Tag Archives: Partagas

by CigarCraig | March 6, 2013 · 7:11 pm

A 1502, a Partagas, a Liga Privada and a Bunch of News Items

I received a whole bunch of interesting announcements and news items this week, and, while I’m sure you’ll see them elsewhere in the blogosphere also, I feel compelled to include some of the more interesting items here today. The fist item comes from Abe Dababneh of Smoke Inn. I’ll be interested to see what they have up their sleeves. The press release reads:

JOIN THE CIGAR EVOLUTION

TRUST. This is the cornerstone of the foundation of Sindicato Cigar Group LLC (“Sindicato Cigars”). Sindicato Cigars was officially launched January 16, 2013 when a group of passionate cigar loving Tobacconists decided to extend their cigar knowledge and experience into making cigar brands. Their goal is to create a cigar company whose mission is to put the tobacco retailer and its customers first. The Tobacconist can trust that Sindicato Cigars will create quality brands that they can whole-heartedly support and that will never work against them. Consumers can trust that the collaboration of the country’s top cigar minds, who have listened to your words day in and day out, will create top quality brands based on the knowledge that those same consumers have provided. Today, Sindicato Cigars wishes to announce the hiring of Jim Colucci as the President/CEO of the company. Sindicato Cigars is very excited and honored to have Mr. Colucci, former Executive V.P. of Sales & Marketing for Altadis USA, at the helm of this new venture. Sindicato Cigars intends to exhibit its first 2 cigar brands at the IPCPR show this year in Las Vegas and looks forward to greeting all IPCPR attendees.

Please stay tuned for announcements regarding the release of Sindicato Cigar’s new brands and any behind the scenes action by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

facebook.com/SindicatoCigars

twitter.com/SindicatoCigars

instagram.com/SindicatoCigars

For all inquiries, please contact ask@sindicatocigars.com.

Thank you,

Sindicato Cigars

In other news, the folks at Stogie Boys are having a contest. I will be announcing a contest here sponsored by Stogie Boys Sunday, so there will be all kinds of chances to win stuff from them!

Contest Announcement

StogieBoys.com is hosting a contest! The contest will give 1 Winner, this prize package:

1 Burl 20 count Humidor

5 Erin Go Bragh Cigars

1 StogieBoys V Cutter

1 Digital Hygrometer

1 Humidisk

StogieBoys put together a great giveaway featuring some of their new products such as the Burl humidor and digital hygrometer. StogieBoys is also including the limited time stock of Erin Go Bragh cigars, these are Irish cigars dipped in whisky just in time for St Patricks day. The humidor even comes pre-seasoned and ready for use!

Contestants can enter by going to http://www.stogieboys.com/weekly-cigar-giveaway.html

StogieBoys created four ways to enter. First is to Join our weekly Deals and announcements newsletter. From there visitors can earn additional entries by liking StogieBoys on Facebook, following StogieBoys on twitter and joining StogieBoys daily deals and specials email. Each entry gives you an additional chance to win. Up to four chances can be entered each day giving visitors more chances to win.

This great contest ends 03/12/2013 at Noon EST.

Last but not least, if you happen to be in Vegas in April, look into this event benefiting Cigar Rights of America, brought to you by Stinky, of Stinky Ashtray fame:

Liberating Cigar Night

– Dinner & Cigar Socal:

Join fellow cigar aficionados for cocktails, dinner and fine cigars at the House of Blues Foundation Room. Celebrate your freedom to smoke cigars at this exclusive, members only, private club while taking in the exceptional panoramic views that the pinnacle of Las Vegas night life has to offer.

View and select your dinner entree and dinning time with the pull-down menu before placing your reservation.Your dinner reservation also includes:

* the Cigar Social event from 5:30 to 10:00 PM

Please Note:

Only one person per reservation. If you have a guest(s), place your reservation in the shopping cart and make your additional reservations for each person in your party. Use the “Reservation Name” field for your guest name.

