Tag Archives: Lampert

Lampert Cigars 1675 Series and an Alec Bradley Fine and Rare

Last week I talked about the Dominican and Costa Rican Lampert cigars, this week I smoked their Nicaraguan selections.  All three of these are made at the AgroIndustrial Nicaraguense de Tabacos S.A. in Condega, Nicaragua, which is owned by the Ortiz family of Omar and Indiana Ortiz fame.  We have been hearing about Indiana Ortiz for a few years, She did some work with the Psycho Seven folks when they were around, and was then doing some things with Mombacho.  Fingers crossed for Lampert Cigars! I was presented with the three cigars in the range, the Azul and Rojo in Robusto and the Morado in Toro.  Now, one would think I’d smoke the Morado first, its a toro and it’s Maduro, but I bucked convention and went with the Edición Azul first. It was Thursday evening, I was getting started later than usual, and a 5″ x 50 rubusto fit the time best. Picking the right size cigar for the time at hand is an important skill to develop, I’m always available for consultation. Best advice is not to be in a position to need a smoke!  Anyway, the Azul is not blue at all, it has an Ecuador wrapper (no further information, but it’s probably a Habano), Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua and Peru. I do love a little Peruvian tobacco in the filler!  This had a sweet cane flavor throughout, with that little twinge of peruvian spice.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable cigar all the way through, and I’d love to sample the toro, and even their short robusto at 3¾” x 52 is very intriguing. So far, so good with the Lampert Nicaraguans!

 

Friday night was maduro toro time, so the Lampert Edición Morado.  I joked that Morado was a misspelling of Maduro, of course it’s Spanish for Purple, This one was 6″ x 52, has a Mexican wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  It’s listed as full strength, I found it to be medium personally, but I’m old and jaded.  This was a good maduro cigar, it had some dark coffee, bittersweet chocolate, and maybe some dried black cherry notes, fairly typical of the genré.  I enjoyed it immensely and, once again, am intrigued by that short robusto size. As much as I like Toros, Churchills, even Gordos from time to time, sometimes a short smoke is warranted!  Maybe it’s a second smoke, maybe you aren’t sure if you are going to be interrupted, who knows?  I know a guy who knows a guy, there has to be a shop that sells singles or 5ers.  

 

Finally, yesterday afternoon (late morning, really), between running some errands, I decided to tackle the Edición Rojo.  This one also lists the wrapper as Ecuador, but I’m going to say it’s a Connecticut Shade varietal.  I’ve come to realize that the names of the cigars match up to the bands color, not the wrapper, so this doesn’t have a rosado wrapper, it’s on the dirty blond side, much like an Ecuador Connecticut would be.  This was the 5″ x 50 Robusto size, and, while I really liked this cigar, I don’t know if the smaller size interests me as much. I found that this cigar had a lot in common with the Azul, that sugar cane sweetness, which I really like. instead of the spice the Azul had, it had a more nutty undertone, perhaps smoother and milder.  I liked it, it was quite good.  One think I found that the three cigars had in common was that they all smoked really well. I don’t know that I ‘ve smoke many cigars from this factory, but I look forward to seeing more.  Thanks to Andrew for getting me the samples, and to Kap for making the introduction.  

 

Last night I decided to smoke something new to me, but several years old, that I’ll probably never have a chance to smoke again.  I was watching hockey, and watching the Flyers play the Penguins always gives me anxiety. I guess it’s because I really hate the Penguins and I hate it even more if the Flyers lose to the Penguins. So I went with a cigar that came from my Secret Santa (time is running out to sign up, BTW!) last year, Mitch, an Alec Bradley Fine and Rare HOF / 506.  This was the 2019 Fine and Rare release if my research is correct, and was a tribute to David Rubin, Alan Rubin’s father.  The Fine and Rare line typically uses ten types of tobacco. The nuts and bolts of this one are a Honduran Trojes wrapper, and undisclosed binder, and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. By the way, I used the term “nuts and bolts” because Alan Rubin’s father was in the fastener business, and it seems appropriate. This was a really spectacular cigar.  There were a range of baking spice type of flavors, it was really quit a treat.  It burned well, lasted well into the third period (it’s 6¼” x 54 with a box press), and was good to the last drop. The Flyers won in a shootout, which gives me anxiety against any team, when it’s the Penguins I don’t breath until it ends!  I don’t have another Fine and Rare to smoke Monday night when the two team play again, but I think I’ll be meeting up with an out of town visitor at a local shop anyway, so I’ll find something else.  

