Tag Archives: Montecristo

by Craig Vanderslice | March 16, 2025 · 9:23 am

Serenity Now, Montecristo Exclusive, Hooten Young and Julius Caeser Cigars

Thursday night I went to a Flyers Game, their second meeting with the Tampa Lightning. You may recall that I went to Tampa last November to the game there, and they won in a shootout. It was a fantastic experience with the Diamond Crown cigar lounge and all, Kevin and I had a great time! This time I took my youngest son, and I smoked a Serenity Now from Asylum/CLE Cigars. I figured this would be an appropriate driving cigar! I got this at the TPE show, embarrassed to say I don’t remember the reps name who I talked to , but Tom Lazuka was there. This is a cigar that Christian Eiroa came up with, Tom is usually the idea man for the Asylum line. It’s my understanding that we wasn’t very happy with Christian at first. This comes in a box with a San Andrés sibling, the Insanity Later. Serenity Now uses a Connecticut-seed wrapper, which may or may not be grown in Honduras, over tobaccos from Honduras and an undisclosed South American country. There are a lot of references to CLE having a farm in South America, which is a big place. I thought this was a little bitey for a shade cigar, on the tannic side. It was a nice road cigar as it burned well and was inoffensive. Full flavor yet medium strength. I’d try it again, but am more interested in trying the maduro, which I would have called Profanity Later, but that’s just me.

Last week when I visited the Smoke Inn Casa de Montecristo lounge in West Palm Beach, one of the cigars I bought was a Montecristo Nicaragua Great Smoke 2023 Exclusive. This was priced higher than I usually like, but when in Rome (more on Rome, see below) you know! Yesterday was The Great Smoke put on by Abe at Smoke Inn, and it looks to have been a good time. In honor of that, I decided to smoke the Montecristo. This is a Nicaraguan puro, blended by Rafael Nodal and AJ Fernandez and made at the AJF factory. Montecristo (and a lot of Altadis cigars) aren’t generally my cup of tea, although the exceptions are the ones made by AJ Fernandez. This has a dark wrapper, is a 6″ x 52 Toro, and performed spectacularly. It has a distinctive flavor, I wonder if this is what people refer to as “black walnut”? I don’t like walnut, but this was a good tasting cigar. I didn’t regret dropping $20 on this cigar, it was a souvenir, of my trip, and I really enjoyed it. Once again, I can’t overstate how nice an experience my visit to the Smoke Inn shop was, I will have to get back down there and go to some of the other shops.

Another cigar I picked up on my recent travels was the Hooten Young Ma Deuce. I saw Jon Carney at the Cigar Circus event and he, apparently, had been working with the Hooten Young folks, and hooked me up with a couple of their cigars. I probably should have watched “Black Hawk Down” yesterday while I smoked this, but opted for something a little lighter. Norm Hooten, one of the co-founders of the company, is a Veteran of the mission in Somalia which the movie “Black Hawk Down” is about, and there’s also a connection to Jon Carney’s home town in Maine. This is an interesting vitola. It’s 6½” x 60, but it’s shaped like a .50 caliber cartridge. The Ecuadorian Connecticut and San Andres Maduro wrapper combo is arranged to emulate the different metals in the bullet and casing. It has a Nicaraguan binder and filler. They come in boxes that look like ammo cans. Everyone has a different palate, I got a sourdough flavor off the start, which continued through out. Of course, I like this flavor in a cigar, so it was good. I smoked it for the better part of two hours, and the tapered head makes it very much unlike a 60 ring cigar. It was fun to smoke. I’ll watch “Black Hawk Down” one of these days when I’m in the mood.

Finally, I couldn’t let March 15 go by without smoking a Diamond Crown Julius Caeser cigar. Here’s something I wrote last year that I was pretty proud of, although I might be the only one who was impressed with it…

We all know that March 15 marks the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. We know the exact date because he invented the calendar we use. He instituted that just a year before his death. Anyway, he was a heck of an Emperor, but I guess his friends thought he was a dick, so they stabbed him. I may be oversimplifying things a little. A few millennia later some Hungarian folks named their son after him, and US immigration screwed up the spelling on his paperwork and Julius Caeser Newman started a cigar company that makes some great cigars.

