Tag Archives: Son’s Cigar & Lounge

by | November 25, 2021 · 9:42 am

La Sirena Mexican Mermaid and Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms Cigars

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my readers who celebrate it! I trust that you have some excellent cigars picked out to smoke at some point or points throughout the day!  I generally smoke something special, I’ll figure that out tomorrow!  But for today I have a few new cigars I want to talk about. First is the newest cigar from La Sirena. Many of you may not have heard of this brand (you haven’t been reading here long!), or have wondered what’s become of it, it’s still around! It remains one of my favorites! I smoke the classic line, now made at La Zona, often, and enjoy many Merlions and Oceanos. The La Sirena LT is among my favorite shade cigars.  While they are hard to find, they are around, and the Mexican Mermaid is the latest addition to the line. This is a variation on the Tenth anniversary cigar that came out a few years ago (the brand launched the same year as CigarCraig.com!). I came by some samples of the box pressed Toro, which is 5 ¾” x 54, which made my day, I’ve been looking forward to trying these. These are made in Hostos Quesada’s new factory, Tabacalera La Isla, and have a Mexican San Andrés wrapper and binder, and Mexican and Dominican filers. I cut my teeth on Mexican cigars in the nineties, but this doesn’t taste like anything I remember smoking before.  The cigar has a very unique and interesting flavor, I can’t even put a name to it, but it transcends the heavy earthiness of the Mexican puros of old. It’s unique, and takes a bit of getting used to, but is a refreshing change. I can’t wait to add this to my La Sirena rotation. It’s not at all like the Tenth Anniversary in my recollection, although that is a stunningly good cigar. I wouldn’t say it’s better, but it’s different, and I like it a lot.

 

I picked up a couple of Stolen Throne Cigar‘s latest release, Three Kingdoms last weekend, ahead of Sunday’s event at Son’s Cigars.  I wanted to smoke a few before finally getting a chance to meet these guys face to face. Nothing worse than smoking the cigar in front of the brand owners and having a visceral reaction to it.  They tend to react poorly when you light a cigar and then ask the shop owner to bring a bucket 😁. I kid, that rarely happens. Still, I was anxious to smoke this new cigar with a Habano wrapper. I smoked a couple of the box pressed Toro size, of course we all know I’m grabbing the toro first. Lee Marsh, the brand owner, and blender of the line, said I have to give the robusto a try, and I have one of those, but I’ll pick another one up Sunday to smoke. I actually talk with Lee in a group video chat fairly regularly, but I haven’t met him in person. I’m looking forward to that, and meeting his team. Anyway, this is another cigar that falls into the “I like a great deal” column. This is a terrific desert cigar, it has a candy sweetness that I enjoy. I get that in some Sumatra wrapped cigars. It’s bold, without ever being overly strong. It’s just a pleasure to smoke. I’ve been impressed with the cigars I’ve smoked made by Noel Rojas, this is another one that’s really good. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  Remember, let me know if you want to get in on a CigarCraig.com Secret Santa! So far, it looks like it’s just Lonnie and I exchanging, not much of a secret, but I’m OK with it. The more, the merrier, ya know! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | October 10, 2021 · 10:39 am

Some ATL Cigars and a BLTC Event at Son’s Cigars

The title is out of order chronologically, but I felt compelled to put it in alphabetical order, regular readers will understand! Wednesday evening I went to Son’s Cigars to their Black Label Trading Company event where they were hosting James Brown, the owner of the company. You’ll notice that I’ve been frequenting Son’s as of late, it’s 8 miles from home, and while note the closest shop, certainly the nicest and has a great selection of cigars that I want to smoke. I’ve known Vince and Brian for a long time too, so I’m very comfortable there. I was surprised to find the lounge crowded, relatively. Considering it’s still only about 50% completed, there were about 25 or 30 people there, and several I talked to from out of town. I bought a few of the new Viaticum, and smoked the box pressed Lancero,  an absolutely delicious cigar with a high priming Ecuador Habano maduro wrapper. Burn and draw were exceptional and it was just perfect. I also bought the Toro and look forward to enjoying that as well. It’s bold and spicy and really quite a nice smoke. Last night I had a Royalty Robusto, one of their core line cigar that I had never had before. This has a Corojo wrapper that was very dark and oily. I smoked it late, after watching a movie, Papa Hemingway in Cuba, which I enjoyed. The cigar was bold, but not overly so. I was concerned that too strong a cigar late would cause me problems sleeping, but the cigar wasn’t an issue. It had rich flavors of dark fruits and cocoa. Delicious. Certainly a BLTC cigar I will revisit. I really haven’t come across an Oveja Negra cigar that I haven’t enjoyed, and the only reason I haven’t smoked a bunch of them has been a lack of steady supply, which has now changed. I’ll definitely be working my way through the portfolio. 

