Category Archives: Humor

A Toraño, a La Palina and a Vegas de Santiago Cigar

We have been having unseasonably nice weather here in south-eastern PA, so I’ve taken to smoking some larger cigars than I normally would this time of year.  Last winter we’d had probably four feet of snow,  not conducive to enjoying a fine cigar. Daytime highs near 60 have left the evenings prime for long walks with excellent cigars.

 

Sunday afternoon I selected a Toraño Loyal BFC, and I think, like the Emilio BMF, I know what the letters stand for.  This 6″ x 60 cigar could be considered a Big Fricken Cigar.  I had picked this up sometime over the last few months at a local shop, and it wasn’t awfully expensive, because, let’s face it, I don’t buy too many cigars that are awfully expensive.  This was a nice, medium bodied cigar that smoked very well.   At the price point around $5, this is a really tasty, well made cigar.

 

For Tuesday’s evening walk I was joined by a La Palina El Diaro Torpedo, which I receive a month or so ago from the folks at La Palina, who is also an advertiser on this site.  The cigar is a classic torpedo size, 6 1/8″ x 52, which is always  a favorite of mine.  I have to say that I think I like the robusto better in this cigar.  The torpedo was good, don’t misunderstand, but is lacked something that the robusto had.  I think i found the smaller size slightly more refined than the torpedo.  As I was smoking it, I couldn’t help but wonder what this blend would be like with a maduro wrapper.  Again, a very nice cigar, but something was missing for me.

 

Tonight’s cigar was a  Vegas de Santiago Secretos de Maestro Don Luis Laguito  No.1 maduro.  This cigar came into my possession  over a year ago after a conversation with Rudi and Lani, the manufacturers in Costa Rico.  I have had an association with this folks going back to a couple of events my wife and I hosted which they generously donated their cigars for the attendees.  Vegas de Santiago makes some really nice cigars at a very reasonable price.  They send me some of these cigars in what they refer to as a maduro wrapper.  This is maduro in the sense that the Cuban maduro cigars are, darker than their “natural”, but not the dark, heavy wrapper that we see in a broadleaf or Mexican maduro.  The cigar is a beautiful chocolate brown, and it well made with a nice pigtail cap.  I enjoyed the heck out of this cigar, except that there were a couple hints of ammonia near the end,  which confused me since these have been buried in the humidor for over a year.   An enjoyable smoke on a relatively balmy evening (for February 1st, light jacket and no gloves is a treat!).

 

My wife has been doing some research and in so doing came across the Philadelphia news papers archives.  Here’s a comic from the Philadelphia Inquirer dated June 6, 1922 that is as relevant now as it was then.  You may need to click on the image to open it in a new window to read it.

 

On a final note, I’d like to welcome my newest advertiser, 1st Class Cigar Humidors.  They have some really nice stuff on their site if you are in the market for a humidor or accessories!

 

That’s about all I have for now, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Editorial, Humor, Review

Mid-week Cigar Post: Cohiba, Punch, Maria Mancini – Wednesday July 21, 2010

Saturday, after posting about the recent Cohiba judgment in favor of General Cigar, I pulled a Cohiba Puro Dominicana out of the box of goodies my friend Jason sent me some time ago. Cohibas, Dominican or Cuban, have never been in my regular rotation. I’ve always enjoyed them, but they just don’t really have the “bang for the buck” that falls into my comfort zone. I smoked this particular cigar, which measured about 5½ x 50 and it was OK…good cigar, but not mind-blowing. With about 2 inches or so left it didn’t want to stay lit. I was a little bored with it anyway so I let it go out. Since I couldn’t find this listed in my 2008 Perelman’s Guide, I assumed that it was a sample from last years IPCPR show. I looked on line and was stunned to find that these retail for between $13 and $16 each! Well, there are a lot of cigars that cost a lot less that I enjoy a lot more, heck, one can get very nice Cuban cigars for half that or better (not that I advocate any illegal activities such as purchasing contraband cigars). I would almost be more inclined to pay that much for a Havana Cohiba…almost. I would like to try the Lancero one of these days, but I’m not going to go out of my way to get one.

Sunday after grilling some very interesting seafood sausages we found at Trader Joes, I lit up a Punch Gran Puro Rancho. The sausages were interesting, a casing stuffed with shrimp, scallops and white fish which I grilled until they were nice and hot with grill marks. We ate them on some Amorosos rolls, but we just weren’t sure how to condimentize them. I suppose tartar sauce would have worked. Anyway, this isn’t a grilling blog, it’s about cigars. The Gran Puro was a nice cigar, not overpowering and it worked well after the seafood sausage. It had the consistency I expect from a Punch. Burned and drew nicely. A very pleasant hour or so spent smoking while I walked to the convenience store to collect my lottery winnings ($7 in the Powerball! Woohoo!).

