Tag Archives: Opus X

by CigarCraig | January 4, 2017 · 8:54 pm

Happy New Year! An old Liga Privada, a Guáimaro and a Powstanie

Well, I had an exciting New Years, mostly involving removing the old drywall and insulation from my living-room, putting in new insulation, all in preparation for new drywall which is going in now. I managed to get a little cold in the process which, thankfully, seems to be short-lived. I celebrated progress on the house and New Years Eve with an Opus X that has been in the humidor for a few years. This was a cedar wrapped Opus X, but it was only 5¾ x 48 or 50, so I really don’t know which one it was. This one was given to me by Mitchell Orchant, who is the UK distributor for Fuente, so maybe it was a special size for the UK market. It was a really good cigar, whatever it was, a great way to end a year with a lot of changes for me personally, professionally and for the cigar industry.

After a long day of tearing down a ceiling and putting up insulation, I dug deep in the humidor and lit up a Liga Privada No. 9 Tubo that Steve Saka gave me at the 2012 IPCPR show (I think). This year the tubos went into regular production, but at the time, the only way to get one was from Steve’s shirt pocket. This was probably the finest example of the No.9 toro I’ve smoked. It was smooth as silk and the aging in the tube didn’t hurt it one bit. In most cases, I’ll buy two Nica Rusticas over one Liga Privada No.9 every day, but it’s not every day you get to smoke a cigar handed to you by the guy it was blended for specifically. Truly a great way to start a year, you have to smoke a great cigar on New Years, right?

I had Monday off in observance of the holiday, so I finished up the insulation (had to run out to Home Depot as I used all my staples the day before. Helpful hint: an electric staple gun saves potential carpal tunnel, a tool I inherited from my dad, who’s wisdom I appreciate and greatly miss. I cleaned up and took a nice walk with a cigar I picked up at B and B Cigars in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia when I went there a few weeks ago to hang out with Saka. Vince recommended a few cigars made at Nica Sueno, which is jointly owned my Skip and Mike of RoMaCraft and Esteban Disla. The cigar I chose was the Guáimaro Robusto, at 5″ x 52 with a San Andrès wrapper, Brazilian Arapiraca binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers (note to Will Cooper: I believe Nica Sueno is in Esteli, Nicaragua, not the Dominican Republic. See his excellent article on this line here). If you like the offerings from Nica Sueno, give this one a try. It has some great dark cocoa flavors, but seemed smoother to me than, say, a Cromagnon. Perfectly put together and quite a pleasure to smoke.

The cold came on pretty hard Tuesday, so I went with something familiar and plentiful in my humidor, and I can’t recommend the new Fonseca Nicaragua enough. It had enough flavor to cut through the cold, but wasn’t overwhelming. Feeling better tonight, I decided to venture into another cigar from Nica Sueno that I picked up at B and B. The Powstanie Habano Belicoso is a 5 ¼ x 54 belicoso with a Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder with Dominican criollo, Estelí ligero and filler from Condega and Jalapa. This was made for Mike Szczepankewicz, co-owner of Cigar Hustler, and there is a Broadleaf iteration for his brother Greg, which I need to seek out. This line is being distributed nationally in a limited manner, and I think B and B is one of the few retailers, at least around me, that has them. I found this to be quite a good smoke, medium bodied with a load of flavor. It had a little burn deviation that fixed itself, otherwise it burned perfectly and was very enjoyable. Vince at B and B (not to be confused with B & B Tobacco) has curated a pretty amazing selection and ships. Check out their website and shop with confidence.

