Tag Archives: Toraño

by CigarCraig | August 17, 2014 · 1:51 pm

Visiting Chicago – Smokey Bear Cigars and TESA Cigars

Here I am in the windy city and I’ve been enjoying the camaraderie and hanging out with some great cigar friends. I know I said I was going to try posting from the field, but the places and events were not conducive to getting any good video, and frankly I was having too much fun smoking and socializing. You’ll have to put up with my normal style Sunday post, I guess! I have been fortunate to find some local cigar events here in Chicago that I managed to impose myself upon. Today I may venture out to the Casa de Montecristo, which everyone tells me I have to visit. We’ll see, driving around here is a serious time and patience investment, but the people here seem very nice. We are here for the Fest for Beatles Fans, and my wife is working at the show with her clients who are all Beatles related authors. It’s a rather interesting cross-section of people, but the passion they have for the Beatles is similar to the passion we have for cigars, and both passions bring people together.

Friday after helping my wife get her booth set up, I headed to Smokey Bear Cigars in Evergreen Park. The GPS said it would take about an hour, but with traffic it was closer to two. I was certainly ready for a cigar when I got there. They were having a Toraño event, and Jack Toraño, who grew up in the Chicago area before going to Miami, was there with his wife Cecelia. Of course, I bought some Toraño cigars and lit up a Master Maduro Toro Gordo. The shop has a generous walk in humidor with a really good selection. I saw some cigars that I haven’t seen in shops before. They were loaded for bear (ha) and had a good amount of traffic too. they also have a nice lounge where I sat down with Jack and his wife and caught up a little. The cigar was a beautiful rich, dark and tasty. I followed it with an Exodus 1959 Gold robusto, which has been a favorite for about ten years. The Toroaños have been making great cigars for a long time, and continue to do so. I love being in a strange city and visiting a shop I’ve never been to before and hanging out with friends. I’m pretty sure if Jack hadn’t been there I would have had a good time, as Pam, the owner, is running a good lounge and shop. Too bad it’s so hard to get to from Pennsylvania!

Saturday I left the car parked and embarked on the Chicago Transit Authorities Blue line to go to TESA Cigars. I’ve heard of this shop, I’ve ridden past their factory in Esteli, and I’ve also heard of a third (or first, as he tells it) Chris Kelly in the cigar business. The other two are Chris Kelly and Chris Kelly, in case you are wondering. Anyway, after navigating the “L” I arrived at the shop, which is in an odd, area. It’s about a block away from Oprah’s studios, but there isn’t really much around from what I could tell. It’s a nice shop though. Their own brand dominates the humidor, along with a nice selection of other cigars, including an impressive selection of Drew Estate products. Tom Navarro, whom I’ve know for a few years, helped arrange a herf there and about 20 people were there, many from the Tatuaje Saints and Sinners message board, and the BOTL message board. I purchased, and smoked a TESA Cabinet 315 Robusto, which was a nice, well balanced cigar that had a load of rich flavor without a lot of spice. The 315 has a Habano wrapper and fillers from Jalapa and Esteli, and is finished off with a curled pigtail cap. Taxes are a bit crazy in the Chicago area, so this PA, no cigar tax, guy was pretty sticker shocked. Chris does a nice job blending the cigars to be smooth and delicious, which was further evidenced by a corona he gave me that he had recently brought back from Nicaragua and wasn’t saying much about the blend. I’ll be interested in smoking more from this line, as the sample he gave me was very tasty and well made. It was great meeting everyone, and, as always, a stranger walks into a group and finds new friends instantly, it’s a special thing. I was also privileged to meet a Facebook friend, C.W. Harris, who Jose Blanco was kind enough connect me with, and is how I found out this event was going on. I had TESA on my list anyway, but it was extra special to meet up with Tom, C.W., Chris and the rest of the gang there (and I’m terrible with names, there was Justin and Scott, and Ed, David and a raft of others….they need name tags at these things!)

Well, I think I’m going to see if I can find Casa de Montecristo and go have a cigar or two there this afternoon, then we drive back to PA tomorrow, work three days, then fly to Colorado for the Rocky Mountain Cigar Fest. Let me know if you’re going to that event, which I’m looking forward to. I’ll try doing the “Live blog” thing from there, but I can’t make any guarantees. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

6 Comments

Filed under Review, Stores, Trip Report

Tagged as Beatles, Chicago, cigar, cigars, Smokey Bear, TESA, Toraño

by CigarCraig | May 4, 2014 · 10:09 am

A Rodrigo Lancero, a Leccia Luchador and a Surrogates Skull Breaker

Lots going on this week, between weather and migraines, I’ve been a bit off my game. I still managed to smoke some great cigars though. It wasn’t easy, but it has to be done! Before I get into the cigars, I’d like to point you to another great article regarding FDA regulation, and implore you to make your feelings known on the Regulations.gov page so we can save our hobby, our passion from being disrupted unnecessarily. Patrick Semmens wrote an excellent article last week: Commentary: Why the FDA’s $10 Exemption Proposal is More Dangerous than You Realize. Great stuff!

