Tag Archives: romeo y julieta

by | September 27, 2020 · 10:34 am

Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Nicaragua and Bellas Artes Maduro Cigars

I mentioned that I picked up some new-to-me cigars recently, and one of those was the Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Nicaragua in the 6″ x 54 toro size. I can’t say as I’ve really taken to a great many Romeo y Julieta cigars, although I do recall enjoying the Reserva Real line the most. I have enjoyed a few of the newer RoMEo blends, although none were particularly mind-blowing for me. As with many cigars in the Altadis portfolio, it seems that the ones I’m drawn to are the ones that come out of the A.J. Fernandez partnership. There are some exceptions in the Montecristo line, but the only H. Upmanns I really like are the A.J variety, and this new Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real, blended by Rafael Nodal and Abdel Fernandez really hit my palate right. This is a Nicaraguan puro, made with tobaccos grown on A.J. Fernandez farms. It’s a beautiful looking cigar, milk chocolate colored wrapper, perfect draw and a solid ash. It was a pleasure to smoke. It kind of has a bready, sweet flavor, with some spice. It’s reminiscent of the Reserva Real, with a Nicaraguan spin, and I like it a lot. It’s a $9 cigar, and it wasn’t that long ago that I’d bristle at spending that much on a cigar, now I do it without much thought. Weird, huh?

 

Yesterday I had the occasion to visit one of the several local CigarCigars stores, this time the one in Downingtown, PA. Beer fans will know that name as the home of Victory Brewery. It’s the town I lived in when CigarCraig.com launched in 2009. Anyway, my friend Kevin,  who had been the manager of that store, was celebrating his retirement, passing the reins to Tom, and they were having a little celebration. I stopped to pay my respects. They also had an A.J. Fernandez event, ironically, so I bought so more AJF cigars. I finally, after many years, met Art Toll, who is one of the owners of the CigarCigars empire, and we had a nice chat, I even got some inside info. More on that as it develops. We’ve “known” one another for many years, but hadn’t met in person. This is not uncommon in the virtual world, I “know” people for 20 years that I haven’t met yet. Anyway, one of the cigars I picked up was the Bellas Artes Maduro in the Short Churchill size. Saka’s Short Churchill is a Robusto or Hermoso sized cigar, where this one is a 6″ x 48 thin toro, or fat lonsdale. Maybe it’s a long, fat gorona gorda, heck, I don’t know what it is, Saka has a 6″ x 48 in the Umbagog line he calls a Corona Gorda. It’s a good size whatever you call it and this one was delicious. Brazilian Matafina wrapper over a San Andrés binder with Nicaraguan fillers. This is my kind of cigar, deep, rich chocolate flavors, with some pepper. Delicious cigar. Of course I’ll miss hanging out with Kevin at the shop, and I’m sure he’ll have a wonderful retirement travelling the country. 

 

Have you ever lit a cigar and struggled to get smoke, but when you blow through it smoke billow though it like a california wildfire? That pisses me off. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 1, 2020 · 9:34 pm

Best Cigar Prices Grand Exhibition Cigar Line

After my recent visit to the Best Cigar Prices shop up in Drums, PA, Jason there sent me a few of their latest exclusive Altadis series, the Grand Exhibition line. I figured I’d give them a smoke this week and see how they were. Here’s what he wrote about them on the BCP site:

 

Cigars have been showcased at World’s Fair Exhibitions dating back to the 1800s. Commonly featured in the agricultural exhibits of various nations, these displays often gave the public their first look at real tobacco leaves, demonstrated the care and expertise involved in crafting fine cigars, and were even judged and awarded medals based on quality and workmanship. Indeed, the same passion and pride of cigar making that we know today was in full force at these international conventions held hundreds of years ago.

Paying tribute to the historic presence of cigars at the World’s Fair, The Grand Exhibition cigar line presents three opulent Nicaraguan blends from a trio of the most well known and respected brands in the world – all of which were once celebrated at World’s Fairs. The celebration now continues in your humidor with the introduction of the world-class flavor of Grand Exhibition cigars.

