Tag Archives: West Tampa Tobacco Co.

by Craig Vanderslice | April 11, 2023 · 7:39 pm

A Video Interview with Ricky Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco Co.

I’m trying something a little new here. Ricky kind of encouraged this, I’ve been thinking about it for some time. When I talked to him a few weeks ago he asked to do it, and I had to figure out how. I did, and I think it worked out very well. Rick and I talked for 50 minutes about the company, the cigars, the factory and several other topics. Please give it a watch and let me know what you think. I hope to present some more interviews in this format. Many thanks to Ricky of West Tampa Tobacco Co. for his time and his encouragement. I smoked the Attic Series Attic along with Rick and it was as excellent as ever. I’m looking forward to getting the West Tampa Red when it comes out next month, it’s really good too.

Thank you to Kevin at CigarProp for his technical guidance, and to my friends on the Round Panel for helping me test it and work out the bugs. I have a lot of video content on my YouTube channel. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Ricky Rodriguez, video, West Tampa Tobacco Co.

by Craig Vanderslice | March 12, 2023 · 10:18 am

Casdagli, West Tampa, Powstanie and Punch Cigars

It was a pretty good week. A bit ago I sent some cigars to a friend, who, despite my protests, reciprocated with a package. People need to understand that I send out cigars without expectations! I do appreciate it though, especially when there are a bunch of cigars I hadn’t tried. The Casdagli Daughters of the Wind Pony Express was one of those cigars. I want to say I’ve smoked one Casdagli cigar in the past, it seems to me it was a figurado of some sort, but I can’t remember what it was. Was this company called something before it was Casdagli? Bespoke seems to be stuck in my mind. Anyway, This was a corona gorda of sorts, 6″ x 48, with a box press. I love the size. It’s made from tobaccos from Peru, Dominican Republic and Ecuador along with the tobaccos from the factory’s own plantation in the mountains of Costa Rica. It’s rolled in Costa Rica, which is interesting. This was a very different cigar than I gravitate to, it had a strong floral flavor. It was very good, thanks to Phil ( https://www.comedycigarsmusic.com/) for sending this!

Friday evening I went to Pairings Cigar Bar in Media, PA to hang out with Ricky Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco Co. Pairings is a great place with a nice selection. If you like to drink while you smoke at a bar, like the old days, this is the place to go. There aren’t as many such places in this area as you would think, I can think of two others in the Philly area. I’m not a bar guy, so maybe there are more I don’t know about. Most of our shops have lounges and don’t discourage BYOB. Anyway, Ricky was there doing a West Tampa event, of course. I had the opportunity to try the new West Tampa Red, and I can’t wait to get my hands on more, it was really good. I could draw some comparisons to the Attic, they share the San Andrés wrapper. This was a 6″ x 60, which I chose because I had a really good experience with a Black in that size a few weeks ago. I feel like the flavor was a little brighter than the Black or the Attic, both cigar I really like. I’m working on

I stole this pic from Craig Gilpin! TY

something with Ricky in the future, so stay tuned. There were a bunch of local cigar people there, reps, brokers, guys from other shops, and even Micky Pegg from All Saints Cigars (there’s a CAO connection!). I also had the chance to spend some quality time with my friend Craig (the Breadman), I like having fiends named Craig, because I have such a lousy memory for names, it makes it a little easier! It was a good night, although after smoking the Red AND the Black in the 6″ x 60 size, I had a hell of a time falling asleep.

The selection of cigars from Mitch, my Secret Santa, is dwindling. I selected a Powstanie SBC20, another corona gorda (this time it’s really a CG, 5½”x 46, close enough). This is a subtle barber pole, with Habano and Brazilian Mata Fina, made at Fábrica de Tabacos NicaSueño S.A.. I have a great affinity for cigars made at this factory. I was just thinking how it’s been ten years since I’ve been to Esteli, and what a hoot it would be to go and visit factories like Nica Sueño, Garmendia, etc. I think the town has changed a lot since I was there last. This was a pretty stout cigar, not a surprise. It’s got some pepper, cocoa and coffee, probably best smoked on a full stomach. I very much enjoyed this, I wonder how it compared to the ’16 and ’18 versions. If you’ve smoked them all, leave a comment!

I had picked up a couple of the Punch Spring Rolls a few weeks ago, it’s a shorter cigar than I like, but I wanted to try it. I’ve enjoyed most of the Punch cigars in this series, which, inexplicably, revolves around Chinese food. They are budget cigars, and usually have some interesting feature, on this one the wrapper is about a half inch short. It’s only 4½” x 50, like a Punch Rothschild, so that’s a pretty good percentage of the cigar that is wrapperless, when you think about it. I expected a flavor change when the burn line hit the wrapper, which is Ecuadorian Sumatra over an American broadleaf binder, with fillers from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and broadleaf from the U.S.. I never picked up on the change, oddly enough, it just remained a fairly uneventful cigar. It was dry and woody, I was expecting a lot more flavor. It wasn’t bad, I’ve seen people say it was excellent, I just thought it was OK. I guess it was a good think it was only 4½” long. I’ll give the other one a try next year. Maybe it’s because I don’t like Spring (or Egg) Rolls?

