Tag Archives: Panacea

by Craig Vanderslice | July 28, 2024 · 9:59 am

Flatbed Cigars Homestead Field Sampler

I went on a bit of a buying spree recently. In addition to buying a bunch of Dunbarton cigars at last week’s event at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar, I picked up a sampler from Flatbed Cigars. It should be noted that there are always discount codes for use on their site (USA20 and TRY20 are two), and there’s a daily deal that can be accessed on the left sidebar of my site. I saw this sampler and it looked like something I wanted to try. It’s billed as a field to field sampler, representing various combinations of strengths, countries of origin and sizes. I smoked four of the six this week. I like to keep my sunday posts around four cigars, I’m not sure I’d read past that, so I don’t expect others to either. It also gives me a few days through the week to enjoy cigars without having to think about them. I started with the Farmers Blend Sumatra. This is listed on the website as 7″ x 60, which is accurate, the printed handout which accompanied the sampler lists it as 6″ x 70, as well as other places on the website. I’m glad it wasn’t the later, although 7″ x 60 is still a formidable cigar, the kind you hope you like when trying it for the first time! This has a Sumatra wrapper, a binder with the ambiguous “Cuban Seed” designation, and fillers from Pennsylvania, Nicaragua and he DR. The Nicaraguan and Dominican are classified Ligero, with two different DR Ligeros. This is probably the strongest in the sampler, but I didn’t find it to be overly so. It started out with some dry, sourness, but it built nicely and had a very nice flavor. I found it to be an interesting cigar throughout the two hours or so it took me to smoke it.

The next one I smoked was the Henshaw Street, a 6½” x 54 cigar with a San Andrés wrapper, Dominican binder and PA, Nicaraguan Ligero and what I guess is Dominican Cubano seco. The name refers to a back road, and is a rustic blend. This was a really enjoyable cigar for me. It had a nice, sweet spice which I found quite enjoyable. Burn and draw were good, it need a touch up here. and there, but that kind of added to the appeal. it was solidly medium in strength, but very flavorful I’ve had two good cigars in this sampler so far, fingers crossed on the rest.

Saturday I cut the grass and did some other stuff around the house, and wasn’t feeling like I wanted to smoke powerhouse cigars, so I concentrated on the milder end of the spectrum in the sampler. I started with the Harvest, presented in a 6″ x 50 toro. This has a sun grown Connecticut wrapper, as opposed to shade grown, it sure wasn’t broadleaf. the binder is Dominican and it has DOminican and Nicaraguan Ligero in the filler, which is odd for a mild cigar. I thought this was a solid Dominican shade type cigar, with sweet cream and nuts flavors. Very nice while recovering and watching some Olympics coverage.

Later I went with the other cigar that was listed as mild-medium, the Track 7. This has the same Connecticut grown wrapper as the Harvest, with two Dominican Ligeros and a seco, Nicaraguan Ligero and some Kentucky Fire Cured in the mix. The fire cured is subtle, but apparent. It has the distinctive tang without the heavy smokiness, akin to the Lecia Black or the Cuevas Patrimonio. The tang went nicely with the smooth, creaminess, making for a nice blend. This was a 6″ x 60, and was well balanced, and burned well. I still have the VLI Pennsylvania 41 Small toro and the Pennsyltucky PA Broadleaf toro to go, they might be the two I looked forward to smoking the most. I have had the Pennsyltucky in a different size, but it’s been many years! I continue to be impressed by the Panacea/Flatbed offerings. They are an advertiser, but I’ve purchased all of the cigars I’ve smoked from them.

Next week I’ll showcase another Pennsylvania based cigar company. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Farmers Blend, Flatbed Cigar Co., Harvest, Henshaw Street, Panacea, Track 7

by Craig Vanderslice | June 9, 2024 · 10:21 am

Some Wise Man Cigars, a Conspiracy and a Panacea

Last week I dropped by the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA and picked up a couple of new cigars. I was actually looking for something else, which they had sold out of, so I had to pivot. I got some of the new Foundation Cigar Co. Wise Man cigars. The original El Güegüense and Wise Man Maduro cigars have been retired, and replaced by two new ones, both carrying the Wise Man name. These are being made by My Father Cigars. I started with the Wise Man Corojo in Toro size. This is a 6″ x 52 cigar with a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, Estelí & Jalapa binders and fillers from Esteli, Condega, and Jalapa. I really liked this cigar! It had what seems to me was a confectioners sugar sweetness. It had bright flavors, some light spices and really appealed to me. I was surprised and looked forward to the Maduro.

