Tag Archives: Powstanie

by Craig Vanderslice | March 17, 2024 · 10:33 am

Knuckle Sandwich, Julius Caeser, Postanie and Aganorsa Cigars

I smoked a good variety of cigars this week, the next couple weeks will probably be featuring some retailer exclusive cigars, so I figured I’d mix it up. I had picked up the Knuckle Sandwich 56 Maduro on a recent visit to the Wooden Indian, it was on the high side of what I like to spend, but I wanted to try it. This cigar is made by Espinosa, at the A.J.Fernandez’ San Lotano factory, for Guy Fieri’s 56th birthday. Obviously, it has a 56 ring gauge, and looks to be made using the San Lotano Oval molds. I like a 6″ x 56, and I liked the Oval shape. It has a San Andrés wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. Can anyone tell me why the word “Sandwich” sounds like “Sangwich” when persons of Cuban descent say it? I went through a phase of smoking cigars with the ring gauge of my age for a while, now that I’m 60 I’m over that. I loved this cigar, which is a shame because it’s limited and expensive. It started with a nice spice over cocoa, and mellowed into a chocolaty treat, with a hint of the spice. I dug it, even though when I met Guy at the PCA show a few years ago he really could have cared less and my request for Erik Espinosa to get in the picture with us was ignored. I don’t get starstruck and fawn over celebs, some of them don’t like that. Anyway, I don’t regret the purchase at all, it wa sa really good smoke, probably the best I had all week. It was my Pi Day treat.

We are in the midst of a string of March holidays, so on Friday I was compelled to smoke a Diamond Crown Julius Caeser Toro. We all know that March 15 marks the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. We know the exact date because he invented the calendar we use. He instituted that just a year before his death. Anyway, he was a heck of an Emperor, but I guess his friends thought he was a dick, so they stabbed him. I may be oversimplifying things a little. A few millennia later some Hungarian folks named their son after him, and US immigration screwed up the spelling on his paperwork and Julius Caeser Newman started a cigar company that makes some great cigars. The Diamond Crown Julius Caeser is made at Tabacalera A. Fuente, has an Ecuador Havana wrapper, Dominican binder and Caribbean and Central American fillers. They could just say Dominican, Nicaraguan and/or Honduran fillers, but they can be vague if they want. I enjoy Diamond Crown cigars, from the mild Diamond Crown, to the bolder Maximus and Black Diamond, and this falls in between. I find the flavor to be largely sweet wood, which is a nice change of pace for me. I like this cigar a lot, I remember smoking one of these a long time ago with a shop owner who has since passed, before a big celebrity cigar launch dinner. It didn’t give me any stabbing back pain either.

Saturday ended up being a Connecticut Shade day, which isn’t normal for me, but I had a couple shade cigars I hadn’t smoked yet, so I figured I’d give them a go. The first one I have smoked, but there’s a new size launching at the PCA show that I had a chance to smoke. It was the Powstanie Connecticut Justice, a 5½ x 46 Corona Gorda which Mike Szczepankiewicz blended nine years ago for the birth of his son. This is made at the Nica Sueño factory like the rest of the Powstanie cigars. I really like the Robusto that Mitch shared with me late last year. This shape seemed different, it didn’t have the character that the larger ring had, although I still found it to be exceptional. This was a really good shade cigar with some body, which I think must come from the PA Broadleaf binder in large part. For someone who doesn’t gravitate to shade wrapped cigars, this is a really good one, and worth a shot, but I don’t even think it’s due to be released until next month, some additional age won’t hurt this one. If you come across any Postanie cigars, try them, they are all really quite good.

Finally, I smoked an Aganorsa La Validacion Connecticut Robusto that I got at the Wooden Indian a few weeks ago when Fabien and Mike King were there doing an event. Aganorsa is a brand I struggle to find a favorite in. There’s a few I like, and some I don’t, and I can’t seem to remember which is what. So I buy them and smoke them and enjoy them or not and start the cycle over again. I don’t care for Criollo ’99 too much, so that probably has something to do with it. I think this series is one I like, and I definitely liked this Connecticut. It was medium bodied, nutty with some wood and spice and really a nice cigar. I’m going to remember that I really like the La Validacion line (I just went back and checked and I did like the Maduro and Corojo!).

