In this raw video I get a few minutes to talk with Charlie Toraño, president of Toraño Family Cigars. Charlie tells us about the newest offerings from the company, as well as a humorous personal anecdote.
Thanks to Jack Toraño for stealing us a few moments to talk to Charlie. These videos are the first time I’ve ever done on camera interviews, so I hope you enjoy them.
More in a few days, we’re off to the Magic Kingdom for the day!
CigarCraig
We have been having unseasonably nice weather here in south-eastern PA, so I’ve taken to smoking some larger cigars than I normally would this time of year. Last winter we’d had probably four feet of snow, not conducive to enjoying a fine cigar. Daytime highs near 60 have left the evenings prime for long walks with excellent cigars.
Sunday afternoon I selected a Toraño Loyal BFC, and I think, like the Emilio BMF, I know what the letters stand for. This 6″ x 60 cigar could be considered a Big Fricken Cigar. I had picked this up sometime over the last few months at a local shop, and it wasn’t awfully expensive, because, let’s face it, I don’t buy too many cigars that are awfully expensive. This was a nice, medium bodied cigar that smoked very well. At the price point around $5, this is a really tasty, well made cigar.
For Tuesday’s evening walk I was joined by a La Palina El Diaro Torpedo, which I receive a month or so ago from the folks at La Palina, who is also an advertiser on this site. The cigar is a classic torpedo size, 6 1/8″ x 52, which is always a favorite of mine. I have to say that I think I like the robusto better in this cigar. The torpedo was good, don’t misunderstand, but is lacked something that the robusto had. I think i found the smaller size slightly more refined than the torpedo. As I was smoking it, I couldn’t help but wonder what this blend would be like with a maduro wrapper. Again, a very nice cigar, but something was missing for me.
Tonight’s cigar was a Vegas de Santiago Secretos de Maestro Don Luis Laguito No.1 maduro. This cigar came into my possession over a year ago after a conversation with Rudi and Lani, the manufacturers in Costa Rico. I have had an association with this folks going back to a couple of events my wife and I hosted which they generously donated their cigars for the attendees. Vegas de Santiago makes some really nice cigars at a very reasonable price. They send me some of these cigars in what they refer to as a maduro wrapper. This is maduro in the sense that the Cuban maduro cigars are, darker than their “natural”, but not the dark, heavy wrapper that we see in a broadleaf or Mexican maduro. The cigar is a beautiful chocolate brown, and it well made with a nice pigtail cap. I enjoyed the heck out of this cigar, except that there were a couple hints of ammonia near the end, which confused me since these have been buried in the humidor for over a year. An enjoyable smoke on a relatively balmy evening (for February 1st, light jacket and no gloves is a treat!).
My wife has been doing some research and in so doing came across the Philadelphia news papers archives. Here’s a comic from the Philadelphia Inquirer dated June 6, 1922 that is as relevant now as it was then. You may need to click on the image to open it in a new window to read it.
On a final note, I’d like to welcome my newest advertiser, 1st Class Cigar Humidors. They have some really nice stuff on their site if you are in the market for a humidor or accessories!
That’s about all I have for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
Once again I’d like to thank everyone for making the 12 Days of Spectacular Giveaways a huge success. I certainly couldn’t have done it without stuff to give away and people to give it to and the great support I had at home. It was tons of fun but it was a loads of work and quite tiring. I’ll plan on doing it again next year but will do a few things a little differently on the back end. Congrats to all of the winners and thanks to everyone for making it a great year on CigarCraig.com!
Everyone’s publishing their “Top Whatever” lists, and I’ve avoided doing anything like that over the years since I don’t really have a quantitative method of reviewing cigars, if you even want to call it reviewing. I know what I like, I know how a cigar works and I also feel that nobody sets out to make a crappy cigar, so there must be someone, somewhere who likes a given cigar, no matter how offensive it is to me. Also keep in mind that I’m not the kind of guy who runs all over creation looking for the hip boutique cigars, I’m just as happy with a Partagas Black as I am with some limited edition cigar that only comes out on arbor day and had 7 bands on it (happier, no doubt) So with all that in mind, let’s take a romp through what tripped my trigger over the last year!
