Tag Archives: Arturo Fuente

by | December 10, 2023 · 11:01 am

Boliche Blvd, Some Classic Fuentes and a 1502 Cigar

This week I found myself out and about more than usual!  Monday I met up with my friend Steve Tabak from Tampa at the Cigar Mojo location nearest to me.  I stopped into the Cigar Mojo original location on Thursday for their Fuente event, then was back at The Grove location Friday for a 1502 event. That’s enough running around for me for this month!  Anyway, Monday I picked up a few of the new Boliche Blvd by West Tampa Tobacco.  I had smoked a pre-release sample several months ago before I knew exactly what it was, and was looking forward to trying it again.  This is made at the NACSA factory, which is the same factory that makes Dunbarton’s Mi Querida and Red Meat Lovers cigars, among others.  This is a 6″ x 60 and is presented in boxes of 50, it’s a big box, and they only made 500 boxes.  The blend has not been disclosed, all that is said is that the tobacco is sourced from the Oliva Tobacco Co., who owns part of the NACSA factory, so it could come from anywhere.  It’s a medium to full bodied cigar, and I’m standing by my original impression that it’s more on the savory side than sweet. I smoked two this week and enjoyed them, not as much as I enjoy the Attic, Red or even the Black, I’m afraid, but I like that sweetness for the most part. Definitely a high quality cigar and worth a try! I wish I had gotten a chance to catch up with Ricky while he was in the area this weekend, but I hung out with Steve, which is always cool!

 

I stopped in to the King of Prussia Cigar Mojo location (King of Prussia is the name of the “town” in PA, home of one of the largest shopping malls in the country), because one doesn’t often come across Fuente events, and I wanted to see what was up.  By the time I got there, maybe two hours after the event started, a lot of the selection was picked over. They had some nice sampler packs though, but I couldn’t justify the spend this time of year, I have a good many Fuente cigars in the humidor as it is. I did pick up some Hemingway Maduros,  Short Story, Best Seller and a Classic, as they are few and far between.  In my opinion, Fuente does some great work with Broadleaf, putting it on the Opus bunch to make the Ańejo made a better Opus, in my opinion. I think the Ańejo is about my favorite in the Fuente line. Don Carlos and Hemingways are a close second, and putting the Broadleaf on the Hemingway is a treat. The lounge was full at Mojo Thursday, so instead of sitting on their heated outdoor patio, I opted to go home and enjoy the Classic Maduro in my own heated patio.  I love the over-roasted coffee flavor of this cigar, it’s not subtle or complex, it’s just good, and it’s fairly priced.  I smoked the Best Seller yesterday and it’s more of the same, or I guess it’s less of the same, because it’s a smaller format!  The neat thing about the Best Seller is that it has a really tight draw until it burns past the “nipple”, then it opens up and is perfect.  The Classic is basically a Churchill in a perfecto shape, 7″ x 48,  while the Best Seller is 5″ x 55.  I’ve been smoking the Hemingway line for over 25 years and they never fail to disappoint. 

 

Friday I stopped back into the Cigar Mojo The Grove location, with is close to home, to see an old friend, Enrique Sanchez of Global Premium Cigars.  He was there with Ron Melendi, who is brokering the 1502 line in the Northeast. It’s been years since I have hung out with Enrique, it was great to be able to relax and enjoy a 1502 Ruby Toro with him and Ron.  The 1502 Ruby Toro is a 6″ x 50 with a box press, and is made by Plasencia in Nicaragua. The wrapper is Ecuador Habano and the fillers are from Esteli and Jalapa in Nicaragua. As much as I love the Black Gold (the Maduro in the 1502 line), this Ruby really does it for me. This isn’t a new cigar, if you searched it on my site you’d find that I mentioned it back in 2012, back when 1502 was part of the House of Emilio distribution group.  A lot has changed over the years, but this cigar remains consistent, it’s really good! There’s some spice and some citrus sweetness.  I arrived fairly late at the shop, hung with the guys until closing, then went home and finished the cigar. I did, indeed relax and enjoy this cigar. I enjoyed catching up with my old friend, and finally meeting Ron, whom I’ve known of for years, I used to visit his shop in New York City, De La Concha from time to time.  

