Tag Archives: Stolen Throne

by | January 9, 2022 · 10:35 am

Stolen Throne War Council and Sensei’s Sensational Sarsparilla Cigars

It was implied in my last post that the Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms was among my favorite cigars of the last year, and honestly it was right there at the top. I keep going back for more of this cigar, there’s a sweet flavor that I haven’t been able to put a name to, and it wasn’t until I smoked the War Council yesterday that I think I finally am able to label that flavor. A little bit about the War Council cigar: it’s a 6″ x 46 corona extra, not a skinny toro, or whatever the site that sold them called it. Silliness. They made something like just under 1900 of these, and I was gifted one of these by Kevin and JR of Stolen Throne when I met them a few weeks ago. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, undisclosed binder and Nicaraguan and undisclosed or Honduran (sources vary), fillers. Best I can tell it contains tobacco, that’s a safe bet. It’s very good tobacco. I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that this cigar was the cigar of the year for 2021 at Kaplowitz Media, after smoking it, I don’t find that at all curious. Going back to my tasting notes, I thought it had loads of the same sweet flavor that I love in the Three Kingdoms, which I’m now going to recognize as “sugar cane”. Since my palate is less refined than most, that sweetness carried throughout the cigar for me, and was dominant, and I loved it. I find the Three Kingdoms more balanced for my palate, which is fine, it’s obviously in greater supply, but the War Council was definitely a treat! I love smoking special cigars, but I don’t like falling in love with them!  Thanks guys fr the opportunity, and I learned something from it!  

 

I made a little exception to my own rule with this next cigar, although I suppose it’s not the first time. I generally let other media entities promote their own wares, unless there’s some reciprocity. This particular cigar is now in general distribution, so I’m giving it a pass. as the post title implies, the cigar in question is the Sensei’s Sensational Sarsaparilla, which is part of the Espinosa portfolio. I picked up one of these to sample at an Espinosa event at Son’s a few weeks ago. This originated with the Cigar Dojo, who has done an amazing job with coming out with their own cigars in small batches. This is the maybe the third one that has “made it”, following Drew Estate’s Dogmas in Maduro and Sungrown. It’s pretty impressive, the only other cigar that I can think of that’s similar is DE’s BOTL (RIP TP), which, while is a great cigar, hasn’t seen the success. It’s a 5½” x 52 Belicoso, with a San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Condega and Estelí. Reading the blend, this cigar doesn’t taste anything like it should. I expected dark, cocoa/ coffee, and I got an almost saccharine sweetness. It was more of the sweetness, maybe the Sarsaparilla thing got in my head, but I got the sweet flavor through the cigar. Not that it was a bad thing, it was just not what I expected. It was another good cigar from La Zona, and a lot of my favorite cigars are/were made at La Zona (for other people, ie: La Sirena, the former Cornelius and Anthony and Arandoza). 

 

That’s all for today. The new e-mail alert system should work on this post! I’ve been working on it for a week and hopefully I’ve just about got things ironed out. When it works like I think it will I’ll kill the Feedburner e-mails so everyone doesn’t get two! Fingers crossed again, thanks for your patience, and there’s two of you who may have gotten both e-mails last week! until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

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by | December 5, 2021 · 10:05 am

Crook of the Crown, Triqui Traca, and Room 101 Cigars

As the holidays and year end gets closer things seem to get busier. As I mentioned in last Sunday’s post, I went to Son’s Cigars and hung out with the crew from Stolen Throne Cigars, less brand-owner Lee Marsh, who’s wife has been expecting their son to be born any day and felt that being five hours from home would be less than prudent. What a wuss. 😀. I got past the initial disappointment, and hung out and smoked cigars with them, and my friend Greg, whom I’ve known since high school. I smoked another Three Kingdoms Toro, and a Crook of the Crown Robusto while there, and during the week I smoked a Crook of the Crown Toro. These are some outstanding cigars. The Crook of the Crown has a San Andrés wrapper, and is exactly my kind of cigar, it’s down and dirty, reich and earthy, but I think I like the Three Kingdoms a little more! I love the sweetness it has. They both have a place, and I think I smoked more of those two cigars last week than I’ve smoked any one brand of cigars in a week in a long time. I just got hooked on them. Great stuff from the Rojas factory in Esteli. I’m still looking forward to meeting Lee, I’m told there will be another event in the Spring at Son’s, hopefully he doesn’t have another lame excuse! Meeting Kevin, JR, and Josh made up for his absence. 

