Tag Archives: Partagas

by CigarCraig | January 2, 2019 · 10:56 am

Last Cigar of ‘18 and First Cigars of ‘19

I wrapped up 2018 with a quiet evening on the porch. I worked all day, my wife was working, and there was a hockey game on the iPad. I selected a cigar that had been in the humidor since September of 2009, when I received it in a trade with an only friend who warned me that it might be tight or plugged (it was a trade heavily in my favor, I wasn’t worried). I knew this gentleman from the old Usenet days, he’s generous to a fault. One time he flew me to North Carolina for a cigar event in his plane for nothing, and wanted to trade me something when I tried to give him a gift for doing it! I think he even bought me lunch upon arrival. Your money was never any good around this guy. Anyway, the cigar in question was a Partagas Churchill de Luxe Havana. This is a classic 7″ x 47 Churchill, and was a beautiful looking cigar with a milk chocolate-brown wrapper. As advertised, even after the better part of a decade in the humidor, and one of my drier humidors at that, this cigar’s draw was on the snugger side. The upside of this was that it allowed for a slower smoking time, and more time to savor the delicate, floral flavor that this interesting Havana cigar brought to the table. This was a unique smoke, and it brought to mind a similar experience I had with a Cuban Punch Churchill a few years ago. It turned out to be a nice smoke to end a weird year.

To get 2019 started right, I went with a classic favorite, the Arturo Fuente AÃ±ejo No. 50. I’m fortunate to have a box of these 5.25 x 50 Robustos in the humidor and dip into it on occasion. The story is that the AÃ±ejo was born the year Fuente had a disaster and lost an Opus X wrapper crop and put Broadleaf wrappers on all the Opus bunches. Whether that’s the case or not, it’s a spectacular cigar to my palate and I’ll smoke an AÃ±ejo over an Opus X any day of the week. It presents cocoa and espresso with refinement and panache all day long. Just writing about it makes me want to smoke another one. I need to get my hands on some other sizes, I hear that Shark size is pretty good!

Last night I was invited to be a guest on A Facebook live show, and I smoked a La Sirena King Poseidon on the show. Of course, La Sirena is. woman owned cigar company, owned by Arielle Ditkowich, represented by her sister, Mariah, and run by her and her family. I’ve met all of them and they are a great bunch of folks. They are one of my favorite cigar brands, and I’m proud to have them as long time supporters of CigarCraig.com. The King Poseidon is the 6″ x 60 made at La Zona in Esteli and is just a darned good cigar. Flavor descriptors fail me at the moment, but I know when I want a delicious, satisfying cigar, I reach for a La Sirena, and that goes for just about anything in their portfolio, whether it’s the La Sirena, the Oceano made by Quesada, or the Merlin made at La Aurora.

Thatâ€™s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Añejo, cigar, cigars, fuente, La Sirena, Partagas

by CigarCraig | December 2, 2018 · 10:45 am

A Partagas, a Cornelius And Anthony Meridian and Thoughts on a Common Etiquette Question

I had another busy week, as will be the common theme for the next few weeks, I fear. This has resulted in coming home and defaulting to known good cigars, cigars I love and know will hit the spot. Often times I’ll find myself thinking of a cigar during the day and I have to smoke one that evening. This was the case this week a couple of times, most notably with the Partagas Legend. To recap, this was the Toro Leyenda, the 6 ¼” x 54 size. This cigar has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, a Honduran OSA binder and Dominican Piloto Cubano filler. I’ve likened this to the Partagas Limited Reserve in the past, I didn’t think of that on this go around, I think this cigar is best smoked in warmer weather or indoors, my 40something degree back porch while not too uncomfortable wasn’t ideal for the proper enjoyment of this particular cigar. It was still enjoyable, but the nuance was missing. This isn’t your typical heavy broadleaf offering, and if you’re looking for that kind of cigar, try the Partagas Black.