 

I never said this was a new cigar blog, but a blog about my smoking experiences, although I do try to smoke newer stuff.  This week was some oldies, but goodies!  There are a lot of classic cigars that are worth smoking. I like to have certain Fuente cigars in my humidor all the time, I just love smoking them, and sometimes I don’t get around to them as much as I’d like.  In other news,  Secret Santa names have been selected and I’ll be working on putting my SS package together today. Don’t delay!  Finally, stay tuned for a giveaway or two in the coming weeks!  Tis the season!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 7, 2022 · 12:01 pm

News: Fuente & Padrón Legends Cigar Project To Be Unveiled July 10, 2022

This is going to be a big deal at this weekend’s PCA show, maybe bigger than Guy Fieri’s appearance! There were no pictures included with the press release, I’ll try to get some when I’m there.  

 

Carlito Fuente and Jorge Padrón are proud to announce the release of their Legends cigar project. Please join the Fuente and Padrón families Sunday July 10, 2022 at 3:30 pm at the PCA Trade Show, Booth # 1321 for the unveiling of these extraordinary cigars.

Carlos A. Fuente, Sr. and José O. Padrón were friends and colleagues for over 50 years. They shared common bonds – a passion for the finest Cuban cigar-making traditions and deep respect for their family names. They passed these values on to their children. Their sons, Carlito Fuente and Jorge Padrón, together with their families, have partnered to honor and remember the Fuente and Padrón family patriarchs. For the first time, the families are collaborating on a joint project, a commemorative 40-cigar box in honor of their fathers and their legacies.

The box is detailed with colors, symbols and photographs illustrating the rich family histories and contributions to the cigar industry made by both families. Inside, there are two trays of 20 hand crafted cigars. One tray features cigars made by Padrón in honor of Carlos A. Fuente, Sr. The second tray features cigars made by Fuente in honor of José O. Padrón.

Specially designed bands honor both patriarchs with family symbols and the words the two men lived by – “Familia,” “Perseverancia,” and “Legado” (Family, Perseverance, and Legacy). Both families have selected rare and beautiful tobaccos to create legendary cigars worthy of the extraordinary men they honor.


In keeping with their fathers’ tradition of giving, a percentage of the proceeds from the sales of this collaboration will be donated to the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation and the Padrón Family Foundation.

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by | January 2, 2022 · 10:01 am

New Year Cigars: EP Carillo, Rare Pink and an All Saints Saint Francis

Happy New Year to everyone! As CigarCraig.com enters it’s 13th year I hope to continue to bring you the same level of rambling nonsense you’ve come to expect from me! If all goes to plan, I will be attending the Tobacco Plus Expo in Las Vegas in a few weeks, so that should bring some exciting content (I hope), and maybe some insight into what’s coming up down the road.  I can’t say I’m excited to be getting on a plane, but it’s a necessary evil, I suppose. Anyway, 2022, huh? Crazy. 2021 went by in the blink of an eye it seems, not a great year for a lot of people, pretty good for some. As is my custom, I try to smoke some good cigars through the New Years “holiday”, so I dug out some special ones.  New Years Eve I came across a cigar that had been gifted to me a while ago by a friend in Florida who I hope is doing OK. This was a E.P. Carrillo 10 Year Anniversary Limited Edition Perfecto.  These are 6½” x 56 perfectos that came out in 2019 in a box with 10 each of the La Historia blend and the Encore blend, of which this was the latter. I believe the Encore blend is a Nicaraguan puro, made in the DR. It’s an excellent cigar, somehow it avoids being a heavy Nicaraguan cigar, sure it’s a bit earthy and peppery, but there’s a light citrus that’s sophisticated and delicious. This was a good choice for the last cigar of 2021. Make no mistake, I was asleep by 10.

