Tag Archives: Villiger

Big Delicious, Villiger San’Doro and Southern Draw Kudzu Cigars

Room101_BigDeliciousFollowing on the heels of the Johnny Tobacconaut, I came across a lonely Room 101  Big Delicious that is a Smoke Inn exclusive and was released with much fanfare a year or so ago. This is a cool 6¼” x 52 figurado with a dark Habano 2000 wrapper.  You don’t see “Habano 2000” used that much any more, it got such a bad rap for not burning when it came around in the early part of the century (that makes me feel old…, it was around 2000).  The wrapper hangs over the foot so one really gets a nice taste of it off the light. When I see a wrapper folded over the foot, or some variation of that, I tend to just stick the cigar in my mouth and light it up, I figure toasting will burn off that extra wrapper leaf before I get to enjoy it!  Anyway, this cigar was sitting in the humidor, all alone and needed to be smoked, so I smoked it.  It was still big, and still delicious.  It burned well, had loads of deep, rich flavor and was quite satisfying.  These are still available from Smoke Inn and aren’t too expensive compared to a lot of other cigars. I don’t know that age has really improved this cigar, so if you get some, smoke them, I don’t believe they are regular production so they are what they are, still Big, still Delicious! The Website calls it the “The bastard child of Matt Booth and Abe Dababneh!”, I prefer to think of it as their “love child”.

 

Villiger_San'Doro_ToroWhile looking through the IPCPR samples, my eyes landed on a Villiger San’Doro Maduro in a toro size.  This year they released the San’Doro line in three wrapper, the Maduro, the Colorado and the Claro. While the Colorado and Claro are made at Tabacalera Oliva in Esteli, the Maduro I smoked is a Brazilian puro made in Viliger’s factory in Bahia, Brazil.  I’ve smoked Brazilian puros before, and when I smoked this one I didn’t know it was a puro. This was a nice, sweet maduro with  lot of great flavor.  I have samples of the claro (Ecuador Connecticut) and Colorodo (Habano from Nicaragua) in the humidor and I’m looking forward to smoking them, although I expect them to be completely different.  I’m not entirely sure when or if these are going to be offered in the U.S., there seems to be a lot of information pointing towards a European release this month.  I suppose someone will let me know!

 

SouthernDraw_KudzuI smoked a really nice Sindicato Hex Perfecto, and another Leccia Luchador Frogsplash this week, but i’ve discussed those before and there’s nothing really interesting to report. I did receive some goodies from Southern Draw Cigars and couldn’t wait to dig into the Kudzu after having a good experience with the Firethorn a week or so ago.  The Kudzo Toro is 6″ x 52 and has the covered foot again.  Both the Kudzu and Firethorn come in four sizes, a Pigtail capped Petite Corona, a 5½” x 52 Robusto, the Toro and a 6½” x 60 Gordo. The Kudzo has a dark Habano Oscuro wrapper and Binder and fillers from Nicaragua.  It starts off with a punch, and I began to question the wisdom of lighting this up before I had dinner. While it was a stronger cigar, my poor dining judgement didn’t come into play, as it smoothed out and was a solid medium to full cigar which I found to be quite enjoyable. It had some wood and chocolate flavors and smoked evenly until I put it down with under an inch left. I’m quite impressed with this line in my limited experience with them, although they are made at the A.J. Fernandez factory so I shouldn’t be surprised. Thanks to Robert Holt for sending some samples along, very good smokes.