 

I decided to start with the H. Upmann Grand Exhibition Toro. As a general rule, the regular Altadis H. Upmann line is not a flavor profile which aligns well with my own preferences. This is made in Nicaragua, and is listed as a Connecticut wrapper, which is very dark for a Connecticut shade leaf. It’s certainly Connecticut shade and not broadleaf as it has a very clean appearance, and tastes nothing like broadleaf. The Toro is 6” x 50, and was well made, with a free draw and perfect burn. It had the classic H. Upmann flavors of the Upmanns I remember from years ago when I smoked the brand. There was a slightly sour, leatheriness that some folks love, but isn’t among my favorites. It wasn’t totally off putting, and the smoking experience overall made up for the flavors not being totally up my alley. For a cigar in the $6-7 price range, it’s a good buy if you’re an H. Upmann Fan. Anymore, the only Upmann I really enjoy is the newer H. Upmann by A.J. Fernandez.

 

Next up I smoked the Romeo y Julieta Grand Exhibition Magnum. This is the 6” x 60 Gordo in the line. These are also made in Nicaragua with a Habano wrapper, and are priced in the $7-$8 range. I haven’t smoked Romeo y Julietas in a while, save for the infrequent RoMEo, so nothing really to compare this to. Again, the construction was perfect. I’m one of the odd ones who doesn’t mind a cigar of this size, and it performed very well. It was very flavorful, rich, creamy smoke with nice tobacco flavors. It has some of the spice and sweetness I like and was enjoyable to the end. I was quite pleased with the RyJ.

 

Tonight I smoked the Montecristo Grand Exhibition, which is the premier offering in the Grand Exhibition line, carrying the highest price tag. They are in the $9-$10 range. The Montecristo also has a Habano wrapper, and is made in Nicaragua. Again, excellent construction, perfect burn and draw, an absolute pleasure to smoke. I smoked the 6″ x 52 toro, and I love toros. I have a feeling that Jason at BCP knew my Toro preference when he chose the cigars to send. It should be noted that all of these are available in Robusto and Churchill as well as the Toro, with the Upmann and Romeo lines having a 6″ x 60 Magnum and the Montecristo substituting a No. 2 Torpedo. The Montecristo had a really nice, well balanced flavor. I nice spice, some sweetness, and on the stronger side of medium. It was certainly my favorite of the three, although all were very good. I followed it up later with an Espada with a few years age on it with was also very nice, and compared favorably. 

 

Thank you to Jason for sharing these fine cigars with me! If you find yourself in Drums, PA, which is near Wilkes Barre, you need to stop in to Best Cigar Pub for a bite and a cigar. It’s a great place and they have a great selection of cigars. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

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by | April 23, 2017 · 10:43 am

Romeo 505, Gispert Intenso and a Foundation Cigar Event

I went to a couple of events this week, although both visits were brief.  Thursday I stopped in to my local CigarCigars shop, which is on my way home and just about 2 miles from my house. Since it was before dinner, and while it takes five minutes to get home from this particular shop at five o’clock on a weekday, it takes practically a half an hour to get there since all of the rush hour traffic is headed west bound. This is one of the main reasons I chose the location of my new job last year, the commute is awesome.  Anyway, they were having a RoMEo 505 event at the shop with the local Altadis rep, and when I saw this displayed at the IPCPR show last year I was RoMEo_505_Piramidesintrigued and disappointed that there weren’t samples! Astute observers of my smoking habits will note that I don’t feature a great many Altadis cigars here, mostly it’s because there aren’t many that I like, quite honestly. I really wanted to like the RoMEo Añejo, but every one I smoked had a terrible draw, and I haven’t found an H. Upmann that I really liked in 20 years. I love the Henry Clay Tattoo and Stalk Cut and a couple of Montecristos, but I haven’t had good experiences with the new Yarguera (technically an Upmann, I guess. Anyway, I keep trying, and I picked up a few sizes of the new RoMEo 505, another Añejo, a new Gispert and Steve, the manager at the shop shared a new Upmann made by A.J. Fernandez that is on the schedule for this week (I’m not entirely sure it’s on the market). I immediately went home, grabbed some dinner and hit the streets with a RoMEo 505  Piramides, a 6 ½” x 54 figurado. 505 is the area code of Nicaragua, I can think of at least two other cigar lines that have used telephone area codes in the naming of cigars, but, heck, cigar names are tough to come up with. This is a Nicaraguan puro made at the Placencia Factory in Esteli, with Habano wrapper, binder and filler from Jalapa, with additional Habano in the filler blend from Condega and Esteli. The choice to wait until I ate was a good one, as this was a pretty heavy-duty cigar! it was aggressive with a load of sweet spice and earthiness. This was a cigar that is up my alley!  I enjoyed the crap out of this cigar, and look forward to smoking it again. This isn’t probably going to appeal to the typical Romeo y Julieta smoker, but it certainly will appeal to someone who loves strong, bold cigars. My gut instinct last July was right, this is a cigar that captures my interest.

