Liberty Smokes | CigarCraig's Blog

I’ve been meaning to visit Liberty Smokes in South Philadelphia for a long time, I just today managed to get down there. It’s easy enough to get to, it’s right of I-95 fairly close to the stadium complex. It’s owned by Mike Vitale and in addition to knowing his son, Victor, for many years, I also exchanged e-mails with him back in the summer of 2000 when he was the Senior VP of Sales at a little company called Holt’s. I was there when Brian opened the shop at 10 am, and bought some cigars and was invited to smoke one in their members lounge. The lounge is warm and cozy with a large TV, a bar area and nice leather seating. It wasn’t long before I was joined by one of the regulars, Charlie, and we had a nice dialog for the two hours I spent smoking the cigar. On my way out I finally met Mike Vitale, who had been busy, and chatted with him for a good half an hour. The store has been there for 15 years and from what I heard from the lounge, does a brisk walk-in business. the humidor is spacious and has an excellent selection, including all the staples you’d expect to find . Oddly, there were only a few facings of Tortuga, but they did have the new Ora Vivo Armand Assante cigars, the Gold Edition, as well as some of the World Edition. these were the cigars I bought. In better times I would have bought a couple of each size, but I’m trying to exercise some fiscal restraint. I defaulted to the toro, which is called the Emmy and is 6″ x 56. They also have the Oscar at 6″ x 60 and the Tony robusto at 5″ x 54. The blend is as follows: wrapper: Ecuador , binder: Nicaraguan , and fillers: Nicaraguan and Honduran, made at the Tabacalera Aguilar factory in Honduras. These were released in July 2017 quietly to a very select group of their top retailers.

The smoking time on the 6″ x 56 Ora Vivo Armand Assante Gold Edition Emmy was right around two hours, which worked great for my allotted time. I think anyone reading this site for any period of time knows my affinity for Victor Vitale’s cigars. I don’t think I ‘ve met a Tortuga I didn’t love, and the Ora Vivo Armand Assante line is very special. I think I have a couple of the original release floating around, as well as a World Edition European release corona, and I love them. I always regretted not buying a box at a dinner we went to in New Jersey with Armand and Victor, the vendor lacked the foresight to be able to accept credit cards at the event or I would have. Not saying there would be any left several years later, but it’s a regret none the same. This new Ora Vivo Gold Edition (Ora Oro?) was maybe the best cigar in the Legacy Brands line-up! I found it to be very rich, with the great espresso flavors I like, with some sweetness and, I swear, a hint of anise about two-thirds of the way in. It was as if I took a break and had a pizzelle. Awesome cigar, very consistent with what I understand to be Armand Assante’s vision for his cigars, that they are an expression of his life, and the quality and flavor are of the highest quality and excellence. Another great cigar from Macchione, Assante and Vitale. I bought a couple, but not nearly enough!