Tag Archives: Villiger

by | June 5, 2022 · 9:12 am

Liga Privada H99, Villiger San D’Oro and Nica Rustica Adobe Cigars

Monday was Memorial Day and that called for some special smokes. I pulled out the Liga Privada H99 that Joe Gro of Drew Estate gave me back in January at the TPE show. I’m not sure why I had been waiting to smoke this, but I figured a nice afternoon off was a great time to light it up.  According to the Drew Estate Website:  “Maintaining the core tenants of the Liga firebrand, the H99 features a Corojo capa from the heart of the Connecticut River Valley, where we grow the mighty leaf that graces Liga Privada with a San Andres Otapan Negro Último Corte capote over a core blend of well-aged Nicaraguan and Honduran tripa leaf.”  I like how this is written, it’s an obvious nod to the original creator of the Liga Privada line, who else uses terms like “capa”, “capote”, and “tripa” instead of wrapper, binder and filler? 😀.  This cigar burned very nicely, and was less like a Liga Privada cigar than I expected. I suppose it was more on the T52 end, obviously, it wasn’t as heavy as it’s broadleaf counterparts. I found it has a bit of spice, some salty, savoriness, and a hint of sweetness. It was very good, certainly worthy of the occasion.  As I often do, I finished the holiday weekend off with an old favorite, this time it was a Fuente Hemingway Classic, as aptly named as a cigar could be. 

 

I slacked off this week and didn’t write a midweek post. Pure laziness on my part, I have no excuse.  I did smoke some cigars I really like though, a Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms, an Undercrown 10, and a new Perla Del Mar Maduro (more on that another time). Another one I revisited was the Villiger San’Doro toro. I found a three pack in the humidor and decided to smoke one and had forgotten how much I liked this cigar. This one is the Colorado, with a ruddy brown Ecuador wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and filler. I’m not sure how old this three pack is, but I think it’s newer, which means these were made at Joya de Nicaragua.  I probably have an old one around that was made at Placencia if I dive into the humidor a little deeper. I really enjoyed the flavor of this cigar, it had a cane sugar sweetness that I like a lot, but it was intermittent, so it didn’t get boring. I know Villiger premium cigars don’t get a ton of traction, but they tend to be pretty good, as far as I’m concerned. 

 

Yesterday I stopped in to the Wooden Indian where they were having a Drew Estate event featuring the new Nica Rustica Adobe, which they had in limited supply.  I picked up five toros and smoked one there in the Liga Privada Lounge, while catching up with Dave, Dan and their excellent staff, as well as Ray from Drew Estate and Matty Rock, famous for being Matty Rock. I had my choice of the three vitolas the Adobe is available in, and stuck with the Toro, even though I haven’t had the robusto yet, but I didn’t really like the gordo I tried inthe Freestyle pack. I’ve smoked a ton of Nica Rusticas, I really like them. We even went to the Belly launch event in Kentucky back in 2015. This was the third Adobe I’ve smoked and it’s growing on me, I’m liking the smoothness and balance. It has a bit of a creaminess, the Habano wrapper instead of Broadleaf makes a big difference. When this was the Freestyle live mystery cigar I had no idea this was what it was going to be, although I know one person in particular nailed it. you can’t beat the price, both versions are going to have a place in my humidor I think.

 

That’s all for today! It’s been a beautiful weekend, and I need to get out and get some things done, maybe smoke some more cigars!  Don’t forget to check out www.battleshipbeef.com and come out to the Battleship, Beef and Bourbon for the Ship Red Meat Lovers Club event. It should prove to be an orgiastic feast of the senses! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig 

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by | April 10, 2022 · 9:37 am

