Tag Archives: wooden indian

by CigarCraig | August 19, 2012 · 8:12 am

Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop & Liga Privada Lounge’s Drew Estate Charity Auction

Yesterday was a beautiful Saturday in Southeastern PA, and my wife and I had the great fortune of attending a Drew Estate event at the Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop in Havertown, PA. I love visiting this shop about 45 minutes from home. Dave Mayer and his staff are always very friendly and professional. The shop and Liga Privada Lounge is a very inviting and comfortable place to shop and relax. On this Saturday they were having a “Get Lit with Drew Estate ” event and Marvin Samel was, once again, in attendance. Since first meeting Marvin at their old location a few years ago, I make it a point to visit the store when he’s there. This time they were having several contests, including a “power smoke”, which involved smoking a Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo to the band in the shortest amount of time. I passed on participating in this, as much as I love that cigar, because I didn’t want to ruin my palate for the next week, not to mention making myself sick on such a beautiful day!

I managed to shoot a quick video of Marvin where I asked him to speak about the threat we currently face with the possibility of the FDA regulating premium cigars. This is something that Marvin has dedicated the last year or so of his life to fighting, even moving to Washington DC to concentrate on the battle. Thanks to Marvin for helping preserve our rights! Here’s the video, which will be featured on the left sidebar along with Tommy Zarzecki’s video promoting Cigar Rights of America. Alan Price, our local Cigar Rights of America ambassador was there signing up new members. If you aren’t a member yet, go sign up!

After the contests, they had a series of raffles. Tickets were given with purchases, and I was fortunate to win a beautiful Xikar lighter courtesy of Xikar, who’s rep David was also on hand. Many thanks! I also purchased a raffle ticket for some baskets that had been assembled. One basket of just about every Xikar product imaginable as well some Liga Privada cigars. The other basket contained box upon box of rare Liga Privada and Drew Estate offerings, as well as some hats, booze and other sundries. All of the proceeds of these raffle items were going to Un Techo Para Mi Pais in Nicaragua to help build homes for the less fortunate, a charity that Drew Estate has embraced in their neighborhood in Esteli. The crowning event was an auction of an original painting by Jessi Flores, the director of Subculture Studio and the artist responsible for so much of the design work at Drew Estate. The painting was of all of the Liga Privada cigars that they have produced to date, a beautiful piece of art that we would have loved to have hanging in our home. I managed to capture the action in this nine-plus minute video. It ended up in a bidding war between Cortney, who works at the Wooden Indian and my wife, Jennifer. Unfortunately, Cortney wasn’t to be outbid, and the painting ended up fetching $1500, enough to build a house for a family in Esteli.

httpv://youtu.be/agYrYiDVEMw

While at the event I enjoyed an Undercrown Corona Viva, which is an excellent smoke, maybe my favorite in the line so far. It was rich and well balanced and characteristically well made. It was the perfect smoke to enjoy the wonderful company at the lounge. When I got home I grabbed a Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Robusto as I put away the Cabinetta Lanceros and Undercrowns I had purchased. I absolutely love this line and every one I smoke brings back memories of my visit to Nicaragua last year. The cigar is smooth and creamy, delicious.

That was my Saturday. I hope you enjoy the videos, better than many of my recent IPCPR videos because I’m not in them, right? 🙂

Until te next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

Filed under Events, Stores, Video

Tagged as cigar, cigar store, cigars, drew estate, joya de nicaragua, liga privada, undercrown, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | July 15, 2012 · 9:32 am

An Old La Aurora, Emilio Visits The Wooden Indian, and Another Hoyo de Monterrey Contest!

Friday evening I decided the time had come for a La Aurora Preferidos No.2 that has been knocking around my humidors for years. I’m going to assume this was a Corojo wrapper, as it certainly wasn’t maduro or Connecticut, and it sure didn’t taste like Cameroon. On side note: on the La Aurora website they either have the Maduro No.2 pictured incorrectly, or the Maduro No.1 labelled incorrectly – Barry: get on that, would you bro!) This cigar is a handsome 5″ x 54 perfecto, really quite a unique shape these days, although it used to be the standard, what cigars looked like 100 years ago. As you can see from the picture, this poor cigar had a couple chips in the wrapper, no doubt from so many years rolling around naked in various humidors over the last 5 or 10 years, I honestly can’t remember how long. This cigar burned perfectly, the draw and smoke were perfect, and it had that smoothness and refinement of flavor that years of age bring. I saved this cigar for a special occasion for so long, I finally decided it was time and went for it. Glad I did, because it was a terrific experience.

