Tag Archives: maduro

by CigarCraig | August 19, 2018 · 11:05 am

Dapper Cigars Cubo Claro and Maduro and the Contest Winner!

But first, Thursday evening my wife and I went to Philadelphia’s Diner en Blanc, which is a picnic, of sorts, where everyone wears white, brings their own table and chairs and meets in places around the city, and it transported to a public space that is kept secret until the last minute. These happen all over the world and it’s quite a sight. In this case, Philadelphia’s had 5500 people, the largest in the US. Last year there was a cigar lounge set up with a local outfit, the Travelling Tobacconist, featuring an Airstream trailer, this year, no such luck, as it was held at Philadelphia’s City Hall, and the park surrounding it is non-smoking. We actually were sitting on a wall at the perimeter of the park enjoying a small cigar with a white band, and got chased one foot to the sidewalk…absurd. So while we were at the meeting point, which was at the subway stop outside of Citizens Bank Park (where, at the same time, Will Cooper will tell you the Phillies were having their heads handed to them by the Mets in the first game of a double header), I enjoyed a Macanudo Inspirado White with my buddy Bruce. I’ve known Bruce for 20 years, we go back to the old alt.smokers.cigars Usenet group days, and he now lives a few miles from me. I select appropriately themed cigars for this occasion, last year it was a Fratello Bianco, a Montecristo White, and my wife smoked a Leccia White. Some think this event is pretentious and a waste of city resources, and I’ve heard the term “white privilege” tossed around ignorantly. First, the organization pays it’s way on the set-up and cleanup, and donates generously to local charities. Regarding the “white privilege”, anyone who took a half a glance at the attendees of one of these events would see the most diverse group of people imaginable eating together side by side, hanging out, partying, having a good time. It’s a cool event. The local news even talked to me on camera, but I guess I was too cool for them to use on the news.

I’m still finding a couple of samples from last year’s IPCPR, and a couple of my good friends in the industry have shared some samples from this years show which I did not attend, so I need to make room. I had a couple Cubos from Dapper Cigars out of California that were begging to be smoked, so Friday was the day. I had to drop the car off in the morning so I grabbed the Ecuador Connecticut wrapped Cubo Claro toro for the walk home. First off, I appreciate any company that calls their shade wrapped cigar “Claro”, it’s way easier to type than Ecuador Connecticut or Connecticut shade. Sure, it’s ambiguous and requires clarification, so does Connecticut Shade anymore so why not? Dapper likes to provide specifics about their tobaccos, and I’ve compared this to Steve Saka when he launched Sobremesa. Funny enough, some of Dapper’s cigars are made in NACSA, where Mi Querida and Umbagog are made, but the Cubo’s are not made at NACSA, they are made at Tabacaleras Carreras S.A., which also makes, perhaps not surprisingly, Esteban Carreras Cigars.

Wrapper: Ecuador / Connecticut desflorado / CASJUCA / A.S.P. (Perez)

Binder: Nicaragua / Jalapa / Habano / Dorado / Oliva Tobacco Co

Fillers: Nicaragua / Condega / gk Relleno / Oliva Tobacco Co
Nicaragua / Esteli / Guadalupe / Oliva Tobacco Co

This was a really nice claro cigar with enough strength and body to be enjoyed any time of the day, not just in the morning, as I did. I’m not a regular morning smoker, it’s just no something I usually do, but now and then I have cigar in the morning and it’s usually a shade wrapped cigar or a coffee infused cigar, I guess I fall for the stereotype. This was a really good tasting cigar, it had the trademark shade wrapper flavor, but there was a bit of spice and rich tobacco flavor and it was a good, satisfying cigar. I was anticipating smoking the maduro later.

After dinner, which is my usual routine, I did smoke the Cubo Maduro Toro as I took my second walk of the day, a short one around the block. First off, this is a visually stunning maduro cigar. It has a beautiful oily wrapper, very even coloration, nicely made. Both this and the Claro were nice looking cigars, and the bands are very attractive as well. High scores for presentation. I haven’t seen the boxes, but according to the website they are packaged in natural cedar sliding lid boxes with Boveda packs, again, the information provided the website is extremely thorough. I found the Maduro to be considerably stronger than the Claro, which isn’t uncommon, and the spicy cocoa from the Mexican wrapper was much to my liking.

Wrapper: Mexico / San Andrés Negro / Turrent Family

Binder: Nicaragua / Jalapa / Cofradía / Oliva Tobacco Co.