Today is Green Cigar Day, or as some call it, St. Patrick’s Day, so pick out a nice Candela and drive the snakes out of your country! Why have none of these companies made a Candela Culebra in honor of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland? Because it would suck and it wouldn’t sell, that’s why. I’ll suggest it to Saka. I mentioned him making a Candela Lancero on my last Podcast episode with him and he poopoo’d it, now he’s making a lancero box featuring the candela. I’d write more today but I used a lot of letters on Mike Szczepankiewicz name. Anyway, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 56, Aganorsa, Aganorsa Leaf, cigar, cigars, Diamond Crown, Espinosa, Guy Fieri, Julius Caeser, Justice, Knuckle Sandwich, La Validacion, La Zona, Powstanie

by Craig Vanderslice | November 5, 2023 · 12:17 pm

A Powstanie Connecticut and a Few More RoMaCraft Cigars

This week I finished off the cigars that Mitch very generously shared with me (except for one, which is a favorite which may get smoked today!). Before that I’d like to share a little experience I had Tuesday. We went to New York City to see a show, a revival of Spamalot, for which my wife got tickets for the preview for my birthday. When she mentioned finding a cigar spot, the only place I had any interest in visiting was Paley Park, which is a private park on 53rd Street, between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue. It’s owned my the Paley family and is dedicated to Samuel Paley, the father of William Paley, who founded CBS, mostly to promote his father’s cigar business. I had always been under the impression that this was a safe haven for cigar smoking, however, I was to find out that smoking is only allowed there from 4pm to 8pm. Sadly, I was told this, very nicely and politely by the attendant there, by the way, after I lit up a La Palina Mr. Sam. This is a cigar that is also dedicated to the same Samuel Paley as the park. There was a sign, but apparently one has to check the rules on the website now days before doing anything. I’ve officially reached the “get off my lawn” stage of life, I guess. Just put the rules on the sign, don’t make me check a webpage. Anyway, we walked up a few blocks and I finished my Mr. Sam, which was very good, in front of Tiffany’s while my wife went in and got the tour. I BS’d a bit with Tony, the greeter who was a super cool dude. Good dinner at Havana Central, good show, good little trip.

Back to Mitch’s cigars! Several of the cigars he sent me were on a list I had of cigars I wanted to smoke. One of them might have been the Powstanie Connecticut, and I don’t often seek out Connecticut wrapped cigars to try. I’ll smoke them if I have to, and there are some that I like, and more often than not I like them when I smoke then, if that makes sense. It probably doesn’t, I just have a mental thing about shade wrapper cigars. I gotta tell ya, whatever your taste preference is, you have to try this Powstanie Connecticut. It’s made at Nica Sueño, I smoked the 5″ x 50 robusto, and it was one of the most unique and interesting cigars of any variety I’ve smoked. It started with a lot of spice, and I realized that is seemed to me like a heavy citrus, it was tangy and sweet. It was really a fascinating cigar from start to finish. This is a cigar I want more of, and will be on the hunt for some locally, if I can’t find some, I know of a place to get them!

The number one on my wishlist that Mitch included was the Quinqaungenario, another 5″ x 50 cigar from RoMaCraft. This one is a little different, as Skip Martin worked with Ernesto Carillo to make a special cigar to celebrate his 50th birthday. I felt funny smoking this, as I am no longer a Quinqgangenarian, I moved into Sexagenarian a few months ago (and I find that tern cruelly ironic). I suppose if Skip had come out with the Quinquangenario on time it would I would have smoked it while I was still in my fifties. This cigar is made by Ernesto in his factory in the Dominican Republic, has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over Dominican binder and fillers. This was a really good cigar, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering who’s involved. I personally am a fan of both parties, one for a dozen years, the other for a lot longer. Call me crazy, but I was reminded of really old El Rico Habano a little bit, the ones that were made in Miami probably and were really strong. This had that citrus tang again, and loads of spice. There was a lot going on, but not so much as to overwhelm, it was perfectly balanced. Great, another $15 cigar I need buy! Thanks Mitch! No, I’m serious, thank you Mitch for sharing the cigars with me, They’ve been some of the best I’ve had recently. But wait, there’s more!

There were a couple of RoMaCraft shop exclusives included in Mitch’s selection. First up was the Abaddon. This is an exclusive to Chicago’s Blue Havana. I like the size, 6¼” x 52, and it has a hybrid criollo/corojo wrapper of some sort which is fairly nondescript. This one has a sweet leather kind of flavor, It was a good cigar, I suppose I was a bit spoiled by the previous two being so very interesting. This would have been a good choice thematically to smoke on Thursday, as I tossed around the notion of smoking either something from All Saints, or something with a dia de los muertos theme, as Abaddon has some basis in Hebrew as a pit of the dead or something related to death. I screwed up there. This one wasn’t as “up my alley” as most of the other RoMa cigars, for some reason, but still a good cigar.

