Tag Archives: Take A Cigar For A Walk

by | April 8, 2012 · 7:08 am

Cigar Lounge Visit: Kutztown Tobacconist and Lounge, a JdN, a Nub and a Gurkha

I took Friday off to take my youngest son to Kutztown University for a tour, and my wife suggested we seek out a cigar shop for a pre-tour smoke.  I had recently bought the CigarPlaces app for my iPod Touch and it came up with Kutztown Tobacconist and Lounge, a few blocks from the campus.   We were greeted by Todd, the owner, a very nice guy. One of those people you can talk to and you feel like you’ve known them for a while.  He is just getting started with this, and he has a nice space, adjacent to a restaurant specializing in Bar-b-Que.  I’d call the furnishing “unpretentious” to be diplomatic, but he seems to be concentrating on service, the fancy furnishings will come.  As it is, it’s comfortable.  He’s in the process of getting ready to build a walk-in humidor. Currently his stock is in a large display unit that he got from Kensington Tobacconist in Reading, PA when they closed.  His stock is meager, maybe 15 or so boxes of assorted Joya de Nicaragua, Acid and Gran Habano, but he certainly has plans to expand that selection.  He sells what he likes, can’t fault him for that.  He needs to invest in some sort of signage for the outside of the building as it wasn’t readily apparent that we were in the right place (the sign in the picture was not there when we visited).

 

We had 2 hours to kill, so I picked up a Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo, a pair of Cabinetta robustos, a Gran Habano Reserva #3 on Todd’s recommendation, as well as a couple of Acid Blondies for my son and his friend.  It’s no secret that I love the JdN Cabinetta, for me it’s a delicious any-time-of-the-day cigar.  The construction is always perfect and I always anticipate getting down to that criollo part of the wrapper, and am always a little disappointed when it doesn’t want to stay lit!  Still, a great smoke and it was nice to hang out and talk to the guys at the lounge.  Todd has a great thing going, and I’m confident that he will grow and improve over time.

 

I usually take a walk down to the local convenience store on Fridays to get my Mega Millions ticket, so I grabbed a Nub Habano 460 for the walk.  I wasn’t really too impressed with these at first, but they have grown on me.  Great flavor in this one, and a perfect burn.  It fit into the allotted time perfectly. I got a couple of these at an Oliva event with the purchase of a handful of assorted Oliva cigars.  Good cigars for a walk, not a huge time commitment.

 

Saturday was another beautiful day, and after a day of yard work, and a less than ideal Flyers/Penguins game, I sat down with a Gurkha Seduction.  I really enjoy this 5″ x 55 robusto, with it’s Habano wrapper.  I think the Colombian filler gives it a little something special.  It’s a really nice cigar, try some if you come across them.  This particular specimen seemed to want to burn up one side, and required frequent corrections, but that’s the first one I can recall having a bad burn.

 

To all who celebrate, Happy Easter and Passover.  I’ll be taking some cigars along to share with family today.  It looks like the weather is going to be as spectacular today as it has been for the last couple.

 

That’s it for now. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | March 18, 2012 · 11:28 am

A Buena Vista Cigar, An Oliva at Old Havana Cigars, a Green Camacho and a Cain

Thursday evening I grabbed a Buena Vista Short Churchill that I was given by Gary Heathcott, the company’s director of global marketing  when I was waiting for a Coke at the Cigar Journal awards reception at last year’s IPCPR show.  This cigar is unique in that it’s an Ecuador Puro and it’s rolled by Cuban rollers that come to Ecuador on special visas to work in the factory.  The cigar had a stunning appearance, very smooth and even in shape and color. I grabbed this based on the size, it’s a 4¼”x 54, so it’s a short, fat cigar, and I only had an hour to smoke.   I have to say that I really enjoyed the smoke, it was good, but not as unique as I had hoped.  There was really nothing especially different about it.  It was a good tasting cigar.  I had to touch it up frequently as it wanted to burn faster on one side, but not a bad cigar.  If this is priced right, I’d say give it a try, if it’s too expensive, I’d personally choose something else based on this sample.

