Tag Archives: xikar

by | March 24, 2013 · 10:59 am

A 262 Cigars Event at Ned’s and a Room101 Big Delicious and Some Cigar News

I’m trying to get back in the swing of things after the interruption of my trip to California.  I figured the best way to do that was to jump in with both feet and head an hour west to Newtown, PA and Ned’s Cigars where Clint Aaron of 262 Cigars was having an event.  Clint has done something exceptional with 262, he’s left a career in finance behind and launched a successful cigar brand.  Ned’s is a nice little shop on a quaint little street, located in a building that probably dates back to the 1700s.  We were well received by Luca, the owner, who is a super nice guy and a terrific host.  Clint sold me a couple cigars, I started with a 262 Paradigm Lancero, which was a stellar smoke.  I followed it up with the 262 Revere which was the free cigar that I received for buying 4 cigars.  I thought the Revere had a nice sweetness that the Paradigm didn’t have, and both cigars burned dead even and had perfect draws.  I have a few more of the Paradigms left and still have an Ideology floating around from the IPCPR show.  It was a fun event, the traffic in the store wasn’t too bad.  The lounge is small but comfortable, and between watching “Used Cars” and a basketball game on the TVs, and the great cigars it was an entertaining evening.

 

Room101_BigDeliciousSaturday I took a walk around lunchtime since it was a nice, sunny day.  Unfortunately, it’s still cold (where’s Spring? They are forecasting 5-8″ of snow tomorrow!).  A Couple weeks ago I received a pair of pre-release samples of Smoke Inn‘s latest micro-blend release, the Room101 Big Delicious.  This cigar is a box pressed torpedo with a nice, dark wrapper and an untrimmed foot, great for getting a big blast of wrapper upon lighting.  Last weekend I smoked and loved the last micro-blend release, the Tatuaje Anarchy Apocalypse, but I think I enjoyed the Big Delicious even more!  It had a unique and different flavor that excited my taste buds. Was it the right cigar for a pre-lunch walk?  Probably not.    It probably would be better after a sumptuous feast instead of some supermarket donuts from last night, but it was still a most enjoyable smoke that was filled with surprises and didn’t disappoint.  Two thumbs up to Abe and Matt on this one, it’s a winner!   I’ve had fun reading along with the comic strip on the website as well.

 

 News

Here’s the latest news from CAO cigars:

CAO Brazilia Carnivale Hits Retail

CAO Brazilia Carnivale is hitting cigar shops as we speak. The 6 ½” x 60 box-pressed beauty is a limited edition release that puts an innovative spin on the popular Brazilia blend.

 

“Carnivale” is made with ligeros from the DR, Honduras and Nicaragua, and a binder from Brazil. The wrapper is a rare Habano Grueso leaf cultivated only in small quantities. 

 

Rick Rodriguez who heads up blending for CAO said, “We haven’t changed any CAO blends since we took over the brand. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t put our spin on one of them. That’s exactly what we did with Carnivale…it’s my and my team’s take on Brazilia. We added a new wrapper, made the original wrapper the binder, and cranked the whole thing up with more ligero.”

 

You won’t miss CAO Brazilia Carnivale at your favorite cigar shop. It’s in an eye-catching, bright yellow, 12-count box, and is a must-have for the CAO collector. Single CAO Brazilia Carnivale cigars are on sale for $8.30 until the limited supply is gone.

 

Rick hinted that there could be another small batch twist on the horizon for another one of CAO’s top blends. “My team and I have been experimenting with some fantastic tobaccos, so CAO fans should be on the lookout to see what we come up with next.”

 

I look forward to smoking this one, as I’ve always enjoyed the Brazilia.  Since Ricky took over the blending at CAO I’ve been pretty impressed with the new releases. Both the OSA Sol and the Concert had something that appealed to me, and the cigars in the Last Stick Standing promotion were all pretty tasty.

 

In other news, the Midwest Smokeout is coming up in about a month.  This year’s Smokeout will be held on April 25 at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, In.  They will have a bunch of cigar makers on hand and it looks like a $150 ticket will get you a load of cigars.  They also offer a $95 ticket that doesn’t include the cigars.  I’ll try to get more information on the event and pass it on.   

 

That’s it for today.  I want to thank whoever took advantage of the Gotham Cigars Living Social link I posted.  At least three people purchased the deal so I got it for free.  I used it to purchase a Xikar VX  cutter and a couple cigars to make up the difference.  I’ve been thinking about buying the V-cutter for  a while.  Truth is, I’ve never spent more than about $3 on a cigar cutter.  The V-cut takes me back to when I first started smoking cigars, buying them one at a time and cutting them on the Boston cutter on the counter in the shop.  It’s certainly not that I needed a cutter, I’ve got plenty ranging from cheapos to nice Colibris and the like, but I didn’t have a good V cutter and it was a perfect opportunity to get one.  Gotham’s service was exceptional and I look forward to the delivery of this order.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | October 17, 2012 · 6:34 pm

A Xikar Executive Lighter and A Little of This and a Little of That


When we left off on Sunday, I had a cold coming on, and it came on in full force that day, but the worst of it passed quickly.  I still didn’t really feel like smoking too many cigars, so I’m left with not a lot to talk about today.  So I figured it would be a good enough time to showcase a piece of equipment I’ve been using lately, a red Xikar Executive lighter.

