Tag Archives: Tortuga

by | November 6, 2013 · 7:46 pm

A Tortuga, a Nica Rustica and a Pair of Casa Fernandez Cigars

I was just thinking how I really haven’t had a bad cigar, or even one I didn’t care for, in a very long time!  I hope I don’t jinx myself having said that.  I still have a bunch of IPCPR samples to get into, so all hope isn’t lost. 🙂

 

Tortuga 215_CedroSaturday I was gifted a new size of the Tortuga 215 Reserva by Victor Vitale. This is a 5” x 48 cigar with a cedar sleeve and is yet to appear on retailers shelves. The Tortuga line is a limited edition, boutique line made in Honduras. In the past I’ve enjoyed the 215 Edition Limitada, and 1948 Connecticut, and my favorite, the 1950 Maduro, as well as a few of the new 215 Reserva which was released at the 2013 IPCPR show. The Cedro is a Nicaraguan puro that starts out with a delicious cedar flavor, no doubt a result of being wrapped in cedar! It’s a very savory, woody smoke with a little sweetness thrown in. I love the size. IF you can find these treat yourself to one.

 

Nica Rustica_El BrujitoAny time we have to change the clocks it causes a disturbance in The Force, but it’s hard to pick up on the first day. When the work week begins and you get a full appreciation of it being almost dark on the way home, it sinks in. I prefer not to smoke in the dark. I’m weird, but I get as much enjoyment out of watching my cigar burn as I do enjoying the flavor. It also makes it easier to know when you’re going to burn your fingers! Anyway, I needed a Monday sure thing, so I took a gamble on an IPCPR sample of the Drew Estate Nica Rustica  which shipped this week. I loved the pre-release sample I brought back from Nicaragua last May, it was something special. It seems that they removed the “wild” Esteli leaf from the production blend (ironic that this “jungle” leaf was used in the above mentioned Tortuga 1950 Maduro, or something very similar). The production Nica Rustica is still an excellent smoke. It’s rustic, but it burns arrow straight, and the flavor isn’t what I’d call refined, but it’s heavy and right up my alley. If the Undercrown is the poor man’s Liga Privada, then this is the poorer man’s Undercrown, and I’ll probably get in trouble for that comparison. At around $6 for a Toro if you like fuller bodied cigars you really can’t go wrong. This is a cigar I could smoke every day. Even without that special “wild” tobacco, it’s another winner. It even has a pigtail cap and a closed foot!

 

CasaFernandez_ReservaMaduroA couple weeks ago I received some samples from the folks at Casa Fernandez Cigars.  My experience with this line was previously limited to an Aganorsa Leaf Toro, which I loved, and a similar cigar with the secondary CRA bad which I didn’t love so much.  The cigars I received were both similar in size to the Tortuga Cedro, the Casa Fernandez Reserva Maduro Corona Extra 5” x 46 and the Aganorsa Leaf Maduro ‘Ilustre’ 5 x 48.  Once again, these are a perfect size for my evening walks now that the weather is colder and it’s dark early. Both cigars are made in the Miami factory, and both carry a retail price of $8.90.  I smoked the Reserva Maduro last night after a nice steak, and it shared the savor, meaty flavors and was a CasaFernandez_AganorsaMaduroreally nice cigar.  The performance was perfect, it burned well, it drew well and, as much as I like the size, I ended up wishing is was longer!  Same with the Ilustre.  This one has my favorite wrapper, the San Andrés, and it was reminiscent of strong, black coffee.  It also was constructed perfectly and also left me yearning for more.  Both fit the time I had allotted though, I hate it when I have a nice cigar that I can’t finish.  I certainly have smoked cigar that contained some of the Aganorsa leaf, and I will need to seek out some more of the Casa Fernandez lines to sample.  I’ll state publicly that I don’t care for their website, and I said that privately as well, and was assured that they are working on it.  Flash sites are impossible to link directly to various pages, and I couldn’t view it at all on my Android tablet.  I think more and more people are using devices that don’t work with Flash these days, and it doesn’t seem wise to alienate that large an audience.

