Tag Archives: tatuaje

by CigarCraig | May 22, 2016 · 9:48 am

Yargüera, Tatuaje, Padilla and La Palina Cigars

I’m not going to rail on about the FDA thing, although I will continue to make comments about it. I’m afraid if I start every post with a rant it will get old and the message will be lost completely. So I’ll continue to talk about the cigars I’m smoking, even though many of them won’t be available in a few years, and the people who made them will be destitute thanks to our government’s lack of anything resembling common sense. The first cigar I want to talk about is maybe the only one that could weather FDA regulation because it comes from Altadis, the Yargüera H. Upmann in the Torbusto size, a 5 ½” x 56 short torpedo with the same cinnamon bun cap like the Toro and Robusto in the line. The wrapper is shade grown in Honduras from a hybrid of Criollo 98 and a seed that came from Cuba in the 60s. I was told when I picked this cigar up that the Toro and Robusto were perceived as better by the shop patrons, I suppose I need to try them now too. This wasn’t a bad smoke. It had some trouble staying lit, even though I had it in the humidor for about a month. It had a pleasant enough flavor, which, combined with the fact that I paid $9 and change, kept me interested. As I said, I’ll give the other sizes a try, maybe the folks at the shop were right in saying the Torbusto wasn’t as good as the others. I will admit that there really hasn’t been much released under the H. Upmann brand over the years that had really excited my taste buds.

Friday I made a momentous life decision, which I’ll talk more about as things progress. No offense, but there are a few other people I need to tell before all of you! It doesn’t involve cigars except that I wand to smoke some great cigars to celebrate. So I grabbed the Tatuaje TAA 2015 that was a generous gift from reader Dan C. I was glad to have a chance to try this cigar again. I smoked one last year right after they hit the shelves when I found myself hanging out at The Humidour in Maryland for an afternoon. I really enjoyed the cigar, but, like the Henry Clay Tattoo I smoked there, it was a little bit wet, and they were both reasonably new releases at the time. So I was happy to smoke this after six or so months rest, and I have no doubt Dan keeps his cigars right. What a perfect smoking cigar, a nice flat ember, and straight burn with an even burn, requiring no touch-ups. The flavor was wonderful, with that initial blast of broadleaf from the closed foot, through the espresso and cocoa flavors I love. The only way to improve upon this cigar would be to offer it in a double corona size, it was gone too soon. Than you again to Dan for sharing this with me, it’s much appreciated. If the FDA gets its way, no more TAA cigars. Tatuaje cigars are working their way into my rotation.

Saturday was a rainy mess of a day, so instead of napping the day away I had a cigar on the porch. I’ve been making plans to go to the IPCPR show, and I realized I still had some samples from last year’s show, so I grabbed a cigar that Ernesto Padilla gave me when I met him. Funny I hadn’t met him before, so Victor Vitale introduced us as they are good friends and make cigars in the same factory. The cigar is a Padilla La Pilar Series No. 4 Robusto, a 5″ x 54 Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapped, slightly box pressed little beauty. I enjoyed this cigar quite a bit as I sat in my enclosed porch listening to the rain and dreaming of a day with sun and warmth, it’s been a crazy spring here in PA. This cigar was well-behaved and had a nice, nutty-woody flavor. These are reasonable priced at about $5 a stick, even though it has two bands! Don’t visit the Padilla website though, there’s something funky going on there, Ernesto is a graphic guy, it’s hard to believe he doesn’t have that squared away. I linked to Famous’ website if you want further information.