The Diamond Crown Julius Caeser is made at Tabacalera A. Fuente, has an Ecuador Havana wrapper, Dominican binder and Caribbean and Central American fillers. I smoked the Pyramid vitola, which is 6½” x 52. I might have gotten this when I was in Tampa for the Heritage Festival in ’22. I was kind of hoping to smoke the new Trouble Maker vitola, but I didn’t end up getting my hands on any. This is a great cigar, with a woody profile that’s a nice change of pace for me. I probably don’t smoke this line as often as I should, there are some good memories associated with it, beyond the historical and literary tie-ins.

That’s all I have for today, no travel this weekend! until the next time,

CigarCraig

😃+

Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto JR Cigars Exclusive

I’m having a busy weekend here, so today’s post will be dedicated to the Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto. JR Cigars has been sending me some of their exclusive cigars for me to write about, and this was the most recent. The links in these posts are affiliate links, so if you shop at JR, do me a favor and do it through these links. I don’t seem to have a lot of success with affiliate links, over the last nearly 15 years I don’t think I’ve made more than $100. I keep trying though. Maybe I’ll use the links myself to buy more of these Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez cigars, because they are right up my alley! I’m going to be right upfront when I say that there are very few Montecristo cigars that float my boat, I would even go as far as to say that Altadis cigars in general mostly don’t do it for me. There are some exceptions, and the vast majority are made in partnership with AJ Fernandez. The cigars JR provided me were robustos, 5″ x 52 and have an Oscuro Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, a Mexican San Andrés binder, and aged long filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, and the United States, or Honduras, the website actually says two different things!. Based on the flavor and strength, I’m inclined to believe that there’s Pennsylvania or Connecticut broadleaf in the blend.

I’ve smoked a handful of these this week, and I was really quite pleased with them! They have an espresso or strong, black coffee thing going on, with a hint of some sweetness about half way through the cigar. Lately a robusto is only good for about an hour, so larger sizes in this blend interest me. This is a bold, premium cigar at a great price. The presentation is nice too, although the wrapper is so pretty it’s a shame to cover it up with the large sleeve! By now my regular readers probably know what style of cigars I like, and if you find yourself liking the same cigars, this one is a no-brainer. Every sample I smoked burned perfectly, which shouldn’t be a surprise given their provenance. This is my new favorite Montecristo. JR has a whole line of “Crafted By” cigars, I’d love to see a sampler of them, there’s some I’d love to try.

I’m off today to Harrisburg, PA to visit Harrisburg Beer and Cigar and Cindy Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust. I’ve been wanting to get out to visit Nick and James, and we don’t get to see enough of Cindy, usually that Steve guy is taking the spotlight. It might be a good chance to replenish some of my DTT cigars that have run low. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as aj fernandez, cigar, cigars, Crafted by AJ Fernandez, JR Cigars, Montecristo

by Craig Vanderslice | December 18, 2023 · 7:00 am

Contest! Travel Humidor, Cap and Coozy from Cigars.com

It’s that time of year, and thanks to the folks at Cigars.com, we have a cool giveaway for you! They have provided me with a Montecristo Travel Humidor, a RoMEo Cap, and a Romeo y Julieta Can Coozy. I have seen a lot of travel humidors, but I was surprised when I opened this one up and it had wood inside instead of foam! This is a really nice item. I think everyone knows me well enough by now, I’ll be adding a few surprises to the humidor before I send it to the lucky winner! I can’t send out packages without cigars! Don’t worry, they will be consistent with the theme of the contest! This should make someone’s holiday a little brighter!

