Tag Archives: Papas Fritas

by | October 15, 2023 · 11:25 am

Some Foundation Cigars, a Big Payback and a Little Papas Fritas

I went and got a flu shot and a Covid vaccine yesterday and the combination has really kicked my ass.  Can’t recommend that pairing. Not sure which one gave me the fever and chills, but it was a miserable night last night, and I’m not exactly Mr. Happy this morning. We’ll see if the grass gets cut today or not, or if any cigars get smoked. Anyway, I stopped in to Cigar Mojo Thursday for their Foundation Cigars event with Eduardo Aguilar and Miguel “La Chaveta” Montanez for a quick visit. I probably could have stayed for a while, but I wanted to watch the Flyers game in the comfort of my own lounge, and I was fighting off a migraine, and a smokey lounge isn’t great for that.  So I did the grab and go thing, and went home and fired up a Tabernacle Havana Seed No. 142 Doble Corona and watched some hockey. The Doble Corona is a 7″ x 54 cigar, good for the pre-game show and into the second period. The wrapper is a Connecticut grown Havana No. 142, obviously, which is a hybrid seed which is dark and oily and really quite beautiful. The binder is San Andrés and the fillers are from Estekli and Jalapa in Nicaragua and JAmastran in Honduras.  This is a rich, spicy cigar with some sweetness. I also picked up a toro and a lancero, which I haven’t gotten around to smoking yet.  really looking forward to those. I love the original Tabernacle, but this one is something special.

 

Friday I grabbed a Foundation The Wise Man Maduro in the Robusto size. I like their Robusto because it’s 5½” x 50 and skirts the line between toro and robusto.  This was the sequel to the El Güegüense, which people fumbled over pronouncing. It seems it was easier to just call the maduro version by the translation: The Wise Man. Hard to argue the logic. This has a San Andrés wrapper, a COrojo 99 binder from Jalapa and fillers from Nicaragua. Being a fan of the Mexican wrapper, it’s hard for me not to love this cigar, it’s one of my favorites in the Foundation line.  It checks all the boxes for me, coffee, cocoa, some spice. I dig it.  I was disappointed that the new offerings from Foundation were a couple weeks out at the time they had this event. I was hoping to get the new Charter Oak offerings, even though I’m not sure I get the trend of budget lines coming out with premium offerings (Rocky Patel Edge, Brick House come to mind).  I still want to try them, I’m desparate for anything new at this point!

 

So desperate I am for something new that I decided to smoke the new Room 101 Big Payback Redux while watching hockey yesterday afternoon.  I figured this would be good for the better part of the game. Here’s what Matt Booth has to say about this cigar: “It has been my life’s mission to produce a combustible vessel so engorged and far more magnificent than its standard counterpart in cylindrical presentation, and it’s my greatest honor to offer our people such a product that overflows with both girth and grandeur.” If you’ve ever heard Matt, you just read that in his voice. This is a 7″ x 70 cigar, outside my usual comfort zone. I’ll do a 60 no problem, but a 70 is just unwieldy. I can count the number of 70 ring cigars I’ve smoked on one hand. This is a $9 cigar, and that’s the point of the brand, to give back to the loyal Room 101 supporters with a good cigar at a reasonable price.  I have to say, mission accomplished, it’s a tasty cigar. This is made in Honduras, using a Honduran Olancho San Augustin wrapper (STG must grow a crapload of this as it’s been popping up on just about everything in their portfolio for the last dozen years, including Cohiba), a Connecticut Broadleaf binder and Nicaraguan, Dominican and Honduran fillers. I actually really enjoyed the cigar, which is good, because it’s a three hour commitment (a colleague noted a smoking time of 4½ hours!  In a row?). Smooth, sweet nuts and creamy coffee notes.  I can’t say this will be a regular for me, but if I find I need a three hour cigar, I won’t hesitate to grab one of these.  