Last night I smoked the first cigar in the CRAFT Maquette series, a small batch series that will use some limited quantity tobaccos that aren’t available in large enough quantities to produce sustainable lines. This one called the Il Nonno, is in honor of Skip’s first grandchild, apparently he shares grandparentage with the owner of Riverside Cigars in Kentucky who has exclusive distribution on this cigar. I’ve got a couple granddaughters, it’s a very cool thing. It’s got a simple bronze ribbon on the foot. and was a 5″ x 52 robusto. It has some sort of hybrid wrapper, Brazilian binder and DOminican and Brazilian fillers. This was an interesting cigar. I thought it was more “RoMaCraft” than the Abaddon, but certainly not as heavy as the core lines. It had some subtle cocoas and coffees, and was a very tasty and interesting cigar. It was quite a treat, as was the Abaddon, for someone who doesn’t go chasing a lot of shop exclusives, so a big thanks again to Mitch for sharing. I’ll be rummaging around for some of my favorites to send your way, I know you said it wasn’t necessary, but you also said that the sharing was fun and I agree.

Enough for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Abaddon, cigar, cigars, Il Nonno, La Palina, Maquette, Paley, Powstanie, Quinquangenario, RoMaCraft

by Craig Vanderslice | October 29, 2023 · 10:27 am

A Powstanie Wojtek and a Few RoMaCraft Cigars

It’s been a difficult week for me for some reason, physically and mentally. Among other things, our coffee maker crapped out, then the replacement arrived broken, so that added to the general malaise I’ve been feeling. This time of year bugs me. Fortunately, through the kindness of a dear reader, I have been provided with some solace in the form of some new-to-me cigars for me to enjoy and write about. I need to refrain from mentioning that I’m running out of material, it reeks of mooching. Mitch was very generous and shared some of his favorites with me, it’s not the first time I’ve been the recipient of his generosity, he was my Secret Santa last year (do we want to do that again this year?), and went over the top. There were a few cigars that were on a list I had made of cigars I wanted to try, first among them was this year’s Powstanie War Bear, or Wojtek, in a 5¾” x 46 box pressed corona gorda shape. The War Bear is a Habano/San Andrés barber pole wrapped cigar, although both wrappers are on the dark side and it’s hard to tell it’s a dos capos cigar without really looking closely at it. It’s made at Nica Sueno, which will be a theme of today’s post. This starts off with a kick, and settled into a chocolaty spice. I’ve had previous Warbears, I think it was a perfecto, and I didn’t like it as much as I liked this one, it was really good.

The next one that was on my to-try list was the RoMaCraft Intemperance Volstead VO 1920 in the Noble Experiment size. This is another box press, this time a 5″ x 56 robusto. Oddly, I’m a big fan of the Intemperance EC XVIII, I’ve smoked a ton of the Virtue size. The Volstead is interesting in that it uses an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper that is genetically similar to a Cameroon leaf, which is different, over a San Andrés binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. I’m going to just say “wow” about this cigar. It’s a really tasty cigar. I got some creamy coffee, a little nuttiness and cinnamon, and around the halfway point there were some neat exotic spice flavors that I couldn’t put a finger on. This was a fascinating cigar, and will be a buy the next time I see them in a shop. While I’m thinking about this, please do me a favor, if you happen to shop at JRs or Cigars.com, please click through the links on the left side of my page when you make a purchase. Someone was kind enough to make a large purchase, but it’s $.05 under the amount needed to cash out the commission! Don’t go out of your way or anything, but it would help me out! Anyway, the Volstead is probably the best new cigar I’ve smoked in a long time, it was really good.

Yesterday I should have gone to Best Cigar Pub to meet up with the folks from The Cigar Hacks podcast and Mike Weinstein, but it was another one of those situations where I couldn’t mentally or physically handle driving an hour and a half each way, I just wanted to sit at home and spent time alone. It was 80 degrees on the last weekend in October here, and while I regret missing the opportunity to Visit BCP and see the Hacks and finally meet Mike face to face, I’ll get around to it when I break out of my funk. The Intemperance BA XXI Contempt I smoked while watching a Flyers losing effort helped. This is another corona gorda, I believe it was from the 2022 El Catador de Las Gran Coronas, and is 5¾” x 46. I call it a Corona Gorda, they call it a Gran Corona, I think the difference is an eighth of an inch. Either are a great size, one of my favorites behind the Toro and Churchill. Earlier when I said I was a big fan of the Intemperance EC XVIII, that happened a bit by accident. I had my sights set on a box of the BA Avarice size and the box was damaged, so I grabbed another box blindly and when I got home I realized it was the EC. Not at all disappointed, although I would have been happy either way. The BA stands for Brazilian Arapiraca, which is the wrapper, of course, and I’m pretty sure the rest is Nicaraguan. This is a chocolaty cigar with a hint of a citrus tang. It was super-good even though the game, and my mood, were not.

