Tag Archives: Triqui Traca

by | December 5, 2021 · 10:05 am

Crook of the Crown, Triqui Traca, and Room 101 Cigars

As the holidays and year end gets closer things seem to get busier. As I mentioned in last Sunday’s post, I went to Son’s Cigars and hung out with the crew from Stolen Throne Cigars, less brand-owner Lee Marsh, who’s wife has been expecting their son to be born any day and felt that being five hours from home would be less than prudent. What a wuss. 😀. I got past the initial disappointment, and hung out and smoked cigars with them, and my friend Greg, whom I’ve known since high school. I smoked another Three Kingdoms Toro, and a Crook of the Crown Robusto while there, and during the week I smoked a Crook of the Crown Toro. These are some outstanding cigars. The Crook of the Crown has a San Andrés wrapper, and is exactly my kind of cigar, it’s down and dirty, reich and earthy, but I think I like the Three Kingdoms a little more! I love the sweetness it has. They both have a place, and I think I smoked more of those two cigars last week than I’ve smoked any one brand of cigars in a week in a long time. I just got hooked on them. Great stuff from the Rojas factory in Esteli. I’m still looking forward to meeting Lee, I’m told there will be another event in the Spring at Son’s, hopefully he doesn’t have another lame excuse! Meeting Kevin, JR, and Josh made up for his absence. 

 

I know a lot of seasoned cigar smokers like smaller cigars, and I do consider myself a seasoned cigar smoker. Heck, I’ve been smoking cigars for 25 years, that should count, right? I actually prefer larger cigars, smaller cigars don’t satisfy me. There are times, however, when time doesn’t allow for a larger cigar. If I don’t have 45 minutes, Im just not even going to have a cigar, if I have 45 minutes to an hour, I figure I can squeeze in a petite corona or a short robusto or one of the smaller formats. Such an occasion presented itself Friday. My youngest son (27), graduated from Nursing school Thursday evening, so we celebrated Friday evening with a family dinner. I snuck in a Montecristo No. 5 which I had purchased at the Duty Free in the Rome airport back in 2018 when one could do such things, before dinner (which was a very nice little cigar) and then when everyone had gone, I sat down with the new Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca 448. Steve (who still hasn’t shared my Stillwell posts, while sharing everyone else’s!) had given this one to me when we saw him in South Carolina a few weeks ago, it’s basically his regular production version of the Firecracker, which was the genesis of the Triqui Traca blend. This is a bold little smoke, and there’s really nothing unsatisfying about it. It’s got some pepper to it, along with the espresso that I love. It’s definitely the Mi Querida on steroids, and I love it. I was afraid that smoking it as late as I did would give me problems, as sometimes happens (trouble falling asleep, weird dreams, etc), but I was OK. If you loved the Firecrackers and can’t get any more, this is a reasonable alternative. If you never had the Firecracker, and like small, delicious cigars, you’ll like this one.

 

I like listening to podcasts, and one of the ones in my rotation is the A Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Ironically, there’s a cigar store called Cigar Hustler, and the guys on the Podcast are also involved in the store, one of them even is one of the owners! I suppose this helps to avoid trademark infringement. It was on this show where I heard about the Room 101 Who Shot Ya, which is an exclusive for Pospiech, which is, ironically again, owned by Mike Szczepankiewicz of the aforementioned Cigar Hustler. I saw these on the counter at Son’s and had to give one a try, or a shot, I guess. Like the Bangarang, which is the other non-Powstanie cigar in their portfolio, it’s also a pretty strong cigar, and starts with a heavy pepper flavor. It’s a well behaved torpedo, it burns well and was a nice smoking experience throughout the 5″ x 52 of the cigar. The components of the cigar are not disclosed, but it tastes good, definitely worth a “shot”. The podcast is fun too, I recommend it, and Mike and Mike are nice guys, I’ve met them, and they’ve met me!