 

I recently received some cigars from the folks at ATL Cigars. While  doing some research on the brand, I come to find that ATL has something to do with Atlanta (and you really have to dig deep into Google to find anything ATL that doesn’t!), and the company is, indeed Atlanta based. I had a fortunate shortcut in my research in that the three owners of the brand were just on Cigar-Coop’s Primetime show, so I listened in my sleep and absorbed all the information through osmosis. I’m kidding, I didn’t do that. I’m only going to talk about the Libertad and Magic here, because I want to give the Good Trouble more attention.  The Libertad is made by Aganorsa, which, ironically, I had just smoked a couple of the Lunatics last week and enjoyed them. I was going to write an article about them, but I want to pick up a few more to enjoy first, because, as can happen, I got distracted while smoking the ones I had and didn’t take notes. I smoked this 5″ x 50 robusto before lunch yesterday. It has a Corojo wrapper and has a nice, woody, nutty flavor with a hint of sweetness. It’s a nice smoke and didn’t bother me early in the day. Strange things fascinate me. The menu line on their website, for instance. They have the cigars on the far right, instead of the left, as if they aren’t first thing that you’d be looking for on their site. I guess I’m weird, but when I’m parsing a site for info, I look left to right across the screen. Like I said, I’m weird and a bit of a nitpicker. Great cigar.

 

Speaking of a great cigar, the ATL Magic, is…Magical. First it’s a 6″ x 54 toro, we know this is the perfect size, right? It’s made at Tabacalera Pichardo and blended by Luciano Merielles. I have not had the pleasure of meeting Luciano yet, and I’ve only smoked a couple of his cigars, but by all accounts he’s a very nice man, and seems to be doing OK in the cigar blending department. If he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he know the right people who do. The cigar has a San Andrés wrapper, Pueblo Nuevo binder and Pueblo Nuevo, Esteli and Jalapa fillers. This Pueblo Nuevo tobacco must be the secret sauce, because there’s a distinctive and unusual flavor in this cigar, a totally yummy flavor, to use technical terms, that sets this cigar apart from any other cigar. There’s the rich, earthy cocoa from the Mexican wrapper, and the Jalapa sweetness, but then there’s a unique, exotic spice that’s super interesting and really excites the palate. Once in a while a cigar comes along like this, I remember another one but I can’t remember what it was! This is a great smoke. These guys are doing a great job for a small cigar company.

 

There was something else I was thinking of, but I can’t remember what it was. I suppose I can edit this post, or write another post if and when I remember it!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | October 3, 2021 · 10:41 am

Visits to Son’s Cigars and Famous Smoke Shop

Busy week this week!  First, some housekeeping. If you’ve been a subscriber to my email notifications, and have noticed the lack of emails over the last several months, hopefully that is at an end. Since I “upgraded” the site to SSL, to provide a secure browsing experience for everyone, Something had been broken that made the whole e-mail thing work, and I think it’s finally been fixed. Cross your fingers. I also notice there are about 78 people who initially signed up to received e-mails, but never responded to the confirmation e-mail, so they are not receiving the e-mails, and they probably think ill of me. When you sign up you get an e-mail  from Feedburner which you need to respond to to be subscribed, it’s to prevent people from signing you up without your consent, nothing nefarious! There are people who have been subscribed for over ten years, and I appreciate that! I hope it’s not filtered into their spam folders! 

 

Wednesday evening I went over to Son’s Cigar Lounge in Exton, PA and met up with Barry Stein from The Cigar Authority and 2 Guys Cigars, who was passing through. He had his wife, Heidi, along with him, I suppose to prove her existence (I kid, I’ve known Barry over a decade, he’s a good dude, and Heidi is obviously a saint). We were joined over the course of the evening by cigar company rep, an independent broker, and a major cigar company owner. There were a couple customers there too! I bought some cigars I haven’t had yet, as I do when I’m there, and their selection is growing by leaps and bounds. They have a rather large range of house blends made by Noel Rojas, and Brian, the manager there, recommended the Sumatra, which I bought and smoked immediately, being a fan of the wrapper. it was not at all disappointing, as a matter of fact, I liked it much more than the Street Tacos Barbacaoa I smoked after it. I’ll pick up more the next time I’m there, if there are any left! I also snatched up a couple of the Bangarangs, which are made by Espinosa at the AJ Fernandez San Lotano Factory for the folks at Powstanie Cigars (Pospiech Cigars). This is another cigar I should go back and buy more of. I’m to understand that they sold all of these and didn’t even keep enough to have in their own store, Cigar Hustler, in Florida. This is a very strong cigar, lots of pepper spice and nicotine. I enjoyed it, in the way one enjoys hot wings that make you sweat while your eating them. It’s 6″ x48 format, which is probably just about right, as any more would be too much of a good thing. This is a short paragraph, and I have several pictures I want to put in, so I should think of more words to say, but I have none! Oh! I know, Barry was kind enough to gift me an Aladino Box Pressed Toro, which had a United Cigars secondary band on it, so I gather that it’s exclusive. Aladinos always remind me of the old Camacho Corojos, this is no different, and the box press is nice. It was smooth, rich and full of flavor. I like these. 

