Tag Archives: Micallef

by | May 10, 2020 · 10:16 am

A Micallef Leyenda and a BOTL Cigar from Drew Estate

I finally decided to smoke the Micallef Leyenda No. 2 that I had picked up at the Micallef event I went to just over a year ago at the Cigar Cigars store in Phoenixville, PA. That reminds me, I need to reach out to my friends at CigarCigars and inquire about the status of their stores. When I passed the Phoenixville shop the other day it looked like it was open, and similarly with the Frazer shop. I haven’t had a need to stop in, but I need to drop a ew people a note or two. Anyway, the Leyenda No. 2 was one of several cigars I had bought at the event, and I hadn’t gotten around to it because it was in a really cool little coffin sorta thing, and I tend to hold on to those too long, mostly because I don’t know what to do with them when I smoke the cigar. It seems a shame to toss the coffins out, but I haven’t worked out what to do with them. Stupid, I know. This is why I have a shelf in the wineador tied up with single cigars in coffins. This one is unique because it’s open in one side, and it’s form fitting to the torpedo shape. This poses another ethical dilemma in my mind as I see it as something that a lot of time and energy went into making. Clearly it’s something I need to work through. I did take the first step and smoked the cigar, so that’s something. The cigar was brilliant, I must say. the wrapper is a 5 Year Old Ecuadorian Habano, with a 5 Year Old Nicaraguan binder and 5 Year Old Nicaraguan, Dominican, and Honduran fillers. This was a torpedo with a sharp taper and measured 5½” x 52. It should come as no surprise that it has some woody flavor, having been surrounded by wood on three sides for quite some time, although there was a layer of cellophane as a buffer. It had some slight citrus and spice too, and was quite enjoyable. It burned perfectly and was a fun cigar to smoke. Considering the presentation and the quality, I don’t recall these having been terribly expensive. I’d buy more if I could figure out what to do with the little coffins!

 

Last year Drew Estate re-issued a cigar that they made for the web forum BOTL around 2010. I had the pleasure of going on Cigar Safari in 2011 with a few guys from BOTL, and I remember hearing about this cigar, although I was rather ignorant of it at the time, not having been a BOTL forum member. Tim seemed to have been the guy who worked with DE to make this happen back then, and it wasn’t something that was widely available. Never having smoked one, I can’t make a comparison between what was then and this new iteration, but I have smoked a few of the newer ones over the last year and really quite enjoyed them. They only have what I would call “connoisseur” sizes: Corona, Lancero, and a long Corona Gorda, which is what I had on hand to smoke. There were a couple included in the PA Barnsmoker cigars that I smoked, including the Lancero. The Corona Gorda is 6″ x 46, not a bad size, and has a Broadleaf wrapper, Ecuador Connecticut binder and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s a little bit “Liga Lite” to me, it’s got the Broadleaf sweetness, and is full bodied, and it falls somewhere in between a Liga and an Undercrown and I really like it. It’s still a $10 stick, and, for the money, I’m still going to Nica Rustica for my Broadleaf fix, but the BOTL doesn’t have the rough edges that the Nica Rustica has. So if you want something more elegant, in those elegant sizes, this is a great choice.

 

I smoked a Joya Silver this week, and I had every intention of following it up with a  Joya Cinco Decadas, just to compare, because I think there’s some commonality between the two. I backed off for a few reasons. The dumb reason was that I didn’t feel like I deserved to smoke a $20 cigar at that particular time. The better reason was that the particular evening I thought about doing it happened to get cold and rainy. I’ll get to it one of these days. Anyway, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | April 15, 2020 · 6:58 pm

Micallef Experiencia La Crema Cigar

I smoked a bunch of cigars so far this week. I jumped in on a question on a large Facebook group asking about the difference between the Liga Privada T52 and No. 9 after seeing a bunch of non-answers. The question included which one was better, and after answering that the difference was that the T52 has a Connecticut stalk cut Habano wrapper and the No. 9 has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper (and later noting that all Connecticut tobacco is stalk cut, because I can’t help myself), I noted that one being better than the other was a matter of preference. Of course, I’ve talked about this before, and it can be like arguing religion or politics, but taste is subjective. I can say that Lima beans suck because I don’t like them, but some people love them and that means that they don’t suck and I’m wrong, I just don’t like them. I love black licorice, other people think it sucks. That makes them wrong. I’m kidding, of course, it means there’s more for me and I can have a stash in the house that nobody is going to touch! It all goes back to what I always say, tastes are personal, just because you don’t like something, doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t! I smoked a T52 Belicoso that Jonathan Drew handed me at TPE because I was thinking about it and I hadn’t smoked one in a while and it was pretty darned good.  

