Tag Archives: Saint Francis

by | November 12, 2023 · 10:45 am

Trash Panda Connoisseur Club Over-Runs, All Saints and Micallef Cigars

I had a little different idea about how this week’s smoking was going to go.  I got one each of the Connoisseur Club Over-Runs from TrashPanda, which are on sale for a ridiculously low price, by the way.  These came with the caveat that they needed to be dryboxwd, as they had been sealed in the humidibags for several years.  I opened them out and left them on the desk for a week (I think the house has been around 52% RH this week) thinking they would dry down sufficiently. The Foundation Lonsdales did, the Aganorsa Robustos did not, so you’ll have to wait until next week to read about that cigar and how there;s some left!  I can tell you that the  is quite a treat, and if you don’t go to TrashPanda.com and pick some up you’re foolish (and there’s nothing in it for me, at $25 each and buy one, get one, there’s probably not much in it for Kevin either!). the cigar is  6¼” x 46, has a Habano Nicaraguan grown wrapper, Habano Ecuador binder and fillers from Estelí and Jalapa. This is going to be a great cigar for the holiday season, because it has some really interesting warm spices, kinda like mulling spices.  I thought it was very unique and delicious, and quite different from what Nick usually does.  Maybe it’s close to something he’s come out with in the past two years that I haven’t gotten around to smoking? For $2.50 each you can’t go wrong, you might need to beat me to the checkout.  I might note that TrashPanda is transitioning away from selling the rare and vintage cigars, and moving toward selling their own branded lines, so there are some great deals to be had all over the site. Again, nothing in it for me! (I just placed an order…as if I need more cigars…)

 

I’ve probably said this before, but I find that I have to talk myself into going out after a long day at work.  I get home, eat dinner, and I just want to grab a cigar and retreat to the peace and quiet of my porch and enjoy that cigar for an hour and a half or thereabouts. Friday evening I had some choices to make, and I talked myself into heading to the Wooden Indian to celebrate All Saints Cigars 4th anniversary with Micky Pegg. When I arrived, Jim from Great Cigar Reviews was several hours in to his live podcast, which I assume was streaming on Youtube?  Micky threw me to the wolves and sat me in front of the mic and Jim and I had a nice chat for a while. I had decided early in the day that I was in the mood for a Saint Francis Churchill, which was a motivating factor in going, I’ll admit.  The cigar, as always, was delicious, it’s probably my favorite in the line.  I came to be in possession of the new Solamente, which is going to be an annual release. I think I have one of the originals still in the humidor someplace.  This is a 5″ x 58 cigar in the round, where the majority of the All Saints line is pressed.  The Solamente comes in a box of 23, next year’s will be in a box of 24, and so on. How’s that going to work going into 2030?  This is a $20 cigar, box buying is going to get a little cost prohibitive as the years progress.  Anyway, I smoked it yesterday as I wanted to smoke it on a fresh palate. This. has an Ecuadorian Habano oscuro wrapper with Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers.  I found this to be on the leathery side of the flavor spectrum, with some coffee notes, with a nice burn and draw.  It was a fine cigar, but I’m in love with the Saint Francis and it’s hard to get me off that one right now, it suits me perfectly.  It was fun hanging with Micky, I look forward to smoking the All Saints Collection Plate (my suggestion, doubt he’ll remember!).  The Wooden Indian always has great events, they have a great staff and Dave, the owner is among the best guys around.

 

Of course, Micky Pegg wears two hats, when he isn’t a co-owner of All Saints, he’s the president of sales for Micallef Cigars, and I picked up a couple of their new  toros as I’d been hearing good things about them. When it turned out that the Aganorsa Connoisseur Club  cigars were still too wet to smoke, I grabbed one of the Micallef Black Toros to smoke last night.  The first thing I notice when doing some background research on their website is that the have the measurements goofed up on this cigar. It’s 6″ x 52, not at all 5″ x 62 like the website says. Perhaps they should fix this.  This has a San Andrés wrapper, Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers.  This is a cigar that appeals to me.  The construction was perfect, it was a good, solid maduro cigar with a nice chocolaty flavor, and it was just a good cigar at a great price. I don’t know what more to say about this that hasn’t already been said by others, I’m late to the game, but it’s good, and at $8 it’s great, can’t go wrong if you like nice, medium bodied, sweet, earthy maduro cigars. 

