Tag Archives: Avo

by | April 17, 2016 · 7:40 am

Avo Syncro, RoMaCraft Cigars at SMoKE Manayunk and a Tatuaje

Avo_SyncroNicaraguan_RobustoThere are so many cigars out there, it’s really hard to smoke them all, yet I keep trying!  I’ve smoked the Avo Syncro Nicaraguan in the Short Robusto and Toro size and, like many Avo cigars, I found them enjoyable, but isn’t really get what the hype was. Perfectly good cigars, but nothing particularly special to me (I really liked the XO though). A couple of weeks ago my friends at Famous Smoke Shop send me some of the Avo Syncro Nicaraguan and I was excited as I really want to like these and appreciate the opportunity to try them in another size. The robusto is a box pressed 5″x 50, with a milk chocolate-brown wrapper, which is actually Ecuador Connecticut,  and it has some Nicaraguan Ometepe, Dominican and Peruvian fillers. It’s a solid smoke, medium bodied with some balanced and interesting flavors. So far, this might be my favorite in the bunch, it’s got a little sweet, and a little spice, quite entertaining. I may try to sneak another one of these in today, the Short Robusto might fit my walk today from the Philadelphia Art Museum to the Kimmel Center for the Philly Pops concert. Thanks, once again, to Cory at Famous Smoke Shop for sharing the Avo Syncro Robusto with me.

 

Friday evening we went down to SMoKE Manayunk to visit with Skip and Mike of RoMaCraft Tobac as they have been on a tour of Philadelphia cheesesteak purveyors and have been taking breaks to have cigar events. First, a little about SMoKE and Manayunk. Manayunk is a very hip main street area in Philadelphia, with loads of bars and restaurants, so there were a ton of younger 20-SMoKE Manayunksomething folks around, and it was pretty impressive how many came in to hang out and smoke cigars. SMoKE is BYOB, so many people brought in their own beer, wine or liquor and they have refrigerators behind the bar. Kosta is the owner, and has a very good staff headed up by Spencer McGuire, who recently left his post as brand manager of Emilio Cigars.  The staff is attentive, constantly emptying ashtrays and seeing to the customer’s needs, as well as helping people in the large and well stocked humidor. The lounge is 3000 square feet, has a very industrial, distressed feel to the decor, and is welcoming and comfortable. The only downside is the parking. I found out the hard way that on street parking can cost $26 if you exceed the 1 hour limit, which I guess I was supposed to know without signing close by (oddly, the “Parking Enforcement” vehicle was parked a car ahead of me and was there longer than I was…I hate double standards!). So the $10 lot nearby would have been a better deal it turns out. It was starting to get crowded when we left, which is pretty cool for a cigar lounge.

 

FomarianSo I perused the selection of RoMaCraft cigars they had, and settled on a couple of the Candela Fomorians (I spelled that wrong elswhere), a Neanderthal  Shallow Gene Pool, and a couple of CroMagnon Atlatl lanceros, since I like lanceros and Kosta has probably the best selection of that vitola in the area, so when in Rome…anyway, I lit up a Fomorian (along with Mike and Skip) and proceeded to hang out. I’ve known these guys since 2011, which is about when they launched the CroMagnon line, and they make some outstanding cigars. The Fomorian is the CroMagnon blend of Cameroon binder and Nicaraguan fillers, with the Broadleaf wrapper replaced with a fragile Candela wrapper in the 5″ x 56 EMH size.  The combination is really quite amazing, there’s the sweetness of the Cameroon, the depth of the Nicaraguan, with that refreshing flavor of the Candela. Along with the long ago discontinued Camacho Candela, this is the best representation of a Candela cigar I’ve had the SGPpleasure of tasting. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed a few, but this one has some giddyup to it, great cigar.  I followed that with a little Neanderthal Shallow Gene Pool, the smaller (4½ x 52) sibling of the Neanderthal HN, which I absolutely loved. This cigar has a San Andrés wrapper and a Pennsylvania Double Ligero, which is unusually high in nicotine. You wouldn’t know it, the cigar is very smooth with a great flavor.  If these weren’t in the $11+ range, I would smoke these all the time, so good. Interesting to note, lots of nicotine before bedtime makes for a restless night with crazy dreams, at least that was my experience. It could be that, as Skip pointed out, I’m the oldest young guy he knows, which I took as a compliment since I’m pretty old…anyway, it was a great night, smoking great cigars and hanging out at a great place with great folks.

