Tag Archives: 12 days

Contest: CigarCraig’s Holiday Giveaways No.1!

At the risk of being politically incorrect, Ho, Ho, Ho! I’m waiting for someone to take offense to that and ban it, everything else upsets someone nowadays! So it goes in the cigar industry, several years ago, cigar companies were falling all over one another sending me boxes upon boxes of cigars to give away in the now legendary CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways, which usually went for 13, 14 or 15 days and made a lot of people happy! It made me happy too, but it took a toll, it was a huge time investment at a busy time of year. So, with the cigar companies unable to provide piles of cigars, I’ve scaled back, and dig into my personal vault ‘o goodies to spread some holiday cheer! (Oh crap, with the new job and all, I just remembered I forgot to organize a secret Santa this year! Why did nobody remind me?). So here’s the first holiday giveaway of 2018!

As you know, Ventura Cigar Co. has been showing up frequently in the news here over the last year or so, and has been a company of interest of mine for a few years. I’ve been a fan for about 5 years since smoking a Psyko Seven when I was a guest on The Cigar Authority in 2013. I think it was the 2016 IPCPR show that they had a media event at their booth where they highlighted their Case Study line, and gave out some neat swag, which has rested in storage since then waiting for me to find a proper purpose for it.

The central item here is a cool 15 count travel humidor. It’s not going to hold 15 6x60s, but it’s big enough for a long weekend, but not too big to take up a lot of space in your luggage. Actually, it’s just about the right size in my opinion, if I didn’t have a bunch of travel humidors already, we wouldn’t be having this conversation! Along with it is an aluminum water bottle, and a hardbound blank journal, great for recording your cigar notes, listing grievances against your enemies, or whatever. I will, no doubt, rummage through my humidors and find some appropriate cigars to include in the travel humidor too!

Thanks to Kevin at CigarProp.com, there will also be one of his Lighter Bleed Tools included!

Thanks to the folks at Ventura, even though they have no idea they are sponsoring this! Standard rules apply, leave a comment to enter, must be of legal age to win, and I’ll select a winner on my next post, which might be Friday, might be Sunday, we’ll see how things go!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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CigarCraig’s Holiday Giveaways No. 1 – Gurkha Goodies

Most will remember the good old days, before FDA scared all the manufacturers away from giving away cigars, when we called this ” CigarCraig’s 12 Spectator Days of Cigar Giveaways “. Many times it went beyond 12 days due to the generosity of the manufacturers. Over the five years we did that we put well over a thousand cigars in consumers hands, along with a ton of accessories and SWAG (actually not the best use of the acronym for Stuff We All Get). Last year I did a scaled back version which gave me more time to spend with my family and was easier on my shipping budget. So it’s high time to get the holidays rolling with some CigarCraig Giveaways! These will run for a week, with the winner for today’s giveaway being announced next Sunday. Usual rules apply, leave a comment here for a chance to win and you must be of legal age in your municipality.

 

Contest!

Gurkha Prize Pack CC2017We’ll start off the giveaways with some goodies from Gurkha. Like the other items in this year’s giveaways, these gifts were unsolicited, a random collection of promotional items I’ve collected over the years and want to share with my loyal readers. Included in the Gurkha present is a Gurkha mouse pad, a Gurkha flask, a super cool Gurkha cutter (that I’d keep if I didn’t have so many darned cutters!) and some cigars from my humidor.  The cigars include a Founders Reserve from this year’s IPCPR and an East India Trading Co. Classic Havana Blend Robusto, as well as a sampler from the 2015 (I think) IPCPR show which includes Cellar Reserve 12 year (Platinum) and 18 year (Edición Especial), The Classic Cigar: Havana Blend, A Royal Challenge Maduro, a Heritage and the Cask Blend, all in, more or less, Toro-ish sizes. I’ve smoked all of these and they’re all great cigars. Thanks to Gurkha for the goodies and good luck everyone!

 

Gurkha Cutter CC2017

Gurkha Cigars CC2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig 

 

 

 

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Contest Wrap-up, a Meet-up at JM Cigars, an Event at Mojo and a RoMaCraft Neanderthal

