It was a long week with a holiday that included traveling and working Black Friday for the first time in 29 years (I might have worked one in there somewhere, but it was a rare occasion)! It was also unseasonably cold this week, so between that and my schedule, I didn’t take my usual evening walks and opted to relax on the porch after a long day instead. So I don’t have anything really new to report on this week. The cigars I smoked were all cigars I’ve enjoyed in the past. There was an Umbagog from Dunbarton Tobacco ad Trust in the mix, a great smoke which I adore. This is on my “goto” list with the likes of the Nica Rustica and Cornelius & Anthony Señor Esugars when I want cigar perfection. I had a La Gloria Coleccoin Reserva in there too, another recent favorite. This time I went big with the Presidente, despite the cold, the porch was tolerable and the cigar was fantastic.
I try to smoke something special on holidays, so when we finally got home on Thanksgiving after spending a nice day in New Jersey with family, I lit up an Ashton VSG Belicoso No.1 from a box I’ve had for a year and half or more. The Belicoso No.1 is 5¼ x 52 and is wrapped in a Sumatra wrapper grown on a private estate in Ecuador, which is ironic considering Ecuador is typically always cloud-covered, at least where the Ecuador Connecticut tobacco is grown is, yet it’s called Virgin Sun Grown. It’s a Dominican cigar, made by Fuente, but it’s not a mild cigar by any stretch of the imagination, it’s full flavored and on the high side of medium. This like has been around since 1999, and is another one of those classic cigars that has stood the test of time, and I think should be a staple in every humidor.
Friday I got home from the Black Friday craziness and had an Aladino Maduro Toro from JRE Tobacco. This is a box pressed 6″ x 50 cigar that was originally exclusive to 2 Guys Smoke Shop, I assume it’s in wider distribution now. Side note, it was a year ago today that my wife, Macha and I went up to 2 Guys in Salem, NH and witnessed the 400th episode of The Cigar Authority. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year! Anyway, this Aladina Maduro is less “maduro” tasting than I expected or remembered from smoking it before, which is OK, because it’s still very good. It harkens back to the old Camacho Corojos from years ago a little, as it is all Corojo with a San Andrés wrapper. It really was an enjoyable cigar, although I was expecting it to be more along the lines of what one expects from a San Andrés wrapped cigar. This was from the original release, I ordered a couple of each of the toro and lancero to try when they came out, I think I have a lancero left still. That will have to wait until warmer weather, I avoid lanceros in the colder months usually.
Last night I got home and just had it in my head that I wanted to smoke a Partagas Legend for some reason. I happened to have the 6¼” x 54 Toro Leyenda on hand, which is my preferred size anyway, although a robusto would have been fine (it doesn’t come in a robusto). This cigar has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, the Honduran Olancho San Augustine Binder that General uses on a lot of cigars lately (they, no doubt, bought the entire crop and had a great yield a few years back! it seems to show up in just about every new cigar description), and Dominican fillers. I sat down and lit this up on the porch with the Flyers game on the iPad, which got turned off after the first period because it was so bad, and threatened to ruin the great cigar. You know how José Blanco says that sitting next to an Asshole will ruin a great cigar? well, watching a bad hockey game can do it too. I really like this cigar, although it’s not necessarily a cheap date at around $14 each, but still a very good cigar.
That’s about all for today, I hope everyone had a safe and satisfying Thanksgiving if you are in the US and celebrate such things! Until the next time,
CigarCraig