For some reason I’ve seen this come up a lot recently in discussions, and it continues to cause some dissenting opinions. Since I haven’t really got a lot of cigars to talk about this week, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the debate over whether it’s ok to bring outside cigars into a shop or lounge. I think the biggest problem with the argument is the definition of the establishment in question. If it’s a cigar shop with a lounge, I say it’s common sense to leave your personal cigars at home and buy cigars at the store. I admit that I used to be guilty of bringing my cigars to the shop and buying a few and smoking my own, but in the last several years I’ve abandoned that completely and always buy from the place I visit and smoke what I buy there, I think it’s the right thing to do. Let me tell you, as a cheap SOB, and someone who has a significant stockpile of cigars at home, I don’t need to buy more cigars, but I still do the right thing! There is also a twinge of CAD (Cigar Acquisition Disorder, a topic for another post) at play. There are other kinds of establishments where it’s OK to bring your own cigars though, places that may sell cigars, but that isn’t their bread and butter. This, it think, is where the confusion lies. These establishments are more bars or restaurants than cigar stores, and, many times, their cigar menu pricing is highly inflated. Some places might have a “cutting fee” depending on how much that is, it might be better to just buy one of their cigars anyway, but if your buying drinks or food many times it’s overlooked. I’ve personally been to places like Club Macanudo in NYC, which has ridiculous cigar prices, and never bought a cigar there, and never had a problem smoking outside cigars, the same with Mahogany in Philadelphia when it was where Ashton Cigar Bar is now. I would argue that those who vehemently argue one side of this debate or the other need to have all the facts, as there are many variables. It depends a great deal on what percentage of income a business depends upon cigar sales, versus liquor or food. Is it just a cigar store or a bar that allows cigar smoking and has a humidor? is it a cigar lounge with a bar? I think the best course of action is to ask the proprietor or manager first before being presumptuous, and if it looks like a cigar store, be prepared to make a purchase and smoke what you buy. No store owner wants a patron asking another patron what he’s smoking and having that person told that it’s something that the store doesn’t carry! who does that help? these stores aren’t cheap to operate, and if we don’t pay the rent on those seats in the lounge through our purchases, those seats aren’t going to be there for us the next time we are looking for a warm, dry place to relax with a cigar and the camaraderie that goes with it. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Now that I got that off my chest, back to the cigars. Last night I got home late from work, watched the end of one of my very favorite things, which is the Flyers beating the Penguins in Pittsburgh, then when to the porch with a Cornelius and Anthony Meridian Robusto. I wrote a rare review of this cigar a year and a half ago (here). Some things remain the same, it’s still made at La Zona, it still has a rosado Ecuador wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican republic. It still comes in four sizes, the Robusto at 5″ x 50, Corona Gorda at 5½” x 46, a Toro at 6″ x 50 and a Gordo at 6″ x 60. At the time I said it was the strongest in the range, that, my friends, has changed. It still has some strength, and, admittedly, judging by the fact that I didn’t finish it until around 11pm and it was well after 1 am until I could get to sleep, then I had weird-ass dreams all night, it wasn’t the best choice for a nightcap. The Mistress has eclipsed the Meridian (and 90% of all other cigars) in the strength category. It’s still a very enjoyable cigar, and is solidly in my top five C&A offerings. It’s a satisfying cigar, if it weren’t for cigars like the Cornelius, Señor Esugars and the Gent, it might be my favorite in the line!

That’s all from me for today, Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, Cigar Bar, Cigar Lounge, cigar store, cigars, Cornelius and Anthony, Legend, Meridian, Partagas

by CigarCraig | November 25, 2018 · 10:39 am

Thanksgiving Week Cigars, Partagas, Aladino, Ashton, etc.