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Casdagli, cigar, cigars, Daughters of the Wind, Powstanie, punch, SBC20, Spring Roll, West Tampa Tobacco Co.

by Craig Vanderslice | December 18, 2022 · 8:51 am

Some West Tampa Tobacco and Powstanie Cigars

I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do next week, be prepared for a simple post, or maybe I put something fun together for the holiday week! I have to work on that…anyway, I smoked some cigars that I found interesting this week. When I saw Rick Rodriguez at the Cigar Heritage Festival, he gave me two lanceros, I mentioned the West Tampa Tobacco Co. Black last week, and smoked the West Tampa Tobacco Co. White this week. As with the Black, I found the lancero iteration to be very different from the Robusto and Toro. I don’t know how old these were, which can factor into things, but the lancero started with some “off”, sour notes. The sourness turned into almost a fermented citrus sort off flavor. Very interesting. I am always careful to smoke lanceros slowly, I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, this shape cigar tastes “sharper” because it burns hotter than a larger ring gauge cigar. This is often mistaken for some wrapper to filler ratio nonsense. It’s heat, sip the lancero, it can’t be smoked like larger cigars. I did find that this cigar burned pretty fast, which was disappointing because I enjoyed the flavors, perhaps more than I enjoy the regular White sizes. I liked both of these blends in the lancero format.

I recently came across the West Tampa Tobacco Co. Attic Series in one of my local shops and picked one up to sample. I got some of the Black and Whites too while I was there. I also grabbed an Excalibur No. 1 Maduro while I was there, I hadn’t had one in ages, and thought it might be fun to compare it to the Sakakhan, as the Excalibur loosely inspired it. Anyway, I smoked the Attic and instantly regretted not picking some up at the festival. This was an excellent cigar for me. It was of the dark roast coffee theme that I enjoy. San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan binder sna fillers in a 6″ x 54 format are all right up my alley. This smoked perfectly and was delicious. If you like the cigars I tend to like, put this on your “try” list.

The CigarCraig.com Secret Santa this year had a pretty light turnout, but the quality was very high. I think everyone was well taken care of, including myself. My SS surprised me with a bunch of cigars that I haven’t smoked before, as well as some very nice goodies, some of which I’ve already put into use! He went way over and above and I am humbled and very appreciative! I lit up the Powstanie (link is to the Cigar Hustler site, which is owned by the same dudes who own the brand, not a sponsor, BTW) Wojtek which I believe to be the 2021 edition. This is a barber pole/dos capos style cigar that has Habano and San Andrés wrapper. All I can find out about the blend is the wrapper, I assume the rest is Dominican and Nicaraguan. Previous iterations had an Indonesian binder, safe to assume this does too. These are made at Nica Sueño in Esteli, and I tend to like cigars made at that factory. I also like the Powstanie cigars, I’m pretty evenly split between Broadleaf and Habano, they are both really good. This cigar was 90 minutes of pleasure. It starts with some pepper, then some earthiness and espresso. It burned well, the box press was comfortable, and it was a really nice smoke. Thanks to my SS fo this, as well as the rest!

Off to see what I can come up with for the coming week, it’s that time of year you know! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Powstanie, Warbear, West Tampa Tobacco Co., White, Wojtek

by Craig Vanderslice | December 11, 2022 · 9:49 am

Cigar Heritage Festival and Some West Tampa Black Cigars

Last Sunday I attended the Cigar Heritage Festival in Ybor City. As I may have said in last weeks post, it was my first visit to that area, long overdue. I spent a disproportionate amount of time at Corona Cigar’s Tampa location, even had a great meet-up with old friends from the alt.smokers.cigars usenet group! I got to hang around a lot with Kevin and Jessica of CigarProp, many thanks to them for driving me around! But Sunday was the day for the Cigar Heritage Festival, a brisk half a cigar walk from my hotel (2 miles, it was a beautiful day!). I wasn’t sure what to expect, a sentiment shared by several vendors and even the staff! I somehow ended up with a VIP pass, which allowed me access to some seating areas, none of which I took advantage of. It also included about seven tickets for cigars, more on that in a bit. The festival covered the Centennial Park and three of the streets surrounding it. There were a bunch of vendors there, many of the people who were principle and prominent “faces” of the brands were there. I have to think that folks like Steve Saka and Tony Gomez being there meant net to nothing to 90% of the attendees, but I enjoyed catching up with some old friends, Island Jim Robinson among them. One of the highlights for me was meeting Ron Hunt, the host of the All About Wine podcast. You might think it odd that someone who hasn’t had a drink in over 30 years knows someone from the wine industry, but Ron has been a member of a weekly video chat I am involved with, and is fairly new to premium cigars. I introduced him to several people there, and had him collect on my aforementioned VIP cigar tickets. He gave a really nice description of the event on his latest episode. I also ran into my old friend Keith, who I had seen the day before, and interrupted his sleep schedule once again to hang out :-). From what I’m told, sales were brisk, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust was selling boxes, exceeding expectations. There was a band, food trucks, and all sorts of other lifestyle vendors. I bought a cool t-shirt and a gift for my wife. I especially enjoyed the chickens and roosters wandering around! I recommend the event, and a visit to “Cigar City” in general.

