Tag Archives: Stolen Throne

by Craig Vanderslice | October 6, 2024 · 9:29 am

Jaime Garcia, Kristoff and Stolen Throne Cigars

Once again I picked up some new-to-me cigars at various shops. I can’t quite remember why, but I stopped in to the Cigar Mojo shop nearest to me and came across the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Suceser, which I initially misspelled, my mind saw the english version, which is “successor”. From what I can devine, this comes in two sizes with two different wrapper, which is interesting. I got the 6″ x 56 Toro with a Sumatra seed wrapper and there’s also a 6 1/8″ x 52 Torpedo which has a Habano seed wrapper. I have to hunt down a torpedo, I guess. I was unable to find any more information about the blend than that! I recently smoked the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial and was really into it, this was a very different cigar. I found it to be very spicy, much more so than the Broadleaf counterpart. The spice held on throughout the cigar. I liked it well enough, but I think I’ll stick with the Broadleaf, but I still want to try the Suceser Torpedo.

I’ve been hearing about the Kristoff Guardrail for quite a while and finally picked one up at a Cigar Cigars shop a couple towns over. I went there to meet a guy who wanted me to try out some Dominican cigars that he has an idea that he wants to import and give a go at selling. Young guy, filled with optimism…I’ve got my thoughts on the cigars which I’m going to share with him, but I’m not sure how to tell him it’s probably nore a great idea. Anyone in the industry want to offer this guy some advice? Anyway, the Guardrail is an homage to Kristoff’s owner, Glen Case, having a horrific motorcycle accident returning from a charity ride on a rented Harley. He was banged up pretty good, and we’re lucky he’s still with us (he’s genuinely a very nice man). This was the 6 ½” x 56 Matador size, has a Brazilian Maduro wrapper, bindier from the Dominican Republic and fillers from the Dominican Republic & Zimbabwe. I’ve honestly smoked more Zimbabwe tobacco in the last few weeks than I have in my life (and that could be said if I had only smoked one cigar with that tobacco, and I’ve smoked this and the CAO Thunder Smoke). This has a hint of the mesquite flavor that the CAO had, not as prominent bu there, along with some sweetness from the Brazilian wrapper. This was very nice, I’d smoke it again.

In another recent shop visit, this time the Wooden Indian, I got a couple of the new Stolen Throne Argos, this one is 6″ x 52 with a pigtail cap and a semi-closed foot. This is an interesting project with started as an exclusive to Winston’s Humidor in Midlothian, VA, with proceeds going toward animal rescue organizations. I don’t know if this is still the case, but knowing Lee Marsh as I do, I wouldn’t doubt that it is. Lee hates that I love the Three Kingdoms and Crook of the Crown, but am not a fan of the Call to Arms and Yorktown Fleet, the latter of which is growing on me. I think this Argos falls somewhere in between. It has a sour note that I find in the Yorktown, perhaps that’s the “roasted oranges” that is mentioned on the website (one roasts oranges?). I also got some leather and some dry baking cocoa sort of flavor. I found it enjoyable, and very much appreciate Dave at the Wooden Indian for hooking me up with these. I just wish these had bands, maybe whip something up on a laser printer or something? 🙂

That’s about all I have for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Argos, cigar, CIgar Cigars, Cigar Mojo, cigars, Guardrail, Jaime Garcia, Kristoff, Reserva Especial Suceser, Stolen Throne, wooden indian

by Craig Vanderslice | June 2, 2024 · 9:52 am

Crook of the Crown, Romeo y Julieta, Villiger Limited Release and Silencio Cigars

I had last weeks cold kicked by Monday, but it seems to have come back a bit. I haven’t had a cold this bad since I quit smoking cigarettes (and had sinus surgery) back in 2007. Anyway, I didn’t have any trouble tasting this week, not that I have the greatest palate anyway, but I know what I like. I think Lee Marsh of Stolen Throne Cigars is still mad at me because I didn’t really like the Yorktown Fleet (although I admit it’s growing on me, I’m due to pick up another one and try it), but I hope I redeem myself a little here. I picked up a few of the new Stolen Throne Crook of the Crown 5th Anniversary cigars this week, and had to smoke one right away. I’ve been a fan of the Crook since the first one I tried, so I was excited to try it in what they are calling a Corona, but I’m not sure on what planet a 6″ x 46 is a corona. Gran Corona, perhaps, but a corona is 5½” x 42. It’s too long to be a Corona Gorda. Whatever it is, I like it. It has a Pigtail cap, a partially closed foot, with a San Andrés wrapper, Indonesian binder, and Nicaraguan fillers, made at the Rojas factory. This one has the same Cocoa and spice as its namesake, with a little more focus given the smaller ring. Burn and draw were perfect, this was an amazingly good smoke.