That’s about all for now, trying to get back in the swing of writing posts and not giving stuff away! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Review

Tagged as B and B Cigars, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Guáimaro, Liga Privada No. 9, Opus X, Powstanie

by CigarCraig | December 7, 2014 · 9:56 am

Flor de Gonzalez, Gurkha and Opus, Countdown to the 2014 12SDoCG

This will be my last post before kicking off the fourth annual CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways! This year may just be the best yet! I have an absurd amount of cigars in the 2014 12SDoCG coolerdor! Stay tuned for the big kick off on Thursday, December 11 (yes, a day earlier than I originally announced). Tell your friends and neighbors, subscribe to the e-mail list, keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook! Don’t miss the chance to win some goodies from our generous sponsors, listed here in no particular order: Drew Estate, Joya de Nicaragua, General Cigar Co., Miami Cigar and Co., Arandoza Cigars, Nomad Cigars, Smoke Inn, 2 Guys Smokeshop, Gurkha Cigars and Tortuga Cigars. Thanks to all these great friends for their contributions and support! For those of you who don’t know or remember, the rules are simple! Leave a comment on the day’s blog post to enter. After day one, I’ll announce the winner of the previous day’s giveaway, and the current day’s present. It makes my life easier if the winner e-mails me with their address, instead of me having to track them down, but no need to send your address proactively! Once you’ve won, you’re done! All decisions are final, you’d be surprised at how difficult is can be to count through thousands of comments to find the winner! OK, hundreds, but in the pre-dawn hours it’s tough! I will throw a new twist in asking a question each day about that days sponsor, let’s try to give these brands a little useful feedback for their troubles. So that’s the deal, have fun with it!

I have managed to smoke a couple cigar over the last few days, starting with a Flor de Gonzalez 90 Miles Reserva Selecta in a pigtailed 5 ¾”x 48 size they call Natural Robusto. It’s a very comfortable size for me, almost a corona gorda, but a few ring gauges fatter. This cigar has been in the humidor since the 2013 IPCPR show. It’s a nice, medium bodied cigar with a refined, well aged sweet tobacco flavor. I have long been a fan of the Flor de Gonzalez offerings, and this is probably my second favorite in the range, second to the San Andrés wrapped 1980, but it’s hard to go wrong with anything from the 90 Miles line-up.

Friday my wife and I trekked up to New York City to go to the 34th Annual John Lennon Tribute at SymphonySpace on the upper west side. This tribute featured Debbie Harry, David Johanson, Marshall Crenshaw, Kate Pierson and Ben E. King, among others. It was a great show with the performers singing John Lennon ad Beatles songs. We would have liked to meet up with any cigar friends who were still in town from the Big Smoke Thursday night, but we got in a little late and ended up walking down Broadway, smoking a Gurkha Seduction Robusto. This cigar is one of the last few from a box I got in 2011. These have been a favorite of mine, as they aren’t too mild or too strong, the flavor is sweet and spicy and they just do it for me. I think I have two left, time to keep an eye out for more, I guess!

Saturday was an ugly, rainy day, spent working on more home renovation projects. By the end of the day I just wanted an hour or so of relaxation, so I picked out a special cigar that has been hanging out in my humidors for at least ten years, a Fuente Fuente Opus X Fuente Fuente. This is a classic, in one of the original sizes released back in 1995. The Fuente Fuente is 5 5/8″ x 46, a corona gorda and one of my favorite sizes. I am always hesitant to smoke a cigar like this, I’m afraid of being disappointed, I suppose. This cigar was excellent. The years in the humidor really smoothed it out to a nice, medium bodied cigar with nice flavors. It burned with the grace that a well aged cigar burns with, no draw or burn issues at all, just about right. I didn’t find it to be overly complex, but I rarely do. I’d like to get a couple more of these someday, one to smoke fresh, and another to forget in the humidor for a while and compare notes. It’s amazing that these cigars, after being on the market for nearly 20 years, still sell for ridiculous prices (I remember seeing them in a shop in Vegas in the late ’90s for $110 each, I tried to sell them one of mine!), but Holt’s is right down the road and they sell them for MSRP. It’s not a cigar I’d spend more than a little over MSRP on, but it’s a classic, and worth smoking now and then.

