OK to put it on in the first place know a lot more about cigar than I do and I trust their judgement. If there was any reason not to keep cigar in the cello sleeves, they wouldn’t go to all the trouble to do it, and trust me, it’s no easy thing to put cigars in cello! They do it all by hand, I’ve tried it and it’s tedious work. I even get irritated if I try to put one back in, try it some time, then imagine doing it for eight hours a day, five days a week. Anyway, the Cojonu is a really great tasting cigar, it’s earthy, with some sweet notes, and fairly heavy. Now I’m sad I don’t have any more of these, and I’d sure love to try this with the Broadleaf wrapper.

Last night I got home from work late and much to my delight there was a package waiting for me from Kevin at Cigar Prop! This is always exciting, as I knew he had a new product coming out, and I was excited to lay eyes on it. I’ve been a fan of his Cigar Props since he came out with them. They aren’t a new idea, I’ve made rudimentary versions of these myself over the years, but his execution and marketing has been really excellent, and this item is a brilliant extension of the Cigar Prop idea and completes the package. As it was a cold night, and late, I grabbed a Liga Privada T 52 Corona Viva which Pedro Gomez had given me the last time I saw him (note: not an IPCPR sample as I didn’t make it to the show..wink, wink, Joe…:->). This “Corona Viva is 6″ x 46, not exactly a corona, maybe a corona larga…but not the 5.65” x 46 corona gorda that the Undercrown of the same name is. Lets see if anyone from Drew Estate is reading this: On both the Liga No. 9 and T52 pages on the website it lists the Corona Viva size as 178 mm x 54, which is the size of the Coron Doble. I have print screens to prove it in case they fix it and try to say I’m crazy…serves them right for trying to be fancy and use metric measurements! can’t fool me! Anyway, I actually like the 6″ x 46 format, and it smoked really well, but it was too late to have a cigar, and as happens when I do that, I had really freaky dreams all night. I hadn’t had a T52 in a really long time, maybe the last one I had was a prototype 60 ring which just wasn’t particularly good, a bit washed out. This one really popped though, the flavor was right there with some sweet earth and leather. I dug it. To add to the special cigar, I had a new ashtray, complete with a perfect hole to hold my favorite Cigar Prop,

Churchill photo credit to CigarProp

adorned with cigar related quotes (which, regrettably, eventually get obscured by ash). This beautifully hand machined ashtray is called the Robusto, and has a spot for one Cigar Prop rest, and is also available in a larger “Churchill” with places for two Props. The 6061 aluminum (which is used in the automotive industry) is anodized gloss black for a durable finish. I personally like that the tool marks are left in so you know this was machined by hand and not mass-produced. Kevin launched an Indiegogo campaign yesterday, which was quickly funded, so I’m not sure if you can still get in on it or not, but here’s the link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cigar-ashtray#/ I’m sure these will soon be available on CigarProp.com and perhaps his Amazon store for the holidays, and I’ll include and easy widget on the side here if they do become available on the latter. Like the cigar, this is a luxury product, for sure, but is a worthy companion to the CigarProp. I love the execution and my Instagram followers will be seeing a lot of this item!

That’s all I have for today, Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Accessories, Review

Tagged as Ashtray, cigar, Cigar Prop, cigars, drew estate, La Palina, liga privada, T 52, tatuaje

by CigarCraig | October 3, 2018 · 8:42 pm

La Palina Blue Label TAA 2018 Cigar

I managed to smoke a couple of the new La Palina Blue Label TAA Exclusive Toros this week, and thought I’d share my thoughts, but first, I mixed last year’s TAA Bronze Label in just to compare. These follow the Black and Red Label releases, which were made at the PDR factory in the Dominican Republic, with the Bronze and now the Blue coming from the Placencia’s El Paraiso factory in Honduras. The Bronze Label went into regular release after it spent a year as the TAA exclusive. I smoked this last May and I think the few months in the humidor did it some good, because it had noticeable sweet flavors that I failed to note originally, and I probably would have made mention of that. I selected it because the size was right for the time I had, and the 5½” x 50 size was good for a nice hour and a half or so smoking time. I’d be very interested in smoking other sizes of this blend, I found it to be quite enjoyable!

