Tag Archives: Namakubi

by CigarCraig | May 26, 2013 · 10:58 am

A Room 101 Event and a Few Cigars on a Saturday Afternoon and Local News

Friday after work I shot down to Old Havana Cigars in West Chester, PA. They were having a Room 101 event and Matt Booth was there, along with the Davidoff rep who prefers to retain his anonymity so we’ll call him “Tom Smith”. I was disappointed that they only had the Serie SA in the 6×60 size, as I had wanted to get some more of those, but Matt talked me into the new Namakubi Ecuador in the Ranfla size, which is a 6.5 x 50 perfecto. Now, it’s no easy feat getting this cheap SOB to spring $10 for a cigar. I find that every time I come back from a cigar factory visit, my price threshold seems to go up a little as my education and appreciation for the work that goes into making these things. It turns out that this cigar was well worth the investment, and I’m glad I got two (and a pair of Ecuador Papi Chulos and a SA). The cigar burned perfectly, drew perfectly and had spectacular flavor. I enjoyed the heck out of the cigar while hanging out in the front of the store watching the antics of some of the regulars and talking with “Tom”. The lounge in the back of the store was packed, so I didn’t even venture back there. I also had the good fortune of meeting Evan, of TheSmokinGreek.com, another blogger who I recently discovered lived in my area. I had a great time, the events at Old Havana are always a hoot. If you ever find yourself in south-east PA, stop in, and as Tony the owner says: “just buy your cigars and get the f*** out!”. It’s always a pleasure hanging with Matt, he’s a character and a hell of a good guy.

Saturday I spent the afternoon hanging around my patio with my childhood friend, Jeff, smoking cigars and shooting the bull. I started with a Gurkha Beauty XO (6” x 60) that was a hand out at the grand opening of the Cigars International store in Hamburg, PA last November. Jeff enjoys the occasional cigar, and prefers milder ones when he smokes, so I set him up with one of my favorites, the Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta. I enjoy the heck out of that cigar, and I think it’s educational as well. The two inches of Nicaraguan leaf on the head of the cigar gives a totally different mouth feel than the Ecuador Connecticut leaf and is a great way to illustrate how the wrapper changes the entire cigar. I enjoyed the Gurkha, it was a mild and smooth cigar, and had a nice flavor. For the first cigar of the day this one wasn’t bad. After we finished with these, round two featured a CAO Concert Roadie for me, and a Rocky Patel Edge Candela for him. I figured (correctly) that he had never had a green cigar, and thought it would be a good continuation of his education. I chose the Concert because we were talking and I wanted a solid, flavorful and familiar cigar that I didn’t really have to pay attention to. I have had occasions in the past when a particularly good cigar distracts me from personal interaction. Not to say that the Concert isn’t particularly good, it is, but I’ve smoked enough of them that I know what to expect. Despite the breezy day (it was only in the 60s, which is disappointing for Memorial Day weekend) my cigars burned straight and well. Jeff had some problems with the candela, but that probably wasn’t the wind’s fault, I’ve had crooked burns with candela cigars plenty in the past. It was nice to spend an afternoon catching up with an old friend and smoking some nice cigars. For those who care, I enjoyed a Vernors Ginger Soda with the Gurkha, and an IBC Rootbeer with the CAO.

News Update (addded 05/27)

Of local interest, and perhaps only of interest to me, The West Chester PA shop, G & G Cigars was recently sold to the Cigar Cigars chain of stores in SouthEastern PA. This will increase the CigarCigars chain to seven stores, including a store in Freehold, NJ (which used to be the brick and mortar side of Firehouse Cigars, which was an early online cigar seller). According the Doug Gianforte, who owned the shop along with his wife, Jan, they will be closing the deal tomorrow and all of the employees are staying on, except for he and his wife, obviously. I will miss running into Doug and Jan at the IPCPR show (where I seem to see them more than I do at the shop). I will be interested to see what changes, if anything, at the shop.

That’s all I got for now, it’s another beautiful day out, and tomorrow is Memorial Day, so spare a moment to smoke a fine cigar in remembrance of all those who gave their lives so that we can sit around smoking cigars!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as CAO, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Gurkha, joya de nicaragua, Matt Booth, Namakubi, Old Havana Cigars, rocky patel, Room 101

by CigarCraig | May 2, 2012 · 6:11 pm

A Namakubi, a Guillermo Leon and a Liga Privada

Sunday was a beautiful day, and we had plans to attend our grand-daughter’s first birthday party at my daughter’s house. After I finished publishing Sunday’s installment, I had just enough time to relax in the sunshine with a cigar. This was one of those circumstances where the cigar selection is very important, too large a cigar and there’s not enough time to finish. Fortunately, I had picked up a couple small Room 101 Namakubis a few weeks back at an event at one of the local shops. I selected the Roxxo for the morning smoke and it was terrific. It’s a 4″ x 48 stubby robusto, made in the Camacho factory, a Ecuador Habano wrapper around Honduran and Dominican fillers. Such a great size for an hour in the sunshine on a Sunday morning with a cuppa joe. It had just the right balance of spice and sweetness. Really a nice little cigar, I think I liked it better than it’s little bro, the Papi Chulo. Two thumbs up.