Fillers: Nicaragua / Condega / gk Relleno / Oliva Tobacco Co.
Nicaragua / Jalapa / Cofradía / Oliva Tobacco Co.

I’m a little surprised with all the detail provided that they leave out the primings, that seems like a geek-point that should be there. As you might imagine, this was a cigar that hit me the right way, it was rich and decadent and I liked it a lot. I don’t see any of Dapper’s offerings around here, but I haven’t looked really hard, but they sure make some good cigars.

Contest!

I was a little over the top with my “contest entrant shaming” in my last post, sorry about that. I think it scared people off, because we only had 19 entries, and it’s been probably 8 years or so since I’ve had that few entries. maybe it’s summer and people are busy, maybe the economy’s good and people don’t want free cigars, I don’t know. I do know that that makes the odds better for those of you who entered! I said I was sweetening the deal, so I grabbed a few more cigars out of the humidor, three of which are from La Aurora, which, by the way, was the common thread I was really looking for, all of the cigars I mentioned in the contest post were made at the La Aurora factory in the Dominican Republic. So the prize is 10 cigars from La Sirena, La Auroa, etc. and a Stage V Clinger cigar holder. It’s also true that they all have two bands and they all have tobaccos from the DR, so I can’t exactly disqualify any of those answers as incorrect, so all entries count. In a strange twist, the random number generator spit out 15, and I had thrown out Brian I’s first entry, which was actually the first entry, and he ens up being the 15th comment. So Brian I is the winner! Please send me your address privately so I can get these goodies out to you! I guess I need to step up the contest game here! Apparently I’ve slacked off or something, contests used to be my bag, baby. Thanks to Stage V Clinger and my friends at La Sirena and La Aurora for their continued support!

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Claro, Contest, Cubo, Dapper, La Aurora, La Sirena, maduro, Stage V Clinger

by CigarCraig | May 21, 2017 · 9:25 am

Epic Cigars with Dean and Mick at the Wooden Indian

Friday evening I went down to the Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop in Havertown, PA to smoke some Epic cigars with brand owner Deans Parsons and his national sales manager, Mick, and of course, Dave and Dan at the shop. I first was introduced to Dean at a cigar shop in Colorado the night before the 2014 Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival, by Eric from Cigar Dojo. Dean is one of those cigar manufacturers that I make a point to visit and support whenever he makes an appearance close by, he and Mick are just really likable guys, and the Epic cigar line is very, very good. As is my custom, I bought a handful of Epic cigars to add to my inventory at home, and lit up an Epic Maduro in the 6″ x 60 Gordo size. As always, this is a great smoke with sweet coffee/cocoa notes that’s well made. this line, to my memory, used be called the Maduro Reserve but that’s been simplified over the years to just Maduro. The Combination of Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper, a Cameroon binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers are rolled in the Charles Fairmorn factory in the Dominican Republic as is all of the cigars bearing the Epic name. The largest output of this factory is the Kristoff line. I love all of the cigars in the Epic line, but I always default to the Maduro for some reason (OK, I know the reason, 90% of the time I default to maduro!) I continued my Epic cigar run through Saturday.

One of the special projects Dean recently worked on was a cigar for the Smoking Shields Cigar Club, a fraternal organization of cigar smoking law enforcement officers out of New York. I had the opportunity to purchase one of these special cigars at the event, so I jumped on it. After lightning up the Epic Smoking Shields Exclusive yesterday, I want more! Holy crap is this a great cigar for my palate! It’s a 6″ x 54 Toro, with the Brazilian maduro wrapper again, this time with a Dominican Olor binder and Dominican fillers (translated from a German e-tail site that carries the marque, Atlantic Cigars has them too). It’s a beautiful cigar, bearing the Smoking Shields band primarily, with the Epic band in the secondary position. It starts out straight espresso, that great, rich, a little bitter, but delicious flavor that makes a shot of espresso special! Right about the time the Epic band needs to be removed, it shifts from medium to full in strength, something that Dan at the Wooden Indian mentioned and turns out to be true (I’ve found that Dan has an excellent palate). Some of my favorite cigars recently are the Mi Querida, the Tabernacle, Nica Rustica (all broadleaf, by the way) , but this is a cigar that fits into the same category, and it burned as perfectly as a cigar could burn, effortless draw, straight as an arrow and all the tobaccos burned at the same rate leaving a nice, flat ember when ashed. the folks at Smoking Shields are lucky to have such a great cigar to represent them! Great job on this one Dean!