 

Among the cigars I smoked this week, the new-to-me cigar I smoked was the Micallef Experienia La Crema toro. This was a cigar that came back with me from the TPE show, and was one which I was unfamiliar. The “La Crema” part of the name made me think it was a Connecticut shade, but it certainly didn’t look like it, it had the look of a Sumatra, so I looked it up and it is listed as 4 year old an Andrés Sumatra, which I assume is Sumatra grown in Mexico. Interesting! The binder is 4 year old Ecuadorian Habano and the fillers are 4 year old Nicaraguan, Dominican, and Panamanian. I noticed the website lists smoking times for the four vitolas in which this blend is offered, Robusto – 45 minutes, Toro – 60 minutes, Churchill – 60 to 90 minutes and Gordo – 60 to 90 minutes. I suppose I’m a slow smoker, because these look like power smoking times to me! The 6″ x 52 toro smoked for two hours for me, which is about my average for a toro. I’m a fan of Sumatra wrappers. This one had the sweetness that I like in that wrapper. It had a good balance of strength and flavor, there was some spice and earth as well as the sweetness. It burned well, although it was a little more resistant than I would have liked. Perhaps it could have been a little drier, although it measured within my acceptable range with the Humidimeter (64%). I suppose one day I’ll try to find another one and try again, it was an enjoyable cigar, perhaps on of my favorites in the Micallef line. While I was on the site I signed up for their ambassador program, I figured what the heck. I was told to do it a year or so ago by my local rep, Paul, and forgot about it. I kept hearing about it on the CigarTalk Podcast too, so I finally got around to it.  

 

Back to quarantine, social distancing, continued job hunting, etc. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | September 25, 2019 · 5:52 pm

Vegas Del Purial and Micallef Herencia Cigars

First off, for some reason the e-mails that usually go out when I put a new post up are not going out due to some issue Google Feedburner is having with my RSS feed. Please bear with me while I sort that all out. It’s a bit of a mystery. Second, we had a nice time at the wedding we attended over the weekend. I shared some cigars with the groom and his brother that we had smoked together twenty years ago when we met. It was probably more sentimental for me than for them, but oh well! It was an atypical wedding and reception, but it was fun and an interesting weekend! Third, You might remember that I’ve reviewed some items from Groovy Groomsmen Gifts and Groovy Guy Gifts, well the same folks have launched www.memorableretirementgifts.com. They are offering a selection of cigar accessories too, similar to the other sites. I’ve found them to be great to deal with, and they source their items from a reputable company. I haven’t even replied to the email yet about trying out any of their items, I don’t need to know more than I already do to recommend them.

 

When I was in Florida I met up with PJ and René and Juan Nuñez for a smoke, and Juan just stopped in as I was getting ready to leave. I’d been wanting to meed him, as he had sent me one of his Coyaba cigars a few weeks prior, and Kevin, who manages one of my local Cigar Cigars shops, speaks very highly of him.  Juan handed me a Vegas Del Purial Gran Reserva Super Toro from El Galan Cigars. This is a Nicaraguan cigar with an Ecuador Sunatra wrapper and was really very well made.  Of course, I love a toro, so a Super Toro must be that much better, right?  This is a 6 ¾” x 54 cigar, so yeah, it’s a super sized toro, I’m OK with it. Flavor-wise, I found it to be on the leathery side, without a hint of sweetness. While this isn’t typically my go-to flavor profile, it was a tasty cigar, it was obviously made with well aged tobaccos, as it was smooth and there were no harsh or off-putting flavors. I’d certainly smoke this again, it just isn’t my normal preference. A+ for burn and draw though, and it was a satisfying cigar!  Many thanks to Juan for sharing this with me and I hope the next time we meet we have time to sit and share a smoke!

