Tag Archives: tatuaje

by | December 4, 2013 · 8:09 pm

A UF-13 in Atlantic City, Leaf by Oscar, and a Tatuaje at Cigar Mojo with Victor Vitale

LigaPrivada_Serie Unico_UF13From the “I’m not as young as I used to be” file, I’ve been paying for having some fun on Sunday. Sunday my wife and I decided to pay a visit to Atlantic City for some fun. We played some slot machines and I enjoyed the heck out of a Drew Estate Liga Privada Serie Unico UF-13 Dark while playing. It’s nice to smoke a great cigar indoors once in a while! There was even a nice little cigar shop in Resorts International that had a decent selection. By the way, one way to feel young is to go to the buffet at 5:30. We were well below the median age there. We ended up leaving AC at 5 am so I could get to work more or less on time, which made for a long day.

 

 

Monday evening, with my butt dragging, I fired up a cigar from “Island Jim” of Leaf and Bean in Pittsburgh. This cigar is called “Leaf by Oscar” and has been getting a lot of buzz lately. These are presented wrapped in a tobacco leaf as opposed to tissue or cello. They have a unique look on the shelf. George Rodriguez of Rodrigo cigars (who is partnered with Jim) sent me one of each wrapper and I (of course) selected the maduro first. My apologies for not taking a better photo of this cigar. Under that outer leaf is a beautiful dark wrapper. It’s the LeafbyOscarSamplercolor of semi-sweet chocolate (ironically, I think semi-sweet chocolate is contributing to my migraines lately…). The wrapper is Nicaraguan maduro and the guts are Honduran. This cigar was very tasty and burned perfectly, as straight and even as any cigar I’ve ever smoked, with a nice, flat ember. It started off with a nice spice and mellowed to a rich, chocolaty experience. I enjoyed the heck out of this and had planned to move on to one of the others Tuesday.

 

Tatuaje_TraeHowever, Tuesday I left work and drove down to Cigar Mojo in King of Prussia, PA to meet Victor Vitale of Legacy Brands for a smoke. In the month or so since I first visited this shop Trae and Wade have done a great job stocking the humidor and getting some displays and furniture in. It’s becoming a very nice shop with a great selection. The lounge is comfortable and the clientele seems to be friendly. They already have a good number of lounge members. I picked out a cigar I hadn’t tried before, the Tatuaje Havana VI Artistas torpedo and chatted with Trae until Victor arrived. I don’t smoke a lot of Tatuajes for some reason. Maybe because I’m afraid I’ll find yet another cigar that I love, but is priced higher than I like. This Havana VI is a little more reasonably priced, about $7 here for the classic torpedo size. I found that the ash dropped easily, much to the proprietor’s dismay. It had a nice flavor and burned well. I’ll smoke it again after some humidor time (I always Tortuga 215_Cedrobuy two). I had a great visit with Victor, and smoked another of his new Tortuga Reserva Cedros which was really, really good. I have it on good authority that the Reserva Cedro line will be out soon in three sizes, if you can find some, give them a try. They aren’t a typical Nicaraguan puro. It’s a refined smoke that exudes quality. I’d say that even if Victor wasn’t a friend, and I’m glad he’s back in Philly so we get to see him a little more often! I’ll probably be back at Cigar Mojo soon, it’s not really close to home, but it’s a nice place, and Trae and his Dad, Wade are doing it right. Good stock, nice atmosphere.

 

I just started evaluating a device from Elertus that wirelessly monitors my humidor. I placed the Smart Sensor in my Adorini humidor in the living room for now, but I’ll try it out in the coolers eventually. This is a neat device. It monitors temperature and humidity, and sends alerts to my cell phone and e-mail if conditions change outside the limits I set. It also senses movement and alerts me (someone moved my humidor while I was at work today!). This would be a reasonable investment for a store owner who wants to know if his walk in humidor needed attention. It’s got features I don’t really have use for, like door sensors, light sensors, and it will even alert you if the WiFi loses connection. You can monitor the status on the website, or on iOS or Android apps. It’s pretty spiffy. I’ll report later on how it works over the course of a few weeks in a few different humidors.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 23, 2013 · 7:41 am