It was a long week with a holiday that included traveling and working Black Friday for the first time in 29 years (I might have worked one in there somewhere, but it was a rare occasion)! It was also unseasonably cold this week, so between that and my schedule, I didn’t take my usual evening walks and opted to relax on the porch after a long day instead. So I don’t have anything really new to report on this week. The cigars I smoked were all cigars I’ve enjoyed in the past. There was an Umbagog from Dunbarton Tobacco ad Trust in the mix, a great smoke which I adore. This is on my “goto” list with the likes of the Nica Rustica and Cornelius & Anthony SeÃ±or Esugars when I want cigar perfection. I had a La Gloria Coleccoin Reserva in there too, another recent favorite. This time I went big with the Presidente, despite the cold, the porch was tolerable and the cigar was fantastic.

I try to smoke something special on holidays, so when we finally got home on Thanksgiving after spending a nice day in New Jersey with family, I lit up an Ashton VSG Belicoso No.1 from a box I’ve had for a year and half or more. The Belicoso No.1 is 5Â¼ x 52 and is wrapped in a Sumatra wrapper grown on a private estate in Ecuador, which is ironic considering Ecuador is typically always cloud-covered, at least where the Ecuador Connecticut tobacco is grown is, yet it’s called Virgin Sun Grown. It’s a Dominican cigar, made by Fuente, but it’s not a mild cigar by any stretch of the imagination, it’s full flavored and on the high side of medium. This like has been around since 1999, and is another one of those classic cigars that has stood the test of time, and I think should be a staple in every humidor.

Friday I got home from the Black Friday craziness and had an Aladino Maduro Toro from JRE Tobacco.Â This is a box pressed 6″ x 50 cigar that was originally exclusive to 2 Guys Smoke Shop, I assume it’s in wider distribution now. Side note, it was a year ago today that my wife, Macha and I went up to 2 Guys in Salem, NH and witnessed the 400th episode of The Cigar Authority. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year!Â Anyway, this Aladina Maduro is less “maduro” tasting than I expected or remembered from smoking it before, which is OK, because it’s still very good. It harkens back to the old Camacho Corojos from years ago a little, as it is all Corojo with a San AndrÃ©s wrapper. It really was an enjoyable cigar, although I was expecting it to be more along the lines of what one expects from aÂ San AndrÃ©s wrapped cigar. This was from the original release, I ordered a couple of each of the toro and lancero to try when they came out, I think I have a lancero left still. That will have to wait until warmer weather, I avoid lanceros in the colder months usually.

Last night I got home and just had it in my head that I wanted to smoke a Partagas Legend for some reason. I happened to have the 6Â¼” x 54 Toro Leyenda on hand, which is my preferred size anyway, although a robusto would have been fine (it doesn’t come in a robusto). This cigar has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, the Honduran Olancho San Augustine Binder that General uses on a lot of cigars lately (they, no doubt, bought the entire crop and had a great yield a few years back! it seems to show up in just about every new cigar description), and Dominican fillers. I sat down and lit this up on the porch with the Flyers game on the iPad, which got turned off after the first period because it was so bad, and threatened to ruin the great cigar. You know how JosÃ© Blanco says that sitting next to an Asshole will ruin a great cigar?Â well, watching a bad hockey game can do it too. I really like this cigar, although it’s not necessarily a cheap date at around $14 each, but still a very good cigar.

That’s about all for today, I hope everyone had a safe and satisfying Thanksgiving if you are in the US and celebrate such things! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Aladino, Ashton, cigar, cigars, JRE, Legend, Partagas, Virgin Sun Grown, VSG

by CigarCraig | September 2, 2018 · 10:13 am

Grimalkin, Macanudo M and Partagas Legend Cigars

I’d like to say it was a busy week, or a good week. I celebrated my 55th birthday this week, and my birthday coming always signals the end of summer which is a downer for me, always has been. I grabbed a Liga Privada, Serie Unico Velvet Rat from the humidor to celebrate, a cigar I seem to have collected several of over the years, I think this was probably the oldest as it didn’t have the Diplomat foot band. Since I have several, it was special, but not too special, ya know? It was a very good cigar, I really enjoyed it, and age had been kind to it as it displayed the smoothness and flavors I expected, which are the rich cocoa notes of the Rat without any rough edges. It was a lovely cigar and nice way to finish the day. I appreciated all the birthday greetings I received from my friends around the world, it’s always heartwarming!

