Here’s a brief run down of some of the cigars I’ve enjoyed so far this week, and another short video from the IPCPR show.
Power House by Cuban Crafters – This one one of a handful that Kiki Berger gave me at the IPCPR show last month. I’ve been trying to find information about them to no avail. True to it’s name, it starts out with a blast of strength. I almost thought I wasn’t going to make it through the cigar, it was just too much nicotine for the first inch or so. It mellowed a little after a while and became a very nice smoke, full of dark flavors. I have no idea what the make up of this cigar is, but I’m going to guess it has a broadleaf wrapper, and Nicaraguan fillers. After the initial blast of strength I enjoyed this cigar. Perhaps some humidor time will mellow that part out of it. Oddly, samples of Cuban Crafters cigars I’ve had in the past have not thrilled me, but recent cigars I’ve smoked from Tabacalera Esteli have been more to my liking. Kiki Berger is a really nice guy too, I’m happy and fortunate to have met him at Cigar Safari and spent some time talking to him at the show.
Ashton Virgin Sun Grown Torpedo – Came across this one in the humidor after rummaging for something to smoke and figured it’s time had come. I have been smoking new and different cigars lately and wanted to go old school. This large torpedo has been floating around the humidors for 6 or 7 years, had some mottling on the wrapper, but was such a nice, sweet cigar with loads of flavor. I savored it for about 90 minutes, while sitting on my front porch on a stunningly beautiful August evening, catching up on cigar podcasts. Sidebar: I am up to about 5 podcasts in my rotation, and I get behind in the summer. During the winter months I have about 5 hours a week in the car commuting that I am able to listen to podcasts. In the nicer months I may only have to drive the car to work once or twice a week, if that. I sometimes take an evening walk alone with a cigar and listen to them, which is nice, but it’s better to walk with someone (usually my son or my wife). Three of the podcasts I like to listen to are pushing 2 hours long, which is a killer year round! For those curious, the podcasts currently in my rotation are: Dogwatch Cigar Radio, Stogie Fresh 5, Blowin Smoke, Cigar Snapshot, and The Cigar Authority. I’ve had the pleasure to have met the hosts of all of these on various occasions, even slept on one of their couches on a couple occasions, with the exception of Bill Berris, who hosts Cigar Snapshot. I do “know” Bill from the old alt.smokers.cigars days though, and one day our paths will cross. I’ve said before that there are some little things that annoy me about some of the shows, but they all provide me with cigartainment and are worth every penny I pay for them :-).
When I saw American Eagles cigars at the show I thought they were a novelty, I mean, really, a camo cigar? What if I drop it outside, how will I find it? Well, this is a serious cigar. Not only do some of the proceeds go to the Semper Fi Fund, as a thank you to all the men and women who serve and have served in the United States Marine Corps, but the cigars are actually blended by Hendrick Kelner. Since I’ve been seeing these show up in a couple of major retailers mailings, I figured I’d fire up one of the samples I got from the trade show. I took this cigar for my evening walk, and it’s a darned nice cigar! I smoked this down to about a half an inch, and it remained smooth and flavorful to the end. It looks to me like it has candela, shade and maduro pieces applied to a habano wrapper to produce the camouflage pattern, and I swear I could taste the candela “freshness” here and there. It’s gimmicky, but a quality cigar that is very tasty. This is one that should not be dismissed, if you can find them (little camo joke there…) give one a shot. Chris Ramos, the sales director was very helpful and generous with his time, thanks to him for the samples.
The American Eagles cigars were sharing a booth with Cigar Mechanic‘s Eric Budman, who was kind enough to not only gift me a couple of his humidifying units to try out, but also took a few minutes to record a little video about his products. I have to say, since using one of these in a new cooler set up, it’s been holding steady, as has been the smaller unit in my desktop humidor. Check out the video and give these a try if you are in the market for a new humidification device.
Thanks to Eric for taking the time to talk to me and for the samples!
That’s it for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