 

Yesterday I took a drive up to Famous Smoke Shop as they were having an event releasing the latest Dunbarton Famous 80th Anniversary in a Robusto size. I think it’s Famous’ 82nd anniversary by now, but who’s counting. Dave Lafferty was there, and I guess that Saka guy showed up eventually. Of course, Saka was there, I’ve known him so long that I’m a little over-familial with him and people maybe mistake it for something it isn’t. So I did get to talk to Steve, mostly he asked how my family was doing and stuff friends who haven’t seen one another in a while do. I keep wanting to ask him why the hell he didn’t put the Dunbarton D on the back of the Stillwell Star bands like the Sin Compromiso and Sobremesa, so he could avoid them being put on the cigars upside-down, but I forgot again. There were other personalities there, and I met a fellow Craig who is a reader and social media acquaintance who lives a few miles away from me there. I will have to smoke the toro and robusto side by side, but I believe the robusto to be stronger. I bought a bunch, and still have several of the original toros, so I’m in good shape. I doubt they sold out, so Famous should have them available soon on their website. If I may vent, the Leaf, which is the bar portion of the Famous shop in Easton, is no longer a restaurant. They have converted the dining area to a lounge, which is OK, they didn’t really have enough lounge space before, in my opinion. My beef was that they had live entertainment yesterday (a solo guitarist/singer). It always befuddles me why places that are based around a product that is about sitting, relaxing and having conversation, and the seating area is actually designed for this, they have loud music that makes it difficult to have conversation! WHY? It’s neither fair to the patrons nor the performer, really. I don’t get it.

 

Well, that’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | April 11, 2021 · 10:49 am

Baracoa Cigars The Voyage Release Event at Son’s Cigars & Lounge

I’m fortunate that Son’s Cigars & Lounge is opening just a few miles away from me in Exton, PA, and was the location of the launch of Baracoa Cigar Company‘s re-release of The Voyage. This is my backyard, I’ve lived in this area my whole life, so I’m happy to have this lounge coming to the area. It’s not open yet, the buildout isn’t even complete, but they held the event there anyway and 30 or so people were there. A few words about the lounge, it’s going to be awesome. The humidor is going to be huge, with 2000 facings, many of which will be boutiques. The lounge will be equally impressive. I’m told it will be modelled after it’s parent, literally, Mom’s in Scarsdale, NY, as Mitul Shah is a co-owner. The store is conveniently located smack dab between two cigar stores when have been in the area for many years (I state with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek). It’ll be a destination. They are hoping for a May opening, and are shooting for two events a month, the former seems optimistic looking at the skeleton of metal studs, but things can progress quickly I suppose. I look forward to covering the opening. On a side note, two of the longest running cigar blogs in the industry were represented there, as Walt White of Stogie Review made an appearance (yours truly was the other 😁  ). 

 

I had not had the pleasure of meeting Danny Vasquez prior to yesterday’s event. He launched Baracoa Cigars and The Voyage a few years back, having the cigars made at La Aurora ( and I think he’ll agree with the way I worded that), and kind of shut it down when the FDA deeming regs came down. He took a job with RoMaCraft for a few years and then decided to relaunch his brand, taking a more hands on approach with the blending with Henderson Ventura in the DR. I picked up a sampler of the cigars, three sizes, a corona, Robusto and Toro, I assume the three sizes available, although I was negligent in verifying the details. While I was there, I smoked the Corona, 5″ x 46, and Robusto Extra, 5¼” x 52, (the Toro was really tempting!, maybe today) and found them to be outstanding. There was a cleanness to the smoke, with a bit of a citric tang, more in the Corona than the Robusto, I thought. I thought they were really very good cigars, not at all heavy on the palate, but bright, if that makes sense. I’m excited to try the Toro. I’m pleased to have met Danny finally, having heard him on various podcasts and such. He did a nice job with this cigar. 

 

Many thanks to Mitul, Vince and Brian for the hospitality. It was nice to see some old friends again, and meet some new ones. In person events have become so few and far between, I think this has been the third, maybe fourth, one I’ve been to in a year. I do recommend trying The Voyage if you can get your hands on it, great cigars!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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