Tag Archives: Nestor Miranda

by | February 13, 2013 · 6:49 pm

A Room101, an Alec Bradley, a Mucialago, a Nestor Miranda and More Cigar Events

As a follow up to last week’s mention of some of the great cigar events coming up in the next few months, I left out a couple of good ones.  The Western Pennsylvania Cigar Crawl is in May and by this writing is likely sold out.  This is an old fashioned bus crawl run by Rob Heming of the Blowin’ Smoke Podcast. I’ve been on this crawl once in it’s 11 or so years of operation and it’s quite a bit of fun, if you think hanging out with a bunch of guys smoking cigars while you visit cigar shop after cigar shop and eat a lot of great food is fun, which it is.  Another upcoming event is the 1st Annual CATS Cigar Festival. C.A.T.S. is the Cigar Aficionados Trades and Sales Facebook group, which is a very active group of cigar lovers that is closely affiliated with the Op:Cigars for Warriors group that puts cigars in the hands of out active duty soldiers. It’s a weekend long event starting Friday evening, May 24 and ending Sunday, May 26 in San Antonio, TX.  Check their Facebook page for more information.  More great events with great folks.

 

Wednesday evening I got off to a late start so I was looking for something on the smaller side.  I had picked up a Room 101 OSOK Filero a few months back when Gary Griffith opened his Total Tobacco store in nearby Newtown Square, PA.  It was pricey, but I knew it was a cigar I wanted to try.  Under the paper wrapper, and beneath the tissue wrap was a beautiful little perfecto, measuring 4½ x 52.  What a great little smoke. The smoke was thick and loaded with heavy flavors and really was what the doctor ordered to releive the stress of the day.  I absolutely loved this cigar and it’s my second favorite Room 101 cigar now, after the San Andreas (anyone surprised?)  Great smoke, get them while you can.

 

Thursday my wife and I went to the Flyers game and we stopped in the cigar bar again where I smoked a little Punch London Club maduro while we waited for everyone to get out of the parking lot.  The little Punch is a go-to winder smoke for me along with it’s Hoyo de Monterrey sibling, the Sabroso.  Friday I grabbed an Alec Bradley Family Blend VR1, a 5½ x 50 parejo with a fancy pigtail cap.  This is a cigar that probably came from either the trade show or an Alec Bradley event where I bought some cigars. I enjoy quite a few of the Alec Bradley cigars, and this one was very good.  I wish it had burned a little better for me, but cold weather smoking has it’s pitfalls, and one of those is that cigars don’t always burn like they should.  Let’s face it, cigars are tropical critters, and they want to be smoked in warmer weather!  Still a solid smoke with pleasing flavors.

 

Murcielago_Toro_GrandeSaturday evening my wife and I went out to the at Philadelphia Park for an evening of slot machines, and I whipped out a nice Murcialago Churchill.  This is a favorite of mine, and this was the last one of a handful I bought at the 2011 Delaware Cigar Festival.  Rich, meaty, loaded with the nice, dark flavors I love in cigar bearing my favorite wrapper leaf, all together now: San Andreas Maduro!  I haven’t had one of these since they changed production yet, but I’m confident that Eric Espinosa will continue making these with the same flavor and consistency that I love, as other cigars from his La Zona factory in Esteli have been very nice.  I’ll have to re-stock and see!  We had a great time at the casino and didn’t leave broke, so it was a winning night.

 

Finally, this afternoon I took a nice walk with a Nestor Miranda Special Selection Connecticut robusto. This was a pretty 5½ x 54 cigar that while milder than I like, had some nice sweetness that kept me smoking it to a finger burning little nub.  It burned perfectly and had a snug draw, but was perfectly relaxing and a fine way to end the weekend. Of course, Nestor is celebrating his 70th birthday this week, so if you see him, wish him a Happy Birthday!

 

Over the last week, and coming weeks, I have been transitioning CigarCraig.com to a new hosting provider, so there’s a possibility that there may be a few bumps in the road.  I’ve been trying my hardest to make this as seamless as possible, but it’s hard to say what might happen with the domain gets transferred. I currently have CigarCraig.net up and running on the new host, and hope that there aren’t any interruptions.  Please bear with me if there are, I’ll be driving myself crazy to get things restored to some kind of normalcy ASAP.