EP Carrillo Short Run, Nica Rustica and La Libertad Cigars

I’d like to have a week go by without incident. This week it was a leaking pipe, which required calling a plumber to come and cut holes in some walls to fix. It took time away from my day job that I made up, which meant I skipped my regular Friday evening working at the cigar shop. If it isn’t one set of pipes, it’s another, so it seems! I had just passed the kidney stone, finally, last week. That only took a month. But I’m able to take some solace in a cigar here and there. Earlier in the week I smoked an E.P Carrillo Short Run Retro 2022. I smoked this in the Short Play size, which is 5″ x 50. This has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Ecuador binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Mexico and Honduras.  Boy, this was a great cigar! I did a little reading about this blend, and Ernesto says that he used Honduran tobacco in the blend for the first time in 14 years, the last time was as a binder in the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Miami. As one might imagine, the Short Run was right up my alley, rich cocoa and espresso, with some earthiness. It was really exceptional. I can’t recall if I smoked any of the previous Short Runs! I may not have come across them or had the opportunity. Give this a try, they aren’t even that expensive!

 

Yesterday I tried out my first of the new Nica Rusticas from Drew Estate. I’ve smoked many Nica Rusticas. I’ve often said that I’d buy two or three of them to one Liga Privada any day of the week. It’s been one of my favorite Broadleaf cigars for a long time. However, I haven’t had one since they repackaged them, and I’ve been worried that they changed. I’ll admit that I haven’t smoked a great many of the Short Robusto vitola, but I think this one started out making me a bit concerned. It didn’t seem to have the depth of flavor that I was used to, but eventually it came around and developed into what expected. It burned for an unusually long time for a 4½” x 50 cigar. I took a walk, which ended just before it poured rain, and spent a total of about 90 minutes smoking the cigar. Also, these don’t seem to have the same ridiculous amount of smoke pouring from them as they used to. I believe this is a process change, but I’d have to visit the factory again to confirm this. I can’t believe it’s been eight years since I was there. I want to go back.  Anyway, now I have to smoke an El Brujito, maybe an old one against a new one to see how they compare. 

 

Last night I dug into a package I received from Villiger Cigars in January and smoked a La Libertad Gran Toro. This is almost a Nicaraguan Puro, the binder is from the DR. The wrapper is Criollo grown in Jalapa, with fillers from Jalapa and Esteli. They have moved production to their own factory in Esteli, which is new. The old version had an Ecuadoran wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers, so this is a completely new blend. Oddly, there is a familiar flavor to the wrapper on the lips. I can’t explain it better than that of Red Man chewing tobacco, and I think of that every time I put a La Libertad to my lips, regardless of the vintage. Weird. Obviously, there’s no hint of this flavor once lit, I don’t think, I’ve never smoked Red Man chewing tobacco. I can’t imagine that gooey stuff would burn well. A few years ago I wrote a post comparing to iterations of this cigar (here) , do I have to root through the humidor and see if I can compare the three? I doubt I still have one of the originals, but it’s hard to say, I’m a bit of a packrat. It was a good smoke, although I found the flavors to be a little muted. There were some hints of wood, spice and a little sweetness. René Casteñeda gave me a corona at the TPE which I’ll have to give a try, oddly, the 6″ x 54 Gran Toro may not have been the best expression of this blend. For another take on this, check out my friend, Kap’s, review.  

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by | December 20, 2020 · 10:46 am

CigarCraig’s 2020 Holiday Giveaway!