CC_Logo_xmas_sOK, a regular, non-contest post. How do I do this again?  It’s been a crazy couple weeks, hasn’t it?  Besides the 234 cigars, three ashtrays, two cutters, a lighter, and various other items, including one of a kind art and jewelry, there were some major holidays in there too. Time spent with family is the best part of the holiday for me, but doing this 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways is a load of fun too.  My unending thanks to the following companies and individuals who made all this possible, in no particular order: Eric Whitfield, Broc Jackson, Jack at Duran Premium Cigars, David and his crew at 2 Guys Smokeshop, Victoria at General Cigar Co., Fred at Nomad Cigar Co., Victor at Tortuga Cigars, Jason at Best Cigar Prices, Abe and his gang at Smoke Inn, Mel and Ron at MBombay Cigars, Bianca at Gurkha and the folks at Joya de Nicaragua and Drew Estate! As I say every year, I could do this on my own, but it would cost me a fortune! Thanks to all of them and all of you for coming back every day and entering! Next year I have some different plans, but it should still be fun, that is, unless the FDA ruins everything!   We’ll remain positive, keep calling your elected officials and letting them know that premium cigars should be exempt from regulation, and keep up your CRA memberships!

 

One of the things I did last week in, an effort to save on shipping and meet some new friends, was to hand deliver winnings from Days five and six. It turned out that Mike and Andrew were reasonably close by so we met up at JM Cigar in Exton, PA for a smoke.  Of course, I spent easily twice what I would have spent on shipping on cigars, but that’s way more productive. While shopping I came ERHacross a lone El Rico Habano Maduro Gran Habanaro (double corona) in a box and it look so lonely I had to add it to my cart, so to speak. I haven’t smoked an El Rico in ages, I can remember back in the ’90s when this was one of the strongest cigars on the market, a real powerhouse. It was Ernesto Perez Carillo’s brand that took a back seat to La Gloria Cubana, and I smoked a bunch of them.  It’s a minor brand now with General Cigar Co., only available in three sizes and maduro, where the original version was a natural wrapper. I thought the 7½ x 54 size would be a good size for sitting in the lounge, getting to know new friends, kinda cigar. It was good, but not as good as I remember my last one being, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as I didn’t want a cigar that would distract me from conversation. As it always seems to be, meeting up to deliver a prize beats USPS every time, I felt like I have a few more friends now, and look forward to meeting up with Mike and Andrew again soon.  Thank you to them for adding to the spirit of the season!

 

Perdomo20thThursday I ran down to Cigar Mojo in King of Prussia, PA as they were having a Perdomo event and raffling off a tremendous Perdomo 20th Anniversary humidor. I like the Perdomo 20th a lot, especially in maduro, so I bought a hand full (as if I needed more cigars!) and got one chance in the drawing. The winner was a guy who bought a bunch of boxes of the 20th Anniversarys, so it’s hard to begrudge him the win. It was a beautiful box, but I don’t know where I would have put it, so it worked Perdomo20thHumidorout in the end. I thoroughly enjoyed a 20th Maduro Churchill while hanging out and talking to our local Perdomo rep, Joe Winder (who is probably the very first cigar company rep I ever met many years ago at a cigar event in Pittsburgh), CRA Ambassador and all-around good guy, Alan Price, who was working at the shop, owners Wade and Trae and various other customers.  I didn’t win the humidor, but I did put some great cigars in my humidor and had a relaxing afternoon.

 

Padron64AFHemingwayAs it was a special occasion, I selected some other great cigars that are worth mentioning. For the second year in a row, I took my Christmas Eve walk with a Padron 1964 Anniversary Maduro Exclusivo, obviously a classic Nicaraguan maduro that’s like desert in cigar form. Absolutely delicious. Christmas day, after the kids and grandkids left, I sparked up a Fuente Hemingway Signature Maduro, again, a spectacular cigar that’s not unreasonably priced.  It was rich, burned perfectly and hit the spot. Yesterday Macha and I took a four mile walk with a favorite Nica Rustica Belly, maybe I’m on a bit of a Maduro kick?  I must be, because last night I lit up a cigar that caught my eye and I bought while at Mojo, a RoMa Craft Neanderthal HN, with a San Andrés wrapper. Of all the great cigars I’ve RoMa_Neanderthal_HNsmoked over the last couple weeks, this might have been my favorite. This cigar has a couple of distinctions, first, it has a flat head, and a slight taper at the foot, which I didn’t really notice until I looked at the photo, and it still looks like a robusto, as the size is listed at 5″ x 52/58. Now that I look at it, it may taper from head to foot. It could have been shaped like a pretzel for all I care, it tasted fantastic. Not only does it have a beautiful dark and oily San Andrés wrapper, but it has a Connecticut broadleaf binder, and fillers from Pennsylvania, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. About half way in to the cigar I got a really interesting and delicious spice, which really intrigued me. This was a $12 cigar and honestly, I don’t think I realized the price point when I bought them, I might not have taken the plunge. I’m glad I did. I’ve heard from people That this was a super strong cigar, and it didn’t hit me that way at all, it was full-bodied and loaded with flavor, but I didn’t feel the nicotine at all. Stellar cigar from Skip and Mike at RoMa! I used a punch in the flat head of the cigar if anyone was curious.

