Tag Archives: oliva

by CigarCraig | April 18, 2012 · 7:12 pm

A Gran Habano, a Broadway Series and a Contest Winner!

Sunday was a beautiful day. I slept in a bit after working at my part time job until 3am, went out to breakfast with my lovely wife, then came home to have a nice cigar before settling in to watch the Flyers playoff game. I had a Gran Habano Gran Reserva torpedo floating around the humidor that one of my loyal readers had shared with me. Todd at Kutztown Tobacconist recommended this same cigar to me, so it looked like a good cigar for a nice afternoon. It turns out, I made a good choice. The cedar sleeve came off and underneath was a nice, clean wrapper leaf, very pretty. It was smooth, well balanced and flavorful. It went well with the bottle of Appalachian Brewery Ginger Beer, which I found to be a little sweeter than I’d prefer, but a nice, tasty ginger beer. I still prefer the bite of a nice Reeds Extra Ginger Brew, but this one is a nice change of pace. The Flyers game was fantastic…

Monday I selected a Broadway Series by La Aurora, which was a gift from my bro Barry Stein, formerly of acigarsmoker.com, currently of Miami Cigar and Co. First, let me say that I really like the La Aurora Company, and Miami Cigar And Co. All the folks involved with these companies are top-notch. I have smoked La Aurora cigars for years, the first box of cigars I ever purchased was La Aurora Bristol Especiales back around 1996. There’s something about the flavor profile of a lot of the cigars from La Aurora that just doesn’t float my boat. I don’t quite know what it is, the construction is always excellent, and they generally burn well. I’ve had this cigar before, which was made by La Aurora for the New York tobacconists to be able to sell at a reasonable price in their high-tax environment. I like it. Maybe I’m starting to “get” the flavor profile from La Aurora, there were several times when I got a flavor that caught my interest. Really nice smoke, if you can find these, try a few. I’ll keep trying the cigars from these companies for sure. Thanks again to Barry for the smoke!

Contest!

It’s Wednesday, and I promised to announce the winner of Sunday’s contest. I was surprised by the number of entries, thank you all for reading and leaving a note. So I’ve consulted the great Random.org’s random number generator and it tells me that comment number 5 is the winner. Doug Bryant: please e-mail me with your address so I can get these goodies out to you! Many thanks to the companies who, either directly or indirectly, made this contest possible! Camacho, Joya de Nicaragua/Drew Estate, StogieBoys.com, Gurkha, Oliva, The Griffins, Joya de Nicaragua, and General Cigar Co. As promised, a similar, but doubled, package will go to Cigars4Troops.

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

CigarCraig

9 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as cain, Camacho, cigar, cigars, drew estate, general cigars, Gurkha, joya de nicaragua, La Gloria Cubana, macanudo, oliva, punch

by CigarCraig | April 15, 2012 · 9:38 am

It’s Contest Time Again! Cigars and Swag

I realized I haven’t had a contest for a while, and I came across some stuff laying around the CigarCraig.com herfquarters, so it’s time to give stuff away! This is a multi-vender prize package, there’s a calendar from Camacho, there’s a hat and cutter from Joya de Nicaragua/Drew Estate, there’s a Cigar Journal from StogieBoys.com. I’ve also put together a cigar pack with cigars from my humidor from Gurkha, Oliva, The Griffins, Joya de Nicaragua, and General Cigar Co., including a La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros that is not in regular production (Sumatra and Broadleaf…delicious!). All cigars are ones I smoke pretty regularly and enjoy. I’ll put together a similar cigar package to send to Cigars4Troops, but I’ll double the amount of cigars, and try to scrounge up some cutters.

It’s easy. Leave a comment, and on Wednesday, April 18 I’ll select a winner randomly from the entrants. The winner will get the stuff pictured above, and I’ll send at least 20 cigars to Cigars4Troops.

If you haven’t already, get on over to https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/#!/petition/not-allow-fda-regulate-premium-cigars/BKspSSnN and sign the petition.

That’s all I got, good luck, go Flyers!

CigarCraig

55 Comments

Filed under Contest

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, drew estate, general cigars, Gurkha, joya de nicaragua, macanudo, oliva, punch

by CigarCraig | April 8, 2012 · 7:08 am

Cigar Lounge Visit: Kutztown Tobacconist and Lounge, a JdN, a Nub and a Gurkha

I took Friday off to take my youngest son to Kutztown University for a tour, and my wife suggested we seek out a cigar shop for a pre-tour smoke. I had recently bought the CigarPlaces app for my iPod Touch and it came up with Kutztown Tobacconist and Lounge, a few blocks from the campus. We were greeted by Todd, the owner, a very nice guy. One of those people you can talk to and you feel like you’ve known them for a while. He is just getting started with this, and he has a nice space, adjacent to a restaurant specializing in Bar-b-Que. I’d call the furnishing “unpretentious” to be diplomatic, but he seems to be concentrating on service, the fancy furnishings will come. As it is, it’s comfortable. He’s in the process of getting ready to build a walk-in humidor. Currently his stock is in a large display unit that he got from Kensington Tobacconist in Reading, PA when they closed. His stock is meager, maybe 15 or so boxes of assorted Joya de Nicaragua, Acid and Gran Habano, but he certainly has plans to expand that selection. He sells what he likes, can’t fault him for that. He needs to invest in some sort of signage for the outside of the building as it wasn’t readily apparent that we were in the right place (the sign in the picture was not there when we visited).