Monday was actually my grand-daughter’s birthday, and we had such fun watching her at her party digging into her cake! You may recall, a year ago I celebrated her birth at the Wooden Indian in the town where my daughter lives with Guillermo Leon himself. I had picked up a couple of his Guillermo Leon Signature Corona Gordas and decided that it would be the perfect cigar to mark the occasion. A year of age hasn’t hurt this particular example, it was a tasty smoke. I love the 6″ x 47 size of these and it burned very nicely. While I don’t generally gravitate toward the flavor profile that comes out of the La Aurora factory, I certainly need to re-think that, because I’m enjoying more and more cigars that come from there, and have always had a soft spot for them. It goes back to my first box of cigars being La Aurora Bristol Especiales, purchased largely because my daughter’s name is Aurora. I will always try cigars from La Aurora based on that small fact, and I’ll always find something to enjoy about the experience. Always well made, and the Guillermo Leon Signature will forever remind me of the day my first grand child was born.

Tuesday evening turned out to be a nice, warm spring evening, so I felt like digging into my dwindling supply of Liga Privada cigars, and came up with a T52 Robusto. I probably purchased this at an event a few years ago, so it was not without a bit of age. I love it when a cigar is perfectly flat when you tap off the ash. It’s a testament to the blender that he can select tobaccos that all burn at the same rate. Astounding. really, after having seen how differently various leaves burn. Some leaves burn up almost immediately upon being lit (seco leaves) and others (ligero) smolder and barely burn at all. It’s truly a miracle. Anyway, I’m always impressed with a Liga Privada, and the T52 is no different. One of the few cigars I’ll spend $10+ dollars on, and I don’t do it often. An hour and a half or so of satisfying relaxation in robusto form!

That’s all I have for now. Don’t forget to get on over and sign the Whitehouse Petition, if you haven’t already, and keep pestering your elected officials to keep the FDA out of our humidors!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Camacho, cigar, cigar store, cigars, drew estate, Guillermo Leon, La Aurora, liga privada, Namakubi, Room 101, Roxxo, t52

by CigarCraig | April 1, 2012 · 9:51 am

Room 101 Cigars Event at Old Havana Cigar Co.

Friday evening Matt Booth from Room 101 was making an appearance at a local shop, Old Havana Cigar Co. in West Chester, PA. I frequently attend events there and it’s always really busy, Friday being no exception. I purchased a handful of singles and lit up a Room 101 ‘305’, which is the robusto in the line. I enjoyed the cigar, probably not surprising since I’ve long been a fan of Camacho cigars. I had the great pleasure of talking to Tom Smith, the Davidoff representative, who doesn’t like bloggers. I can see his point, which is that particularly popular bloggers can cause damage to a brand or shop by giving a bad review. I suspect that the number of cigar smokers who are influenced by blogs is reasonably small, as I haven’t run into too many people hanging around in cigar stores that use the Internet for any kind of cigar stuff, be it forums, blogs or whatever. Certainly we need to be responsible and not pretend we are experts and tell people what they may or may not like. The 305 was a really nice cigar, very Honduran and perfectly made.

I followed the 305 with a Namakubi Papi Chulo (is it a coincidence that “Papi Chulo” and “petite corona” share the same initials?). This is a nice little 4″ x 42 with a reddish Habano wrapper. It took a little work getting it to light right, but ended up being packed with flavor and smoking very nicely. I was going to leave after the 305, but I got to talking to a gentleman who came in and was lighting up a Papi Chulo, so I decided to join him. He was an interesting gentleman, he had taken the opportunity in college to study abroad in Havana, which was interesting. He had a sincere interest in cigars and was really refreshing to talk to. The Papi Chulo was terrific, but short, so I was soon done and decided to head home. I took a few minutes to talk to Matt on my way out. If you have a chance to meet him, take it, because he’s a nut, but one of the nicest nuts out there. We had a little back and forth on zipper up vs. zipper down (on my jacket, what were you thinking?), all I can say is: Matt, you worry about your CDO, I’ll worry about mine, K?. Very cool guy. Also cool was Tom Smith of Davidoff, even though he hates bloggers. A wealth of information on all things cigar. I appreciate the chance to meet and hang out with both of these gents.

Summary: Room 101 cigars good, although priced a little higher than I’m comfortable with. Sometimes one has to factor in the overall experience and it makes it worthwhile. On a side note, I got to thinking about petite coronas vs. larger cigars. Certainly petite coronas offer a different, often more flavorful smoke, and when it comes to variety, you can smoke several vastly different small cigars in the time it takes to smoke one large one. However, this is a tough sell for me when the price is close: do I pay $5 or$6 for a PC, or $6 or $7 for a Churchill? I usually choose cigars based upon the time I have to smoke them, so this isn’t generally something I worry about. Another little item rattling around in my head: I was once told that it costs nearly as much to make a small cigar as it does to make a big one. Manufacturers can’t price the coronas and PCs that close to the larger vitolas, so you are actually getting a good deal on the smaller cigars, as the larger cigar sales basically subsidize the smaller ones. Not really relevant to anything, just something that comes up in my head from time to time…