Weekend Cigars: A CroMagnon, A La Casita Criolla, G&G Cigars, and a Marco V

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After the torrential rain subsided this week, I was in the mood for something special, so I grabbed a CroMagnon Cranium that Skip Martin handed me at  the IPCPR show.  I guess this makes me a cigar weasel, but I suppose I’m in good company (this is a bit of an inside joke among those who follow Skip on Twitter).  This line is a collaboration between Skip and Michael Rosales of Adrians Premium Costa Rican Cigars, however it’s manufactured in Esteli, Nicaragua with Nicaraguan tobaccos wrapped in a Cameroon binder and finished off with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.  The cigar is rustic looking, but solid.  I anticipated loving this cigar, and I was right, broadleaf AND Cameroon?  Lovely combination!.  It had just the right punch and deep, dark flavors that were the perfect ending to the week.  Highly recommended, although only available from Havacigarshop.com.

I had some time on my hands Saturday, so I paid a much overdue visit to G & G Cigars in West Chester, PA, just 10 miles down the road from home.  I run into the owner, Doug, at the IPCPR show more than I do in his store.  Why? I guess I just don’t get out much.  The shop is in the middle of a busy college town/county seat in part of what was once the Warner Theater. As a long time area resident, I can remember going to matinees in that theater, but it’s been closed for decades and is currently being renovated into a hotel.  The shop is well appointed, has a generous selection of cigars and was staffed by a very nice gentleman named Tony, who made me feel quite welcome. I picked up a couple of the new La Casita Criolla corona from Tatuaje Cigars, since I had read about these, and they sounded like something I’d like.  These are made entirely of Nicaraguan Broadleaf, which is quite unusual.  Again, I was right, I DID like it.  This corona burned great, and had tons of dark, rich flavors, which came as no surprise. While $6.50 is generally outside of my comfort zone for a corona, I really wanted to try this one.   I was invited to sit in their members only lounge, and enjoyed a good hour or so with a diverse and interesting group of gents.  The store has a membership program where for $50 per year you can use the lounge and attend monthly special events.  On the one hand, I find it odd to not have a place open to the regular (non-member) clientele to enjoy a cigar after purchasing it, as well as having events that aren’t open to the general public.  However, it is a small shop, and they’ve obviously found something that works for them.  Very nice shop, and a very nice cigar to go along with it.

As I’m writing this, I’m enjoying a M. Vito x Marco V Cuban Perfecto Platinum Reserve, which was given to me by Marco V at the IPCPR show.  It’s a big, beautiful, dark perfecto wrapped in Brazilian Arapiraca.  I’m finding it to be on the lighter side of the medium that it says on the website, but it still has a nice flavor and is generally well behaved.  I selected this so that I could include a video from the show of Marco, as well as a video of a gentleman who was sharing his booth, Gunnar, who’s a very interesting German fellow.  Since it seems to be football season, it’s only appropriate to show off Gunnar’s creation, The Football Cigar, which is an actual premium cigar, despite it’s novelty appearance.  The Marco V is a nice cigar, the ash is a little flakey, but it’s pleasant and well made.   Both Marco and Gunnar are really nice folks and I thank them for taking their time with me at the show.

Here’s Marco telling us about his line of cigars:

And here’s Gunnar talking about his Football Cigar:

That’s it for now, don’t forget to write to your elected officials imploring them to co-sponsor the legislation that’s in both the House and the Senate to save Premium cigars from certain destruction at the hands of the FDA (right sidebar). Both Cigar Rights of America and the IPCPR have excellent tools on their sites to make writing to your legislators easy.  Also, only a few days left to enter the Macanudo Millionaire 4-pack contest where I’ll select two lucky winners on Wednesday, September 14!  Go HERE to enter!

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