 

That’s it for today, I don’t usually do two posts in one day, so don’t get used to it! While I’m thinking of it, next Saturday, October 3rd, from Noon to six is The Smokin’ Goose festival in Limerick, PA.  This was a great time last year, and this year they are having it right at the store instead of off site.  I plan to be there and am looking forward to it.  Check out The Smokin’ Goose website for tickets and information. A portion of the proceeds go to Cigars For Warriors. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

CigarCraig

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Neya, Villliger, Kings and a Couple of Cigars from Drew Estate at the Wooden Indian

It’s Labor Day weekend where we ironically get an extra day of work off, and that means the guy remodeling my bathroom also took today and tomorrow off. We had a frustrating day with plumbing yesterday, but more on that later.  I hope everyone is enjoying this last weekend of summer, a milestone which passes every year and just depresses the hell out of me.  I like summer, sue me. Soon we’ll be back to bundling up, turning the heaters on, and not just being able to walk out to get the paper in your bathrobe (or, the winter bathrobe comes out if you’re a robe fan). Autumn sucks, Winter sucks and Spring is OK because it means it’ll be summer soon.  That’s enough of my bitching, I manage to enjoy cigars year round despite the weather, and I certainly did that some more this week.

 

Duran Neya_YankeeI received two samples of the Duran Cigars Neya F8 cigars from Miguel at the IPCPR show, and I selected the Yankee which is a 6″ x 60. My alternative was the “Big Jack” at 7″ x 70, aptly named after Jack Toraño, Duran Cigar’s Marketing/Sales manager. 7″ x 70 is a time commitment. I did smoke the Yankee, and it was a great tasting smoke. This cigar is made in Nicaragua, has a Ecuador Habano wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler and is priced in the $7 range. It wasn’t particularly powerful or “in your face”, but it had nice, smooth subtle flavors.  It almost made me wish I had smoked the larger cigar, as it would have been that much more enjoyment. I know my local shop carries some Duran cigars, and I’m going to have to see if they have the Neya, because it’s one I want to smoke again.

 

Villiger_Celebration125Two years ago Villiger celebrated their 125th anniversary, and the cigar they released in the U.S. to commemorate the occasion was a really nice smoke.  It turns out they had an even better version that they released in Europe, the Celebration 125th Anniversary, and this is starting to be distributed in selected shops here now. The sample I received was a 6″ x 50 toro, and was packed in a reusable black gloss tube, the kind that “pops” when you open it quickly. I have a collection of tubes and I like having these around for the odd occasion I carry a single cigar around, or have one un-cello’d that I want to protect (assuming it fits!).  The blend is top-secret, it’s been rumored to contain some Cuban tobacco, although I’ve had European Villiger execs infer that the machine-made Export has some Cuban tobacco in it too. I suspect it wouldn’t be hard to get away with that,  but I remain skeptical (not to say the little Villiger Export isn’t a tasty smoke). The tube is probably a good idea for this cigar because the wrapper color is just plain weird. It’s got an olive tinge to it, somewhere in the shadows between the beige of Connecticut Shade and Candela. To my eye it was unappealing, and I would pass over it on a tobacconist shelf based just on the color of the wrapper. However, this is a great tasting and performing cigar, and it should be as it commands a hefty price. It burned perfectly, was subtle with some sweetness, and nothing I would guess as Cuban, although there are those who get the flavors of Havana cigar. Despite what I consider an ugly colored wrapper (although it was smooth and uniform, just not the color I look for) this was another great cigar.

 

Kings_KingofKingsBroadleafI’ve been questioned as to whether I love every cigar I smoke, and the answer in “of course not”, but I just choose to feature cigars I rather enjoy here, and I value my cigar time such that I shy away from smoking cigars I don’t like!  Another cigar I do like quite a bit was the Kings Cigars King of Kings Broadleaf. I got to try this cigar at the IPCPR show when we caught up with the very fun group from Kings: Anwar, Pete and Greg. We met these guys when they debuted King’s at the 2013 IPCPR show and developed a raport. Unfortunately I never see Kings Cigars on my local shelves, so I had been missing out on this Pennsylvania Broadleaf monster. The King of Kings vitola is a 6″ x 64 box press, and, looking at the website, it appears that they also have this in Brazilian Arapiraca as well as the original Habano. Damn, there’s another cigar I have to try to find!  This cigar is a heavy, dark chocolate flavor bomb, a perfect desert cigar, sweet, but also savory, quite a nice smoke.  I savored this one until my fingers nearly burned. I had, on a whim, double punched this one, giving me a bit of a figure 8 hole, and that worked perfectly, I never had the need to open it up. I was impressed, as I have been with the Kings line. These guys make some good cigars.

