Zorba, Undercrown and some Alec Bradley Cigars

As you can probably tell, I am not at the Big Smoke in Las Vegas this weekend. I should probably go to one once, just to experience it, or to reinforce my feeling that it’s not the kind of event I enjoy attending!  Too many people crammed into to small a space for my tastes.  I’m sure it’s a good time, and a great way to get a wide variety of cigars, but for me, I prefer smaller events where one can actually talk to the cigar makers and brand owners instead of waving on the way through the line. Complaining about it like this is probably a good way to not get invited ever…

I have to go back to last Sunday for the first cigar I’m talking about this week. The La Gloria and Sobremesa I smoked on Tuesday and Wednesday distracted me, but I was quite impressed with this house brand from The Humidour on the Hill in Cockeysville, MD, the Zorba. I visited the store in September, it was a nice walk from the hotel I was staying in. It wasn’t really that nice a walk, kinda scary in a couple of places, but probably better than driving.  Anyway, I walked out of the shop with a robusto and a corona in their Zorba line, and set flame to the Robusto on Sunday with a bottle of Reeds Ginger Brew. The Zorba is made by Rocky Patel, it has a nice looking Habana 2000 wrapper, Connecticut broadleaf binder, and a blend of Nicaraguan fillers.  It’s got a good bit of spice and strength, which is what led me to grab the ginger beer to go with it. I love ginger beer, but some of them can overpower a cigar, and it has to be the right cigar. Anyway, this line is available in four sizes, the corona and robusto, as well as 6″ x 62 and 8″ x 60 Gordos, and I’m told the corona has a bit more punch than the robusto. If you find yourself in what I would guess is the northern Baltimore suburbs, pay the Humidour a visit, it’s a great place to sit and enjoy a cigar.

Thursday evening I grabbed an Undercrown Shade in the robusto size. This was an IPCPR sample, but I’ve recently received a couple more from Drew Estate. I’ve previously smoked the Gran Toro size and enjoyed it quite a bit, and this 5″ x 54 robusto was just as enjoyable, the only real difference to my mind is the 1″ shorter length. This cigar was blended by Willie Herrera, and Willie isn’t a fan of Connecticut Shade (Ecuador or otherwise), so this was a major thing for him. It was also his first blend that wasn’t under the Herrera Esteli line.  It isn’t the Undercrown blend with a different wrapper, it’s a completely new blend. It’s rich and creamy, full of flavor, and a very nice take on a shade wrapped cigar with some oomph. I might like this better than the Undercrown, but I can’t really say that as they are such different cigars, perfectly suited for different occasions. Well done, Willie!
Friday the CigarCigars shop closest to home was having an Alec Bradley event. I generally find myself at AB events, our local rep, Jon is a good guy, and there are several cigars in their lines that I like. I felt compelled to stop by this event because they usually have events at this location at times where I am at work, times like noon to three on a Thursday. The shop is less than two miles from my house, very easy to stop in on may way home from work, although if I went home first and tried to get there at rush hour I’d get there quicker walking. This shop is in what used to be a convenience store many years ago, so it’s not a huge building, but it was jam-packed with customers.  I bought a handful of Alec Bradley’s new release, the Post Embargo, and it’s worth noting that Cigar Cigars chain of stores (soon to open their 11th store up the road from where I used to live in Downingtown, PA) held the official launch of this new line. Stopping on my way home from work, I wanted to get home and eat dinner before lighting up my evening cigar, so chatted with the folks there for a bit then made my way home, where I lit up a Lancero for my walk.  This is a limited edition, only 500 boxes were made and it’s 7½” x 41, slightly fatter than a traditional Lancero. This was a good cigar, savory flavors with some nuts and wood.  I picked up some toros and robustos and I kind of wished I had smoked on of those yesterday instead of the Sanctum Gordo I picked, jus to be able to compare the larger ring gauge to the smaller.  Not that there was anything wrong with the Sanctum, it just turned out to be the wrong cigar for the circumstance. That cigar has a Honduran Corojo wrapper that seems very fragile, and a windy fall afternoon wasn’t particularly kind to it. It’s a bit milder than I prefer under those conditions as well. It is still a great tasting cigar, I like what the Colombian tobacco brings to the table, as is the Post Embargo.  Since I find myself going to so many Alec Bradley events, I seem to have amassed a pretty good selection of (mostly) robustos from them. I still think the Nica Puro is my favorite cigar from them, but I happily smoke them all.

That’s about it from me, Until the next time,

CigarCraig