I’ve been negligent in getting to writing something about the new Grimalkin cigars which the folks at Emilio Cigars/Boutiques Unified generously sent me a few weeks back. This is a new imagining of the Grimalkin cigar which was originally produced at the My Father factory, and blended under the direction of Gary Griffith, when he was at the helm of Emilio cigars back in 2011ish. At the time it was a secret that My Father was making the cigar, and I think that had something to do with the Grimalkin name as much as anything, because the cigar was nothing to be embarrassed about, although I, personally, didn’t think the cigar had the hallmarks of a My Father blend. I thought it had a very smooth, complex sophistication. The new Grimalkin is made in Esteli at James Brown’s Oveja Negra factory, home of Black Label Trading Co. and Black Works Studio. The only real similarity I find between the old and new Grimalkins is that they are both exceptional cigars. This new Grimalkin has a delicious and unique sweet flavor throughout that I just couldn’t get enough of. This is a Nicaraguan Puro, no specifics other than that are given, and the Toro I smoked was 6″ x 50, and I believe it’s also offered in a 5″ x 50 Robusto. I’m going to have to dig out the old Grimalkin (they later rebranded it to the Mousa, I think…might have one of those too…) and give it a smoke, but I’m 99% sure that the new Grimalkin is a sweeter, more full-bodied experience, and not because the older ones are aged. This is a great cigar from Emilio Cigars, totally yummy.

Friday I went with another new cigar, the new Partagas Legend, and Saturday I had another in a different size. First I had the Toro Leyenda, the 6 ¼” x 54 size, which is closest to my go-to size. This cigar has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, a Honduran OSA binder (General must have had a really great crop of Olancho San Augastine tobacco a few years ago because it’s showing up in many of their new blends) and Dominican Piloto Cubano filler. This cigar was delicious, and it reminded me of something, and I couldn’t place the cigar it reminded me of, but as I smoked it I couldn’t get the old Partagas Limited Reserve with the green band out of my head. Does anyone remember that one? Am I nuts? Probably. Anyway, this Legend is a great cigar, and for the $14.49 price tag it should be. Again, there was an interesting subtle sweet flavor that i enjoyed, it doesn’t have the heaviness one would expect from a broadleaf wrapped cigar, it’s very refined. I dug it, so I had to see what the smaller, Corona Extra Leyenda vitola was all about. I have to say, true to my own preferences, I didn’t find the 5 ¼” x 44 to have the same deliciousness as the larger size. as expected, it was sharper in flavor, and I preferred the smoother, rounder flavors the Toro provided, that is, not until the last two inches or so, when I started getting similar flavors, which is weird, right? You can still mark me down as a fan of the Partagas Legend, and there are very few Partagas cigars I won’t welcome into my humidor. If I had to settle on a handful of brands to have in a rotation, Partagas is one of the brands I’d have in the humidor.

Finally, I had to try the Macanudo M, Macanudo’s first flavor infused cigar. I went into smoking this cigar with optimism. I’m generally OK with coffee infuse cigars, even though I’m not a big fan of infused cigars in general. This cigar was recommended to me personally by Macanudo’s brand ambassador, Laurel Tilley, at an event a few weeks back at the Wooden Indian, and I purchased a few of the 6″ x 44 corona size which she said was her favorite. If I had read the blend info before I smoked it I may not have been so open-minded. The wrapper is Indonesian Besuki, with a Philippine binder, with the filler described as “peppered with a blend of Nicaraguan and other fine tobaccos”. Now, I realize that Sumatra is in Indonesia, and I like Sumatra tobacco, but typically I’ve not liked tobacco that’s generically described as “Indonesian”, and there have been some Filipino cigars I’ve enjoyed, but more often than not I’m not a fan, nor am I a fan of such intentional ambiguity, but I trust the folks at General, and they have had success with coffee infused cigars in the past with the Nub line for Oliva. These have a serious coffee aroma pre-light, not bad. Smoking it isn’t terribly overpowering coffee infused flavoring, it’s cocoa/coffee and tobacco, but it’s not cloying or sweet. It’s not what I expected, and it wasn’t a bad cigar, but it lacked the elegance I expected from a Macanudo, I guess. Perhaps it just wasn’t for me, perhaps I’ll give it another try under different circumstances, although not I have pre-conceived notions where I had fewer before I smoked it!

