I’m trying to get back in the swing of things after the interruption of my trip to California.  I figured the best way to do that was to jump in with both feet and head an hour west to Newtown, PA and Ned’s Cigars where Clint Aaron of 262 Cigars was having an event.  Clint has done something exceptional with 262, he’s left a career in finance behind and launched a successful cigar brand.  Ned’s is a nice little shop on a quaint little street, located in a building that probably dates back to the 1700s.  We were well received by Luca, the owner, who is a super nice guy and a terrific 
host. Â Clint sold me a couple cigars, I started with a 262 Paradigm Lancero, which was a stellar smoke. Â I followed it up with the 262 Revere which was the free cigar that I received for buying 4 cigars. Â I thought the Revere had a nice sweetness that the Paradigm didn’t have, and both cigars burned dead even and had perfect draws. Â I have a few more of the Paradigms left and still have an Ideology floating around from the IPCPR show. Â It was a fun event, the traffic in the store wasn’t too bad. Â The lounge is small but comfortable, and between watching “Used Cars” and a basketball game on the TVs, and the great cigars it was an entertaining evening.
Saturday I took a walk around lunchtime since it was a nice, sunny day.  Unfortunately, it’s still cold (where’s Spring? They are forecasting 5-8″ of snow tomorrow!).  A Couple weeks ago I received a pair of pre-release samples of Smoke Inn‘s latest micro-blend release, the Room101 Big Delicious.  This cigar is a box pressed torpedo with a nice, dark wrapper and an untrimmed foot, great for getting a big blast of wrapper upon lighting.  Last weekend I smoked and loved the last micro-blend release, the Tatuaje Anarchy Apocalypse, but I think I enjoyed the Big Delicious even more!  It had a unique and different flavor that excited my taste buds. Was it the right cigar for a pre-lunch walk?  Probably not.   It probably would be better after a sumptuous feast instead of some supermarket donuts from last night, but it was still a most enjoyable smoke that was filled with surprises and didn’t disappoint.  Two thumbs up to Abe and Matt on this one, it’s a winner!  I’ve had fun reading along with the comic strip on the website as well.
 News
Here’s the latest news from CAO cigars:
CAO Brazilia Carnivale Hits Retail
CAO Brazilia Carnivale is hitting cigar shops as we speak. The 6 ½†x 60 box-pressed beauty is a limited edition release that puts an innovative spin on the popular Brazilia blend.
“Carnivale†is made with ligeros from the DR, Honduras and Nicaragua, and a binder from Brazil. The wrapper is a rare Habano Grueso leaf cultivated only in small quantities.Â
Rick Rodriguez who heads up blending for CAO said, “We haven’t changed any CAO blends since we took over the brand. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t put our spin on one of them. That’s exactly what we did with Carnivale…it’s my and my team’s take on Brazilia. We added a new wrapper, made the original wrapper the binder, and cranked the whole thing up with more ligero.â€
You won’t miss CAO Brazilia Carnivale at your favorite cigar shop. It’s in an eye-catching, bright yellow, 12-count box, and is a must-have for the CAO collector. Single CAO Brazilia Carnivale cigars are on sale for $8.30 until the limited supply is gone.
Rick hinted that there could be another small batch twist on the horizon for another one of CAO’s top blends. “My team and I have been experimenting with some fantastic tobaccos, so CAO fans should be on the lookout to see what we come up with next.â€
I look forward to smoking this one, as I’ve always enjoyed the Brazilia. Â Since Ricky took over the blending at CAO I’ve been pretty impressed with the new releases. Both the OSA Sol and the Concert had something that appealed to me, and the cigars in the Last Stick Standing promotion were all pretty tasty.
In other news, the Midwest Smokeout is coming up in about a month. Â This year’s Smokeout will be held on April 25 at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, In. Â They will have a bunch of cigar makers on hand and it looks like a $150 ticket will get you a load of cigars. Â They also offer a $95 ticket that doesn’t include the cigars. Â I’ll try to get more information on the event and pass it on. Â Â
That’s it for today.  I want to thank whoever took advantage of the Gotham Cigars Living Social link I posted.  At least three people purchased the deal so I got it for free.  I used it to purchase a Xikar VX  cutter and a couple cigars to make up the difference.  I’ve been thinking about buying the V-cutter for  a while.  Truth is, I’ve never spent more than about $3 on a cigar cutter.  The V-cut takes me back to when I first started smoking cigars, buying them one at a time and cutting them on the Boston cutter on the counter in the shop.  It’s certainly not that I needed a cutter, I’ve got plenty ranging from cheapos to nice Colibris and the like, but I didn’t have a good V cutter and it was a perfect opportunity to get one.  Gotham’s service was exceptional and I look forward to the delivery of this order.
Until the next time,
CigarCraig
I still have a couple videos left over from last July’s IPCPR show so tonight I’ll feature a couple cigars from 262 Cigars. These crazy guys are making some great cigars. Sunday evening my eldest son and I took a walk, he with an Oliva O Robusto and me with the 262 Paradigm Short Robusto. At 4”x 52, this is a nice sized cigar for a one mile walk. It’s a tasty smoke, it made me wish it was longer. I’ve smoked this cigar before, actually a little over a year ago, when I posted the video of my talk with Clint Aaron at the 2012 show. Have I had this cigar for that long? I seem to remember picking this up at an event at Ned’s in Newtown, PA last winter where I hung out with Clint and smoked a lancero. Wherever this one came from, I liked it. The size is handy and fun and the smoke is tasty. Smooth and sweet.
Monday I finally smoked the 262 Ideology Corona that was a sample from the 2012 show. This 5½”x 42 corona is the perfect size. It’s on the mild side, but I think the smaller format ratchets up the intensity of the flavor so it doesn’t seem so mild. Super smooth flavor with a sweetness similar to the Paradigm. While I enjoyed the heck out of this on my evening walk, this would be a great cigar in the morning with a hot mug of coffee. Both this and the Paradigm smoked well with a V-cut, burned straight and drew perfectly. If you haven’t tried the 262 line, give them a look.
