Tag Archives: Perdomo

by | September 14, 2014 · 6:46 pm

A Toraño Vault, a La Flor Dominicana 1994, A Perdomo Event and a Gunslinger Cigar

Thursday the news broke of the acquisition of Toraño Family Cigars by General Cigar Co., which came as a surprise to many, none more than the employees of Toraño Family Cigars, some of whom are actual family. Many saw this as a small company selling to a big company to save the brand before the FDA regulations put them out of business. I’ve been a fan of both companies, and have or had friends in both. I can’t help to feel let down by Charlie Toraño in the way he, from an outsiders perspective, let his employees, sales force, even employees bearing the family name down by not preparing them for this eventuality. From the outside looking in, based on conversations both public and private, it looks like Charlie was the big winner in this transaction, and the rest of the company is out on the street, so to speak. Oddly, this isn’t the first time Charlie’s done this. Several years ago he let his sales staff go when he entered into distribution with CAO, without warning and right before Christmas. I have to admit, I had a pretty good opinion of Charlie up until Thursday, and now I’m not so sure.  General gets a reasonably good line of cigars out of the deal. From what I understand, Leccia Tobacco wasn’t included in this deal, and Sam has several options available to him. He’s in a good position as he’s probably a pretty attractive property in the market, a hard working guy with a quality product.  Anyway, I grabbed a Toraño Vault D-042 robusto for my Thursday walk and reflected upon all of this. This cigar started off with a void in the center, which I found ironic.  I’ve enjoyed these in the past, it’s got a Habano wrapper that’s very oily looking, and features a leaf of Pennsylvania tobacco in the filler. Once it burned past the tunnel, about an inch and a half of the 5″ length, it behaved nicely. Rich and tasty. General Cigar Co. says they aren’t planning to make any changes to the manufacture of the Toraño line, and there’s a few that I really like and hope they leave alone.  I’ve had a good relationship with someone at Toraño for most of the past tern years, I’m sorry to see the company leaving the industry, so close to their centennial too.

 

Friday I grabbed the La Flor Dominicana 1994 Rumba that I bought at Cigar Mojo on my birthday a couple weeks back.  This is what The LfD website has to say about the 1994:

LaflorDominicana_1994_RumbaWe have set aside tobacco for years in anticipation of this very special blend to commemorate our 20th anniversary. The complex and powerful flavors of the 1994 originate from the best fillers and binder grown on our farm in the Dominican Republic and are complemented with a sweet and savory Mexican San Andrés wrapper. This blend is as special as the occasion it serves to commemorate and is symbolic of the quality and pride with which La Flor Dominicana has built its name.

I gave this a snip with the Xikar XV cutter, then opened it up a little with the scissors after a few moments of less smoke production than I wanted.  The Rumba is a 6½” x 52 toro and burns really well, once it’s opened up all the way, that is. Here’s a thing:  This has a San Andrés wrapper, but it’s not you’re standard maduro processed San Andrés wrapper. This appears to be the elusive natural San Andrés wrapper, which doesn’t have the familiar cocoa/coffee grounds kind of flavor. This is more refined, and silky smooth.  This was an enjoyable cigar, and as I dig back into the LfD lines after many years of neglecting them, I find this to be a winner.  I think it was under $8, which is also a plus!  Good smoke.

 

Yesterday I went up to a local cigar shop, Cigar Cigars’ Light’n Up Glenmore cigar store (I’m still a little hazy on what they are calling it since CigarCigars purchased the location!) for a Perdomo event.  Joe Winder, our local Perdomo rep was there, and I was greeted by him and Steve, who was the previous owner of the store, and now manages the shops. I picked out some cigars, a couple of the 20th anniversary in the Corona Grande size, which is a great 6½”x 48 size, and the new Perdomo Double Aged 12 Year Vintage, which I promptly lit up.  This is a unique cigar, the cigars are made using tobaccos from a 2001/2002 vintage crop, aged in bales for 10 years followed by an additional 2 years aged in wood barrels. I smoked the Connecticut wrapped version, and very much look forward to the Sun Grown and Maduro Versions.  It was very smooth, and was a great choice for a pre-dinner smoke.  It has tasting notes right on the band, so I really didn’t have to work to hard. It was indeed creamy with hints of caramel and cedar. Thanks to reader Kevin Shahan for putting this one on my radar!  It was a great smoke, and as a bonus, my old friend Jeff, who I grew up with, stopped by and enjoyed a 10th Anniversary Champagne with me.

