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August 23, 2026 · 9:29 am

Black Label Trading Co., Avo and Tradecraft Cigars

In addition to actually getting to an event this week, I went out and procured some new-to-me cigars, which happen to be pretty new cigars to the market.  First up was the Black Label Trading Co. Bishops Blend.  This is a barber pole style cigar with wrappers of Ecuador Maduro and Connecticut Broadleaf, with an Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan, Connecticut and PA Broadleaf fillers. The PA Broadleaf in the filler strikes me as funny, as I just saw a video on Facebook where a small, boutique cigar brand owner states that in 26 years in the business he hasn’t seen any cigars with PA broadleaf in the filler.  I smoked at least three, maybe four this week from three different factories in two countries. He should take that video down, it’s just embarrassing. Anyway, I smoked the Corona Larga, which is 6¼” x 46 with kind of a pointy head, like a bishops mitre, maybe? This was a stellar cigar, very rich with a sweet cocoa, as well as some of the earthiness of the PA Broadleaf.  The two broadleafs were definitely evident in the blend, and complement one another. 

 

Next up was the new Avo Expresivo in the 7″ x 48 Churchill size.  I think Churchill is my second favorite size after the toro.  This is the first Avo cigar made in Honduras in the same factory that makes Camacho cigars.  The blend is a wrapper from Ecuador, binder from Honduras, and fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua (Jalapa and Condega).  I think this is the strongest Avo I’ve ever smoked, but, for some reason, lately I’ve been more sensitive to nicotine for some reason.  I’ve been smoking cigars for 30 years, and consuming tobacco for longer than that, but everything seems strong to me as of late. Maybe it’s the warm weather?  I never noticed it in years past.  Weird, right?  Anyway,  This Avo comes out in what would have been Avo Uvazian’s 100 birthday year, yet somehow the folks at Davidoff didn’t make a celebratory cigar for the occasion, and this one is a core line.  It’s good, very good. Lot’s of pepper to start, and it had a rather loose draw, so I smoked it slowly like I would a lancero, so as not to overheat it. It has some cocoa and nuts after the spicy start.  I liked it, although I stretched outside of my normal price range to pick this one up. 

 

Yesterday I went to the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA to their event celebrating Great Cigar Reviews tenth anniversary.  Jim. was there recording a podcast for the couple of hours I was there, and the event featured brand owners from Tradecraft and All Saints cigars, as well as Rami from Espinosa. I spoke with Micky from All Saints quite a bit, he called me “huge” several times, as is his way.  He shared a prototype of his new cigar which I can’t remember if I’m allowed to talk about, but it’s named for Jesus’ Abuela ;-).  Anyway, I picked up a few of the Tradecraft cigars, and smoked the box pressed Gladius belicoso while I was there, and the toro later that evening.  Wiber Ventura blended the cigar, and he was there too, and I got to speak with him for a bit.  The Gladius has a San Andres Maduro (Turrent) wrapper, Sumatra binder and the fillers are PA Broadleaf Viso, PA Ligero,  Criollo 98′ Ligero (not sure where this is from), and Ecuadorian Habano 2000 Viso.  These are also potent cigars.  The strength of flavor (and nicotine) is on the high side.  Here is another cigar that has PA Broadleaf in the filler blend (I had a CroMagnon earlier in the week that also has PA Broadleaf, although I think it’s just the wrapper, but there might be some in the filler as well).  There’s a lot going on in this cigar, cocoa, earth, espresso…all the stuff I like.  If you want the box press, which is more potent than the toro, I believe Wiber said there’s more PA tobacco in the blend), it’s only available at the Wooden Indian for now. I wasn’t aware that Rob Blumenthal was local, operating the Tinderbox in Haverford, PA. I was aware that his father at one time owned Villazon that produced Punch and Hoyo de Monterrey cigars, before it was purchased by Consolidated Cigars, which is now General Cigars. I have to go visit the Haverford Tinderbox, I haven’t been there since shorty after they opened 30 years ago!  