 

Wednesday I posted the link for the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa, so get in on that if you would like to!  I need  to get a few giveaways together for the holidays I suppose, I have a few goodies laying around! That’ll do it for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

 

 

Share

Comments Off on Crook of the Crown, Triqui Traca, and Room 101 Cigars

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | November 29, 2020 · 10:06 am

Sobremesa Brulee Blue, Platinum Nova, HVC Black Friday and Triqui Traca Cigars

We had a really low key Thanksgiving. We didn’t have a big meal, just the immediate family hanging out around the house. We actually ordered sandwiches from Wawa for dinner! It was much more relaxing than the stress of preparing a big meal and cleaning it all up in all honesty! I, like many days, treated myself to some great cigars. I realized that I haven’t written anything about the Sobremesa Brulee Blue yet, so I figured it was about time. This is a 6 ¼” x 46 lonsdale cigar with a pigtail cap. I used a cutter because I’ve evolved to use tools, I’m not an animal. Also, even though Saka sent me this cigar, it’s a $15 cigar and I’m not risking screwing it up by manhandling it. Of course, I’ve smoked a few Brulee’s, including the STFU! set, and I don’t believe this had a sweet cap. It certainly has a natural sweetness to the tobacco, and a creaminess to the smoke that’s really nice. There’s plenty of body and some spice to the smoke too, making it a really interesting and entertaining cigar to smoke. The bands a re really pretty too.

 

I guess I had the blue in the Sobremesa bands in my head when I went to select my after dinner cigar. Full disclosure, while the rest of the family had “Gobblers”, I had an Italian hoagie, as I am not a fan of the turkey sandwich with the thanksgiving meal fixings on it. It’s my holiday, I’ll celebrate it the way I want! So I went to the humidor and selected Limited Edition Platinum Nova Torpedo. This was a cigar that Ari and Leo of Nova Cigars gave me at the TPE show last January, and I’ve probably mentioned it here before. It’s a 5 ½” x 55 torpedo that retails around $30, so it’s no cheap date. It’s got Dominican Binder and Fillers with a Habano 2000 wrapper. Remember when the Habano 2000 wrapper came on the scene and it didn’t burn? Now it’s on $30 cigars! This cigar has a really delicate, floral flavor profile. If you like that sort of thing, this is a cigar for you. It’s an entertaining change of pace for me. Of course, it burned perfectly, I’d have been disappointed for it hadn’t. this company makes some really good cigars. You don’t hear about them a lot, I hear about them on the Smokin Tabacco podcast/show, a show which Matt Tabacco (his real name) and Jon Carney which is entertaining. It’s a good thing that Ari and Leo started Platinum Nova when they did, because they worked for Nat Sherman, and would have been looking for jobs now anyway.

 

Friday I smoked the HVC Black Friday Firecracker. I thought I might have missed out on this, but when I went to 2 Guys website on the Tuesday after they came out, I was still able to get some. From the hype, I thought they would sell out. I got lucky, I guess. So I added some to my stash of various Firecrackers, and smoked one Friday before my granddaughters came over for the afternoon. This is a 3½” x 50 little smoke with a long “fuse” and a closed foot. Initially the spicy “hotness” covers any flavor to me. It was overwhelmingly strong off the bat. The Corona Gorda was strong, but this little bastard was really strong. It eventually settled down, but by the time it settled down, it started ramping back up because it was getting near the end. It’s pretty much pepper and strong, black coffee flavors, which is OK. If you aren’t prepared for the strength, it might me troublesome, and it’s a darned good thing it’s only 3½” long.

 

When I ordered the Firecrackers, I added on a few of the new sizes of the Mi Querida Triqui Tracas that recently came out that weren’t included in Saka’s media pack 😁. Here’s a couple of ethical disclosures: I buy a lot of cigars, and I get samples of cigars from vendors. If there is a problem with a cigar I get from a vendor, I don’t trash it, I talk to the vendor. I try to smoke cigars that I like. There has been an instance recently where I was given an item to review, I found it to be sub-par, I gave the vendor a draft of the review, told them I didn’t want to post the review and offered to return the item to them, which they agreed to do, even though two other items I’ve been given and reviewed in the past have been excellent. I can’t damage someone’s business with my opinions. I don’t have a problem endorsing something I can stand behind, but I’m not going out of my way to tear something down. Anyway, not quite sure why I went on that tangent, but I took Macha out to Valley Forge Park yesterday for a walk and took the huge Triqui Traca 764 along. This is a big cigar, as the name suggests, it’s 7” x 64, clever guy, that Saka. I suppose it’s better than calling it Donkey D*ck, but not quite as good as Gran Buffalo (which is what he called the same size in the Mi Querida). I lit this up and used it to maintain social distance, with both the smoke and physical size of the cigar. We walked for a while, then turned back, drove home, then I spent another few hours on the porch finishing the cigar. There are monuments at Valley Forge smaller than this cigar. It’s larger than some of the canons. They built cabins for the soldiers out of logs smaller than this cigar. It was a lot of good cigar, and I look forward to smoking the 652, because I felt like the 764 was maybe less flavorful, or maybe just a lot of work getting to the flavor. I bought more than one, so perhaps next summer I’ll work on another one.