 

Gunslinger_Perdition_ToroToday was a bit of a whirlwind. Long story short, we had scheduled a cleaning service this morning, and planned to have an open house this afternoon. The cleaning service canceled on us at the last minute, leaving us to rush around scrubbing and dusting and hiding all of our clutter.  My brother-in-law Jeff and his girlfriend ran over and helped us out. The open house was a failure anyway, but at least the house is clean! I can’t thank Jeff and Karen enough for coming, and I owe Jeff a nice cigar! When it was all over, I sat on the back deck with a cigar I got at the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival, a Gunslinger Perdition Toro, from Kendall Culbertson of Outlaw Cigar in Kansas City, MO.  I’ve included the video of my brief interview with Kendall below, but he’s a passionate cigar man to be sure.  The cigar was terrific.  It’s made at the AJ Fernandez factory in Esteli, and features Nicaraguan, Honduran and Broadleaf (origin unspecified) fillers, a Nicaraguan binder and a San Andrés wrapper. I rarely have a cigar smoke so perfectly. It was a very rich smoke with smooth,flavors. I’m very glad I chose this cigar to cap off a less than satisfying day. I will be looking forward to sampling more of these, even though at $9 each they are on the high side of my price preference.  It was a treat meeting Kendall, I look forward to visiting his store one day, the next time I am in Kansas City will be my first.

 

 

That’s it for now, sorry the post is late, but it’s been a long day. Time to get some dinner and think about an evening walk with a small cigar. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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by | March 2, 2014 · 7:53 am

Sampling Some Perdomo Cigars: 20th, Champagne Noir, Lot23 Maduro and Mojo

Perdomo_20thAnnivMaduro_CoronaGrandeThursday evening I went down to Cigar Mojo in King Of Prussia, PA to their Perdomo event.  I have not smoked a lot of Perdomo cigars for whatever reason.  I may have been turned off to them back in the late ’90s. I’m making a concerted effort to correct this oversight.  Perdomo’s sales rep, Joe Winder, was on hand and the place was quite impressively packed for a Thursday evening.  Since I’m largely unfamiliar with the line, except for the Lot 23 and a Champagne that I didn’t really care for much a while back, Joe ran through the line with me and a couple other customers. I selected the 20th Anniversary Maduro in the 6½x48 size (which is apparent;y a new size that was the brainchild of Nick Perdomo’s son) a couple Lot 23 Maduro Toros and a 20th Anniversary Sungrown.  I lit up the 20th Anniversary Maduro and sat down with Vince, Graham and Steve from The Cigar Lounger Magazine to catch up, after having chatted with Chris (@theLazySmoker), who I seem to run into there more times than not!  The 20th Anniversary was an awesome cigar.  It was on the high side of medium bodied with good, rich cocoa flavor.  I fell in love with this cigar and it made me wonder why I wasn’t sampling more from the Perdomo line.  It’s always entertaining hanging out with The Cigar Lounger guys, since meeting them last year, and hanging out with them at the IPCPR show and a few other times, I think I can say they are friends.  If you haven’t seen the magazine, check it out, it’s really slick. It’s available as an App for Android or iOS or you can read it on TheCigarLounger.com.  I was to find out that they have decided to discontinue their radio show, which I was listening to in podcast form, so I guess I need to find something to fill the Perdomo_Lot23Maduro_Torogap.  After finishing the 20th, I lit up the Lot 23 Maduro Toro.  I was half expecting this to be just something to smoke while hanging out. This is another really nice smoke, and the price wasn’t too hard on the wallet.  it was a nice, rich, creamy smoke, and I liked it.  It’s always fun going to an event at a local shop and hanging out with folks who enjoy a cigar, it’s even better when you hang out with folks who are as passionate about them as we are.  Robyn from Villiger Cigars even stopped in.  Cigar Mojo continues to impress me also.  The space is beautiful, and Wade is an attentive host, and our local CRA ambassador, Alan Price, is a more than capable counter-man. Unfortunately, his son and business partner, Trae, was off with his wife expecting their first child (Congrats again on the birth of James Wade!). It’s always nice stopping in that shop.