Last night I lit up a pre-release cigar that Clay Roberts of La Palina Cigars gave me a month or so ago when I met him at a Wooden Indian event. La Palina has been a great friend of the site for several years, and while I haven’t smoked a bunch of their higher end cigars (because I’m a cheap bastard), I really enjoy a bunch of the “normal” priced lines, especially the Maduros. So the unbanded cigar Clay gave me is a new La Palina Nicaraguan, which, I believe, will be released at the trade show in July. I hope so, because this was a spectacular smoke. It had a dark and oily wrapper, and that’s about all I can tell you about the blend. I can tell you that it was loaded with dark flavors, the usual espresso/cocoa that I love, along with some spice and maybe some dark fruit. I can’t wait to get my hands on more of these. It will be a monumental shame if cigars like this one can’t be produced, or cost a fortune if they are, thanks FDA. This new La Palina Nicaragua was exceptional. While I’m thinking about Nicaragua, when all the people in that country are left jobless due to regulation, who do you think their government is going to turn for aid? The US, or, worse, China, who is already putting a canal through Nicaragua to compete with the Panama Canal. Should a Government Agency have the right to destroy foreign economies?

That’s it for now. I have a lot of things to worry about over the next few weeks, thank goodness I have a few cigars to distract me. We’re off the a Philly Pops show in Philly today, not sure if a Holt’s visit will be on the schedule or not, but we always have fun. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

Please, if you haven’t already, go to the following links and sign the petitions.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/do-not-enact-fdas-option-1-final-rule-premium-handmade-cigars

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/prevent-fda-overreach-and-stop-them-their-attempts-regulate-premium-cigar-industry

8 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as cigar, cigar rights, cigars, La Palina, Padilla, TAA, tatuaje, Yarguera

by CigarCraig | May 15, 2016 · 10:07 am

Another Tatuaje, La Gran Llave and Herrera Esteli and Some Cigar News

I’m going to start with this item from Gaby Kafie of Kafie Trading Co., maker of the Kafie 1901 cigars. In an effort to help the CRA fight the impending FDA regulation, which, by the way, directly threatens Gaby’s business as well as MANY others, He has created the Kafie 1901 Coffee Co.donating a percentage of each sale to Cigar Rights of America to help in the fight. Here’s the text of the press release:

KAFIE TRADING COMPANY, LLC INTRODUCES KAFIE 1901 COFFEE CO.
TO HELP SUPPORT CIGAR RIGHTS OF AMERICA.

In light of the recent news delivered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding total regulation of the premium cigar industry, our family has decided to take action, but we need your help. We cannot do this alone.

Earlier this year, we decided to introduce to market a specialty grade organic coffee from Honduras. Our family has been in the coffee business since 1933 in Honduras. Our new line “Kafie 1901 Coffee” is intended to give coffee lovers an experience like no other. Quality is our utmost focus. This Grade 1, Organic, 100% Arabic bean coffee from select farms in Honduras will be the ideal pairing for a premium cigar. We are also proud to announce that all of our coffee will be roasted and packaged in the United States, thus creating jobs here at home. As with all our offerings, we guarantee the finest quality product.

With the FDA dropping this bombshell on us and the entire premium cigar industry, our business plans have now evolved. We have taken the initiative to partner up with Cigar Rights of America (C.R.A.), under the guidance of Executive Director Mr. Glynn Loope. In an effort to protect our rights as cigar makers, brand owners, retailers, and connoisseurs, a percentage of each sale will benefit the mission of Cigar Rights of America. The C.R.A. works to protect the premium cigar industry in the United States, and throughout Central America. Now more than ever, we all need to come together and fuel this common cause.

We feel strongly that this venture will not only raise much needed funds for the C.R.A., but it will also create a greater awareness of the attack we are under. It is essential that we all unite towards this common goal.

Our coffee will be available through a participating retailers network. Inquiries are welcome. Your feedback and support is greatly appreciated.

Together we can make a difference,
Dr. Gaby Kafie
President and Founder
Kafie Trading Company, LLC

It’s very important that we continue to contact our elected officials to let them know that what the FDA is doing is over-reaching and unconscionable. They are going to put thousands of Americans out of work, and tens of thousands in Latin America. It’s unnecessary and wrong, and it needs to be stopped.