 

It was a really good cigar week, which I need because I’m getting bummed about summer coming to an end and I haven’t been able to take as much time off as I’d like.  Anyway, that’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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October 26, 2025 · 10:16 am

Crowned Heads Broadway, Tatuaje Corojo T110 and AJ Fernandez Decenio Cigars

I had occasion on Wednesday to hang out at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, so, of course, I bought some more cigars to smoke.  I don’t smoke a lot of Crowned Heads cigars, I like Miguel there a lot, and do actually like a lot of their cigars.  Jon has always been cordial to me, but one time he blew me off at a trade show left a bad taste in my mouth.  I don’t think I ever made that public.  Anyway, the Broadway line intrigued me, so I picked one up and smoked it there in the Wooden Indian’s Liga Privada Lounge.  Of course, I smoked the toro, which is 6½” x 54.  This cigar has a beautiful, oily broadleaf wrapper, over  a Jalapa binder and fillers from Estelí, Jalapa and Ometepe, Nicaragua.  It’s made at NACSA, which is where Saka makes Mi Querida, Umbagog, and the Red Meat Lovers Club cigars.  This factory has a steady supply of Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.  My expectations were exceeded, as this cigar was absolutely delicious. I may like this more that the Mi Querida Blue, which I like a great deal.  Construction was perfect, the flavors were smooth, rich cocoa and coffee, right up my alley. my only regret is that I only bought one, and I considered picking up a few more before the shop closed. I want to thank Dave at the Wooden Indian for letting me hang out in the members lounge after the shop closed, I very much appreciate it!  By the way, the Crowned Heads website is in dire need of updating.  

 

The Tatuaje T110 Corojo is a 4 3/8″ x 52 short robusto with a Corojo wrapper.  I smoked the Cohete (4″ x 50) back in August and really liked it, so I was very much looking forward to this one. I have smoked the T110 in the Broadleaf and Tuxtla wrappers and enjoyed them.  This one I didn’t care for, and there aren’t many Tatuaje cigars I don’t like.  It started out with a sourness, and skirted the line between sweet and sour through out the whole smoke. It was disappointing, but I always look at situations like this as a learning experience, what do I like in a cigar and what don’t I like, and how can I avoid it in the future?  It’s money well spent,  as long as I remember what I don’t like and don’t spend money on it again?  This one had been in the humidor for a a couple months. 

 

Another cigar I selected from the vast humidor of the Wooden Indian was the A.J. Fernandez New World Decenio in the toro size. This cigar commemorates a decade of the New World line, and made in the San Lotano factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua.  I was hoping to pick one of these up a week or so ago when I saw Laurel at another nearby shop, but I either didn’t see them, or they didn’t have them. They had a really expensive 20th anniversary cigar, which may have distracted me (I didn’t bite). I adore the New World Dorado, and the rest of the New World line are really very good.  This cigar is 6½” x 54 with a box press that makes it seem thinner.  It has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos from Honduras and Nicaragua. I expected a good smoke, and I got a good smoke.  This started out spicy, no surprise there, really.  It moved to sweet, dark coffee, which is a combination I really like. I also really like that bonus half inch on a toro, more of a good thing.  This was a really good smoke, and, dare I say, worth the $14 I paid.  This is another anniversary cigar for a budget brand that is higher in price, like the Rocky Patel Edge and the Foundation Charter Oak. 

 

My name was mentioned on yesterday’s Cigar Authority show which was about the cigar inventors.  I’ve been on the show a couple times and I’ve known these guys for a long time.  It’s humbling to be mentioned, and it gives me some credibility, I guess, to be recognized by them, but I want to set a couple things straight.  I, in no way, created anything or was the first of anything.  When I started this there were a lot of cigar blogs,  I just happened to have outlasted a lot of them. Certainly Stogie Review (which is making a comeback with the Smoke & Steel podcast) was one of the first, and Casas Fumando has stood the test of time.  I take some pride in being mentioned by my peers (I got a nice mention by Kevin on a recent El Oso Fumar show too, TY).  I’m still just a guy who writes stuff about cigars.  

