Tag Archives: macanudo

by | October 21, 2011 · 7:15 am

General Cigar Dominicana Trip – Day Three Photos and Summary

Day 3 was very busy. We received the tobacco for our blends, learned to bunch that tobacco and put it into molds, toured the box factory, wrapped our cigars then took a trip to the Centro Leon museum and the monument which inspired the La Gloria Cubana Obilesco.

 

The day wrapped up with dinner at Camp David Ranch with spectacular views of Santiago and delicious food and company. An awards ceremony of sorts ended the day with our own blend Macanudos presented to us, a special sampler commemorating the trip, a box of La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro and a certificate.

 

It was a fantastic trip, General Cigar really went out of their way to welcome us and show us every facet of the cigar production. We were provided with cigars to smoke along the way, and many of us became reacquainted with cigars we had forgotten about. I really enjoyed the Macanudo Maduros, Crü Royale and 1968, what they refer to as the yellow box Partagas and the Partagas Black, as well as the regular old La Gloria Cubana Wavell and the Retro. I’m sure it sounds like I’m “drinking he kool aid”, but General Cigar is a company that has it’s act together. They take care of their people, they make extremely high quality cigars that taste great, and care about what they are doing. Thank you to everyone involved for making my last 4 days a memorable experience, especially Victoria McKee Jaworski who did a terrific job setting this whole thing up.

That’s it for now, stay tuned for more detailed reports over the coming weeks!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | October 17, 2011 · 5:43 pm

General Cigar Dominicana Trip – Day One Photos and Summary

After a day of travel Sunday, we all gathered around the hotel pool for cigars and snacks.  It was great getting to know a bunch of fellow bloggers/cigar maniacs as well as hanging out with Rick Rodreguez, Michael Giannini, Benji Menendez, Yuri Guillen and Victoria McKee .  I called it a night shortly after midnight, although many continued on.

 

After a restful night’s sleep, we gathered and started our tour of the General Cigar operations.  We  were given a presentation and introduced to the management team, then we set off for a blending session.  This was much more intensive and diverse than I’ve done before, and I’m sure I blended something spectacularly bad,  no fault of the materials.  We smoked a bunch of “fumas” made from single leaves, and then went through some blends of our choosing rolled into a fuma.  I was pretty overwhelmed, but we shall see how it turns out with a binder and wrapper.  We had a tour of the warehouses,  sorting, stripping, fermenting, sorting again, etc.  It’s incomprehensible the magnitude of the operation, and we haven’t even seen the half of it yet.  Enjoy the photos and feel free to leave any questions in the comments, I will  go back and add some captions as time allows.  We have a pretty tight schedule of activities and  my time is limited.  I only count about 5 cigars smoked so far, but that doesn’t count the dozen or so fumas at the blending session.  By the way, blending a cigar ain’t easy!

 

Many thanks to everyone for making this an unforgettable day!

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | October 16, 2011 · 7:34 am

The Heartbreak Of A Damaged Liga Privada T52

First off, I’d like to welcome Oja Cigars, my latest site sponsor.  Click on the ad on the right and try their cigars if you get the chance.  Oja has four lines of cigars in several sizes, all made in Esteli.  It’s no secret that these have become a favorite of mine over the last several months.  Each line has a little something special to distinguish itself from the others.  Thank you to Luis Garcia and Oja Cigars for the support!

As I was rummaging around the humidor picking out some cigars to pack for my trip, I noticed a Liga Privada T52 robusto that had a cracked wrapper.  Imagine my horror.  This particular cigar came from the Drew Estate Blogger Party in Vegas at the IPCPR show, so it had been through a lot in it’s life.  Vegas isn’t kind to cigars.  Anyway, once i find a damaged cigar in my humidor, it has to go.  No question about it, it can’t continue to exist with the rest of it’s perfect brethren.  Maybe I’m shallow, or bigoted.  Certainly my CDO (that’s OCD in the correct, alphabetical order by the way!), but that’s just the way it is.  So I smoked it.  I peeled off the cap and used it as a bit of a band-aid of sorts, although the cap didn’t cover the entire crack, but it turned out OK.  I was expecting it to explode when it heated up, but it didn’t.  As usual, the T52 was a terrific cigar, despite the damage.  It burned like a champ, didn’t explode, and, while not as enjoyable as a perfect cigar, it delivered in the flavor department and was very satisfying.   Liga Privada, be it No.9, T52, or Serie Ünico, are exceptional cigars, one of the few cigars I consider worthy of the price-tag.

 

I’ve been alluding to my upcoming trip, and the day has come.  This time tomorrow I’ll be waking up in Santiago, Dominican Republic, and getting ready for a 3 day tour of the General Cigar factories and fields.  Stay tuned for updates along the way.  I’ll be taking pictures and video along the way and will try to upload something interesting over the next couple days, dependent upon connectivity.  Myself, and my 14 fellow bloggers will have a full schedule of educational activities and tours.  I feel very fortunate to be able to have this experience and share it with my readers.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | October 2, 2011 · 5:18 pm

October Is Here: Berger & Argenti, Chateau Real and Macanudo Contest Winners!

