Tag Archives: Uncle Lee

by Craig Vanderslice | April 25, 2021 · 8:54 am

Two Tissue Wrapped Cigars: an El Rey del Mundo and a Room 101 Uncle Lee

Yesterday I had another one of my theme days. I have those every now and then, I’m weird that way. I find an odd common thread between two cigars, usually off the wall. In this case it was the presentation, tissue paper. I have very few cigars in my humidors with tissue paper wrapping. I can think of maybe two more besides the two I smoked yesterday, a CLE and a very old Cuban Fonseca KDT Cadet, and I only just thought of those now as I’m typing this. what started it was yesterday afternoon when I picked out an El Rey Del Mundo Robusto Oscuro to smoke. This is a brand that’s been around for a long time, and was recently re-assigned to the new Forged Tobacco sales division of Scandinavian Tobacco Group. These are distinctive because they have the tissue wrapping over a dark, oily Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. I smoked a bunch of these in the ’90s, but I was particularly enamoured with the Rectangulares, a box pressed corona gorda, which still seems to be available. Minor rant: General Cigar has boogered up the Cigarworld website to the point where I can’t find simple product information anymore. It used to be a good resource, now it seems to be a “community” site with reviews of every cigar under the sun except for the cigars I’m looking for. I know they have dedicated sites for the major brands, Macanudo, CAO, etc., but the smaller brands, no. And I can’t find a site for Forged either, you’d think they’d have one of those, right? I realize there’s only a few dozen people that want the information I’m looking for, so maybe it’s not a big priority, but it used to be there, for years, it must have been important at one point, right? SO I had to go to a retailer’s website for information. The El Rey Del Mundo Robusto Oscuro is 5″ x 54 with the aforementioned Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and Honduran binder and fillers made in Honduras. This cigar has a savory, meaty taste, not really the sweet maduro that one expects. It’s different, in a good way, and for a cigar that can be had for under $6, it’s a winner, and has stood the test of time.

I had no idea I was going to do the tissue paper theme until I went looking for another cigar to smoke last night, and came across a box buried deep in the humidor. Back around 2014, Matt Booth released the Room 101 Uncle Lee, a tribute to the uncle who got him into cigars. I bought a box a couple years later when they were clearanced, it was a “too good to pass up” deal. Sadly, they only came in boxes of ten. The cigar is presented in the “Ranfla” shape, a 6 ½ x 50 perfecto made in Danli, Honduras. The wrapper is Ecuadorian Habano, binder is Nicaraguan Corojo and fillers are Dominican Piloto Ligero & Honduran Corojo. While this cigar is not in my usual flavor spectrum, I really enjoy it! It’s got an unexpected floral component, which I find unique and endearing. Five years of age hasn’t done anything but good for these, they burn right, they draw right, and the flavor is spectacular. I have a few left in the box, and I buried it back where it was so I forget about it for a while again! I just remembered one more tissued cigar I have, a Room 101 Johnny Tobacconaut Ranflactic. I might have to find that one pretty soon! It’s funny how five year old cigars are suddenly “vintage”!

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

CigarCraig

1 Comment

Filed under Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, El Rey Del Mundo, Room 101, Uncle Lee

by Craig Vanderslice | April 26, 2020 · 12:08 pm

Cohiba Royale, Providencia Barrel Aged Old Fashion Cigars

I had a busy week working on a side project, and I slacked of on original content and made up for it with a bunch of news pieces through the week. So I had the luxury of smoking some old favorites, some older than others. One notable cigar was a Fuente Hemingway Classic. For along time I preferred the Signature over the Classic, it seemed like the Classics I smoked all had a metallic flavor to them I didn’t like. Granted, this was in the ’90s, and several factors change. The box I’ve had in the humidor for the last three or four years has been spectacular. A La Sirena Trident (Churchill) from he first batch that La Zona made was equally enjoyable. Yesterday I smoked a Nica Rustica Belly from a bundle I bought at the release party in Louisville, KY in July of 2015 that was wonderful, and a Room 101 Uncle Lee from the end of Matt Booth’s Davidoff years. And then, there was the new stuff…

It seems like every blogger and his brother has been reviewing the new Cohiba Royale. I apologize for being another one of them. I suppose when General Cigar sends a bunch of folks samples in the mail, and people can’t get to stores to buy new cigars to review or talk about, this sort of redundancy, repetitiveness, repeating oneself, saying he same thing over and over, will happen. I know that my inventory of newer cigars is running low. Enough excuses. This new Cohiba is interesting. It’s also expensive. Granted, it’s less than one third the price of the Cohiba Spectre, but it’s still not a cheap date. The Royale runs from $23.99 to $28.99, which is much more than my usual cigar budget, so smoking this falls into “treat” territory. I suppose the special occasion is surviving another day of global pandemic madness. Anyhoo, this particular Cohiba hits a few milestones for the brand. It’s the first to be made at HATSA in Honduras. This factory makes Punch, Hoyo and the like. This is also the first to use a Nicaraguan Broadleaf wrapper, and this is what really makes this cigar special in my opinion. The binder is Dominican Piloto Cubano and the fillers are from the Jamastran Valley in Honduras and Jalapa and Esteli in Nicaragua. I personally find the cigar to be quite delicious, and I can’t wait to see what some age does to this blend, even though they say that the tobaccos have five to six years age already. It has some sweetness and spice, but there is a little sour note here and there that makes it interesting. I smoked the toro, which is the largest size, and I would have liked a better burn and draw from a cigar in this price range, but that should come with some humidor time as these samples were only about a week off the truck. I look forward to the day when I can catch up with Sean Williams and smokes one of these with him.

