Tag Archives: oliva

by CigarCraig | November 21, 2012 · 8:55 pm

Thanksgiving Week Cigars – Cain, ORTSAC, Reinado and an Opus X

It’s the eve of Thanksgiving, and leading up to the holiday I smoked some tasty cigars! I know, what makes this week any different, you ask? It’s one of the many things I have to be thankful for. In addition to having a nice home and a wonderful family, we have some great cigars to smoke! Things could be a lot worse, and they are for a lot of people. Anyway, I smoked a few cigars this week, so here’s a little recap:

I started off the week, or ended the weekend, with a really nice Cain F 550. This is a beautiful 5¾ x 50 cigar with loads of flavor and strength. I have enjoyed the Cain line since it’s launch, generally prefer them with some age. This one I believe came from the IPCPR show, so it didn’t have too much age, but enough to round out the rough edges. The tubed lancero in this line is awesome, and this cross between a robusto and a toro was just as tasty. Smoke one after a nice steak dinner, you won’t be disappointed! I’ve got Cains scattered around the humidors and I’m thankful that I do!

Monday evening I just knew I had to try the ORTSAC 1962 Habano. I received a pair of these along with the ORTSAC 1962 San Andreas that I raved about in a previous post. This was a different, but outstanding cigar. It was well rounded and smoked very well. If you’re keeping score, I didn’t really much care for the regular ORTSAC 1962, but the San Andreas and Habano have made me a believer. Since I’m a fan of the Tortuga line from Victor Vitale’s stable, I’m quickly becoming a fan of this gentleman’s blends. One can’t be expected to like everything, but the last several blends have been winners for me. Victor is a heck of a nice guy too, and I’m looking forward to meeting up with him for a smoke in the not too distant future.

Tuesday I selected a Reinado Grand Empire Reserve for my evening smoke. I was given this robusto by brand owner Antonio Lam at the IPCPR show last August. I spoke with Antonio for minute at the show, you can watch the video below. This is a lovely Nicaraguan cigar that burned perfectly and provided me with in excess of an hour of smokey enjoyment. It was savory with a little sweetness that made my palate happy. I’ll hunt down a few of these to keep in the humidor as it was a really nice smoke.

To celebrate the end of a short work week, and the beginning of a four day weekend, I cracked open my “special” humidor. This humidor was a gift to me for my tenth wedding anniversary. My wife had a furniture maker friend make it, so it’s truly one of a kind. It’s been the home to the small selection of Havanas as well as some higher end cigars. It’s been about ten months since I really smoked anything from this humidor, I pulled a couple of Romeo y Julieta Coronitas en Cedros from it to celebrate my youngest son’s 18th birthday. Anyway, it’s my obligation to test a cigar from there periodically to make sure they are in good shape so I selected an Fuente Fuente Opus X Super Belicoso that must have spent the last decade or so resting in there. I can’t remember the last time I smoked an Opus X, it could have been in 2000. I initially thought the unlit wrapper smelled like cocoa beans, but my wife smelled cedar and I have to go along with her on that. I guess the conditions in that humidor are acceptable, because the cigar burned great and was loaded with classic cedary flavors. It was a great smoke, I wish I could remember where it came from. It had a $13.49 price sticker on the amber cello, and I haven’t priced these recently so I don’t know what that means! I think there are a couple more Opus X cigars floating around in there, I suppose I’ll have to smoke another one of these days!

That’s it for now, enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday if you are in the US. If you are in the rest of the world, have a great weekend!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

