Ventura | CigarCraig's Blog

I received a nice bunch of cigars from Gary Griffith of The House of Emilio this week which included some new coronas from some of the great companies in their stable, as well as a couple of the Emilio Mia Dora robustos. I had one I picked up at an event a few months back that I had been waiting for the right time to smoke and figured now tat I had a couple more, the moment was Sunday. This cigar is a 5″ x 50 robusto with a Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler. The cigar is a tribute to Gary’s fiancé, Dora. The cigar smoked very well, producing copious amounts of smoke and a savory flavor. Much like Gary’s Draig line, there is a distictive charred meat flavor to my palate. I look forward to sampling this cigar again.

Monday I grabbed another cigar from the CAO Area 9 collection, the VT6. This collection of six cigars are all from the original CAO lines which have been in storage for anywhere from five to twenty years, and could be anything CAO made during that time period. I know I had smoked this cigar before, and have a feeling it may have been a Gold Vintage. I was a slightly box pressed toro with what looked to me like a darker Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, and had a sourness that I don’t particularly appreciate in a cigar. It burned reasonable well, and was certainly well aged. This is a fun sampler, the only cigar that one can identify by appearance alone looks to be a CAO America, which I don’t think I’ve ever smoked. I grab one every now and then when I am feeling experimental.

Tuesday I selected a cigar I’ve wanted to revisit since I first smoked it over a year ago when I sat in on the Cigar Authority show. I only got to smoke about half the cigar during the show, and I wanted to finish it, but the second half got cleaned up in the aftermath of the show. I came by one at the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival and was very happy. This robusto is a generous 5½ x 50, and features a primary band that covers the majority of the cigar, which a secondary normal band underneath so you don’t forget what you are smoking. The cigar is buttery smooth, and has a very pleasing mellow flavor. I really enjoyed the heck out of this milder cigar, it’s got a Dominican Hybrid wrapper, Mexican Sumatra binder and multi-country blend in the filler. There seem to be some terrific cigars coming from Ventura Cigars, and I think this is one of them.

Tonight I dipped into the cigars from Gary Griffith and selected a petite corona from Steve Ysidron’s Epicurean Carnavale line. I was looking for a fairly quick smoke, and this seemed to be the smallest of the selection. This cigar is listed in several outlets, both media and retail, as 5½” x 48, and is most definitely not, even with the box press, it’s a 40 ring gauge if anything. It is a really comfortable and elegant size, much like a short lancero. There can be no mistake that this was the petite corona as it said so on the barcode sticker. this cigar was probably my favorite of the week so far, and the Psyko Seven set the bar pretty high. It had a nice sweetness that was a nice digestif to the Fish and Chips dinner I had at a nearby brewhouse. The burn and draw were perfect and is smoked longer than I anticipated, as evidenced by the late hour this edition will be posting. I can’t think of an Epicurean Cigar that I didn’t really like, and this is the best of the bunch.

Today my wife presented me with a jingle she had made for me through a site called Fiverr, and I think her $5 was money well spent. Here it is with a video visualization.

httpv://youtu.be/P6HYezkmeto

Tonight on TBS is Conan O’Brien’s Cuba show which could be quite interesting. Conan is a laugh riot, and I try to stay awake late enough to watch the show. I have the DVR set just in case. I thought it was funny when the show’s twitter account followed me today (@TeamCoco), then I received an e-mail with a list of links to the show segments in my e-mail. I guess it’s pretty cool that they sought out my site, it shows that my Google ranking isn’t too awfully bad, I guess! If you miss it tonight, here’s the list of links they sent:

“Conan In Cuba” Open

http://teamcoco.com/video/conan-in-cuba-open

CONAN Highlight: Watch the first four minutes of Conan O’Brien’s one-man mission to meet the Cuban people and make some friends. (live now. Worldwide)

More from tonight’s show (TBS 11/10c) – live 5:30 am ET:

Conan Joins A Cuban Salsa Band

https://teamcoco.com/node/88071

Conan learns the importance of the Cuban clave beat and wows the band with his 8th grade Spanish skills. (live 5:30am ET. Worldwide)

Conan Takes A Cuban Spanish Lesson

https://teamcoco.com/node/88072

Thanks to Maestra Yolanda, Conan masters the Spanish tongue twister about three sad tigers. (live 5:30am ET. Worldwide)

Conan Visits The Havana Club Rum Museum

https://teamcoco.com/node/88073

Conan learns the rich history of Cuban rum before tasting a flight of Havana Club’s best with his guide Gretel. (live 5:30am ET. Worldwide)

Conan Learns To Dance Cuban Rumba

https://teamcoco.com/node/88074