Tag Archives: L’Atelier

by CigarCraig | October 15, 2014 · 9:16 pm

Blanco Cigars, La Palina, L’Atelier, and Placeres Reserva and Macha

Last time I offered a five pack from my humidors for the correct answer to our dog’s name significance. While it’s true that the SPCA named her after Macha, the goddess in Irish mythology, I decided that it had to have a Beatles tie in. We have cats named Max (Maxwell’s Silver Hammer) and Eleanor (Eleanor Rigby), so I knew there must be a connection, and there was, sort of. It’s a stretch, but in 1981 George Harrison financed a film starring Ringo Starr called “Caveman”, one of my favorite movies. One of the first peices of dialog in the movie is Ringo’s character, Atouk, encountering a dinosaur, and yelling “Macha!”. So, it’s obscure, but I was able to come up with a Beatles reference for the name Macha! I’m surprised (not really) that nobody came up with it. Here’s the first part of Caveman for your entertainment. Interesting to note that the movie is set in One Zillion B.C., October 9. October 9 is John Lennon’s birthday, and he was murdered the year before. This was an homage to him. I suppose since nobody got it right I’ll select a winner at Random, the number generator spit out the number 10, so Dan Colley needs to send me his address. Thanks for playing along, I’ll try to throw these little contests in from time to time.

http://youtu.be/pGepwTmhBtA

On to the cigars! Sunday I selected a Blanco Liga Exclusiva de Familia Connecticut Shade Salomon. David Blanco gave me this cigar at The Smokin Goose event a few weeks ago and it looked really special, so I had to smoke it. It’s a 6″ x 54 Salomon shaped cigar with a beautiful wrapper which is US Connecticut seeds grown in the Talanga Valley of Honduras. It lit quickly and easily, and burned perfectly. The cigar was silky smooth and creamy. It was a very enjoyable cigar, refined and delicious. I really like the Blanco 9, but for totally different reasons. This pretty perfecto is something special. Highly recommended.

Monday I went for another new cigar, the La Palina Black Label Robusto. This 5″x52 robusto has a dark Brazilian wrapper, with Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers made in the PDR factory in Dominican Republic. It recent;y came to my attention that the PDR factory is located either in the same complex, or very close to, Jochi Blanco’s factory where the Boutique Blends lines are made. These are both very hot factories in the DR. I expected a very good experience from the La Palina, and I received it. The Brazilian wrapper gives it a nice espresso like flavor, with a hint of sweetness. It hit the spot on my evening walk.

Tuesday I had to do some things at the new house after dinner, so when I got home I took my walk with a L’Atelier Maduro MAD44 which I bought back in August at Havana Manor in Longmont, Colorado. I was pretty sure the small size would come in handy one day, and this was the perfect time. It was perfect for a mile and a half walk listening to the Flyers game. This line has the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper with a Sancti Spiritus Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers. This is yet another refined smoke, with a sweet, strong coffee flavor. It burned perfectly for the entirety of it’s four inch length. It’s a great short smoke.

Tonight I came across a Placeres Reserva Estrellas from Kuuts Cigars in the humidor and decided it’s time had come. This cigar is made in Honduras, with a Nicaraguan wrapper and binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. This is the first of this line I’ve tried, and it’s a winner. It had a savory flavor, like a nice steak. It burned perfectly with a nice flat and even burn. Some say that a cone shaped ember is the sign of a perfect burn, I disagree. I love to tap off the ash and have a nice flat coal, it tells me that all the components are burning at the same rate, and it’s no small feat to make this happen. It’s a testament to the blender who manages to get leaves of varying thickness and oiliness to burn so well. I’ll be anxious to sample other cigars from Kuuts after having such a good experience with this one.