Almost a year ago I smoked a pre-release sample of the Epic La Rubia, the Connecticut shade offering in the Epic range. Since then I’ve had a few of the 4½” x 60 Short Gordos in the humidor waiting for the right time to smoke. Oddly, I love this size. It’s a little bigger than the Nub line, shorter than a 6″ x 60, just right for me if I have to smoke a 60 ring cigar (not that I don’t smoke my share of 6″ x 60s). Not a commercial, but my friends at Best Cigar Prices like this size too, they have a whole bunch of exclusives in what they call the Robolo, many of which I’ve sampled and enjoyed. I guess that was a bit of a commercial. Anyway, Dean told me long ago that his Canadian customers requested this size, which is curious and unexpected in my mind. So after dinner and before a movie was the perfect time to bust one if these out and light it up. As with all of the other Epic cigars in my experience, it burned well. Like the pre-release sample I smoked last June, this was a solid medium bodied cigar, with a hint of the Ecuador Connecticut twang and a good core flavor. This has a San Andrés binder that gives it a little extra sweetness to offset the grassyness of the wrapper, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. Another winner from Epic, it’s a great anytime cigar that is neither boring nor overwhelming. I’m happy I have more of these on hand!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigar store, cigars, Epic, La Rubia, maduro, Smoking Shields

by CigarCraig | October 28, 2016 · 7:59 pm

Island Lifestyle Aged Reserve Cigars and Tommy Bahama Accessories

Last summer I wandered into a Tommy Bahama store in a local mall because they had a sale, and I was looking for a very specific shirt, which they ended up finding for me and I shelled out what to me is quite a decent sum of money for clothing, something I generally don’t do. I was impressed with the service, the follow up e-mail from the store manager the next day, and especially, the fact that a mainstream store had a nice selection of cigar accessories prominently displayed. I was excited when I received an e-mail from Ryan Frailing, the Vice President of Island Lifestyle Importers, the exclusive designer and manufacturers of Tommy Bahama cigar accessories, asking if I would like to try out some of the cigars that they were making, along with their accessories. They are going to be distributing the Tommy Bahama line of accessories to traditional tobacconists as well as the Tommy Bahama stores, and created the Island Lifestyle Aged Reserve cigars to go along with them. The accessories were a large, durable ashtray with chrome, movable rests. The ashtray looks like a fine ceramic, but is actually a melamine so if you drop in on your porch it won’t break. It’s emblazoned with the Tommy Bahama logo and is a very nice piece. The other item was a rugged travel humidor, which will hold five 60 ring cigars, or 10 robustos, so it’s a little wider than a traditional Otterbox type case. The fit and finish are very nice, and it comes with a small bead-based humidifying element. It also has the Tommy Bahama logo on the top. They have a nice selection of cases, humidors, lighters and ashtrays.

The cigars in the Island Lifestyle Aged Reserve range are Nicaraguan, and while I wasn’t able to find out where they are made, the ones I smoked were nicely constructed, and of the highest quality. They come in three wrappers, a Connecticut, Sun Grown, and Maduro, and in six sizes, Robusto, Corona Grande, Toro, Churchill, Torpedo and Gordo. I had the pleasure of smoking all three wrapper types in the Toro size, which is a 6″ x 54. Obviously, I started with the Maduro, which was nicely balanced with a touch of the sweetness along with a little coffee bitterness one would expect. I enjoyed it greatly. The next night I went with the Sungrown, which was similar with more earthiness than the maduro, but still a nice, well balanced smoke. I finished up the trio the next night with the Connecticut (pictured above), which, oddly enough, was my favorite of the bunch. It had a pleasant grassiness typical of that wrapper, and, much like the other two, was a solid medium bodied cigar. There was a little bit of dryness to them, which led me to mistakenly think there was some Dominican in the blend, but the information I got with the cigars says “aged tobaccos from Nicaragua and Connecticut”, so who am I to argue? I’d smoke these again without hesitation, and, more importantly I think, wouldn’t think twice about sharing these with others. I’m very interested in finding out where these are produced. Thank you to Ryan for allowing me the opportunity to sample your products.