 

alexaI’d like to thank all of my readers and visitors.  Alexa is a site that tracks the relative popularity of websites around the world, and I’m pleased to see that I’ve broken the top one million websites worldwide, and have what I consider a pretty respectable ranking in the US.  So thanks for reading, and as your reward I will have a couple contests in December (regular readers will know that I’ve been having pretty terrific contests for the last couple Decembers!).  Stay tuned.

 

That’s all for now, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | November 3, 2013 · 12:54 pm

Ora Vivo Armand Assante Cigar Dinner

OraVivo_5x54Last night my wife, Jennifer, and I drove up to Matawan, New Jersey to attend a cigar dinner hosted by the Smoker’s Haven stores, Victor Vitale, Gary Macchione, with special guest Armand Assante.  The dinner was held at Sterling Gardens, a banquet hall.  Since smoking is forbidden indoors in New Jersey, they had set up tables outside on the patio in front of the building for smoking.  Our $65 tickets covered a four course meal and two of the new Ora Vivo Armand Assante cigars, a 5 x 54 Robusto and a 7.5 x 58 Double Corona. I chose the Robusto for a pre-dinner smoke, which was spent talking to Victor about the cigars, as well as his Tortuga line. The 5×54 was a nice smoke.  It’s on the milder side for a Nicaraguan puro, and the burn was perfect.  I always marvel at a nice, flat ember on a cigar, it’s a testament to the blending and rolling art.  It’s a sophisticated, complex blend that’s quite satisfying.

 

We sat down at our table with a non-smoking retired teacher with a screenplay he wanted to give to Armand, and three women.  It turns out that two of these women were there because it was a cigar dinner primarily!  We ended up making some new friends, I think. We had interesting conversations about all topics including cigars. We lucked out with excellent company. While we were enjoying the first course, which was a nice fruit plate with melon, pineapple, grapes and kiwi, Victor got up and talked about the Ora Vivo cigars, and answered cigar related questions from the crowd.  He then introduced Armand Assante who shared his involvement and experience with the cigars.  After a Caesar Salad, the main course was served.  Jenn had the salmon, and I had beef and it was very good.  Armand took questions about his career and films from the crowd after the main course was served.  Several of us were chomping at the bit to get out to the smoking area for a cigar, this was, after all, a cigar dinner. I, much to my regret, missed the dessert, which was cheese cake. I love cheese cake.

 

OraVivo_7x58I lit up the Double Corona which I’ve smoked before and didn’t regret missing the dessert quite as much.  I think this larger size displays more sweet tobacco flavor than the smaller size I smoked earlier.  It’s larger than I normally prefer, but it was a pleasant evening and I was among friendly and interesting company.  The burn was also not as razor straight as the Robusto, but that hardly impacted the experience negatively.  We ended up standing there outside until after 11 PM talking with Victor and Gary after everyone left.  I admit that my biggest disappointment of the evening was that Armand didn’t hang around and have a cigar with us.  My second disappointment was that they only took cash for box sales (Armand was autographing boxes. Not that I’m a sucker for celebrity autographs, but it would have been pretty cool, and the prices were decent for New Jersey). I know several people who would have bought a box if they had taken credit cards, and it’s very easy to do on modern phones these days.  Other than that, it was a great evening out.  We met some super people, smoked some tasty cigars and had a good time. It’s very fortunate that it was a relatively warm evening for early November in northern New Jersey.  Thanks to the folks at Smoker’s Haven, Victor, Gary and Armand for the great evening.

 

We took a bunch of picture, none of which came out very well due to the lighting and lack of experience with a different camera.  Fortunately Victor shared a few pictures with us. Click on one of the pictures for a slideshow. I’ll try to mooch more pictures and add them to the slide show.

 

 

That’s all for now.  I think I may have to take a Tortuga for a walk this afternoon!  Somewhere I came into possession of a yet to be released Tortuga 215 Reserva En Cedro in a rally nice classic corona gorda size.  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | October 9, 2013 · 9:21 pm

A Cuban Stock Triumph and a Tortuga 215 Reserva, a Philly Connection

This week I smoked a couple cigars with a Philadelphia connection.  This was purely by accident, as I had planned a different cigar for tonight’s walk, with a completely different tie in, but I couldn’t find the cigars I was looking for.  This could indicate a problem, I’m not sure.  Seems like I need to do some organizational work in the humidors, which are still a bit of a mess after returning from the IPCPR show.  I’ll get it worked out eventually, I promise.