 

That’s all for today.  I figure I should get the temperature i n the room about doing a Secret Santa again this year.  I’m fairly sure I know one person who will be interested, but who else would like to get in on a cigar exchange?  Let me know in the comments.  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | May 15, 2022 · 11:11 am

Cohiba Serie M, ATL Black and All Saints Cigars

Another exciting week! I rather expected an avalanche of press releases from Drew Estate after the event Thursday. I expect a bunch in the coming week. Of course, I smoked a bunch of cigars this week. One of my favorites was a La Sirena Trident, which  I think is one of the best cigars out of the La Zona factory. I smoked one of the new size of the Cohiba Serie M this week, which they are calling a Corona Gorda. It’s actually 6½” x 48, so I don’t know what else one would call it, but I do like the size. I didn’t mention it when I wrote about the initial release in the 6″ x 52 shape, but I had some technical issues with the ones I smoked that were frustrating. Burn and draw types of issues that were not typical of cigars made at El Titan de Bronze from what I know, I can only attribute the problems to storage somewhere along the line. I still have a couple in deep storage to smoke sometime down the line. This smaller size was outstanding. It had the same woody profile, with some sweetness, and a sophistication that should come with a cigar priced where this is priced. This is what the press release said about the blend:

 

Crafted according to old-world techniques and featuring a double binder, closed foot and triple cap with a signature fan, Cohiba Serie M is a medium-to-full-bodied cigar brimming with depth and character. Made with exquisite, aged tobaccos, the cigar is enveloped in a lustrous Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, a first for Cohiba. The binder is Nicaraguan and the blend features hand-selected Nicaraguan Jalapa and Esteli and Dominican Piloto Cubano tobaccos.

 

It’s a tasty cigar, and a good looking cigar too. I’m fortunate that I was given samples to try, because I personally would have been scared off by the price tag, but that’s just me, I’m a cheap bastard. I was really pleased that it burned perfectly and I had a great experience smoking it. very pleasurable.

 

Another pleasurable cigar I smoked this week (I try to reach 100% pleasurable cigars if at all possible!), was the ATL Black in a torpedo format. This is a 6″ x 52, with a San Andrés wrapper. these are made in the Pichardo factory, where they made their “Magic”, which I thought was excellent. I think a recent change, something makes me think these were originally made by Martinez in New York. I never sampled the original, so I can’t be certain of that. I like Martinez cigars. I also apparently like Pichardo cigars, because I really liked the ATL Black Torpedo. It was quite a bit different in flavor that I expected from a San Andrés wrapper maduro cigar. It was a meaty, savory tasting cigar, as opposed to a sweet maduro. This entertains me. As much as I have a sweet tooth when it comes to cigars (not only cigars), I like a nice, tasty surprise. I don’t like bad tasting surprises, but I like good tasting surprises like this one. Quite yummy. If you don’t know much about ATL cigars, I spoke with Leroy at the TPE show, the video is here.

 

I spent Friday evening hanging out with Micky Pegg of All Saints cigars and smoked a Dedicación Mitre that he handed me that was very good. Micky is introverted and quiet…I lie, he’s quite the opposite. As long as I’m linking back to TPE content, my video with him is here. I’m going to intentionally leave out where I hung out with Micky, and there will more on that at a later date. Let’s just say I won’t be giving a certain place any more free advertising here. Last night I smoked my favorite cigar in the All Saints line, the Saint Francis Churchill. This box pressed 7″ x 48 Ecuador Oscuro wrapped cigar is like smoking desert. I actually smoked one Friday night, and one again last night. Such a great smoke. Micky actually told me that he blends to the Churchill size, which is a bit unusual, but explains why I tend to like that size in his line the best across the board. I suppose it helps that I like that size cigar! The Saint Francis was one of my favorite cigars of last year, and remains a favorite. Big fan.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | January 23, 2022 · 10:08 am

All Saints Saint Francis Colorado and Black Label Intergalactic Cigars

As I’m preparing to head out to the TPE this week, I was rummaging around for something new to smoke and coming up with nuthin. sure I have a couple things I haven’t smoked before that are about two years old, but they hardly qualify as new. I have a lot of cigars I love to smoke, a lot of cigars that I’m just kinda holding on to for my retirement stash, but I need to sprinkle in some new stuff to write about, right? So I stopped by Son’s again, because they are close by, have a great selection of the newest releases, and take great care of me. A few weeks ago Mickey Pegg mentioned to me someplace that he had to get me his new Saint Francis Colorado, so I picked up a few of those in the toro size to sample. Of course, the original Saint Francis placed high on my pseudo-list of 2021, if I were to put a number to it it would be a solid number two. That doesn’t sound right, but I’m going with it, it’s something we all aspire to. The All Saints Saint Francis Colorado toro is a 6½” x  52, which isn’t uncommon for Toros made at Rocky Patel’s factory. This cigar has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, obviously not fermented to an oscuro like the original, and the Nicaraguan fillers were tweaked, so it’s a slightly different blend that the former. I thought it had a sweet cream flavor, and it was very good. Maybe milder than the Oscuro, which packs a punch, and perhaps better suited for earlier in the day, which is when I smoked it. While my palate prefers the Oscuro, it was still an excellent cigar which I would go to over a great many other cigars. I suppose I’ll see Mickey at the TPE and tell him what I think!

