We’ve had some unseasonable weather, so I figured I could sneak some larger vitolas in this week. It’s funny how we adapt to the weather. Not long ago when the temps were in the 30s I’d be bundled up and freezing. After a few weeks of really cold weather, a Sunday in the high 30s found me without my gloves, enjoying a 6×60 while walking the dog. It’s in the 50s today, although it’s raining.
Sunday afternoon I grabbed an Asylum 13 Sixty, which is a 6″x 60 cigar made by Christian Eiroa in the Nicaragua American Cigars, S.A. (NACSA) factory. I picked this up the last time I visited Light’n Up Premier Smoke Shop a few Sundays ago, I think it was in the $6 range. This was a well made cigar of medium strength with a good draw and pleasant flavor. It really didn’t stand out, but there certainly wasn’t anything negative I can say about it. It was a nice day and a pleasing smoke while the dog and I walked around the neighborhood. I ended up nubbing it and wasn’t dissapointed. Worth trying, I think.
Monday evening was getting a little warmer so I pulled a Gurkha Royal Challenge out of the samples I got at the IPCPR show. This is a nice looking Connecticut shade wrapped cigar, but as I started taking bands off of it, some of the very thin, fragile wrapper was stuck to the bands and tore a little. Obviously, this did not bode well. I figure the binder should carry most of the structural burden on a cigar, so it should be smokable with a bit of the wrapper missing. Of course, I struggled with the burn on this cigar, as well as a large stem running nearly the length of the cigar. While I really enjoyed the mild and mellow flavors of this cigar, it truly was a Royal Challenge to smoke. Chalk it up to one bad experience, it happens. It’s a cigar I’d smoke again because it was a very flavorful Connecticut wrapped cigar that had a lot going for it flavor-wise and I can’t imagine the construction problem I had was the norm.
Tuesday I grabbed another large cigar, a LegendArio Bertha from Camacho. this line has been out for quite a while and this is the first time I’ve smoked one. I purchased a couple at a Camacho event at International Tobacco in the King of Prussia Mall a while ago and decided it was time. With a Mexican maduro wrapper I figured it couldn’t go wrong. I was right, and it was a very nice smoke. I liked it. I’d like it better in a robusto, maybe. Perhaps the burn wasn’t as straight as it could have been, but it didn’t give me too much trouble and I smoked it until it was time for the Flyers game (which didn’t end as well as the cigar did!). This is a cigar that I wouldn’t mind having more of, and at around $5 for this cigar, it’s a winner. You know I’m a sucker for the Mexican maduro wrapper.
News
For those of you who like to win free cigars, check out the Super Bowl Squares game going on at StogieBoys.com. There are a few squares left so get on over and sign up.
Also, the same folks at StogieBoys.com have some other news related to this weekend’s big game:
StogieBoys.com, the nation’s fastest growing online retailer, along with Thurman Thomas Cigars, announced this week its sponsorship of the 4th annual Jaws’ Cigar Party at Vieux Bourbon in New Orleans. The party is to be hosted by Ron Jaworski, ESPN NFL analyst.
StogieBoys.com will be the exclusive cigar retailer sponsor at Jaws’ cigar party and will feature NFL Hall of Fame Running Back Thurman Thomas brand cigars. Mr. Thomas entered into a recent relationship with StogieBoys.com to create and distribute his own premium cigar brand.
The Press release is here.
In other news, Albany, NY’s PipesandCigars.com had some folks visit the Davidoff factory in the Dominican Republic recently. The press release can be found here. It sounds like they had a very educational trip!
As I’m sure you have read elsewhere, the gigantic Cigar that Grand Habano displayed in their booth at the New Orleans IPCPR show a few years ago sold recently for $185,000, marked down from $200,000. They claimed it was smokable, and had a contraption with a mess of hoses to affix to the head of the cigar so a whole mess of people could smoke it. The story is here.
Lastly, CigarFest Tickets go on sale Saturday for approximately 5 minutes if you pre-registered and are quick on the draw or camp out at one of their stores overnight!
That’s it for today, until the next time,
CigarCraig
We’ll start off the giveaways with some goodies from Gurkha. Like the other items in this year’s giveaways, these gifts were unsolicited, a random collection of promotional items I’ve collected over the years and want to share with my loyal readers. Included in the Gurkha present is a Gurkha mouse pad, a Gurkha flask, a super cool Gurkha cutter (that I’d keep if I didn’t have so many darned cutters!) and some cigars from my humidor. The cigars include a Founders Reserve from this year’s IPCPR and an East India Trading Co. Classic Havana Blend Robusto, as well as a sampler from the 2015 (I think) IPCPR show which includes Cellar Reserve 12 year (Platinum) and 18 year (Edición Especial), The Classic Cigar: Havana Blend, A Royal Challenge Maduro, a Heritage and the Cask Blend, all in, more or less, Toro-ish sizes. I’ve smoked all of these and they’re all great cigars. Thanks to Gurkha for the goodies and good luck everyone!