 

Perdomo_ChampageNoir_RobustoFriday I dug out a Perdomo Champagne Noir Robusto for my evening walk. After a less than happy experience with the Connecticut Shade Champagne, I was hoping for the best.  The Maduro Noir was much more to my liking.  Sweet cocoa and coffee were the predominant flavors in this Nicaraguan Puro.  I like the chubby 5″ x 54 size too.  It was bitterly cold out, and I didn’t really mind too much because the cigar was so good.  I’ve got another cigar around someplace that I thought was just a 10th Anniversary Maduro, without the “Champagne Nior” distinction. I’ll have to look for it in the humidors, I recall like it a great deal too.  This cigar is another keeper!

 

Perdomo_20thAnnivSungrown_RobustoSaturday evening I grabbed the Sungrown version of the Perdomo 20th Anniversary in the same chubby robusto size as the Champagne Noir. This is a really pretty cigar, and after enjoying the Maduro version so much I was quite hopeful that I’d have another positive experience. As I did with the previous three cigars, I gave this a V-cut and the draw was perfect. I can say that all four of these cigars were perfectly constructed, once I lit it, I rarely gave it another thought.  I may have touched up one of the two I smoked at the lounge as I was talking more than I was smoking, but they all performed well. Kudos to the folks at Perdomo for making high quality cigars at a fair price.  I enjoyed the hell out of the Sungrown, maybe not as much as the Maduro, but enjoyed it none the less.  It had a really nice flavor, and I’ll be revisiting this in the future for sure, along with the previous three.  Quite nice.  Thanks to Joe Winder from Perdomo and Wade (Trae and Alan too!) at Cigar Mojo for making Perdomo believer out of me. As a side note, I stopped back in the shop Saturday to offer congrats again and spent a nice 45 minutes with an Illusione Rothschild and Alan, who’s off to Honduras today (travel safely!). That’s another great little smoke for a very reasonable price.

 

That’s it for today, until tomorrow,

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 10, 2013 · 8:37 pm

Getting Ready for Vegas, a Perdomo, a Four Kicks and a Nica Rustica

In the week leading up to our trip to the IPCPR show in Vegas I’m losing track of what I’ve smoked!  I had to go back and check twitter and Instagram to refresh my memory. My wife is right, I need to take a note book along this time to write things down along the way. I’m certain to forget something in the information overload that is the IPCPR  show. Case in point: I smoked a couple cigars on Sunday, I think a CAO Concert and a Gurkha Seduction. Both are cigars that are on my “go to” list when I want to smoke something, enjoy the heck out of it, and not have to worry too much about it. The Concert went very nicely in the pool, and the Gurkha was perfect after a end of the weekend rainstorm complete with a double rainbow. These two cigars capped off a pretty great holiday weekend for me.  I had to go look up what I smoked!

 

Perdomo_10th Maduro RobustoMonday evening I grabbed one of the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduros I had picked up recently. I was in the mood for something new and I really don’t smoke a ton of Perdomo cigars for whatever reason. I’m not sure if it goes back to the 90s when I had a string of bad luck with the brand or what. This cigar was pretty darned sublime. The flavor was right up my alley, chocolatey and espressoey  and well balanced. Well worth the $5.25 I paid for it. It was a lovely smoke and I’ll certainly have to pay a little more attention to this brand. Yes, I know that chocolatey and espressoey aren’t real words (I already had that argument with the spell check…).

 

Four Kicks_RobustoLast night I selected a Four Kicks robusto that was gifted to me a few months ago in New Jersey by Alex “StogieCop” Martinez. I’ve enjoyed a few different sizes in this line, and they are nice cigars to be sure. I kind of wanted to get some older (ie. last years) cigars smoked before going to the trade show and being inundated with new stuff. This was a worthy smoke, although I just can’t get as excited about it as some do, perhaps it doesn’t suit my preferences as much as some others. Still a terrific smoke, thank you Alex for allowing me to revisit this one.