New this year is the La Palina Blue Label. The Blue Label is exclusive to TAA stores and is made at El Paraiso in Honduras, which is owned by Placencia. The wrapper is Habano, the binder is Honduran, and the fillers are Nicaraguan and Honduran. This is available in a 6½ x 52 Toro, which is a size I like in a cigar I like, and I like this cigar. When I can get another fifteen or twenty minutes smoking time out of a cigar that’s very good, I’m a happy dude. I smoked two of these over the course of a few days, which I rarely do. The first example I smoked left me with some questions, I found it slightly more earthy and leathery than I prefer, however, I had some distractions, and tonight I smoked the second example without any distractions and found more of the sweetness along with that earthiness that I had found with the Bronze Label, although the sweetness was far more in the background and subdued. The burn and draw were exceptional. While this cigar is ready to go, I think age will be kind to this cigar. Fortunately, I have a chain of TAA stores close by, so I should be able to get my hands on more of these, I’ll have to see if they have them.

That’s all for today, until next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Blue Label, Bronze Label, cigar, cigars, La Palina, TAA

by CigarCraig | July 29, 2018 · 12:50 pm

A La Flor Dominicana Event and La Palina Numbers Series

Wednesday I went to a La Flor Dominicana event at my local CigarCigars shop in Frazer, PA, which featured Litto Gomez, along with our area rep, Kyle Shackleton. It was a casual meet and greet without the usual presentation which Kyle does a great job with, but Litto just hung out with the crowd, and the turn out was quite good for a Wednesday afternoon. This shop is odd, in that it has early hours, opening at 6am and closing at 7pm, and often has events early on weekday afternoons, and they seem to do well with his schedule, and this event was very well attended and they sold a lot of LFD product. There were many people there who I’ve seen at surrounding CigarCigars stores, including several of the store managers and employees. Litto doesn’t make a lot of store appearances, it was special to have him visit our little corner of the world. This shop is only about 2 miles from my house, so it was super-convenient! I spoke to him briefly at the end of the event for an upcoming CigarCraig Podcast episode, so watch for that later this week.Â While I was there I smoked a LFD Ligero Natural L-400.Â This is a 6″ x 54 toro that I really enjoyed for the first half of the event.Â It’s not the power-house that the Double Ligero is, but it’s no light-weight either. It has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper that is flawless, as was the burn and draw, and it was a pleasure to smoke. I picked up another to smoke when I could really pay attention to it. I followed that with the LFD TAA cigar, wich was the freebie with the “buy 4, get one” promo, which I’ve had before and is a perfectly good cigar. I also picked up the TAA maduro, and ended up with one of the old event only cigars which I remember to be an incredible cigar. Like I said, it was a well attended event, the company was great, the selection was great, food from my favorite local Italian restaurant was great, if it hadn’t rained cats and dogs it would have been perfect! Fortunately the event was inside!

Of course, I was inspired to keep the La Flor Dominicana think going Thursday for my evening walk with a LFD Double Ligero Chisel Maduro that I had picked up at the last event I attended. These are amazing cigars. They have actually patented the shape of this cigar, so any other cigar you see with this shape is in violation of the trademark! I use the technique Litto himself taught me several years ago when I asked him how he preferred to cut these, and he said to just give it a squeeze to pop the cap and peel the cap away, works like a charm. None of the silly punching one side or both or anything, just a squeeze and you’re ready to go. Maybe once in a while a bite sideways to open it up a little, but otherwise it’s all good. It’s also my finding that this method really slows the smoking time down considerably, with no loss of satisfaction. I routinely get a good 2Â½ hours from a 6″ x 54 figurado, making it an exceptional value if you have the time to commit. Great heavy flavors of espresso and spice.Â This has been a favorite of mine for many years.

Friday evening we went to the BB&T Pavilion in Camden, NJ (across the river from Philadelphia) to see David Byrne of Talking Heads fame. It was part of a local college radio station festival, and I wasn’t awfully impressed with the first four acts, and even less impressed with the heavy rains we sat through during those acts (a down side of lawn seats, free tickets, can’t complain). The upside is that smoking is allowed in the lawn seating area! I smoked a lovely La Palina Number Series 01 before the torrential rains, which was pretty a darned nice cigar.Â Like the LFD L-400, this also has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, but it has a binder from Costa Rica and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers, and is made in Placsencia’s Honduran El Paraiso factory.Â The example I smoked was a 5Â½” x 50 robusto, which is a nice size, and only a few people sat down nearby, realized I was smoking a cigar, then moved away. It’s not like people weren’t smoking other stuff…anyway, this cigar has a little of the sourdough bread flavor that I know at least one of my readers digs, and I’ve grown a bit of an affinity for, with some earthiness, quite an enjoyable smoke. Of course, being able to enjoy a cigar and listen to live music isn’t a bad thing. Fortunately, we brought umbrellas and tarps, so we rode the storm out, and it was worth the wait, because David Byrne put on a spectacular show, very unique and entertaining. If you ever liked a Talking Heads song and you get a chance to see one of his shows, I highly recommend it. Heck, look it up on YouTube for a taste.