My last cigar of the day yesterday was a Neanderthal HoxD, which is a cigar I’ve had before, but is always a treat. I got to this later than usual, so a small cigar fit in nicely, this is 4″ x 46 with a flat cap. These give me a chance to use my Adorini punch, with a 13mm punch that makes a large opening. This blend has all my favorites, a San Andrés wrapper, Broadleaf binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania fillers. Mitch tells me that this is his favorite morning with coffee cigar, which gives me an insight into his psyche. I can immediately tell he’s someone who craves flavor, perhaps enjoys a good hot sauce, probably on everything. No judgement. This 4″ cigar burned for an hour. This is a nutty/leathery cigar with some sweet earth and coffee. It’s delicious, and it’s strong. I taste the Pennsylvania ligero, but I’m born and raised here in PA. I’m not going to say it contributed to my having a restless night sleep, but it might have. Great cigar, and a big thank you to Mitch for sharing these four cigars with me. Look forward to seeing what else he shared next week.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 1920, BA XXI, cigar, cigars, HoxD, Intemperance, Neanderthal, Powstanie, RoMaCraft, Volstead, War Bear, Warbear, Wojtek

by Craig Vanderslice | March 12, 2023 · 10:18 am

Casdagli, West Tampa, Powstanie and Punch Cigars

It was a pretty good week. A bit ago I sent some cigars to a friend, who, despite my protests, reciprocated with a package. People need to understand that I send out cigars without expectations! I do appreciate it though, especially when there are a bunch of cigars I hadn’t tried. The Casdagli Daughters of the Wind Pony Express was one of those cigars. I want to say I’ve smoked one Casdagli cigar in the past, it seems to me it was a figurado of some sort, but I can’t remember what it was. Was this company called something before it was Casdagli? Bespoke seems to be stuck in my mind. Anyway, This was a corona gorda of sorts, 6″ x 48, with a box press. I love the size. It’s made from tobaccos from Peru, Dominican Republic and Ecuador along with the tobaccos from the factory’s own plantation in the mountains of Costa Rica. It’s rolled in Costa Rica, which is interesting. This was a very different cigar than I gravitate to, it had a strong floral flavor. It was very good, thanks to Phil ( https://www.comedycigarsmusic.com/) for sending this!

Friday evening I went to Pairings Cigar Bar in Media, PA to hang out with Ricky Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco Co. Pairings is a great place with a nice selection. If you like to drink while you smoke at a bar, like the old days, this is the place to go. There aren’t as many such places in this area as you would think, I can think of two others in the Philly area. I’m not a bar guy, so maybe there are more I don’t know about. Most of our shops have lounges and don’t discourage BYOB. Anyway, Ricky was there doing a West Tampa event, of course. I had the opportunity to try the new West Tampa Red, and I can’t wait to get my hands on more, it was really good. I could draw some comparisons to the Attic, they share the San Andrés wrapper. This was a 6″ x 60, which I chose because I had a really good experience with a Black in that size a few weeks ago. I feel like the flavor was a little brighter than the Black or the Attic, both cigar I really like. I’m working on

I stole this pic from Craig Gilpin! TY

something with Ricky in the future, so stay tuned. There were a bunch of local cigar people there, reps, brokers, guys from other shops, and even Micky Pegg from All Saints Cigars (there’s a CAO connection!). I also had the chance to spend some quality time with my friend Craig (the Breadman), I like having fiends named Craig, because I have such a lousy memory for names, it makes it a little easier! It was a good night, although after smoking the Red AND the Black in the 6″ x 60 size, I had a hell of a time falling asleep.