Thursday I lit up the Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Nicaragua Midnight Twist Toro that was handed to me at the Smokeonos event by Charlie Watson of Altadis USA. I don’t have a great track record with Altadis Cigars, many of them just don’t appeal to me. The exception is those that are made by AJ Fernandez, almost universally. The Reserva Real Nicaragua line is made by AJ Fernandez, and I like it. I quite enjoyed the regular Reserva Real Nicaragua and really liked this one. It’s a 6″ x 54 (also comes in the “Love Story” 4½” x 46 perfecto size), with a barber pole wrapper consisting of Nicaraguan Habano & Maduro leaf. It has the same binder and filler as the Reserva Real Nicaragua, which, you guessed, is Nicaraguan. I almost liked this more than the Crook of the Crown…almost. This is a rich and decadent cigar, I got some creamy cocoa and spice. It was really good and I want more. To be fair, if it just had a maduro wrapper, and wasn’t presented as a barber pole, I’d probably like it, but obviously they can’t call it Midnight Twist if it doesn’t have the contrasting wrappers. I believe I enjoyed the Twisted Love Story too.

Also at the Smokeonos I spoke with René Castańeda of Villiger Cigars, who handed me this Villiger Limited Release No. 39 Torpedo. I can’t find any information about this cigar, and my message to René went unanswered. I will update this post when I get a reply. My assumption is that it’s made at the Villiger de Nicaragua factory, which I also assume is a subfactory within the Joya de Nicaragua factory. I also assume that this is a Nicaraguan puro. I can only find info about a No. 29, and a No 41, no No. 39. I was really hoping to hear back from René. One thing I’m not going to assume is that I really liked this cigar, and the fact that I may never find another one is disheartening. I took limited notes as I was enjoying the cigar too much (OK, I always take limited notes). I liked the Chocolate and spice I got, it was really nice. The torpedo shape was well made and it had a good burn and draw. I was quite happy with this cigar, it was a nice way to wrap up the work week.

One of my favorite Saturday afternoon activities is sitting in my screen porch and watching TV with a cigar, after all the chores are done. Yesterday it was “Clarkson’s Farm” season 3, the first three episodes. Jeremy Clarkson is a hoot. Anyway, I chose one more cigar that I was handed at the Smokeonos, a Silencio toro. This is a cigar that Sean Williams, Cohiba brand ambassador, uses as his calling card. Silencio is also the name General Cigars/STG uses on the Cohiba line in Europe, as they can’t use Cohiba there. The cigar has a Nicaraguan wrapper, a Cameroon binder, and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. I found the smoke to be rather drying, which is odd for me. It seemed leathery with some interesting spices. I felt like this would sit well with a European palate for some reason. I always like seeing Sean Williams, he’s just about the nicest guy you’ll want to meet, and he’s cooler than the other side of the pillow. If you see him at an event, maybe he’ll give you one of these. I enjoyed it, but I like the Cohiba Riviera more!

That’s all for now. Please take notice to the Daily Deal graphic on the left sidebar courtesy of Panacea Cigars. It changes daily, and there’s always something good offered. They are great cigars, I might have one today! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, cohiba, Crook of the Crown, Midnight Twist, Reserva Real, romeo y julieta, Silencio, Stolen Throne, Villiger, Villiger de Nicaragua

by Craig Vanderslice | October 8, 2023 · 11:00 am

More Stolen Throne Cigars, a New West Tampa Cigar and a Big Sky Mad Minnow

This is going to be a wierd Sunday post. I started out by getting some more Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet cigars in both the Torpedo and Robusto sizes because I got some flack from last week’s post. If you’ll recall, I wasn’t a huge fan of the Yorktown Fleet, while being a huge fan of Stolen Throne’s three Kingdoms and Crook of the Crown. I like the Three Kingdoms so much that I said it was one of my favorite cigars of 2021. Look, not every cigar is right for everyone, and I certainly do my best to try to like every cigar I smoke, and find the good in everything, and there’s a lot of good things to say about the Yorktown Fleet cigars. While they don’t have a flavor that appeals to me, they burn perfectly, and I smoked all of the cigars beyond the band, the last two, a robusto and torpedo side by side. That’s right, I smoked two cigars I didn’t particularly like back to back, just to make sure. Just so it’s documented that I tried my best to like these cigars. Buy one and try it for yourself.