An Arandoza, a La Aurora, an Upmann, a Tatuaje and a Tobacco History Lesson

ArandozaBlueThis week was a bit of a blur, welcome to summer, the fastest season of the year!  I guess I just love the hot weather, spending time in the pool with a nice cigar, or jumping in the pool and taking a walk with a cigar afterwards. That’s why the summer is gone before I know it.  It’s a much more pleasant time than winter when you can’t get enough clothes on to keep warm!   Case in point, I got home from work Thursday and jumped in the pool, then took a Arandoza Blue Label Robusto for a walk.  This is a newer cigar that’s made in the La Zona factory in Esteli by Erik Espinosa for a gentleman named Robert Arango.  I’ve smoked a few of these and enjoyed them.  It’s a tasty, medium to full bodied cigar that is well made. I haven’t smoked much out of the LA Zona factory, but what I have smoked I’ve enjoyed. This is priced in the $6-7 range which is pretty good for a small boutique brand.  I’ll have to look for Arandoza Cigars at the IPCPR show.

 

LaAurora_PuroVintage2003Friday I got around to smoking my traditional new grandchild cigar.  A little back story:  a little over two years ago our first granddaughter was born, and on that particular day Guillermo Leon was spending the day  at The Wooden Indian in Havertown, ironically the town where my daughter lives.  Also important to note that my daughter’s name is Aurora.  So I went there for a smoke and Chris Lenzo, our area Miami Cigar and Co. Rep gave me a La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003 as a new grandpa gift.  I ran across a good  deal on some of these some time later and grabbed a few for just such an occasion.  I only have two left, so one of these days the tradition will end, and when my sons get around to procreating I’ll find another traditional cigar to smoke, and I’m not anticipating my daughter and her husband having two more kids!  Anyway, this is an enormous Salamone, measuring 7 ½ x 58, and took a long time to smoke. Barry Stein once told me this was the only cigar he’s ever had that tasted like sunflower seeds, and I always have that in my mind when I smoke these and can kinda get what he’s saying.  There is a hint of that flavor there.  It’s an interesting smoke that I enjoy as much for the memories it evokes than the flavor.  

 

HUpmann_Legacy_RobustoSaturday was a beautiful day and after running some errands and doing a little yard work I settled in to my chair on the patio with a H. Upmann Legacy robusto that I had picked up earlier in the week.   This was a well packed 5″ x 54 robusto with an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper that was quite nice looking.  It was a little tighter on the draw than I prefer, but it smoked well and had an acceptable flavor.  I can’t say that it lived up to some of the reviews I’ve read or heard, because I found it to be rather uncomplicated and average.  Was it worth the $4.99 I paid for it?  Sure, and I will let the other one I have rest for a while and see how it fares.  It was a beautiful day to sit in the sun and relax with a smoke, so it certainly fit the need. I had to go to a retailers website for size information, it’s annoying when the sizes aren’t listed on the manufacturers website.

 

Tatuaje_WolfmanMy Saturday evening smoke was a Tatuaje Monster Series Wolfman which was gifted to me some time ago by a work associate.  I’ve had absolutely no experience with the Monsters, other than reading all of the reviews and hype when they are released every year.  Heck, I barely have any experience with the Tatuaje line itself!  I figured the time was right and pulled this 7½ x 52 box pressed torpedo with the last ¾” of the foot devoid of wrapper (just binder exposed) out and took it for a walk with the dog.  This had a great draw, although I had to correct the draw every now and then. I rather enjoyed the flavor, although from what I can tell, I prefer the flavors in the Reserva line or the La Casita Criolla line over this one.  All in all, it’s still not a cigar I’d stand in line for or really go out of my way to obtain, but it was a delicious and enjoyable smoke that I enjoyed to a finger-burning nub.

 

History

 

This “infographic” was created by the folks at Tobacco Specialists in the UK.  It may not display well on some devices, clicking on the image will take you to their site where it may display better.  I think it’s pretty interesting, however I think the last item about the e-cigarette could be omitted since it, by it’s very definition, isn’t tobacco. Enjoy!