4 Comments

Filed under IPCPR, Review, Video

Tagged as cain, cigar, cigars, fuente, oliva, Opus X, ORTSAC, Reinado

by CigarCraig | September 23, 2012 · 8:13 am

IPCPR 2012 – Oliva and Studio Tabac Cigars and a New Shop Visit

After enjoying the heck out of a Cain Daytona No. 4 the other night I figured it was about time to dig into some IPCPR show samples and see what the deal was with the new Oliva Serie V Melanio Torpedo. I smoked this cigar during my Thursday evening walk. Since we moved from a house “in town”, where I could walk to the local convenience store, or around the neighborhood, or a bunch of places, I now live in a more rural area where my walking options are more limited. As usual, it’s never about the destination, but the journey, so I just walk down the street for a while then turn around and come home to finish my cigar on the deck or back porch. I’ve been taking my son’s dog along and she loves all the new smells and sights, such as deer and the occasional fox. Back to the Melanio. What a beautiful cigar, just about perfect in appearance, 6½” x 52 and nicely box pressed. The Nicaraguan tobaccos in the blend are largely from Jalapa, which accounts for the bit of sweetness in this very powerful blend. It’s a pretty great cigar. I’ve enjoyed the few Serie V’s I’ve smoked and this one is a really nice addition to the line.

Friday evening I selected a Cain F Maduro that was in the same batch of samples from the trade show. My usual experience with Cain cigars tells me to leave these rest for a year or so to mellow out a little, but in the interest of providing timely information and experiences, I had to smoke this gorgeous robusto. The cigar was about 5 x 50 with an oily, dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. While this was certainly a powerhouse, it was loaded with deep, dark flavor. I love the Cain line in general, especially with a little age, and the Daytona is a wonderfully well balanced smoke on the high end of medium, but I sure hope I come across this maduro again. What a fantastic smoke.

While at the trade show I had the opportunity to sit down with Bryan Scholle, the face of Studio Tabac, and talk about what’s new. Here’s a little video we took at the show, many thanks to Bryan for taking a few minutes to talk to me. It was the first time we’d met, and it was like we’d know one another for years. Bryan is a very cool guy, if you have a chance to catch him on the Studio Tabac tour, do it.

In Other News

Yesterday I stopped in to the new Total Tobacco shop in Newtown Square, PA, not far from home. This shop is a part of the Delaware Cigars empire, so Gary Griffith was on hand for the grand opening. They are still waiting for some displays and fixtures, but the large walk-in humidor is very well stocked with many fine cigars. I could have gone nuts, but I showed some restraint and only picked up a couple cigars I’ve wanted to try, but haven’t seen locally, notably, a Room 101 OSOK as well as a Cro Magnon EMH. I’d be shocked if there’s another retailer in the area that has the RoMaCraft Tabac line, but there were all of the CroMagnon sizes as well as Aquataine in Connecticut shade and maduro. They have a great selection and the prices are in line with the pricing we enjoy in Pennsylvania. I’ll make a point to stop in from time to time to see how the shop progresses. One downside is that there’s no smoking in the store, but the selection makes up for that and they have chairs on the sidewalk outside to enjoy a smoke on a nice day. It’s always nice to see my friend Gary and I wish them the best of luck with this new location.

I’ve gone one quite long enough, that’s all I have for now. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

4 Comments

Filed under Events, IPCPR, News, Review, Stores, Video

Tagged as cain, cigar, cigar store, cigars, delaware cigars, IPCPR, oliva, Take A Cigar For A Walk, Total Tobacco

by CigarCraig | September 19, 2012 · 7:50 pm

IPCPR 2012 – Ortega Premium Cigars with Eddie Ortega

After starting off Saturday’s Delaware Cigar Festival with an Ortega Serie D maduro, I decided to fire up the Serie D No.8 natural that was a IPCPR show sample. It’s well documented that I love the Serie D maduro. The San Andreas maduro wrapper on that cigar is stunning and “D”licious and I’ve enjoyed several of the sizes offered. Of course, I was excited to sample the Natural version. The wrapper is an Ecuador Habano Rosado and is quite attractive. It burned wonderfully, but I got the sense that it was still a little young. Six months to a year in the humidor will do wonders for the already very nice smoke. I picked up a couple of these at the Delaware Cigar Festival and kind of regret not grabbing more of them, but there were so many other cigars there I wanted to try!