 

I won this lighter at an event at the Wooden Indian a few months ago and have used it pretty regularly with generally good results.  The single jet flame is more than adequate to light and touch up a cigar, it has plenty of horsepower and even works OK in a light breeze.  It seems to run through fuel pretty quickly, but many jet flame lighters do, but I find myself filling this one more than other lighters.  I’m going to guess that this is an old model, it looks like the Executive II has replaced it and has a fuel window, which is a welcome improvement.  Another little thing I’ve noticed is that it’s finish is already starting to chip, and I’ve been VERY careful with this lighter.  I make sure to put it in it’s own pocket in my pants, and don’t throw it in the drawer with other things.  It’s still gotten a couple chips, but the important thing is that it works well to light a cigar. If I have occasion to need a fancy lighter, I’ll just pull out the gold Dupont….I can’t even finish the sentence…I don’t have a gold Dupont lighter….wouldn’t know what to do with one if I did!  I bet they don’t do any better job of lighting a cigar.  As an aside, a few years back I was in Vegas and stopped into the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop of Pawn Stars fame, and they had a Punch Dupont lighter.  It had a $3000 price tag on it, but they would have let me have it for $2500.  For that kind of money it better have MY name on it!  Anyway, I like the Xikar lighter, it’s been reliable and easier to put in my pocket than my other favorite lighter (see my post about that lighter).  This review was not solicited by Xikar, I won this as an event attendee, I bought some cigars and got a raffle ticket!

 

Speaking of Punch, head on over to http://www.punchcigars.com/tailgating/ and sign up to win a cool six-pack of Punch cigars. They are giving one away every day until December 28, 2012.  I saw these at the IPCPR show and it is a really neat presentation. It comes with an assortment of Punch cigars, a cutter and a bottle opener.  It’s a very cool piece, go try to win one or pick one up if you see it in your local shop!

 

On a sad note, we lost one of our feline family members last night.  Frank was a good companion for the last 16 years and was never too far from my lap whether I was on the porch enjoying a cigar, or on the couch watching TV.  He even made a few cameo appearances in my CAO Last Stick Standing video.  He was pretty straight laced, when the other cats were rolling around in the catnip, he would have nothing to do with it.  But he did seem to like sitting on my lap while I smoked.  He had a good, long life and we will miss him.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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by | August 28, 2011 · 8:00 am

End Of The Week Cigars and News: Alec Bradley, J.Fuego, Best Cigar Prices and Irene

After a long day, and getting a late start on my evening smoke, I selected the Alec Bradley Family Blend D3 (4½” x 58) that I purchased on my Father’s Day Cigar ride. It is a beautiful cigar, short and fat, with a fanned little pigtail not unlike a Liga Privada Unicos Dirty Rat. That’s where the similarities end. This cigar had a unique flavor, not one I usually find in a cigar, which really made me happy. Was it a, dare I say, fruity flavor? I was talking about this with my wife and she asked if it was like sex in your mouth, which I didn’t quite understand and decided that no, it was not like that at all! What does that even mean? Whatever it was it was quite refreshing and a cigar I look forward to re-visiting the line.

 

News

In the news, it looks like another major internet retailer is moving to Pennsylvania. BestCigarPrices.com announced that it was relocating from New York State to North-eastern PA this week. Since PA is friendly toward tobacco products tax-wise, and New York state isn’t, this move doesn’t surprise me. It also gives us another business to fight any future proposed taxes on cigars and other tobacco products (OTP) as they are proposed, and they are pretty regularly. I think this brings us to five of the larger internet cigar retailers that are headquartered in PA. Now, if one would just move to my area…

 

Saturday evening had us waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Irene. We are about an hour west of Philadelphia, and aren’t expecting a direct hit. Certainly we are in far less danger than many in the path of this large storm, but our town has a creek running through it that is prone to flooding. We are on high ground, but it’s possible that the roads leading to our neighborhood will be impassable at some point. I am hopeful that the trees behind us stay put and everything clears out tomorrow. Obviously, our thoughts are with those directly effected by this storm. Anyway, I took a Jesus Fuego Sangre de Toro Robusto out on the front porch for my evening smoke. This was a sample from the IPCPR show, given to me by Jesus Fuego himself, who may be the most under rated manufacturer in the business. I’ve enjoyed his 777 line quite a bit, in the maduro and corojo wrappers, although I’ve been mixed on the Xikar HC line that he makes as well. This Sangre de Toro was a really nice cigar. It was solidly medium to me, and had some very pleasant flavors. Again, it was a refreshing cigar, rich and a little spicey, and burned perfectly. I finished it just as the wind was beginning to blow the rain on the front porch.

