Tag Archives: Villiger

by CigarCraig | December 9, 2012 · 10:13 am

Announcement! CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways (and a Los Regalos)

It’s that time of year again folks, it’s time to officially announce the 2012 CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways! Last year’s contests were pretty spectacular, but this years will be better! We’ve got an abundance of samplers, boxes, accessories from all of your favorite companies, and maybe a couple new and interesting items that you haven’t heard of yet. The rules are simple. Every day starting Wednesday, December 12, 2012, around 7 AM Eastern Standard Time I will post that days present. You’re job will be to leave a comment which will serve as your entry. Feel free to Tweet about it, Post it on Facebook, post it in whatever groups or forums you like, but only the comment counts as an entry. Also, I can see your IP address on your comments so no stuffing the ballot box please! One entry per person per day. My usual contest rules exclude winners from previous contests for 6 months, this rule is suspended so everyone starts fresh. However, once you’ve won a present in the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways you are no longer eligible to win. I know everyone will behave. Some gifts are being shipped directly from their contributors, and some are being shipped by me. I will ship items when I get the chance, please remember it’s a busy time of year for all of us! If you’ve won, it will be announced the next day, so be sure to check back. The winner will need to e-mail me their name and address at their earliest convenience.

Many thanks to the generous sponsors of this event! I always say, sure, I could do this without them, but it would cost me a FORTUNE!

They are (in alphabetical order):

AJ Fernandez Cigars

CAO Cigars/General Cigar Co.

Drew Estate

Emilio Cigars

Foundry Cigars/General Cigar Co.

Tobaccos Mata Fina USA

Toraño Family Cigars

United Cigar Retailers

Villiger Cigars North America

These folks all went above and beyond as you will see over the coming two weeks. I get excited about this all year long, and even though it’s a lot of work, it’s so much fun! Stay tuned for Day 1 on Wednesday and good luck to everyone who participates!

One Last Cigar recap:

As much as running contests for 12 consecutive days is almost a full time job (and thanks in advance to my wife for all her help) it allows me to just grab a cigar from the humidor to smoke and enjoy without having to take pictures or really worry about all the particulars. However, I need to slip in one last cigar before my hiatus (although I will be reporting on a cigar event I’m attending tomorrow evening). This week I fired up a Los Regalos Quetzal from Emilio Cigars. The cigar was a toro size, and had a little firmer draw than I’d have liked. It was also much milder than I expected. Other folks whose, palates I respect, have called this medium to full, and I didn’t get that at all. Perhaps the firm draw caused me to perceive it as mild. That’s not a complaint, mind you, but illustration of how preconceived notions can color perception. The cigar burned well and had a pleasing flavor, with little, delicate flavors popping in and out from time to time that kept me on my toes. Does the draw effect flavor? Absolutely! Is everyone’s palate different? Once again, absolutely. This is a cigar I will revisit, I know a shop not far from here that’s sure to carry them! I’ll hold off until conditions are better as I didn’t think this was an ideal cold weather cigar. Thanks to Gary Griffith for sending a sample of this cigar for me to try. He’s been loading me up with samples of the lines he’s distributing and they all seem to have one thing in common: I love them!

And finally, I’ll leave you with the video I closed last year’s contest series with, Alan Bernhoft’s Christmas Classic, Imagine Christmas.

httpv://youtu.be/AioTRzrMlBw

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

17 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as 12 days, aj fernandez, CAO, cigar, cigars, drew estate, Emilio, General Cigar Co., oliva, Stogie Boys, Tabaccos Mata Fina, The Cigar Agency, Toraño, United Cigar Retailers, Villiger

by CigarCraig | August 22, 2012 · 8:21 pm

IPCPR 2012 – Villiger Cigars North America

Villiger’s small, machine made cigars have been a favorite of mine for many years. The little “Export” cigars that come in boxes of five are perfect quickies and are very convenient. Unwrapping the paper and finding a perfect little box pressed cigar is like unwrapping a chocolate bar! Given my love for these, I was pleasantly surprised last year when Anne Dinkens at Villiger (then Villiger Stokkebye, now Villiger Cigars North America) contacted me to try some of their premium cigars. They also were very generous in taking part in my 12 Days of Contests last December. I was looking forward to visiting them at the IPCPR show this year, and made an appointment to speak with Roy MacLaren, the new president of the company. Roy was generous with his time and information and I recorded an interview with him where he explains his background, as well as their new offerings. The video appears below.

I had the opportunity to sample the two new cigars, the Talanga and the Colorado over the last could days (in truth, I’m smoking the Colorado while typing this!) The Talanga is a tasty smoke, with a light colored Connecticut seed wrapper from Jalapa. The cigar burned perfectly and had an equally perfect draw. I found it to be well balanced and satisfying with interesting flavors that distinguished it from so many other cigars. The Colorado has the same outstanding construction, but has a little less sweetness and a little more savoriness. The Habano wrapper may have something to do with this, but it also has a double binder, one leaf of which is from the Nicaraguan island of Ometepe. Both of these cigars have some of the Ometepe leaf in the blend, perhaps that’s what gives them that little something extra special that got my attention. The Colorado is a very rich smoke, decadent and delicious! Both samples were the Double Robusto size, which measure 5½” x 54, which is a nice size.

