I’m frantically packing and readying for the trip to New Orleans tomorrow, but I figured while my new shed is being built in the back yard I’d recap some great cigars I smoked this week. Who knows what I’ll smoke over the next four or five days, and I haven’t loaded the travel humidor up yet. I will probably take an assortment of favorites as I won’t be taking notes on many cigar I smoke while I’m there. Anyway, Sunday I drove down to the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA to meet Alex, our local House of Emilio rep and the son of the owner there. The Wooden Indian apparently cornered the market on Emilio‘s Grimalkin line, which was replaced by La Musa a few years ago, supposedly just re-named. I picked up a few torpedos and smoked 
one there. This cigar has aged well, it was made at the My Father factory, a well-known secret that I imagine it’s OK to spill since the Grimalkin brand is no more. Smooth, tasty and well-balanced sum up this smoke. When I got home I smoked another cigar from the Emilio line up, the Mia Dora. This is a stronger smoke, rich flavors of tobacco and well made. I’ll certainly see Alex and the House of Emilio brands at the show.
Since I’m on vacation, I had a three-day work week, which means cramming 5 days of work in, and Monday was a bit stressful. A month or so ago Cigar-Coop send me some cigar in an unnecessary reciprocation for me sharing some Inca Secret Blends with him. One of the cigars he sent was a Fat Perfecto from Regius‘ Exclusivo U.S.A. line. This cigar is a 60 ring by 5½” cigar in basically the same shape as the Feral Flying Pig, closed on both ends with a coiled “bun” type of pigtail cap. I really enjoyed the refined flavors in this cigar. It wasn’t strong, but loaded with flavor and burned well. It had a great balance, and even I could appreciate the nuances and delicate flavors. The is a classy stick, many thanks to Will for sharing this one with me.
Not wanting to stress out my palate for the upcoming trip, I decided to go Connecticut shade for a few days. I smoked an Aging Room Havao Tuesday, which I had picked up when I saw Rafael Nodal at Cigar Mojo last month. This cigar is a fine example of a Connecticut (Ecuador, they almost all are now), cigar with a lot of flavor. I’ve really enjoyed this cigar before, I guess that’s why I bought a handful at the event. They aren’t priced badly either. This is another terrific shade wrapped cigar, as well as the next one!
Last night I took my wife out for her birthday, and when we got home I took a walk with an AJ Fernandez New World Connecticut. Once again, we have an Ecuador Connecticut cigar that isn’t bland, mild and boring! This one was actually a bit stronger than the afor-mentioned Havao. Loads of smoke, plenty of flavor, and quite easy on the eyes! This cigar, as well as the original New World, can easily become staples in the humidor, and aren’t badly priced either. I am really looking forward to dropping by their booth this year, even though AJ doesn’t speak much English, he’s always gracious and he makes some damned fine cigars! Many thanks again to Gabriel for sharing these, and I look forward to seeing him again at the show too!
I can only hope the cigars I smoke at the show are as enjoyable as these last several were. It’s really getting harder and harder to find crappy cigars now days. Even cigars I don’t particularly care for are quite good, it’s been a while since I’ve had a poorly made cigar, and they all seem to have some redeeming qualities. Pray the FDA doesn’t come a long and goof everything up!
Until the next time, which really will be from the IPCPR show,
CigarCraig