 

Tatuaje_Reserva_J21Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, and after getting some things done around the yard, I relaxed on the porch with a Tatuaje Reserva J21. These are made in Miami with a Habano Ecuador wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filer. This is a 5″ x 50 robusto and is quite an attractive cigar, listed as a full strength offering. This was exactly what I needed after working in the yard and running errands. It started out with some spice and moved to espresso, which we all know I like. It was refined and elegant, and I really liked it. I smoke fewer Tatuajes than I really should, because whenever I smoke one it’s a treat. For some reason, in my mind, it’s a cigar that’s special, in much the same way an Opus or Padron Anniversary is. I don’t why I feel that way, but it’s in my head for some reason, and I don’t end up picking them up as often as I should. I’ll work on changing that.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | March 27, 2016 · 8:29 am

An Avo XO, Some Sobremesa Cigars at Famous and a My Father Connecticut

Avo_XO_LegatoI smoke a lot of different cigar across a wide spectrum, I try not to discriminate based on size, country of origin or manufacturer. So in the latter part of the week I found myself leaning toward the milder end of the spectrum for some reason. Maybe it;s the onset of Spring, I don’t know. Anyway, I started off with an Avo XO Legato, the toro in the line. It was Avo Uvesian’s  90th birthday this past week, so I thought it would be appropriate. This cigar came in a sampler from Davidoff from last year’s IPCPR show, which included some other Avo cigars, some Camacho, Room 101 and BG Meyer cigars.  The Avo XO Legato is 6″ x 54 with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper. The rest of the cigar is Dominican, and it was a nice, creamy cigar with a bit of sweetness. I’ve not been a huge fan of a lot of the Avo lines, but this was a really nice, well-balanced and enjoyable smoke. I see some more Avo sampling in my future.

 

Sobremesa RobustoLargoFriday evening my wife and I took a trip up to Famous Smoke Shop‘s Leaf Cigar Bar in Easton, PA.  It was about an hour and a half drive, but Steve and Cindy Saka were in town visiting, and we wanted to stop in and say hello. I purchased some of Steve’s Sobremesa Robusto Largo and El Americano cigars as I hadn’t yet sampled the Robusto Largo size yet. Over the course of the evening I smoked said Robusto Largo and a Cervantes Fino generously gifted by Cindy, and thoroughly enjoyed them both, as well as the Sobremesa CervantesFinocompany. Both of the cigars were superb, with the Robusto Largo (5¼ x 52) having rounder, smoother flavors, much like the El Americano toro, and the Cervantes Fino (6¼ x 46) having a little sharper edge.  The Leaf bar and restaurant was hopping, with excellent service. The place is in the same building as Famous Smoke Shop’s enormous warehouse (which I’ve been promised a tour of one day), and it’s located outside of Easton in an industrial park, it’s an odd location for a retail store and lounge, but it still draws a crowd. It was noisy, which taxes my ability to hear conversation, but we had a great time catching up with Steve and Cindy. Later this year it will have been twenty years since the first time I talked to Steve on the phone, back when he was holding the Monthly Officious Taste Test on the alt.smokers.cigars Usenet group, of which I was a part.

 

Yesterday I relaxed on the porch after a busy day with a cigar that has a special meaning to me, at least over the last year. I selected a My Father Connecticut robusto. From the website (which has music that plays automatically, which I really don’t like):

My Father Connecticut is going to be an extension of the already existing line My Father and My Father Le Bijou; the cigar is blended by Jose “Pepin” Garcia and his son Jaime Garcia at the My Father Cigar Factory in Nicaragua : It features an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, Nicaragua Corojo 99 Binder and Nicaragua Habano-Criollo filler, all the tobacco coming out of the Garcia’s farms with the exception of the wrapper which comes from Ecuador.