The other new cigar I smoked was another one from Providencia Cigars. This one gave me pause, being a non-drinker. It’s the Barrel Aged Old Fashion, and had a pronounced “boozy” aroma to me. After almost thirty years of not drinking, it’s not like something like this is going to make me fal of the wagon, there’s nothing to worry about there. I actually have some liquor in the house for guests, it’s never a temptation. What it means is that I really have no frame of reference for booze related flavors. I don’t think I have ever had an Old Fashion, if I have it was over 30 years ago. I was more of a beer and shots guy than a cocktail guy when I drank. So this cigar was a toro sized cigar, wrapped in a San Andrés wrapper with an Indonesian binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan Ometepe in the filler blend. The magic happens when they age the cigars for four months in barrels that contained Old Fashion cocktail drink from the Little Water Distillery in Atlantic City, NJ. I was a little surprised that the cigars were in the barrel in cello, but that goes to show you that cello

is permeable, and I’m sure it reduces damage to the cigars. The cigar smoked beautifully, like every Providencia cigar I’ve ever smoked. There are a couple small Honduran cigar factories that are making exceptional cigars, and Providencia is one of them. I suppose an Old Fashioned has some sweetness, because there was a nice sweetness to this cigar. This is basically the Providencia Bloodshot blend, aged in the barrels, so the cocoa and dark chocolate are enhanced with the sweetness. I enjoyed it, even if I couldn’t relate to the liquor aspect of the cigar. I may have to root around and see if I have a Bloodshot to compare it to! Providencia Cigars never seem to disappoint, and I am so grateful to Ray for sharing his new blends with me.

That’s al for today, be safe out there, support your local retailers so you have somplace to go when things open up again, and enjoy your day. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

1 Comment

Filed under Review

Tagged as Barrel Aged Old Fashioned, cigar, cigars, cohiba, Hemingway, La Sirena, Nica Rustica, Providencia, Room 101, Royale, Uncle Lee

by CigarCraig | February 17, 2019 · 8:45 am

A Rant, A Gurkha Ghost and A Room101 Uncle Lee Cigar

It’s been a long week and it’ll be Thursday before I get another day off. This will be a short one as I have to work today. Tuesday was my last day off, and I had to pick my son up at Philly airport, so I decided I should kill some time at a cigar shop close to there, but I decided too late (it was snowing/raining and took longer than I thought to get there), so I just stopped in Jacoubs Cigar Shop in Ridley Park and picked up a few cigars. This place is four miles from PHL, so a little better planning in the future is in order. Had I thought of this an hour earlier I would have easily been able to have a relaxing smoke in the spacious lounge at the shop after selecting a cigar from the walk-in humidor. Jacoub, the owner, is a welcoming gent, and gave me a dime for the parking meter (bring change, the rates are fair). He said that the Gurkha Ghosts sold well for him, so I bought a couple of the Phantom and Spook sizes, because they are newer and I like perfectos and hadn’t smoked them yet. I smoked a Phantom later and really enjoyed it. The Phantom is a 5″ x 58 perfecto with a curly bun on the cap which pinches off easily, but a snip with a cutter opens it up better. The Brazillian Arapiraca wrapper is dark and oily and has a nice look, and has the dark cocoa flavor I like. In truth, when these first came out five or so years ago, it took me a while to warm to the blend, there was something I didn’t like a about the first several I smoked, and I wanted to like this cigar. Now I like it, and it’s one of my favorites in the Gurkha range. The prismy band is pretty spiffy too.

Which kinda leads into my rant, only because Gurkha seems to be a frequent target of this topic. Too often I see people on social media, and to a lesser extent in shops, stating as fact, that cigar X is “crap”, “garbage”, or some other word that states definitively that the cigars is sub-standard and unworthy of the title of cigar, as if that person was an expert on such things. This irritates me to no end. This is actually why I don’t review cigars per se, and don’t use a rating scale on my site, even though it would probably benefit me as manufacturers like ratings and would publicize my site more if I were to go that route. Here’s the thing: taste is subjective. Sure, there are objective qualities of cigars, construction, draw, combustion, but there are very few cigars that make it far with long-term problems in these areas. If a cigar tastes bad to me, that’s my problem, not the cigar’s problem, so the cigar isn’t a bad cigar. An example I like to use is this: I don’t like Lima beans, the flavor is disgusting to me, I can’t imagine how anyone would put sometime so vile in their mouths, but people eat them, and, presumably, like them! By that logic, obviously, Lima beans aren’t crap, they just aren’t for me. Let’s apply that to cigars, if we have a cigar and the flavor doesn’t appeal to us, let’s not go on social media and declare that brand Y, which, by the way, may have a huge, loyal following and has been in business for 20 years, is “crap”, but accept that maybe their cigars aren’t for us and move to the hundreds of other brands out there that may suit us better!