That’s all I have for today. I almost forgot, in the news, Villiger is shipping La Flor de Ynclan Lancero and La Vendcedora Gordo, Drew Estate is shipping the Liga Privada No. 9 and T52 new sizes and Undercrown Dogma, and Alec Bradley is Shipping the Alec and Bradley Blind Faith. All three came in as press releases, if you want to know the details, several other sites published articles. It’s Labor Day weekend, which for most means it’s a long weekend. Enjoy some great cigars! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Emilio, general cigars, Grimalkin, Legend, M, macanudo, Partagas, Velvet Rat

by CigarCraig | January 17, 2018 · 8:15 pm

Sweet Jane, Cornelius and Anthony and Partagas Cigars

It’s still cold here in Pennsylvania, so instead of taking my cigar for a walk, I’ve been walking Macha first, then relaxing on the porch in the glow of the propane heater. Monday I felt like I was in the mood for something unique, so I selected a Sweet Jane from Drew Estate and Deadwood Tobacco. The Deadwood “Yummy Bitches” line is basically a variation on the Natural (or soon ” Larutan”). This line, along with the Natural, uses tobaccos from Syria, Turkey and Louisiana, wrapped in a Nicaraguan Maduro wrapper. I don’t recall the Sweet Jane having as much of the saccharine sweetness on the cap that the Natural ( I should get used to calling it Larutan, I’ll blame dyslexia), which for me is a plus. The Cigar has tons of interesting flavor with exotic spices and richness. Like Drew Estate’s Swamp Thangs, I like the variety and change of pace.

Last night I did take a cigar as it wasn’t bitter cold. I chose a Cornelius and Anthony Aerial Toro, it seems that I like the Toros across the Cornelius and Anthony line the best. One might think that an Ecuador Connecticut Shade wrapper would crack in the cold, but I had no such problem. It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the brand in general, my least favorite in the line i like more than maybe 80% of cigars out there. As far as shade wrapper cigars go, the Aerial is up there with my favorites. It has loads of flavor and a great burn. Later in the evening I was honored to take part in Developing Palates Cigar Media 2017 Recap show, with Aaron and Jiunn, Charlie from Halfweel.com, Will from Cigar-Coop.com and Eric from CigaDojo.com. Obviously my style is quite different from the rest of the panelists, but I’ve known all these guys for several years. I hope I had some positive contributions. If you missed it live, check it out on Developing Palates or their YouTube channel, or listen to the podcast version (like I will). There was a lot of interesting discussion.

Tonight I returned to my walk first, smoke later plan, fingers get cold trying to smoke even with gloves on. I gotta get some electric gloves or something. The upside of doing it his way is I get to smoke some of the robusto and Rothschild size cigars that used to be my go to size, but more recently I’ve had more time to enjoy larger vitolas. I’ve been wanting to revisit the Partagas Heritage Rothschild, so tonight presented a perfect opportunity. What’s interesting to me about the blend is the Olancho San Augustin wrapper ( CAO OSA Sol, Cohiba Blue) over a Connecticut Broadleaf binder, with fillers from Dominican Republic, Honduras and Mexico. This another tasty little bugger, rich, chocolaty with some spice. It has a fairly long finish, which I’m still enjoying as I type. The Honduran wrapper is fairly neutral in my opinion, but the rest of the blend is where the flavor is.