Take your best shot on a winning bid at the silent auction:

• superb cigars by renowned makers

• premium cigar accessories

• gourmet dinners • premium liquors

• golf outings

• spa treatments

• rare sports memorabilia

All proceeds support your right to enjoy cigars via our champions at the Cigar Rights of America organization.

Your Dinner Reservation includes the Cigar Social:

Friday, April 12, 2013

• 5:30-10:00 PM

• House of Blues Foundation Room

Seating is Limited – Reservations & Prepayment Required.

Make your Reservations Now.

All Proceeds Benefit: Cigar Rights of America www.CigarRights.org

Event Location in the House of Blues Foundation Room:

Mandalay Bay Resort – 62ndFloor

3950 S Las Vegas Blvd

Las Vegas, NV 89119

http://www.stinkycigar.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=61

Enough of the news stuff, let’s get on to the cigars! Sunday I took a walk with a 1502 Black Gold. I was overly impressed with this when I smoked it back in October, and my opinion hasn’t changed. This is a big, box pressed torpedo with a dark, rich maduro wrapper. This manufacturer wraps the wrapper over the foot of the cigar so when you light it you get a blast of flavor. This is a neat little touch that sets this cigar apart. The dark, rich flavors also make this stand out. It’s a terrific smoke. If you see these for sale grab a couple. I know of a few shops in my general area that have them, and I’m sure Enrique Sanchez, the owner of this brand, can point you toward a retailer. He can be found on Twitter at @1502Cigars.

Monday evening my wife and I had a nice dinner at Outback. Sirloin and shrimp, with a little rice and broccoli to chase it down. When I got home I pulled a Partagas Petit Corona Especiale out of the “good” humidor. I figure I need to smoke something out of this humidor once in a while to make sure the cigars aren’t drying out or anything. I bought a box of these a few years ago and have enjoyed many of this little Mareva sized cigar. These are “old school” Havana Partagas, they have a distinctive flavor that you don’t often get in non-Cuban cigars. For a $5 cigar, it’s a treat. Sure, it burned crappy and I had to touch it up a few times, but it was a great smoke after a nice meal.

Tuesday I came across a Drew Estate Liga Privada T52 Belicoso that Steve Saka threw at me at the 2010 IPCPR show. I was astounded when I lit this up and was hit was a flavor reminiscent of Monday evenings Partagas! Remember I said the Partagas had a distinctive flavor? Well it does, but I ran across this same flavor in the T52. which made my day, quite frankly. This shape really was a nice presentation of the T52 line. It was perfectly made, and tasted great. It had a nice long finish that, like the Partagas before it, lasted well into the evening. I really can’t decide if I like the T52 better than the No.9. Know what? I don’t have to decide, because I can like them both the same for different reasons! That’s a beautiful thing about cigars! this T52 was an awesome smoke that I enjoyed until it was about a ¾” little nub.

That’s more than enough for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

Filed under News, Review

Tagged as 1502, cigar, cigar rights, cigars, Contest, drew estate, liga privada, Partagas, Sindicato, Stinky, Stogie Boys, t52

by CigarCraig | January 23, 2013 · 8:04 pm

A Casa Magna, a Partagas 1845 and a Villiger – Now it’s Too Darned Cold for Cigars!

Over the last two days the temperatures have dropped significantly here, into the teens and single digits. This, of course, means it’s time for smaller cigars, or worse, no cigars at all! Now here’s the dilemma: the smaller the cigar, the harder it is to hold while wearing gloves! So I got to thinking, maybe I’m going at this wrong. Maybe I should smoke some larger cigars that are easier to manage with gloves? Well, that sounds good on paper, but then you get into a great cigar and you don’t want to put it down! Then you have to be outside longer and freeze more (or burn through more bottled LP gas in a barely adequate heater). So I’m torn between the small cigar I can’t smoke all of because my fingers will freeze, or potentially wasting a larger cigar and/or freezing my ass off in addition to my fingers! Then there are some smaller cigars that I don’t want to waste in the cold! Cigars that I know will have some complexity that’s lost in the cold air. You’d think a Nub would be a good choice, but they too can be unwieldy with gloves on. And what if you like mittens? You’re screwed trying to smoke a cigar wearing mittens. Seriously, I can handle about 30 degrees without any wind or precipitation pretty comfortably, but once the mercury drops lower than that, or it’s windy, it’s too damned cold and I really can’t enjoy the experience as much. That’s my rant to today, now on to some tasty smokes!!