 

DE_NicaRustica_ToroChanging gears, tonight I wanted to preview a cigar that I gather is being released at the show this year. In the past few weeks I’ve smoked some NicaRoma cigars from Villiger,the Nica Puro from Alec Bradley, so I thought I better smoke the Nica Rustica that’s coming out from Drew Estate. I was given a sample a few months ago when I visited the factory and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit intimidated by this stick! Will at Cigar-Coop.com posted a nice write up on this last week, where he notes that the blend includes a Nicaraguan Rustica tobacco grown in Esteli that is among the most potent of tobaccos it’s wrapped in a San Andreas binder (yay!) and a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper (another yay!) and will be offered in a 6″x52 toro shape. The example I smoked had an unfinished foot and a pigtail head. It certainly was a rustic looking cigar, and had a wonderful syrupy sweetness on the wrapper.  You an feel the tingle of the nicotine in the mouth, and there is a ton of flavor. This is like a Liga Privada on steroids. I have yet to find anythig remotely subtle about this cigar, it’s just loaded with great, in your face flavor and strength. I’m sitting on the deck finishing this off as I type, and I already look forward to smoking another one. Now, I have to admit that I don’t know if this is the finished blend or not, but I hope it is close.  I remember Steve Saka saying that production capacity was holding this release back, apparently they made some room to produce a bunch of these. At the reported under $7 price tag, this is a no brainer for anyone who doesn’t mind having your ass kicked around the block a few times. Highly recomended and anticipated!

 

That’s it for tonight. The next post will probably be from the IPCPR show. I’ll do my best to get some interesting and entertaining video here, assuming I can get some WIFI connections here and there.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | November 3, 2012 · 8:46 am

My Visit To The New Cigars International Superstore In Hamburg, PA

Friday I took a vacation day so that I could visit the newest super store in the Cigars International empire in nearby Hamburg, PA.  My eldest son, Corey, and I drove up for the grand opening celebration. The first thing one sees when approaching the location is the Cabela’s store that sits on a hill, you can see this place for miles.  The Cabela’s is enormous.  In the shadow of Cabela’s is the newest Cigars International store.

Mike, who appeared to be the general manager, gave us a little tour of the place, along with Joe Winder, our local Perdomo rep.  He walked us through the cigar store area, pointed out the downstairs bar and lounge complete with a pool table, then took us upstairs to the second bar and lounge.  We walked around the outdoor deck and saw the view of the surrounding area.  Across the parking lot they have an amphitheatre.  He told us that they have a state of the art sound and entertainment system, if there’s a band playing in the amphitheater he can pipe it into any or all of the bars and lounges in the building.  They also have what they call the “Man O War room”, a private meeting room overlooking the store as well as a lounge dedicated to the armed forces.

Corey and I bought some cigars and sat down in a couple comfy leather chairs to enjoy a smoke and take in the surroundings.  The waitstaff is very attentive, they have waitresses moving throughout the store, inside and out, taking care of your beverage needs, and rumor has it that they have an agreement with the neighboring Red Robin restaurant where you can place an order and have it delivered in fifteen minute intervals.  Did I mention the size of the store?  You may or may not have visited the Cigars International Super Store in Bethlehem, PA, or JR‘s in New Jersey, or even Corona Cigars in Orlando.  If you haven’t, you’ve probably seen pictures or heard stories about the enormity of those stores (the JR’s in North Carolina don’t count, as the cigar stores are located inside big outlet stores with every consumer good imaginable).  This new location is easily twice the size of any of the aforementioned shops.  I’d venture to say that Corona in Orlando may have them beat in variety of cigars, they just have a ridiculous number of facings, and I can’t speak to the 2 Guys and Smoke Inn chains as I have yet to have the pleasure of visiting them.  It’s the biggest full service cigar store and lounge I’ve seen.  At 4 o’clock they had the official opening, and half of the place cleared out to get in a line outside that went clear out to the parking lot. Everyone received a gift bag with a Gurkha Beauty cigar, a $5 CI gift card, and a commemorative pint glass, which Corey and I got on the way out (prompting a return to the cashier to purchase some more cigars, clever bastards!

It was nice to hang out in a comfortable setting and have a cigar with my son for the afternoon, get a chance to hang out with Dave Lafferty of Drew Estate for a while and see Nick Perdomo again.  These pictures don’t do the place justice.

Antelope: is that Undercrown lion looking at me?

 

While there I smoked another Alec Bradley MAXX Brazil robusto that was delicious, and Corey had a Diesel Grind Robusto (I picked up a couple on his recommendation and smokedone on my evening walk, a very nice, smooth smoke!)