 

A couple weeks back I posted the press release about the Black Works Studio Intergalactic, so I picked up a couple of those in the Corona Larga size.  I love a Sumatra wrapper, and I enjoy the Black Works cigars generally. Seemed like a safe bet. To recap, this has a Dark Sumatra wrapper, Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers, and comes in the Corona Larga and Robusto sizes. I picked the Corona Larga on a whim, it looked good. This cigar had a great burn and draw. The flavors included some spice, sweetness and earth, all very nice. Another really good cigar from Black Works Studio. I don’t see BLTC on the exhibitor list for the TPE, they were there in 2020. I guess I won’t visit them there!  

 

That’s about it for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

  

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by | January 2, 2022 · 10:01 am

New Year Cigars: EP Carillo, Rare Pink and an All Saints Saint Francis

Happy New Year to everyone! As CigarCraig.com enters it’s 13th year I hope to continue to bring you the same level of rambling nonsense you’ve come to expect from me! If all goes to plan, I will be attending the Tobacco Plus Expo in Las Vegas in a few weeks, so that should bring some exciting content (I hope), and maybe some insight into what’s coming up down the road.  I can’t say I’m excited to be getting on a plane, but it’s a necessary evil, I suppose. Anyway, 2022, huh? Crazy. 2021 went by in the blink of an eye it seems, not a great year for a lot of people, pretty good for some. As is my custom, I try to smoke some good cigars through the New Years “holiday”, so I dug out some special ones.  New Years Eve I came across a cigar that had been gifted to me a while ago by a friend in Florida who I hope is doing OK. This was a E.P. Carrillo 10 Year Anniversary Limited Edition Perfecto.  These are 6½” x 56 perfectos that came out in 2019 in a box with 10 each of the La Historia blend and the Encore blend, of which this was the latter. I believe the Encore blend is a Nicaraguan puro, made in the DR. It’s an excellent cigar, somehow it avoids being a heavy Nicaraguan cigar, sure it’s a bit earthy and peppery, but there’s a light citrus that’s sophisticated and delicious. This was a good choice for the last cigar of 2021. Make no mistake, I was asleep by 10.

 

New Years Day I decided to get the year started off with the Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Signature that I bought when we went down to South Carolina a few months ago. Technically the name for this is line is the Rare Pink Vintage 1960s Series, and uses the same molds as the Hemingway line, with a couple exceptions. It’s my understanding that some proceeds benefit a breast cancer charity, never a bad thing. I’ve always liked the Hemingway Signature size, it’s practically a Corona Gorda in a perfecto shape, 6″ x 46. Let’s face it, once the  nipple burns off it’s 5 5/8″, a traditional corona gorda. This certainly didn’t taste like a Hemingway, lacking the Cameroon wrapper (or broadleaf, they are a treat!). It has a rosado wrapper from Ecuador, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers from the best I can tell.  I thought it had an interesting sweet spice that set it apart from other cigars. The burn meandered a bit in the first half, but evened out in the second and was perfect until the end. I’d smoke another without hesitation, but I wouldn’t chase them down or pay more than MSRP for them, but that’s me. 

 

I’ve mentioned before that I toss around the idea of making a top whatever list of favorite cigars of the year. I decided that my ego doesn’t require the stroking of those who make the list, although I guess that’s a little cynical on my part and perhaps my readers would like to know what cigars I found worthy over the last year. I probably don’t have to summarize for my regular readers, but some notables over the last year were the Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms, Undercrown 10, La Sirena Mexican Mermaid, Casa Cuevas Patrimonio, Partagas Decadas 2021 and this cigar that I smoked last night, the All Saints Saint Francis. I smoked the Churchill, which I like a lot, it seems the Toro was The Cigar Authority/Two Guys Cigar of the Year, which is a pretty cool thing for Mickey Pegg and his partners. The Saint Francis is a stellar cigar, it’s rich, decadent, delicious. It’s desert. If I were making that list, it would have been tough to decide if the Saint Francis or Three Kingdoms were on top, hey are both cigars that if I have them in my humidor, I’m smoking them. I can’t wait to try the Saint Francis Colorado, although the bar is set pretty high.