 

Gispert_Intenso_BelicosoFriday I had to try the Gispert Intenso Belicoso with its dark and oily broadleaf wrapper calling to me. This is another collaboration with A.J.Fernandez, who seems to be making great cigars for just about everyone! Gispert is a very old Cuban brand name going back before the revolution, but was phased out over the years. The Altadis Gispert line was a milder cigar in my recollection, but this Intenso version is not. I found another Altadis cigar that’s very much to my liking. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. This actually reminded me a lot of the previous RoMEo 505 in its boldness, and sweet spice. I loved this, it burned my fingers, and  for a cigar in the under $7 range, it’s a big winner in my book. Whattaya know, I’m two  for two with Altadis cigars! Last time that happened was when I smoked the Henry Clay Tattoo and Stalk cut back to back to see what the difference was (I think the Tattoo is richer due to the higher primings used, otherwise they both use the same tobacco varietals and are fairly close, I like them both). So the Gispert Intenso weems to be another winner…it’s got a nice box press too.

 

TabernacleYesterday we happened to be attending an Earthday event right near the Wooden Indian Cigar shop in Havertown, PA, where Nick Melillo was visiting with his Foundation Cigar Co. brands. I bought a few Tabernacles and El Güegüense, and sat down with a Tabernacle Torpedo for a bit. I picked up some El Güegüense in lancero and short lancero, the latter of which was a BOTL.org exlusive. The Tabernacle is another A.J. Fernandez collaboration. featuring Connecticut Broadleaf which Nick is famous for using in his days at Drew Estate where he created the Liga Privada series for Steve Saka. The little 4½” x 52 torpedo is a heater! Rich, sweet broadleaf goodness with some power behind it. It’s unfair to make comparisons, but one can’t help putting the Tabernacle and Steve Saka’s Mi Querida on the same playing field, and they are both terrific. I’m quite happy to have a handful of Tabernacles in my humidor now, yet another cigar that is everything I want in a cigar, great construction, beautiful presentation, great taste and overall experience. It was fun catching up with Nick at the event, I think I’ve known him for about fiver years, and he’s a terrific cigar maker and a fun dude. Twin Engine Coffee was also represented and paired well with the Tabernacle. Another high quality event by my friends Dave and Dan at the Wooden Indian!

 

Don’t forget to circle back to my last post and enter the contest to win some cool General Cigar Co. Goodies!  Also, please keep one of our readers, Patrick, in your thoughts as he goes through some medical stuff over the next few days. He always signs his comments with the tag line “Life is Good”, and we want that to remain true for him!  That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | May 31, 2015 · 9:02 am

Rocky Patel Super Ligero, Oceano, Nomad, and Romeo y Julieta Cigars at Mojo

Another week in the books. Last weekend turned bad with the new dog, who had to go back to the SPCA on Tuesday. It got the point where she was in attack mode whenever she saw another animal, and that can’t be allowed.  So I took tomorrow off so we could have a weekend “do-over” and my wife and I are headed to the shore for some walking on the boardwalk.  I have to pick out a few sure thing cigars to take along, as I’ve had a couple disappointments this week. What wasn’t disappointing was yesterday’s lunch with my wife at the Flying Pig Saloon in Malvern, PA. Naturally, I have a bit of a Flying Pig attraction, and this place is decorated with a ton of different flying pigs. My wife had a Havana sandwich, which was pork and peppers and pickles on a ciabatta roll. I had the Cheesy Pig, bacon, ham cheddar and blue cheese in a triple decker grilled cheese/club sandwich format. Both were delicious, and they had ginger beer by the bottle! (for the beer drinkers, they also have what seems like hundreds of craft beers on tap and bottled). I should have followed that up with my last Liga Privada No. 9 Flying Pig, but by the time I got around to having a cigar, I had forgotten.

