Philadelphia Cigar and Tobacco Co.

Tag Archives: Philadelphia Cigar and Tobacco Co.

by Craig Vanderslice | March 1, 2020 · 12:18 pm

Some Powstanie Cigars at Philadelphia Cigar & Tobacco Company Event

Friday afternoon I traveled to Northeast Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Cigar & Tobacco Company shop for the event they were having with Mikes Szczepankiewicz and Palmer. Mike Szczepankiewicz is one of the owners of Cigar Hustlers cigar shop in Deltona Florida, and the Powstanie cigar brand, which is made at the Nica Sueña factory in Esteli. Mike Palmer is Mike Szczepankiewicz’s co-host on the Cigar Hustler’s Podcast, which is in my regular podcast rotation. There’s two things that I’m really spoiled with, one is that I really like smoking cigars and knowing the people behind the brands, and the other is listening to podcasts where I know the people behind the voices. I’m very fortunate to have had opportunities to know a lot of the people who make cigars and present podcasts. There’s nothing special about me, anyone could have put themselves in the position to know these people, and I’m not particularly outgoing by nature. Anyway, when I know the people I’m listening to I feel like I’m listening to friends, more so than when I haven’t really met them. Oddly, when I do meet them, I feel like I know them already, which is awkward, because it’s not always reciprocal. Enough about that. I got the the Philadelphia Cigar & Tobacco Company early, because it seems to take a really long time to get there from my house. I can be in downtown Philly in 40 minutes on a good day, but it took over an hour to get to this location, 33 miles away. I had visited the shop several years ago, back when Bryan Scholle was doing the Studio Tabac rolling events for Oliva (June 2013). The setup of the store has changed since then, the checkout counter is in the humidor now, and the lounge is set up differently. I selected a Powstanie Broadleaf Belicoso and joined the gentlemen in the lounge, where much spirited ball-busting was ensuing amongst the indigenous population. It was entertaining. The Powstanie cigars are made at the Nica Sueña factory, where CroMagnons are made, and this cigar was just brilliant. I really enjoyed it very much. It was full-bodied and rich and right up my alley. I would have liked this in the toro, but the Belicoso was the only size they had. I went back and bought more later, along with some of the Warbear (Wojtek) which I smoked next. The Broadleaf Belicoso is 5½”x 54 with a Broadleaf Maduro wrapper and, I’m guessing, Nicaraguan binder and fillers? It was a fantastic smoke.

I introduced myself to Mike and Mike and chatted with them for a bit, then delved into the Powstanie Wojtek, or Warbear. I figured I wasn’t going to drive an hour to smoke one cigar and leave right after they arrived. I’m not going to comment too much on the flavor of this 5″x 50 perfecto, I’ll smoke another one another time on a clean palate and maybe give my impressions. It’s a barber pole wrapper consisting of Habano and San Andrés, so it’s pretty subtle, you have to look for the difference as there isn’t a lot of color contrast. It did really enjoy the cigar, although after smoking a full bodied Broadleaf cigar, there’s no really getting a good handle on any real flavors. Of course, the construction was perfect, when was the last time you had a poorly made cigar from Skip Martin’s factory? He’s got the whole ISO9001/Lean Manufacturing/Six Sigma thing going on in the factory down there, I imagine it to be quite impressive, hopefully one day I’ll get back down to Esteli for a visit. Anyway, I enjoyed meeting Mike and Mike (super nice dudes) and smoking the Powstanie cigars and hanging out at Philadelphia Cigar and Tobacco CO., but I wanted to get. home and watch the majority of the Flyers beating the Rangers (hopefully they do as well today on national television!).

Yesterday I was putting away the cigars I picked up at the previous evening’s event, which I need to stop buying, and I held out one of the Powstanie Habano Toros and took a bit of a walk with it. It’s been quite a while since I smoked the Habano, I recall picking up a few of these at BnB cigars a few years ago and enjoyed it, but not as much as this Toro. This cigar was impressive! I really enjoyed it, and I’m not sure if it was the size, the former was a Belicoso, I’d have to dig around, there may be one left someplace. The Toro is 6″ x 52, perfect size for me. It has a Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder with Dominican criollo, Estelí ligero and filler from Condega and Jalapa. This had a nice sweetness that I liked, and rich tobacco flavors throughout the smoke and was really a very nice cigar. I highly recommend this, and these are widely available, it seems, if not in your better brick and mortar shop, they are in the larger online shops (or Cigar Huslter’s web store). Very different from the other cigars from Nica Sueño, but equally as awesome. I had initially underestimated this cigar, or when I smoked it 3 years ago I was just coming off a cold. Powstanie is Polish for “rise or “uprising”, and I’m not going to go so far as to say they were so good that “it moved”, but they are really good cigars.