The following night I smoked the Wise Man Maduro, also in the 6″ x 52 Toro. This is the same blend as the Corojo: Estelí & Jalapa binders and fillers from Esteli, Condega, and Jalapa, but with a San Andrés Maduro wrapper. I expected to like this more than the Corojo, oddly, I was mistaken. This started out spicy and remained so through the cigar. I wanted some earthy, chocolaty coffee, but it was more like spicy burnt dark roast. It wasn’t completely off-putting, but I have to say that I liked the old blend better. Heck, I loved the Corojo, probably more than the original El Güegüense. Perhaps some aga will help the Maduro, but it didn’t appeal to me, I’m afraid. It’s very unusual that I don’t like a Maduro over something else, but it seems to be happening more and more lately. Is this a reflection of the maduro cigars or of my palate?

When I was at the Smoke-onos event, I talked to my old friend Michael Giannini, who was manning the Quality Importers booth with Alex Goldman. He showed off some of their newest accessories, and some of the things they can customize in their “Swag Bunker”. He also handed me a cigar with a plain white band (pre-production, I assume) that said Conspiracy (with a backwards N that I can’t manage to pull off with a standard keyboard). This cigar was shown at the PCA show, and was a collaboration between Alex Goldman (House of Oxford, Royal Gold Cigars), Michael (La Gloria Cubana, Foundry Cigars, Ventura) and Ernesto Carrillo (EPC, La Gloria, Etc.), made at the Casa Carrillo factory. I had the Ecuador Connecticut in the 6″ x 60 size because that’s what Michael handed me. I’d love to try the San Andrés version. Both of these have undisclosed binder and fillers, except that the tobaccos are from Ernesto’s factory. This was a decent cigar, with a darker shade wrapper. I enjoyed it while watching the Phillies play in London. If I’m honest, like it was hard to differentiate the baseball game being played in another country from one played here, the cigar was good, but not remarkably so. Both were a good product. Bring on the Maduro.

I pre-gamed game one of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals with a Flatbed Tobacco Co. Panacea Green 560 from the Grande line. Speaking of Panacea, please take note of their Daily Deal on my left sidebar. You can get some great deals on some great cigars. I’ve taken a shine to the Green Label, it has a Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper, Dominican Habano binder and Piloto Cubano, Olor Dominicano, and Nicaragua ligeros in the filler. This is a reasonably strong cigar, but not overwhelming. It has the flavors I look for in a cigar like this, some cocoa and coffee, with some spice. I rather enjoyed the 5″ x 60 format, it fit well into the time I had for a cigar, a little over an hour. It looks like today’s (Sunday, June 9), deal of the day is a 560 sampler, which would be a great way to try the Panacea offerings. I just might bite. Great line of cigars from a small, family company right here in PA.

That’s about all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Conspiracy, Corojo, Flatbed Cigar Co., Foundation Cigar Co., maduro, Panacea, Quality Importers, The Wise Man, Wise Man

by Craig Vanderslice | April 28, 2024 · 10:16 am

Two More Panacea Cigars, a Room 101 and a Diesel Vintage

I finished off the sampler of Panacea Classic line cigars I bought from them a couple weeks back. I’m to understand there are a few shops that carry the Flatbed Cigar Co. line, but they mostly are selling direct via the website. I’ve placed a couple orders and both were easy transactions and the cigars came well packaged, presented well and in a timely manner. Of course, the company is located barely an hour from me, which helps with the shipping. I’m going ot have to arange a visit one of these days! I had the Blue Label and Black Label left, and smoked the Panacea Blue Label on Thursday. This was the Toro size, a 6″ x 52, with a Cameroon wrapper. I had thought that the Green Label was my favorite, bt I might have to amend that after smoking this Blue Label. This was a delicious cigar, it had a nice white sugar sweetness, along with the nuttiness I get from Cameroon. This was a fine, medium bodied cigar that I really enjoyed. I might have to see if they offer a sampler of these like the Green Label sampler I got!

The Panacea Black Label, which I keep wanting to call the White, I guess because I associate Connecticut wrapped cigars with white. Probably something Davidoff and Montecristo put into my head. The Black Label was their first line launched in 2007, If I’m not mistaken. Like I mentioned, it has an Ecuador Connecticut shade wrapper, and the rest is Dominican and Nicaraguan. I had the Perfecto shape, which is 6″ x 51. I was impressed with the flavor, it had a hint of that white sugar I got with the Blue Label, along with some of the classic shade grass and nuts. I wish this had a better draw, I thought it would open up after the tapered foot burned down, but it really didn’t. This would have been an outstanding cigar otherwise, certainly a Connecticut I’d smoke again. After smoking thought the line, I think I’m most looking forward to sampling the Green and Blue Labels again, or maybe I’ll explore their Panacea Grande line. Good stuff.