 

Cuban Stock_Triumph_TorpedoLast night’s cigar was a Cuban Stock Triumph Torpedo which was sent to me by Will at SJ Cigars.  SJ Cigars is a chain of shops in the Philadelphia area that I have yet to visit.  They’ve been around quite a while, and my son has been to the one on South Street, and I’ve been past the one in Bala Cynwyd, but I haven’t had the chance to stop in.  My first exposure to the Cuban Stock brand was a dozen or so years ago when I guy I worked with smoked them exclusively (he still does, actually, I ran into him a year or two ago).  He gave me one all those years ago and I remember it being a nice, mild cigar.  This Triumph  is made in the Dominican Republic and has a jet black wrapper, referred to on the website as DMS, and I don’t know what that means.  Elsewhere it says it’s from Ecuador.  The tobaccos are reported to be 10 years old and aged in oak barrels.  Whatever the makeup is, it’e a really tasty maduro smoke. I had a strong espresso quality and burned well. I really enjoyed this cigar, and they appear to be reasonably priced.  I do recall seeing a Cuban Stock booth at the trade show so they may be available nationally.  I need to try getting to one of the stores one of these days!

 

Tortuga 215_AlmaTonight’s cigar was a Tortuga 215 Reserva Alma, which is a 5″ x 52 robusto.  I picked up a couple of these last weekend in New Hampshire.  My friend Mike Perry sent me one of these in the 7½” x 58 Diplomatico size, but I haven’t had the time to smoke that one yet.  Of course, I’ve enjoyed many of the 215 Edición Limitada 2011 in the past, and the new Reserva is a notch better to my palate.  It is medium bodied, and except for a little slanted burn half way through, it performed well considering I bought it Saturday and got it into the humidor Monday morning.  Oddly, this robusto is named after my paternal grandmother, which is a little unusual. This is a nice smoke, like all of the Tortugas.  Mike also sent me a 1950 Natural Aged Maduro, which I really look forward to since I enjoyed the torpedo so much a couple years ago.  I forget what I paid for the robusto, but I want to say it was in the $7 range in tax free New Hampshire.  Now that Victor Vitale lives in Philadelphia again (there’s the connection!), maybe I’ll get to see him once in a while!

 
I received an e-mail this week from Jon Fontane at Metal Shop introducing me to a cigar ashtray they are making.  Here’s the blurb from the website:

A simple yet elegant piece perfect for the gentleman cigar smoker.  Our Cigar Stand with Ashtray is made from solid brass and weighs in out over 7 pounds.  The interior of the ashtray is blasted with quartz crystal to contrast the machined brass and the entire piece is finished in lacquer.  The piece is 4.5″ long, 2″ tall and 2.5″ wide.  

Pretty cool, eh?  Check it out here.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | July 10, 2013 · 11:47 pm

Breaking News from Victor Vitale and Legacy Brands

I rarely post press releases, but these two arrived in my inbox tonight and I wanted to get the news out as soon as possible.  I’m looking forward to visiting with Victor Vitale at the show and will get more information.  Victor recently sold his company, The Cigar Agency to focus on new projects.  Here’s the latest from Victor:

 

Set to launch in Las Vegas next week at the IPCPR trade show, is the much anticipated Tortuga 215 Reserva by Victor Vitale.

Tortuga 215 is a limited production brand that is allocated in small quantities to only Appointed Merchants. The Tortuga 215 Reserva by Victor Vitale is a Nicaraguan puro with the majority of tobaccos from Esteli.

The Tortuga 215 Reserva by Victor Vitale will be an all box-pressed line up and initially debuted, as four sizes, for purchasing at the IPCPR trade show. Additional sizes will be made available in the upcoming months. Victor Vitale is looking forward to meeting with present merchants and also appointing some new merchants next week, at IPCPR 2013.

Tortuga 215 Reserva is a Legacy Brands by Victor Vitale product. For more information please visit www.VictorVitale.com and www.TortugaCigars.com

 

LegacyBrands

 

And:

Victor Vitale producer of the highly rated Tortuga 215 cigar brand has created a new blend, Ora Vivo Armand Assante.