While I was there I ran into my old friend Ricky Rodriguez, formerly of CAO, presently of West Tampa Tobacco Co.. It took me a while to find him, I thought he’d have his own booth, but he was set up with a local cigar store, Tobacco Depot. Ricky was busy taking pictures with people, like the celebrity he is, I had a moment to talk with his daughter, Sara, the Brand Activation & Engagement Manager for the company. I asked her if she had smoked her first cigar yet, having heard that she had never smoked before. Her answer surprised me, I guess, it was a no. She said she has no interest, although she was going to spend an extended time in Esteli learning rolling and blending, so maybe she’d be inspired to try there. I, naturally, recommended trying. I’ve never seen this young lady without a huge smile on here face, she’d certainly be a great cigar ambassador. Ricky gave me a prototype of the Black and White in lancero size, and I smoked the Black version this week, along with a Black Robusto for comparison. I need to go out and pick up a White so I can smoke the other one, I like to have a baseline, and I have only smoke a couple Whites. Something odd about the Black in the lancero format, I was concerned in the first inch, it was a little rough, kind of like the coffee that’s been sitting in the pot half the day, you know, the good stuff! After the first inch though, it went someplace unexpected. There were distinct notes of spices that I identify with Christmas baking, it really turned into something special. The coffee notes smoothed out, but that delicious spice kept going. It was good, better than the Robusto I smoked the next day, which is still a tasty cigar! I’m very much looking forward to the White lancero!

That’s all for today. Secret Santa names have been picked and distributed! I’ll be putting a package together today! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, Cigar City, CIgar Heritage Festival, cigars, Tampa, West Tampa Tobacco Co.

by Craig Vanderslice | July 31, 2022 · 9:21 am

West Tampa Tobacco Cigars, a Street Taco Carnitas and a Patina Sumatra

I’ve started smoking some PCA show samples now that I feel fully recovered from the post-Vegas Covid situation. I started out revisiting the West Tampa Tobacco Co. Black and White. Rick went out of his way to give me a 6×60 from a bundle, that had never been in a box! This is significant because I told him about an experience I had initially with the cigars I had sourced locally. This was the first cigar I smoked, and it was very good. If you refer back to the video interview with Rick (HERE), he explains how the Black and White have the same wrapper, it’s just fermented differently. The Black has nice espresso notes and is up my alley. The construction was perfect and everything tasted the way it should.

I had another West Tampa Tobacco Co.White Toro that Ricky also gave me, which was also very good, but I find the Black suits my palate more. The White has more of a woody character, with some citrus tang to me. Rick explained that the White was blended more for the European palate, with the wrapper being highlighted, and the darker wrapper Black highlighting the filler blend. I like them both, but the Black is better for me. I still have to try the robusto. GOod stuff from a very small factory in Esteli.

Thursday evening I had the pleasure of being a guest on the All About Wine Podcast, of all things. We had a panel of folks talking about cigars. I pre-gamed with a Rojas Cigars Street Taco Carnitas, the Connecticut shade version of the Street Taco. This has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I had the 5″ x 50 robusto. Oddly, this comes in a Robusto and Toro, with the 5½” x 46 Short Corona being the closest thing to a small ring gauge in the line. I think of a corona being 5″ x 42, so I’m not sure I understand the name. Regardless, the robusto was very good. It was creamy, with some oomph to it. There was some spice and it wasn’t a mild Connecticut. Considering that shade wrappers are fairly low on my preference list, this one was very good.

Finally, when I met with Mo Maali at the show, he gave me a Patina Sumatra. This is his new release, which excited me for a few reasons. First, I’ve enjoyed the Patina line in general, Maduro and Habano, I don’t think I ever had the Connecticut (see above). They are made in the NACSA factory where Mi Querida cigars are made, as well as several others! I want to say that factory mad the majority of JR’s Alternatives bundle brand, which is millions of cigars. NACSA is one of the largest factories in Nicaragua. The other reason I was looking forward to this is because I really love Sumatra wrapped cigars! This one didn’t disappoint. It had the sugar cane sweetness that I really like. It burned perfectly and gave me a great experience. Check out my video with Mo here. Good stuff!