Yesterday I got some yard work and errands done, and spent a little time i the afternoon with a Room 101 Hit & Run Redux Robusto. This 5″ x 50 has aSan Andrés wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder, and Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania fillers. This is made at the William Ventura factory in Tamboril, DR. I have to start out saying two things: Is it weird that a 5″ x 50 seems like a small cigar now days? It used to be y go to size, now I avoid them because they seem to smoke too quickly. I suppose an hour isn’t that quick, but I guess I like to spend a little more time smoking now than I used to. Second, I have not historically cared for a lot of cigars from William Ventura. I’m not entirely sure why that is, they seem to smoke well and have a large following, I just can’t seem to get into them. Given the blend, I should have really liked this cigar, and I did like it, just found it a little underwhelming. It had a nice toasty cocoa, almost a dark chocolate flavor. The presentation is nice, and I’ll give another one a try after a while.

Finally, I smoked the Diesel Vintage Series Natural in the Robusto Gordo size. This is 5″ x 56, made by A.J. Fernandez in Nicaragua, with an Ecuador wrapper, Nicaraguan Habano binder and five to seven year old Nicaraguan Jalapa fillers. I’ve smoked a lot of Diesel cigars over the years, And I really liked the original Diesel Vintage, which had a San Andrés wrapper. I have a rather basic palate, I got some saltiness, along with some citrus and nuts. Burn and draw were exceptional, it was a pleasurable smoke. I would suggest you read my buddy Kaplowitz’ review of this if you would like a more colorful description. I hit the basics, Kap digs deep into the flavors. This probably falls near the bottom of my list of favorite Diesel cigars through no fault of the cigar, it is a more refined Diesel, which misses the point of the brand in my eye. I think there’s some 13 year old Unholy Cocktails in the humidor, I might have to smoke one later.

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Black Label, Blue Label, cigar, cigars, diesel, Diesel Vintage, Flatbed Cigar Co., Hit & Run, Panacea, Redux, Room 101

by Craig Vanderslice | April 21, 2024 · 10:00 am

More Panacea Cigars and a New Los Statos Deluxe

I smoked a few more Panacea cigars from Flatbed Cigar Co. this week. I had bought a sampler when they signed up to advertise with me. I subsequently bought a Green Label sampler and that transaction went as smoothly as the first. Since Paul Bush, the owner of the company, wrote a note on the packing slip asking me to tell my friends, I’m doing just that. This week I started with the Panacea White Label in a toro. They call the toro in this line the “Hitch Pin”, and list it as 6½” x 54, I guess I wasn’t paying enough attention, because it seemed like a 6″ x 52 to me. This has a Corojo wrapper, a “Cuban Seed” binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan Ligero, Dominican Seco fillers. To me, this started out with some tannins, and worked itself into a citrus tang. I found it to be a well made cigar, perfect burn and draw. It had some earthiness and nuts perhaps. Nice smoke.

Next up was the Panacea Red Label, which was a really pretty looking cigar. The red band and the Habano wrapper work very well together visually. This was the company’s third cigar, released in 2009. In addition to the Habano wrapper, this has Seco Cubano, Piloto Cubano, Olor Dominicano, and Nicaraguan Ligeros. The website description may have a copy/past error. This is a really nice, medium bodied cigar, with a sweetness that I generally get from Habano wrappers. The blend description makes it sound like a heavy cigar, but it’s solidly medium for some reason. I’ll get to the Black and Blue labels next week. I think it’s funny that the Connecticut is the Black Label, I imagine in 2007 when this came out all of the Connecticut wrapped cigars had white bands and this made it stand out.

Yesterday I gave the new Los Statos Deluxe Limited Edition from Forged Cigar Co. a shot. This cigar is packaged like Matt Booth’s Johnny Tabacconaut, Uncle Lee, Chief Cool Arrow cigars, with tissue paper and a full length sleeve. Matt had a hand in the blend, along with Justin Andrews and William Ventura. It’s made in William Ventura’s factory in the DR. The cigar is a rather rustic looking 5½” x 50 figurado. Full disclosure, I don’t have a track record of really liking cigars from this factory for some reason. I should love the cigar, it has a San Andrés wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder, and Connecticut Broadleaf and Nicaraguan Corojo fillers. On paper, it sounds delicious. I found the profile to be leathery and earthy, seems to me there should have been some sweetness in there, but I didn’t get it. I will certainly give this another try after some humidor time, although I don’t know that I was a big fan of the last Los Statos iteration either. Everyone can’t like everything! I imagine some people with love this, maybe I will too, although they only made 3000 boxes, so I hope I don’t fall in love with it sometime next year when they will be impossible to find!