 

Liga9Yesterday I installed a pedestal sink in our powder room, which took much profanities, irritation and trips to the hardware store. I also had to fix the screen on the front door twice, as Macha the three-legged pitbull realized that it took little to no effort to go through it. I still have a little swearing to do at the plumbing work today, but I got to a stopping point yesterday and headed down the The Wooden Indian Tobacconist in Havertown, PA to stop by their annual charity event with Drew Estate benefiting TECHO, who builds housed for the underprivileged in Nicaragua (of which there are many). There is generally a huge auction of Drew Estate stuff as well as some Original art by Jessi Flores and his Subculture Studios. The turnout was impressive, and I only hung around for a Liga Privada No.9 Parejo, a little over an hour. After the frustrations of the day I felt I deserved to treat myself to a LP. Of course the Liga was excellent, and after a short conversation with Pedro Gomez, the DE Factory spokesmodel and Cigar Safari master of ceremonies, I decided that Ligas are great, but if I can get two NicaRustica_RobustoNica Rustica’s for the price of one Liga I can be very happy. When I got home, I set about testing this theory, which may be considered heresy by many. I got one sample of the Nica Rustica in Robusto at the IPCPR show, and picked up a handful at the event, so I took to the porch and lit up the show sample. I’m right, of course. I find the Nica Rustica to be as pleasing to me, if not more, than the Liga No.9.  I found it to have a similar dark cocoa espresso flavor and just as rich. I make sure I always have these on hand, it’s one of my go-to cigars. I like them so much I over paid for a bundle of the Bellys when we went to the release party in Louisville in July (that worked out pretty well because I won a MUWAT ashtray too). I won’t turn down a Liga Privada and they remain special occasion cigars, but the Nica Rustica is an awesome smoke.

 

That’s it for me, off to spend Labor Day weekend trying not to labor too much. whatever you do to celebrate, be safe, and enjoy a fine cigar, I know I will be!  Don’t forget to go back to my last post and enter to win some cool Ventura Cigars and Psyko Seven stuff! Contest ends Wednesday. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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Busy Cigar Weekend: Lunch with Herrera and The Smokin Goose Festival

I took a much needed vacation day on Friday to go hang out with Willie Herrera and Chris Stone of Drew Estate Cigars.  Cigar Mojo was the scene of the event, as Chris and Willie were making stops throughout the area. In True Mojo style, Trae provided pizza, and offered a Buy 5 and one is free special on Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua cigars. Sadly, they had sold out of the new Norteño, which was the whole reason I took the day off!  Trae was kind enough to find a Norteño in the Coronita size, which is a nice little pressed 4″ x 46. This is right up my alley with the San Andrès wrapper.  It was full of dark, rich flavors, this is a winner and I can’t wait to get some more of these and sample the range of sizes.  Hopefully Cigar Mojo gets them back in again soon! It’s always fun hanging out at Mojo especially with Willie and Chris.  There’s a reason this new shop placed highly in the recent “Philly Hot List” poll.

 

 