Earlier in the week I received a message from Dave, the owner of the Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop in Havertown, PA letting me in on the fact that Gary Griffith and Nathan McIntyre of Emilio Cigars would be visiting Saturday at 9am. Of course, my initial response was something like “9:00 on a Saturday morning?” But I sucked it up, threw on some clothes, and drove out to have a rare morning cigar. When I arrived, the guys were all in the spacious walk-in humidor looking at the selection of Emilio cigars. As I had yet to try the AF Suave, I picked up a handful of corona on Nathan’s recommendation, headed to the cash register, and fired one up. What a tasty cigar, perfect for the morning, although it would certainly be satisfying any time of day. Another winner from the Emilio stable. It was great meeting Nate finally, always a pleasure spending time with Gary, and seeing Alan Price, Emilio rep, CRA ambassador and all-around good guy was an added bonus. As always, Dave and his staff at the Indian are always exceptional and entertaining. If you ever find yourself in the Philadelphia area and want a great selection as well as a very comfortable Liga Privada Lounge (the first!), head west on Market street and find the shop, you won’t be sorry. I wrapped up the day with an Emilio AF1 Toro, which was just delicious and may be my favorite in the line.

Contest

What am I going to do in a few weeks when I don’t have a Sunday contest to post? We’ll, I suppose I’ll be at Disneyworld with my wife, and then getting IPCPR stuff ready for you after a short travel break. Anyway, there’s still time to enter the Hoyo de Monterrey Box-a-day give-away at HoyodeMonterreyCigar.com, and I have another pair of Reposados en Cedros 3-packs to give away to a lucky reader who leaves a comment here and send me his (or her) address after the winner is announced on Wednesday. The latter part is critical! My last two winners, Allen and Joel, were very prompt and their packages are on their way. Let the games begin!

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

CigarCraig

30 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review, Stores

Tagged as cigar, cigar rights, cigar store, cigars, Contest, Emilio, hoyo de monterrey, La Aurora, liga privada, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | May 29, 2011 · 5:04 pm

Gee, I Smoked Some More Cigars This Week! La Aurora, My Joya de Nicaragua Blend, and a Dirty Rat

It’s the Memorial Day weekend, and time to remember all those who gave their lives in service to the country so that we have a shot at enjoying a fine cigar once in a while! Thank You! Now, on to some cigar nonsense!

I caught an article this week via Twitter that Guillermo Leon had completed his purchase of the La Aurora cigar division from the parent company, Grupo Leon. I couldn’t think of a better cigar to celebrate this event than a La Aurora 107 Lancero that I had picked up when I met up with him last month at The Wooden Indian (the day my grand-daughter was born. Hard to believe she’s 4 weeks old already!). I took this cigar for a walk with my wife to the local convenience store, about a mile round trip. It certainly was a very nice cigar. There was a time in the recent past that you could almost expect a lancero to be plugged, but I haven’t had one that wasn’t perfectly made in some time. As a side note, I’ve been finding that a lot of the cigars I’ve been smoking have been well made. Either my selections have improved or there is an over-all trend in higher quality standards in the industry. Not complaining! It used t really annoy me when I’d invest my valuable cigar time and have a difficult stick. Back to the 107, I’ve now smoked this in the corona and lancero and enjoy the blend. I think the lancero is more of a good thing. I should try some of the other sizes. While these aren’t exactly what I look for taste wise in a cigar, they do give me a lot of pleasure, and I strive to keep an open mind.