Yesterday I should have taken a drive up to Bethlehem, apparently CI was having an event at their Superstore (newly renovated, I believe). I came across references to it around 2PM, which was too late to do anything about it. OK, I could have gotten there by 3:30, and I think it was over at 6, that’s a lot of driving, gas and tolls. I’ll see most of the people that were there at the Smokeonos event in a couple weeks, which I’m really looking forward to attending. Also, don’t forget to check out the 2024 Smokin Tabacco x CFCF Fundraiser. which goes live tomorrow, Monday, April 22.

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Flatbed Cigar Co., Forged, Los Statos Deluxe, Panacea, Red Label, STG, White Label

by Craig Vanderslice | April 14, 2024 · 9:54 am

A Couple Nestor Miranda Cigars and a Couple Panacea Cigars

For the last three weeks I’ve been smoking the Boneshaker cigars, this week I smoked a few Nestor Miranda Special Selection cigars from Miami Cigar & Co. These have been around for along time, and it’s been quite a while since I smoked one. I don’t think I’ve written about these here at all over the last 14+ years. I’ve smoked a bunch of the Nestor Miranda Collection cigars, but haven’t had that many of the Special Selection. In a break from my normal routine, I started with the Connecticut version. The “Toro” is a 5½” x 54, with a Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. I’m pretty sure it’s made in the My Father factory. Shade cigars aren’t my go-to, but this one was a surprise. It started with some spice, and eventually got to some sweet cream in the second half. I recall wishing this was longer, as I did with the Habano blend. I feel like 5½” is a robusto extra rather than a toro, for some reason that half inch makes a big difference.

I moved to the Habano to wrap up the work week. I had taken Monday and Tuesday off as we had planned to travel to view the eclipse, but the weather wasn’t favorable, so we stayed home and watched it on our deck. I smoked a really nice Rocky Patel Sungrown maduro. Now there’s a company that knows how to make a toro, theirs are 6½”! Anyway, the Nestor Miranda Special Selection has a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper, Criollo 98 Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Esteli, Jalapa, Condega. I don’t quite know how or why this cigar has eluded my notice for this long, I guess I just don’t see them around anyplace. I think maybe a local broker has recently taken on Miami Cigar & Co, so maybe I’ll see them more around. This cigar, again, was too short! It had that nice sugar cane sweetness that I enjoy so much, along with a little bit of spice. Burn and draw were great on both examples. I might dig into some old Nestor Miranda Collection cigars that have been in the humidor for several years.

Last week I mentioned welcoming the Flatbed Cigar Co. to the CigarCraig family. This company is based right here in Pennsylvania, a county or two east of where I live. Panacea has been on the market since 2007, and is in a couple stores here and there, but mostly sells direct. It’s been a while since I smoked a Panacea, so I ordered a sampler of the Classic Line from their site. I would say that the process was simple, and I received the cigars the next day. I just placed another order today, I expect it will get here Tuesday. I started with the Panacea Brown Label in the 6″ x 52 torpedo size. This has a Brazilian maduro wrapper, a Dominican binder, and Cuban seed Seco, Ligero, Olor Dominicano, and Nicaraguan fillers. The cigars are made in the DR. This cigar had a dry cocoa flavor. It’s the same blend as the Connecticut, with just the wrapper changed, so I’m going to be really interested to smoke the Connecticut. There was some creaminess and spice too, it was a very nice smoke.

While watching some hockey on the porch last night, I lit up the Panacea Green Label Robusto. This one has a Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper, Dominican Habano wrapper and Piloto Cubano, Olor Dominicano, and Nicaragua ligeros in the filler. Yes, that’s triple ligeros, should be strong, right? It’s a full bodied cigar, there’s no doubt, but it’s not in any way overpowering. The purchase I just made was a sampler of the Green Label in all the sizes, by the way. The Robusto is 5″ x 50, and got me from the start of the second period, about half way through the third. I expect a Toro would be good for two periods of hockey. I liked this a lot. It had some spicy cocoa flavors, and some earthiness. This one was a winner for me (which is probably why I bought more). So far I’m digging the Panacea line. It’s been practically a decade since I sampled any of their cigars, too long, I think.