 

New Years Day I decided to get the year started off with the Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Signature that I bought when we went down to South Carolina a few months ago. Technically the name for this is line is the Rare Pink Vintage 1960s Series, and uses the same molds as the Hemingway line, with a couple exceptions. It’s my understanding that some proceeds benefit a breast cancer charity, never a bad thing. I’ve always liked the Hemingway Signature size, it’s practically a Corona Gorda in a perfecto shape, 6″ x 46. Let’s face it, once the  nipple burns off it’s 5 5/8″, a traditional corona gorda. This certainly didn’t taste like a Hemingway, lacking the Cameroon wrapper (or broadleaf, they are a treat!). It has a rosado wrapper from Ecuador, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers from the best I can tell.  I thought it had an interesting sweet spice that set it apart from other cigars. The burn meandered a bit in the first half, but evened out in the second and was perfect until the end. I’d smoke another without hesitation, but I wouldn’t chase them down or pay more than MSRP for them, but that’s me. 

 

I’ve mentioned before that I toss around the idea of making a top whatever list of favorite cigars of the year. I decided that my ego doesn’t require the stroking of those who make the list, although I guess that’s a little cynical on my part and perhaps my readers would like to know what cigars I found worthy over the last year. I probably don’t have to summarize for my regular readers, but some notables over the last year were the Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms, Undercrown 10, La Sirena Mexican Mermaid, Casa Cuevas Patrimonio, Partagas Decadas 2021 and this cigar that I smoked last night, the All Saints Saint Francis. I smoked the Churchill, which I like a lot, it seems the Toro was The Cigar Authority/Two Guys Cigar of the Year, which is a pretty cool thing for Mickey Pegg and his partners. The Saint Francis is a stellar cigar, it’s rich, decadent, delicious. It’s desert. If I were making that list, it would have been tough to decide if the Saint Francis or Three Kingdoms were on top, hey are both cigars that if I have them in my humidor, I’m smoking them. I can’t wait to try the Saint Francis Colorado, although the bar is set pretty high.

 

One housekeeping note. I have changed the email subscription service I’ve been using for updates from Feedburner to Mailchimp because Feedburner is no longer supported, has become unreliable and may just go away at any minute. Today will be the first test to see if/how it works. I’m hoping for the best. There’s a new subscribe button on the left sidebar of the site if you’d like to receive e-mail notifications when the site is updated if you don’t already. I never share the e-mail addresses, I’ve been asked, the answer is always no. EDIT: I’ve deleted Mailchimp as the email that went out didn’t have any content and it didn’t look like it was going to suit my purposes. I’ve decided to try a WordPress plugin that looks like it should work, we’ll see the next time I post! PLease bear with me while I work this out.  That’s all for today, happy 2022! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

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by | July 12, 2020 · 10:51 am

Smoking Some Favorites: Marchetti, Partagas, Don Carlos and Some Heavy Lighter Thoughts

I didn’t get into anything new and noteworthy this week, tending to fall back to some favorite cigars. I’ll throw some highlights out. I’ve raved about the Don Juan Calavera line from Danli Honduras Tabacos in the past (recently rebranding to DAHOT). The have a box pressed maduro cigar called the Marchetti, named after one of the factory owner’s mothers, that’s absolutely wonderful, and has become a favorite “go-to” cigar for me. Like the other cigars in the company’s portfolio, I never have a construction issue, they always perform well, and they flavor is right in my wheelhouse, cocoa, espresso, and on the high side of medium bodied. It’s just about what I’d make if I were putting my name on a cigar. If you can get your hands on some of these, I highly recommend them, and I know they are showing up in more places. Great cigars! 

 

Photo stolen from Facebook

I followed, and stuck my nose into, a couple discussions in Facebook groups this week, one of which had to do with a photo of this gentleman, whom I believe to a mister Fifty Cent, lighting a cigar with a Bic lighter. In several separate threads he was harshly criticized for this, for various reasons ranging from ruining the flavor with “Bic fluid”, being a poser and not a “real” cigar smoker, to touching the flame to the cigar (which is legitimate). There seemed to be a lot of bigotry toward the Bic. One post having over 200 replies, many being quite harsh criticism of the man. Some industry professionals pointed out that the majority of the people who actually make the cigars use disposable lighters in the countries where cigars are made, while I made the case that the fire that comes from a Bic is the same as that that comes from a Dupont soft flame lighter. I would add that, by extension, the fire that comes from a $3 torch lighter is the same that comes from a $100 torch lighter. Cases were made that a “true aficionado” lights his cigars with a torch, cases were made that someone of this gentleman’s economic status should use a lighter that closer matches the watch he’s wearing. I think a lot of these comments and ideas come from newer smokers who have a strange notion of what smoking cigars is all about. They seem to forget that cigars pre-date torch lighters by about 475 years, and that maybe them looking down on someone for how they light their cigars can be applied to other prejudices and turned around. Maybe Mr. Cent in the photo just flew in from somewhere and couldn’t get his Dupont lighter through TSA and a Bic was all he could carry on the plane? Who among us hasn’t been in that position? I’m preaching to the choir, I’m sure, but let’s try to educate the newer cigar smokers to apply some tolerance, teach the proper etiquette, including the common sense stuff like a Bic is OK, while a Zippo isn’t (although, a Zippo with a butane insert is fine!). That’s enough of a rant for today! 