Thursday evening I selected a Rodrigo Habano Classico Lancero for my evening smoke. I didn’t get to take my walk as I had to sit in on a conference call, but the cigar was stellar. Rodrigo comes from a Pittsburgh guy, George Rodriguez, and is distributed by The House of Emilio. This is a 7″ x 38 lancero with a Ecuadorian Habano/Sumatra Hybrid wrapper and Dominican fillers and binder, made in the Dominican Republic. It’s a very nice medium bodied cigar with good balance. It’s got a sweet, nutty flavor and is good to the last puff. I probably ave had these in the humidor for a couple years, I think George sent these to me before he was involved with House of Emilio, so these had some time to settle. I have enjoyed what I’ve smoked from Rodrigo, great boutique cigars. Score: 98

Friday. It’s the end of the week, it’s time to celebrate. I was the fortunate recipient of a package from Jack Toraño this week, included within were a couple of Sam Leccia‘s new Luchador cigar, due for release tomorrow, May 5th, or Cinco de Mayo. Sam has put together a 5 country blend with Honduras and Pennsylvania Ligero and Nicaraguan Ometepe in the filler, Ecuador Habano Binder and my favorite Mexican San Andrés wrapper. Of course, my expectations were high for several reasons. First, obviously the wrapper is my favorite, and second, it’s Sam Leccia, and he has the Midas touch when it comes to cigars. The cigar I smoked was the El Hombre, a 5″ x 54 Robusto with a pointed cap. I carefully snipped this off with the Xikar scissors, and lit it up. Love affair right off the bat. Great strong espresso flavors, almost Cuban coffee with the sweetness. It was desert like, with some spice to go along with it, really tasty. My biggest complaint was that it was too short! I really wanted it to last another half hour. I don’t know how this is going to age, I suspect it will do OK, but it’s ready to go now. Great balance, great burn and draw. A top notch smoke that’s right the heck up my alley. Thanks to Sam and Jack for letting me smoke this before it hits the streets. Great, another cigar I’ll have to keep on hand. Score: 99

Saturday my wife and I stopped in to Cigar Mojo on our way home from our granddaughter’s third birthday party to check out their Kentucky Derby party. They had a pretty good crowd, and were having some raffles and contests. I picked up a few cigars, including the Surrogates Skull Breaker, a line I haven’t sampled before. This cigar had it’s origin at New Havana Cigars as a partnership between owner Dan Welsh and Pete Johnson and they are now under the L’Atelier Imports portfolio. I picked up this dark belicoso, I think it was priced around $7.50. A few years ago I wouldn’t have bought a cigar that expensive, but since visiting cigar country a few times, I have a much better appreciation for the value of a cigar, it’s a miracle they can be produced so reasonably. I still have trouble with the $10+ price point, but I will loosen the purse stings (figuratively) now and then and pick one up. I digress. I had a migraine coming on, so I figured a cigar called “Skull Breaker” couldn’t hurt anything. It’s a strong cigar, have no doubt. It’s got great flavor from the Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrappper and Nicaraguan fillers and binder. I loved dark chocolate and pepper this cigar had, and it was another cigar that burned perfectly, straight from the retail humidor. When you have a cigar lounge, it’s pretty important for the cigars you sell to be ready to smoke, and the guys at Cigar Mojo have that covered. If you find yourself in King of Prussia, PA (or the Philly area), stop in and ask them where the heck my CigarCraig.com magnet went??? Good race, good smoke, couldn’t wait to get home and take a pill for the headache and sleep it off. Score: 98

That’s it for today. I have a bunch of new cigars to smoke over the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

7 Comments

Filed under Events, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Emilio, leccia, Luchador, rodrigo, Skull Breaker, StogieGuys, Surrogates, Toraño

by CigarCraig | April 30, 2014 · 6:54 pm

A Post-Flyers-Loss Liga Privada UF-13, a Toraño and a Pre-Flyers-Win Kings Cigar

Cigars are funny things, they can be a celebration, or they can pick you up when you’re down. Sunday I needed a pick-up cigar after the Flyers lost to the Rangers in a playoff game they needed to win. I went for one of the best cigars I have in my humidors, a Drew Estate Liga Privada Serie Unico UF-13 Dark. I’ve had the good fortune to have smoked a bunch of these and, I have to say, I like them. The size (5½” x 52) works very well, its perfectly balanced and satisfying. It’s consistent in flavor and always burns perfectly. UF stands for Unico Fuerte, and I suppose these are a strong cigar, but I don’t take them as much stronger than any of the other Unicos, or Liga Privadas for that matter. These aren’t inexpensive, but they certainly are a nice treat every now and then. I give it a 98, but very close to a 99.