 

That’s it for now, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | November 18, 2012 · 11:27 am

Alec Bradley American, ORTSAC 1962, Nestor Miranda and Brick Cigars

Can I start out by stating that this is my least favorite time of year? It’s dark when I get up, it’s dark when I get home, and the temperatures are dropping. It makes it harder to smoke larger cigars and really be able to relax. My evening routine usually involves walking the dog with a cigar. I’ve been walking with cigars for years, at least walking keeps me warm and I generally walk for half or more of a cigar and finish the other half off while I “cool down”.  An added benefit is that I get a little exercise while I enjoy a smoke. I have found that stronger cigars tend to hold up better in the cold and milder cigars tend to get lost.

 

Wednesday I grabbed an Alec Bradley American Sungrown robusto that I had purchased a couple weeks ago at the Cigars International grand opening. I had wanted to try these since they came out and this was the first time I thought to buy some. I love the American Classic blend, it’s a really nice cigar that’s smooth and tasty and well priced. I hoped for something a little bolder from the Sungrown version and I wasn’t disappointed. It was a very tasty cigar that was quite satisfying.  At the $5 price point this is a must try, along with its American Classic sibling.  Both are excellent smokes at a really reasonable price.

 

Thursday I went with a ORTSAC 1962 San Andreas from The Cigar Agency. I had smoked a sample at the IPCPR show reluctantly, and I say that because I love San Andreas wrappers and when Victor gave me a sample at the show and I lit it up, I was concerned that smoking it at the show wouldn’t give me the best opportunity to enjoy it.  I find it very awkward to walk into a venders booth smoking someone else’s cigar, and I had an appointment shortly after I spoke with Victor.  I was thrilled when a couple more showed up in my mailbox a few weeks ago.  If I’m honest, and I try to be, I’m not a huge fan of the regular ORTSAC 1962 Bulletproof, it just doesn’t suit my palate.  However, the addition of the San Andreas wrapper makes all the difference for me.  It’s got just the right balance of strength and rich flavors that I crave, especially in the colder months.  It’s a primo smoke and I’m looking forward to giving the Habano wrapped version a try as well.  These shouldn’t be tough to miss on the shelves as they are packaged in colorful EVA material zippered boxes that are unique.  This one’s a winner.

 

Friday evenings I usually grab something special, and this time it was a Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2012 which arrived a few weeks back in an unexpected package from Barry at Miami Cigar Co.  This is a beautiful torpedo with a nice Connecticut Broadleaf , another favorite wrapper of mine.  This cigar had a really nice  feel, it was appealing in both appearance and flavor.  I have not smoked many cigars from the Nestor Miranda Collection, but the few I have smoked I’ve enjoyed.  This cigar was no different, although I think this is a better cigar for a nice sunny and warm afternoon than an evening walk.  I get as much enjoyment out of watching a cigar burn as I do smoking it sometimes.  This is a very limited release and I’m thankful to Barry for sending a couple my way, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to try it.

 

A few weeks back the folks at Stogieboys.com sent me a selection of  The Brick line from Toraño.  These were all larger vitolas which gives me the additional challenge of finding time to smoke a large cigar.  I grabbed the Torpedo yesterday to putter around the yard.  It was a nice day, and I took the dog out for some play while I smoked the cigar.  This dog is full of youthful exuberance and likes to run when she gets a chance.  Thinking I could give her a little more room to explore I took her toward the back of the yard on the 25 foot cable, wrapping it around my hand like a super long leash.  She saw something and bolted at about the same time I let my guard down and pulled me off my feet, of course the cable squished my hand and I let go, and she took off through the woods.  I tried to follow, but the prickers and underbrush slowed me down and I lost track of her. I actually did a somersault when she first bolted and the ash stayed on the cigar!  I ended up putting the cigar down to go hunting for her and came back to it later, but at some point the wrapper developed some cracks and started to flake away.  I didn’t exactly give this cigar the attention it deserved.  The good news is that this is an inexpensive bundle cigar that doesn’t skimp on quality and flavor.  I have to admit that I wouldn’t have opted to smoke this if I were just going to be sitting outside on a beautiful fall day relaxing, but it gets high marks for dog chasing!  I still have a Churchill for another day, hopefully a warm day, and I thank the folks at StogieBoys.com for sending these samples and for sponsoring a day in the 12 Days of Cigar Giveaways coming in December.