Thursday I took a half-day from work as my wife and I were going to a concert in the evening (read the review on my wife’s site here), so I selected a robusto for a pre-concert walk. I had received a great little care package from regular reader, Dan, containing, among other things, a couple of the Tatuaje Havana VI Nobles and I was itching to give one a try. First off, I’m confused as to why these aren’t listed on Tatuaje’s website, I thought this was a pretty common line, and I see them listed at all the major and not so major online retailers. I’m quite sure I’ve seen these in brick and mortar retailers too, and may even have bought one or two there. So why this line isn’t listed on the site is anyone’s guess. Whether it’s on the company website or not, it’s a solid smoke, medium bodied, delicious cigar. It had some nice Mocha notes and a little spice and burned perfectly and was a perfect accompaniment for a walk on a beautiful spring day. Thanks to Dan for sending it, and I will get to the others very soon!

Friday I dug into some samples I received from Michael Argenti recently, samples of his new line, La Gran Llave. according to a Cigar Aficionado article from February announcing the line, the blend consists of a dark Mexican San Andrés wrapper, an Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers. These are made at the AJ Fernandez factory, and, quite frankly, they look like cigars made there, and that’s not a knock. The torpedo I smoked was beautiful, box pressed and pretty flawless. I was actually surprised to read that it had a San Andrés wrapper, which I read after smoking it. It didn’t look, feel or really taste like a San Andrés wrapped cigar, and I can usually pick that sort of thing out, or, I should go look again. It was a great tasting cigar, a little coffee, some woody notes, a very enjoyable smoke. It was a quality cigar, and I look forward to further exploring the blend.

Yesterday I selected a cigar that’s exclusive to Tobacconists Association of America (TAA) from Drew Estate, the Herrera Esteli TAA Exclusive. This is a 6″ x 52 size which is a common vitola with Drew Estate, and is Willie’s first cigar with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, and has a Brazilian Mata Fina binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I’ve enjoyed the Herrera Esteli line in the past, it’s an elegant blend, very refined and flavorful. The addition of the Connecticut Broadleaf gives it a meaty flavor, at least on first lighting, which was unexpected. I lit the cigar and it took me a while to figure out that It had a flavor quality like a grilled steak. Very interesting. It burned well enough, although it hit a stretch in the middle where it took some effort to keep burning. It could have been that there was a lot of moisture in the air since it just rained, or a void, but I don’t get a lot of problems with Drew Estate cigars. It was odd, but easily overcome and didn’t negatively impact the experience. There’s now two TAA cigars I’d pick up (no TAA stores around though!), and I’ll revisit the other one this week hopefully. Another good one from Willie Herrera and Drew Estate.

That wraps this weekend’s post up. I received some other press releases, but everyone else posts those anyway, there was new information from Córdoba & Morales Cigars, Gran Habano, Schrader Cellars and Fratello. I hope the fact that I rarely post the press releases doesn’t stop people from sending them! It’s just that a bunch of others already do it. If you want me to post that information, I’ll work it in, just let me know

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

6 Comments

Filed under News, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigar rights, cigars, drew estate, FDA, Herrera Esteli, Kafie, La Gran Llave, tatuaje

by CigarCraig | May 1, 2016 · 10:53 am

Fausto, CroMagnon and Sobremesa Cigars

A few weeks back when we were in Philly for the Pops concert, I made a stop at Holt’s on the way to the train station and picked up a couple Fausto Robustos in my continuing effort to familiarize myself with the Tatuaje range of cigars. Â Technically, I believe, this is called the FT127 Robusto, measures 5″ x 54, comes in a 25 count box (I wish everyone would go back to the 25 count over the 20 count), and has a dark Habano Ecuador wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and filers. Â I took one of these along Thursday night when we went to Harrah’s Racetrack and Casino in Chester, PA to see Tom Keifer (of Cinderella fame) play in their “The Block” showroom. Â So 33 years or so ago I went to community college with Tom and hung out with him, obviously pre-Cinderella. A few years later when I was working in a record store, I opened a box of new releases to find a record from a band I had never heard of, Cinderella’s Night Songs, and recognized the guy on the jacket as my old friend Tom. I never was able to re-connect with Tom over the years, so after missing him at the pre-show meet and greet, we hung around afterwards by the tour bus, like fricken teenagers, only we weren’t the oldest ones there…and got to finally say hello and congratulate him on putting that community college music theory class (that we were both in) to good use. Â Prior to the show, after getting a bite to eat, while feeding slot machines, I really enjoyed that Fausto FT 127 Robusto. It was a hearty smoke, nice dark flavors right up my alley. what a perfect smoke with a great burn and draw, and loads of deep, rich flavors of espresso and cocoa (my favorites). It was a great night, the show rocked, I was glad to reconnect with an old friend after so long, and I am just getting caught up on the sleep I lost…defiantly getting too old for hard rock shows…but I really enjoyed it, and the cigar.