Previous paragraph aside, Sunday was a almost balmy January day with temps near 50. After the Flyers lost once again, I took Puccio (that’s the dog, we call her Pooch) for a nice walk with a cigar that the fine folks at StogieBoys.com sent me to smoke, a Casa Magna Domus Magnus Primus. This cigar is a beauty. It’s 6½” x 55 with a nice box press. The cap is finished with a neat little pigtail which is a nice presentation that I, for some reason, always like, but you have to cut the thing off to smoke the cigar so it doesn’t add too much to the smoking experience. Beautiful cigar with a lovely sun grown wrapper adorned with a very classy band as well as a foot band. So we’ve established that it’s a good looking stick, and I’m happy to say that it’s a great tasting stick as well. It burned perfectly to a tiny nub and had a very rich and meaty flavor that was mouth coating and quite satisfying. I quickly forgot how upset I was with the Flyers and got lost in the cigar, it’s that kind of smoke. It was like a great steak, it was that satisfying. I’ve only smoked a couple of the Casa Magnas and this, by far, is the best one I’ve had, and is a cigar I can’t wait to smoke again! Thanks to Sheryl and the folks at StogieBoys.com!

Twenty-four hours later and it’s gone from pretty comfortable for January to pretty darned cold!! I decided it was the perfect time to smoke a nice, little Partagas 1845 Corona Extra. This is a great size regardless of the weather. It’s 4½ x 46, which is a good inch shorter than what I think of when I think Corona Extra, but I like the size anyway. I received a four cigar sampler quite a while ago from General Cigar Co. and really enjoyed the middle two sizes, saving the smallest and largest cigars for the right time (the largest is a 7¼” x 54 Double Corona that just seems enormous). While the draw was a little snug on this little cigar, it had a very enjoyable flavor like it’s larger siblings and burned well. I smoked it to a finger freezing nub (see above), it was good. This is another cigar that has that dense, meaty delicious smoke that hits the spot for me. Very nice, I am surprised this one didn’t have more of a push at the IPCPR show, I can’t actually remember it being prominently featured in their booth (I’ll go back through the pictures, I’m probably wrong…).

Last night was the coldest yet, and the dog was pestering me for a walk, so I grabbed a Villiger Export Maduro for a short walk. This is a machine made “dry cured” little square pressed cigar that has long been a favorite. I guess it gets cold in Switzerland, so it makes sense to smoke one of these in the cold! Another advantage is that these don’t need to be kept in a humidor, so they don’t fall victim to some of the nastiness that can occur when moisture meets cold air! These are like little chocolate bars, it’s hard not to just eat them when you peel off the paper wrapping, but don’t, these taste better when smoked. I actually hadn’t had the maduro before now, the natural has been an old standby for years. I liked the maduro just fine, and will smoke them interchangeably with the naturals because I don’t get a whole lot of difference. Nice smoke, didn’t last the ¾ mile walk, which is good because I couldn’t wait to get inside to watch the Flyers lose once again. These are great little quick smokes you can leave in your glovebox or desk drawer. Highly recommended.