MyFather_Connecticut_RobustoThis is one of my favorite Connecticut wrapped cigars, not that the list of favorites is really short. There are a bunch that I enjoy, but this one is one I purchase and enjoy having in my humidor.  As a matter of fact, there’s a My Father event this week at one of my local shops that I might stop in on and pick up a few more.  It’s creamy, but flavorful and satisfying. I should make a note to buy some larger sizes, as this robusto was nice, but was over too soon. The band and overall presentation is really classy too.

 

That’s all I got, off to making a big breakfast for the family and eventually getting some nice cigars in this afternoon. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | November 22, 2015 · 10:36 am

Avo Syncro, Padilla, La Flor Dominicana, Gurkha and Alec Bradley Cigars

It’s been another busy week, lots of great cigars smoked, and making some progress putting together this year’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways. It should be another good one this year!  I’ve smoked about eight cigars since my last post here, and you may notice I am only featuring five here today. If you follow my Instagram account (here) you can get a pretty good idea what cigars I smoke during the week. There are a few reasons I may not feature a cigar here, sometimes it’s one of my favorites that I go to often, other times I either feel like I need to smoke more to get a handle on the cigar, or the cigar just sucks (to me, every cigar is somebody’s baby, who am I to crap on it just because I don’t like it?). Anyway, that’s a little glimpse into some of my process, which is basically just to unwind with a great cigar in the evenings, not much more to it than that!

 

Avo_SyncroNicaraguan_ToroLast Sunday I capped off the weekend with the new Avo Syncro Nicaraguan in the box pressed toro size.  This is a great looking 6″ x 54 cigar, and was in the Davidoff IPCPR sampler.  I had previously smoked the Short Robusto, which was featured on The Cigar Authority show, so I was looking forward to a couple of hours of enjoyment from this toro. I received the enjoyment, and I was a little worried because my Avo track record isn’t great. This one is different with the inclusion of tobacco from Ometepe  (the volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua), with the darker Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Dominican binder and other fillers from the DR and Peru. I found this to be a great smoke, although I cant really say that there’s anything that would send me back to the store for more, there are other cigar in that priced range that have something special to offer. Again, I have a record of not “getting” Avo cigars, so there’s that, but it was a very good cigar, just not particularly notable.

 

Padila_ReservaSanAndres_RobustoTuesday I took a walk with something new from Padilla, the Reserva San Andrés in the robusto size. I had never met Ernesto Padilla until Victor Vitale introduced me to him at the IPCPR this year. The Reserva also comes in a Corojo 99 and Criollo 98 version, and they are made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras, along with some other of my favorite cigars.  Of the three cigars, of course I had to smoke the San Andrés first. This was a very well constructed and slow burning robusto. At one point about half way through the cigar I got an interesting exotic spice flavor that I found quite unique. It didn’t have the tastes I expected, but was excellent anyway, this is one I would buy the next time I see it in a store, and they are priced in the $6 range, so they are quite affordable. Maybe one or both of the other others will get smoked today.

 

LaFlorDominicana_LG Diez_2015_LusitanoNext up was a La Flor Dominicana LG Diez Vintage 2015 Lusitano which was in a bunch of cigars I received a few weeks ago from Jonathan Carney, VP of Sales at LFD.  The unique thing about this line is that it’s a Dominican puro, and to take it one step further than that, all the tobaccos are grown on La Flor Dominicana’s own farms.  I don’t know what they do at LFD, but their Dominican cigars are unlike any others, in my opinion. I often forget that they are Dominican, they are full-bodied and spicy for the most part, and I really enjoy them. This also comes in a new robusto or Rothschild size that I look forward to sampling. These are pretty awesome cigars that are quite relaxing and satisfying.

 

Gurkha_Heritage_ToroFriday I went with the new Gurkha Heritage in the Toro size. This cigar comes in a cedar sleeve, and has a Rosado Ecuador Habano wrapper, does it seem like Connecticut Shade wrapper just because of the green ribbon at the foot of the cedar sleeve? I guess I’m just conditioned to see green ribbon on a cedar sleeve and think Fuente Chateau (or Tortuga Connecticut) and expect a milder cigar. This was a solid medium cigar, and it was loaded with  pleasant mellow woody flavors and was a really enjoyable smoke. I expected a mild cigar, and wasn’t in any way let down. Good construction, nice draw and burn, and good flavor. Say what you want about Gurkha, but they do make some great smokes, and this is a winner in my book.