Monday I chose a cigar from the Toraño 90+ sampler that I broke into a couple months back after giving it a one year rest. This cigar was the 1916 Cameroon toro, a traditional 6 x 50 wrapped in a cedar sleeve. As I joked on my Instagram picture, one is to remove the cedar sleeve before lighting. You think it’s funny until you’ve seen someone try to do it. Not cool. This cigar commemorates the year Santiago Toraño moved to Cuba and got into the tobacco business. I’m personally glad he made this move, as the Toraño company is one of my favorites. This cigar is really tasty! It’s sweet and medium to mild, and maybe even creamy. I enjoyed the heck out of this cigar, if I had one complaint it would be that the ash didn’t hang on too long, but that’s a very minor complaint. It had the Camerooniness that I really like. I should smoke more Cameroon wrapped cigars! It’s another 98 on my rating scale.

Last night, before the Flyers staved off playoff elimination, I sat out in the garage and smoked a Kings Cigars Baron, which is their Ecuador Connecticut wrapped cigar. I had the robusto size, and this either came from the IPCPR show, or from a package I received from them just before the show. I really like the Conde, which is the San Andres maduro offering, and the Habano wrapped enormous King of Kings is tasty. The guys behind the brand are fun guys to be around too. Anyway, this was a nice, mild smoke that was up the middle for me. The flavor was good, but didn’t really distinguish itself from other cigars in the Connecticut category, which I admit I pass over more times than not. It was very well made, burned well and wasn’t offensive at all, and it was satisfying. While my personal preference is for something different, I think this is a good example of a Connecticut cigar. I give the Baron 96, but the website gets a 91. I love these guys and they are innovative and creative, but the website is a pain in the butt to get any information from, and not being able to silence the audio turns me off (warning to those who click the links here). Flashy isn’t always better, at least in my opinion.

This is going to get old fast, but it’s important that we make our voices heard with the FDA. I have to say that Halfwheel.com published and excellent piece on why $10 is a ridiculous reference point for the FDA to deem a cigar to be “Premium” and, therefore, exempt from regulation. FIVE REASONS WHY THE FDA’S $10 PRICE EXEMPTION WON’T SURVIVE

Here’s the link again to voice your opinions on how they define “Premium” Cigars. http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FDA-2014-N-0189-0001

I can’t stress the importance of convincing the FDA to exclude cigars from regulation (at least for now) by letting them know that the price and weight of cigars is irrelevant in determining that they are “Premium”, that they are hand made from all natural ingredients (and that can include ‘flavoring’ as far as I’m concerned) is all the criteria needed. As Charlie Minato at Halfwheel properly points out, the state of New Hampshire has a recognized definition of a premium cigar, it being: “Premium cigars are cigars made entirely by hand of all natural tobacco leaf, hand constructed and hand wrapped, wholesaling for $2 or more, weighing more than 3 pounds per 1000 cigars, and kept in a humidor at the proper humidity.” (Thanks to Dave Garofalo and Victor Vitale and all those who worked to write this definition! It’s close enough). Anyway, hit the link above and let them know what you think.

Well, tonight is Game 7 of the Rangers and Flyers and I hope the Flyers play like they did last night! I’m not quite ready for hockey season to be over, although it does free up my schedule to smoke larger cigars!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

4 Comments

Filed under Editorial, Review

Tagged as 1916, Baron, cigar, cigars, drew estate, FDA, Kings, Toraño, UF-13

by CigarCraig | April 13, 2014 · 1:12 pm

A Toraño, an Undercrown, a Cain and Hockey With No Cigars!

Thursday I took a half day at work because I won tickets to the NCAA Frozen Four at the Wells Fargo center in Philly from our local NBC TV Station. So, in preparation, I took a walk with the dog and a Toraño Vault A-008 toro thst I believe came out of the 90+ sampler that Jack Toraño sent me last year (many thanks again, Jack!). The cigar has a flawless shade grown Nicaraguan wrapper, and there’s some filler from Ometepe that gives it a distictive flavor. The cigar lit and burned perfectly and was an excellent after lunch smoke. These Vault releases are unique in that they are blends that the Toraño family have had tucked away for years. This one is a really nice smoke and I give this a 98 on the new CigarCraig scoring scale (more on that later).