It’s autumn here in south-east PA, and the evenings are getting shorter.  This time of year I tend to gravitate toward maduro cigars more, not sure why that is, I just do.  I have my winter stock of smaller, maduro cigars in half of a box of Chateau Real Small Clubs and three quarters of a box of Hoyo de Monterrey Sabrosos all ready for the cold winter walks.  I have a severe dislike for fall and winter, so next spring can’t come soon enough.

 

Earlier this week I had a yen for a Berger & Argenti cigar, so I grabbed a Classico Belicoso that I received at the IPCPR show.  This one wasn’t quite as tasty as the Mooch Schnorr, but it was still very nice, and for some reason the 5¾” x 50 belicoso shape felt very elegant in the hand.  I know, that sounds a little un-manly, but it’s seemed like it would feel just right while wearing a tuxedo, and what’s more man;y than a tux.  I don’t know where that while line of thought came from, but it did, and there it is.  As I said, this was a very tasty smoke and burned nicely.  I have enjoyed the heck out of the recent samplings from Berger & Argenti.  I’ve still got some Mooch maduros and Entubar Quad Maduros to look forward to.  The Entubar is a very good candidate for my annual Halloween cigar.

 

Friday evening I just wanted something good and familiar, that I wouldn’t have to think about much, so I grabbed a Chateau Real Maduro Gran Cru Perfecto from my dwindling supply.  I love the Mexican maduro wrapper on this cigar. I don’t think they are making the Chateau Real in maduro any more which is a shame, I guess I didn’t buy enough of them to keep them in production.  It’s a nice, medium cigar that always hits me right, always draws well and burns straight, and I will be sad when these are gone!  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the Claro version of this cigar, but it’s quite a bit different with the maduro wrapper.   Thinking about it makes me want another!  Will power….

 

I need to select a pair of winners.  The Macanudo Millionaire contest closed last week, so I hope everyone got their entries in.  These Macanudo four packs are quite unique in that the cigars are all 6 x 60 versions of  the regular line, the maduro, the 1968 and the Crü Royale.  So, the winners, as selected at random using the random number generator at Random.org.  The numbers generated were 1 and 6, which correspond to kekoa kai and Kyle!  Congrats gentlemen!  Make sure you get in touch with me with your contact info so I can send out your prize!

 

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

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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by | September 28, 2011 · 6:30 pm

A Trip to the Wooden Indian, a Cain, an A.Turrent and a Monte Pascoal

Sunday afternoon I decided to take a ride to see my daughter and son-in-law and my 5 month old grand-daughter.  I visited with them until it was nap time (the baby’s, although I could have taken one myself!).  Anyway, they happen to live in the same town as one of my favorite area cigar shops, the Wooden Indian.  I got there within a half hour of their closing, so I took a look through the humidor to see what was new.  They have a very nice stock, which includes a smattering of nice boutique brands that aren’t always available in stores closer to home.  Normally I’ve visited this store on days when they are having events, and haven’t really taken a close look at their stock.  Neither needing more cigars, or wanting to spend a lot of money, I settled on a pair of Cain Daytona coronas, which ended up under $5 each.  I hadn’t yet smoked the Daytona, although I do have a couple lanceros in the humidor at home.  I had a nice ride home and after dinner I sparked one up.  This is now my favorite Cain.  I love the flavors in the line, but the Maduro and Habano and “F” series tend to be stronger than I prefer.  Somehow nausea detracts from the cigar experience.  Anyway, the Daytona is full flavored, yet not so strong as to cause the world to spin.  Top notch cigar and priced fairly.  It’s all I can do to not smoke the lanceros now!

 

Monday was a long day at work so my evening was slightly shortened.  I grabbed a shorter smoke in an A. Turrent Tripple Play Robusto.  I had the good fortune of meeting Enrique Seijas at the Altadis booth at the IPCPR show and he gave me a thorough tour of the booth.  One of the sample pack s he gave me included this cigar.  The Triple Play is an all maduro cigar, with a San Andreas wrapper, a  Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and fillers from Nicaragua, Mexico and Honduras.  Since I love Mexican maduro, and broadleaf, I figured this would be a good fit for me.  I did enjoy the cigar quite a bit, although I had to touch up the burn a few times.  Nice cigar that I look forward to trying again, although I can see where it may not be for everyone.

 

Tuesday evening I grabbed a Monte Pascoal  Minuto on the heels of an e-mail from Wesley Gensel announcing an article in Smokeshop Magazine about the brand.  I met Wes at the IPCPR show in New Orleans and spent some time with him at the show this year, where I first enjoyed this cigars.  The Monte Pascoal was also awarded the best Brazilian cigar by Cigar Journal magazine at an awards ceremony at this years show in Las Vegas, which I was privileged to attend.  These cigars are Brazilian puros, made with Mata Fina and Mata Norte tobaccos.  I really enjoy this little 4 3/8″ x 42 petit corona.  It had a very rich flavor and was quite satisfying.  I look forward to trying the larger sizes, but this Minuto is a very nice little smoke.

 

Here is a video of Wes from the IPCPR show last July:

 

 

That’s it for now!  Don’t forget to enter this weeks contest to win a Macanudo Millionaire 4-pack!  Leave a comment on my last post to enter.  I failed to mention that there would be TWO winners again!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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