Armand Assante, an artist, musician and golden globe award winner has had a 35 year love affair with cigars as is evident in many of his films. Throughout his career as an Actor, companies such as L’Oreal as well as Calvin Klein pursued Armand Assante as one of the few iconic images to be associated with their products. Other than Studio and International Independent Films and Television Armand never entertained the ‘commercial market’ save for the voice of Lincoln Continental and Serta in the nineties, and as host of stellar narration to political Documentaries. Though he comes from an exceptionally cultivated Family, his Grandfather an Italian Chef/Restaurateur in New York, his parents both Artists and Uncles and Aunts in Politics and Education, in the last few years the international scene has beckoned Assante once again to trade his persona on product such as casked Limoncello from Sorrento, Italy, Vodka from the oldest distillery in Russia, Spanish Vineyards as well as venues in Las Vegas. Assante seriously considered but stayed focused on a long time thought.

 

In the meantime offers to have his name on a cigar have been made consistently in the past but nothing inspired him enough to “make the cut”. He has a cultivated knowledge of cigars.

 

The desire to create a Legacy started with his career in the film industry thirty five years ago and Premium Cigars were only a part of his personal life and not a possible staple. He was not about to consider something that wasn’t personal. ‘Ora Vivo’, was an inevitability.

 

Armand writes:

I’ve lived an amazing life literally all over the planet. I don’t take it for granted. I wanted to express that. Sometimes what is unattainable can be approached if you choose the talent as well that comprehends you. Not that it’s a common occurrence. It rarely happens in Film being an industry defined often by consensus.

With ‘Ora Vivo’ I am creator and monitor of the product. If I create or distribute a product it would have to qualify as a product of legacy.

The product must have the necessary endurance to be associated with ‘Ora Vivo’.

Victor Vitale and Gary Macchione are of the same belief as me. What we create is a living expression of us. It’s the way we were raised. When we initially discussed creating a blend of a superior cigar in all respects we appointed Victor Vitale as our mentor. Victor Vitale has a long and tested career in the tobacco industry and his passion for tobacco and the cigar business is contagious. He created many successful brands such as the Tortuga 215 which is apart of his Legacy Brands cigar company. Victor brings 20 years of industry experience to our Ora Vivo cigar brand.

Gary Macchione has a passion for cigars, a talent for understanding and connecting with the consumer, and the ability to establish key relationships and create opportunities by bringing the right people together. Macchione has proudly partnered with veteran cigar maker Victor Vitale and screen legend and Cigar Aficionado Armand Assante to help create the cigar brand Ora Vivo.

Gary and I watched Victor carefully. He has the same discipline, knowledge and devotion to the blends as to the whole industry. He has been a student of the Latin American culture of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua for 20 years and always speaks about ‘A tribute to the art and tobacco culture’. You have to respect culture. If you are willing to embrace people… and to learn from their culture… inevitably your own sensibilities will evolve… if you’ve seriously considered their branch of knowledge. What we wish for ‘Ora Vivo’ is it to be our tribute and honor to the Cigar industry’s brotherhood… of cultures. We want those nations that have created the magic of Cigars to be honored together, and shared, by one, such as the one Victor and Gary and I have created. This is our gift to those nations. We tasted Victor’s tobacco blends until we knew we had tasted the tribute those cultures deserve. That is the fundamental philosophy shared between us as men. We do not take the cultural legacy that goes into the creation of a great Cigar for granted… or the legacy that goes into the creation of anything for that matter.

Life is a fleeting glance and taste of beauty. We honor it… in all its forms.

Ora Vivo is our salute.