I was going to post this on Wednesday as I usually do, but I got lazy, so here is a rare Friday post. I hope this doesn’t cause anyone any undue stress! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Aged Reserve, cigar, cigars, connecticut, Island Lifesyles, maduro, Sungrown, Tommy Bahama

by CigarCraig | January 10, 2016 · 10:53 am

Señorial, Perdomo, Illusione at Goose’s and CAO Flathead Cigars

It’s almost half way through January already, we’ve had no snow, it’s going to be 60 today (but raining) and, once again, I did not win the Powerball! What are the odds I didn’t win the $900,000,000 jackpot? I think something like 292 million to one. it’s kind of a long shot, and the next couple days are going to be ridiculous at the places that sell lottery tickets as it’s over a billion dollars now since nobody won. I’m fortunate that I don’t have to rely on winning the lottery to smoke nice cigars right now and lat week was another good cigar week. I started off with a Señorial Maduro in the Lognsdale Refinado size. This is a 6½” x 44 lonsdale size cigar, and I’ve found a discrepancy. The sticker on the cigar is spelled “Longsdale“, everywhere else it’s listed as “Lonsdale” (except for the Las Cumbres Tabaco website, which does not feature the six month or more old Maduro line at all…C’mon José! You’re supposed to be hip to this whole internet jive!). Call it whatever you want, it’s a great cigar. I picked up a few of these at an event with José at the Wooden Indian a couple of months ago and I’m happy I did. Loads of flavor from the San Andrés wrapper, perfect construction and a wonderful smoking experience. Great cigar from a great guy. I see a Freyja in my future, it’s been a while since I smoked one of those.

A couple of evenings this week were pretty darned cold, not that I should be surprised, it is, January anyway, but I wanted something shorter, with lots of flavor (cold and subtlety don’t mix!) so I reached for a Perdomo Champagne Noir Robusto. I didn’t care for the regular Champagne AT ALL. I would be hard pressed to try another one based upon the experience I had with the first, but the Noir is another story. It’s a Nicaraguan puro, it’s got the cocoa/coffee flavors I like and is a very nice cigar. I will eventually revisit the Connecticut wrapped 10th Anniversary Champagne, but I have an aversion to spending my cigar time with something I didn’t like the first time. If I don’t know I don’t like a cigar it’s one thing. Anyway, the Noir may be my second favorite Perdomo next to the 20th Maduro, but there are a lot of enjoyable cigars in the line. I actually wouldn’t mind taking the Perdomo factory tour one of these days.

Yesterday I wanted to get some of those Powerball tickets everyone is talking about, and I know that the seller of the winning ticket gets a nice little bonus for selling the winner, so I headed over to Goose’s in Limerick, PA and bought my lottery tickets and a handful of cigars, and settled into the lounge with an Illusione HL to watch the Flyers game. I haven’t smoked a great many Illusione cigars, and I need to change this. I’ve met Dion a bunch of times, I think he knows who I am, yet, my experience with his line is sorely lacking. The HL is the 7½” x 40 lancero in the “Original Documents” series which has to be about 10 years old, right? I didn’t really do my due diligence on this one, so I’m going to guess that this was the Habano wrapped version as it certainly wasn’t candela (on my wish list) and it didn’t strike me as San Andrés Maduro. As I was watching the hockey game in Goose’s lounge, a couple of flavors stood out to me, leather with some sweetness. I enjoyed the heck out of this perfectly constructed lancero, it was perfect for two periods of hockey, at which time I ran home to catch the end of the game.

For my Saturday evening walk I selected Cigar Aficionado’s number 3 pick on their top 25 list, the CAO Flathead 660 Carb. I’ve heard some sentiments expressed to the negative about this choice for CA, but I, who have been a fan of the line from the start, think it was a solid selection. I was out of these, so I picked some up at Goose’s (I was actually surprised they were in stock). Obviously, the 660 Carb is 6″ x 60, but it’s severely box pressed, so it really doesn’t feel like a 60 ring cigar. I punched this one, as is nearly mandatory with the flat cap, and got a great burn and draw. I find punching is the easiest way with these (and the RoMaCraft Neanderthal), but I’m going to try some other methods in the future just to see how they work. I guess I just like the neatness of the punch in this case. A large bore punch is best, my Screwpop 2.0 punch is 9mm (the 1.0 was 7m, not that you asked). I love the Broadleaf wrapper on these, and I love the fact that the different sizes present a different smoking experience. The 660 is smooth, but loaded with the great espresso, dark chocolate and tobacco flavors I love. This marque is on my shortlist of box buys right now I just don’t know which size I like best!