Here’s a little video from the IPCPR show with Eddie Ortega, one of the many folks in the cigar industry that I’m pleased to call a friend. Every time I see him he asks about my family and life and is just a tremendously cool dude.

http://youtu.be/1GnKamfvrTY

I was going to grab a Serie D Maduro tonight, but time got away from me so I grabbed an Cain Daytona No. 4 instead. I love the Daytona line the best out of the Cain range of cigars, and this corona, along with the rare Lancero are my favorites! Always well made and tasty! I grabbed a few of these at the Delaware Cigar Festival also, and couldn’t resist firing one up.

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

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under IPCPR, Review, Video

Tagged as cain, cigar, cigars, Eddie Ortega, IPCPR, oliva, Ortega

by CigarCraig | July 8, 2012 · 8:18 am

4th of July Cigars, an Oliva, a La Gloria, and Hoyo De Monterrey Reposados Contest No.2

As I mentioned in my previous post, the 4th of July was my 25th wedding anniversary, so special cigars were in order. I have a humidor that my wife had custom made for me for our 10th anniversary in which I keep a selection of “special cigars”, some Opus X and Ashton VSG, a couple of specially rolled cigars that I can’t see ever smoking, and a handful of Havanas collected over the years. It’s my custom to select from this humidor on my anniversary. I selected an old favorite, a Bolivar Belicosos Finos for my first celebratory smoke. I know what you’re thinking, this is usually a breakfast cigar! OK, that’s an old joke most won’t get. The Belicosos Finos, or BBF, or Boli Beli, has a reputation as a strong cigar. The Havana Bolivar line has long been a favorite of mine, but more for the interesting flavors than the strength. I once had a Coronas Gigantes that tasted line cinnamon, the first and only time I remember tasting that in a cigar. Anyway, this Boli Beli was enjoyed after a dinner out with my wife for our anniversary. It had been in my humidor over a year, and I have no idea how old it was when it came into my possession, but I suspect that it would have been ready to go. I can see that this cigar would have been fine if I had waited several more years to smoke it, but it hit the spot. I will say that every Cuban cigar I have smoked over the last few years really proves the point that cigars from the rest of the cigar producing countries have caught up and in many ways surpassed Cuba. There still remains a flavor, a “twang”, if you will, that sets Havana cigars apart from the rest. An awesome cigar to celebrate a wonderful day.

We can watch our town’s fireworks from our front porch, which is preferable to battling the crowds in my opinion. Sure, there are some trees obscuring the view of some of the lower altitude fireworks, but it’s still nice to be at home for the show. I went back to the anniversary humidor and selected a little Ashton Virgin Sungrown Tres Mystique for the show. This cigar has been in that humidor for well over 5 years, I honestly can’t remember where it came from, certainly in a trade or something like that. It’s a 4 3/8 x 44 petit corona with a beautiful dark brown wrapper that glistens with oil. I have to describe the smoke as lush and meaty, like a great steak. I wish it had been a little longer, as I had to put it down before the show ended. That’s OK, it was a stellar cigar, worthy of the moment. I forgot to snap a photo of it before I lit it up, so the photo here is from Ashton’s website (which will explain it’s superior quality!).

Thursday, after a delicious sausage, peppers and pasta dinner made by my wife, and a relaxing swim in the pool, I came home and dug out an Oliva Serie G Belicoso and took the dog for a walk. The last natural version of this cigar let me down a little, but this one had Camerooniness all over the place! It burned well and tasted great. I don’t think I would have wanted to smoke this in the pool, the wrapper is a little too delicate for that, but it was perfect for relaxing after. Nice cigar and quite reasonably priced.

Friday evening I had La Gloria Cubaba Serie N on my mind, and dug out the last one from over a year ago, a 5½” x 54 JSB. I love the dark, oily wrapper on these, and I’ll never forget getting to see the “N” being painstakingly applied in the factory when I visited. They have a punch, like a paper punch, that punches the “N”s out of light colored leaves. The “N”s are all over the benches and the poor ladies have to carefully apply them just right on the cigar. It’s a neat touch that sets this cigar apart from the rest. Another thing that sets it apart are the rich and dark flavors. This cigar is darned tasty! It’s dark maduro Ecuador Sumatra wrapper is delicious, but mine didn’t want to stay light as well as I’d like. Still, a nice smoke, I’d buy a box in a heartbeat (and the box is way cool too).