One thing that amused me while I was waiting to speak with Roy was talking with a couple of the European executives in the booth. As we were talking about how tasty the Export series were to me, one of the gentlemen was saying that Havana tobacco has a distinctive flavor and was kind of doing a “wink wink, nudge nudge” sort of thing. Now, do I believe that Villiger Exports, or any of their machine made products in the USA contain Cuban tobacco? I don’t see how that could be done legally, but I guess is a few leaves of Havana fell into the mix, who would know? There is something a little special about those little Exports, and I have some of the maduros that came out a few years ago to try that I haven’t gotten around to sampling yet. Another item of note was that they added a secondary band to their La Capitana line where the original band didn’t have the name on it. You can see my take on that cigar here. Many thanks to Anne, Roy and the folks at Villiger for their hospitality and support.

That’s it for now, when you see the Villiger Talanga or Colorado in the stores, give them a try! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under IPCPR, Review, Video

Tagged as cigar, cigars, colorado, IPCPR, Talanga, Villiger, Villiger-Stokkebye

by CigarCraig | May 27, 2012 · 8:26 pm

End of the Week Cigars: Villiger, a Special Fuente, a La Gloria Cubana and a San Lotano

Wednesday evening I was , once again, in experimental mode…OK, that’s a lie. The truth is that I have one coolerdor that has some small sampler boxes floating around in it and this particular one was down to two cigars, so I wanted to get things tidied up a little. Regardless of the truth, I picked out this Villiger 1888 robusto from said dwindling sampler. I recall enjoying the 1888 Fuerte quite a bit, so I was curious about the regular 1888. This was the robusto, and was a nice looking cigar with a milk chocolate colored wrapper. I enjoyed it quite a bit, it was medium bodied, well made and consistent in flavor through the smoke. It wasn’t mind-blowing, but certainly a good cigar. I would certainly smoke this cigar on a regular basis, but I never seem to see these in my local shops. Thanks to Anne at Villiger for sending me the samples and for providing a really nice gift in last December’s 12 Days giveaway!

Thursday I decided to dig into the new cigar from Smoke Inn‘s Microblend series, the Arturo Fuente Solaris. This is a 6″ x 49 belicoso that Fuente had made 6 years ago in a small batch and found a home for it at Smoke Inn. It’s unlike the other cigars in the microblend series in that they had no hand in the blending of it. Still, having a super exclusive Fuente product is a big deal. The sun grown wrapper is quite light on this cigar, and it’s very visually appealing. I’ll be the first to say that Fuente makes some great cigars, however I don’t often find myself smoking them. I’ve smoked many over the years, and gravitated toward smaller sizes in the Hemingway and Don Carlos lines. I expected to be wow’d by this cigar and I was impressed with it over-all. This is a cigar I wouldn’t have had the chance to try if it weren’t for the generosity of Smoke Inn. Be sure to give them a visit when shopping online or in the South Florida area.

Friday was the end of a long week, and, more importantly, the beginning of a long weekend! What better way to start it off than with a favorite, the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale Cubano. I brought this box back with me from the Dominican Republic and really enjoy them when I have time for a large cigar. It’s 6½” x 58 and is a good, smooth hour and a half or so of relaxation. As has been customary lately, I took my son’s new dog for a walk along with this cigar. A mile long walk and I still had three quarters of the cigar to relax on the front porch with for a while. I’ve had the pleasure of smoking a bunch of these since their release and am always delighted by the interesting flavors. I love a lot of the La Gloria Cubana line, and this is among my favorites.

Saturday turned out to be an interesting day. First, I received a call from my friend Greg saying he noticed a new cigar store in the area. It turns out to be a new location for a shop that has been around a while. More on that in a bit. Several months ago my wife and I had been to a unique little vintage record store and noticed some cigar box art in one section of the store. I had done some housekeeping in the basement and had a dozen or so empty cigar boxes laying around, and my wife and I took them down to see if they wanted them. They were thrilled with the boxes and insisted upon trading them for a very rare record that the proprietor had found for my wife. I love the artistry of cigar boxes, but we tend to take them for granted. It’s so cool when someone who has little interest in cigars is so appreciative of them. On the way home we stopped at the cigar shop. I have been to several locations of this local chain, and have only been impressed by one of them. This shop has moved into a free standing, ex-convenience store which has had more businesses in it over the last 20-some years than I can remember. I had a job interview in one of them 10 years ago. They have a Montecristo lounge which looks nice, and a huge walk-in humidor that needs more stock, needs to have the split and broken cigars removed, and needs more price labels on the boxes. I’m a self proclaimed cheap bastard, and price plays a part in my buying decisions, so I don’t like surprises at the register and won’t buy what isn’t priced. I picked up a couple of the new Romeo by Romeo y Julieta just because I’ve been wanting to try them, but I can’t see visiting this shop often. It is located in such a place that there are a couple friends I could meet up there for a smoke, and I really hope they make it, but they need to fix a few things. I came home and smoked a San Lotano Oval Toro because I saw them there but I was scared off by the condition of some of the cigars around them. The Oval is a fantastic smoke and couldn’t have been a better end to the day. Deep, rich flavors and a perfect burn. These are pricey, but delicious and I look forward to trying the maduro. It’s a neat shape too.