Friday evening my wife and I took our granddaughters to the Cirque de Soleil show that was in town, so we got home kinda late. It’s fun to experience things through the eyes of children, the Cirque show was good and the Chocolate fondue beforehand was fun as well! This was the perfect opportunity to have the Big Sky Mad Minnow before retiring. This is a small, 4¾ x 44, salomon (not salmon…Big Sky has a fishing thing going on) or perfecto cigar. It’s got a Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I’ll be honest, I was a little disappointed at first, because the draw was terrible, but I understand the shape of the cigar, and waited it out and it opened up after it got past the taper. This turned out to be a tasty little smoke, not to be oversmoked, lest it turn bitter. I ended up getting nearly an hour out of this little bugger, with some cocoa and pepper and a little hint of caramel flavors. This was a nice way to end a nice day.

From time to time knowing people has it’s upside, like when a friend shares something new he’s working on before it hits the market. I believe this is going to be the next release by West Tampa Tobacco Co., and he didn’t tell me I couldn’t talk about it, and he talked about it when he was at the New England Cigar Expo, so I’m going to tell you what I know about Boliche. This was a 6″ x 60 cigar, with a dark wrapper. It’s on the savory side, which makes sense since the name comes from a Cuban style of roast beef. This is being made by a yet to be named factory, maybe not in Nicaragua, I’m actually thinking it’s in the DR, just a feeling. From what Ricky says it’s going to be a limited run of 500 boxes of 50 and will be released at the March PCA show. It was a tasty cigar, once again, I find myself preferring more sweetness lately, something I haven’t been getting this week, but I certainly look forward to hearing more about this new cigar! It would surprise me if anyone else posted anything about this cigar yet!

Finally, in the Sunday blog post about cigars I didn’t like (kidding, sort of, it’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that they don’t suit my preference. They are all perfectly fine, high quality cigars, worthy of your time, money and consideration), I smoked a Stolen Throne Call To Arms Corona. More of a lonsdale, this is 6″ x 46, which is a really nice size, has a Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan fillers and binder. This is similar to the Yorktown, which has a Maduro Sumatra wrapper, although it isn’t all that dark, and I don’t get the sweetness I like in a maduro. I smoked this to test a theory, and I proved myself right. I’m not a big fan of the Call To Arms either. I generally like Sumatra wrappers, I’m not sure what it is that doesn’t hit me right with these. It’s OK, I’m not upset, I don’t feel cheated or anything, there’s an ass for every seat, or some such nonsense, and Stolen Throne has two seats for my ass. I think Lee Marsh would rather I love two of his blends and not care for two, than just like all of them, at least that’s the way I’m going to spin it to him when he gives me crap about this…Probably going to smoke a Crook of the Crown today.

That’s more than enough for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Big Sky Cigar Co., Boliche, Call to Arms, cigar, cigars, Mad Minnow, Stolen Throne, West Tampa Tobacco Co., Yorktown Fleet

by Craig Vanderslice | October 1, 2023 · 10:21 am

Brick House, West Tampa, Big Sky and Stolen Throne Cigars

I got a bit of a late start on Bricktoberfest, thanks to our friends at UPS, and maybe the weather. Every year (at least for the last 6) the folks at J.C. Newman celebrate Oktoberfest (which runs from September 21 through October 6ish I think) with a special release of their Brick House cigar. This is presented in a toro with a pigtail cap and is in boxes of ten. If you go to a participating retailer and buy five of any Brick House cigar you can get a really nice Brick House Pilsner Glass. I really like the 2022 version of this, and I haven’t had a chance yet to smoke the two side by side. The 2023 version has a rosado Ecuador Habano wrapper, and is supposedly blended to pair with an Oktoberfest style lager. I’m far too far removed from beer consumption to know if that’s true, might be. On it’s own it’s a solid cigar, if the Brick House blend is up your alley, and I like the Brick House line. I’d love to see this offered with a Broadleaf wrapper one year, beer guys, back me up, would a maduro go well with a dark beer? The Bricktoberfest is a tasty Nicaraguan cigar with some unsweetened coffee cocoa notes. Very nice.