The usual process applies: Leave a comment on this post to enter. One entry per person, you must be of legal age in your jurisdiction, and the winner must contact me with your shipping details. I’ll announce the winner on Sunday, December 24, 2023. I might be able to find a little something to give away next week too!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, CIgars.com, Contest, Montecristo, Rome y Julieta, Romeo

by Craig Vanderslice | June 27, 2021 · 9:48 am

Black Lion Luxuries May Cigar of the Month Club Offerings

I know it’s the end of June, but I’ve just gotten around to smoking my way through the May Black Lion Luxuries Cigar Of the Month Club Package. This pack featured three cigars that I hadn’t had a chance to smoke before, and had wanted to, and the other two were cigars I smoked before and liked, so it was a winner all the way around. There was also a trend toward connoisseur type sizes, as there was a lancero and three Corona Gorda sized cigars in the mix. Once again, the value can’t be argued, this was basically “buy 3, get 2 free” or better as the MSRP on the cigars individually added up to $54.86, and the COTM is something like $38 delivered. I’ve been impressed with the packaging and the condition of the cigars, they have been ready to smoke out of the package every time, even when I’ve ignored them for a month! I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but the way the cigars were placed in the bag resembled a left hand.

Being slightly CDO (that’s OCD in alphabetical order, LIKE IT SHOULD BE!), I smoked the lancero first because it stood out. Luciano the Dreamer is from Ace Prime cigars, which is a newer company that I’ve had absolutely no interaction with at all. They’ve come on the scene in the past few years, and it’s been a few years since I’ve been to an IPCPR show, so I’ve only been hearing about them through other outlets. I don’t even think they were working closely with Crowned Heads when I talked to Miguel Schoedel last year at the TPE show. My point is that I don’t know a lot about this line and I haven’t had any opportunity to sample any cigars from them. I think the closest I’ve come is the Juarez which is made in the same factory, and maybe the Mil Dias? The Dreamer is a 7½” x 38 Lancero, which is just about right for a traditional Laguito No. 1. I appreciate the attention to detail. This is a spectacular example of a lancero in my opinion. When smoked gently, it had flavors of sweet earth and leather. It could not have had a more perfect burn and draw, it was an absolute pleasure to smoke. The makeup of the cigar are an Ecuador Habano Corojo wrapper, Nicaraguan Binder and Nicaraguan and Peruvian fillers, and I always appreciate a little Peruvian in a blend, there’s a little unique spice that it gives. This cigar is a winner.

The next cigar I smoked was the Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaragua Demi. This was the first of the three Corona Gorda-ish sized cigars, and another one that was new to me and was on my list of cigars I was looking forward to trying. I’ve heard how amazing this cigar was from a lot of people. This is made by AJ Fernandez and is a Nicaraguan Puro and is 5½” x 46. I may need to try this in a larger vitola, because all I really got from this cigar was pepper, there wasn’t really much else to it. I was expecting a lot more flavor. That’s not to say it was a bad cigar, it’s just that my expectation was set pretty high, and for a $10 cigar I think there should be more than just one peppery note. Might just be me, never claimed to have a good palate, but for me this one was a let down. In my defense, those who follow me and keep score know that many Altadis products appeal to me, however the ones that do tend to be made by AJ Fernandez. I do keep trying though.

Two that I have smoked before, and enjoyed, are the Highclere Castle from Foundation Cigars and the CAO Zocalo Robusto. The Highclere Castle was the Victorian, with is the Habano wrapped line, and a very good smoke. I’m actually not sure if I’ve smoked the Connecticut wrapped Edwardian, yet, although I know I have one around someplace. I do like the Victorian a great deal, it’s a delicious cigar, and this was the “corona”, which is a 5½” x 46. The CAO is the 5″ x 52 Robusto, which is fairly new, it’s a line extension to the Zocalo line which was originally only a 6″ x 60. It’s a nice San Andrés wrapped cigar with some Spice and cocoa. If you enjoy that genré of cigar, as I do, you’ll find the Zocalo to your liking. Once again, both where in perfect condition and ready to smoke.

Finally, I smoked the HVC Serie A Perlas, a true Corona Gorda at 5 5/8″ x 46. This cigar has a Corojo 99 wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and I believe it’s made at the Aganorsa factory. Can I just say that it makes me a little nuts when cigar companies don’t have websites to link to? Can I also say that I seem to be the only cigar blogger who links to the cigar makers websites? I do it because I figure it makes it easy for the reader to get more information about the brands if they feel so inclined and I’m there already half the time and it only takes a second to copy and paste. Anyway, I found this Serie A to have nice, bright flavors, with some sweet spices. It wasn’t a heavy cigar, and I liked it. It was different than the others in the selection and I appreciated that. The COTMs from Black Lion Luxuries have proven to provide not only a good value, but an excellent variety. I recommend them heartily.

