After staring the week smoking the newest offerings from Villiger Cigars, I figured I’d continue a trend and smoke some other cigars originating from the same factory in the Dominican Republic, Tabacaleras Palma. This seems to be the hot factory these days, and they are, no doubt, making some tasty smokes. I started on Thursday with the Aging Room M356 Forte. This is a really cool shaped perfecto, measuring 5 7/8″ x 40-56-40, tapering on both ends. This is a classic, old-school shape, I like it. The M356 has a Habano wrapper over Dominican Binder and fillers and is NOT a mild cigar. As a matter of fact, every example in the M356 line I’ve smoked has given me a little bit of a butt-whooping, and that doesn’t happen to me often. That being said, it’s a terrific smoke, it burned perfectly and was loaded with rich flavor. I wouldn’t smoke these on an empty stomach! One thing that confuses me about lines which use number in their naming is that I just can’t remember them! It’s a darned good thing they put it on the bands.
Friday I finally got around to smoking José Blanco‘s new cigar, Señoreal, in the Corona Gorda No. 5 size. My daughter doesn’t buy me a lot of cigars, but she lives a stone’s throw from The Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA, I asked her to grab me a few last week. This is another cigar made at José’s cousin Jochi’s Tabacaleras Palma. When José suggests that this may be his strongest blend to date, you can take that to the bank. This is a full flavored cigar with a mix of Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos wrapped in the Ecuador Habano wrapper. This is, perhaps, the perfect size for a cigar, 5½” x 46, and was recommended to my daughter by the tobacconist (I gave her very specific direction…and that was on my list). There must be a leaf in common with the M356, becuase this cigar also threatened to put a hurtin on me, I needed some sugar after I was done. José has a winner here, his first true solo effort is awesome.
I’ve smoked a couple of the sizes of JR Cigars new brand, Black Abyss. This is a San Andrés wrapped cigar made for them by Boutique Blends/Tabacaleras Palma. This week I smoked the Hydra (toro) and the Banshee (robusto). I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this cigar from the start, and I was right. These have a down and dirty, bold sweet and earthy flavor that I really like. It’s a no-nonsense smoke, and is priced very well staring in the $3 range. Both burned perfectly, the toro I smoked on a walk with the dog mid-week, and the robusto was smoked while waiting out a thunder storm in the garage. I got a lot of pleasure form these cigars, and would probably keep some around if I had room for more cigars. I think there’s a torpedo and a 6×60 left in my humidor, I’ll be interested in smoking those to see if one size stands out over the other. I think the toro and robusto were a tie.
Last night I sat down with an Aging Room Haváo Sharp (Torpedo). I had my reservations, but I wasn’t going anyplace, so if I found another Aging Room cigar that was going to do a number on me I was ready. This line has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, although it’s by no means mild. It’s full of flavor. Actually the website lists it as “Mild Plus”, but I think it’s a pretty big “Plus”. I loved the silky, creamy smoke that poured off this cigar, and the dead even burn. One reason I despise this time of year is that it’s getting darker earlier, which makes it hard to see my cigars! In this case, I stared to get a papery flavor then realized I was burning through the band. I hardly ever do that! I thought this was a great smoke, and can’t help comparing it to the Villiger Cuelllar Connecticut Krēmē made at the same factory. Both are bolder than usual Connecticuts and both are loaded with flavor. This is a “must try”.
Here’s a video from the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival with Rafael Nodal of Boutique Blends. If you ever get the chance to meet Rafael, you will come away with the impression that you’ve just caught up with an old friend. He’s a tremendously nice gentleman.
Contest
Monday I promised that I’d select a winner today for the CAO Flathead tin sign and Flathead 554 Camshaft and Sparkplug cigars. there were some great pairings, and some of you threw my count off with replies to replies! No big deal, I can manage! So Random.org’s random number generator selected 21 out of 44 entries. By my count, Ray Holthaus is the winner! Ray, send me your address so I can pack these goodies up and send them along! I hope you watched and enjoyed the video, I thought jum and Bruce did a fine job of describing their experiences. Thanks to everyone for entering and stay tuned for more contests!
I have some yardwork to do today, and we had a PODS container dropped off so we can start getting ready to move sometime in the future! Plenty of stuff to move, plenty of weeds to pull! I’ll provide cigars to anyone who wants to help! 🙂
That’s it for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
Friday was my birthday, 51, if you’re counting, so my wife took me out to 