Flying PIg SaloonCheesy PigHavana

 

RockyPatel_SuperLigero_ToroAfter the mayhem of the weekend, I found relief with a new-to-me cigar from Rocky Patel, the Super Ligero. I’d been hearing a lot about this cigar, and the band is certainly a bit different for RP, almost, dare I say, new Camacho-esque.  Whatever band is on it doesn’t matter, this is a really tasty smoke, and right in my wheelhouse. It’s not overly powerful, as the name could imply, Super Ligero is the actual name of the leaf, not a description of its nicotine content. The cigar burned and drew perfectly, had a wonderful rich coffee, spice and cocoa flavor.  I smoked the toro size, it seems to be a very common size for Rocky’s cigars, but I really am on the look out for the lancero.  Whatever you might think of Rocky Patel cigars, this one is a winner and one I’ll go back to regularly. It wasn’t priced too bad either.

 

Oceano_IndianOnce again, in response to a reader question, I revisited the Oceano Indian this week. Lonnie smoked one that was included in his contest winnings a few weeks ago and found it to be spicy and stout.  This cigar is made for La Sirena by the Quesadas in The DR, and it is definitely a strong cigar.  It’s certainly got some spice, and some chocolate notes, but still has a but of creaminess. I have had this example in the cabinet for a few months and it smoked perfectly. I really need to get some more of these, it’s a darned great cigar, but I haven’t really had any clunkers from La Sirena yet.  I featured this in one of my Prime Living Magazine articles last year.

 

Nomad_S-307_ToroI grabbed a Nomad  S-307 toro for a walk this week. I seemed to have accumulated a handful of Nomad cigars for some reason, and have them on the top tray of one of the desktop humidors, so they are staring me in the face every time I open the lid. So, being that I’m basically lazy, I grabbed the S-307 and went on my way. This cigar is made at the AJ Fernandez factory in Esteli, and has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers. This was Fred Rewey’s first full production Nicaraguan cigar and he really nailed it. If you like cigars from AJ Fernandez, you are sure to enjoy this one. It’s sweet and spicy and a real treat.

 

Romeo AnejoThursday we went down to Cigar Mojo in King of Prussia, PA for a Romeo y Julieta event hosted by Altadis‘ rep Tom Stroud. This is the second time in a week we’ve gone to one of Tom’s events. Considering I’ve not had a strong focus on Altadis products over the years, this is something unusual!  As usual, I purchased a handful of cigars, Romeo’s and Vega Finas, mostly, and decided to give the RoMEo Añejo another try, this time in the toro vitola. We sat in the outside seating area as we had brought Macha along. I still need to revisit this cigar, as it really didn’t burn as well as I’d like. It was a bit over-humidified. It was a muggy day, and the cigars were out in the lobby, not in the walk-in humidor, so that may have had something to do with it. Cigars usually burn perfectly right from the Mojo humidor, and the Vega Fina Nicaragua I tried to smoke last night just smoldered, didn’t produce any smoke unless I really puffed on it, and pissed me off to the point where I chucked it before the half way point and lit up an Alec Bradley Nica Puro. I VERY rarely give up on a cigar like that, but life’s too short to waste an hour fighting with a cigar…I digress.  The RoMEo Añejo wasn’t as bad an experience as the VF, and both show a lot of promise in that what flavors I did get tell me I’d really enjoy the properly performing versions. I’m really excited about the Romeo/Aging Room collaboration that should be in stores soon too.

 

That’s it for now, gotta get ready to hit the road. Don’t forget to go back to yesterday’s contest post and enter (maybe read the review too!). Those Toscano Modiglianos are darned tasty cheroots! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | May 24, 2015 · 8:53 am

Montecristo, Romeo and H. Upmann, and Goose’s Cigars Anniversary

imageIt’s been a nutty week. I planned on posting something mid-week, but time got away from me. Then, yesterday we went to our local SPCA to donate some old towels and stuff, and ended up adopting another dog.  I’m already doubting the wisdom of this, but apart from having to break up a bit of an incident last night, I’m sure it will work out OK.  Cherry is a very sweet brindle pitty, and we have a lot to work on.  Most of the time, Macha seems to like having a playmate, but they need some apart time now and then.  It’s part of the experience I guess. Our SPCA is not a no kill shelter, so seeing this sweet, beautiful dog had been the longest resident got to me and made me do irrational things. No excuses for not taking evening walks now!