OK, I know it’s not the CigarCraig’s 12 Days of Giveaways, it’s been 5 years since that whole thing ended. We had a good run, but when the FDA scared all the cigar companies off of giving cigars away, it complicated things. I knew that trying to do twelve days of swag giveaways wouldn’t fly, and adding cigars out of my own humidor would break me (shipping already puts a hurting on me!). So it went the way of the Dodo. Fortunately, I find myself with some goodies accumulated over the year, so I put together one great present to close out the year! First, let me get something off my chest. Yesterday I smoked a Deadwood Leather Rose, which I really enjoy. It irks me when people call this cigar, and the other cigars in the Deadwood series, “infused”, or dare I say it, “flavored”. They are not. Sure they have a sweet cap, there are several traditional cigars that have a sweet cap. I don’t count the sweet cap as flavored. I really wish the folks at Drew Estate would be more vocal about this. I’d love to be able to reference a link on their site that states boldly “this (and the Larutan, for that matter) is NOT an infused cigar”. It uses non-traditional tobaccos, Syrian, Perique, Latakia, tobaccos more traditionally used in pipe tobaccos. I hate seeing social media posts that start something like “I don’t usually smoke flavored cigars, but I smoked a Sweet Jane…”and I feel compelled to say “you still didn’t! I feel like Drew Estate should help me out a little here! Heck, I’ve seen people argue with Vaughn Boyd (who owned Deadwood) for crying out loud! OK, enough of my ranting, I really enjoy the Leather Rose, and her sisters, and the Natural/Larutans too, although I don’t smoke many for some reason. They have a lot of flavor, and I like that.

 

Let’s get to the Giveaway!  We have a lot of stuff s buckle up. Back in August I went to a Golf tournament Sponsored by Goose’s Montecristo Lounge, and Goose was very generous and supplied me with some Montecristo swag which included a Montecristo cap, a really nice Montecristo table lighter and a cutter in a humidor bag. I am adding a Montecristo Espada from my humidor, and I might find something else when I get to rooting around. Speaking of Drew Estate, since they canceled the Barn Smokers this year, they very kindly sent out they Barnsmoker swag. I’ll be honest, I was on the fence about giving up the backpack, it’s really nice, but I have a ton of backpacks, and I talked myself into giving this one up (my wife talked me into it as well). There’s another lighter and cutter (here’s a secret, this lighter you can get away with stashing in your luggage when you fly!), a bottle opener and a cigar stand. I put together a samper of Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua cigars from my humidor to go with it. Next there’s a nice Villiger ceramic ashtray, to which I’ve added some Villiger cigars (again, from my humidor, unsmoked!), and finally, a Foundation cutter (I forgot to add a Foundation cigar to try it on, one will be added!).  So that’s an OK present, right? A little something for everyone, goodies for you, a hefty USPS bill for me! (I might do UPS since USPS has been sketchy as of late). Many thanks to my friends who generously provided these goodies! You know the rules! Leave a comment on this post to enter. No comments on Facebook, twitter or anywhere but this blog post will count. You must be of legal age in your jurisdiction to win (and prove it), and if you are selected as the winner, you need to e-mail me your information, please don’t make me track you down! I like to think the folks who win my contest are regular readers and, therefore, will see that they won! I’ll pick a winner next Sunday, December 27, 2020. Let’s see a ton of entries! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, whatever you like to celebrate.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | July 22, 2020 · 8:57 am

Villiger TAA 2020 Exclusive Cigar

Villiger Cigars has a couple of firsts with this cigar. It’s their first TAA cigar, exclusive to participating Tobacconists’ Association of America stores. Looking at the listing on the website, I’m not entirely sure they have the name right, they have it listed as “Villiger 1888 Edicion Regional USA”, where the band just says TAA Exclusive 2020. Considering this second point, it doesn’t have any relationship with the Villiger 1888, except that it’s made in the Dominican Republic. The second first for Villiger is that this is the first time they’ve worked with Ernesto Perez Carrillo Jr. to produce a cigar. It’s a box pressed toro, 6” x 54, with an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers.

 

When I lit this cigar up, before I looked at the blend and where it was made, I was 99% certain it was a Sumatra wrapper. It had that nice, sweet hard candy flavor I love. I wasn’t surprised when I read who made it either. Ernesto is a huge Sumatra fan, and he used a wonderful tasting Sumatra leaf on this cigar. I absolutely was enamored with the flavor of this cigar! It was a fantastic smoking experience. Like I said, it had that great Sumatra sweet flavor that I love, and it was medium bodied and not overpowering, very well balanced. Of course, as I got to the band it lost some of the sweetness and became slightly stronger, but don’t they all? Later I smoked the Villiger Cuellar Black Forrest toro (yummy), which, up until smoking the TAA, was my favorite Villiger to date. I suppose the limited nature of the TAA will force me to rein in my desire to stock up on these, my local Cigar Cigars stores are TAA members, and one can hope that they have these in stock (if I ever get out to visit one of them again!). By the way, if anyone from Cigar Cigars reads this, let the folks who run the TAA website know that they have the wrong website address listed for you! 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | March 25, 2020 · 1:57 pm