 

In an effort to balance things out, and since the effects of the vaccines were beginning to kick in, I decided to have something small for mey Saturday evening smoke. I hadn’t gotten around to smoking the Drew Estate H99 Papas Fritas yet, and I had bought a few several weeks ago.  I figured I had smoked a behemoth cigar earlier, might as well off set things with something on the small side.  This is 4½ x 44 with a pigtail cap, and made from the trimmings of the Liga Privada line. Steve Saka launched this line when he was at DE to utilize some of the valuable bench trimmings, and named it after one of his favorite things.  Oh, I know, you think I’m being mean, but I’ve known Steve for over 25 years, and his favorite things are cigars, food and booze, gimme a break.  Anyway, the H99 version came out last year as one of the Freestyle Live packs, and I’m not sure it would have been a big mystery, although I never saw the Freestyle Live pack, it’s a fairly distinctive format.  This isn’t a pretty cigar, but it is tasty, and it burns well for a short filler cigar.  I like having some short smokes around, and this and the original Broadleaf version are good ones to have. I still haven’t had the Nasty Fritas.

 

That’s all for today, I feel like the fever has made me drone on a bit.  I’ll read this later and maybe do some editing (probably not). Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 29, 2021 · 5:29 pm

News: Drew Estate Announces Papas Fritas Available Now in 25 Count Boxes

Here’s some news from Drew Estate. Of course, the Papas Fritas are a great little mixed fill cigar, made from the trimmings from the Liga Privadas. They are hard to beat, and not badly priced.

 

Beginning in August, Drew Estate’s Liga Privada Unico Serie Papas Fritas (115 x 44) cigars will be available in new 25-count boxes, replacing the current 50-count boxes.

 

Upon its launch in 2012, the quirky Papas Fritas vitola quickly became one of the most beloved and popular offerings in the Liga Privada Unico Serie line. Papas Fritas’ small, handy size made the cigar an excellent choice for cigar lovers who only have a short time to enjoy a rich and savory Liga Privada.

 

While the packaging will be changing to consumer-friendly 25-count boxes, the uniquely constructed cigars in each box will remain the same Papas Fritas the marketplace has come to love. Featuring Drew Estate’s signature fantail, Papas Fritas delivers the rich and robust complexity of Liga Privada in a short smoke size.

 

 

From Sag Harbor, N.Y., Drew Estate’s Founder and President, Jonathan Drew, says, “Papas Fritas punch above their weight class with lots of rich heartiness that grabs your attention from the first pull. These gnarly little knockouts have extraordinary character that makes people crazy, asking ‘How they pack that little beast with so much flavor?’ I feel good about the shift from 50- to 25-count, as it makes it a bit easier for our Liga Freaks to snap up a box all quick and easy, like ‘Don’t worry, Flavor’s vision ain’t blurry.’ That’s Public Enemy by the way.”

 

Available only to Drew Diplomat Program participants beginning in  August, Papas Fritas will have an MSRP of $143.87/ 25-count box or $5.75/cigar.

 

ABOUT DREW ESTATE

Founded in New York City in 1996, Drew Estate has become one of the fastest growing tobacco companies in the world. Under their mantra “The Rebirth of Cigars”, Drew Estate has led the “Boutique Cigar” movement by innovating new elements to the tobacco industry with their unique tobaccos and blending styles that attract new and traditional cigar enthusiasts. In their Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, the Nicaraguan headquarters, Drew Estate produces a variety of brands such as ACID, Herrera Estelí, Herrera Estelí Norteño, Isla del Sol, Kentucky Fired Cured, Liga Privada, MUWAT, Larutan by Drew Estate, Nica Rustica, Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Cigars, Tabak Especial, Undercrown, Florida Sun Grown, and Java by Drew Estate.