 

That’s enough for today, time to get some things done around here so I can relax in the pool with a cigar again!  Finally, please welcome CigarAdvisor.com to the CigarCraig family of advertisers!  They recently re-launched with a cutting edge interface and contributions from all of the legends in the cigar biz in a magazine format. They’ve done a nice job presenting new and unique content in a new and unique way.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | February 24, 2013 · 9:07 am

A Heraderos de Robaina, a Prototype, and a Tatuaje at the Wooden Indian Cigar Shop

This is an odd time of year.  I’m kind of running out of different cigars to smoke and report on and the ones I do have are too big for the time and conditions available to me.  Many times it’s a robusto or smaller on my evening walk.  Sometimes a cigar doesn’t fit in at all, I don’t like it, but it’s OK.  I can’t tell you how much I look forward to warmer weather!  More daylight and not having to wear gloves and bundling up greatly enhance the cigar experience for me.  It’s not far off, so you’ll only have to put up with my whining for a little longer!

 

HerederosDeRobaina_RobustoThursday evening I took a look into the cigars that Gary Griffith had sent me a while ago to see what I hadn’t smoked yet. I picked out a Herederos de Robaina robusto that had somehow escaped my notice up until now.  I can’t find a lot of information about this cigar, and I was too lazy to ask Gary.  I may have skipped it because it kind of looked generic.  The band isn’t fancy, the cigar has a fairly nondescript colored Habano looking wrapper.  Fortunately, the cigar smoked very well. It was quite well made, and the flavor was smooth and very nice.  I came across an MSRP of $7.90 someplace, which is too rich for my blood, I would be dissapointed with this smoke at this price.  If it were a $5 cigar I would consider it a good value, at closer to $8, I need to be wow’d, and I was satisfied, but now blown away.   Most of the cigars that Gary Griffith and Emilio Cigars has taken on to distribute have wow’d me, but, like everything, there’s something for everyone, and this is a fine smoke that certainly may blow someone else away.

 

VictorVitale_MaduroPrototypeFriday evening I decided to smoke a larger cigar since it wasn’t that freezing cold out.  I had received a couple of samples of prototypes a while ago from Legacy Brands by Victor Vitale.  This cigar was 6½” x 54 or maybe 56, with a jet black and oily wrapper.  This cigar had the most amazing and unique tobacco aroma off the foot.  I actually haven’t done this in about 30 years, but the smell reminded me of sticking your nose in a pouch of RedMan chewing tobacco.  There’s a really sweet smell like that that this cigar had.  It continued as I lit it up, syrupy sweet with a little bit of the black licorice finish along the way.  I don’t think I could smoke this every day, but it sure was a very different and delicious cigar that I I would enjoy from time to time as a change of pace.  I can’t wait to find out more about this.  My first thought was that it contained a large portion of the “jungle” tobacco that Victor used in his Tortuga 1950 Natural Aged Maduro that I enjoyed so much last year. Maybe that’s the unique flavor?  I certainly can’t speculate on where this might fit into Victor’s portfolio, only Victor can tell me that (maybe he’ll read this and leave a comment, hint hint!)! Thanks to Victor for letting me experience that cigar, it really made my day.

 