I would like to ask that anyone who was a winner in the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways who did NOT receive your winnings please let me know. No need to publicly heap praise upon me, although the sponsors wouldn’t mind, just want to make sure everyone is happy. That’s it for now, off to enclose the back porch for the winter to make it more comfortable for cold weather cigar smoking!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as CAO, cigar, cigars, Flathead, illusione, maduro, Perdomo, Senorial

by CigarCraig | July 16, 2014 · 9:44 pm

MBombay Classic and Maduro Cigars From Bombay Tobak

This week I want to highlight a new cigar line from Mel Shah, the owner of Fame Lounge, an upscale cigar, wine and microbrew lounge located in the heart of downtown Palm Springs. You may be asking yourself where the MBombay name comes from. Mel was born in Bombay, India, before the name was changed to Mumbai. When he wanted to name his wine Bombay, he found that there was a gin company who had the trademark for Bombay, so he named it MBombay. When he created the cigars, he used the same name, the bands on the cigars are the same as the wine bottle label. The company is called Bombay Tobak. The MBombay is available in two lines, the Classic and the Maduro. The blends and sizes break down as follows:

The Classic Line

Wrapper: Ecuador Connecticut 2001

Binder: Dominican Republic

Filler: Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Peru

The Classic line is available in five sizes: Corona (5″ x 43),

Robusto (4.5″ x 48), Belisoco (5″ x 52), Perfecto (a figurado 6 x

50) and Churchill (7″ x 48). The retail price ranges from $8.50

to $11.50.

The Maduro Line

Wrapper: Brazilian Mata Fina 2007

Binder: Peru

Filler: Honduras, Nicaragua, and Dominican Republic

The Maduro line is available in four sizes: Robusto (4.5″ x 48), Perfecto

(a figurado 6 x 50), Churchill (7″ x 48) and a Double Corona (7″ x 52).

The retail price ranges from $10.00 to $13.50.

Interestingly, to me at least, these are made in the same factory in Costa Rica that makes the Atabey, Byron and Bandolero cigars for Nelson Alphonso (distributed by David Garofalo of Two Guys Smokeshop, United Cigar Retailers and The Cigar Authority). They are pricey, but compared to the Atabey and Byron lines they are downright reasonable. These are showing up in stores in the southern California area now, and I hope these receive wider distribution so everyone gets a chance to try them. I’ve smoked the Maduro Churchill, the Classic Belicoso, and the Classic Churchill over the last few days.

Those who have been following me can guess which cigar I selected first. Monday I reached for the MBombay Maduro Churchill. The Churchills in this line are nearly the classic size, 7″ x 48, and have a dark and oily Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper. This cigar was a real delight to smoke. It was perfectly constructed, drawing perfectly with a V cut. The burn was dead even, and the ash dropped in solid one inch chunks. The flavor was a delicious mix of cocoa and coffee, with a hint of spice and fell solidly in the medium bodied range. I enjoyed this one until it threatened to burn my fingers, it was among the most enjoyable cigars I’ve smoked in a long time.

Tuesday we went out to dinner to celebrate my wife’s birthday, and it was raining buckets when we got home. I opened the garage door and lit up the MBombay Classic Belicoso. This great looking 5″ x 52 figurado is dominated by the ornate and rather large band. Once again, the construction is perfect, and once again, I used a V cut, but eventually I lopped the end off with my scissors just to see if it made any difference. It made the draw a little more open, but I could easily have fully enjoyed the cigar with the V cut, even though it was a Belicoso. The flawless Ecuador Connecticut wrapper gave it a creaminess that was really nice, and while it was milder than the Maduro, it was very flavorful. Another winner.

Tonight I chose the MBombay Classic Churchill for my evening walk. Like the other cigars, this cigar features an uncut foot, so it lights very easily and gives a nice blast of the wrapper flavor right at the start. I like the unfinished foot feature on a cigar, it’s far more useful than a fancy pigtail head. This also had the creamy flavor of the Belicoso, and shared the exceptional construction of the other two. Once again, I smoked this one to a finger-burning nub. The Classic line appears to be another excellent cigar in the genre of the flavorful Connecticut Shade cigars. I found them all smooth, well balanced and a very satisfying cigar experience. This particular factory in Costa Rica seems to be routinely producing exceptional cigars, and the MBombay is apparently another. The three cigars I smoked over the last three days were so good I’m afraid whatever I pick for tomorrow evening will be a let down!