 

I know a lot of seasoned cigar smokers like smaller cigars, and I do consider myself a seasoned cigar smoker. Heck, I’ve been smoking cigars for 25 years, that should count, right? I actually prefer larger cigars, smaller cigars don’t satisfy me. There are times, however, when time doesn’t allow for a larger cigar. If I don’t have 45 minutes, Im just not even going to have a cigar, if I have 45 minutes to an hour, I figure I can squeeze in a petite corona or a short robusto or one of the smaller formats. Such an occasion presented itself Friday. My youngest son (27), graduated from Nursing school Thursday evening, so we celebrated Friday evening with a family dinner. I snuck in a Montecristo No. 5 which I had purchased at the Duty Free in the Rome airport back in 2018 when one could do such things, before dinner (which was a very nice little cigar) and then when everyone had gone, I sat down with the new Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca 448. Steve (who still hasn’t shared my Stillwell posts, while sharing everyone else’s!) had given this one to me when we saw him in South Carolina a few weeks ago, it’s basically his regular production version of the Firecracker, which was the genesis of the Triqui Traca blend. This is a bold little smoke, and there’s really nothing unsatisfying about it. It’s got some pepper to it, along with the espresso that I love. It’s definitely the Mi Querida on steroids, and I love it. I was afraid that smoking it as late as I did would give me problems, as sometimes happens (trouble falling asleep, weird dreams, etc), but I was OK. If you loved the Firecrackers and can’t get any more, this is a reasonable alternative. If you never had the Firecracker, and like small, delicious cigars, you’ll like this one.

 

I like listening to podcasts, and one of the ones in my rotation is the A Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Ironically, there’s a cigar store called Cigar Hustler, and the guys on the Podcast are also involved in the store, one of them even is one of the owners! I suppose this helps to avoid trademark infringement. It was on this show where I heard about the Room 101 Who Shot Ya, which is an exclusive for Pospiech, which is, ironically again, owned by Mike Szczepankiewicz of the aforementioned Cigar Hustler. I saw these on the counter at Son’s and had to give one a try, or a shot, I guess. Like the Bangarang, which is the other non-Powstanie cigar in their portfolio, it’s also a pretty strong cigar, and starts with a heavy pepper flavor. It’s a well behaved torpedo, it burns well and was a nice smoking experience throughout the 5″ x 52 of the cigar. The components of the cigar are not disclosed, but it tastes good, definitely worth a “shot”. The podcast is fun too, I recommend it, and Mike and Mike are nice guys, I’ve met them, and they’ve met me!

 

Wednesday I posted the link for the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa, so get in on that if you would like to!  I need  to get a few giveaways together for the holidays I suppose, I have a few goodies laying around! That’ll do it for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

 

 

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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 | August 18, 2021 · 9:30 pm

Patina Habano and Stolen Throne Call To Arms Cigars

Last weekend when I stopped by Son’s Cigar Lounge I picked up a few cigars I hadn’t smoked before. Even though they are still filling the humidor (it turns out my guess of 15% of capacity in Sunday’s post was spot on as confirmed by Vince), they have an impressive selection of boutique cigars. I bought some Patina Habanos, having not had that before, and having recently enjoyed the Maduro. These are made in the same factory that Dunbarton’s Mi Querida and Umbagog are made. This cigar has an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania fillers. This cigar is another example of a cigar that I enjoy in the Habano over the Maduro. There is a sugary sweetness that that I really enjoyed throughout this cigar. This is definitely an enjoyable cigar that I quite enjoyed.  I’ve been hearing about this line for a while on the Sultans of Smoke podcast, on which the brand owner, Mo Maali is one of the hosts. 