 

Friday evening my son and I attended and Oliva event at Old Havana Cigars in West Chester, PA.  I’ve been to several events there and it’s always pretty crazy.  Nice bunch of folks there and I always enjoy spending time with the local Oliva Rep, Mike Staiber.  I picked up some cigars and promptly fired up a Serie G Maduro box pressed belicoso. This is a cigar that I haven’t smoked many of, and I don’t know why.  It’s got a really tasty broadleaf wrapper and really hit the spot.   I also grabbed a few of the Cameroon in the same size.  For my troubles, I was rewarded with a couple free Nub Habanos (it was buy 5, get 2 free).  Lots of people buying cigars, quite a few picking up boxes and getting all kinds of freebies and swag to go along with it.  My son had a Cain Daytona in a corona size that he enjoyed as well (and is one of my favorites).  We had a good time talking with Mike (@olivastaiber on twitter.  Follow him!), who I’ve known for quite a while and is a great cigar rep and a very cool guy.

 

Of course, Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day, so that called for a candela cigar.  Several years ago I picked up a box of the Camacho Monarca Candela because I really liked them and they were a nice change of pace.  We had to go to a percussion competition at my son’s high school, in which he plays bass guitar in the ensemble, so I grabbed one of these for our walk to the school.  If you have never had a candela cigar, you should certainly try one.  It’s a different flavor, a little more vegetal or grassy, but refreshing in a way.  In this case, we have the Camacho Corojo with the candela wrapper, so it’s no slouch when it comes to strength, as many candela, or as the were once called, American Market Selection (AMS) can be on the mild side.  Astral is a cigar that comes to mind in the mild candela area, as does the Arturo Fuente 8-5-8. La Flor Dominicana and Illusione have recently put their spin on this once popular wrapper.  Anyway, this box of Camachos has been consistently loose in the draw department, so I’ve taken to punching these to make them a little better in the draw department.  Pretty strong for a noon-time smoke, but really tasty with a long finish, so long that I could still taste it several hours later after another cigar and dinner.

 

On the walk home from the event I had grabbed a Cain Habano Tubo on the way out the door, so I fired it up.  This was the 550 Cain in a spiffy aluminum tube, and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and had a mile or so to walk, so I was lamenting my decision to grab this one as I lit it up.  My fear turned out to be misplaced, because it was a damned tasty cigar!  I spent another 20 minutes with this on the porch when I got home, it was just too good to put down.  Perfect burn and draw.  Strong, but balanced and, dare I say, complex.  Every now and then an interesting flavor would dance across my palate, something I’ve missed in past Cain Habanos.  Perhaps this one was well aged, or aged better in the tube, I don’t know, but it was likely the best Cain Habano I’ve had.

I don’t usually have a two cigar day, but the weather was so great, despite it being a very busy day, I had two spectacular cigars walking to and from the high school.  The competition was excellent as well, lots of talented kids, and I’m a drum geek as well as a cigar geek, so I always enjoy stuff like that, cigars or not.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | March 14, 2012 · 7:34 pm

A Para Japon, a La Gloria, a Gurkha, a Padilla and Some News

Sunday afternoon I was remembering a year ago walking into my room at Drew Estate Cigar Safari and seeing the news coverage of the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  I decided that the lone Para Japon I had in my humidor was the appropriate cigar to smoke.  I think nearly year’s age has done this cigar well, I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Thanks to Tony at CasasFumando.com for the opportunity to try these (and check out their contests currently under way to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the site.  Keep up the good work, Tony and Daniel!).  The Para Japon was made by La Aurora with the proceeds benefiting the relief efforts in Japan.  I remember seeing a few boxes of these at Cigar-ette City in Newark, DE the last time I was there, so there may be some still in the marketplace. (late addition: Bonita Smoke Shop has them)

 