 

One housekeeping note. I have changed the email subscription service I’ve been using for updates from Feedburner to Mailchimp because Feedburner is no longer supported, has become unreliable and may just go away at any minute. Today will be the first test to see if/how it works. I’m hoping for the best. There’s a new subscribe button on the left sidebar of the site if you’d like to receive e-mail notifications when the site is updated if you don’t already. I never share the e-mail addresses, I’ve been asked, the answer is always no. EDIT: I’ve deleted Mailchimp as the email that went out didn’t have any content and it didn’t look like it was going to suit my purposes. I’ve decided to try a WordPress plugin that looks like it should work, we’ll see the next time I post! PLease bear with me while I work this out.  That’s all for today, happy 2022! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

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by | August 15, 2021 · 10:33 am

A Padron Damaso at Diner en Blanc and a Couple of New All Saints Cigars

Thursday evening my wife and I attended the Philadelphia Diner En Blanc, which is a large, organized pop-up picnic of sorts. This is something that happens in cities all over the world where everyone has to wear white, bring their own tables and chairs and a picnic dinner, and meet at pre-arranged spots in the city where they guide the groups to a “secret” location. It’s usually a historic landmark, in years passed it was Philadelphia’s Boathouse Row, City Hall, and the Art Museum steps (think “Rocky”). We’ve been doing it for the last several years and it’s a hoot, and, of course, I work cigars into it and I try to make appropriate choices. This year I packed my travel humidor with the Macanudo Inspirado White Robustos that I had gotten for the event two years ago (of course, last years was canceled), and left said travel humidor at home. What a dunce. Of course, I didn’t realize this problem until we had finished eating. Fortunately, the secret location was Rittenhouse Square in Center City Philadelphia, and I realized in time to walk 2 blocks to Holts. Of course, the only cigar they had with “white” in the name of the cigar was the Montecristo White, which is one of the few cigars I actually dislike, and just about every cigar with a white band is a Connecticut shade. So I went with some Padrón Dámaso No. 8s since I had not smoked the Dámaso yet amazingly enough. There have been venues in the past where smoking was a problem and this one was not one of those venues, and the folks around us were very cool, so I was able to enjoy that Dámaso comfortably seated at our table. It was quite warm, high eighties at night, so we weren’t wandering in the crowd (3000 people, limited by the pandemic, it’s been upward of 6000 in the past), or dancing or anything, and I really enjoyed the cigar. It was very rich in flavor, the cocoa one expects from a Padrón, with the creamy, nuttiness of the shade wrapper. It was perfect for the occasion! I’ve actually grown quite apathetic where Holts retail store is concerned, but them being there saved the day for me! 

 

I received a message a few days ago from Mickey Pegg of All Saints Cigars that he left a couple cigars for me at the new Son’s Cigar Lounge in Exton, which is up the road from me. Funny thing is, Mickey would have pretty much driven past my house going home from Son’s, but he doesn’t know that, and I appreciate it because it gave me an excuse to stop in to see Vince and Brian now that the place is actually open. They still need to stock the front with accessories, and the humidor is maybe 15% filled, but they still have a great selection as it is. Mickey left me his newest cigars, which I promptly smoked. Actually, the Saint Francis looked so good I bought a few assuming I’d dig it, more on that later. I ran home and fired up the newest size of the All Saints Dedicación, the Mitre. This is a 5″ x 54 torpedo in the round, which I note because I believe the rest of the vitolas are box pressed. It has a San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers and is made at TAVICUSA. I cut this to leave about a 13mm opening, which worked well. 13mm is a guess, I didn’t measure.  This is a nice smoke, medium bodied, with a little more punch than the other sizes, save maybe the Berkey. More earthy than sweet, I enjoyed it. I like the fact that it’s named after the Pope’s hat. 

 

The other cigar Mickey left for me was the newest line in the All Saints portfolio, the Saint Francis. This is the one I picked up a few in the Toro size on speculation, Mickey left me a Churchill which I eagerly smoked last night. This has dark, oily Ecuador oscuro wrapper around Nicaraguan binder and fillers, it’s a beauty. The Churchill is 7″ x 48 and box pressed, making it feel closer to a traditional 47 ring Churchill. This is the best cigar I’ve smoked all week. My instinct was correct in buying some of these, it remains to be seen if I should have gotten Churchills, but I know where I can get them! This cigar had the quintessential flavors I love: the dark, rich coffee, cocoa, dark fruit flavors. Construction was perfect, it was, overall, an ideal smoking experience. This is my new favorite All Saints cigar, and it’s a sure thing one of those Toros will go up in smoke later today. This is on the CigarCraig recommended list, smoke with confidence. I liked it. 

 

Contest

Last week I had a contest for the Wooden Indian Exclusive Cafe Cubano LCA cigar and Coffee. I’ve consulted the random number generator and paul1954 is the winner! Please send your address! I’ll get your package out and see what else might fall in the box out of my humidor while I’m packing it up! That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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