Paley | CigarCraig's Blog

This week I finished off the cigars that Mitch very generously shared with me (except for one, which is a favorite which may get smoked today!). Before that I’d like to share a little experience I had Tuesday. We went to New York City to see a show, a revival of Spamalot, for which my wife got tickets for the preview for my birthday. When she mentioned finding a cigar spot, the only place I had any interest in visiting was Paley Park, which is a private park on 53rd Street, between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue. It’s owned my the Paley family and is dedicated to Samuel Paley, the father of William Paley, who founded CBS, mostly to promote his father’s cigar business. I had always been under the impression that this was a safe haven for cigar smoking, however, I was to find out that smoking is only allowed there from 4pm to 8pm. Sadly, I was told this, very nicely and politely by the attendant there, by the way, after I lit up a La Palina Mr. Sam. This is a cigar that is also dedicated to the same Samuel Paley as the park. There was a sign, but apparently one has to check the rules on the website now days before doing anything. I’ve officially reached the “get off my lawn” stage of life, I guess. Just put the rules on the sign, don’t make me check a webpage. Anyway, we walked up a few blocks and I finished my Mr. Sam, which was very good, in front of Tiffany’s while my wife went in and got the tour. I BS’d a bit with Tony, the greeter who was a super cool dude. Good dinner at Havana Central, good show, good little trip.

Back to Mitch’s cigars! Several of the cigars he sent me were on a list I had of cigars I wanted to smoke. One of them might have been the Powstanie Connecticut, and I don’t often seek out Connecticut wrapped cigars to try. I’ll smoke them if I have to, and there are some that I like, and more often than not I like them when I smoke then, if that makes sense. It probably doesn’t, I just have a mental thing about shade wrapper cigars. I gotta tell ya, whatever your taste preference is, you have to try this Powstanie Connecticut. It’s made at Nica Sueño, I smoked the 5″ x 50 robusto, and it was one of the most unique and interesting cigars of any variety I’ve smoked. It started with a lot of spice, and I realized that is seemed to me like a heavy citrus, it was tangy and sweet. It was really a fascinating cigar from start to finish. This is a cigar I want more of, and will be on the hunt for some locally, if I can’t find some, I know of a place to get them!

The number one on my wishlist that Mitch included was the Quinqaungenario, another 5″ x 50 cigar from RoMaCraft. This one is a little different, as Skip Martin worked with Ernesto Carillo to make a special cigar to celebrate his 50th birthday. I felt funny smoking this, as I am no longer a Quinqgangenarian, I moved into Sexagenarian a few months ago (and I find that tern cruelly ironic). I suppose if Skip had come out with the Quinquangenario on time it would I would have smoked it while I was still in my fifties. This cigar is made by Ernesto in his factory in the Dominican Republic, has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over Dominican binder and fillers. This was a really good cigar, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering who’s involved. I personally am a fan of both parties, one for a dozen years, the other for a lot longer. Call me crazy, but I was reminded of really old El Rico Habano a little bit, the ones that were made in Miami probably and were really strong. This had that citrus tang again, and loads of spice. There was a lot going on, but not so much as to overwhelm, it was perfectly balanced. Great, another $15 cigar I need buy! Thanks Mitch! No, I’m serious, thank you Mitch for sharing the cigars with me, They’ve been some of the best I’ve had recently. But wait, there’s more!

There were a couple of RoMaCraft shop exclusives included in Mitch’s selection. First up was the Abaddon. This is an exclusive to Chicago’s Blue Havana. I like the size, 6¼” x 52, and it has a hybrid criollo/corojo wrapper of some sort which is fairly nondescript. This one has a sweet leather kind of flavor, It was a good cigar, I suppose I was a bit spoiled by the previous two being so very interesting. This would have been a good choice thematically to smoke on Thursday, as I tossed around the notion of smoking either something from All Saints, or something with a dia de los muertos theme, as Abaddon has some basis in Hebrew as a pit of the dead or something related to death. I screwed up there. This one wasn’t as “up my alley” as most of the other RoMa cigars, for some reason, but still a good cigar.

Last night I smoked the first cigar in the CRAFT Maquette series, a small batch series that will use some limited quantity tobaccos that aren’t available in large enough quantities to produce sustainable lines. This one called the Il Nonno, is in honor of Skip’s first grandchild, apparently he shares grandparentage with the owner of Riverside Cigars in Kentucky who has exclusive distribution on this cigar. I’ve got a couple granddaughters, it’s a very cool thing. It’s got a simple bronze ribbon on the foot. and was a 5″ x 52 robusto. It has some sort of hybrid wrapper, Brazilian binder and DOminican and Brazilian fillers. This was an interesting cigar. I thought it was more “RoMaCraft” than the Abaddon, but certainly not as heavy as the core lines. It had some subtle cocoas and coffees, and was a very tasty and interesting cigar. It was quite a treat, as was the Abaddon, for someone who doesn’t go chasing a lot of shop exclusives, so a big thanks again to Mitch for sharing. I’ll be rummaging around for some of my favorites to send your way, I know you said it wasn’t necessary, but you also said that the sharing was fun and I agree.