Between sets, after the rain, I smoked one of those little Undercrown Coronets from the tins, and while it was good, it really underscored to me why I don’t care for little cigars. This is a personal thing, and maybe it’s because I’m a reformed cigarette smoker, but I didn’t need that cigar. I felt like it was something I smoked to pass the time, and when I smoke a cigar, I smoke it to relax and I really want to spend an hour or so with he cigar. Like I said, these are fine ifÂ you need a fix, I’m not casting aspersions, it just reminds me of when I needed a cigarette at prescribed times and got antsy if I couldn’t do it. I can separate that now, but I got an uncomfortable feeling smoking that little cigar. Perhaps it’s just my current life situation and not wanting stress to push me down any roads I don’t want to go back down…

Anyway, of course, I had to smoke the La Palina Number Series No. 02 Last night. This one has a Costa Rican Maduro wrapper over a Honduran binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, also made at El Paraiso in Honduras. The Robusto in this one is (unfortunately, in my opinion) a half n inch shorter at 5″ x 52, not sure what went into that decision. For me, that half an inch might represent another twenty minutes of smoking time! When I smoked these two cigars before, I came to the same conclusion, and that was that while I likes the No. 01 well enough, the No. 02 was the cigar that was right in my wheelhouse! This guy has semi sweet chocolate, dark roast coffee, an all around tasty treat. People don’t like the bands and packaging on these, they don’t bother me. Sure, I like the traditional look of the Family series and the Black, Red, Bronze, etc. Labels series, butÂ I actually prefer these over the Classic series bands which I find to be just blah. I think La Palina has something for every taste, whether it’s flavor or aesthetic.

That’s enough for today, off to work on a could projects around the house, have a podcast to put together and cigars to smoke!Â Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Events, Review

Tagged as BB&T Pavilion, Chisel, cigar, CigarCigars, cigars, David Byrne, Double Ligero, La Flor Dominicana, La Palina, Ligero

by CigarCraig | June 10, 2018 · 11:00 am

Gran Habano, La Palina, Umbagog and Xurvivor Cigars

I smoked a few cigars from long time supporters of the site this week, by accident mostly, it just so happened that cigars I grabbed were mostly from friends who happen to advertise with me.Â Gran Habano is the newest of the bunch, advertiser, that is, they are one of the more established cigar companies out there. While I don’t see a lot of Gran Habano cigars in my local shops, they are readily available, and they make many tasty cigars. I smoked the unbanded Gran Habano Persian King Rajah, a 6″ x 50 Nicaraguan puro made in Honduras with what appears to be a shade closed foot with a knot on the end. It’s been my experience that cigars with this kind of foot are what leads to holes in shirts if one isn’t careful upon lighting. This was a very nice smoke and well-behaved, on the high side of medium bodied despite the company’s description as full. Perhaps I’m jaded. I liked it, and if the little bit of shopping around I did is right, these can be had around $5 and are a very good value. this cigar has apparently been around for quite a while.

I came across some IPCPR samples from La Palina that I hadn’t gotten to and smoked a pre-release No. 1Â (I’ll revisit that later, not that there was anything wrong with it) and the La Palina Classic Natural. Because I’m a geek, I can guess upon looking at this cigar that it’s made at the General Cigar factory in Santiago, DR. The round head is the giveaway. The Classic Natural has a Wrapper and Binder from Honduras and fillers from Nicaragua and Dominican Republic and is a tasty smoke. The Classic line came out in 2012 and was made at the PDR factory, but was revamped and moved to the General Cigar factory in 2017. I personally have preferred the later versions, and this natural was no exception. It’s smooth, with some nuts and spice and earthiness. The construction was perfect and it was very satisfying. La Palina was one of the first cigar companies to advertise with CigarCraig.com, and I greatly appreciate their support.