 

Today I had the day off, and I’ve managed to get a few things accomplished. My wife and I took a morning walk to the store, while there I got a hair cut, I came home and got some yard work done, then I donated a pint of blood.  After all that I fired up a Micallef Herencia box pressed torpedo that I had bought several months back at a Micallef event.  This 5½” x 52 cigar boasts 4 year aged tobaccos, Nicaraguan Habano filler, Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. The website says that the “Pleasure Period” is 50 minutes. I have to disagree with this, as I am 50 minutes into the cigar as I’m typing this, and haven’t hit the half way point yet, and haven’t had an unpleasureable moment yet. I love a cigar that has a flat ember, all the tobaccos are burning at the same rate. It isn’t a sweet cigar, it’s on the savory side, but it does have hints of sweetness and is really quite delicious.  There’s a bit of spice too which is nice. I don’t usually smoke while I write, so this is getting a little more detail, but it is getting more spice near the end and I have about 2″ to go and it’s still smoking well. I’ll be putting it down soon and getting dinner, then I’ll find something to smoke for an evening walk. Maybe it’ll be another Don Juan Calavera, I’ve been really enjoying them a lot, or perhaps it will be something special from the cigars PJ gave me in Florida “for my birthday”. It’ll have to be something pretty good after this one.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | May 12, 2019 · 2:03 pm

Micallef Grande Bold Mata Fina and Villiger La Meridiana Cigars

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there (take that any way you want!). There was some interesting news this week from Cornelius & Anthony regarding both restructuring their staff and not attending IPCPR. I happen to enjoy a good professional relationship with the company, and several of their cigars are among my favorite cigars. That being said, this news causes me concern for the future of the brand. I don’t want to speak out of turn, because it would be speculation on my part, but I’m glad I have a stockpile of favorites, and will continue to support the brand as Stephen Bailey notes that he has no intention of shutting it down.

 

I continued pretty much smoking what I wanted to smoke this week, but I did smoke a few new cigars to talk about today. First was the Micallef Grande Bold Mata Fina that I picked up at an event I attended a few weeks back at CigarCigars in Phoenixville, PA. I hadn’t smoked any cigars from Micallef before that event, and I’m not too much further along than that now, this is only about the third one I’ve smoked. This was the 5″ x 56 robusto, wrapped in a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler.  I found this to be a very unique and interesting tasting cigar. There was a savory meatyness as opposed to being a sweeter maduro. The first draw was almost like when you take a drink out of a class thinking it’s coke and it turns out to be tea, I was expecting sweet and got something different! IT certainly wasn’t unpleasant, once I got used to the idea that I was getting an entré and not desert!  The burn and draw were perfect, and the cigar provided me with a very satisfying experience. I bought a handful of cigars that night and I don’t remember the price but they all seemed to be reasonable. I still have a couple left to sample.

 

Villiger Cigars, like Cornelius & Anthony Cigars, is also skipping the IPCPR show this year, which is probably much bigger news. While Villiger is pretty small in the premium cigar world, they are huge in the mass market segment, especially outside of the US. They have struggled to increase their footprint in premiums, and have put out some really good cigars in the last few years. The latest is another partnership with Joya de Nicaragua, which makes their La Vencedora line and is called La Meridiana, which has been available in Europe for 20 years. They say they believe that now is the right time to bring this cigar to the US, but I’m confused by this, because this seems to me to be quintessentially American in flavor profile. I’m actually surprised that this has been so well received in Europe.  The samples I received were the 6″ x 54 box pressed Toro, which is not a size I believe is available in Europe. Still, checked all my boxes as far as favorite flavors. It’s all Nicaraguan, obviously something that Joya de Nicaragua excels with, so it’s loaded with cocoa and coffee notes, which we all know I enjoy. It had a sweetness I enjoyed, THIS was a desert cigar, and I liked it a lot. Even though these had only had a few days in the humidor since arriving, the cigar burned perfectly. I was very happy with the experience.