You’d be hard pressed to find a list without the Tatuaje La Casita Criolla on it, and I have to concur, this is one of the cigars this year that really made me happy. Broadleaf. That’s all it is, Broadleaf. I love Broadleaf. I only smoked the corona size, but to me it compared favorably with the Liga Privada Serie Unico Dirty Rat in flavor and balance. Tasty, tasty cigar! I purchased these at a local shop and they weren’t too much more than $5 or $6 each.
A group of cigars that have received favorable reviews everywhere and are on everyone’s lists are the Emilio and Grimalkin cigars from Gary Griffith. The Emilio AF1 is a nice, dark, heavy, seriously yummy cigar, it’s sibling, the AF2 is different, perhaps a brighter flavor, but equally well made and delicious. The Grimalkin is a different beast, subtle, complex, an orgiastic feast of the senses. I have not had the occasion to purchase these, all of the samples I smoked were provided to me by Gary, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t buy them in a heartbeat. Gary and his partners are producing exceptional cigars, and I’m quite happy to know him.
I have also been enamored with the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especial and the CAO OSA Sol this year, both new cigars from General Cigar Co., and I’m not just saying that because I had the great fortune of visiting their Dominican factory. One of the many eyeopeners on that trip, besides revisiting some of their classic cigars and finding them to be outstanding, was the time and passion that goes into making every cigar. It almost has to be harder to make a million great cigars that are great year after year thank to make a batch of a couple hundred thousand that are gone when they are gone, right? The La Gloria Retro has been excellent and tasty in all the sizes I’ve tried, cigar after cigar, and the CAO OSA Sol seems to shine in the Lot 50, or robusto size, but is a nice enough cigar across the board. Both are in the medium range with lots of flavor.
One of my favorite finds of the year has to have been Oja Cigars. I met the brand owner, Luis Garcia, on my trip to Nicaragua, and we hit it off pretty good. His cigars are made by Tabacalera Esteli, which is owned by Kiki Berger. There haven’t been a lot of cigars from Cuban Crafters that have floated my boat, but the Oja line is really nice. I think my favorite cigar of the year was a Connecticut Toro I enjoyed in the pool on a hot summer day, but that had as much to do with the circumstance as with the cigar. The line is solid, full bodied (even the Connecticut) and tasty. The Anniversary, with a Brazilian maduro wrapper outshines them all. It’s a little more refined and complex. I love the whole line and look forward to seeing them in stores in my area.
I should mention Adrian’s CroMagnon by Michael Rosales and Skip Martin, which is another cigar that’s been on everyone’s list. I’ve only smoked a couple samples that Skip gave me, but they are definitely up my alley. Also, for much different reasons, I really like the Berger and Argenti Mooch line, especially the Schnorr. The name cracks me up, but the cigar is a solid, flavorful medium bodied cigar. Also the Undercrown and My Uzi Weighs a Ton were on everyone’s list for good reason, and I enjoyed the samples I had. Alec Bradley is making fine cigars, Toraño is making fine cigars, La Palina, El Primer Mundo, Oliva, everyone seems to be making fine cigars! It’s a good time, there are so many choices!
That’s about all I can think of at the moment. Honestly, there were a LOT of great cigars this year.