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | October 21, 2012 · 9:54 am

Cuban Bullets, A Tortuga Cigar and Some Random News Items

In the past few weeks I’ve been approached by a few retailers asking me to “review” products for them. This is something fairly new to me, but of course retailers are as much a part of the cigar industry as manufacturers, one couldn’t exist long without the other! I figure I’ll do a quick series of posts highlighting these retailers and the products they shared with me. Unless otherwise noted, all I receive from these companies are a couple sample cigars. I’ll only accept these kind of offers from companies who I have patronized myself, and feel comfortable recommending. My hope is that fostering relationships such as this leads to possible contests so that I can get goodies into the hands of my faithful readers. Enough of the disclaimers and altruistic mumbo-jumbo!

 

I received an e-mail from Sheryl at Stogieboys.com offering to send me some samples for review. I became familiar with Stogieboys.com a few years agoe when they offered a Groupon which I purchased and subsequently turned into a box of Hoyo de Monterrey Sabroso Maduro, a really nice short smoke that I enjoy quite a bit. I talked to Paul, one of the owners on the phone and via e-mail and even featured a discount code here for a while. Anyway, they sent me a couple Cuban Bullet toro maduro cigars to smoke. I can remember the Perdomo releasing the original version of this in the late ‘90s or early ‘00s in torpedo shapes and the cigars were mixed filler and very well priced. These cigars have “Version 2.0” on the bands. The first thing I noticed and questioned was that the two cigars they sent had noticeably different wrapper colors. One of the ways that manufacturers can offer a good cigar at a low price is to cut out costly steps in the manufacturing process, like color sorting. I haven’t had one of these in 10 years or so, and I found this to be a very nice smoke. The smoke was reasonably heavy and it burned and drew perfectly. I have had plenty of cigars that cost twice as much or more that didn’t burn as well as this one. It was a really enjoyable smoke all the way to the end, when I put it down with under an inch left. There was a little bit of a burnt taste off the light, but it smoothed out quickly. That may have been a result of a hasty light.

 

With the second, lighter colored sample I took a little more care in lighting. This cigar had a little bit tighter draw than the first, resulting in a bit less of the full flavor and strength of the first. It was still very nice and was a pleasant and relaxing experience. I suppose this is another concession made to keep prices down, less consistency.  If I hadn’t enjoyed the first one so much I wouldn’t have had high expectations for the second, but I was looking for a repeat performance and I got a bit of a different cigar, which I kind of anticipated given the color difference of the wrapper.  I took my usual pictures of each cigar, but inadvertently deleted them and had to settle for stock photos.  Pissed me off, but nothing I can do about it!  Anyway, this is a nice smoke that is very well priced. I honestly couldn’t tell if it was mixed filler or long filler. A nice, inexpensive smoke from Perdomo that I’ll pick up from time to time.

 

Yesterday afternoon I sat down on the patio in the nice, warm October sunshine and enjoyed a Tortuga 215 Edición Limitada 2011 Torpedo.  This is a really nice Nicaraguan and Dominican blend made by Victor Vitale in the Dominican Republic.  It’s a super smooth yet full flavored cigar with outstanding construction. I smoked this while catching up with the audio portion of Stogie411 and soaking up some fall sunshine.  The Tortuga line consists of this Habano (I think) wrapped cigar, a Connecticut 1948 and a Maduro 1950, all of which are outstanding examples of the roller and blenders arts, with the Maduro being my absolute favorite.  Delicious cigars that are, unfortunately, not widely available.  Thank you to Victor for sharing these with me and congrats on your recent nuptials!

 

News

The November issue of National Geographic arrived yesterday featuring a map of Cuba on the cover with the caption “On the Edge Of Change”.  I’ll be interested to read this article to see what it’s about.  Also in the news, there are rumors once again that Castro has had a stroke and is on death’s door (article here). Certainly rumors of Castro’s death have popped up many times, and how long will Fidel be dead before the Cuban government admits it?  In some real news, StogieReview reports the impending opening of another Cigars International Super Store in Hamburg, PA (an hour north of my location), right next to Cabellas, which could mean a testosterone filled field trip for many of us.

 

That’s enough for now, it’s another beautiful day in SE PA, I may have to smoke a cigar sometime today!!

 

CigarCraig

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