 

Here is a little video of Jesus Fuego telling me about the Sangre de Toro as well as his other lines:

I should have included this warning when I first started posting videos, but remember to turn your volume down after watching so you don’t blow your speakers the next time you get an e-mail!

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

CigarCraig

 

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by | June 26, 2011 · 6:01 pm

This Weeks Cigar Recap: 601, El Credito, Gurkha, Liga Privada, HC, Etc.

Here we go, another weeks worth of CigarCraig’s micro-reviews. I awoke today to find that ALL of the comments were gone from the site. Every comment ever! Of course, I am in a panic. Friday evening the site was inaccessible for a period of time, and I imagine whatever caused that problem must have had something to do with it. At this point I’m waiting for my hosting provider to correct the problem, and, since it’s the weekend, and the level 2 support folks don’t work weekends, I’m in limbo as far as my comments go. From what I can tell you can not leave a comment at this time.  I’ll be working tirelessly with Network Solutions threatening them often to fix this problem, as well as a couple other issues I’ve found.

 

First up was a 601 Green, which came along with the La Bomba and a Murcialago courtesy of Eddie Ortega at EO Brands. This has long been one of my favorites, but I think it may have been an unwise choice for a Monday evening smoke after fighting off a migraine earlier in the day. It’s a powerful maduro cigar that is lush with heavy cocoa and coffee. Accompanied by an IBC root beer, it held my attention, but I couldn’t smoke this too far past the band. I do love these cigars under normal circumstances, but the migraines and the meds to get rid of them take more out of me than I had available to fully enjoy this one.

 

 

Wednesday’s walk to the convenience store started late, so I grabbed another El Credito La Parrita and took a little dog for a walk! As I start typing, I know this is another tangent, so I beg your indulgence. I have long felt that smoking time was more a function of length than girth. I maintain that a 5” cigar of 42 ring gauge will take just about as long as a 5” cigar of 60 ring. I’ve been trying to figure out a good way to test this theory, but there are so many variables and I just haven’t had the time to work out a good, scientific test to prove the theory. Something to work on, I suppose. Back to the cigar, I found this example to be a little bitter and off. The “war of flavors”, which this cigar is sub-titled by the factory, did not go well for me in this instance, I guess I lost. Anyway, people love these cigars, and I think it there’s a big cool factor in the format of these ugly ducklings, and I either hit one at a bad time or something.

 

 

Next up was a Gurkha Para la Gente Robusto that I had purchased at De La Concha in NYC a few months back. This is another of the cigars that were produced exclusively for the New York market in an effort to provide retailers some relief from the onerous cigar tax in that state. As of this writing, I understand that the state is working on a modification of that tax which would provide a cap so that a $10 cigar wouldn’t be jacked up to $17.50, but would be a more reasonable $11. For the tobacconists that are left in the state, I hope this goes through, as many have closed their doors in the last year due to this tax. Anyway, I have not smoked many Gurkha cigars. I have a perception that they either produce cigars that are ridiculously high priced and over packaged and marketed, or budget priced cigars that CI sells for $40 bucks a bundle and tries to make you feel like you’re getting a $50 cigar for two bucks. (at this point writing this feels like it’s more editorial on state taxes and brand marketing…sorry…off my soapbox now!). Anyway, the cigar was very nice. The short robusto size was just right for the time I had available and it worked very well. I like a nice Brazilian Matafina, which I believe this is wrapped with, and it was well balanced and smooth. The cheap bastard in me still recoils at a $8 robusto, but it was a special treat and a souvenir from a nice day in the city.

 

I decided I deserved a treat for getting through another week and grabbed a Liga Privada No.9 Flying Pig that I received at an even in Reno back in November of 2009. It’s a cool perfecto format dating back to the late part of the 1800s. Drew Estate has since released their T52 blend in this same size, and the Cubans (who, ironically, are suing Drew Estate for using the word “Kuba”), recently ripped off the size for a special release for one of their “Festival” humidors! My biggest complaint about this little piggie was that it was just too short! It’s 4” x 60, remember what I was saying about length and smoking time? This one just was gone too quickly. It did hold the ash for the entire time I was smoking it, which was probably under an hour, which is almost a tease, considering the hearty and delicious flavors that this fat little bastard provided. I would have loved to have smoked this for another hour, but the ash fell off with under an inch to go and I was beginning to burn my fingers. Plus, my wife said I looked ridiculous smoking the cigar with a 3” ash…. I’m glad I have another one of these that I was given at Cigar Safari, because I am confident that there are not a lot of these still around.