The Smokin Goose is a multi-vendor event put on by Goose’s Tobacco Outlet and Cafe in Limerick, PA.  This was their first event of this kind and was held at the historic Sunnybrook Ballroom in Pottstown, PA.  The event featured twenty or so premium cigar brands, including a couple reasonably local small brands.  It was held in a pavilion outside of the ballroom building, which, of course, is smoke free and the weather was a beautiful 80 degree day. Late September can be hit or miss in this part of the world, it can be cold and windy, or a great day like yesterday was.  Attendees received a goodie bag with a bunch of cigars, a Xikar travel humidor and assorted swag. There was food available all day in the pavilion, and the admission price included a meal at the restaurant too. I didn’t see people leaving the event to eat at the restaurant, which was across the parking lot, but as we were leaving it occurred to me that people were waiting until the event wrapped up (with the raffle prize announcements, as usual) and went to eat after.  Makes sense so people didn’t miss any of the festivities.  For an inaugural event, it seemed to go well. The 75 or so attendees seemed to have smiles on their faces.  Operation: Cigars for Warriors was there and was the beneficiary of the proceeds of the raffles.  I am going to have to pay a visit to Goose’s shop sometime in the near future, because I think I won one of the silent auctions.  It was a good event, John and Joanne Giese and their team did a nice job putting all together, I’m sure it was worth all the stress and anxiety that goes into putting something like this together. All the vendors and manufacturers who were there are to be commended as well. I’ll be interested to see next year’s version of The Smokin Goose!  I enjoyed making some new friends and catching up with some old ones. I appreciate being included.

 

 

Some of the brands represented there were La Sirena, Villiger, My Father, Altadis, Alec Bradley, Blanco Cigars, Gurkha, CLE/Asylum, Dominican Big Leager, Jenneff and Evil Genius Cigars from the Lehigh Vallley area in PA, Jason Alexander, John Hay, and Al Capone, as well as The Cigartist, Eric Whitfield. Also, thanks to Joe K for introducing himself!  Once again, it was a great way to spend an afternoon, and I’m certain all the attendees got more than their money’s worth.

 

That’s it for now, I’ve got some catching up to do after goofing off for the last couple days!  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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A Cuellar Connecticut Krēmē, a Trill and Villiger at the RMCF

Trill_ToroIt’s no secret that I’ve been impressed with what Villiger Cigars has been doing in the premium cigar market over the last few years. I’ve enjoyed many of their cigars since Roy MacLaren has taken this helm, and this year’s releases were all made at the very hot Tabacalera Palma factory. After a busy weekend of smoking great cigars celebrating my birthday and Labor Day, I wrapped up the long weekend with the Trill Toro, a 6″ x 54 parejo. A few weeks ago I smoked the 4½” x 62 Torpedo Gordo and enjoyed it quite a bit. The Trill is a Dominican Puro, with a Dominican grown Habano wrapper.  Interesting story, which I’m sure the folks at Villiger will appreciate, I was talking with Willie Herrera of Drew Estate at the after party at the festival and he was smoking and enjoying a Trill cigar, and I was able to educate him on its origin!  Anyway, this is a really tasty cigar, it’s got some pepper and sweet tobacco flavors and is a nice, rich cigar. It was a great way to end the weekend.

 

Trill_ToroTuesday I selected the Cuellar Connecticut Krēmē Torpedo Largo. I smoked the toro as he first cigar of the day at the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival, and it was a tasty cigar. The 6¼ x 52 Torpedo Largo was no different, although I smoked it in the evening after dinner. This isn’t a mild cigar, it follows the trend of stronger, more flavorful Ecuador Connecticut wrapped cigars. The guts of this one are Dominican Piloto and Criollo 98, also grown on Jochi Blanco’s farms and rolled at Tabacalera Palma.  It’s smooth, creamy, and loaded with flavor. If you like the flavor of the Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, this is a cigar to try. It’s a great choice for any time of day, whether in the morning with a cup of coffee, or on the evening walk with the dog.  Both the Trill and the Connecticut Krēmē were perfect in terms of construction and draw, none of the examples I smoked gave me any problems.

If you were wondering how to pronounce Krēmē, it’s just like Creamy, and you can hear Shawna Williams, the VP of Sales for Villiger Cigars say it in this short video from the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival. I visited with Shawna and Fabian Barrantes, Director of Marketing, before the festival opened.