Monday I decided to walk to the shop to retrieve my car from it’s annual state inspection.  For those unfamiliar with the process, many states requite safety and emissions inspections every year in an effort to produce revenue for the state and the shops that are approved by the state to perform these inspections.  I manage to ease the financial impact a bit by having my cars inspected at the local Monro, which is attached to my local BJ’s Wholesale Club, where I work part time and get a healthy discount!  Ha! Anyway, the place is nearly three miles away, so a substantial cigar is in order for the walk.  I selected a Gurkha Cellar Reserve  Churchill, at 7″ x 54, due in part to it’s size, and the fact that my brother-in-law said that it was the best cigar he’d smoked out of a handful I had given him.  I had smoked one previously and it was pretty good, and this one was pretty good as well.  It certainly lasted to the shop, then back home for a good thirty minutes on the porch.  Burn was perfect, it could have been a little freer in the draw, but gave me nearly two hours of smoking time.  It was in the 60s and a beautiful evening for early March in PA.

 

Tuesday night I was visited by a high school buddy of mine and introduced him to taking a cigar for a walk.  Greg is a fellow cigar nut so I opened the box of La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale Cubano that I brought back from my visit to the DR and we fired them up.  This is another large cigar, 6½” x 58, with a golden Honduras/Connecticut wrapper.  These are a recent favorite and bring back a lot of fond memories of the trip where I smoked a fair amount of these.  It had been over a year since Greg and I last met up for a smoke, so we got caught up and enjoyed another terrific evening with temps around 70.  My wife teased me that it was a play date, but we just talked about mutual interests, cigars, drums, cycles, stuff like that.

 

As I’ve been typing this, I’ve been smoking a cigar that I picked up at Cigars International on Saturday.  I don’t think I’ve ever had a Padilla cigar, and the Habano Artisano intrigued me when I saw it on the shelf.  I have a hard time spending $8 on a cigar, what can I say…I’m cheap.  When I saw this cigar priced at $8 I wondered aloud how that can possibly make this for that price.  This perfecto shaped cigar starts out like any “barber pole” cigar, but they take it a step farther and adorn it with additional stripes of tobacco.  This has to be time consuming to do, and makes for a stunning presentation.  Much to my delight, it’s a delicious cigar!  It’s smooth, tasty and surprisingly even burning.  It’s nice, cool looking cigar, a fun smoke that’s tasty and satisfying!  The only complaint is that the ash is a little flakey.

 

In the News

News From the IPCPR and CRA:

Milestone Alert: IPCPR/CRA team achieves 160th co-sponsor for Traditional Cigar Manufacturing Small Business Jobs Preservation Act as Rep Jim Costa [CA-20] joins us!!

Sincerely,

Bill Spann, Chief Executive Officer, IPCPR

Please use the “Write to Congress” widget on the top left of this page and keep asking your elected officials to get behind these bills.  Our enjoyment of cigars depends upon the FDA not having regulatory control of premium cigars!

 

On a related note, I received this press release today:

Midwest Smoke Out partners with Cigar Rights of America for exceptional evening

March 13, 2012—Hammond, Ind.–Midwest Smoke Out and Cigar Rights of America (CRA) are partnering for an evening of luxury, gourmet foods, live entertainment—and of course, cigars— Thursday, April 19 from 5-10 p.m., minutes from Chicago at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino, in Hammond, Ind.Since Illinois legislation banned smoking in Chicago, Midwest Smoke Out (MSO) is the only exposition to give cigar aficionados an evening of cigars and indoor smoking. Every year, MSO provides a free one-year CRA membership or renewal with every ticket, meaning that in only a few hours, CRA gains over 1,000 members whose average income is more than $160,000. These new members are often opinion leaders in their communities.“We at Midwest Smoke Out are privileged to partner with Cigar Rights of America,” said Andrea Pearman, Creative Commander of Diversified Marketing Strategies, Inc., which organizes the event. “At a time when so many cigar smokers have to gather—literally—out in the cold, we’re happy not only to welcome them inside but also provide them with the luxury experience of the year.”With FDA regulation looming and states still legislating, MSO is a key event for CRA membership growth, though the evening isn’t all business. It’s pleasure, too, with ticket-holders having the opportunity to meet Lou Rodriguez of the eponymous cigars, Tony Gomez of La Flor Dominicana, Cigar Master Alejandro Turrent, Victor Vitale of the Cigar Agency and Clay Roberts of A.J. Fernandez. Cigar god Carlito Fuentes is scheduled to greet all ticketholders. MSO is for everyone who enjoys luxury, with attendees receiving deluxe giveaways, complimentary massages, experiencing the latest in gaming, being dazzled by live entertainment, and enjoying gourmet food, wine, beer and spirits.