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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September 28, 2025 · 9:45 am

A Couple Wooden Indian Exclusives and a Stolen Throne Cigar

This week I’m featuring some exclusive cigars that aren’t widely available.  The first two are available via Wooden Indian‘s website, or in the store, and this post is only sponsored by the store in so much as they provided me with samples. I have a history with the Wooden Indian going back to my first visit in 2009 in their old location, where I met Marvin Samel at an event and smoked my first Liga Privada No.9. This is interesting, because the store would become the first  (of only 2) Liga Privada lounge and has a long standing history with Drew Estate. They have their own Serie Unico cigar, the Pancetta, which I wrote about here. Anyway, this year marks the 20th anniversary of Dave Mayer owning the store, which celebrated 60 years in business last year.  Dave is one of my favorite people in the cigar industry. I’ll start with the Perdomo Dave’s 20th Anniversary cigar.  Not a lot of folks get a Perdomo exclusive, so this is really special.  They made 200 boxes of ten of this 6″ x 54 belicoso, which has an Ecuador shade wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and is said to be a never before available blend.  I’ve heard that this is Arthur Kemper’s personal blend, and apparently the bands were in the same shipment with the Perdomo Lagacy bands, so this has been in the pipeline for a while.  I’ve never been enamored with Perdomo’s shade offerings, but this one was something different.  It’s not a mild cigar, which is consistent with Perdomo’s shade cigars, but it has some sweet, nutty tobacco flavors that I enjoyed.  This is a very good cigar, If you’re a Perdomo fan, or a Dave Mayer fan, you have to try this one!

 

Last year the Wooden Indian celebrated 60 years in business, and they had the Aganorsa Leaf Supreme leaf WIT 60, a 5″ x 56 Gran Robusto.  This year, for Dave’s 20th, they have the Aganorsa Leaf Supreme Leaf Gran Robusto, a vitola that’s exclusive to the Wooden Indian.  I honestly don’t know if this is the same as the WIT 60, the vitola is the same, but I don’t recall the previous iteration being as strong as this one.  It’s a Nicaraguan puro, with a Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 wrapper.  The first draw was pure twang, I noted that this must have a high nicotine level.  It settled a little,  but not much, over the course of it’s five inches, but maintained it’s power.  This is a strong cigar with a heavy citrus spice.  It was satisfying, but I rather prefer the smoothness of the La Validación Series.  Supreme Leaf is seasonally released, always in a different size, but this 5″ x 56 is only available at the Wooden Indian.  I’ll very likely revisit this after some humidor time. 

 

At some point yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to smoke a Pancetta to complete the Wooden Indian trifecta, but after spending the afternoon with family, then going to a pre-season Flyers game, by the time I got home I had forgotten.  I had been looking forward to smoking a cigar that Lee Marsh of Stolen Throne Cigars had given me, ironically at the Wooden Indian, and that one was the one I grabbed when I got home.  Lee made this cigar in honor of his late canine companion, Brody.  Brody was a Cane Corso who was very special to Lee and his family.  It’s my assumption that this is the Argos blend, which was a Winston’s Humidor (in Virginia) exclusive.  Of course, the handsome dog on the band barked “smoke me” last night. This is a 5″ x 54 belicoso, made at the Rojas factory in Nicaragua, with a Sumatra wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers.  Stolen Throne has two other cigars in the portfolio with Sumatra wrappers, neither of which I’m fond of, and he never lets me forget that.  This one was somehow different, I very much enjoyed it.  It had an interesting slightly fruity, slightly spicy aspect to the rich tobacco flavor.  I was concerned, based on my experiences with the Yorktown and Call to Arms, but I throughly enjoyed this cigar.  