 

Keep those Reader’s Choice Cigar of the year entries coming! Please e-mail me at craig@cigarcraig.com with your choice for the 2020 cigar of the year. I’ll compile the results and post them on December 31. Please be as specific as possible. That’s more than enough for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

Share

1 Comment

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

by | November 22, 2020 · 11:04 am

Tabernacle Goliath and a Mi Querida Triqui Traca Cigars

Let me start out by bitching a little about the USPS messing with my plans for this post a little. I had ordered some of the new Triqui Traca sizes because I was unable to find them locally, and they were supposed to have been delivered yesterday and they weren’t. How USPS manages to goof up Priority Mail that ships Tuesday and is scheduled to be delivered Saturday (already a stretch), is beyond me. A few weeks ago I sent a box to Washington state on a Saturday and it was delivered on Monday. Sure, it cost me more than $8, but c’mon. And I recently cashed in some rewards points for an Amazon gift card and they are mailing it….what sense does that make? OK, now I’m just bitching about stuff for for the sake of bitching…forget about that last part. Point is, I had to switch up my whole plan for this post at the last minute. Fortunately, it’s not hard for me to convince myself to smoke a great cigar, so I made other plans.

 

Last week when I was at Cigar Mojo, one of the cigars I picked up was the Foundation Cigar Co. Tabernacle Goliath. I probably should have gotten both the David and the Goliath, but I was trying to moderate my spending. In retrospect, it would have made this post easier, and perhaps, more interesting. Apologies. The David and Goliath are perfecto shaped cigars, both have a gorgeous Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, San Andrés binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. I would venture a guess that the blend is the same as the regular Tabernacle line. The Goliath is a 5” x 58 perfecto, it’s chubby. The David is 5” x 54 and is more of a pointy perfecto. This is where I regret not buying both and comparing the two, because the shape can make a big difference in the flavor. The Goliath was a wonderful cigar. Despite the fact that once it burns past the first quarter inch its basically a gordo or fat robusto, the burn was perfect. It was loaded with the rich espresso and cocoa that I love, with the spice and earth from the San Andrés and the fillers. This was such a good cigar, and burned nice and cool all the way down to the nub. Again, now I need to go get the David, because I can imagine that the smaller ring and the pointy shape would sharpen the flavors some and cause a different experience. Darn my frugality. So if you like the Foundation, you should love the Goliath!

 

As I alluded to above, I was hoping to receive some of the new sizes of the Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca, the 652 and the 764. So I followed the Goliath (after dinner, of course, not immediately) with a Triqui Traca 552. I realized that I had never really featured that size on these pages, and I’ve smoked a few. I like the 648, it’s close to a Toro, and I’ve been looking forward to trying the 652, and I just figured “Why not” on the 764. It’s a ridiculous size, but people rave about the Mi Querida Gran Buffalo (same size, next on my list to try). The Triqui Traca is another Broadleaf wrapped cigar that is based off of the Mi Querida Firecracker blend (of which a third, and tweaked, release is imminent. Damn, that’s another order I’m going to have to place with 2 Guys…) which is an amped up version of the Mi Querida. I’ll be honest, I love them both. If the Mi Querida is a Hershey’s Special Dark bar, then the Triqui Traca is one of those dark chocolate bars with the hint of cayenne pepper. It’s got some extra kick, but not too much, just enough to keep things interesting. Of course, it burns perfectly, if it didn’t, Saka wouldn’t sell it. Here’s a secret, because I’ve known him as long as I have, and he’d kill me for revealing this: he makes each cigar a half an inch longer than advertised and personally smokes a little bit each one to make sure it’s right before the cap is applied and it’s banded and packaged. That’s how much he cares! :-). (Before someone believes this and Saka comes after me for defamation and slaps me with a cease and desist, it’s a joke. He only does it with about half). If you like the Broadleaf cigars, you can’t go wrong with either cigar mentioned in this post, and of course they share some common ancestry.