 

I am planning a bit of  a theme this week, so stay tuned to see where it goes, and don’t forget to visit my previous post, CAO Cigars and Flying Dog Brewery “Art of Craft” Beer and Cigar Pairings and a Contest! and enter the contest to win some CAO goodies.  I’ll announce the winner on Sunday.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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A Drew Estate Cigar Mojo Event, an Eterno and a Villiger Trill

Thursday night we took a ride back to Cigar Mojo in King of Prussia, PA, it seems they were having another Drew Estate event.  In attendance representing Drew Estate were our local rep, Chris Stone, along with his boss, Dave Lafferty. They had all the usual Drew CC_DL_MojoEstate and Joya de Nicaragua cigars for sale, including plenty of Liga Privadas.  I picked up some Nica Rusticas, Undercrowns and Joya Antaño Dark Corojo and smoked an Undercrown Robusto.  Although I like the Corona Viva the best in the Undercorwn line, I can’t find fault with any of the other vitolas. The robusto was awesome, bold and full of flavor.  Event at Cigar Mojo are always awesome, and I love getting to catch up with old friends.  Once again, if you find yourself in the Philadelphia, PA area, stop in to Cigar Mojo and tell them CigarCraig sent you, they are sure to charge you extra!  August 12th they are having a La Flor Dominicana event and Litto Gomez will be there.

 

CC_CigarSafariBlend2013Friday I just didn’t know what I wanted to smoke, so I picked out a cigar that I blended last year at Cigar Safari. For some reason I had them made in a 6 x 54 size with a San Andrés wrapper, Cameroon binder and a mix of Nicaraguan and Brazilian fillers.  I think this is a tasty smoke, although I still think it has too much going on flavor-wise. I should have used a more neutral binder I think. It’s out of balance with the sweetness of the San Andrés and the Cameroon fighting a little.  As always, the construction was perfect as they have these rolled by the Liga Privada pairs.  I have a few of each of the cigar that I’ve blended over the last few years left, it’s interesting to see how they age.

 

BCP_Eterno_RobustoSaturday I took an afternoon walk with a cigar that the folks at Best Cigar Prices sent a few months back. I has smoked a few and I didn’t have very good luck with them so I decided to hold off on mentioning them here. I think they were over humidified, so a couple months in the humidor were beneficial. the Eterno Maduro is made for BCP by Perdomo. It comes in Connecticut shade and Maduro, and I was pretty pleased when they sent the maduro to try. I don’t know where this wrapper comes from, but I don’t think it’s Connecticut Broadleaf, San Andrés, or even Brazilian, my guess would be a Nicaraguan Habano variety.  It started out very strong and spicy, and was quite enjoyable. A little bit of age did wonders, as I found this to be quite enjoyable. These are reasonably priced and quite tasty.

 

Villiger_Trill_TorpGordoSaturday evening I took another short walk with a short cigar, the new Villiger Trill in the Torpedo Gordo size.  This is a 4″ x 62 topedo with a Habano wrapper grown in the Dominican Republic. It’s a Dominican puro, but has a lot of flavor and certainly isn’t mild.  The size is fun, it’s not really a short smoke as it took me well over an hour to finish it off. Thanks to Robyn, our local Villiger rep for providing a sample. Visiting with the folks at Villiger is always a highlight of my IPCPR trips, they are one of the stops I missed most by not going.  Villiger still hasn’t updated their website with information about their new lines, but Cigar-Coop and Halfwheel have the information.

 

That’s it for now. We’re going out house shopping today, hopefully we come home with one!  The FDA comment period is soon going to be over, so make sure you’ve voiced your opinion!  If the FDA has their way, events like the one I went to at Cigar Mojo will be a memory, and Mojo’s beautiful and well stocked humidor will be off limits to all but the staff. The future is bleak for premium cigars if the FDA regulates them, so don’t let that happen. It’ll get real boring when I’m talking about the same cigars every week because there’s nothing new ever. I was amazed to hear reports from IPCPR that the seminar they had on the FDA regulation was sparsely attended, are the retailers so rich that they can afford to go out of business? I doubt it. The retailers need to educate their customers about this and time is running out. Go HERE and follow their lead.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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