Contest!

Once again, it’s contest time! I have another two (2) three-packs of Hoyo de Monterrey Reposados en Cedros cigars for one reader who leaves a comment on this post. I got a timely response from last week’s winner, Allen, and his cigars will be heading out to his duty station where ever that may be next week. So, leave a comment, tell your friends, win some cigars courtesy of our friends at General Cigars. If you haven’t already, head over to HoyodeMonterreycigar.com and enter to win a box of these. They are giving a box away every day through the end of the month! (note: There is still the CAO Last Stick Standing contest going on at lss.caocigars.com too!) Please note, the prize is the two 3-packs. The photo here has a display representing of the special “Inmersion” process used to age these cigars, not part of the prize.

That’s all I have for now! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

29 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as Ashton, BBF, bolivar, cigar, cigars, Contest, general cigars, hoyo de monterrey, JSB, La Gloria Cubana, oliva, VSG

by CigarCraig | May 23, 2012 · 6:12 pm

An Ortega, an Alec Bradley and A Special Cain Cigar

Have you ever heard about a new cigar and, sight unseen, knew you’d love it? When I heard Eddie Ortega of EO Brands/601, Murcielago, etc., was striking out on his own, and I knew he loves the Murcielago, and I love the Murcialago. I had a strong suspicion that his new cigar, the Ortega Serie D would be right up my alley. Of course, I adore a San Andreas wrapper, and the Serie D has that wrapper! I love a nice corona gorda, whattaya know, there’s a corona gorda! While I was at the cigar shop on Saturday I picked up a couple of the Serie D finally, and fired up a No.7 after a nice day out with my wife having dinner at a friends house. Obviously, I had built this cigar up in my mind pretty well, which can be a recipe for disaster. No such luck here, it was a fantastic cigar. Well made, beautiful maduro wrapper and D-licious! I have a No. 12 that I got at the same time, looking forward to smoking that one too. Eddie has a real winner here, but I never doubted that!

Monday evening I had to pick up one of the cars from the shop, so my oldest son and I decided to walk to the shop and took some Alec Bradley New York cigars with us that we had picked up at De La Concha on a visit last year. I smoked the “Gotham” torpedo and my son had the “six two” robusto. These are only available from New York State retailers. I don’t usually like a Criollo wrapper much, but this one was tasty, and it was a reasonably strong cigar. It was pretty tasty and it lasted the entire 3 mile walk to the garage. I picked up some of the other New York State specific cigars at the time, a Gurkha and a La Aurora, and I think this was my favorite. Unfortunately, it’s tough to justify buying cigars in New York if I can help it, but having something exclusive like this makes it difficult to pass up. Nice cigar, try one if you have the opportunity.

Tuesday evening I broke down and grabbed one of those special cigars that you look at every time you open the humidor, but find a reason to save it for a special occasion or something. I finally said “screw it” and selected a Cain Daytona Lancero which was gifted to my by my friend and local Oliva rep, Mike Staiber, last year at the IPCPR show. I really enjoy the Daytona line, I find it milder than the Habano, Maduro and “F” lines, and well balanced. This lancero was no different. I always feel a little fancy smoking a lancero, it’s an elegant size. Unfortunately, it’s not a real popular size, but it’s one I really enjoy as long as I take my time and “sip” the smoke from it so it doesn’t get too hot. Absolutely fantastic cigar, among the best I’ve had recently. Fortunately I have another one floating around, as well as an “F” lancero or two. I understand the Daytona lancero is available now in the special Studio Tabak sampler that is available at their store events. I’ve liked the flavor of all the Cains I’ve smoked, but some are just too darned strong for me. The Daytona solves this problem by giving me that great flavor in a friendlier package. Very nice!