Thursday evening I visited the CigarCigars store in Downingtown, PA, not far from where I lived when I started CigarCraig.com. Speaking of beer, those familiar with craft beers will know the name Downingtown as the home of Victory Brewery. I used to work in the adjacent building and would smoke cigars and drink root beer at their bar once in a while. Of course, that was over twenty years ago when such things were allowed! I stopped in the shop because they were hosting Rick Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco Co. for the evening, and I try not to miss an opportunity to see my friend Rick. I bought a handful of West Tampa Red, Black and White, but I wasn’t allowed to smoked any of those, Rick had a West Tampa Red Lancero for me. Last December when I saw him in Tampa he gave me the White and Black blends in the Lancero format and you might recall that I thought they were spectacular. Considering I’m a big fan of the Red in the traditional sizes, I had high expectations. In this case, I’m not going to say that this was a better expression of the Red blend than the Toro or Robusto, it’s different, as the Toro and Robusto are different from one another. It was a spectacular cigar, and if these ever make it into the wild, give them a try.

I’m getting to the end of the Big Sky Cigar Co. Samples, I’m down to the small ones now, and I’m smoking the Yellowstone, which is the Ecuador Connecticut wrapped robusto in the portfolio. I’m on my second one this morning, I smoked one yesterday afternoon and was quite happy. This has the lighter wrapper over some heavier Nicaraguan binder and fillers, so it’s not without flavor. The literature lists it as mild, but I don’t think that’s the case, I find it to be medium. There’s some spices, pepper especially through the nose, and solid cafe con leche. Oddly, as I’m writing, and smoking the Yellowstone, I’m listening to Frank Zappa’s Montana, and the Yellowstone River, for which the cigar is named, runs through Montana, though those dental floss plantations, no doubt. I’m happy smoking this cigar on a Sunday morning with coffee.

Finally, I happened to be in Havertown, PA yesterday and stopped in to the Wooden Indian because I saw that they had received a restock of the Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet, and I’d been wanting to give that cigar a try. Something makes me think there’s a tie in to Stolen Throne Cigars and the Yellowstone TV show, someone is going to have to let me know if I’m thinking of something else. Not that it has anything to do with anything, just popped into my head. I don’t think it’s a secret that the Crook of the Crown and the Three Kingdoms are personal favorites of mine, and I need to smoke more of the Call to Arms to form an opinion. I do like a Sumatra, and the Yorktown Fleet is a Maduro Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler, although the wrapper isn’t overly dark. I hate to criticize my friends at the Wooden Indian, but they need to put these back in the humidor as opposed to having them on the counter by the register, as I feel like the couple I bought were on the dry side. I am going to reserve judgement on this for when my remaining examples have some time in my humidor (internal moisture content read a little lower than I’d like, measured after smoking one). I didn’t find the flavors to be what I expected. Construction was perfect, and I look forward to smoking it again when it’s had some time, and I might look for the Robusto in another shop. I know Lee Marsh pretty well and I’m reasonably certain that what I smoked last night wasn’t his intention. Of course, my palate might have been out of whack too. I’ll come back to this one.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Big Sky Cigar Co., Brick House, Bricktoberfest, cigar, cigars, J.C.Newman, Stolen Throne, West Tampa Red, West Tampa Tobacco Co., Yellowstone, Yorktown Fleet

by Craig Vanderslice | July 20, 2022 · 6:18 pm

PCA 2022: Stolen Throne Cigars

Continuing along with the video interviews I did at the PCA show, here’s a few minutes with Lee Marsh of Stolen Throne Cigars. This was my first time meeting Lee in person, I’ve talked to him via video chat plenty over the last year, but our paths finally crossed in the physical world. You may remember that one of my favorite cigars of last year was the Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms, and it remains amongst my favorites. I need to get more! The Crook of the Crown is tasty too. I sampled the new Phantom Queen at the show (while recording this video), and it was really good. I don’t gravitate toward Connecticuts, but this one had some oomph and was very tasty.