I selected one of the cigar that I brought back from Cigar Safari in Nicaragua for my Friday night cigar. This was one of the ones that were made for us as a result of our blending session at Joya de Nicaragua. I chose the the Corojo wrapper, and a Sumatra binder as well as Seco from Condega. I focused on Esteli for the Viso and Ligero, with a little Condega Ligero thrown in for good measure. What I ended up with was a fairly strong cigar, both in flavor and body. I loved it, make no mistake, but it rivaled the Joya de Nicaragua Dark Corojo in sheer power, as a matter of fact, I commented to my son that I thought I had blended an Antaño Dark Corojo! He had smoked the first of his batch, and he had used much more ligero in his, and it wasn’t bad, his shade wrapper may have toned it down a bit. I smoked this cigar down to finger burning size, while it was one dimensional, it was a good dimension! I wouldn’t smoke these often, and I have four more resting to see how they develop over time. I continue to be amazed that a cigar that was rolled a mere 8 weeks ago is so perfectly smokable! Thanks to Mario Perez at Joya de Nicaragua and Jonathan Drew for this exercise. I’m reminded that I need to find some Cabinetta Lanceros sometime soon…great cigar! I actually think the Cabinetta Serie is my favorite blend from JdN for overall balance.

Saturday was a beautiful day, so for my evening walk I went with a Liga Privada Dirty Rat pre-release version that Steve Saka had sent me in January of 2010. This cigar has since been released as a Liga Privada Serie Unico as of last years IPCPR show. I’ve had several of these between the pre-release samples and the production line and they have all been exceptional. Deep and dark, these are well made and seriously satisfying. The stalk cut, Connecticut Habano wrapper is a thing of beauty and just tasty as all get out. I lamented to my wife at the time that I should have grabbed one of the longer prototype Rats I brought back from Cigar Safari, as this cigar was finished too soon. I could have easily spent another hour enjoying the deliciousness of the Dirty Rat. Truly a spectacular cigar.

Today is another day, not sure what I’ll pull out of the humidor yet, and tomorrow could present more opportunities still. Tuesday we head to NYC for a private cigar event, which we’ve been looking forward to. Everyone have a safe and enjoyable holiday, and remember all those who paid the ultimate price so that we can enjoy what we enjoy!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

Watch for a new discount code from StogieBoys.com coming soon.

3 Comments

Filed under Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as cigar, cigars, dirty rat, drew estate, Guillermo Leon, joya de nicaragua, La Aurora, Memorial Day, Serie Unico, Take A Cigar For A Walk, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | May 15, 2011 · 8:44 pm

This Weeks Cigar Re-cap, Liga Privada, Rocky Patel, Etc.

I have to re-wind a little bit to last Sunday, when I enjoyed a fine Liga Privada No. 9 Parejo on Mother’s day. It was one I had picked up in November of 2009 and was a superlative smoke. If you’ve seen the Drew Estate ads with the ash with the Liga band (there’s one on my “cigarcraigslist” page), or the mural on the wall inside the Gran Fabrica in Esteli, that’s what the ash reminded me of, I taped it off to avoid incident, but it was solid as a rock. It was a fine tasting cigar too, lots of flavor and not too heavy on the nicotine. Very satisfying cigar that is a pleasure to smoke, and I smoked it to a very small nub.

Later in the week I pulled out a cigar from a gifted batch from Tommy Berry, my frequent “Take A Cigar For A Walk” contributing correspondent. This cigar has two red bands, the larger said “Maduro” and the secondary band said “by Rocky Patel“. A little research showed this to be a Thompson’s exclusive. The cigar was a large pyramid that had a jet black wrapper that to my taste was San Andreas leaf, but I was unable to find any information to verify that. The cigar was pretty good, although the thick wrapper leaf needed some corrections from time to time. I took this cigar for a 3 mile walk and it fit that time interval very well. Nice, fairly heavy dark flavors consistent with what I expect from a maduro cigar. Many thanks to Tommy for sending an unnecessary gift. I look forward to his future guest reviews!