I had a very busy and frustrating Friday at the day job, so I wanted to smoked something memorable on my evening walk and unwind time. Â I had bought (not weaseled) a few CroMagnon Atlatl lanceros when we were at SMoKE Manayunk for the RoMaCraft event, and I only had room for one of them in the lancero section of the humidor, so that made my decision easy. An Atlatl is an Aztec spear throwing device, basically giving the spear thrower a mechanical advantage over just throwing the spear by hand, it’s a lever of sorts. These cigars are store exclusive/event only cigars, I felt compelled to add some to my lancero selection. On a side note, SMoKE has an unparalleled lancero selection, Kosta, the owner is a lancero fan and puts every one he can find in his generously appointed humidor. Anyway, the Atlatl has all the great flavor of the CroMagnon line, I sound like a broken record (for the younger readers, that’s a record with a scratch that skips and repeats itself over and over), but it has those coffee cocoa flavors I love, but in a sharper, more focused way due to the 38 ring gauge. I dig lanceros from time to time, but in most cases I enjoy the more rounded flavors from larger rings, so it’s often hard to compare the flavor of a lancero to it’s larger siblings, so I can only recommend smoking them all, in the case of CroMagnon, they are all good!

Wrapping up the week yesterday, I felt like I had a couple great cigars that were going to be a tough act to follow. I had spent the day cutting my lawn, spreading some mulch, taking Macha to a nearby town’s flea market kind of thing where my wife and daughter had a booth selling some stuff, and celebrating my granddaughter’s 5th birthday. It was a crazy day, and when I finally got home I went big. Several weeks ago we went to Famous Smoke Shop’s Leaf Cigar Bar in Easton, PA to hang out with Steve and Cindy Saka, and Cindy laid a couple of the new Sobremesa Elegantes en Cedros cigars on me, with the caveat to let the rest because they were “not ready”. I figured a month in the humidor would suffice. This line extension is supposed to be released at the July IPCPR show, is a 7″ x 50 cedar sleeved parajo. The blend is tweaked for each vitola in the line, so each size is designed to be a little different, but the addition of the cedar sleeve makes a very distinct change from, say, the El Americano toro, which is similar in size. The cedar flavor is quite dominant, and tasty! I really couldn’t imagine this cigar being any more “ready” as it’s burn was perfect, there were no construction issues at all, and I spent a wonderful two hours with this cigar just enjoying the crap out of it. It was the perfect end to a very good day.

That’s all I have for now, it’s a rainy Sunday here in PA, I may put a new lamp in the smoking patio and clean it up a bit, and catch up on some relaxing. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

5 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as cigar, cigar store, cigars, CroMagnon, Fausto, RoMaCraft, Sobremesa, tatuaje