 

I broke down and upgraded some equipment this week. I’ve been using a 2014 Macbook Air for the last several (7 or 8) years, and bit the bullet and picked up a 2020 Macbook Air.  I think the 2009 iMac may need to be retired. Both of the old Macs were “rescues”, from the short time I worked for an Apple reseller, I got my money’s worth out of them. I can’t see any advantage a 2025 Macbook would give me over this one for what I do for the $400 price difference, but this is still way more than I’ve ever paid for a computer! I suspect this will last me quite a long time.  That’s all I have for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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September 21, 2025 · 9:50 am

Morphine, Rocky Patel and Wooden Indian Cigar’s Annual Pig Roast

I didn’t plan well this week, as I made a last minute decision to go to the Wooden Indian’s annual pig roast yesterday.  Not sure why it was a late call, I try to make an appearance every year.  But first, a couple of new-to-me cigars.  A few weeks back when I stopped in the The Cigar Authority of Chester in Cochranville, PA , I picked up a Black Label Trading Co. Limited Edition Morphine 10 Year Anniversary Perfecto.  It looked neat and I like sampling BLTC’s stuff, I generally like what they make.  This is a 5″ x 50 perfecto, which is much smaller than a robusto because of the severe tapers on either end. This cigar needs to be smoked slowly, lest it overheat and get bitter.  The flavors are heavy with black coffee that’s been on the burner for a while. Generally I like this kind of cigar, but the format is tricky. It burned well and was enjoyable, but required concentration.  This will be a theme this week!  BLTC has stood the test of time, ten years is an overnight success in the cigar industry.  I’d love to visit their factory some day.  

 

I got a couple Rocky Patel Vintage 2003 Cameroon toros in one of those Smoke Inn’s “too good a deal not to buy” samplers a few weeks back.  It’s impossible to pass up 5 cigars for $20 delivered when they are good cigars that I either want to try or have enjoyed in the past.  If I’ve smoked the RP Cameroon it’s been a long time ago, which is possible because this cigar has been around a long time. I like that Rocky adds a bonus half inch to a lot of his toros, 6½” x 52, with a Cameroon wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. While I don’t tend to smoke a lot of RP cigars, I rarely have one that’s distasteful to me, and I think I can smoke most of the Vintage line and be happy.  This is no exception, although, like I alluded to above, this one needed to be smoked slowly to avoid it becoming foul.  The Camerooniness came on right off the start. Sweet nuttiness with well aged tobacco.  This is a nice cigar and worth at least twice what I paid for it! 

 

While it was distressing to see that Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust’s Golden Megasquatch doll (action figure?) was stolen from their Intertabak booth, at least we can confirm that booth theft isn’t a strictly American thing. Steve is probably relieved that he doesn’t have to ship it home.  

 

Yesterday I went to the Wooden Indian‘s annual charity pig roast, which I’ve attended most years in one way or another.  Last year (or the year before, who can keep track, they celebrated their 60th anniversary, this year it’s the 20th anniversary of Dave Mayer’s ownership.  Dave is one of my favorite people in the cigar biz.   More on what they have going on for the 20th next week if all goes to plan.  The weather could not have been better for this event, in previous years we’ve sweated, froze and been rained on, one year it was postponed because of a hurricane.  Drew Estate sponsors the event, and Pedro Gomez and Calvin Zimmerman were on hand.  The event was raising money for Operation: Cigars for Warriors, and had auction items donated by the family of Brandon Jones, who was a huge Drew Estate ambassador and passed away tragically last year.  I knew Brandon, he was a great dude and loved all things Drew Estate. I smoked a couple of the new Nica Rustica Shade cigars, in the 5″ x 66 Gordo and the toro, and ate and fraternized with the folks at the event.  The Nica Rustica Shade is a really good shade cigar for under $10. It was the last Freestyle live cigar.  As always, it was a great time and I would have stuck around longer if I didn’t have other stuff to do.  If you find yourself in the Philadelphia area, a visit to the Wooden Indian is a must.  