Saturday turned out to a bit if a father/daughter day in my family.  My wife has been busy driving with her father down to Florida so he can spend a few weeks at the Phillies spring training camp, my son-in-law got to spend the afternoon with my grand-daughter and I got to take my daughter to the Flyers game.  There’s nothing quite like taking in an afternoon of gratuitous violence and ice hockey with ones little girl (she’s 29 and expecting her 2nd child and I don’t think she likes it when I refer to her as my little girl!).  It was a great game, lots of action and the Flyers came out on top.  I would normally stop at the Cigar Bar in the Wells Fargo Center for a smoke while traffic cleared out, but that wasn’t appropriate in this instance, TatuajeReserva_PetiteCazadoresso instead I stopped in at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA, for a smoke on the way home.  I picked up a couple of favorites along with a pair of Tatuaje Petite Cazadores, I guess this is the Reserva line (or “Reserver” for my New England friends <snicker>).  I am way behind on sampling the Tatuaje line. I think I’ve smoked the La Casita Criolla, one of the mixed filler cigars a long time ago, and maybe an El Triunfador.  I’ll admit that the price point puts me off of the majority of the line, so I figured this little 4″ x 40 at $4 was a place to start.  I sat in the shop talking to George, the sales associate and Dave, the local Xikar rep and really enjoyed this little smoke.  It was spicy, rich, dark and full of flavor.  I can’t imagine how much I’d enjoy this if I hadn’t been working on a pretty nasty migraine.  I’m glad I picked up a couple, because I really look forward to enjoying this cigar again and it compels me to experiment a little more in the line in the future.  It was the end to a pretty great day.

 

That pretty much wraps up things for today.  Please remember to support Cigar Rights of America and to write to your elected officials!

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | July 22, 2012 · 9:18 am

A New Cigar: Ezra Zion Inception and Hoyo de Monterrey Contest No. 4

This week I was presented with a unique opportunity, to try a new cigar from the guys at Cigar Federation, the Ezra Zion.  Kudos to them for dreaming of producing a cigar line and doing it, it’s not nearly as easy as it sounds!  There isn’t a lot of information on their site, and the promotional info they sent doesn’t say anything about the blend either, but these are apparently made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras TABSA factory in Esteli Nicaragua (note: I jumped to the conclusion that they were made in the Raices Cubana factory because I was told it was made in the factory that made Illusione, Viaje, Casa Magna and I ASSumed that these were made in Honduras.Mea Culpa) .   The cigar was a  6.125″ x 50(?) box pressed toro. It could have been 52 ring gauge, but the box press prevented me from checking, and I was too lazy to get a string out and measure it that way.  I honestly don’t believe it really matters!  The band was large, black and silver, with some angels flanking an “EZ” in the center.  It’s nice looking and, most importantly, comes off cleanly and easily.  The foot band, simply says “Inception” and “Primera Edicion” and was also easily removed, a good thing because foot bands make a cigar taste funny when you first light it up (that’s a joke there, I usually take them off before lighting).  The bands and the box press looked good.  The wrapper was a dark Colorado with maybe a tinge of a reddish hue, slightly veiny, almost rustic in appearance.  So it looks good, looks like a cigar I’d like.

 

My usual routine is to grab a cigar, light it and smoke it.  When someone offers me the chance to try their baby before just about anyone else, I take a little more care in my routine.  I smelled this cigar pre-light.  It smelled of rich, properly processed tobacco.  I lit it up, careful to get it properly lit.  The draw was perfect, loads of smoke on the easy draw.  So far I enjoy the flavor, I get a little Honduran vibe along with the richness of Nicaraguan tobacco.  There’s a bite that could be attributed to it’s relative youth.  I’m not saying that it isn’t ready to go, just that a few months or a year in a humidor might smooth this part out a little.  I’ll have to try to get my hands on a few more at some point and test this theory.  The sacrifices I make for science…sheesh.  Anyway, the cigar burned perfectly and continued to smoke well.  Strength-wise I put it on the fuller end of medium.  As I got down to the last inch, I began to feel some of the effects of the nicotine, and decided it was time to let it go, at least an hour and a half after lighting it up.   The flavor was savory and rich and it was a satisfying smoke, things I look for in a cigar.  It certainly compares favorably with many of my favorites, a Cain F or an Emilio AF2, for example.  Not that it tastes like them, particularly, but the experience was equally satisfying.  When I can smoke a cigar and think “hey, I look forward to smoking another one of those”  it works for me.  So many cigars underwhelm me, but this one certainly did not.  It was tasty, relaxing and trouble free!

So, bottom line, unless this is a $10+ cigar, and it certainly could be, I’ll try to get my hands on more of these. Keep an eye on Chris, Kyle and the Don from Cigar Federation, I look forward to what else they come up with.  With any luck I’ll run into them at the IPCPR show, I’d love to meet these guys.