 

GoosesHumidorWednesday evening we went to Goose’s Cigars in Limerick, PA to help them celebrate their 5th anniversary. It had been a while since I visited Goose’s, and I was surprised to see the humidor vastly expanded. It used to be a rather small, U shaped arrangement with a door on either end, with the area outside of that having tables and displays of gift sets, specials and samplers.  They’ve walled off the whole area and taken the glass out of the old humidor making a huge walk-in humidor that has all of their stock. It was a great improvement.  They also have a imagelarge Vape and Hookah selection, as well as RYO tobacco at the far end of the store, making it a full service tobacco store.  The Montecristo Lounge was the focal point of the anniversary celebration, with the local Altadis rep, Tom there, as well as his boss, Paul.  I chose the occasion to purchase some cigars from the Altadis line that I hadn’t smoked yet, and lit up the Montecristo Espada Guard, a 6″ x 50 toro. This is a unique Montecristo as it’s made in Nicaragua by the Placencias from Nicaraguan tobacco, all from 2008, 2009 and 2010, from Jalapa, Ometepe and Condega (it’s a bit confusing, they list a image“Habano Jalapa Viso Ometepe Vintage 2008” in the filler on the website, perhaps someone from Groupo de Maestros can clarify that!). I don’t smoke a great many Montecristos, for no other reason than I just am busy smoking so many other great cigars that I forget to get back to the traditional brands.  This Espada was really nice, and a special smoke. It was sweet with a bit of spice and quite a good cigar, and, you know me, it should be for the price. I splurged because it was a special occasion, and have no regrets. Happy Anniversary to John, Joanne and the gang at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge, nice to see things constantly improving!

 

imageOne of the cigars I picked up at Goose’s was the H. Upmann The Banker Annuity,  a 6″ x 52 Toro with a very annoying, yet visually attractive paper sleeve. I say it’s annoying because as I was removing the cigar from the cello the paper sleeve and bands stayed with the cello and tore the wrapper near the head. Way too many bands and wrappings for my tastes.  The cigar had a very loose, open draw, and burned quicker than i’d like. However, the flavor was very nice, a bit of coffee and old baseball glove.  I’m glad I got two of them so I can see if I have the same experience.  The website says that the blend is a recreation of the Upmann brothers blend from 1844, which seems like some marketing nonsense to me, but, once again, I invite the Groupo de Maestros to weigh in!  A quick website complaint, since I’ve referenced two Altadis brand websites already, is that they don’t have the sizes listed anywhere. I had to use retailers websites to confirm sizes and names, mostly because I was too lazy to make note of them at the time I smoked the cigars. I think a brand’s website should be a one stop shop for all the information about the cigar, blend, sizes, whatever. Things like this get under my skin!

 

CasadeMontecristo_ExclusivoJohn Giese gifted everyone at the anniversary event one of the Montecristo Casa de Montecristo cigars that only are sold at Montecristo lounges. I’ve had the pleasure of smoking this cigar on one occasion before, and really enjoyed it. It’s not a small cigar, it’s a 6″ x 60, which came out in June of 2014. It’s got a nice, Ecuador Sumatra wrapper and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers and burned really well and was quite tasty. It’s rich and smooth, and not anywhere near as mild as the typical Montecristo.  Quite good, and worth a try if you happen to find yourselves in a Montecristo lounge. I’m fortunate to have two within a short drive.  Both this cigar, and the following cigar have black and silver bands that are very difficult for an amateur like myself to photograph.

 

RoMEo_Anejo_RobustoI took both dogs for separate walks yesterday, and on the latter walk I smoked the RoMEo Añejo robusto, which I had purchased a few weeks ago at another local shop.  This is billed as an aged version of the RoMEo, with a 2010 Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. This has been sitting on the top shelf of the cabinet for a few weeks, where the humidity is slightly lower, but it still burned like it was a bit damp, needing to be re-lit a couple times. It was very flavorful, and I dig the broadleaf, so I imagine one of these that behaved itself would be pretty darned good. I’ll have to pick a few more up to see, and I don’t think they were priced unreasonably.  Good smoke, when it was working right, and lots of potential.

 

I’m going to wrap this up as we have a day full of dog acclimation.  They have taken to rough housing, and we need to break that up quick. I also have some yard work I want to get to, and I’d like to get my annual walk at Valley Forge Park in this Memorial Day weekend, which I find to be inspiring.  Of course, I smoked a bunch of other great cigars this week, the Sindicato Maduro Churchill I smoked on one of yesterday’s many walks was quite good, as well as a great Foundry Worm Hole Hell-E-IN and an Alec Bradley Maxx Connecticut.  It’s the start of my favorite time of year, and while I’ll miss having a pool this summer, it’s going to be a good year with lots of great cigars!

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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