 

AlecBradley_Post Embargo_ToroFinally, yesterday I smoked the new Alec Bradley Post Embargo in the Toro size. This is a box pressed toro which measures 6¼” x 54, but the box press makes it seem a little thinner.  I smoked the lancero last week and liked it, but wanted to compare it to the larger ring gauge. These have a Honduran wrapper, which in my experience, isn’t the most flavorful of wrappers. I enjoy the flavors in this cigar, it’s a medium bodied, just plain good smoke.  I only picked up a handful of these a week ago, so I’ll be revisiting this as well as the lancero and Robusto in the future, but it seems like another solid line from Alec Bradley. They did a complete makeover of the packaging and bands on the line, and the finished product is quite classy. I’ve been a fan  of Alec Bradley since the Trilogy line back in the mid 2000’s, they continue to produce good cigars, with all but the Fine and Rare series in what I consider the “reasonably priced” category.

 

That’s all for now. I also smoked a great CAO Flathead Steel Horse and another Sobremesa, this time in the Corona Grande size, and all I can say about the Sobremesa is that I wished it was longer, great cigars that deserve the accolades they are receiving. I hope all of my US readers have a great Thanksgiving celebration with your families, and pick out some great post turkey smokes! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | February 26, 2014 · 7:07 pm

An Avo, a Six Zero and Transporter Tubes

I don’t have a lot happening so far this week, I’m afraid! There were a couple cigars I smoked that I want to give a second chance to. Based on the experiences I had, I don’t think it would be fair to the brands to say anything at this time. This is generally my modus operandi, I guess that’s why it looks like I always smoke cigars I like. Trust me, I prefer to smoke cigars I like! I’m an optimist, for the most part, and I really want to like everything I smoke, and I hate it when I feel like my time was wasted. I think if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything, so I’ll revisit a couple cigars in the next couple weeks and see how they go!

 

Avo_LE10Sunday afternoon was beautiful here in SE PA. Temperatures in the 50s melting off the snow, or at least making the piles a little smaller. I took a nice walk with the pup and a cigar I’ve been sitting on for six months, an Avo LE10 that Will Cigar-Coop Cooper sent me. I’ve heard constant raves about this cigar, and my experience with the Avo line is limited to a La Trompeta LE12 that was an OK cigar but burned poorly and didn’t excite my taste buds. I spent a little over an hour and a half with this LE10 and it was a perfectly fine cigar. I guess I just don’t have the palate for these, because I didn’t “get it”. It was good, but didn’t blow me away with the flavor. Some people have expensive tastes, and some people consider a Big Mac a treat I guess, and I fall into the later group. I’d rather have Hamburger Helper than some fancy risotto, so I guess it stands to reason that I lack the sophistication to appreciate such an obviously wonderful cigar. I’m stubborn though, I keep trying! Thanks very much, Will, and I have a couple more from that generous gift you sent that I’m waiting for nicer weather to smoke! If you don’t know of Cigar-Coop.com and StogieGeeks.com, check them out. Will’s just about the hardest working man in cigar media, and rumor has it he has a full time job and a family too! I consider Will a good friend.

 

SixZero_RoboloSunday evening I reached for Hamburger Helper….not really, but a fairly new $3.00 cigar from Best Cigar Prices.  The Six-Zero line is all 60 ring gauge cigars made by the folks at Boutique Blends.  Of course, we know that name from the Aging Room and Swag lines of cigars.  I got some of the Robolo size, which is 4½” x 60, and am really enjoying them.  The well aged San Andrés wrapper is very tasty and the cigar is well made. I actually enjoy the short, fat format. Call it a guilty pleasure, but I find myself not minding a 60 ring cigar, and the shorter varieties tend to fit my schedule better than the longer ones.  Anyway, these are tasty, dark chocolaty cigars that are well worth the money. I could actually smoke these regularly, if I were one to regularly smoke anything!