Tonight I decided to smoke a cigar that was given to me by Dave Mayer, the owner of The Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop in Havertown, PA. I was talking with Dave about our Cigar Safari experiences when I visited the shop a couple weeks ago. He had taken a group down a few weeks before we went, and I was telling him how much I enjoyed the cigar I blended. He took me to his office to show me his blending sheet as his blend was similar to my own, with the exception of the wrapper, which was an Ecuador Connecticut Shade. He gave me one out of his humidor, a gesture I very much appreciated. He had said that his cigar didn’t turn out very good, so I decided to fire it up and see for myself. His version was a fat toro, easily 6″ x 54, with the a fore mentioned beautiful shade wrapper. He mentioned using the Brazilian Mata Fina filler and, I think, the San Andreas binder. I can understand why he felt it was out of balance a bit. The sweetness of the Mata Fina competed a little bit with the dry sweetness of the wrapper. It burned in the typically perfect manner I’ve come to expect from Drew Estate in general, and the Liga Privada rollers in particular. All in all is waas a nice cigar, certainly different, but not at all offensive. I’m thrilled to have had the privilege of smoking this cigar, I know that the cigars I brought back from Cigar Safari are precious to me, and I appreciate Dave sharing his with me.

That’s all I have for now, thanks again to Tommy and Dave for the gifted cigars. Somehow gifted cigars always taste better, and it’s a part of the whole cigar culture that I enjoy the most, that is, gifting cigars, but being on the receiving end once in a while doesn’t suck!).

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Review

Tagged as cigar, Cigar Safari, cigars, drew estate, liga privada, rocky patel, Thompson's, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | May 4, 2011 · 7:24 pm

La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003 and Emilio AF1 BMF

Today I am bringing you a contrast of sorts. Two very different cigars, both excellent. The first was a gift from Chris Lenzo, the Miami Cigar & Company sales rep whom I met on Saturday when I was celebrating the birth of my grand-daughter with Guillermo Leon at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA. The second was a sample provided by Gary Griffith of Delaware Cigars for review. Both were enormous in size and pleasure!

The La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003 is a very special cigar. My understanding is that there were only 12,000 of these produced in 2008 from 5 year old tobacco that was entirely from the 2003 crop. It’s a big beautiful figurado shaped cigar, measuring a whopping 7.2″ x 52, but it felt bigger! The wrapper was stunning and it was well made, a tribute to the few rollers that can make this shape cigar. It held the ash for my entire 1 mile walk, it looked like I was just getting started when I got back to my front porch, where I spent the next hour and a half luxuriating in the delicate nuances of this cigar. What a special treat that I dedicated to my daughter the new mom. It is definitely a rare and expensive cigar that I won’t likely have the chance to smoke again anytime soon! A special treat, thank you Chris!

Last night, after Alan Price had inquired on Sunday, I decided to sit down with an Emilio AF1 BMF for the evening. This is another enormous cigar, 6″ x 58, with a dry, dark Mexican maduro wrapper (one of my favorites!). I was thinking about the front-mark BMF, trying to work out it’s significance. I ruled out “By My Father” since it’s a published fact that this is made by A.J. Fernandez in Esteli, not Pepin Garcia. I haven’t looked up the price on these, so “Blow My Fortune” is a possibility. I settled on “Big Mother F***er” since that seemed to fit the best, because it is a gigantic cigar. This cigar is bold out of the gate. It’s very much in line with my cigar preference, it’s full bodied, it’s full flavored, and has the dark roast, dark cocoa flavors I look for in a maduro cigar. This is another cigar that occupied nearly 2 hours of my time. It burned dead even and had a perfect draw, neither too firm nor too loose. I can’t wait to smoke the other sample, which is a standard 6″ x 50, toro I believe. Gary has something with the Emilio and the Grimalkin, (which maybe could be called a BMF too?) which, while very different cigars are both excellent. I may have to grab a few the next time I visit the Wooden Indian as they are listed as a retailer.

Just prior to writing this post I received an e-mail from Tommy Berry, Jr., who has been busy purchasing a house and passing his ham radio license test. He admits to slacking off and not sending “Take a Cigar for a Walk” updates. I hope when things settle down he can get back to walking and sending in some reviews!

Don’t forget to leave a comment on my last post for a chance to win a five pack of La Gloria Cubana Serie N cigars, and also see the bottom of this entry for information on a discount code generously provided by StogieBoys.com!

Until the next time,

Cigar Craig