That’s it for now. Don’t forget to check in Thursday for the 12SDoCG! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under News, Review

Tagged as 12 days, 90 Miles, cigar, cigars, Flor de Gonzalez, fuente, Gurkha, Opus X

by CigarCraig | December 1, 2013 · 12:20 pm

Post Turkey Day Opus X and a Couple La Gloria Cubana Cigars

I hope everyone who celebrates it had a nice Thanksgiving holiday and stuffed themselves silly with turkey and all the fixins. We went to my daughters house where she cooked a delicious meal and we had a nice day with the family. I didn’t even take cigars along because I’d rather play with my granddaughters and there would be plenty of time for a cigar later. When we got home I dug deep in the humidor and found a cigar I don’t smoke often, a Arturo Fuente Opus X Pefecxion X (6 ¼”x48). This wasn’t the oldest Opus I have in the humidor, but it was in there for several years. I actually have very few Fuente Cigars in my humidors, and I don’t really know why that is. They are perfectly fine cigars, I just don’t buy them for whatever reason. I suppose I’m too busy smoking new stuff. I’m guessing it’s been the better part of a decade since I smoked an Opus X, so I was expecting an exceptional smoke. I always feel a little conflicted when I know a cigar is excellent, but it doesn’t really fit my flavor preferences. Its easy to say something isn’t good if we don’t like it, right? I don’t like lima beans, they taste terrible to me and I can’t imagine why anyone should like that flavor, but people do. To me, lima beans are bad. With this Opus X I had an excellent smoking experience, burn and draw were spot on, and the flavor was good, just not what I really like in a cigar. The lima bean analogy doesn’t fit here, I don’t know why I mentioned it, really. A cigar can be awesome and of exceptional quality even if it isn’t my favorite flavor profile. There were no ‘off’ flavors in this cigar, just none that grabbed me by the collar and slapped me around. It did have some strength to it! I should smoke one of the ten plus year old Opi I have and see how it is.

Black Friday came and went without any shopping going on around here (except a trip to the grocery store). I figured a cigar with ‘black’ in the title would be appropriate. I didn’t have any Leccia Black, Partagas Black or even Tatuaje Black. I did, however, have a La Gloria Cubana Serie R Black! This 6″x60 cigar is one I picked up at my birthday party at Cigars International last August. The Black is a catalog/internet exclusive, so I guess a place like CI is going to be one of the few stores you can walk into and purchase these. This cigar, along with it’s Brick &Mortar exclusive sibling the Serie R Esteli, is the first La Gloria Cubana made in Nicaragua. The Black has a Jalapa Tapado Ligero wrapper, and Nicaraguan filler and binder making it a puro. I always expect a little more strength from these, but it’s a solid medium bodied cigar. The flavors, while certainly right up my alley, are subtle and muted. Great construction and burn with a snug draw.

I decided since Saturday was billed as “Small Business Saturday”, and since most Brick and Mortar Tobacconists are small businesses, I’d follow the La Gloria Cubana Serie R Black with a Serie R Esteli to compare the two. The wrapper seems to be the major difference here, the Esteli has a Jalapa Sol wrapper. I find the Esteli to be much richer in flavor than the black. Could it be that one should expect a richer experience going to a brick and mortar tobacconist as opposed to purchasing from a catalog or online? I doubt that’s the intent of the manufacturer. I’m happy smoking either one, and actually prefer both over the original Serie R maduro, which I’ve had recently and thought was a little too mild. I love the cocoa/espresso flavors in these Nicaraguans though. I think last nights Serie R Esteli in the 6″x54 size smoked for at least 2 hours. Maybe it’s the difference in ring gauge that makes the Esteli more flavorful than the black to me.

That’s all I have for now. If any of the above is a little out of whack it’s because I wrote it in an Imetrex induced haze while trying to get rid of a migraine. I should be OK later and go back and edit all the craziness out! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Arturo Fuente, cigar, cigars, La Gloria Cubana, Opus X, Serie R

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!