Now that I got that off my chest, which is a little congested this morning, lets circle back to a few nights past, when I cracked open a ten-count box of Room 101 Uncle Lees that I almost forgot I had and came across while rummaging around the humidor. Not complaining, misplacing a box of cigars in the humidor isn’t a bad problem to have. I bought this box after smoking an Uncle Lee at one of Matt Booth’s last events before he left Davidoff, so it’s been a few years. This cigar is presented in the 6½” x 50 Ranfla perfecto size, wrapped in tissue paper with a paper sleeve, much like the Chief Cool arrow and Johnny Tabacconaut series were. I love this blend, it has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, but is has a flavor unlike any other cigar I’ve smoked. There’s an almost floral flavor that’s light and refreshing. It’s an interesting change of pace, and if I thought I would ever be able to replace these cigars, I’d probably smoke the other 9 cigars in the box pretty quick. I’ll ration them out as it is. Uncle Lee should be proud.

That’s all for this Sunday, until the next time,

CigarCraig

7 Comments

Filed under Editorial, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Ghost, Gurkha, Jacoub's, Room101, Uncle Lee

by CigarCraig | February 15, 2017 · 9:22 pm

A La Barba, an 1881 Perique Bold, a Room 101 and a Chogui Dos77 Cigar

Hmmm….I just realized all four cigars I’ve smoked so far this week have had a number theme, starting with the La Barba One & Only, a generous gift from my not so secret Santa, George, this past Christmas. This cigar was a toro sized cigar with an Ecuador Habano wrapper and undisclosed binder and filler made at the William Ventura factory in the Dominican Republic. This is a limited edition cigar in the La Barba line, which is the creation of Tony Bellatto. This was a really well-balanced and sweet smoke on the milder side of medium to my palate. It was perfectly constructed and worked exactly like a great cigar should. This was one of several great cigars George sent, and I thank him very much for sending me some great cigars I wouldn’t normally have a chance to sample.

I’ve been really enjoying the 1881 Perique line from Tabacalera Incorporada in the Philippines. This was a surprise since I had a bad experience with Philippine cigars in the 90s and swore off them. Of course, in the latter 90s there were a LOT of crappy cigars coming from everywhere, and I especially disliked Filipino and Indonesian brands. So I was skeptical, but have really enjoyed the cigars from Tabacalera Incorporada, especially the 1881 Perique, which use Perique tobacco from Louisiana in the blend. This time around I smoked the 1881 Perique Bold toro, with a natural wrapper. The Perique gives a unique spice to the full-bodied blend, which also features aged Philippine and Brazilian tobacco. These are definitely interesting cigars.

Yesterday I lit up a Room 101 Uncle Lee that I picked up a few months ago when Matt Booth was at the Bethlehem, PA downtown Cigars International store. I recently bought a box (of 10) of these at Holt’s very inexpensively, around $40 for the box with shipping. I really liked this cigar when I smoked it a while ago and figured having a box in the humidor wouldn’t be a bad thing. The Uncle Lee is a 6½” x 50 in the Ranfla shape that is in several of the other Room 101 lines, including the Room 101 Johnny Tobacconaut where it’s called the Ranflactic. Uncle Lee was Matt Booth’s uncle who introduced him to the enjoyment of cigars. I find the Uncle Lee to be an excellent cigar with a bright, refreshing flavor. It’s smooth, it tastes great, and I like this as a change of pace. Like the rest of the Room 101 line, I’m afraid when they are gone, they are gone. We’ll miss you Matt!

Tonight I grabbed a Chogui Dos77 Rogusto that I picked up a few months ago at B and B Cigars in Chestnut Hill, PA when I went down to hang out with Vince, the manager of the shop, and Steve Saka. I had heard a lot of great things about this line, so I figured I’d try it out. This is a cigar that until recently was only available in the Dominican Republic, where the cigar is made. For some reason, as stated on the inside of the band, were supposed to “Fear the F*cking Bird”, with a bird where the “*” is. I’m not sure what that’s all about, but I wasn’t real fond of the flavor of this cigar. I know some people who might be a fan, I think this is a cigar that to folks who like the sour flavors might appreciate, but it’s not for me. The plus side was the construction was exceptional, it was firm, burned straight as an arrow with a nice, flat ember telling me how much care is taken in the blending and leaf placement. I wanted to like this cigar, it wasn’t inexpensive, and I’ve heard raves about it. There are a lot of cigars that I don’t “get” that people love, so don’t go by me! Happily, of the vast variety of cigar I smoke, it’s rare that I get one that I don’t take some enjoyment from, and the smoking of this cigar was certainly not unpleasant, the flavor just wasn’t for me.