Tuesday brought the first really disappointing cigar I’ve had in a while. I was in the mood for a Maria Mancini, and grabbed a Robusto Larga. These are stored in the same humidor as the rest of the cigars I have been smoking, but this cigar seemed like it was over-humidified. It tasted fine, but the smoke took some effort to get to and just felt damp. It wasn’t plugged, nor did it have any wrapper flaws, it just seemed too wet. I stuck with it for a while, but did put it down sooner than I would normally. I shouldn’t be to upset that a $2 cigar wasn’t great, but I’ve had a lot of luck with this line. I have so little time in my day to enjoy a cigar that when I get a dud it hurts a little.

Blowing Off Steam

It seems that rants have become fashionable in the cigar blogosphere, so here’s mine:   Foot bands.  I don’t like ’em.  They make the first part of the cigar taste funny….ok, kidding here, I do take them off before I light ’em, but that’s a pain as far as I’m concerned.  If I have a cigar with a normal band I leave it on until I get to the point where it’s going to be in the way, unless it’s coming off by itself. Foot bands have to be removed, no ifs, ands or buts.  Sorry Rocky, Sam, whoever else uses foot bands, if I’m cigar shopping I’ll probably pass unless it’s a single I really want to try.  I wouldn’t buy a box of foot banded cigars as that would just drive me insane.  Since I have to take the band off to light it, besides possibly damaging the foot of the cigar, I sometimes forget what it is I’m smoking!   And how are my pretentious friends supposed to know that I’m smoking?  Where’s the fun in that? So if you are coming out with a new cigar, skip the foot band, stick with the traditional placement. While your at it, don’t pattern the band after the Cuban Cohiba either, that’s just cliche and hokey.

That’s all I got for now,Time to go smoke a cigar.

CigarCraig

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Filed under Humor, Review

This Week in Cigars: Vegas de Santiago, Partagas, Rocky Patel, Sir Stogies – Sunday June 13, 2010

Tuesday or Wednesday I decided to try a Partagas Petit Coronas Especial, a box of which recently arrived from overseas.  I will revisit these periodically, as this had only had about a week in the humidor after traveling.  It behaved like a well kept cigar, burn was straight, draw was good, flavor was nice, but had a harshness that should smooth out with age.  These have a June ’08 box date so they are only 2 years old.  Looking forward to seeing how they develop.  These are a tremendous bargain for the size and quality.

Later in the week I grabbed a Vegas de Santiago Chaman  Panetela Extra which was from a 5 pack that I received from the manufacturer after I signed up for their Yahoo Group.  Another smaller cigar that burned well, but it had a grassy taste that wasn’t really to my liking.  Not bad, mind you, but not what I look for flavor-wise.  I will be featuring several of the Vegas de Santiago offerings in the coming weeks along with a contest in which someone will win some of their cigars.

Saturday I took the scooter for a ride about 30 miles north to Sir Stogies in Gilbertsville, PA.  It was a fine ride, although it was hot and I hit every light.  I met up with Walt of Stogie Review who was there hanging out for the afternoon.  Also there was Dave Weber, the national sales manager for Oliva Cigars.  I had met Dave once before and was flattered that he remembered me.  Sir Stogies is a fine shop. I was greeted by Ken (I believe that was his name) who asked if I’d been there before and showed me to the walk in humidor.   The first thing I spied was a box of Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Maduro Lanceros which were on sale for $5.00 a stick.  I grabbed 2 of them and didn’t really look any further.  This turned out to have been a mistake since I was later to find out that they had  La Aurora 107s and I  probably would have picked one up.  It was a nice way to spend an afternoon.  The shop is spacious and comfortable.  Highly recommended if your in the area.

This evening I took a break from writing this and went to our local park to see my favorite local band, “Now and Then” play in the summer “Concerts in the Park” series.  I took a Montecristo No.2 which was awesome.  It was smooth and delicious, not the powerhouse that I remember from years past though.  This was in a gift bag that I received on the dinner cruise we attended last week.  My son had a Rocky Patel Decade Maduro torpedo which  he enjoyed.  I don’t think I saw anyone give us looks, but I wasn’t looking.  I saw some old friends there and it was a good time. Great band, great cigar, great friends.

In my last post I asked for comments on this picture.  There were a lot of great guesses, I especially liked the IPhone ap comment from Jeff.  What was I really doing? I was listening to the band of course!

Anyway, that’s all I have for now.  Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Events, Humor, Review, Stores

Cigar Humor – Monday June 7, 2010

What am I doing?

That’s it for now, let’s see your comments on what you think I’m doing in this picture!  Also, thanks to Bob at Dogwatch Cigar Radio for the mention in the current episode.  Check out their podcast for a couple hours of weekly cigar infotainment!

CigarCraig

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Filed under Humor