 

When I got home I sat down with a Blackened M81 Lancero, which is a new line extension this year apparently.  I saw them in the humidor and picked up a couple to try. I seem to have misplaced one, which is really weird for me, I’m usually really good about keeping track of my cigars!  Anyway, I am less concerned about it after having smoked one. This is a 7″ x 40 lancero, a little fatter like the Liga L40.  I was intrigued, then I smoked it. I like the M81 line when I want a heavy maduro cigar, which this is. The Lancero format didn’t seem to lend itself to this heavy blend.  Yes, once again, this needs to be smoked slowly, but even “sipping” the smoke was a little overwhelming. Too much burnt cocoa, espresso for me.  I rarely speak ill of a cigar, but I think this is one that didn’t need to be made. Also uncharacteristic of me to say, but this would probably be OK in the S84 blend. I’m not going to go crazy looking for that missing cigar. 

 

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

CigarCraig

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October 6, 2024 · 9:29 am

Jaime Garcia, Kristoff and Stolen Throne Cigars

Once again I picked up some new-to-me cigars at various shops.  I can’t quite remember why, but I stopped in to the Cigar Mojo shop nearest to me and came across the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Suceser, which I initially misspelled, my mind saw the english version, which is “successor”.  From what I can devine, this comes in two sizes with two different wrapper, which is interesting.  I got the 6″ x 56 Toro with a Sumatra seed wrapper and there’s also a 6 1/8″ x 52 Torpedo which has a Habano seed wrapper.  I have to hunt down a torpedo, I guess. I was unable to find any more information about the blend than that!  I recently smoked the Jaime

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Garcia Reserva Especial and was really into it,  this was a very different cigar.  I found it to be very spicy, much more so than the Broadleaf counterpart.  The spice held on througho

ut the cigar.

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I liked it well enough, but I think I’ll stick with the Broadleaf, but I still want to try the Suceser Torpedo.

 

I’ve been hearing about the Kristoff Guardrail for quite a while and finally picked one up at a Cigar Cigars shop a couple towns over.  I went there to meet a guy who wanted me to try out some Dominican cigars that he has an idea that he wants to import and give a go at selling.  Young guy, filled with optimism…I

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‘ve got my thoughts on the cigars which I’m going to share with him, but I’m not sure how to tell him it’s probably nore a great idea.  Anyone in the industry want to offer this guy some advice?  Anyway, the Gua

rdrail is an homage to Kristoff’s owner, Glen Case, having a horrific motorcycle accident returning from a charity ride on a rented Harley. He was banged up pretty good, and we’re lucky he’s still with us (he’s genuinely a very nice man). This was the 6 ½” x 56 Matador size, has a Brazilian Maduro wrapper, bindier from the Dominican Republic and fillers from the Dominican Republic & Zimbabwe.  I’ve honestly smoked more Zimbabwe tobacco in the last few weeks than I have in my life (and that could be said if I had only smoked one cigar with that tobacco, and I’ve smoked this and the CAO Thunder Smoke).  This

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has a hint of the mesquite flavor that the CAO had, not as prominent bu there, along with some sweetness from the Brazilian wrapper.  This was very nice, I’d smoke it again.

 

In another recent shop visit, this time the Wooden Indian, I got a couple of the new Stolen Throne Argos, this one is 6″ x 52 with a pigtail cap and a semi-closed foot.  This is an interesting project with started as an exclusive to Winston’s Humidor in Midlothian, VA, with proceeds going toward animal rescue organizations. I don’t know if this is still the case, but knowing Lee Marsh as I do, I wouldn’t doubt that it is. Lee hates that I love the Three Kingdoms and Crook of the Crown, but am not a fan of the Call to Arms and Yorktown Fleet, the latter of which is growing on me.  I think this Argos falls somewhere in between.  It has a sour note that I find in the Yorktown, perhaps that’s the “roasted oranges” that is mentioned on the website (one roasts oranges?). I also got some leather and some dry baking cocoa sort of flavor. I found it enjoyable, and very much appreciate Dave at the Wooden Indian for hooking me up with these.  I just wish these had bands, maybe whip something up on a laser printer or something? 🙂 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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