I’m not going to rail on about the FDA thing, although I will continue to make comments about it. I’m afraid if I start every post with a rant it will get old and the message will be lost completely. So I’ll continue to talk about the cigars I’m smoking, even though many of them won’t be available in a few years, and the people who made them will be destitute thanks to our government’s lack of anything resembling common sense. The first cigar I want to talk about is maybe the only one that could weather FDA regulation because it comes from Altadis, the Yargüera H. Upmann in the Torbusto size, a 5 ½” x 56 short torpedo with the same cinnamon bun cap like the Toro and Robusto in the line. The wrapper is shade grown in Honduras from a hybrid of Criollo 98 and a seed that came from Cuba in the 60s. I was told when I picked this cigar up that the Toro and Robusto were perceived as better by the shop patrons, I suppose I need to try them now too. This wasn’t a bad smoke. It had some trouble staying lit, even though I had it in the humidor for about a month. It had a pleasant enough flavor, which, combined with the fact that I paid $9 and change, kept me interested. As I said, I’ll give the other sizes a try, maybe the folks at the shop were right in saying the Torbusto wasn’t as good as the others. I will admit that there really hasn’t been much released under the H. Upmann brand over the years that had really excited my taste buds.
Friday I made a momentous life decision, which I’ll talk more about as things progress. No offense, but there are a few other people I need to tell before all of you! It doesn’t involve cigars except that I wand to smoke some great cigars to celebrate. So I grabbed the Tatuaje TAA 2015 that was a generous gift from reader Dan C. I was glad to have a chance to try this cigar again. I smoked one last year right after they hit the shelves when I found myself hanging out at The Humidour in Maryland for an afternoon. I really enjoyed the cigar, but, like the Henry Clay Tattoo I smoked there, it was a little bit wet, and they were both reasonably new releases at the time. So I was happy to smoke this after six or so months rest, and I have no doubt Dan keeps his cigars right. What a perfect smoking cigar, a nice flat ember, and straight burn with an even burn, requiring no touch-ups. The flavor was wonderful, with that initial blast of broadleaf from the closed foot, through the espresso and cocoa flavors I love. The only way to improve upon this cigar would be to offer it in a double corona size, it was gone too soon. Than you again to Dan for sharing this with me, it’s much appreciated. If the FDA gets its way, no more TAA cigars. Tatuaje cigars are working their way into my rotation.
Saturday was a rainy mess of a day, so instead of napping the day away I had a cigar on the porch. I’ve been making plans to go to the IPCPR show, and I realized I still had some samples from last year’s show, so I grabbed a cigar that Ernesto Padilla gave me when I met him. Funny I hadn’t met him before, so Victor Vitale introduced us as they are good friends and make cigars in the same factory. The cigar is a Padilla La Pilar Series No. 4 Robusto, a 5″ x 54 Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapped, slightly box pressed little beauty. I enjoyed this cigar quite a bit as I sat in my enclosed porch listening to the rain and dreaming of a day with sun and warmth, it’s been a crazy spring here in PA. This cigar was well-behaved and had a nice, nutty-woody flavor. These are reasonable priced at about $5 a stick, even though it has two bands! Don’t visit the Padilla website though, there’s something funky going on there, Ernesto is a graphic guy, it’s hard to believe he doesn’t have that squared away. I linked to Famous’ website if you want further information.
Last night I lit up a pre-release cigar that Clay Roberts of La Palina Cigars gave me a month or so ago when I met him at a Wooden Indian event. La Palina has been a great friend of the site for several years, and while I haven’t smoked a bunch of their higher end cigars (because I’m a cheap bastard), I really enjoy a bunch of the “normal” priced lines, especially the Maduros. So the unbanded cigar Clay gave me is a new La Palina Nicaraguan, which, I believe, will be released at the trade show in July. I hope so, because this was a spectacular smoke. It had a dark and oily wrapper, and that’s about all I can tell you about the blend. I can tell you that it was loaded with dark flavors, the usual espresso/cocoa that I love, along with some spice and maybe some dark fruit. I can’t wait to get my hands on more of these. It will be a monumental shame if cigars like this one can’t be produced, or cost a fortune if they are, thanks FDA. This new La Palina Nicaragua was exceptional. While I’m thinking about Nicaragua, when all the people in that country are left jobless due to regulation, who do you think their government is going to turn for aid? The US, or, worse, China, who is already putting a canal through Nicaragua to compete with the Panama Canal. Should a Government Agency have the right to destroy foreign economies?
That’s it for now. I have a lot of things to worry about over the next few weeks, thank goodness I have a few cigars to distract me. We’re off the a Philly Pops show in Philly today, not sure if a Holt’s visit will be on the schedule or not, but we always have fun. Until the next time,
CigarCraig
Please, if you haven’t already, go to the following links and sign the petitions.
Keep talking about it – this needs to keep being on the front of everyone’s mind and there’s only limited time left to try and fight this
Craig, I’m glad that you liked the TAA. I only ended up with half of a box and now I wish I had gone ahead and bought the whole thing.
I gather that since you will be smoking celebratory cigars, your news in not bad, so I will continue to soldier on until you are ready to spread the word.
Like you, I fear that there will be no one in Washington, DC with the stones to take on the tobacco/cigar rule package. The days of TAA cigars and other new releases, of samplers, of walk-in humidors, of cigar box art and a long litany of other things are circling the drain. There is now very little that can be done to stop it short of going back through the regulatory process, fighting off the anti-smoking lobbies and the FDA once again – this time over de-regulating premium cigars. That’s probably not gonna happen. A piece of Congressional legislation may also be possible and oddly enough, that would probably be a lot easier than taking on all of the nannies in this country.
Perfect, without sounding ranty! Great job. And yes, lack of common sense, pretty much covers it.
Well done!! I wonder if the vape industry wins an injunction if it will apply to the regulations themselves…. or just to the vape aspect of the regs….????
Thanks Craig, great review! I have to say the H. Upman is one that sounds like it might be interesting.
Craig. Glad to see you are expanding your Tatuaje experience. These, and many other cigars made at My Father, are among my fav go-to’s.
It’s like Prohibition all over again! I wish I had a lot more $$$ so I could stock up before the axe falls in another entire industry. These liberal progressive nannies are quickly killing our country, and wiping out jobs & lives, all for their “perfect” socialist vision. Uggg
We need more rants about it, so no complaints from me if you want to talk about it. Our voices need to be heard, and that won’t happen unless we’re raising them. That said, nicely balanced post 🙂