 

Tonight I smoked a Call to Arms Robusto from Stolen Throne Cigars.  I’ve smoked the Crook of the Crown on several occasions, I was always drawn to the San Andrés wrapper on the Crook of the Crown, which is delicious, but I haven’t seen the Call to Arms until I saw it on Saturday. Of course, I picked up a couple robustos. The Call to Arms has a Sumatra wrapper, with Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I like the wrapper slightly closed over the foot of the cigar. I went into this cigar with an idea of what I thought I should be tasting, always a mistake. I didn’t get the sweetness I wanted, but it was a good smoke. It was on the earthy side, I suppose, and it burned perfectly. I have another one to which I will pay more attention, as I was involved in conversation while smoking this one. I certainly didn’t not like it, it was a perfectly good cigar, but I’m leaning toward the Crook as far as personal preference goes. 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 4, 2021 · 10:07 am

A Plasencia Cigars Sampler and the LouLiga Lounge Grand Opening

At the end of last year when everyone was posting their top ten cigars of the year, I, being the rebel, posted my top cigars I hadn’t smoked yet. A little bit of me did it to test Halfwheel’s Consensus process, to see how closely they paid attention, and it appears they either do, or I’m just that far under the radar any more, I have made appearances on the consensus in the past though when I’ve done a list. Anyway, I had said that I hadn’t smoked any of the Plasencia Alma series last year, so I ordered a nice sampler from my friends at Fox Cigars, and smoked them this passed week. I had smoked the AlmaFuerte Sixto II not long ago and was thrilled to get my hands on another one. Somehow getting one as a part of a sampler felt better than buying one at

the store for $22, and I don’t see the sampler listed anymore, and I forget what I paid for it. It was five cigars, the Alma Fuerte in Robustus I and Sixto II, Alma Del Fuego in Concepciòn Toro and Candente Robusto, and an Alma Del Campo Tribu Robusto.  I always joke that these are named after my grandmother, Alma Vanderslice, but I’m sure that’s not the case. I quite enjoyed the flavors in all of these, although I thought the Alma Fuego was just too darned strong for me, that is to say I became tired of it being so strong by the end. The Del Campo seemed to be to more medium bodied to me, and all three were excellent examples of Nicaraguan cigars.  They all had rich dark tobacco flavors, with the Fuerte especially having a slight sweetness on the lips pre-light. The weird thing was that, and it might have been the weather or something unrelated, but I got migraines each night after I smoked one of these. Probably a coincidence, as I’ve smoked plenty of Nicaraguan puros before without issue, and gotten plenty of migraines before without having smoked Plasencia cigars! Anyway, Thumbs up on both Plasencia cigars and Fox Cigars for exceptional customer service! 

 

Yesterday I took a drive into the Fishtown section of Philadelphia to visit the grand opening of the LouLiga Cigar Lounge. If you follow cigars on social media, I’m not sure how you could avoid having heard about this place, or at least it’s owner, Luis Rodriguez. Luis has been a long time cigar ambassador, and had realized his dream with this new lounge in a very cool area in the city. It’s in the same block of buildings as The Fillmore, which is a music venue, The Punch Line comedy club, and Philadelphia Distilling, with the Rivers Casino and Convention Center more or less across the street. When I arrived, the place was packed. To be honest, if I hadn’t seen my old friend Antonio Lam (Reinado Cigars, watch for his new cigar, the Grand Apex), I probably would have bought a handful of cigars, snapped some pics and gone home. However, I lit up a Stolen Throne Crook of the Crown Toro and hung out with Antonio and his fiancé for a few hours.

The Lounge is nice. The air handlers work well, it has an industrial feel which is consistent with the building. The furniture is comfortable, there’s plenty of TVs and the humidor is huge. While the humidor shelves were fairly sparsely stocked, what was there was very high quality and fairly pried for a city location. Luis knows his stuff and is very in tune with the boutique brands. I’m not sure how this will relate to the casual, fresh out of the concert, distillery, comedy club, etc, patron who is stopping in for a cigar and know Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta and Cohiba and that’s about it, but it’s going to be a great place for cigar geeks. Luis was an excellent host, greeting everyone who came in warmly. When I got home I tried one of Luis’ own cigars, from an undisclosed, yet prominent, factory. It was quite good, a robusto with some spice in the beginning, and some floral near the end. It’s certainly a place to visit if you find yourself in Philadelphia. 

 

That’s all for today. It’s the Fourth of July, so, as with every year, it’s also my wedding anniversary (34), so I’ll be finding something good to smoke. Be careful out there!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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