Thursday came around and one of our favorite lounges in the area was having an early Father’s Day event, so we (my wife and I) took a drive to King Of Prussia PA for a visit. For those of you unfamiliar with the Philadelphia area, King of Prussia is the home of the larges shopping mall on the east coast. It’s big, actually two malls, and it’s evolved from a strip center in the ’60s to what it is today. There is a cigar shop in the mall with a smoking area, which is nice when your wife wants to shop and doesn’t require you to play the part of Sherpa. Cigar Mojo is down the street a bit, occupying a free standing building nestled between a cemetery and a Wawa (another fairly regional convenience store chain with a nearly fanatical following). They were concurrently having an Alec 
Bradley event with “The Player” Jon Lipson, a Xikar event with local rep Rich, and a Cigar Rights of America membership drive with Alan Price. Having stocked my humidors with Alec Bradly cigars at the last couple events I’ve been to, I perused the generously stocked humidor and came out with a handful of reasonably new singles. Trae does a very good job of having the newest releases on hand. I picked up a couple of the new Tattoo from Tatuaje, some Leccia Luchador El Castigo, a Cro Magnon, and a Nica Rustica. I always get the CigarCraig discount, where they add 10% 🙂 I smoked one of the Luchadors, which I really think is my favorite cigar to come out in the last year. I hadn’t smoked this size, which is the 6″x60, and it was great. I love the interplay of sweet and spicey that goes on. Once again, The guys there at Cigar Mojo put on a great event, if you ever find yourself in the area, check them out.
Friday I took my usual evening walk with a cigar that was generously gifted to me by Jon Lipson, the new Alec Bradley Family Blend “The Lineage” in the toro size. This cigar has a nice caramel colored wrapper with a pigtail cap which is from Honduras. The rest of the cigar is a mix of Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos. I should have given this cigar some more humidor time, I think, because it smoked a little bit moist. It has been raining here all week, so it’s damp everywhere. Still, the cigar had very nice flavor, was solidly medium bodied to me, although if it were drier it may smoke a little more on the full bodied side. I’m looking forward to trying this one again because the flavor was very appealing and the finish was clean. It opened up in the last third and gave an indication of its potential for me.
Saturday I had two cigar opportunities, one sitting in my favorite beach chair out back soaking up some sunshine. I smoked another Cigar Rights of America cigar that I’ve had for a few years. This one was a Cuba Aliados Miami, and I hadn’t smoked a Cuba Aliados in years. Back in the day, Rolando Reyes made the Puros Indios and the Cuba Aliados. The Puros Indios were tasty, but almost always had a draw like a dowel rod. This one was a nice smoke, medium bodied, fairly normal good tobacco flavor and burned well without dropping ash anywhere it shouldn’t have. I had the Perfecto Cigar Holder clipped to the chair arm, which reminds me, I need to do a whole post on some accessories I’ve been using lately. I enjoyed the cigar and had a very relaxing time sitting in the sun reading a book. Don’t forget to let the FDA know how you feel about regulation of premium cigars, and if you aren’t already a member of the CRA, join!
Last night I took a walk with a new cigar from the folks at Iconic Leaf, the Recluse Amadeus. This is a box pressed Ecuador Connecticut wrapped beauty in a toro size, 6¼” x 50. Iconic Leaf uses the entubado method throughout their lines, and this one smokes no different, nice, open draw and even burn. This is another Connecticut Shade cigar with a little more spice and body. I’ve always liked the flavor that the Connecticut wrappers have as a change of pace, so this trend of slightly stronger shade cigars is welcomed. This sample came without bands, but I’m to understand they will be using a similar design in white as opposed to the black bands they use on the OTG and Draconian lines. Tremendous cigars all around. Interestingly (to only me, probably), Trae’s, of Cigar Mojo fame, uncle came to him with a scap of paper with the name Recluse Draconian written on it as a cigar he was looking for. I was able to educate Trae and his uncle on the line. Perhaps he’ll look into stocking something from Iconic Leaf.
Contest
It’s, once again, time to give away some CAO goodies! This time we have two of the cool tin CAO Flathead signs and a four pack of the new Flathead Spark Plug, which is a delicious little box pressed 4½” x 50 smoke. I’m doubling up the signs because, quite frankly, it cost me a bundle to ship these things. I’ll have one more contest coming up with these, I’ll look for more cost effective shipping method for sure. Anyway, my problem, not yours! Leave a comment to win, and I’ll pick a winner on Wednesday. Thanks again to Gary and Ricky from CAO for providing these goodies.
That’s it for now, Happy Father’s Day to everyone who either is, or has a father. I’m going to enjoy my special traditional cigar, a Esperanza par los Niños from 1998. I was recent;y gifted more of these by my dear friend Mike Perry, so I can continue the tradition through 2020! Thanks!