 

Four great cigars in a row, what can I get into today?  That’s all for now, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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A Drew Estate Nightshade and a Few Lampert Cigars

Thanksgiving is behind us and we have Christmas and Hanukkah to look forward to, then New Years and we can start this whole mess all over again!  As we’ve done for the past few years, I’ve started a CigarCraig Secret Santa through Elfster.  You can go HERE to sign up.  It’s a simple $40 minimum, send what you like. I send without expectation, it isn’t a trade, I look at it as gifting, I don’t worry about getting!  I think that’s the most healthy way to go into these things.  So far there are 7 people signed up, let’s get a bunch of people this year!  I also have some of the usual holiday giveaways planned, so stay tuned! I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend!

 

I smoked a few new cigars this weekend, one wasn’t new but new to me.  I’ve been hearing about the JR Cigars Exclusive Drew Estate Nightshade for quite a while and never got around to trying it, so I ordered a five pack recently. Don’t forget to click through the JR Cigars and Cigars.com affiliate links on the left sidebar if you order from either place!  I got the 5″ x 52 robusto because that’s what was available in a fiver at the time, of course I would rather have had the toro.  This cigar has a maduro Connecticut Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. I think this falls somewhere near a Nica Rustica and an Undercrown Maduro for me, which both have Broadleaf wrappers, so are sweeter. This is a little earthier than those, but it has a nice flavor, for a reasonable price, it’s an interesting cigar.  I think if you like the Liga Privada T52, you’ll enjoy this. I think you can get a box of 20 for around a c-note.  That moves it well into the great cigar for the price category.

 

I’ve recently gotten a sampler of cigar courtesy of Lampert cigars, a company I’ve heard of, but haven’t really seen on local shelves.  I tried three this week and will attache the other three next week.  I tried to arrange them logically, next weeks will be the three in the Nicaraguan 1675 line, this week I smoked the cigars made in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.  The first one was the Lampert 1593 Oscura.  Lampert is another company that devotes one size per blend apparently, with this one coming in a 6″ x 52 toro.  Is it any wonder I was drawn to it first?  It’s listed as having a Mexican wrapper, Indonesian binder and Dominican filers.  The factory is called El Maestro, which is the smaller William Ventura factory, the one that didn’t burn down. I don’t have a track record of liking cigars from this factory, however this one is an exception, it was really good. I questioned the wrapper seed varietal, which is listed simply as “Mexican”. It clearly isn’t San Andrés to my palate, it was more reminiscent of Sumatra, and I was told that it was Indonesian grown in Mexico, and since Sumatra is in Indonesia, I’m going to go with that.  It’s good.  It has some of that cane sweetness I like, along with just good tobacco.  It’s a really nice cigar.

 

Next up was the Lampert Ocean Breeze.  This is a 5″ x 54 Robusto with an Ecuador wrapper and binder and “undisclosed” fillers.  I’m told that some tobaccos in this blend are aged near the ocean, hence the name, and I’m not sure about that, and the name sounds more like a cologne than a cigar, but what do I know, I’m just some cynical old jackass who smokes cigars.  I do know that this cigar, along with the next one, is made at the Tobaccos de Costa Rica factory, the same factory that makes Atabey, Byron, Bandelero, Alphonso, apparently some El Septimos, used to make Mbombay Cigars, and, as far as I know, still makes Vegas de Santiago. I go back 20 years with Vegas de Santiago, they made some great, affordable cigars back then. Last I heard, they got rollers from Cuba on special work visas and sorta rotated them in and out as the visa allowed.  It’s rumored that they use some Cuban tobacco in the blends, but Villiger tells me there’s some in the Exports too, so   believe what you want.  Back to the Ocean Breeze, this was a really well made cigar, and was very interesting.  I found it to be bright and a bit floral, perhaps that’s the saltiness from the ocean? My compadre Kaplowitz likes this cigar, he likes stuff that isn’t necessarily in my wheelhouse. 

 

Finally, the other cigar made a the Costa Rican factory is the Lampert Oro Don Patron.  The band has a top hat wearing, bearded gent who should probably have a monocle, but does not. This is the mild line, with an Ecuador wrapper (obviously a Connecticut Shade variety), an Ecuador binder and Dominican and Peruvian fillers.  This is a really well crafted cigar with a perfect burn and a well formed ash, and when I lead with construction, most of my regular readers know that I’m not excited about the flavors.  True, this isn’t my style of cigar, it’s light, creamy, with some herbal and gassiness.  It’s very good, if that’s what you’re looking for.  I had just had Thanksgiving redux for dinner (day three!), something with more weight would have been better, but I’m not doing this for me, readers…I’d say if you are a fan of the Atabey, this will probably be a good fit for you. No idea what they cost, gotta think it’s less than the Atabey!  So far, the Lampert line is impressing me.

 

That’s all for now, sign up for Secret Santa!  Until next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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