— Armand Assante

Ora Vivo is a Legacy Brands by Victor Vitale product. For more information please visit
www.VictorVitale.com and www.OraVivo.com

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | May 22, 2013 · 7:35 pm

Undercrown, La Palina, CyB and Tortuga Cigars

undercrownI’m still basking in the afterglow of my recent trip to Nicaragua, so Sunday I grabbed an Undercrown Corona Viva for my afternoon smoke. I think I picked this up on a visit to Cigars International’s store in Hamburg, PA.  It wasn’t a very nice spring weekend, but the rains stopped long enough for me to enjoy the heck out of this cigar.  I think this is my favorite size in the Undercrown line, although I have trouble finding fault with any of the sizes I’ve smoked.  Saying that these are the poor man’s Liga Privada would be incorrect, as I still think they are a little pricey.  But they are worth the splurge.  I actually have (as do all of us blogger/media types who were on the trips, a Corona Viva along with four “grado puros” of the Ligero, Viso and Seco which I will smoke all at once some day and attempt to report upon my findings.  I’ve   done this before and it’s a sure way to burn out the palate. Maybe it will be a good subject for a rare video.  Great smokes, the Undercrown, and they will always bring back fond memories.

 

LaPalina_Maduro_ToroMonday I selected my last La Palina Maduro in the toro size.  It’s hard for me not to like a cigar wrapped in San Andreas maduro leaf.  These are nice smokes, heavy on the coffee and dark flavors I relish in a cigar.  It was a humid evening, and this one wasn’t burning as nicely as I’d like. I actually let it go out after the dog took us on a bit of a romp through the neighborhood. She got loose and took a route toward home that we were unable to follow due to the briars and underbrush.  We walked home hoping she’d be there and when she wasn’t I took a walk down the yard and toward the woods and eventually spotted here wandering through a neighbors yard.  I came back with her (leash still attached) and sat down and finished my smoke. Having to frequently re-light and touch up was well worth it for the flavors.  This was a sample graciously provided by La Palina, but I will purchase these to have on hand as they are a darned satisfying smoke. Perhaps in the future I’ll keep these in a slightly drier humidor.

 

CyB_LanceroTuesday evening I was in a lancero mood.  This mood strikes me every now and again and I have a handful to choose from. I decided another refugee from Cigar Safari would hit the spot, and selected a CyB Lancero from Joya de Nicaragua.  This is a cigar that’s probably not on store shelves yet, but when it is, get some.  The CyBs (nee Cuenca y Blanco) I’ve had have underwhelmed me a bit, but to be fair, I’ve only had the toro size from the IPCPR show.  I need to pick up some of the other sizes. A couple of important (to me) factors of this cigar which stood out were the aesthetics.  This is a beautiful cigar, and it burned dead even, and when I tipped the ash it left a perfectly flat coal. This tells me that incredible care was taken to make sure all of the components were arranged in that thin ring gauge so that all of the different tobaccos burned at exactly the same rate. I also really enjoyed the flavor of this lancero.  It was smooth and perfectly balanced. I smoked one on the trip, but it was after several cigars and the nuances were largely lost on me (they usually are anyway, who am I kidding?) I smoked this down to about a half inch, it was so good.  A V-cut was perfect, the cigar was perfect, and I would have been happy if it had been about a foot longer!  It adds to my enjoyment when I’m personally acquainted with the people who blended this, and I had the good fortune to have spent time with both Dr. Cuenca and José Blanco on my trip.  True gentlemen who know what they are doing.  Many thanks to José for making sure I had one of these lanceros to smoke on a fresh palate and truly enjoy!

 

The consolation prize from last week’s contest will be going out tomorrow to Lloyd, but I still haven’t heard from smoke770. I’ll have to go and e-mail him now since he’s slacking on me.  I sure hate having to track down guys to give them goodies!

 

As I write this evening,outside on the deck in lovely spring weather, I’m enjoying a Tortuga 215 Edicion Limitada from Victor Vitale’s Legacy Brands Cigar Company. This is a cigar that is growing on me quite a bit, I’m afraid.  It’s a solid cigar that is loaded with flavor.  These are made in the Domincan Republic, with a Nicaraguan wrapper and binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers.  This one got an X-cut, that is crossed V-cuts because the single V wasn’t doing it for me and I didn’t have a straight cutter on me.  Do I have to carry two cutters now?  Nice smoke, but I still like the incredibly elusive Tortuga 1950 Natural Aged Maduro better.  Keep an eye on Legacy Brands.

 

That’s enough rambling for one evening, I’m going to try to get to a cigar event Friday, then pick out some good cigars for the holiday weekend.  Be careful out there and enjoy your smokes!

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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