Tag Archives: LFD

by | June 4, 2023 · 9:40 am

Smoking Some Tobacco Plaza Ltd. 50th Anniversary Cigars

I was talking to Danny Ditkowich of Tobacco Plaza in Great Neck, NY recently and the subject of the store’s 50th Anniversary and the special cigars that accompanied it came up. So I decided to smoke some and highlight them here.  I’ll get it out of the way, the links I put in this post will go to the store’s website, where you could purchase each of these cigars. Danny mentioned that the Tatuaje (along with the Tuxtla series) are 10% off while supplies last, and there’s free shipping fo the month of June.  All that out of the way, let’s talk about these three tasty cigars!  The first one I smoked was the Tatuaje TP DD 50th Exclusive.  If I recall, Danny worked with Pete on a DD for the 40th anniversary, and it was 6″x 58 torpedo, this one is a 6″ x 60 torpedo, with a beautiful Broadleaf wrapper, over Nicaraguan fillers and binder, rolled at the My Father factory. The original was based on the Fausto blend, and I’m not sure if this one is too, but it’s a pretty strong cigar!  It’s loaded with the coffee and spice that I enjoy, and it was a really great cigar. I may smoke another one today!  If you’re a fan of the Tatuaje Broadleaf, or Tatuaje cigars in general, this would be a great one to try.  Not a cheap date, but what is anymore?

 

I took a relatively early walk yesterday after doing a bee inspection with my wife, planting a tree and doing some trimming, all before 10am for some reason.  So I grabbed the Tobacco Plaza 50th Anniversary Quesada Keg.  I don’t think I ever had the original Keg, as I am not immediately drawn to things drink related, so I can’t compare.  This is another 6″ x 60, and if it’s just a size variation, it has a Dominican Corojo seed wrapper, with Dominican binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers.  It’s presented in a 15 count box as opposed to a barrel. This is another cigar that I enjoyed quite a bit.  It had an interesting bready flavor, kind of a dark bread and it was on the medium bodied side. I know Danny has had a great relationship with Quesada as they make the Oceano brand in the La Sirena portfolio, another cigar I really enjoy.

 

The third and final cigar in Tobacco Plaza’s 50th anniversary series is the TPLFD Magnum Chisel Maduro.  This cigar is listed as 6″ x 58 box pressed, but it’s really 6½”. The chisel shape is cool, and one of the only, if not THE only, shape that’s legally protected by a patent. This is has a maduro wrapper, with the Tobacco Plaza logo applied to the cigar in a lighter leaf.  LFD has made a bit of a name for themselves with these artistic embellishments, I have one from the Ybor festival with a Rooster, and one from a dinner that Tobacco Plaza hosted in 2021 with an Iced Tea glass.  They are quite neat and must take a lot of effort to produce. Someone has to make a “cookie cutter” apparatus to punch the design out of a leaf.  It’s impressive. The cigar is impressive as well, it’s a great tasting smoke. I’ve been enjoying afternoons on my porch watching TV, the last few Saturday’s it’s been an Amazon show called “Clarkson’s Farm”, with Jeremy Clarkson, formerly of the British Top Gear and Amazon’s The Grand Tour (also hysterical).  This Magnum Chisel got me through the last two episodes, set aside 2 hours for this one.  It was rich with cocoa and spice.  Another winner.  I have to get up to Great Neck some time to visit Tobacco Plaza. 

 

That’s all I got for this week, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | October 23, 2022 · 9:48 am

La Flor Dominicana Solis, Gurkha Pure Evil and Founders Roosevelt Cigars

I smoked a few PCA show samples this week, some I was looking forward to, some not so much, maybe.  The first was the La Flor Dominicana Solis, the first cigar blended by Litto Gomez, Jr., who is in his early 20’s.  This 6½ x 50 cigar is a companion, of sorts, to the La Nox line, which his older brother, Tony, created a few years ago. La Nox = night, Solis = sun, or day.  Nice idea, same size cigars that are on the opposite ends of the flavor spectrum.  The Solis has a Sungrown Habano wrapper, Sumatra Binder, and a blend of Dominican tobaccos from La Flor Dominicana’s farm.  This cigar has nice, bright flavors and a sweet spice.  Much like the La Nox, I really enjoyed this cigar, it was well balanced and a really beautiful smoke. Thanks to Jon Carney for this cigar, easily the best cigar I smoked all week, and tied with the Cuevas Sangre Nueva for the best from the PCA show, interesting that both cigars were blended by young guys. 