 

Another discussion I was party to was someone asking if others thought Cameroon cigars were horrible because he did. This is a pet peeve of mine, of course, Just because you think something sucks, doesn’t mean it sucks. Anyway, I offered that up, and suggested he just didn’t like Cameroon cigars and not to smoke them and move on, but it made me want to smoke Cameroon cigars. So I popped my head into the humidor and grabbed a Partagas Decadas Limited Reserve 2019. This a 5 ½” x 49 robusto with a ten year old Cameroon wrapper.  For the binder they use the Honduran San Augustine tobacco that General has been using in a great many cigars recently. The filler is Piloto Cubano from the DR and Ometepe from Nicaragua. Years ago the Limited Reserve had a green band and I really enjoyed them, this cigar still delivers the goods. It’s got the sweet, nutty flavor that I like in a Cameroon cigar. These are quite nice cigars, well balanced, fairly delicate flavors, I can see where someone who smoked nothing but full-bodied cigars might miss the subtleties in this. I’ve always favored Partagas cigars, this one hit the spot.

 

Continuing my Cameroon journey, how could I not smoke an Arturo Fuente Don Carlos? Besides La Aurora, who else is synonymous with Cameroon tobacco than Fuente? Some of my earliest premium cigar memories revolve around Don Carlos and Hemingway cigars. So I lit up a Don Carlos No. 2 last night, and, you know what? I swear they taste the same now as they did 20+ years ago! It’s quite a miracle. Now this is a cigar that I can’t imagine someone not being able to find flavorful. This is a classic, it’s a big torpedo, it burns perfectly, and is loaded with flavor! it’s got that sweet, nuttiness, with some coffee notes as well. It’s one of those cigars that every humidor should have. I know I sleep better at night knowing I have some in my humidor! Help me out, was this one of the original sizes with the Robusto and the No. 3? Or was it part of the expansion around 2000 with the Double Robusto, Presidente and No.4? I think it was one of the original sizes. Regardless, it’s a classic. Maybe I’ll smoke a Hemingway Classic today! 

 

That’s more than enough for today. There was some news this week, but it involved Fratello being distributed in Switzerland, and Casa Cuevas doing retailer only events, but I didn’t think that was of interest to too many people who read here (and you probably saw them elsewhere anyway). Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | July 8, 2018 · 10:40 am

Some Classic Fuentes, A La Madrina and a Murcielago Cigar

Once again, there’s been a lot of news in the cigar world this week, the best of which was the announcement that the warning label requirement has been delayed (here, and Forbes has a nice piece about it too.).  I don’t understand the logic behind requiring cigar boxes to have warning labels covering 30% of the box when cigarettes have no such requirement, nor do I want my website covered in warning labels. It’s ridiculous. We better start putting warning labels on cars, trucks and buses, then! It’s all quite annoying. What’s also annoying is the next time there’s a call to action in the cigar community and there are less than 30k responses, there’s a certain Facebook group that likes to brag about how many members it has, but that number doesn’t mean crap if they don’t do anything when it matters! Contacting your elected officials really does make a difference, unlike the FDA, these people are obligated to read your opinions. Let me get off my Sunday morning soapbox and get on to this week’s cigars!