Next up isn’t from an advertiser, but a long time friend and someone who without his early encouragement, I may never have put myself out there in the way that I have today.Â In 1996 a guy was doing a “Monthly Officious Taste Test” on a usenet newsgroup which I was lucky enough to be selected to take part in, and it kick started my interest in yammering on about cigars. Twenty-some years later here I am smoking one of his cigars and enjoying the crap out of it, as I do most of his creations.Â I smoked an Umbagog Toro Toro this week, and this is just about the perfect cigar for my palate. It’s maybe the less sophisticated sibling of the Mi Querida, similar blend with the wrappers deemed by Saka to be not attractive enough for the Mi Querida, which, from what I’ve seen is balderdash. OK, I saw what looks like a water spot the size of a pinhead near the band. I’ve said before that Steve will tell you I like cheap cigars, and while the Umbagog isn’t cheap, it is the low-end of the Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust line, and worth every penny. Loads of my favorite espresso and cocoa flavors, the 6″ x 52 size is my jam, and it’sÂ just the right strength. Thanks Steve! Umbagog is a damn great cigar!

Finally, is a relatively new brand that’s made in the USA.Â Xurvivor Cigars is a factory in Ybor City that’s making some very good cigars. This brand was previously known as Galano Cigars, and changed names last year. I’ve smoked a couple of the Xurvivor Americano 2018 and really enjoyed them. I smoked one yesterday, and intended to smoke a Galano Primero, which you can read about here, but I was left quite satisfied after the Xurvivor Americano that I wasn’t feeling the need for another cigar! Here’s the details on the Xurvivor Americano 2018 as I was given them: “The Americano 2018 has a Maduro wrapper from Nicaragua, with a binder from Ecuador, and aÂ Nicaragua & Dominican filler blend”.Â Maybe I’ll grab one of the Galano Primeros today, I don’t recall there being a lot of similarities in the blend, and the Xurvivor Americano is much more reasonably priced at just under $10, than the Galano Primero was (they were in the $26 range if memory serves). Ironically, I think the Galano had a PA Broadleaf wrapper, and the Americano has no US tobacco, but $10 for a USA rolled cigar is pretty impressive, and the cigar is quite good. It’s on my recommended list. Hopefully this small company gets the recognition it deserves.

That’s all for today. Still working on the podcast concept, feedback is appreciated. Best value smoke of the week goes to the Macanudo Inspirado Red Gigante with a nearly three-hour burn time and great flavor. I continue to be impressed with that cigar in all sizes, but that 6×60 burns forever! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Dunbarton, Gran Habano, La Palina, Persian King, Umbagog, Xurvivor

by CigarCraig | May 3, 2018 · 12:05 pm

La Palina Bronze Label Cigar

Monday my wife and I spent another day on the set of Creed II, being a volunteer extra, and it was shot at Temple University’s arena, and it got me thinking that the library at Temple is named after Samuel Paley. Samuel Paley founded the La Palina cigar brand, and is the grandfather of the current brand owner, Bill Paley. Some people may not know that Bill Paley’s father, and Samuel Paley’s son, was William Paley, who founded the Columbia Broadcast System, initially to advertise the family cigar business on the radio waves. Bill Paley re-launched the La Palina brand in 2010 with the launch of the Family series made in the Bahamas. this series eventually moved to El titan de Bronze in Miami, and other lines were launched being made in various factories, including PDR, General Cigar Co. among others.

The La Palina Bronze Label was released as a TAA exclusive last year and went into full production this year. This line is available in a 6½” x 52 Toro, a 6″ x 60 Gordo and the Robusto, which I smoked, at 5½ x 50. the wrapper is a Honduran Habano, binder is Honduran and the fillers are Honduran and Nicaraguan. These are rolled in conjunction with Rocky Patel at the Placencia’s factory in Honduras. I smoked two samples at different times of the day, one on my usual evening walk, and one this morning with a cup of black coffee. Oddly, I enjoyed the one today more than the one smoked in the evening, both were he first cigars of the day, and I don’t recall what I had for dinner last time, but it may have had an effect. The cigar has an earthiness, not uncommon in heavily Honduran blends in my experience. With coffee, the coffee and cocoa notes come out more, and it was very tasty. The construction was exceptional, with a firm ash. As I’ve been doing lately, I used the Colibri V-cut with great success. Side note on the cutter, it is possible to pinch the inside of a finger if not careful, but it continues to provide an excellent cut. La Palina has a broad range of cigars in their portfolio, I’m partial to some more than others, and now this one falls into the one’s I’m happy smoking. Thank you to Nick at La Palina for sending samples, and to all my friends there for their continued support.