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by | March 7, 2021 · 10:24 am

Room 101 Cigar Dojo Noodles Cigar and a Papas Fritas

Yesterday my wife and I took a little drive to Connecticut. My wife bought a really cool antique rooster cigar cutter in an auction, and it would have been a big hassle to have it shipped, so we decided to drive up and pick the thing up. A bit frivolous, I realize, but these days just getting out of the house to do something is something! We did manage to have our first Popeyes  chicken sandwich on the way, and picked up a White Castle Crave Case to nibble on on the way home! That’s kind of a Russian roulette move, isn’t it? Eat White Castle sliders on the road and see if you can make it home in time! I paced myself, one every two exits (credit to Jenn for the idea, btw. I may not have had the willpower).  By  I guess I have a strong constitution, it wasn’t a problem. While the cutter isn’t sharp enough to be functional, I think it’s really cool, and Drew Newman, of J.C. Newman, commented on Instagram that they have one in their museum, so that’s kinda neat. When I got home, I was ready for a cigar, I was going to have one on the drive, but I was too busy navigating the traffic to take the time to cut and light, I figured it would be less stressful to just wait until I got home. 

 

I selected a cigar that was new to me, and was shared with me in a Secret Santa pack last Christmas. Many thanks for that! The cigar is a Room 101/Cigar Dojo collaboration that was made in the William Ventura factory in the Dominican Republic and didn’t really seem to have a name, but was called “noodles”. I thought I saw a comment from Matt with a more specific name, but I can’t find it, and who knows with him anyway, he’s a little loony! It’s a good sort of loony, mind you, but loony, nonetheless.  This has a natural colored San Andrès wrapper, Sumatra binder and Criollo ’98, Corojo ’99,  and Havana Vuelta Abajo fillers. Oddly, as much as I like a Maduro fermented San Andrés wrapper, Natural San Andrés rarely does anything for me. Such was the case with this cigar. One would think the Sumatra binder would be a saving grace, sadly no. While technically the Belicoso shape was a perfect delivery system, the flavor didn’t excite me, it was sour to my palate, and, except for a short stretch where I got an interesting flavor of something I couldn’t put a finger on, but liked.  For the right palate, this would be a great cigar. 

 

Since the Room 101 was only a 5½” x 52 Belicoso, and seemed to smoke pretty fast, I was left wanting. Since I had been chowing down on White Castle burgers non-stop all afternoon, I figured what goes better with burgers than fries, right? So a Drew Estate Papas Fritas was the obvious choice, and since I had one out for the ride, I fired one up. These little 4½’ x 44 mixed fill cigars, while a little pricey for what they are, they are exceptional. They aren’t too far off in flavor from a Liga Privada, they use the same Broadleaf wrapper and Brazilian binder and filled with trimmings from the benches where Ligas are rolled. The original version was presented in four count tins, somewhere I have a Havana Romeo y Julieta tin of the same design from the 60’s or 70s. They used to offer these tins on transAtlantic flights! Those were the days! Anyway, great little cigars! 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | September 9, 2020 · 9:35 pm

Labor Day Cigars and a Macanudo Inspirado Green

Labor Day was my first paid holiday since January 1st of 2018! A combination of two streaks of unemployment and a year of working in retail for a company that didn’t believe in paid holidays (something I had trouble wrapping my head around!), I was quite excited about this small luxury! My wife wanted to get away and do something, anything, so we took a drive to Lewes,  Delaware, Parked the car at the ferry terminal, and rode the ferry over to Cape May and walked on the beach for a while. I took the opportunity to smoke one of the cigars in the Cigar Prop sampler in the Smoke Inn Battle of the Bands promo that’s going on. I selected the Alec Bradley Black Market Esteli Punk, a little 4¼” x 42 petite corona. This cigar has a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan and Honduran binders amd Nicaraguan fillers. I chose this due to time constraints and the fact that I wasn’t supposed to be actually smoking on the beach really, but the stretch of beach we were on was fairly empty and nobody said anything anyway. I don’t usually favor such small cigars, and it was before lunch, so I took it slow, which was a good thing, because this was a pretty potent little smoke! I really enjoyed it! It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, with a gentle breeze off the bay, and this cigar was just delicious. These are probably about $5 if you find them singley, and well worth it. A great choice by Kevin for his sampler.