So that’s what I have for now. I hope the darned weather warms up a little before long! I know, I shouldn’t complain, there’s a lot of places colder, wetter, snowier, rainier than it is here, but I complain, what can I say.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

16 Comments

Filed under Editorial, Review

Tagged as Casa Magna, cigar, cigars, Domus Primus, general cigars, IPCPR, Partagas, Take A Cigar For A Walk, Villiger

by CigarCraig | June 24, 2012 · 8:39 am

Accessory/Website Review, Flor de Gonzales, San Lotano, KMA, Alec Bradley and Partagas

Last week I received an e-mail from CigarBargains.com about a Combo Cigar Cutter/Knife w/ Belt/Money Clip. CigarBargains.com is a site run by CheapHumidors.com which allows one to negotiate with “Suzy” and work the price down. I thought it would be a neat experiment and always kinda wanted a knife like this, knowing full well it would be crap for properly cutting a cigar (more on that later). I buy stuff for a living, Buyer is actually my job title, so I know how this works. I start out looking at the shipping and deciding how much I’m willing to pay. In this case, the farther under $10 the better. Their starting offer for this item was $10.99, so my opening offer was $3. “Suzy” replied with “I might have peed myself a little at your offer of $3.50. You need to be closer to $9.68.”. This went on for a while, with various comments about needing a new purse, feeding the kids and such. When all was said and done, I ended up getting this for $9.05 delivered, which met my requirements. Shipping from Florida was reasonably quick as I received it on Thursday after completing the transaction last Friday. As anticipated, the knife does a reasonably good job of mangling a cigar, I had the strangest cut, but I have to admit it cut cleanly and I ended up having an excellent smoking experience. I think it would work better using the blade to make a V cut, or, and I haven’t tried this yet, putting the cigar in the hole, putting the blade up to the cigar with a little pressure, and rotating the cigar, then pealing off the cap. It was a worthwhile experiment, and there are some decent deals to be had with enough patience to follow through with the negotiating.

The cigar I cut with the new knife was a Flor de Gonzales 90 Miles Robusto, the last of a 5 pack I won well over 2 years ago. I’ve enjoyed smoking these cigars, the construction was flawless and the flavors agreeable. The poor cut, while offensive to my CDO (OCD in alphabetical order as it should be) addled brain, was not a factor and didn’t take away from the experience. It was a smooth, flavorful medium bodied smoke which I enjoyed to the fullest. The two years or so of age didn’t hurt this cigar either.

Friday evening calls for a little bit of a special cigar, so I selected a San Lotano Habano Lancero for my evening walk. I had picked this up at a San Lotano event at Olde World Tobacco in Lancaster, PA several months ago. This is a beautiful 7″ x 38 lancero, with a nice little pigtail cap. I went back to my regular cutter for this one, no reason to risk mangling this cigar. Burn was perfect. I love it when a cigar burns with a nice flat ember, not pointy, all the tobaccos burning at exactly the same rate. It’s a miracle that this can be accomplished and I always appreciate it it when I see it. AJ Fernandez makes some terrific cigars, this was no different. I love the lancero format.

Saturday morning I had the great pleasure of being the guest on Kiss My Ash Radio‘s Bloggers Corner segment. I was nervous as hell, and there were some things I planned on mentioning but missed. Fortunately, Abe had done a piece on pairing root beers with cigars, which I’ve been doing for years. I wanted to suggest Victory Brewery‘s root beer, as it is exceptional and made right here in my home town. I even had notes and in my nervousness I didn’t look at them! Oh well, I hope I didn’t make too much of a fool of myself, I appreciate being invited on the show. Saturday afternoon I stopped by JM Cigars in Exton, PA to say hello to Jon Lipson, the Alec Bradley rep, who was having an event there. I picked up a few American Classic Blends in Corona and Robusto and smoked a Corona while catching up with Jon and the folks at the shop. For an absolutely stunning day I was surprised at the traffic in the store. I guess I figure people have better things to do on a stunning Saturday, I know I did. I enjoyed the American Classic Corona very much and went home to change the oil in the scooter and mow the lawn.

To finish up the day I fired up a Partagas 1845 Gigante that I received in a sample pack from General Cigar. It’s a 6 x 60 that feels much bigger for some reason. I took my son’s dog for a nice walk and enjoyed the heck out of this cigar. So far I think I liked the Robusto better, but this monster was very good, burned well and lasted for quite a while. So far I’m impressed by this line, although I really can’t think of a Partagas cigar I really haven’t enjoyed, General Cigar Co. or otherwise. Dirty little secret: Havana Partagas Presidente is one of my all time favorite cigars. Give the Partagas 1845 a try, it’s a very tasty smoke.