 

So far there is a tie for the CigarCraig Readers Poll Cigar of the Year, so get your votes in! Please e-mail me at craig@cigarcraig.com with your choice for the 2020 cigar of the year. I’ll compile the results and post them on December 31. Please be as specific as possible. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

Share

1 Comment

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

by | December 8, 2019 · 10:39 am

Random Cigars and a Dunbarton Event at BnB Cigars in Philly

I already posted this week about the new cigar I smoked,  and I’ll get to the other one in a bit, but first I want to recap a few other cigars I revisited during the course of the week. I’ve been busying myself helping out a friend and continuing my job search. It’s a bad time of year for this sort of thing, but I did it once in 2002, so I should be able to pull it off again. so I’ve been continuing my evening routine of having a cigar and taking a walk, weather permitting. It’s been cold (or advancing age has reduced my tolerance), so I’ve been choosing more robustos, so one day this week I grabbed a La Aurora 1962 Corojo Robusto. Since I bought my first box of cigars in 1996 (La Aurora Bristol Especiales), I’ve always had some La Auroras in the humidor. It’s a sentimental choice for a few reasons. My celebration cigar when my grandchildren were born was the 2003 Puro Vintage, and I have two stashed for the next two grand children, but I suspect they will be very well aged by the time I’ll be smoking them. My daughter’s name is Aurora, which might be important information in this story, ties it together, I suppose. She may still have that old box from 1996 someplace. Anyway, the 1962 Corojo uses a Dominican Corojo wrapper, Ecuador binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers and is a medium bodied cigar with nice flavor. It’s one of those cigars that I can’t really pinpoint flavors but it’s flavors I like, and I know I can just grab one and have a good experience. Honestly, I’ve only ever smoked the 5″ x 50 robusto, so I’d solve to try this in the toro or Churchill size one of these days. I want to say the the 1903 Cameroon and 1987 Connecticut have the same binder and filler, with only the wrapper being different, I like all three.

 

If I were going to do something crazy, like have a cigar of the year, my next cigar would be in the running, or at least the brand would. I might just do it, because the Don Juan Calavera line from Danli Honduras Tabaco has really captured my corozón! I smoked the Connecticut this week, because it’s hard for me to not smoke these all up. I’m at a serious crossroads as to which of their three offerings is my favorite, Connecticut, Sumatra, or Maduro. The Connecticut is atypical, it is creamy, but not grassy, and not at all mild. Like every cigar I’ve smoked from the line, the construction has been excellent, burn and draw have been perfect. I’m trying to find out the best pathway to purchase these, so far e-mailing them, using the form on their website, or contacting them via Facebook seems to be the only way to buy them. As soon as can provide an easy to follow guide to purchasing these I’ll post it, because everyone should be enjoying these. Edit: I just received word that at this time contacting the manufacturer is one way to get them, but two stores in Virginia carry them, Blacksburg Pipe & Tobacco (Blacksburg VA) and Milan Tobacconists (Roanoke VA). Try calling these stores to purchase the cigars.  I should save some gushing for that cigar brand of the year post! Shh…don’t tell anyone! 

 

Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to smoke the Mi Querida Triqui Traca, and I did so at BnB Cigars in Chestnut Hill, PA. They were having an event there with Steve Saka and Dave Lafferty (Cindy Saka was there too) of Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, with a bunch of test blends that Steve had accumulated over the years as add-ons to purchases. I smoked one which was obviously a Mi Querida Gordita with some variation of the wrapper, although who could tell? It was delicious. Of course, I always learn stuff hanging with these guys, and the store is a cornucopia of boutique cigars. I highly recommend a visit there, if not in person, check them out for your online shopping, as Vince has curated an amazing selection of cigars. The lounge is comfortable and the clientele is friendly as well (which will mean nothing if you shop online). Anyway, the Mi Querida Triqui Traca I smoked was the 648, which is a clever name, as it’s 6″ x 48. This blend is based off of the Mi Querida Firecracker blend that Steve made for Two Guys Cigars last year, so it’s got a little more oomph than the Mi Querida line. I really enjoyed it, although it’s too early to tell if I like it more than the regular line, I don’t think I really need to have a preference actually, I can like them both equally! The Triqui Traca had the great espresso and spice that I love with more of the ligero power. I was told that the strength manifests itself more if you keep it in your mouth while smoking, which I don’t, so I guess I missed out on that aspect. It, as always, is great seeing my friends and spending time with them. I was surprised there weren’t as many Saka fans there, but I’m sure many wish they could have been. 

 

That’s plenty for today. I have a Sobremesa Brulé on the menu for today, I actually haven’t smoked regular production versions yet, so I’m looking forward to it. If I have the time there might be other goodies from yesterday to smoke. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

Share

Comments Off on Random Cigars and a Dunbarton Event at BnB Cigars in Philly

Filed under Events, Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

by | June 25, 2019 · 6:07 pm

News: Mi Querida Triqui Traca Offered at 2019 IPCPR Trade Show 

Tuesday news from Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust. I haven’t tried the Triqui Traca, and I’m a little sad about that.  I’ve smoked a bunch of the Firecrackers (I am waiting for delivery of the latest Firecrackers, by the way!), and I can’t wait to get ahold of the Triqui Tracas! I am a big Mi Querida fan and the extra oomph in that blend is extra special. 

 

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust® will be showcasing its Mi Querida® Triqui Traca of handcrafted cigars at this year’s 87th Annual Convention of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 28th through July 2nd, 2019.

 

“Mi Querida Triqui Traca, pronounced ‘me kay-ree-dah tree-kee trah-ka’, is arguably our boldest cigar released to date,” shares Founder and Master Ligador Steve Saka. Adding, “At its core, it remains our quintessential Mi Querida blend with its earthy, sweet broadleaf notes, but with the incorporation of a couple refinements. The capa has been switched from the traditional Connecticut Broadleaf Mediums to the rarer No. 1 Dark corona leaves plus a unique, high octane ligero grown in the Dominican Republic has also been introduced into the liga. The resulting cigar retains its inherent sweet loam and chocolate characteristics, yet delivers a significantly heavier smoking experience.”

Saka explains, “’Triqui Traca’ is Nicaraguan slang for oversized firecrackers that are connected by fuses in a long serial string. These explosive ropes are then laid down in the center of a street and sometimes stretch multiple blocks. Ignited from one end, they explode in a cascading line of powerful concussions and blinding light down the entire length of the street. Triqui Traca are often lit in celebration of important religious and national holidays. This cultural icon is an ideal moniker for the explosive nature of this cigar.”

 

Mi Querida Triqui Traca will be offered to Select Purveyors and will be initially available in only two formats: No. 552 – 5.00 x 52 and the No. 648 – 6.00 x 48. The cigars will feature a red band and chevron on the box corner to easily identify them from the core Mi Querida liga. Packed in 20 count SBN boxes, the MSRP ranges from $10.75 to $11.75 respectively per cigar. Initial availability of these cigars will be extremely limited due to tobacco constraints.

 

The anticipated ship date to those Select Purveyors who order at this year’s trade show is September 2019.

 

About Steve Saka

Regarded as a cigar expert throughout the industry, he is credited as being an experienced cigar blender and maker, a prolific author regarding cigars and black tobaccos, a forefather within the online media segment and a dynamic tobacco industry executive. In 2000, he worked directly for Lew Rothman, the former owner of JR Cigar, as an executive consultant for four years and he subsequently served as the President, then CEO of Drew Estate from 2005 through 2013. In 2015, he established the family held Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust to craft and distribute traditional handmade puros.

For more information, please visit: www.dunbartoncigars.com. ®Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust and Mi Querida are registered trademarks of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust and/or affiliated companies.

Share

Comments Off on News: Mi Querida Triqui Traca Offered at 2019 IPCPR Trade Show 

Filed under News

Tagged as , , , , , ,