The selection of cigars from Mitch, my Secret Santa, is dwindling. I selected a Powstanie SBC20, another corona gorda (this time it’s really a CG, 5½”x 46, close enough). This is a subtle barber pole, with Habano and Brazilian Mata Fina, made at Fábrica de Tabacos NicaSueño S.A.. I have a great affinity for cigars made at this factory. I was just thinking how it’s been ten years since I’ve been to Esteli, and what a hoot it would be to go and visit factories like Nica Sueño, Garmendia, etc. I think the town has changed a lot since I was there last. This was a pretty stout cigar, not a surprise. It’s got some pepper, cocoa and coffee, probably best smoked on a full stomach. I very much enjoyed this, I wonder how it compared to the ’16 and ’18 versions. If you’ve smoked them all, leave a comment!

I had picked up a couple of the Punch Spring Rolls a few weeks ago, it’s a shorter cigar than I like, but I wanted to try it. I’ve enjoyed most of the Punch cigars in this series, which, inexplicably, revolves around Chinese food. They are budget cigars, and usually have some interesting feature, on this one the wrapper is about a half inch short. It’s only 4½” x 50, like a Punch Rothschild, so that’s a pretty good percentage of the cigar that is wrapperless, when you think about it. I expected a flavor change when the burn line hit the wrapper, which is Ecuadorian Sumatra over an American broadleaf binder, with fillers from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and broadleaf from the U.S.. I never picked up on the change, oddly enough, it just remained a fairly uneventful cigar. It was dry and woody, I was expecting a lot more flavor. It wasn’t bad, I’ve seen people say it was excellent, I just thought it was OK. I guess it was a good think it was only 4½” long. I’ll give the other one a try next year. Maybe it’s because I don’t like Spring (or Egg) Rolls?

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Casdagli, cigar, cigars, Daughters of the Wind, Powstanie, punch, SBC20, Spring Roll, West Tampa Tobacco Co.

by Craig Vanderslice | December 18, 2022 · 8:51 am

Some West Tampa Tobacco and Powstanie Cigars

I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do next week, be prepared for a simple post, or maybe I put something fun together for the holiday week! I have to work on that…anyway, I smoked some cigars that I found interesting this week. When I saw Rick Rodriguez at the Cigar Heritage Festival, he gave me two lanceros, I mentioned the West Tampa Tobacco Co. Black last week, and smoked the West Tampa Tobacco Co. White this week. As with the Black, I found the lancero iteration to be very different from the Robusto and Toro. I don’t know how old these were, which can factor into things, but the lancero started with some “off”, sour notes. The sourness turned into almost a fermented citrus sort off flavor. Very interesting. I am always careful to smoke lanceros slowly, I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, this shape cigar tastes “sharper” because it burns hotter than a larger ring gauge cigar. This is often mistaken for some wrapper to filler ratio nonsense. It’s heat, sip the lancero, it can’t be smoked like larger cigars. I did find that this cigar burned pretty fast, which was disappointing because I enjoyed the flavors, perhaps more than I enjoy the regular White sizes. I liked both of these blends in the lancero format.

I recently came across the West Tampa Tobacco Co. Attic Series in one of my local shops and picked one up to sample. I got some of the Black and Whites too while I was there. I also grabbed an Excalibur No. 1 Maduro while I was there, I hadn’t had one in ages, and thought it might be fun to compare it to the Sakakhan, as the Excalibur loosely inspired it. Anyway, I smoked the Attic and instantly regretted not picking some up at the festival. This was an excellent cigar for me. It was of the dark roast coffee theme that I enjoy. San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan binder sna fillers in a 6″ x 54 format are all right up my alley. This smoked perfectly and was delicious. If you like the cigars I tend to like, put this on your “try” list.

The CigarCraig.com Secret Santa this year had a pretty light turnout, but the quality was very high. I think everyone was well taken care of, including myself. My SS surprised me with a bunch of cigars that I haven’t smoked before, as well as some very nice goodies, some of which I’ve already put into use! He went way over and above and I am humbled and very appreciative! I lit up the Powstanie (link is to the Cigar Hustler site, which is owned by the same dudes who own the brand, not a sponsor, BTW) Wojtek which I believe to be the 2021 edition. This is a barber pole/dos capos style cigar that has Habano and San Andrés wrapper. All I can find out about the blend is the wrapper, I assume the rest is Dominican and Nicaraguan. Previous iterations had an Indonesian binder, safe to assume this does too. These are made at Nica Sueño in Esteli, and I tend to like cigars made at that factory. I also like the Powstanie cigars, I’m pretty evenly split between Broadleaf and Habano, they are both really good. This cigar was 90 minutes of pleasure. It starts with some pepper, then some earthiness and espresso. It burned well, the box press was comfortable, and it was a really nice smoke. Thanks to my SS fo this, as well as the rest!