Villiger Do Brasil Maduro and Claro Cigars

I brought home samples of the new Villiger Do Brasil cigars from the TPE show, then a week later a pair showed up in my mailbox, so I’ve had a couple of each in the humidor now for several weeks resting. I had the opportunity to try the cigars at the show, Villiger hosted an excellent party at the TPE with some great food and entertainment that meandered between brilliant and not so much, all the while being entertaining one way or the other. Since I was there communing with friends, I smoked a more familiar cigar, the Cuellar Black Forest, which I really like. I spent a very nice evening catching up with my friends Will Cooper, Aaron Loomis and Jiunn Liu as well as seeing a bunch of other cigar industry folks. Good times.

 

Both of the Villiger Do Brasil blends, from what I can divine, are Brazilian puros. The Maduro is the one I smoked first, which surprises no one, I’m sure. This has an Arapiraca wrapper, it’s nice and dark, with light oil, and had a rustic appearance. Villiger uses a lot of Brazilian tobacco in a lot of their cigars, so it’s not surprising that they would make Brazilian puro premium cigars. This cigar was well made, and was one that came from the TPE gift bag. It had a split in the cap, but that wasn’t a big deal since I clipped it off. I’ve been using the ScrewPop MagPulse cutter almost exclusively, by the way, and it continues to me an absolutely amazing cutter. The cigar had a dark, savory flavor, not a sweet maduro. I really enjoyed it, it was quite a bit different than most other maduro cigars I smoke.

 

The Claro is wrapped in a Connecticut wrapper grown in Brazil, I assume under shade. It looks much like any other Connecticut shade wrapper, it’s light tan, finely veined and really quite beautiful. I’m really not sure which sample I chose, the one I received in the mail, or the one from the TPE, I checked it with the Humidimeter and it was right where I like to see the reading at the foot, 62%. I probed the head of the cigar and it was 67%, which is pretty consistent with my findings. I find that most cigars smoke well if they read under 65% at the foot, and there’s usually a 5% different from the foot to the head. My humidors are typically around 67% RH give or take a point. Anyway, the Claro was a flavorful shade cigar, nothing remarkable, unfortunately, but a solid, tasty, shade cigar. Both samples I smoked were the 5″ x 50 Robusto, and both were very good cigars.

 

I had to run out twice over the last few days some supplies and it’s surreal. Sunday it was to Home Depot to buy a replacement thermostat, as I mentioned in Sunday’s post. Oddly, Home Depot was pretty busy. People buying stuff for their yards and whatnot. It was almost like a normal Sunday. Here I am trying not to touch the touchscreen self checkout, and employees are a foot away from people having conversations like nothing is going on. It was a little disturbing. I feel like my visit was justified as a necessity, I mean, technically I do have the time to hold the wires together whiles the house heats up periodically…but the thermostat is a convenience we’ve become accustomed to. Yesterday I had to pick up prescriptions and some groceries. The pharmacy at Walmart sprayed down everything with 70% isopropyl alcohol right after it was touched and Walmart wasn’t that crowded. They have “social distance” marks on the floor. The local supermarket still has bare shelves, there was a few things I couldn’t get, but I managed and got most of what I needed.  It was exhausting and I felt oddly relieved to get home! I’ve been out of work since last October, so I’m used to being home, but it’s an odd situation now. We have a number of cases in our county, and we are under state mandated lockdown. I can’t wait until things get back to normal and I can find a damn job! 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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