 

On a related note, I smoked another Emilio AF Suave corona this week.  I found that one of the ones I had picked up last weekend has a crack at the head, probably from me sticking the bag in my pocket and being careless.  I can’t abide cracked sticks in my humidor, they aren’t going to heal or anything, so they must be smoked ASAP.  Stellar smoke.  Helpful factoid: wrapper cracks only effect the draw if the binder is cracked too.  They my cause some burn problems, but this one didn’t, it just looked crappy.  Of course, looks are important too, so I tried to stay out of the public eye while I smoked this one!  Also, I had picked up a few of the Tatuaje La Casita Criolla Short Churchills a couple weeks ago and smoked one of those. Another terrific smoke, loaded with Broadleaf goodness!

 

Also, a card fell out of my CI catalog advertising a 5 pack of Alec Bradley Tempus for $20 with proceeds going to Cigar Rights of America.  This is another good way to put some nice smokes in your humidor and throw a couple bucks toward preserving out ability to smoke premium cigars!  Just a public service announcement from me.

 

Contest

It’s time for the fourth installment of the Hoyo de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros giveaway. Hoyo de Monterrey is giving away a box every day on their site, and, once again, I have a pair of three-packs which will be awarded to a randomly selected reader who leaves a comment on this post.  Wednesday I asked what you wanted to know from the IPCPR show, so feel free to continue to give suggestions. I’ll select a winner again on Wednesday.  Once again, my thanks to the folks at General Cigar for providing the prizes in this series of contests!

 

That’s about it for now, until Wednesday,

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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by | January 15, 2012 · 9:17 am

A Visit to Cigar-Ette City and Gary Griffith (and a Grimalkin)

Yesterday was a bit on the chilly side, so I figured I’d look for a nice, warm indoor smoking location.  I’ve been wanting to take a ride south of the boarder and visit Gary Griffith at his Peoples Plaza Cigar-Ette City store for a while, and decided the time had come.  I grabbed the GPS and hit the road, taking the 1 hour and 7 minute drive.  I got there a bit ahead of schedule and Gary greeted me warmly and we went into the enormous walk-in humidor. It was at that point that I realized the flaw in my plan: The State of Delaware frowns upon smoking indoors!  Here we have a store that sells cigars and other tobacco products, and you can’t smoke in it.  If you have been complacent in contacting your elected officials about the FDA issue, do it now.  Not being able to smoke in your local shop is only scratching the surface of the “inconveniences” we’ll face it the FDA is allowed to regulate Premium Cigars.

 

 

Anyway, all was not lost.  I wandered around the humidor for a while talking to Gary, and marvelling at the ridiculous amount of inventory.  He had all kinds of boutique brands that I don’t see a lot of in my local shops, but hear about everywhere.  The Viajes, Tatuajes, Illusiones, 262s, you name it.  Boxes stacked to the ceiling, I even saw a stack of the Para Japon cigars that La Aurora made to aid the Japanese earthquake relief. Of course the Emilio and Grimalkin lines were well represented, and I picked up a couple Grimalkin Robustos while I was there. The moral of the story is that one could leave a ton of cash behind in this store, and the prices were competitive with Pennsylvania prices given that the lack of a state sales tax offsets the cigar tax.

 

Here’s a little video I shot with Gary telling us about what’s coming down the line in 2012 for the Emilio family of cigars.  I know I’m excited to see what comes next.

 

httpv://youtu.be/VzeaLToxhR8

 

 

After I got home and fed, I still needed to smoke the cigar I set out earlier in the day to smoke, so I grabbed a Grimalkin Robusto and took a long and satisfying walk.  The cigar was awesome, although I believe more of the subtlety and complexity is apparent when the temperatures aren’t around freezing.  Still, this is an incredible cigar that everyone should try if they can.  My thanks to Gary for his hospitality, and for making dynamite cigars.

 

That’s it for now.  I used a new camera for the video this time, I’d like to know if you think the quality is better than my previous videos.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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