I’m off today to Whippany, NJ to meet up with ACigarSmoker.com‘s Peter Glad at JR Cigars‘ store and lounge. It’s always fun going to the store there and having a nice lunch and cigars, and I’m looking forward to meeting Peter. Of course, stop on by if you’re in the area and say hello and join us for a smoke!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

Filed under Accessories, Review, Stores

Tagged as aj fernandez, Alec Bradley, CheapHumidors, cigar, cigar store, CigarBargains, cigars, Flor de Gonzales, general cigars, JR Cigars, Partagas, san lotano, Take A Cigar For A Walk

by CigarCraig | June 10, 2012 · 9:39 am

It’s Been a Long Week: J.Fuego, Partagas, My Own Blend, News, and a Contest Winner!

I had a long week! I worked at my second job last weekend, went to a one year old’s birthday party, we went to NYC on Tuesday, and my youngest son graduated from high school Friday night. I still managed to get a few cigars in though!

Going way back to Sunday, I sat down that afternoon with a J. Fuego 777 Zero robusto. Jesus gave me this cigar at the IPCPR show last year, and I’ve been looking forward to smoking it. I’ve really enjoyed the maduro and Corojo in the 777 line, so I was sure I’d like this one. Visually, the cigar is stunning. The wrapper is flawless and the triple cap was very prominent, a certain sign that it was the work of a skilled torcedor. I loved this cigar. Like many Ecuador Connecticut wrapped cigars these days, it leaned more to the side of medium than mild. As I suspected, it burned beautifully and was a perfect smoke for a fine Sunday afternoon after coming home from the birthday party. I can highly recommend the entire 777 line, give them a try.

I dug into the samples of the new Partagas 1845 cigars this week. these arrived just after Memorial Day, so I wanted to let them rest a little after spending the long weekend in the hands of the USPS. I couldn’t resist any longer and selected the robusto, which measures 5½ x 49, as it does in the regular Partagas line. I like the size quite a bit. A quick aside: the Partagas 1845 website is well done. It presents all the information, sizes, blend information, bios of the team, very well done. I was critical of the CAO website and was told it was a work in progress, but they still don’t have any size information and they should take a look at their sister site for some inspiration! The cigar is well done also. It’s a solid, satisfying medium smoke with loads of flavor. It’s reminiscent of the Partagas line, with a little something extra. A fine smoke and I look forward to working through the rest of the sizes.

Friday evening was my son’s graduation ceremony, and before we left I had time for a special smoke. I selected one of the cigars I blended on my Cigar Safari trip last March. I’ve smoked a couple of these and been really happy. For those who don’t recall, the blend was a Mexican Oscuro wrapper Indonesian binder, seco from both Esteli and Dominican Republic, half a leaf of Esteli ligero and filled it out with Brazilian Mata Fina viso. The size is 5×44, and they were rolled by the team that rolls that Liga Privadas. The construction was perfect, the flavor was dark and delicious and it was the perfect cigar to celebrate the end of an era, our participation in the public school system!

Yesterday I went back to Partagas, but this time it was a Partagas Black Magnifico. This is a big, ugly cigar, but boy, is it good! I love the Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, great smoke. I sat on my front porch for nearly 2 hours enjoying this cigar. I can’t actually recall a Partagas cigar I didn’t like, from either manufacturer, they all bring something a little special to the table. It’s an iconic brand, it’s usually reasonably priced and readily available.

News

I’ve received a ton of press releases this week, and everyone else has gotten them published, so here’s a little recap:

CAO Cigars and Two Foot Fred to Rock CMA Music Festival – TheCigarmy.com

Butthead’s Tobacco Presents a Virtual Cigar Workshop – Cigar-Coop.com

Dona Flor Cigars Reaady To Unveil Its “BRAZILIAN BLACK TREASURE” To The U.S. Market – ACigarSmoker.com

Emilio Cigars Upcoming Releases – Halfwheel.com

Thanks to all of my fellow bloggers for taking care of this so I don’t have to! 🙂

Contest!