Until the next time, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
CigarCraig
Sunday evening, after a very busy weekend, I had a hankering for a Berger & Argenti Mooch Loll maduro. This was a really nice looking 6″ x 52 torpedo, perfectly proportioned with a beautiful dark wrapper. I have to say that in this case, I really enjoyed the natural wrapper more. Still, it was a delicious cigar that performed admirably. I had spent the afternoon at a street festival in my town, I had hoped to smoke a cigar or two while there, but it rained and was cold. My youngest son was playing in one of his bands at the festival, they played at one of the locations, but their set at the main location was cancelled due to the weather. I had planned on smoking one of the camouflage wrapped American Eagles cigars, so if someone complained, I could act like I didn’t know what they were complaining about! This joke probably goes over better in my head, just like when I run into the rack of camo clothes in the sporting goods store and saying I didn’t see it. Anyway, I still like the Berger & Argenti Mooch line quite a bit, the name may be a little odd, but the cigars are good. This one was a sample from the IPCPR show.
Tuesday I selected a Toraño Family Cigars Single Region Serie Jalapa, which I bought at G & G Cigars on a recent visit. This one was the 6″ x 54 Toro Grande. I;m not usually a fan of Criollo wrapped cigars, but this one, with it’s entirely Jalapa grown tobaccos, was sweet and rich, and I really enjoyed it. It didn’t burn arrow straight, but I still was a very relaxing and enjoyable cigar. My son, Corey, joined me on the front porch with a Cain F Nub and it didn’t kill him. The Single Region Serie Jalapa is made completely from tobaccos grown on the El Estero Farm in Jalapa, Nicaragua. A unique cigar, very nice.
Here is a little video I took with Charlie Toraño a the IPCPR show last July. As with all my videos, don’t forget to turn your computer speakers down after watching!
That’s it for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
Not too much going on around here cigar-wise this week, but I did manage to get a couple in. Wednesday I grabbed a Flor de Gonzales 90 Miles Robusto. I had won a 5 pack of these in a contest on the My Cigar Ashes blog a while back and have been enjoying them here and there. These are really nice medium cigar that’s quite well made. I only have a couple left from the 5 pack and look forward to seeing how they age. I looked on the Flor de Gonzalez website and oddly couldn’t find a mention of this relatively new cigar. I’ll drop them a note to see what’s going on.
Last night, after a really aggravating day at work, I decided to punish….er, treat myself (?) to a Cain F. I’ve smoked a few of the Cain range, and they all seem to be just too strong for my liking. I like the flavor, they are very well made, but they just always seem to overwhelm me. I remember last year stopping into my local tobacconist, JM Cigars, after the IPCPR show and Jeff, the proprietor just couldn’t say enough about these cigars. He said to get rid of all your Cubans, because the Cain is better. I was dubious at the time, and when I did treat myself to one a month later I could understand the appeal, but it was just too much of a nicotine kick. I have been a fan of stronger cigars, but Cains are just too much for me. That being said, I very carefully smoked and enjoyed the Cain F, which had been given to me a few weeks back by Dave Weber, the Oliva National Sales Manager. It didn’t get to me, but I smoked it almost hesitantly.
There were several news-worthy events this week that were the subject of just about every blog out there, so I sill only give them a brief mention.
Toraño Cigars have separated from C.A.O. International and is re-taking control of their distribution and re-emerging as Toraño Family Cigars. I always liked the cigars from Toraño, especially the Roots Run Deep cigars that Felipe Sosa rolled at their events.
Also in the news, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of General Cigar in the latest round of litigation in the Cohiba® trademark case, affirming that General Cigar is the rightful owner of the Cohiba trademark in the U.S. I may have to grab a Cohiba for this evening’s walk. I haven’t smoked very many Cohibas from either party, they always seemed to be priced beyond my comfort level, but I have a couple floating around the humidors. The question will become which version to grab?
That’s all I got for now! I’m working on a couple of new ideas that I hope will be entertaining and enlightening, so stay tuned. Also, I imagine it will be contest time again soon. By the way, any of my prior contest winners that want to send a photo or leave a comment about your winnings, please feel free. I may even put up a page with the winners, sort of a hall of fame (which will be as much for me to keep track as anything…)
Until the next time,
CigarCraig
Comments Off on The Week’s Cigars: Flor de Gonzales, Cain F – Saturday July 17, 2010
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