 

I was listening to a podcast recently, and the host made some comments that surprised me. I listen to a lot of podcasts, and it riles me up when some mis-information is spewed. This particular one is kinda low in my rotation, I listen when I run out of other stuff, mostly for this reason, there always seems to be some erroneous information passed on be the host as fact.  In this instance, the host was saying how terrible the Guy Fieri Knuckle Buster was, and how it was made by Espinosa, which used to be Torańo.  He finally realized that the Knuckle Buster was a Punch (although I think he said it was a CAO), and Guy Fieri’s cigar was the Knuckle Sandwich.  If the listener is in the know,  the host sounds foolish, if the listener doesn’t know any better, this could, potentially, damage a brand.  I find that sort of thing irritating!

 

Also irritating is the name of the next cigar, the Gurkha Pure Evil.  I know hat Gurkha has an “Evil” in the line, and I guess this is an extension of that, but when tobacco is in the crosshairs of the government, perhaps helping them out by calling a cigar “Pure Evil” isn’t the best idea.  I was given a handful of samples at the Gurkha booth at the PCA show, and, so far, this is the only one I’ve smoked that’s worth writing about.  Name aside, this was a very good cigar. It was a 6″ x 54 Toro and has a Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers.  It starts boldly, with a strong pepper flavor, and mellows slightly throughout the smoke. Burn and draw were perfect, and it was a very satisfying cigar.  I’m sure there’s people who think it’s a cool name, however I still don’t think we need to give the people who already think tobacco is “pure evil” any ammunition. Good cigar, unfortunate name.

 

Yesterday  I smoked a Founders Cigar Co. Roosevelt robusto.  This is a very new company, dating way back to 2020!  They are veteran owned, and the theme of the line is prominent individuals in US history.  They are based in Minnesota, and I was racking my brain trying to remember who introduced me to them at the show, and the Minnesota thing connects some dots for me. I need to start writing everything down!  So this Roosevelt is the maduro in the portfolio (the Franklin is the Connecticut, the Douglas is the Habano and the Signature, with George Washington’s profile on the band, is a barber pole).  It has an Ecuador Maduro wrapper, Ecuador binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers.  I dislike blend descriptions like this, the only have the country of origin of the leaf, not the varietal. I’m sure the ambiguity is a FDA, CYA thing.  I was expecting a routine maduro experience, some dark coffee and cocoa.  I was surprised by the uniqueness of the flavor, it had a savory, mouth coating flavor.  You know how licorice can be a bit cloying to the palate?  This was a little bit that way, but without the anise flavor.  I liked this cigar a lot. They seem to sell direct, and I’m not sure if they got in brick and mortar shops as a result of being at the show (why else be there?), but the cigars are good.  

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | May 26, 2021 · 9:05 pm

A Night Under The Stars with La Flor Dominicana Cigars and Tobacco Plaza

Last night we went up to Roslyn, NY on Long Island to the Swan Club for a cigar dinner put on by Tobacco Plaza in Great Neck.  The evening featured a meal cooked by Jonathan Carney, VP of sales of La Flor Dominicana, and one of the guys behind the Hacking Gourmet Series, who sponsored the event.  I suppose it’s valid to question how someone from Southeast PA ends up at a cigar dinner in Long Island. Well, of course, I’ve known Jon Carney for a long time, and he was kind enough to invite us when I was on the Smokin’ Tabacco show a few months ago. I also know Danny Ditknowitch, co-owner of Tobacco Plaza, as he is also a partner in the La Sirena brand, which has been a great supporter over the last several years, and remains one of my favorite brands. Another reason my wife and I went was that in person cigar events have been few and far between, and it was nice to get out, so it was worth the 3+ hour drive with the rush hour traffic around New Your City (unfortunate planning on my part). This was a very cool event, combining Mr. Carney’s Gourmet Smoke Sessions events with a cigar dinner. The event site, the Swan Club, was a beautiful spot, located on a harbor off of Hampstead Bay. There were 100 or so people there, I didn’t count, but Danny said that they were all customers of Tobacco Plaza. Everyone received La Flor Dominicana cigars and a lighter, and one of the cigars was an event only cigar called the Long Island Iced Tea, which had an iced tea glass in tobacco leaf applied to it. It’s hard to photograph, due to the curve of the cigar. I smoked one, and I found it to be very mild, perhaps I was expecting something different. It seemed to have more flavor on the retrohale. Perhaps I’ll let a second one rest a while and try again.