 

I’ve droned on enough, it’s time to run some errands so I can find something nice to smoke this afternoon.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | April 25, 2012 · 10:16 pm

A Ginger Beer Blind Tasting and a Nestor Miranda Cigar

Monday evening we decided to have a little blind tasting.  We gathered my 18 year old son, two of his friends, and my 22 year old son, and five premium ginger beers.  For the uninitiated, ginger beer (or brew in some cases) is akin to ginger ale, but generally stronger in flavor. I have long been a fan of a frosty long neck bottle of ginger brew with a nice, strong cigar.  We collected sixpacks of Gosling’s Stormy Ginger Beer (in cans) and  Saranac Ginger Beer in bottles, four packs of Reeds Extra Ginger Brew and Maine Root Ginger Brew and a lone bottle from a four pack of Appalachian Brewing Co. Ginger Beer.   My lovely wife passed out cups of each one at a time and we judged each on fizziness, sweetness, spice, finish and overall satisfaction.  We used a 5 point scale with 1 being worst and 5 being best.

 

 

Gosling’s Stormy Ginger Beer averaged 2.8 for fizziness, 3.4 for sweetness, 3.4 for spice, 3.0 for finish and 3.0 overall satisfaction.  Some of the comments were that it smelled gingery, was balanced, mild, sweey and spicy.  I enjoyed it as a step up from ginger ale and a refreshing beverage.  This one is a bargain at $2.99 for a six-pack of cans.  I’d be interested in trying this in bottles.

Maine Root Ginger Brew averaged 2.2 for fizziness, 3.0 for sweetness, 4.6 for spice, 4.2 for finish and 3.8 for overall satisfaction.  Some comments were that it has a floral aroma, was strong, complex aromatic, spicy on the back of the throat, a spicy MoFo, and a lasting aftertaste. Personally, this is my second favorite of the group, it’s ginger ale on steroids, with a very strong ginger bite. Pricey at over $5 per four-pack, but very tasty.

Appalachian Brewing Co. Ginger Beer averaged 3.6 for fizziness, 2.8 for sweetness, 2.8 for spice, 3.2 for finish and 3.0 for overall satisfaction.  Some of the comments were that it has a citrus aroma and flavor, not much spice, sweeter and not as spicy, and smells fruity, very fizzy.  I was rather surprised by the low sweetness rating, as this ginger beer is heavily honeyed, and is, to me, very sweet.  I think this one was in the neighborhood of $5 per four-pack as well and is nice if you like honey more than ginger.

Reeds Extra Ginger Brew averaged 3.0 for fizziness, 3.2 for sweetness, 3.0 for spice, 3.2 for finish and 2.9 for overall satisfaction. Comments were that it had a faint ginger smell, strong, aromatic with a fine finish, spiciest, very faint ginger smell, very nice and enjoyable.  This was my introduction to ginger brew going back twelve or so years. We probably should have gotten the regular ginger brew for this test, but I just love the Extra, and actually wanted to see if I could pick it out of a line up.  I did identify it immediately, I’m pleased to report. Great stuff and when you can find it under $5 a four-pack it’s even better!

Saranac Ginger Beer averaged 3.8 for fizziness, 4.0 for sweetness, 2.5 for spice. 3.4 for finish and 3.2 for overall satisfaction.  The comments were a citrusy smell, taste like cat litter (?) light spice, very sweet, fine fizz, light finish and smooth and sweet.  This is both the closest to a ginger ale of the bunch as well as one of the least expensive at around $4 for a six-pack.  I’m confused by the cat litter comment, as that’s not generally a complimentary comparison.

 

It looks like the Maine Root was the over-all winner, although I think we need to work on the rating system a little.  It certainly competes favorably with my favorite, Reed’s, and will be welcomed into my refrigerator.  We’ll work on a root beer tasting next as there are some excellent examples around.

 

Tuesday night I took a long walk with a 7″ x 54 Nestor Miranda Special Selection which was a gift from my buddy Barry Stein when he announced that he was going to work for Miami Cigar and Co.  I don’t see this size listed, so I don’t know the story behind it, but it sure was good!  It burned perfectly even though I was walking briskly and there was a bit of a breeze.  I walked over three miles and this cigar really kept me entertained.  At one point I tasted an exotic spice of some sort that I recognized, but couldn’t place.  It was a terrific choice, and I thank Barry for sharing it with me.  I’ll certainly be on the look out for more of these.  This was the first I’ve smoked and I really enjoyed it, even if it’s not a style of cigar I normally gravitate to.  Terrific smoke, and the Maine Root Ginger Brew was an excellent chaser for this cigar.