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

CigarCraig

3 Comments

Filed under Review, Video

Tagged as Blanco, Blanco Cigars, Caveman, cigar, cigars, Contest, Kuuts, L'Atelier, Placeres

by CigarCraig | June 25, 2014 · 9:22 pm

Tatuaje Tattoo, Surrogates Bone Crusher and a Six-Zero Cigar

I don’t know if it’s the change of seasons or what, but I’ve been having some cigar troubles lately. I had some cigars that should have been great, but were underwhelming to me. This is frustrating, because I only have a limited amount of time each day to enjoy a cigar, so It annoys me when I get a dud. It could be that I’ve been munching on licorice for the last week or two, as my boys both gave me some nice black licorice for Father’s Day.

I had to test my palate, so I went to a cigar I’ve smoked several of recently and really enjoyed. The Six-Zero line is a proprietary brand from Best Cigar Prices made by Boutique Blends in The Dominican Republic. The Robolo is a 4½” x 60, and Best Cigar Prices had a whole range of “house blends” in this size. Oddly, I find the size rather appealing. This is also a very inexpensive cigar, coming in around $3 each or less. I love the San Andrés wrapper on this cigar and it burns perfectly. This was the first really satisfying cigar I’ve smoked in a few days, the whole experience, from burn to the flavor, was very good. I’ve only smoked this size in the line, but I like it a lot. This confirmed to me that my palate isn’t that far off.

Monday evening I selected a Tattoo Caballero, the new line from Tatuaje. I picked up a few of these last week and they are in the $5 range, making this a budget line in the brand. These are made by Pepin Garcia, not in the My Father factory, but his TACUBA factory in Esteli. It’s got a pretty Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers. It starts with a nice dose of pepper, as you might expect. Mine had a bit of a crooked burn which required some touch ups, but was a very nice smoke. I judge it to be medium bodied. I’ll be interested to see how this smoked after a longer rest in the humidor.

Another cigar I picked up last week was the Surrogates Bone Crusher. I had a really good experience with its sibling the Skull Breaker, so I wanted to give this chunky 5¼”x 55 robusto a try. Maybe my palate is fatigued a little, because it seems like I’m finding the stronger cigars more fulfilling. This is a strong cigar, but well balanced. It was loaded with dark flavors, no doubt attributed to the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. I’m sure this has a slightly different blend than the Skull Breaker, but I found it to be very entertaining. I was wishing it was a longer cigar by the time I was finished, and maybe left a half inch nub in the ashtray. If you like strong cigars, this line is worth a look. I’ve been quite impressed with everything from the L’Atelier line that I’ve smoked, which is admittedly few.

Editorial

I listen to a lot of cigar podcasts, and I recently ran across a very entertaining bunch this week. First, give The Cigar Authority a listen, the latest episode features Victor Vitale, whom I had the good fortune to spend some time with last week. Of course, Dave and Mr. Jonathan are friends too, and I’ve been entertained by their brand of entertainment for some time. I even had the pleasure to be a guest on the show once. Next up was Kiss My Ash Radio, hosted by another major retailer, Abe of Smoke Inn. This week’s installment featured several short vignettes with Matt Booth of Room 101 reciting poetry. I laughed out loud at each one. Last, but not least, and on a serious note, The Stogie Geeks this week featured by buddy Will Cooper interviewing Glynn Loope, the executive director of Cigar Rights of America about the pending FDA regulation. I’ve heard Glynn on several other shows, but this one concentrated on the issue at hand for a good hour or more, and was very in depth. Give this a listen as I found it very educational. Broken record time, support the CRA, make sure you follow the links on their site and comment on the FDA site following their recommendations. It’s quite important that we convince the FDA to leave hand made, premium cigars alone. There have been some positives in the last few days, such as an extension of the comment period and The White House’s Office of Management and Budget acknowledging that there would be a major economic impact if the FDA has their way. Educate yourselves and make your voice heard, or this glorious industry will cease to exist as we know it.

I almost forgot, my son spent the last two days making a cigar box guitar out of a La Gloria Cubana Retro Especiale box.