We had 2 hours to kill, so I picked up a Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo, a pair of Cabinetta robustos, a Gran Habano Reserva #3 on Todd’s recommendation, as well as a couple of Acid Blondies for my son and his friend. It’s no secret that I love the JdN Cabinetta, for me it’s a delicious any-time-of-the-day cigar. The construction is always perfect and I always anticipate getting down to that criollo part of the wrapper, and am always a little disappointed when it doesn’t want to stay lit! Still, a great smoke and it was nice to hang out and talk to the guys at the lounge. Todd has a great thing going, and I’m confident that he will grow and improve over time.

I usually take a walk down to the local convenience store on Fridays to get my Mega Millions ticket, so I grabbed a Nub Habano 460 for the walk. I wasn’t really too impressed with these at first, but they have grown on me. Great flavor in this one, and a perfect burn. It fit into the allotted time perfectly. I got a couple of these at an Oliva event with the purchase of a handful of assorted Oliva cigars. Good cigars for a walk, not a huge time commitment.

Saturday was another beautiful day, and after a day of yard work, and a less than ideal Flyers/Penguins game, I sat down with a Gurkha Seduction. I really enjoy this 5″ x 55 robusto, with it’s Habano wrapper. I think the Colombian filler gives it a little something special. It’s a really nice cigar, try some if you come across them. This particular specimen seemed to want to burn up one side, and required frequent corrections, but that’s the first one I can recall having a bad burn.

To all who celebrate, Happy Easter and Passover. I’ll be taking some cigars along to share with family today. It looks like the weather is going to be as spectacular today as it has been for the last couple.

That’s it for now. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

4 Comments

Filed under Review, Stores

Tagged as cigar, cigar store, cigars, drew estate, Gurkha, joya de nicaragua, Kutztown, Lounge, nub, oliva, Take A Cigar For A Walk, Tobacconist

by CigarCraig | March 18, 2012 · 11:28 am

A Buena Vista Cigar, An Oliva at Old Havana Cigars, a Green Camacho and a Cain

Thursday evening I grabbed a Buena Vista Short Churchill that I was given by Gary Heathcott, the company’s director of global marketing when I was waiting for a Coke at the Cigar Journal awards reception at last year’s IPCPR show. This cigar is unique in that it’s an Ecuador Puro and it’s rolled by Cuban rollers that come to Ecuador on special visas to work in the factory. The cigar had a stunning appearance, very smooth and even in shape and color. I grabbed this based on the size, it’s a 4¼”x 54, so it’s a short, fat cigar, and I only had an hour to smoke. I have to say that I really enjoyed the smoke, it was good, but not as unique as I had hoped. There was really nothing especially different about it. It was a good tasting cigar. I had to touch it up frequently as it wanted to burn faster on one side, but not a bad cigar. If this is priced right, I’d say give it a try, if it’s too expensive, I’d personally choose something else based on this sample.

Friday evening my son and I attended and Oliva event at Old Havana Cigars in West Chester, PA. I’ve been to several events there and it’s always pretty crazy. Nice bunch of folks there and I always enjoy spending time with the local Oliva Rep, Mike Staiber. I picked up some cigars and promptly fired up a Serie G Maduro box pressed belicoso. This is a cigar that I haven’t smoked many of, and I don’t know why. It’s got a really tasty broadleaf wrapper and really hit the spot. I also grabbed a few of the Cameroon in the same size. For my troubles, I was rewarded with a couple free Nub Habanos (it was buy 5, get 2 free). Lots of people buying cigars, quite a few picking up boxes and getting all kinds of freebies and swag to go along with it. My son had a Cain Daytona in a corona size that he enjoyed as well (and is one of my favorites). We had a good time talking with Mike (@olivastaiber on twitter. Follow him!), who I’ve known for quite a while and is a great cigar rep and a very cool guy.