by CigarCraig | April 24, 2016 · 9:23 am

Sobremesa, Alec Bradley Prensado, and Tatuaje The Jackel Cigars

Last Sunday my wife and I spent the day in Philly, it was a Pops day. We went to the Art Museum for a Pop Art exhibit, and then to the Philly Pops concert. On the walk from the Art Museum to the Kimmel Center I enjoyed the heck out of a Sobremesa Corona Grande, the smallest in the line at 5¼” x 44. For anyone who hasn’t been paying attention, here is the blend details of Steve Saka’s freshmen release: Capa (wrapper): La Meca Ecuador Habano #1 Rosado, Capote (binder): Matacapan Negro de Temporal, and Tripa (filler): Nicaraguan Gk Condega C-SG Seco, Nicaraguan Pueblo Nuevo Criollo Viso, Nicaraguan La Joya Esteli C-98 Viso, Nicaraguan ASP Esteli Hybrid Ligero, and USA Lancaster County Broadleaf Ligero. I wish every cigar maker provided half the blend information that Steve does. This little guy was a great cigar for wandering the streets of Philly, it burned well, has the same refined, nuanced flavor of its larger siblings, but with a little sharper “Pop”, which was appropriate for the theme of the day. Stopped by Holt’s on the way back to the train after the concert and picked up a couple of cigars for no real reason, it was nice to see Zack again. It was a good Day.

Later in the week I smoked the Alec Bradley Prensado Robusto which was the subject of last week’s The Cigar Authority show, and part of their Care Package. I smoked it while listening to the podcast, as I never seem to catch it live. This cigar had a couple year’s age on it, and was quite smooth and flavorful, but I didn’t get the “cinnamon roll” flavor Dave Garofalo got. For the last few weeks Dave has been finding obscure song snippets to play when he finds the flavor, one week it was Poptarts and butter, we can only hope he doesn’t find a peanut butter and jelly flavor, or we’ll have to hear the incessant “Peanut Butter Jelly Time” bit…if this shows up on the show I’ll know he stole the idea from me! Anyway, it was a good smoke, to bad it gave me a head cold…

This is the first head cold I’ve had in a long time, and it moved through pretty quick, thankfully. It was annoying enough that I didn’t want to smoke anything I wanted to mention here, so I smoked a few favorites that I have a handful of, and the were good. I still have a little congestion, but yesterday I was ready for something a little bit special. I selected the Tatuaje The Jackel, an exclusive to CDMCigars, and Casa de Montecristo in Chicago. This is a big torpedo, 6¾” x 56, with the wrapper coming up short on the foot by about ¾”. I had a good time with this cigar. It started off pretty bold with some sweetness and spice, then when the wrapper started burning it got a bit creamier. The Sancti Spiritus wrapper leaf really tamed this down from the brash start. It was very enjoyable, burned well enough only requiring an occasional touch up, and was hard to put down. I’ve been trying to broaden my limited Tatuaje experience as of late, I’ve been missing out on some great smokes, so prepare to get bored with my new-found attention to this brand.

That’s all for today, I’ve got a Noon appointment with my TV, the Flyer’s try to avoid elimination once again. I’ll need a great cigar after the game either way, I think. Before I forget, give a listen to The Stogie Geeks lastest show with Glynn Loope of the CRA. they give a lot of great information on the looming FDA regulations. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

6 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as Alec Bradley, Casa de Montecristo, CDMCigars, cigar, cigars, Sobremesa, tatuaje, The Cigar Authority

by CigarCraig | April 17, 2016 · 7:40 am

Avo Syncro, RoMaCraft Cigars at SMoKE Manayunk and a Tatuaje

There are so many cigars out there, it’s really hard to smoke them all, yet I keep trying! I’ve smoked the Avo Syncro Nicaraguan in the Short Robusto and Toro size and, like many Avo cigars, I found them enjoyable, but isn’t really get what the hype was. Perfectly good cigars, but nothing particularly special to me (I really liked the XO though). A couple of weeks ago my friends at Famous Smoke Shop send me some of the Avo Syncro Nicaraguan and I was excited as I really want to like these and appreciate the opportunity to try them in another size. The robusto is a box pressed 5″x 50, with a milk chocolate-brown wrapper, which is actually Ecuador Connecticut, and it has some Nicaraguan Ometepe, Dominican and Peruvian fillers. It’s a solid smoke, medium bodied with some balanced and interesting flavors. So far, this might be my favorite in the bunch, it’s got a little sweet, and a little spice, quite entertaining. I may try to sneak another one of these in today, the Short Robusto might fit my walk today from the Philadelphia Art Museum to the Kimmel Center for the Philly Pops concert. Thanks, once again, to Cory at Famous Smoke Shop for sharing the Avo Syncro Robusto with me.