For tickets (and your paid membership to CRA) contact event director Jo Sutton at jo@3dms.com or 1-888-226-0330. For more information, visitwww.midwestsmokeout.com, like on Facebook, connect on LinkedIn, or follow on Twitter at @MidwestSmokeOut
.

Join the Cigar Rights of America, write to your elected officials, and save the cigars!

 

That’s all I got, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | March 4, 2012 · 3:13 pm

A.Fuente, an Emilio and a Sunday Morning Camacho Cigar with Family

Thursday evening I found myself on the phone with Verizon support.  I had been fighting with them about the upstairs TVs that we were initially promised would work without a box, only to find that we needed a special box.  Not that $4 a month is a lot for the box, but it  was the principle of it, and they figured out a way to give me a box for free so we could have more than one TV in the house again.  I had to call to get the box activated, and had been looking forward to an evening cigar. After several minutes listening to the planet’s worst hold music, I decided to grab a cigar and wait on the porch for them to pick up.  I grabbed an Arturo Fuente Hemingway Best Seller, put the phone on speaker and fired it up.  I’ve long been a fan of the Hemingway line, at least from the Signature down, as anything larger just doesn’t do it for me for some reason.  I would have preferred a Short Story, since I didn’t know how long I’d have, but I didn’t have any on hand.  The Best Seller is a great cigar.  I love the “Camerooniness” of the line, that wrapper really really is delicious on these.  It’s not too cheap of a cigar, but I had picked a few of these up last year with a Groupon for half off, so they weren’t too bad.  I got about half way through before the representative picked up and I went inside to get squared away, which did eventually happen.  I went back out and re-lit the cigar, but I didn’t get to smoke as much of it as I’d have liked.  Still, a terrific way to temper the frustration of having to deal with phone support.   I really think they want you to hang up, but I wasn’t giving them the satisfaction!

 

Friday evening’s walk called for a good smoke, so I grabbed an Emilio AF2 BMF and my elder son and I hit the bricks (concrete mostly, but actual bricks in a few places…it’s just an expression!).  I had picked a few of these up at my local shop a few months back.  Needless to say, this is a solid cigar, and sizable at 6″ x 58, truly a big MF!  I find this to be milder than the AF1, but loaded with flavor, a little sweet, and delicious.  I blame myself for this, but it’s a much better warm weather cigar than cold, but that’s my problem.  I wanted to smoke it, and the colder weather wasn’t going to deter me.  Still a solid smoke, highly recommended by me for whatever that’s worth!

 

I had picked up an odd cigar at my local shop, JM Cigars in Exton.  It was labeled with the shop owners name, and I was told that it was made by Rocky Patel (but I bought one anyway!).  This was a 6½” x 48 cigar, with what looked like a dark Habano wrapper.  Unfortunately, it burned a little crappy and was pretty ho-hum in flavor to me.  I don’t smoke a lot of RP cigars anyway, as they don’t really suit my palate for whatever reason.  Maybe I don’t smoke the right ones, maybe the breadth of his lines confuses me and is a pit of a turn off, I don’t know.  I still like to try peoples house or personal blends, and this experience won’t stop me from picking up the occasional oddball cigar when I see one.  I was told at the shop that this batch wasn’t as good as the first batch, but just because I didn’t care for it doesn’t mean that it isn’t someones favorite cigar, and for around $4 it was worth trying.