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

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as cigar, Cigar Hustler, cigars, Philadelphia Cigar and Tobacco Co., Powstanie

by CigarCraig | June 2, 2013 · 10:36 am

Studio Tobac Event at Philadelphia Cigar and Tobacco Co.

Spring is definitely in full swing here in south-east PA, the grass is growing, the pool is opening and the weather has been gorgeous. So what do we do after a morning of chores? Go to a cigar store for a Studio Tobac/Oliva event, what else? The store in question is the Philadelphia Cigar and Tobacco Co. In Northeast Philadelphia, about an hour away (assuming traffic ir reasonable, which it was not). I consider Mike Staiber, our local Oliva rep, to be one of my better friends in the cigar industry, and. Byran Scholle is a super nice dude too, so going to hang out with them was a no brainer. I selected a handful of Padilla and Cain cigars and immediately lit up a Padilla Reserva Maduro Double Toro (5.5×60), a damned yummy cigar. Bryan sets up a small rolling table at his events and demonstrates how a cigar is wrapped to event goers. Its great for people to see how this is done and to be able to ask questions. One very astute question I heard involved nicotine absorption through the hands and whether it affects the roller. Bryans response was that it initially does when he starts, but he quickly adjusts. I’ve heard the question asked in the factories, but never in a shop setting. Here’s a two minute video of Bryan doing his thing:

The Philadelphia Cigar and Tobacco Co. is a very nice store located in a strip mall on Welsh Road in Northeast Philadelphia. The front of the store has a spacious lounge with a bunch of guys watching the game on a large TV, a poker table full of guys playing cards (and it didn’t look like they were playing “Go Fish”), and another small seating area. The huge walk in humidor was generously stocked with all the goodies you’d expect to find. The shop is very clean and well run, and he owner, Michael, is a gracious host. They are planning on opening a second location in Yardley, PA in the not too distant future. Drop in to visit if you find yourself in the area.

When I got home I had to smoke the cigar that Bryan rolled in the video. He described it as an amped up Cain F blend, with additional Esteli ligero in the blend. They playfully refer to this blend as the Cain FU. He mentioned that they are best smoked fresh, so I figured it wasn’t going to get any fresher. Smoking a fresh rolled cigar is a little different than one that’s sat in an aging room for months and made its way to your local shop. It’s a little wetter and mushier, but, astoundingly, it burned pretty well after I torched the hell out of it to get it lit. I guess I’m more manly than I gave myself credit for, because I was expecting this to kick me hard. I love most Cains with some age, but this one was quite good as well. It was strong and spicy, but not harsh and the flavor wasn’t overpowered. Well done. In counterpoint, the Padilla Reserva Maduro was smooth and chocolaty and delicious, nearly worth the $10 price tag (by the way, what is up with Padillas website? How about an update? I had to get size information elsewhere). I got a couple of the Short Robusto (4×60) size as well, along with some Cain Daytonas and Fs. It was a great day hanging out with some really nice folks and enjoying fine smokes.

The Adorini Humidor

This will be a recurring segment, basically a long term review of the Adorini Cedro Deluxe Humidor from Humidordiscount.com. I’ve started by charging the humidifier with the included solution and some distilled water, and adding a bowl of distilled water as well. So far the hygrometer is reading about 74% RH. I’m just going to let it sit until the water evaporates from the bowl. I’ve always gone by the theory that the wood in the humidor is truly the medium which holds the moisture, and if it’s too dry it will be constantly battling the humidification element and will take forever to reach equilibrium and function properly. I’m convinced that this unit will be a solid performer based on how solid it looks and feels and the nice, air-cushioned “woosh” I get when I drop the lid. More to come.