 

On the drive home I lit up another cigar from the “shorties of forty” sampler, as Kevin refers to it, the Papas Fritas from Drew Estate. Obviously, this wasn’t my first go around with this cigar, and I normally wouldn’t opt for a mixed filler cigar while driving a stick shift car in traffic, but I had confidence in this one. The Papas Fritas was made using the sorted bench cuts from the Liga Privadas. It certainly doesn’t smoke like a mixed fill cigar, no mess in the car! Of course, traffic sucked coming home, to be expected, so having a cigar was quite helpful. It occurs to me, I still haven’t smoked any of the Nasty Fritas, the newer shape. Anyway, the two hour drive took nearly three, but the little Papas Fritas took the edge off. I could have smoked and A sized cigar, but that might have hit the windshield. I gotta say, I’ve smoked three of the five cigars in the Cigar Prop sampler and they have all been winners. Great selection so far. 

 

When I got home I felt compelled to smoke another from the samper, and went with one I hadn’t tried before, the Crowned Heads Juarez OBS, the largest cigar in the sampler. This one is 4¾” x 54, seems longer compared to the rest, but it’s the same length as the Sobremesa Short Churchill, the fifth cigar in the sampler (the first one was the Padron 26th No. 35 Maduro). Kevin said that this is the cigar that people raved about in the sampler. I have to say, it was in my top five, but certainly not my favorite. This line is made at Tabacalera Pichardo in Estelí,, it has a natural San Andrés wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I don’t know if it’s because it was my third cigar of the day, with the first two being fairly strong, or if it’s because it started off a little snug in the draw and took a while to open up, but it was just OK. I’ll certainly give this one a second chance, but it was reasonably blah to me. With the wrapper/binder combination it should have been interesting. I also admit to not taking a shine to a lot of the Crowned Heads portfolio, for some reason, there hasn’t been a lot that trips my trigger. I suppose I’m in the minority. 

 

Tonight I smoked a Macanudo Inspirado Green Toro, my second one. I’ve been looking forward to trying this cigar since I’ve heard about it. I’ve been hot and cold on the Inspirado line, oddly, I really like the Red and White, the Black and Orange are just OK. The Green has a  Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper, Indonesian binder, and fillers from Columbia and the DR. The Brazilian wrapper caught my attention, as well as the Columbian filler. The first one I smoked was nice, but I smoked it following a rather strong maduro (Southern Draw Jacobs Ladder), and I felt like I may not have given it a fair shake. I thought it was pretty mild. So I smoked on tonight on a fresh palate and it was quite a bit more flavorful! I enjoyed this cigar, more than the Inspirado Black, which, for me, is odd. It’s odd that I am not that fond of the Black actually, but the Green has some interesting and different flavors. There’s some spice and unique flavors I can’t put a finger on, except to say that I like them and it’s a cigar I’m happy that I bought a handful of. I actually bought these after shopping for something else and not finding what I was looking for. Next to the Inspirado Red, this is my second favorite Inspirado. The green band looks really nice on that dark wrapper too.

 

One of my pet peeves: The Black Market Esteli Punk size isn’t listed on the Alec Bradley webpage, nor is the Juarez line listed on the Crowned Heads site. I just think it’s weird. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | January 9, 2013 · 6:06 pm

Getting Back to Normal: A Fernando Leon, a Papas Fritas and a La Bomba

I’m getting back into my normal routine after the excitement of the holidays and the contests and all. I’m back to my “take a cigar for a walk” thing on a regular basis. Lucky it hasn’t been bitter cold yet, too many degrees below 30 Fahrenheit and it isn’t good for the cigars or me. That doesn’t mean I won’t do it, it just means I’m a bit more selective in the size and makeup of the cigar. Smaller maduros are my usual choice for super cold walks. Enough about the cold, I prefer to think about warmer weather.