 

The food was amazing. I appreciated the fact that the menu was fairly simple as I’m not an adventurous eater (that’s a euphemism, I’m a picky eater). There were two Penne pastas, I had the one with the scallops, it was good, and the shrimp were also good. I skipped the chicken, although my wife enjoyed hers, and we both agreed that the filet mignon was amazing. There was also an open bar, which matters not to those of us who don’t drink. The coffee was good though, and I needed some of that for the ride home! I finished the night with a tasty LFD Double Ligero No 600. This cigar got me to the highway, but there’s challenges to driving a manual car in the dark, while trying to navigate unfamiliar roads and merge New York City traffic.  It ends up being more trouble than it’s worth. Fortunately it was about finished when I dropped it in the mobile Stinky ashcan. It was a good night, we met some nice folks, smoked some good cigars and had some great food. It was nice catching up with Jon and Danny too. I didn’t even miss wearing a mask, and I’ve been to events where the staff wore masks over the last 20-some years, so that didn’t phase me! Many thanks to Jon for the invite.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | October 1, 2014 · 9:56 pm

Roberto P. Duran and Azan, La Flor Dominicana and Quesada Oktoberfest Cigars and News

RobertoPDuran_Cacique GuamaIt’s October, hard to believe it’s autumn already and summer is gone. I’ve been all over the place in my cigar selections this week, only one minor theme this week, and that was sampling some of the new cigars from Roberto P. Duran. Last year I smoked a couple of the Azan line last year and was enthralled with the White, very high quality and unique flavor. I was excited when Gabriel Piñeres of Creativas, who is the PR firm for Azan/Roberto P Duran, sent me the new Roberto P. Duran cigars, along with the Azan Maduro Natural.  The cigar I smoked was the Cacique Guama (6×60), which has a beautiful light brown Ecuador Criollo 99 wrapper, with Nicaraguan and Central American fillers. Cacique Guama was a Tainos Chief from Baracoa and great fighter against the Spanish occupation of their land, the line pays homage to Roberto Duran’s family and his family’s city of origin in Cuba.  This cigar smoked very well, although some humidor time will benefit the samples I received.  It’s apparent that quality materials were used, it’s a very smooth and flavorful smoke with a hint of strength.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, this company is making some very nice cigars.

 

LFD_AirBender_TorpedoMonday I selected a cigar that came from the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival that I haven’t smoked before, but has been on the market for a while. The La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Torpedo appears to be a Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA) exclusive shape, as I don’t see this shape listed in the regular production. This is listed as a strong cigar, as many in the LFD lines are, but I found it to be reasonably mild for some reason.  It had a really nice flavor, and burned perfectly. I’m a reasonably recent convert to the LFDs, and I’ll be interested in trying other sizes in the Air Bender line, as I enjoyed the flavor, but maybe this size, ot this particular example, just wasn’t ideal for me. I generally like shaped cigars (actually, I don’t really discriminate), perhaps the chisel shape or a robusto will be a better fit for me.

 

Axan_Maduro Natural_CampanaTuesday I took my evening walk with the Azan Maduro Natural Campaña.  The Campaña size is a traditional Cuban vitola, the Bolivar Belicoso Fino, the Romeo y Julieta and Sancho Panza Belicosos fall onto this category. It’s 5½ x 52 with a tapered head. The Azan line began in Cuba in the 1920s by a Chinese immigrant,Kwan Ben Sen, who adopted the Cuban name Domingo Azan.  Roberto Duran is descended from this family.  As I said before, I loved the Azan White, and given my affinity for maduros I was excited to try this cigar.
The wrapper is a high priming Corojo grown in Ecuador, with Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Esteli, Jalapa and selected tobaccos from other Latin American regions.  This cigar was a treat. It was solidly medium bodied and had very nice flavors of cocoa, coffee and earth.  It burned well and should age well. This cigar exceeded my expectations.

 

Quesada_Oktoberfest_KroneTonight, since it’s October first, I thought I’d smoke the Quesada Oktoberfest Krone, a 5″ x 43 corona. Now, I know I haven’t been a beer drinker for the better part of 25 years, but I do know that Oktoberfest is in September, but it still seemed appropriate.  This cigar is blended to pair with Marzen style beers, I chose a root beer as usual.  This is a strong Dominican cigar that’s loaded with flavor. The only other Quesada Oktoberfest cigar I’ve smoked was the Smoke Inn Microblend Dunkel, which was excellent. This corona was equallly excellent. It had bold flavors, burned perfectly, and my only complaint was that it was too small, I would have liked to have smoked it longer. Still, it was good for an hour or more, and look forward to smoking this line again.

 

I’m running out of videos from the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival. Here’s on with Terence Reilly of Quesada Cigars:

 

 

News

 

Travis Lord, formerly of Famous Smoke Shop, Best Cigar Prices and PipesandCigars.com launched a new website called www.Cigar.Careers which is a Monster.com, if you will, for the cigar industry.  You can submit a resume and look at available job postings.

 

In other news, Facebook has been abuzz with rumors of a major announcement today.  Jonathan Drew posted his press release on his Facebook timeline tonight: “HERE IS MY PRESS RELEASE: “I’m back on Weight Watchers” – JD” Good luck to JD on his future endeavors.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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