 

HdM Epi 2It was Independence Day week, also my wedding anniversary, and I used to smoke a nice Havana cigar as a form of civil disobedience to celebrate, but that’s not that much of a thing any more, it’s just a tradition now. I selected my last Hoyo de Monterey Epicure no. 2 that was gifted to me around six years ago, so I figured it would be ready to go. For a change, I only had to have one Cuban cigar, because this one worked right!  It was sweet, floral and medium bodied, and the floral finish stayed with me quite a long time. We went to a friends for a picnic and I enjoyed the finish throughout the day (I had packed plenty of cigars, but it turned out to be a non-cigar crowd, so I waited until I got home). This one came from an Englishman, and it was really quite good. People

 

ArturoFuente_Anjejo50After the picnic, while sitting on the porch listening to Pennsylvanians enjoy their newly legal big-boy fireworks which scare my poor dog into hiding under an end table, I lit an Arturo Fuente Añejo No. 50. I had smoked a Hemingway Classic earlier in the week, there are certain cigars I like to keep in the humidor and smoke every now and then, these are two of them, although the Añejo is less of a “classic” than the Classic, I Fuente_HemingwayClassic_Maduroguess.  The aptly named Classic has basically tasted the same for the last 20 years that I remember smoking them, an amazing feat. The Añejo is a particularly appealing cigar to me. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper aged in Cognac barrels, and the binder and filler was originally the Opus X blend, because they lost an Opus wrapper crop one year and put broadleaf on instead. Whether this is still the case or not, I don’t know, but it’s a delicious cigar with great flavor. I can’t wait to brew up a Moka pot of Fuente Espresso with one of these.

 

La Madrina ToroI continued working through the Dapper Cigars samples from last year’s IPCPR show, and the La Madrina captured my attention. Like the El Borracho last week, they go into detail on their website about the make-up of the blend which borders on the ridiculous. Here’s what they have to say about the blend of the La Madrina: Wrapper: Ecuador / La Luchita / Cuban Seed Habano / Oliva Tobacco Co; Binder: Mexico / San Andrés / San Andrés de los Perros S.A. de C.V.; Fillers: Nicaragua / Esteli / Guadalupe / Oliva Tobacco Co.; Nicaragua / Jalapa / Cofradía Relleno / Oliva Tobacco Co; Dominican Republic / Habano ‘92 / (Undisclosed) / Oliva Tobacco Co, U.S. / Pennsylvania Broadleaf / Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Co.. We are seeing more and more vague blend descriptions due to looming FDA regulations, and I made the comparison last week to Steve Saka, and he’s said himself that he’s backed off from specificity in this regard for this reason. They can pretty much say “US tobacco” and “Imported” tobacco, and get away with just about anything. Anyway, that’s a whole ‘nother discussion. The La Madrina was a tasty smoke, which I enjoyed to a finger burning little nub. This was the 5 ¼” x 54 Toro (confusing, the Robusto is 5.62 x 50 and the Toro is 5 ¼ x 54, and Dapper Cigars website doesn’t come up in a google search…so much confusion!)  Anyway, there is a lot of nice flavor going on with this, nuttyness, dark chocolate, rich tobacco, I liked it a lot. It’s interesting to see PA Broadleaf in the filler, I have some cigars with PA tobacco lined up this week. Good stuff.

 

Murcielago_ToroGrandeLast night I smoked the new Espinosa Murcielago made at AJ Fernandez new San Lotano Factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua. The size was a Toro Grande at 6½” x 54 with a box press, a San Andrès wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers. I’ve been a fan of the first two iterations of this brand, and was hopeful that this would continue to work for me, and wasn’t disappointed. Great smoke, nice balance of spice and sweetness, with the dark flavors I love. It was an easy two hours of enjoyment, the construction was what one expects from AJ Fernandez, and is consistent with Espinosa’s  brands.  This size might be a CI exclusive, I picked it up at the Hamburg store last winter when we were there for an Espinosa event, as I don’t see the size listed on the Espinosa website (also hard to find in a Google search, whats up with that, is is just me?) The Bat continues to impress, loved it when it was Eddie Ortega’s favorite cigar and it was made at My Father, love the third generation.

 

That’s enough for now. It’ll be interesting to see what this week brings as the IPCPR starts next weekend. will it be a busy news week again or will everyone be busy moving stuff to Vegas, bitching about various things, heat, unions, viruses, etc…I’ll miss seeing everyone, but some things I won’t miss!  Safe travels to everyone going!  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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