 

I recently received an e-mail from a new reader named Kevin,  who is making some pretty neat looking travel tubes. He’s got an Indigogo campaign going to raise some start up costs and offering these tubes as perks for contributing.  I should be seeing a prototype next week, but they look well done and I liked the looks of it enough to kick start his campaign with a contribution, I can use a nice aluminum tube!  Give it a look at  http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/transporter-tubes and https://www.facebook.com/transportertubes.  I often try to think of something I could make that people would think is neat and want, but I guess I’m just not that creative.  Certainly there are other tubes on the market, some cheap and some way more expensive, but these look darned nice.  He seems to be making them for Churchill sized cigars, which, in my mind, should accommodate several normal sizes.  I wish Kevin the best!

 

Short one tonight, I’ll see what I can come up with for Sunday’s post!  Until then,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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by | May 16, 2012 · 6:09 pm

Three Cigars: An E Doble, a Casa de Ortez and an Avo LE12

Sunday afternoon was beautiful, and after over-indulging at a Mother’s Day brunch with my family, I sat down with a E Doble robusto courtesy of the folks at Smoke Inn. This reasonably priced robusto is made by Eric Espinosa of EO Brands fame exclusively for Smoke Inn. The cigar is a nice looking 5″ x 50 Nicaraguan puro, and starts out nice and spicy. I enjoyed it quite a bit, at under $4 each it isn’t a bad buy. I think if I were presented with a choice of this cigar or something else in the same price range, this one would be a satisfying choice. It was strong without being too strong and well made. It was a very nice cigar, I look forward to smoking another one.

 

I was feeling adventurous again Monday evening and came across a pair of Casa de Ortez robustos from the Altadis booth at last year’s IPCPR show. There was one with a Connecticut wrapper and one with a Ecuador Cubano wrapper, both of which looked very much alike. I chose the Connecticut, as that’s what I was in the mood for, and headed to the front porch. I really enjoyed this cigar. It burned well and had a pleasing flavor. I suspect it’s mixed filler, though, as I was constantly picking little tobacco bits out of my mouth. I did some research after smoking this and was surprised to find these sold in bundles for ridiculously low prices (in the under $25 range!). Certainly better than many bundled “sandwich” cigars in that price range and one that I’d smoke again. I’m now looking forward to trying the other wrapper.

 

Tuesday I felt like going in the completely opposite direction of the Casa de Ortez. I had been given an Avo LE12 La Trompeta by Tom Smith, our local Davidoff rep a few weeks ago and had been looking forward to smoking it. If I’ve smoked an Avo before, it’s been a very long time, and it wouldn’t have been one of his special annual releases like this one. This cigar was made to celebrate Avo’s 86th birthday, and is a pyramid shape with a lovely Habano wrapper adorned with three dots punched from Connecticut shade leaf to represent the valves on a trumpet. It’s a really cool presentation and it’s not an inexpensive cigar. It was OK. It didn’t burn particularly well, and, to my tastes, was really nothing spectacular. Perhaps my expectations were too high, or, more likely, it just wasn’t suited to my tastes, but I was disappointed by it. I certainly am glad that I had the opportunity to smoke this cigar. It relieves me of any desire to run out and spend a lot of money on these in the future. I has a similar experience with the Perdomo Champagne, I was expecting to be “wow’d” and wasn’t. This is why there are so many different cigars!. Just because I didn’t like the cigar doesn’t mean someone else won’t think it’s fantastic. The burn issues I had could easily be attributed to the damp, rainy evening.

 

What does that say about my tastes? Two budget cigars that I enjoyed more than a super premium? I admit, there are a ton of very reasonably priced cigars that I enjoy quite a bit, but there are plenty premium priced cigars that I love, I just don’t love them very often! I’m also a cheap bastard, I would sooner buy five National Brand Maduro robustos with the $10 it would cost to buy many super premium cigars.  I think I’ll go find something to smoke now, should I get something cheap and reliable or find a  rare, pricey cigar and risk disappointment?

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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