I had expected to have a cigar in the cigar bar at the Wells Fargo Center, but apparently you can’t have indoor smoking in a CIGAR Bar at a NCAA event. Sell all the beer you want, but smokers are relegated to a fenced off area outside, which is where I enjoyed a PDR A. Flores Gran Reserva Half Corona between games (a 97 on my scale, a great short smoke). I also was able to prevent a horrific injustice from happening. As we were standing there, a couple guys walked out with BSB#1 Bernie Parent by Rocky Patel HOF 84 torpedos and started lighting them up. These are expensive cigars, in the $12 range in a shop, if they bought them at the arena they would have been nearly double that. Much like the Toraño Vault, they have a foot band, and I had a feeling the one guy was going to try lightning his without removing the band. It turns out, I was right, and I intervened at the last second, yelling “wait!” (imagine it in slow motion for dramatic effect), and telling him that smoking the band isn’t the best way to appreciate the flavor of that particular cigar. Meanwhile, his buddy smoking a cigarette was howling with laughter as he apparently had told the guy that lighting the cigar that way was the right way to do it. I chastised him for his transgressions and finished my smoke. All the games were great, I hadn’t paid any attention to college hockey and it was really entertaining. We also went to the finals last night and saw a really good game. Too bad the cigar bar was no smoking, it was packed with people drinking though!

Friday evening I decided to break out one of the samples of the Drew Estate Undercrown Dogma, which was recently released in very limited quantities and celebrates the one year anniversary of the Cigar Dojo Community app and website. Sadly, I just can’t seem to find the time to dig into another cigar community, and I’ve never been a big fan of web forums. The time required to keep up with them is more than I care to spend. So the Undercrown Dogma is a 6″ x 56 box pressed toro that is based upon the blend for the Corona Viva, which is slightly different than the regular Undercrown line in that the ratios of the fillers were tweaked to fit into the corona gorda format, resulting in a little different taste. I personally like the Corona Viva the best of the line and have smoked them the most. So, I was interested in trying this new size. This is a spectacular cigar, and I hope they broaden the distribution of these, and make them a regular product. It’s rich and delicious, with a little bit of power. I don’t know hw Eric, Master Sensei at the Dojo, manged to pull this off with Drew Estate, but I’m glad to have had the opportunity to try this (Thanks to JB at DE), although it bums me out a little that I won’t be able to get my hands on them easily! This is a 99 on my new scoring scale.

I few weeks ago I was interviewed by a gentleman for an article on SpareFoot about cigar storage. I didn’t make a big deal about it at the time, as it happened to be published about the same time I made a little rant about “experts” and I certainly don’t consider myself one. However, I find myself in good company in the article, with Patrick Ashby of StogieGuys.com and Tad Gage, author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cigars”. The article is at www.SpareFoot.com and you can also read it below.

[pageview url=”http://www.sparefoot.com/storage-tips/how-to-store-cigars/” title=”Tips From the Experts on How to Store Cigars” border=”yes” scrolling=”yes”]

Yesterday, before the Flyers beat the Penguins, and I went to the NCAA Finals game, I slipped in a Cain Daytona Lancero on a nice, Saturday afternoon walk. This is a cigar that’s hard to get a hold of, and I was the fortunate recipient of a couple of these from my formerly local, former Oliva rep a couple years ago. The Daytona blend is probably about my favorite of the line, although I do enjoy most of them for one reason or another. I find the Dayona to be slightly more refined than the rest of the line, and this Lancero is probably the most refined of the bunch. Great burn and draw, outstanding flavors and lasted a good hour and a half. I’ve long held the belief that the length of a cigar is more of a determining factor in the smoking time than the ring gauge. This burned for easily an hour and a half, straight as an arrow and perfect from start to finish. If you see these, snag them up. I think the No. 4 corona is a reasonable substitute, as it’s right up there. Definitely a 98 on the scale.

I’ve decided to play around with a scoring scale. My scale will be a little different as it will be a 10 point scale from 91 to 100, with a 91 being a really terrible cigar to a 100 with is the pinnacle of perfection in all aspects. I can hear you now, “CigarCraig, that’s the biggest bunch of BS I’ve ever heard! Why not just do a 1-10?” Well, I hear you, and all I can say is that for one person to assign a score to a cigar, however arbitrary the method, is relatively useless, so I’m just making my useless scoring look really good to whoever happens to look at it at with pre-conceived notions. So, if you see someone advertising that “CigarCraig gave our Perro Cohete Gran Reserva a 91!”, you’ll know to stay away!