Thursday evening I stopped by the Wooden Indian for their first in person event since March of 2020, which featured Pedro Gomez of Drew Estate. It was well attended all things considered, and they raised some cash for Cigars for Warriors, like they always do. It was a good time, and I smoked an Undercrown 10 Corona Doble which was pretty darned good, although I think I’m preferring the Toro so far (big surprise there). It was nice seeing people at an event again and talking to people face to face.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 1935, Ace Prime, Black Lion Luxuries, CAO, cigar, cigars, COTMC, Foundation, Highclere, HVC, Luciano the Dreamer, Montecristo, Zocalo

by Craig Vanderslice | December 20, 2020 · 10:46 am

CigarCraig’s 2020 Holiday Giveaway!

OK, I know it’s not the CigarCraig’s 12 Days of Giveaways, it’s been 5 years since that whole thing ended. We had a good run, but when the FDA scared all the cigar companies off of giving cigars away, it complicated things. I knew that trying to do twelve days of swag giveaways wouldn’t fly, and adding cigars out of my own humidor would break me (shipping already puts a hurting on me!). So it went the way of the Dodo. Fortunately, I find myself with some goodies accumulated over the year, so I put together one great present to close out the year! First, let me get something off my chest. Yesterday I smoked a Deadwood Leather Rose, which I really enjoy. It irks me when people call this cigar, and the other cigars in the Deadwood series, “infused”, or dare I say it, “flavored”. They are not. Sure they have a sweet cap, there are several traditional cigars that have a sweet cap. I don’t count the sweet cap as flavored. I really wish the folks at Drew Estate would be more vocal about this. I’d love to be able to reference a link on their site that states boldly “this (and the Larutan, for that matter) is NOT an infused cigar”. It uses non-traditional tobaccos, Syrian, Perique, Latakia, tobaccos more traditionally used in pipe tobaccos. I hate seeing social media posts that start something like “I don’t usually smoke flavored cigars, but I smoked a Sweet Jane…”and I feel compelled to say “you still didn’t! I feel like Drew Estate should help me out a little here! Heck, I’ve seen people argue with Vaughn Boyd (who owned Deadwood) for crying out loud! OK, enough of my ranting, I really enjoy the Leather Rose, and her sisters, and the Natural/Larutans too, although I don’t smoke many for some reason. They have a lot of flavor, and I like that.

Let’s get to the Giveaway! We have a lot of stuff s buckle up. Back in August I went to a Golf tournament Sponsored by Goose’s Montecristo Lounge, and Goose was very generous and supplied me with some Montecristo swag which included a Montecristo cap, a really nice Montecristo table lighter and a cutter in a humidor bag. I am adding a Montecristo Espada from my humidor, and I might find something else when I get to rooting around. Speaking of Drew Estate, since they canceled the Barn Smokers this year, they very kindly sent out they Barnsmoker swag. I’ll be honest, I was on the fence about giving up the backpack, it’s really nice, but I have a ton of backpacks, and I talked myself into giving this one up (my wife talked me into it as well). There’s another lighter and cutter (here’s a secret, this lighter you can get away with stashing in your luggage when you fly!), a bottle opener and a cigar stand. I put together a samper of Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua cigars from my humidor to go with it. Next there’s a nice Villiger ceramic ashtray, to which I’ve added some Villiger cigars (again, from my humidor, unsmoked!), and finally, a Foundation cutter (I forgot to add a Foundation cigar to try it on, one will be added!). So that’s an OK present, right? A little something for everyone, goodies for you, a hefty USPS bill for me! (I might do UPS since USPS has been sketchy as of late). Many thanks to my friends who generously provided these goodies! You know the rules! Leave a comment on this post to enter. No comments on Facebook, twitter or anywhere but this blog post will count. You must be of legal age in your jurisdiction to win (and prove it), and if you are selected as the winner, you need to e-mail me your information, please don’t make me track you down! I like to think the folks who win my contest are regular readers and, therefore, will see that they won! I’ll pick a winner next Sunday, December 27, 2020. Let’s see a ton of entries! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, whatever you like to celebrate.