That’s it for now. More great cigars to smoke! Since my son got his dog, I’ve been taking her on my evening walks with me. I’m open to suggestions on “Dog Walker” cigars! There will, no doubt, come a time when the weather is less than ideal for enjoying a fine cigar, so what does everyone keep on hand for those occasions?

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

Filed under Review, Stores, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as 1888, Arturo Fuente, cigar, cigar store, cigars, La Gloria Cubana, oval, Romeo, romeo y julieta, san lotano, Smoke Inn, Solaris, Villiger

by CigarCraig | March 29, 2012 · 9:36 pm

A Cain and a Villiger La Capitana or Two

Tuesday evening I took my walk with a Cain Daytona robusto. I was in the mood for a great cigar, and haven’t gone wrong with the Daytona, it’s strong enough so you know it’s there, but not so much that it makes the room spin! I find the Daytona to be the best in the line, although I enjoy all of the Cain line, assuming they’ve had some time to rest in my humidor. They can be pretty heavy, but almost always have great flavor. I have some Daytona Lanceros that I’m saving for a time when the weather is perfect and I can enjoy them without distraction. Good cigars, perfect construction and I still can’t figure out how they get al that ligero to burn so well!

Wednesday I selected a new cigar that was provided to me by the fine folks at Villiger. The cigar is called La Capitana, and the samples I smoked were robustos. These have a really pretty, oily, reddish wrapper. When I put the cigar in my mouth before lighting I tasted something that I hadn’t tasted in many, many years. Don’t laugh, and I don’t mean this in a bad way, but the unlit flavor was that of RedMan or Beechnut chewing tobacco. I know, I know….but that’s what I tasted! I haven’t chewed since my misspent youth experimenting with various tobacco products. I don’t think I’ve chewed tobacco since discovering girls…it’s not an attractive quality, chicks don’t dig it! So tonight I had to smoke another one just to be sure. Yup, same flavor. Once lit the cigar has a bit of the sweetness that the cold draw had, and was a very nice and interesting cigar. The second sample gave me some burn problems, but I attribute that to the wind and the fact that I tried a punch on this one which I quickly abandoned, it caused a really bad tunnel and wasn’t the best idea from the get go. Of course, it’s much easier to punch first, then cut than the other way around. My biggest complaint with this cigar is the band. It’s nice enough, but is utterly lacking in text, there’s no way to know what it was, and I had trouble remembering the name. The design is nice, but to my old eyes it requires a magnifying glass to see the detail. Villiger has a nice cigar here, but needs to work on the band. I love the look of the wrapper, very pretty, a winner if priced and packaged right. I really appreciate the opportunity to try these new cigars.

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

CigarCraig

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as cain, cigar, cigars, Daytona, La Capitana, Villiger

by CigarCraig | March 9, 2012 · 8:24 pm

Villiger 1888 Fuerte Robusto Cigar Quickie

Last night I had an hour to kill before the Flyers game came on, and it was a nice evening, so I grabbed a Villiger 1888 Fuerte robusto to take for a walk. This is a sample that came from a selection that Villiger sent a while back, and, since Villiger was recently in the news I though it would be a good time to smoke one. I chose this over the regular 1888 because it said “Fuerte” and who can resist that challenge, and I had just eaten some General Tso’s Chicken and Pork Fried Rice. This is a decent looking cigar, with one of my favorite wrapper varieties, the San Andreas, although not a maduro. It lit well and the corrections it needed were only to satisfy my own CDO (that’s OCD in the correct alphabetical order). I ran over an hour with this robusto, and put it down shortly after getting a slight ammonia flavor, but over-all it was a good tasting stick. On the stronger side of medium to me, I liked it and would smoke it again. I am looking forward to trying the lighter, regular 1888 line one of these evenings after a little milder meal. The Fuerte was a good choice after the spicy General Tso’s. If you ever are in need of a quick and portable smoke, the machine made Villiger Export is a tasty little bugger. You can generally find boxes of five for $6 bucks or so at your local tobacconist. They are paper wrapped, 4″x 37 square pressed little dudes that are quite tasty.