 

Fernando Leon_FamilyReserveMonday evening I was in the mood for something a little out of the norm so I grabbed a La Aurora Fernando Leon Family Reserve from the IPCPR show samples.  I smoked one of these at the Miami Cigar and Co./La Aurora after party at the show, but by that point I had developed quite a head cold and along with everything else going on I really couldn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked.  This was Fernando Leon’s personal blend which was released at  the show last summer and has a Dominican Corojo wrapper and binder and fillers from Brazil, Dominican Republic and Peru.  This cigar burned nicely and had an enjoyable flavor.  It’s a fine smoke that I wouldn’t mind revisiting on a nice, balmy evening.

 

LigaPrivada_PapasFritasTuesday I got home a little later than normal due to inventory at work, and needed something short, yet awesome.  I had a couple sample Liga Privada Papas Fritas from the show that have been burning a hole in my humidor, so it seemed like the perfect occasion to fire one up.  The Papas Fritas (French Fries in Spanish) is a super premium mixed filler cigar from Drew Estate, using the cuttings from the Liga Privada production.  They collect up these cuttings and re-sort them and make these little guys up.  It’s a 4½” x 44 cigar with a dark broadleaf wrapper.  This is like smoking a miniature No. 9 and it’s impossible to tell its not a long filler cigar.  These come in tins of four, and the tins are modeled after tins that Cuban petite coronas used to be packaged in that I believe, and I could be wrong, they used to give out on trans-Atlantic flights back in the good old days when you could smoke on planes.  I have an old Romeo y Julieta tin around someplace that I picked up many years ago because I though it was cool.  If I wasn’t so lazy I’d have dug it out and taken a picture, but it’s buried in the basement someplace.  These aren’t cheap at around $24 for the tin of four, but boy is it a satisfying little smoke.

 

601_La Bomba_AtomTonight I took the dog for a walk with a 601 La Bomba Atom. This is a powerful smoke, but loaded with flavor.   I picked this example up back in November of 2011 and age hasn’t hurt it. Maybe it wasn’t quite as super strong as it was back then, but still packs a punch.  The Atom is just about my favorite size cigar, a 5½” x 46 Cuban Corona with a long, fuse-like, pigtail cap.  The Habano wrapper is quite tasty and the cigar starts with a tingly spicy blast and never really calms down too much. It was a terrific companion on my walk and was hard to put down.  This is a terrific smoke if you like them strong, it’s a flavor bomb.

Ironically, I received the following information from Espinosa Premium Cigars today:

 

ESPINOSA PREMIUM CIGARS PRESENTS THE 601 LA BOMBA CHALLENGE

Miami, Florida (January 9, 2013) – Can you handle the STRONGEST cigar around? Think so? Well take the 601 La Bomba Challenge today!

Espinosa Premium Cigars announces the promotion for the 601 La Bomba Challenge, where cigar enthusiasts take a BEFORE and AFTER picture of their smoking experience with the 601 La Bomba cigar and share it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. The contest will run for 6 weeks and a different winner will be selected each week [6 winners in total]. The winners will be announced on the following 2013 dates 1/18, 1/25, 2/1, 2/8, 2/15 & 2/22. Each winner will receive a 601 La Bomba Ashtray and a 601 LA BOMBA SQUAD t-shirt.

Prizes

Complete rules of the contest are posted on the company’s newly redesigned website www.espinosacigars.com/601labombachallenge.

The 601 La Bomba is a full bodied and full flavored BOMB! Handcrafted in Esteli, Nicaragua with 100% Nicaraguan tobacco. WARNING: Extremely full bodied cigar. Not recommended for novice smokers.

 

…Not that I am a fan of contests or anything :-)!  Check it out, get your hands on some La Bombas and take a shot at winning some cool goodies!  It’s really hard to go wrong with anything from Eric Espinosa in my opinion.  He makes some great smokes and is a heck of a nice guy.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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