That should make up for Wednesday’s weak post! Enjoy the day! Un til the next time,

CigarCraig

6 Comments

Filed under Editorial, Review

Tagged as cain, cigar, Cigar Dojo, cigars, drew estate, Frozen Four, SpareFoot, Toraño

by CigarCraig | February 16, 2014 · 10:29 am

Recluse Draconian, Sindicato Hex, La Sirena and Toraño Cigars

Well, winter just keeps getting better and better! Thursday we had a Nor’easter here in PA, which dumped a bunch of snow, sleet, rain, then rain and more snow. Fortunately, my day job closed for the day to allow me the luxury of shoveling the driveway. The snow was heavy and deep and I still hurt. I rewarded myself for a job well done with a lovely Recluse Draconian Sidewinder No. 2, which is one of their proprietary vitolas. The unique feature of this vitola is that you don’t need a cutter, it’s constructed in such a way a squeeze to the head splits the cap and you can peel away the cap and have a perfect draw. Here’s the video from he IPCPR show where J.R. Dominguez shows us how this works:

httpv://youtu.be/TLBHP-pW6x8

The cigar is a 6″x 57 and box pressed. Like all of the cigars from Iconic Leaf, these are rolled in the entubado method. The wrapper is a dark and oily Ecuador maduro. I sat in the garage watching fhe various precipitation and fully enjoyed this rich and flavorful smoke. It had the dark, sweet flavors I love getting. This is a truly delicious cigar, my only complaint is that it burned fairly quick. I would have liked to have smoked this for another thirty minutes. I give this 3 Ds….dark, deep and delicious!

Later in the day I took the dog for a walk with a Sindicato Hex Figurado. There’s a lot to like about these cigars. This is another rich, dark smoke that has a lot going on. I dig the shape, it’s got a bun-shaped pigtail cap and a classic taper on either end. With this cigar it’s also possible to open the head up without a cutter, just by popping the little bun off, but I used the cigar scissors to get a larger opening. If I remember correctly, these are made at the Ortez factory in Condega, Nicaragua and the dark Ecuador Habano wrapper is quite tasty. These are quickly becoming a go-to smoke for me. It’s a little rustic looking, but still a fun size and shape, and the flavor delivers for me.

Friday I selected a new inmate in my cigar asylum, a La Sirena Trident. I don’t smoke a lot of Churchill sized cigars, but I got a box of these last week. Certainly, I smoke more larger format cigars in the warmer months, but I had to sample one of these and it wasn’t that cold out for a change (might have been in the 20s!). This cigar is made at the My Father factory in Esteli and features a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. I can see that I’m goung to have to pace myself with these, as I think they will age beautifully. They are not without some strength, and is another cigar with those deep, dark flavors I like, with some nice sweetness. I got a good hour and a half or more out of this cigar, I can’t wait to fire one of these up in the pool on a nice hot day! The thing I like best about the Trident size is that the beautiful band looks more properly proportioned on the longer cigar! The band is a work of art, but it overwhelms the robusto. Putting the very simple slim band underneath this great band is genius, because the band almost has to come off before smoking.

Guess what happened yesterday? If friggin snowed again! All day, but it didn’t accumulate much on the driveway, which saved my sore muscles a bit. I grabbed the leash and a Toraño Master toro from the 90+ rated sampler Jack Toraño sent me over a year ago and took the dog out for a walk. This cigar is a smooth, well balanced, medium bodied cigar. The wrapper is a perfect looking Ecuador Habano, I have to get my hands on the Master maduro one of these days, that looks really tasty. They offer this cigar in a 6″x60 size they call the BFC. Don’t make the mistake I made and assume that the initials stand for something other than “big fat cigar”. I’m embarrassed that my first thought was something less polite. Charlie Toraño is far to much of a gentleman to name a cigar something so undignified (Jack might 🙂 ). At the 2012 IPCPR show in Orlando they featured a LFC size, which was a 4½”x60. They offered this in several blends and it doesn’t appear that it caught on based on the fact that I don’t see them on the website, nor have I ever seen them anywhere but at the show that year. I liked the Loyal I smoked in that format, and wouldn’t mind smoking some of the Exodus blends in this shape. I admit to being a fan of the little fat cigars.

I have to tell you, I appreciate spending my weekend mornings watching Olympic Hockey. I get annoyed with weekend afternoon games as I like to think I have better things to do than watch TV. Getting my hockey fix out of the way before 10 AM works out better for me. Too bad it’s only every four years!

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

CigarCraig

5 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Draconian, Hex, La Sirena, Recluse, Sindicato, Toraño