I haven’t really smoked anything unusual this week, opting instead for some old favorites. One of those was a Maria Mancini Robusto Larga from a couple of five-packs I picked up on a visit to JR Cigars in Whippany, NJ. Anyone who has been following me for any period of time will know that this is a stand bye for me, if not this particular size, the marque in general. I’ve had some of these in my humidor at all times since my first purchase of them in 1999. They remain consistent, usually burn well, and almost always taste great. For a cigar that runs under $3, this is fairly remarkable. The Maria Mancini won Cigar Journal‘s award for Best Value Honduran cigar at their award ceremony in Vegas at the IPCPR show last summer. Great cigars for a little money.
Last night I need something small to just last me the mile or so walk to the convenience store and back. I grabbed one of my favorite winter walk smokes, a Hoyo de Monterrey Sabroso Maduro. This 5″x 40 petite corona fit the bill, loads of deep, dark flavor, well made, and just about the right size. Again, this is not an expensive cigar, a couple bucks each by the box. It may not be the most refined cigar, but on a cold winters night, hoofing it to the store, it satisfies. It was a toss up between this and a Chateau Real Small Club maduro, which I really like, but are becoming quite rare.
Contest!
On to what you’ve been waiting for, the announcement of the winner of these super cool Grimalkin mugs, a Grimalkin robusto, and whatever else happens to fall into the box when I pack it up! As usual, I’ve assigned a number to each comment based upon how they appear on the post, and utilized the Random Number Generator at Random.org. The winner is comment number 9, which corresponds to George Satterfield! Congrats George! Please send me your contact info so I can ship these goodies to you! Many thanks to Gary Griffith for supplying these cool mugs, and making great cigars! Stay tuned, you never know when the next contest might pop up!
I’ll leave you with this political cartoon from a Philadelphia Inquirer in 1908.
Click to Enlarge
That’s all I have, so until the next time,
CigarCraig
And the drought continues… lol
I wanted those coffee mugs!
Congrats George.
Congrats George. I agree Craig, I finally stocked up on some off brand cheap churchhills to keep in the humidor, just to try something new and for the “hey let me get a stogie”. As a back up i have a few other goodies, not many but a few, just in case the occasion arises. Thanks for the opportunity for the contest and look forward to the next review.
Congrats, George! And of course, thanks to Craig and Gary for this contest.
And Craig, another stick you don’t hear much talk of, but which I feel is also an excellent stick; fitting into the same category as you said regarding your Sabroso Maduro, is the Punch London Club. I prefer the Maduro, and it is also “budget friendly.” For these cold months, a petite Corona is perfect, and you don’t have to feel badly about wasting part of a larger cigar, when your teeth start chattering so hard you can’t hear yourself think!
Thank you Craig and Gary for this opportunity to try something new..And for the mugs it’s always nice to have a gift for the wife also..Keep up the good work..From The PNW..