 

Finally, I spent Saturday with my family at Monmouth Park in New Jersey watching horses run around in circles with little men on their backs, which is always entertaining. I did manage to have a cigar, no small feat at a public venue in the Garden State. The cigar I chose was a HC Connecticut robusto which I had purchased several months ago at an event at one of the local shops. I was disappointed in the event, there was a rep there who represented Xikar, and other brands as well. The were offering a “buy 3, get one” special, and I still don’t think $25 for 4 robustos, especially ones I don’t end up enjoying represents a good value. The Habano wrapper was the best of the bunch, for me, at least. This Connecticut had an acidic bite to it that was off-putting. It got better as the cigar progressed, but was always there somewhere. I understand that they have dropped the price on these, which I think was a wise move, but I still won’t be buying any myself anytime soon, they just didn’t have what I’m looking for in a cigar. To the credit of the manufacturer, they are exceptionally well made, and I’m sure there are plenty of folks who enjoy these. It’s just not a cigar that suits me.

 

That’s it for now, I’m still annoyed with whatever is going on with my comments. It’s bad timing, that’s for sure. At this time, the Oja contest will be extended for another week after the comments are fixed, and I will asses the situation when my technical issues are resolved.

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | February 16, 2011 · 10:23 pm

Take a Cigar For a Walk: Xikar HC, Murcialago, Tommy’s Guest Review No.2 – Sunday February 20, 2011

Well, we’ve been walking and smoking this week.  I started out taking a Xikar HC Criolllo Robusto for a walk and I was sorely disappointed with this cigar. I just didn’t dig the flavor of this one, and I felt especially let down given the $8.00 price tag. Criollo wrappers just don’t seem to do it for me, I can recall not liking the CAO Criollo line either, although I really wanted to.  I will have to make a conscious effort to avoid this wrapper in the future.  To be fair to the cigar, it was very well made and burned perfectly. I purchased this cigar at a Xikar event at a local shop last fall and was a little put off by the high prices of this line.  I rather expect to be “wowed” by a cigar in this price range.  I have a Connecticut ans a Habano still in the humidor, I enjoyed the Habano, although I don’t remember being particularly “wowed”, I hope the Connecticut is more to my liking.

Here’s another guest review by Tommy Berry Jr., he’s been taking a cigar for a walk and sending me his reports:

“Yea! I just got back in from a 60 minute walk. The night wasperfect…around 60 degrees, cool air and a bright moon. I watched an episode of an A&E show, Heavy…I have been watching the series since it started, but tonight it got me off my feet and on to the streets. I put my headphones on, played a couple of Gypsy Kings albums, selected my cigar…cut it and lit it as i began to walk. Tonight’s cigar of choice was a nice CAO Gold Maduro Robusto. I really enjoy the strength of this particular cigar and smoking maduros while walking…at least for now. I loved how this cigar kept its ash very well, stayed lit the entire walk and burned perfectly without any flaws. I thought I was smoking it rather slowly, but I finished it to the nub within about 55 minutes. This may be due to my swinging arms and the cool breeze that we had here tonight. Either way, I would recommend this cigar to anyone interested in a maduro.

Like I said earlier, the walk was great. I have a knee that has been bothering me from walking the last time in below freezing weather…but it did not hurt until the last few minutes. This was a Blessing for sure! Our neighborhood is very hilly, which is a great challenge for the walk. I walked about 80% of it at a rather quick pace…then started getting slower as time ran down. I was glad for that feeling as it made me feel as if I was doing something good with my body. I look forward to next walk…and the best part about it is thinking of which cigar will I smoke next!”

Keep up the good work, Tommy, and thank you for your continued contributions!!

I finished off the week with a Murcialago Robusto.  This jet black, San Andreas wrapped, box pressed beauty is not a cigar I would characterize as delicate, subtle, or even refined.  It grabs you by the lapels and says “hey, you’re smoking a cigar”!  It’s got a strong flavor, but isn’t really a strong cigar, if that makes sense.  It burned very well and was quite enjoyable.  I purchased this cigar at an event last summer that Eddie Ortega of EO Brands was the guest of honor.  While this isn’t a particularly complex cigar, it’s one I enjoy for it’s boldness. I was pretty bummed when this one was finished as I enjoyed it right down to about a half an inch.  It was a 60 degree February day in Pennsylvania, not something that often happens and a welcome change from the fairly harsh winter we’ve been having.

That’s all I have for now, it’s been terribly windy here today, which is one weather condition that I just can’t enjoy a cigar in, so I hope it dies down before long (and the trees near my house stay vertical!)

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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