 

That’s it for now, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 24, 2011 · 9:22 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways – Final Day Winner and Thanks!

We’ve come to the end of a historic two weeks on CigarCraig.com!  A marathon of daily posts, untold thousands of dollars worth of merchandise (and postage!).  We gave away 167 cigars, 4 cutters, 2 lighters, 2 caps, 2 cigar tubes, a cigar case, a magazine subscription, a gift certificate and a humidor! That’s a bunch of stuff!  Also significant was the all time high numbers of unique visits, as well as comments!  Until last week I didn’t even know if you got to 50 comments it went to a second page.  Pretty crazy!  In addition to everyone who came back day after day religiously for a chance to win fabulous prizes, I want to give my sincere thanks to the cigar companies who made this madness possible!  They are, in no particular order:

La Gloria Cubana

Villiger Stokkebye

Brothers of the Leaf, LLC

Miami Cigar and Co.

Oliva

CAO

Cigar Journal

Pipes and Cigars

C-Gars Ltd. 

Tabacos Mata Fina USA

Oja Cigars

AJ Fernandez 

Emilio Cigars

 

This was an ambitious project.  What started out with the idea of giving away a cutter here and a cap there morphed into something huge.  The generosity of the companies listed above was amazing, as was their willingness to put up with my neurotic and obsessive compulsive tendencies!  The one other person I absolutely could not have done this without is my lovely wife, Jennifer.  You may have noticed her mentioned in the comments here and there, seen her tweets and re-tweets, as well as handling moderating all of the comments while I was at work every day.  Thanks for everything you’ve done for me!

 

Editorial

Now, before I announce the winner of the humidor from Pipes and Cigars, please take a moment to write a nasty letter to the NCAA and The Orange Bowl pointing out their hypocrisy.  David Savona sums it up perfectly in his blog on CigarAfficianado (here).  Head on over to FaxZero.com and send a fax to the OrangeBowl at 305-341-4750.  I saved Mr. Savona’s article as a PDF and faxed it to the attention of the CEO of the Orange Bowl committee.  You can fax twice a day for free using FaxZero.  You can also send them a tweet using @orangebowl or find them on Facebook and voice your displeasure.  You can also e-mail Larry Wahl, VP of Communications and Community Outreach at lwahl@orangebowl.org .

 

Time to announce the winner!  I have been presented with the number 41 by the Random Number Generator, which means that MarcB is the winner! Please send me your contact information!   This concludes this year’s contests! Please visit the sponsoring companies sites and thank them for their generosity.  Also, take a look at my advertisers sites, and join me in welcoming La Palina Cigars to the CigarCraig.com family.  These friends help me to defray costs of doing things to write about and I deeply appreciate their support!

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, to everyone. I’ll leave you with this Christmas video from Alan Bernhoft, who you may have seen in the comments over the last few days.  Let’s give him a little Christmas present and help make his song a new Christmas classic!

httpv://youtu.be/AioTRzrMlBw

 

Until the next time,

CraigCraig

 

 

 

 

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by | December 16, 2011 · 6:35 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways Day 5: Miami Cigar and Co.

We’re into the second third of the contest series, it’s coming along nicely. There are still quite a few goodies to win.  You aren’t getting bored with the barrage of contests, are you?  Anyway, once again I’ve consulted with Random.org’s random number generator and it looks like TriMarkC is the winner of the Monte Pascoal Sampler! Mark, e-mail me with your mailing address so that I can get these goodies to you.  I’ve been trying to get stuff shipped ahead of schedule, mostly because I ran out of room in the humidors for all this stuff! So, without further ado:

 

Today on CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways we have a Nestor Miranda Collection Special Selection five pack of the 5 5/8 x 48 x 52 “Ruky” cigars.  These perfectos are wrapped in an oscuro wrapper and made in the My Father Factory in Nicaragua.  I’ve never had one of these, but I bet they are excellent!

 

 

Thanks to Jason Wood and Chris Lenzo at Miami Cigar and Co. for providing this excellent prize!

You know what to do!  Leave a comment to enter and good luck!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

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