 

Cigartist1You probably want to know who won the final bonus day contest, the great painting “Wind” by Eric “The Cigartist” Whitfield. It looked like only those who really wanted and appreciated this item entered (or everyone is sick to death of my contests), so I consulted Random.org and got the number 37, which corresponds to KRUK, who I know will give this a good home, despite the relative creepiness of his comment :-).  Bryan, please send me your address so I can forward it on to Eric.  Thank you all, and don’t despair, there could well be a Happy New Year contest!

 

That’s plenty from me, until the next time,

 

Cigar Craig

 

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CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2015 Last Day: The Cigartist

OK, seriously, this is really the last day. I’m not kidding. This one is going to run a little longer than the rest, I’ll pick a winner on Sunday, so be sure to check back.  This is a very special item, and original painting by Eric Whitfield, The Cigartist! This painting is titled “Wind” and is 16″ x 20″ acrylic on stretched canvas.  This is a serious piece of art, selling on his website for $350, so it’s a very generous offering from Eric, and some lucky person will have this to hang in his home.  Eric has all of his exceptional pieces on his site, so check it out and purchase some.  I’m sure he can work with you on custom work as well.  This really should be some sort of charity auction or something, but I don’t know a good way of doing that! I’m expecting that only people who really want this painting are going to enter, as this should definitely got to a loving home!

 

Cigartist1

 

Yesterday we added an extra day, which we’ve done in the last two years as well, and it was some Drew Estate Kentucky Fire Cured Fat Mollys and a matching Sterling Silver necklace.  I, kind of begrudgingly, smoked a Fat Molly yesterday, and it was pretty darned good. I’ve not been a fan of the KFCs in the past, and I still don’t like that campfire aroma, but it was not bad at all, and it burned perfectly.  I have a few more floating around the humidors that I won’t be afraid to smoke now.  Hopefully Miguel Rocha is also a fan, because he’s the winner and needs to send me his address!  Thanks to Broc as well as the crew at DE for making day 13 special! Don’t forget to visit Broc’s site and check out all his great jewelry!

 

You know what to do now, leave a comment here, check back Sunday to see if you won!

 

RULES

 

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on the post of the day, if you can, try to post what you know or how you feel about today’s present, the folks donating the gift should get some feedback for their troubles! It’s not a condition to win, but it’s nice to have something to read. We did this last year and it benefits everyone. Once you’ve won, you’re out, let everyone else have a chance. Must be over 18 to win. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

 

Until tomorrow,

 

CigarCraig

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CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2015 Day 13: Drew Estate and Broc Jackson

Regular readers will know that around here it’s never over until it’s over! So today is bonus day number one (infer from that what you will), and today we have some great gifts I think you’re going to like. From our friends at Drew Estate, we have not one, but two 10 count bundles of MUWAT Kentucky Fire Cured Fat Molly, the 5″ x 56 chunky, oh, wait, that’s the name of another size in the line, chubby robusto featuring the fire cured Kentucky tobacco, giving it a unique smoky flavor.  As if that wasn’t a great enough item for today’s giveaway, Broc Jackson, the jeweler who makes the great Drew Estate rings and pendants that Jonathan Drew and his team wear, has provided a hand made, silver Kentucky Fire Cured pendant and chain. Broc’s work can be found here, and he can be reached at kensingtonwatchservices(at)yahoo.com. The pictures don’t do it justice, it’s a beautiful piece. He offers a one year warranty on his work and also does custom pieces.  Retail value is $290 on the pendant, and the Fat Molly’s go for about $64 each, so this is a very nice gift indeed.

 

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Yesterday I had the great pleasure of hand delivering two of the presents again this year. I met Mike and Andrew, winners of days 5 and 6, at a local shop, spent way more than the cost of postage, but it’s OK, I’d rather support my local brick and mortar shop. The winner of the day 12 Gurkha package is Chad Miller. I secretly hope that he is local as this will cost me a fortune to ship! Chad, send me your info!  Thanks again to Bianca and everyone at Gurkha!

 

You know what to do now, leave a comment here, check back tomorrow to see if you won!

 

RULES

 

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on the post of the day, if you can, try to post what you know or how you feel about today’s present, the folks donating the gift should get some feedback for their troubles! It’s not a condition to win, but it’s nice to have something to read. We did this last year and it benefits everyone. Once you’ve won, you’re out, let everyone else have a chance. Must be over 18 to win. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

 

Until tomorrow,

 

CigarCraig

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