Nice job! I sounds pretty good too

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

Cigar Craig

5 Comments

Filed under Editorial, News, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigar rights, cigars, L'Atelier, podcast, Six Zero, Surrogates, Tatoo, tatuaje

by CigarCraig | March 3, 2013 · 9:57 am

Slow Cigar Week – A Total Flame, an El Suelo and a Rocky Patel Burn

It was a busy week, lots to do and not a lot of time for cigars. I’m fully ready for spring to arrive, it’s getting very old bundling up to go for my walks and freezing my tuckus off! I felt like I missed a few days worth of evening walks, which as you know, is when I enjoy most of my cigars. I know, excuses, excuses. I did manage to smoke some new-to-me smokes over the last couple days.

Wednesday evening my wife and I went to the Flyers game and stopped at the Cigar Bar in the Wells Fargo Center on the way out to let the traffic clear. I smoked a cigar I had gotten at the IPCPR show last summer, a Total Flame 8 Ball. I didn’t actually get to this booth, but they had someone walking the show floor handing out sample bags (I guess they weren’t getting a lot of traffic in the booth). I seem to recall the booth having a pretty interesting biker theme, which is evident in the naming scheme of their cigars. From the looks of the website, they are a Russian company, and their cigars are made in either the Placencia factory in Nicaragua or the La Aurora Factory in the Dominican Republic. I selected this short perfecto shaped cigar because I wouldn’t have the time to spend with a larger smoke. The cigar was OK, nothing particularly exciting. I’m not entirely sure if this is from the Dominican or Nicaraguan line, but I’m leaning toward the Dominican based upon the flavor profile my own taste perceptions of many of the La Aurora blends. Just my opinion, of course, everyone’s tastes are different, and I have a hard time loving all of the cigars that anyone makes (La Aurora stands out to me because I REALLY want to like everything they make for sentimental reasons, but I find that I only like a select few marques). While at the Cigar Bar I asked when his new cigar shapes were due out, and he indicated that they would be released sometime this month. I’m looking forward to seeing the new band and smoking the box pressed Torpedo and the round Toro that will be added to the short robusto that was originally released (the BSB#1). The Flyers won the game rather convincingly over the Capitals, and it was a good night. Even if the cigar was so-so, it still added to the enjoyment of the evening.

Friday evening my brother-in-law stopped by, so he joined me on my evening walk. I set him up with a cigar, and selected an El Suelo Campo for myself. I recently got a couple of these with a Smoke Inn weekly deal. I’ve been wanting to smoke something from the L’Atelier Imports folks, so when I saw two of these, two My Uzi Weighs a Ton 7x60s and a Toraño Loyal for around $13 delivered I figured it was a no-brainer. Now, I don’t love the MUWAT 7×60, but it will make a very nice afternoon in the pool cigar this summer. The El Suelo is an inexpensive bundle type cigar from L’Atelier Imports, which is a company that Pete Johnson (Tatuaje) started with his brother KC Johnson, and his friend Sean Johnson. I believe the company is based in Rock Ridge, along with Reverend Johnson, Gabby Johnson and Howard Johnson with the orange roofed outhouse. Sorry, it was hard to resist making a Blazing Saddles reference. Anyway, this 6 ¼ x 60 cigar was milder than I expected, but had very nice flavor through the first half. In the second half it showed some signs of youth, a bit of an ammonia bite that was off-putting. I will let the second example rest in the humidor for a few months and see if this little unpleasantness ages out. Still well worth the price of the sampler for the experience and the comedic opportunity.

Saturday afternoon, after watching our grand-daughter while her parents went to the Flyers game (another win – woohoo!!), I was ready for a nap, but decided to take a cigar (and dog) for a walk. I selected a Rocky Patel Burn Toro that was given to me by my area’s rep, Mark, at the IPCPR show. I still have a handful of samples that I’m trying to work in, but most are of larger sizes. This was a pretty 6½x52 Toro with a nice Ecuador Sumatra wrapper. This was another cigar that I expected to be a bit fuller bodied than it was. What it turned out to be was a very nice, milder smoke that burned well and gave me a fair amount of pleasure. It was smooth and flavorful and just a pretty nice smoke all around. It wouldn’t be something I’d choose again, necessarily but it was a nice change of pace. Thanks to Mark at Rocky Patel for throwing this at me while I stopped in their very busy booth.