Today is the day we announce the winner of the contest. The winner will receive a signed copy of the book “Once Upon a Time in Cuba” , by Mitchell Orchant and Micheal Mirecki. I’ll, no doubt, include some other goodies with the book as well. I return to Random.org to select a number between 1 and 31. The number is 28, which corresponds to the 28th comment which was made by “Tonbofrogman”. Please e-mail me your address so I can get this out to you! Thanks to Mitchell for contributing this great prize and for his support and kindness!

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

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under Contest, News, Review

Tagged as 1845, 777, broadleaf, c-gars ltd, CAO, cigar, Cigar Safari, cigars, Contest, drew estate, Emilio, IPCPR, J. Fuego, Partagas

by CigarCraig | February 29, 2012 · 7:18 pm

Macanudo, Partagas and CAO Cigars – Maduro Week

A few weeks ago I received some samples from General Cigar Co, including the new Macanudo and Macanudo Maduro Gigantes, measuring 6″x60. I’ve become a fan of the Macanudo maduros, sure they are a mild cigar, but they have a load of flavors that I like. When I was visiting the factory in Santiago last fall, by the 3rd day I had smoked so many cigars, and I lit up a Macanudo maduro and first, I could taste it, and second, it tasted good. I probably smoked nothing but the Mac Maduros for the rest of the day. So, I was excited to try the 6″x 60 Gigante. Many say that this format waters down the blends, but I haven’t really found that to be the case. I admit to really enjoying the 60 ring cigars, I feel like it’s a guilty pleasure, but I haven’t really had a bad 60 ring cigar. I’ve mentioned before that 50 ring feels puny now, a robusto feels like a quick smoke. The Macanudo was a very tasty cigar that was good to the last drop and had the exceptional construction one would expect.

I sometimes get in a bit of a rut, and smoke a few related cigars in a row, and this was one of those weeks. Monday’s cigar was a Partagas Black Label Magnifico. This a jet black 6″x54 toro that I revisited in the DR, and remembered how much I enjoyed them. The dark, Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper is oily and beautiful. It is a bit stronger than the Macanudo, of course, but packed with flavor. Of course it was perfectly made, as I witnessed first hand at the factory, they can’t seem to make a bad cigar there. Partagas Black Label=yummy smoke!

Last night I was in the mood for something a little smaller, so I once again dug into the General Cigar Co. samples and picked out a CAO La Traviata Maduro Luminoso. This is a newly released size in the Maduro line, measuring 4.5″ x 50. I’ve smoked the La Traviata Maduro before and was quite unimpressed. It was one of those cigars that everyone raved about, but I just didn’t get. It seems like I had a dud (I think it was a trade show sample from a couple years ago), because this Rothschild was delicious. It was just about the perfect size for my one-plus mile walk and held the ash for almost half of the cigar. Another Connecticut Broadleaf, I know….I love that wrapper leaf, and combined with a Cameroon binder it was very surprising to me that I didn’t like the first ones I smoked. This one’s back on my radar and one I’ll pick up the next time I see them. I do have a complaint about the CAO website though. It’s really slick, but one thing it lacks is a listing of the sizes of the cigars in each line. If you want to know where the events are, it’s great, but if you’re looking for the sizes and names of the various cigars, one should be able to find it without having to go to retailers sites. It’s a surprising omission, Rick? Ed? Please feel free to comment on this and set me straight!

News

Once again, from the pages of history, this newspaper clipping appears in the October 18, 1838 Philadelphia Inquirer. It seems to be a mouthpiece for a cigar with a cotton filter. Pretty cool to go back 175 years and see the new inventions of the times! Obviously this modern development caught on in other areas of tobacco consumption, but when was the last time you saw a cigar holder or mouthpiece, let alone a filter?