Friday evening we went down to SMoKE Manayunk to visit with Skip and Mike of RoMaCraft Tobac as they have been on a tour of Philadelphia cheesesteak purveyors and have been taking breaks to have cigar events. First, a little about SMoKE and Manayunk. Manayunk is a very hip main street area in Philadelphia, with loads of bars and restaurants, so there were a ton of younger 20-something folks around, and it was pretty impressive how many came in to hang out and smoke cigars. SMoKE is BYOB, so many people brought in their own beer, wine or liquor and they have refrigerators behind the bar. Kosta is the owner, and has a very good staff headed up by Spencer McGuire, who recently left his post as brand manager of Emilio Cigars. The staff is attentive, constantly emptying ashtrays and seeing to the customer’s needs, as well as helping people in the large and well stocked humidor. The lounge is 3000 square feet, has a very industrial, distressed feel to the decor, and is welcoming and comfortable. The only downside is the parking. I found out the hard way that on street parking can cost $26 if you exceed the 1 hour limit, which I guess I was supposed to know without signing close by (oddly, the “Parking Enforcement” vehicle was parked a car ahead of me and was there longer than I was…I hate double standards!). So the $10 lot nearby would have been a better deal it turns out. It was starting to get crowded when we left, which is pretty cool for a cigar lounge.

So I perused the selection of RoMaCraft cigars they had, and settled on a couple of the Candela Fomorians (I spelled that wrong elswhere), a Neanderthal Shallow Gene Pool, and a couple of CroMagnon Atlatl lanceros, since I like lanceros and Kosta has probably the best selection of that vitola in the area, so when in Rome…anyway, I lit up a Fomorian (along with Mike and Skip) and proceeded to hang out. I’ve known these guys since 2011, which is about when they launched the CroMagnon line, and they make some outstanding cigars. The Fomorian is the CroMagnon blend of Cameroon binder and Nicaraguan fillers, with the Broadleaf wrapper replaced with a fragile Candela wrapper in the 5″ x 56 EMH size. The combination is really quite amazing, there’s the sweetness of the Cameroon, the depth of the Nicaraguan, with that refreshing flavor of the Candela. Along with the long ago discontinued Camacho Candela, this is the best representation of a Candela cigar I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed a few, but this one has some giddyup to it, great cigar. I followed that with a little Neanderthal Shallow Gene Pool, the smaller (4½ x 52) sibling of the Neanderthal HN, which I absolutely loved. This cigar has a San Andrés wrapper and a Pennsylvania Double Ligero, which is unusually high in nicotine. You wouldn’t know it, the cigar is very smooth with a great flavor. If these weren’t in the $11+ range, I would smoke these all the time, so good. Interesting to note, lots of nicotine before bedtime makes for a restless night with crazy dreams, at least that was my experience. It could be that, as Skip pointed out, I’m the oldest young guy he knows, which I took as a compliment since I’m pretty old…anyway, it was a great night, smoking great cigars and hanging out at a great place with great folks.

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, and after getting some things done around the yard, I relaxed on the porch with a Tatuaje Reserva J21. These are made in Miami with a Habano Ecuador wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filer. This is a 5″ x 50 robusto and is quite an attractive cigar, listed as a full strength offering. This was exactly what I needed after working in the yard and running errands. It started out with some spice and moved to espresso, which we all know I like. It was refined and elegant, and I really liked it. I smoke fewer Tatuajes than I really should, because whenever I smoke one it’s a treat. For some reason, in my mind, it’s a cigar that’s special, in much the same way an Opus or Padron Anniversary is. I don’t why I feel that way, but it’s in my head for some reason, and I don’t end up picking them up as often as I should. I’ll work on changing that.