 

Well, that’s enough from me for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | April 7, 2019 · 10:40 am

Some New Cigars: The Cajun and the Strata, and a Micallef Ligero

I received some beautiful cigars from a gentleman named Kenny New, who’s the president of QRI,  an environmental consulting company in Louisiana. He’s gotten the bug, and decided to get into the cigar business, and has come up with two cigars, the Cajun and the Strata, and was kind enough to share a couple with me. The Cajun has an Ecuador wrapper which is Oscuro in color, with a binder from Esteli and fillers from Esteli and Jalapa. The Strata is a triple barber pole wrapped cigar withe Maduro, Habano and Connecticut, Esteli binder and fillers from Jalapa, Esteli and Condega. Both are made in Esteli in an undisclosed factory (I tried), and both are presented in a 6 x 54 toro. Both are priced at $10, and $180 for a bundle of 20, which can be mixed, and are available directly from Ken until he gets his Keneaux Hattuk Cigar Company webpage live. webpage

 

Of course, I smoked the Oscuro Cajun first, as is my way. Given the name, I expected more spice from this, but it wasn’t quite the spice-bomb I thought it would be. It was a terrific smoke.  It starts off with a smooth, cocoa with a hint of spice, and the flavor builds throughout the smoke. The strength starts medium and builds too, but it never is a full on spicy cigar like the Cajun name might imply. That’s OK, though, it’s a Hershey’s Special Dark bar in a cigar, and I love that. As far as construction goes, it was about as perfect in burn and draw as a cigar could be, whoever is making these knows what they are doing. When asked, Kenny was direct in saying that the factory wished to remain anonymous until he got a larger following, so please buy a bunch of these, I want to know!

 

Last night I smoked the Strata, and I admit I’m as much a sucker for a barber pole as I am a maduro. I know that the spiral wrap doesn’t cause flavor changes or anything, but the three wrappers often lends an interesting mix of flavors that I think is really interesting. Such was the case with this cigar. It was smooth, with the creamy, nuttiness of the Connecticut, some of the spice of the Habano and some of the cocoa of the Maduro, combining into a nice melange, if you will, of flavor. It built up a little bit on intensity through the smoke from medium to medium-plus, and one it got mid way through where they band would have been it began to tell me it was quitting time. Saka and I  had this discussion Sunday about Connecticut cigars turning bitter around the band, I noticed a little bit of this, and I wondered which was the base wrapper. Maybe I’ll go dissect the butt later and see if I can see, as if it really makes a difference. Bothe cigars have really neat bands with metallic green accenting Kennys Company logo, no expense was spared on the bands, nor the cigars, obviously, as both are of the highest quality, and all the tobaccos are aged at least 5 years. Nice work, I’m quite impressed!

 

Friday evening I went to the CigarCigars store in Phoenixville, PA where they were having a Micalef event. Back in 2017 when I was at the IPCPR show I saw their bit, elaborate booth and had never heard of this brand. I avoided it, not knowing what it was all about, and having a lot of other ground to cover. Recently a fairly local guy took over as a sales rep for the company, a guy who managed one of the CigarCigar stores for a long time, and had a long history in the cigar industry, and I actually knew from long ago in the old usenet newsgoup days. SO I figured I’d been hearing a lot about this brand it was a good time to go see Paul and see what Micallef cigars were about, or at the very least learn how to pronounce it (it’s a hard “C”).  This Micallef guy is a millionaire who lives in Texas who decided he wanted to have his own cigars made, came across some guys with a Cuban pedigree going back to the 1930s. The long story is out there, brevity is my middle name (my parents had a weird sense of humor). I picked up a bunch of the Micallef cigars, and smoked the Grande Bold Ligero in the Gordo size.  When one see the word “Ligero” on the band, one thinks “strong”, but this has two ligeros, but the origins of the ligeros they use balance out the strength and it’s not a strong cigar at all. Flavor wise it was good, but I was chatting and not really paying as much attention, but the one thing I noticed was the great burn. Besides being very cool to the touch around the burn line, the ember was very flat, and it always impresses me when all the tobaccos used burn at the same rate. I’ll be smoking others from this brand over the coming weeks.

 

That’s all for now. I have a new humidor I have been seasoning and need to fill, and decommission another one. I’ll be working on an article on that in the near future. It’s a beautiful day today and I have the day off, so hopefully I’ll get a cigar or two in. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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