 

Sunday morning my wife, youngest son and I went out to breakfast with my brother-in-law, who was in town visiting.  My son, Christian, recently turned 18 and has been enjoying the occasional cigar, sometimes with me, sometimes with his friends.  As can be expected from someone in his demographic, he’s been digging the Acid line, trying a few here and there.  So Christian, my Bro-in-law Jeff and I stopped at JM Cigars for a post breakfast digestif.  Jeff had asked me to recommend an inexpensive daily smoke a while back and I told him to try the National Brand robustos from Camacho, which he loves (and he’s from New Jersey, so he gets a real good deal purchasing in PA because of the taxes).  I wanted something all three of us would appreciate so I grabbed a handful of Camacho Habana Monarcas.  I’ve loved this line for years, and haven’t had one in forever. Even though I typically don’t care for Criollo wrapped cigars, this one works really well, I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.  The cigar is light enough for the novice and has enough flavor and body for someone who has a cigar or two a day or a long-time cigar nut like myself.  It was nice to sit in the lounge and chat for a while. Myson and his uncle share the rock climbing gene, so they have a lot in common, and Jeff and I are roughly the same age and have known one another for 26 or so years, so the three of us, despite the disparity of ages, were able to have a nice, relaxing hour or so with a fine cigar and one-another’s company.  It also went a long way toward aiding in the digestion of an over-indulgent breakfast!

 

News

The annual Habanos Festival just ended, and I wasn’t there.  I did notice an interesting press release about the lots in the auction that is held every year. Looks like a nice box, but the price is a little steep for me!

Cohiba Cigar Humidor Sold for 475,500 USD, Equipped With Microprocessor-Controlled Adorini Humidifiers.

Humidor bought by Italian entrepreneur at 14th Habanos Festival in Cuba. The humidor comes with microprocessor controlled adorini humidifiers, 520 Cohiba cigars, and remote-controlled hydraulic system to open the humidor.

Why the heck you’d need to open your humidor from across the room is beyond me, but it sure sounds cool!  I guess you have to let those 520 Cohibas living inside get a breath of fresh air once in a while.

 

Anyway, that’s it for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | February 8, 2012 · 7:02 pm

The Grimalkin Contest Winner Announcement, Maria Mancini and a Hoyo de Monterrey Cigars

I haven’t really smoked anything unusual this week, opting instead for some old favorites.  One of those was a Maria Mancini Robusto Larga from a couple of five-packs I picked up on a visit to JR Cigars in Whippany, NJ.  Anyone who has been following me for any period of time will know that this is a stand bye for me, if not this particular size, the marque in general.  I’ve had some of these in my humidor at all times since my first purchase of them in 1999.  They remain consistent,  usually burn well, and almost always taste great.  For a cigar that runs under $3, this is fairly remarkable.  The Maria Mancini won Cigar Journal‘s award for Best Value Honduran cigar at their award ceremony in Vegas at the IPCPR show last summer.  Great cigars for a little money.

 

Last night I need something small to just last me the mile or so walk to the convenience store and back.  I grabbed one of my favorite winter walk smokes, a Hoyo de Monterrey Sabroso Maduro.  This 5″x 40 petite corona fit the bill, loads of deep, dark flavor, well made, and just about the right size.  Again, this is not an expensive cigar, a couple bucks each by the box.  It may not be the most refined cigar, but on a cold winters night, hoofing it to the store, it satisfies.  It was a toss up between this and a Chateau Real Small Club maduro, which I really like, but are becoming quite rare.

 

Contest!

On to what you’ve been waiting for, the announcement of the winner of these super cool Grimalkin mugs, a Grimalkin robusto, and whatever else happens to fall into the box when I pack it up!  As usual, I’ve assigned a number to each comment based upon how they appear on the post, and utilized the Random Number Generator at Random.org.  The winner is comment number 9, which corresponds to George Satterfield!  Congrats George! Please send me your contact info so I can ship these goodies to you!   Many thanks to Gary Griffith for supplying these cool mugs, and making great cigars! Stay tuned, you never know when the next contest might pop up!

 

I’ll leave you with this political cartoon from a Philadelphia Inquirer in 1908.

Click to Enlarge

 

That’s all I have, so until the next time,

CigarCraig

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