Of course, Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day, so that called for a candela cigar. Several years ago I picked up a box of the Camacho Monarca Candela because I really liked them and they were a nice change of pace. We had to go to a percussion competition at my son’s high school, in which he plays bass guitar in the ensemble, so I grabbed one of these for our walk to the school. If you have never had a candela cigar, you should certainly try one. It’s a different flavor, a little more vegetal or grassy, but refreshing in a way. In this case, we have the Camacho Corojo with the candela wrapper, so it’s no slouch when it comes to strength, as many candela, or as the were once called, American Market Selection (AMS) can be on the mild side. Astral is a cigar that comes to mind in the mild candela area, as does the Arturo Fuente 8-5-8. La Flor Dominicana and Illusione have recently put their spin on this once popular wrapper. Anyway, this box of Camachos has been consistently loose in the draw department, so I’ve taken to punching these to make them a little better in the draw department. Pretty strong for a noon-time smoke, but really tasty with a long finish, so long that I could still taste it several hours later after another cigar and dinner.

On the walk home from the event I had grabbed a Cain Habano Tubo on the way out the door, so I fired it up. This was the 550 Cain in a spiffy aluminum tube, and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and had a mile or so to walk, so I was lamenting my decision to grab this one as I lit it up. My fear turned out to be misplaced, because it was a damned tasty cigar! I spent another 20 minutes with this on the porch when I got home, it was just too good to put down. Perfect burn and draw. Strong, but balanced and, dare I say, complex. Every now and then an interesting flavor would dance across my palate, something I’ve missed in past Cain Habanos. Perhaps this one was well aged, or aged better in the tube, I don’t know, but it was likely the best Cain Habano I’ve had.

I don’t usually have a two cigar day, but the weather was so great, despite it being a very busy day, I had two spectacular cigars walking to and from the high school. The competition was excellent as well, lots of talented kids, and I’m a drum geek as well as a cigar geek, so I always enjoy stuff like that, cigars or not.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as broadleaf, Buena Vista, cain, Camacho, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Ecuador, fuente, IPCPR, maduro, nub, Old Havana Cigars, oliva, Serie G, Take A Cigar For A Walk

by CigarCraig | February 12, 2012 · 9:42 am

A Couple of Cigars: a La Libertad and a Cain F

A few months ago I received some cigars from Villiger-Stokkebye, a couple of their newest offerings, and a 4 pack of their current brands. Since the only Villiger cigars I’ve smoked in the past have been the little machine made Exports (which, by the way, are excellent little cigars!), I figured I’d start with the older lines and work my way up to the newest. So, since there were 2 of the La Libertad Robustos, I snagged one and fired it up the other night. Let me briefly explain my thought processes in the winter when it comes to smoking samples. I’ve come to realize that winter time outdoor smoking is NOT the best time to fairly and accurately judge several aspects of a premium cigar. That’s largely why I’ll smoke old favorites over the winter, or items that I have more than one of on hand. I like to give cigars, especially those generously provided to me, a fair chance (not that my opinion means anything really). If this La Libertad had given me problems, I’d have a back-up to try again under better conditions. In this case, I get a bonus, because the cigar was very nice, burned about perfectly, and had a very nice flavor. Kudos on the construction of this, it has to be difficult to make a cigar out of what the website says is “mainly Ligero tobaccos from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua” and have it burn so dead even. Interesting that the Habano seed wrapper and Nicaraguan seed binder are both grown in Peru, you don’t see that every day. Nice cigar, good flavors and perfect burn. I’d be interested to hear from Tad Smith, who was the reader who won the Day 2 prize in my 12 Days of Spectacular Giveaways back in December. I’d like to know if he’s smoked this cigar and what he thought.

Friday night rolled around and I wasn’t taking any chances. I’m not sure how many times a Cain F 550 was in my hand and I put it back in favor of something perhaps less scary. Yeah, the Cains still intimidate me. With the exception of the Daytona (which, incidentally, can be mistaken for a Cain F in low light, not-really-paying-attention conditions), I’ve had my tuckus kicked by more than one Cain cigar, Habano, Maduro, F….I don’t discriminate. I’ve come to make sure that Cain examples spend a minimum of 6 months in “time-out” in my humidor, seems to mitigate the head spins and nausea…but, I digress. So I grabbed this Cain F, with is 5¾ x 50, but feels more corona gorda-ish to me. Exceptional cigar. Great construction, once again, the slow-burning ligero somehow is blended to burn perfectly with the rest of the blend, amazing. Bold, decadent flavor, perfectly balanced. Brilliant cigar. I can hardly wait for the perfect occasion to smoke the lancero that Mike Staiber gifted me back when he hooked me up with the excellent Oliva prize package for Day 6 in my December give-aways.

Thanks to Anne at Villiger-Stokkebye and Mike at Oliva for the gifts and for their support! I love cigars, but the most amazing thing is all of the wonderful people I’ve had the opportunity to meet over the past 16 years of on-line cigar discussion. Please get over to the Cigar Rights of America site and write to your elected officials so we can keep all of these fine people, as well as your shop owners, internet retailers, distributors in jobs, as well as all of the fine folks in the Caribbean and Central America who rely upon the cigar industry to feed their families. The FDA must not be permitted to regulate premium cigars.