Tag Archives: broadleaf

The American Double Robusto by J.C. Newman

I recently had the opportunity to smoke the newest vitola of the American by J.C.Newman.  This is a cigar made in the U.S. from all American tobaccos, here’s the information from J.C.Newman: 

 

Handcrafted in J.C. Newman’s historic El Reloj cigar factory in the “Cigar City” of Tampa, Florida, The American is the first 100% all-American cigar. This new vitola (5.5” x 56) is the thickest The American cigar to date. It is packed in boxes of 20 with a suggested retail price of $17.50.

“The United States has a rich tradition of cigar making dating back to the first crop of tobacco planted in Virginia in 1612,” said Drew Newman, fourth generation owner of J.C. Newman. “Cigar tobacco was grown in every American Colony and many Founding Fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, were tobacco farmers.”

The American is rolled with an exclusive Florida Sungrown wrapper, a Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and a blend of Connecticut Havana and Pennsylvania Mennonite filler tobaccos. With a thicker ring gauge, the Double Robusto has an extra leaf of Pennsylvania ligero tobaccos, making it the strongest The American cigar. All of the packaging, from the wood in the cigar boxes, to the paper for cigar labels, to the cellophane that protects each cigar, is made in the United States as well.

Cigar enthusiasts who visit J.C. Newman’s 111-year-old El Reloj cigar factory in Tampa can see The American being rolled and learn about the history of American cigar making in the J.C. Newman Cigar Museum.

 

This is not only a cool project by J.C. Newman, but I have a personal attachment to it because some of the tobaccos are grown not twenty-five miles from where I live now, and only a few mile from where I used to live. I can remember driving past the fields of tobacco 20 years ago. Of course I’m a big fan of Connecticut Broadleaf, and I have an affinity for the PA leaf, it has a special flavor. I smoked a couple of the Double Robustos, which are a really good size for me. The Florida Sungrown wrapper has a mottled appearance, and the cigar starts with a bit of a sourness, but sweetens and has an earthiness throughout. the construction was very good. I only have one robusto to compare to, but I do think this was stronger, owing to the extra ligero, although it wasn’t excessively strong, it was very well balanced. Pennsylvania ligero can be very strong in my experience. This was an excellent cigar, many thanks to J.C.Newman for sharing these with me. 

 

That’ all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

 

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Tabernacle Goliath and a Mi Querida Triqui Traca Cigars

Let me start out by bitching a little about the USPS messing with my plans for this post a little. I had ordered some of the new Triqui Traca sizes because I was unable to find them locally, and they were supposed to have been delivered yesterday and they weren’t. How USPS manages to goof up Priority Mail that ships Tuesday and is scheduled to be delivered Saturday (already a stretch), is beyond me. A few weeks ago I sent a box to Washington state on a Saturday and it was delivered on Monday. Sure, it cost me more than $8, but c’mon. And I recently cashed in some rewards points for an Amazon gift card and they are mailing it….what sense does that make? OK, now I’m just bitching about stuff for for the sake of bitching…forget about that last part. Point is, I had to switch up my whole plan for this post at the last minute. Fortunately, it’s not hard for me to convince myself to smoke a great cigar, so I made other plans.

 

Last week when I was at Cigar Mojo, one of the cigars I picked up was the Foundation Cigar Co. Tabernacle Goliath. I probably should have gotten both the David and the Goliath, but I was trying to moderate my spending. In retrospect, it would have made this post easier, and perhaps, more interesting. Apologies. The David and Goliath are perfecto shaped cigars, both have a gorgeous Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, San Andrés binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. I would venture a guess that the blend is the same as the regular Tabernacle line. The Goliath is a 5” x 58 perfecto, it’s chubby. The David is 5” x 54 and is more of a pointy perfecto. This is where I regret not buying both and comparing the two, because the shape can make a big difference in the flavor. The Goliath was a wonderful cigar. Despite the fact that once it burns past the first quarter inch its basically a gordo or fat robusto, the burn was perfect. It was loaded with the rich espresso and cocoa that I love, with the spice and earth from the San Andrés and the fillers. This was such a good cigar, and burned nice and cool all the way down to the nub. Again, now I need to go get the David, because I can imagine that the smaller ring and the pointy shape would sharpen the flavors some and cause a different experience. Darn my frugality. So if you like the Foundation, you should love the Goliath!

 

As I alluded to above, I was hoping to receive some of the new sizes of the Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca, the 652 and the 764. So I followed the Goliath (after dinner, of course, not immediately) with a Triqui Traca 552. I realized that I had never really featured that size on these pages, and I’ve smoked a few. I like the 648, it’s close to a Toro, and I’ve been looking forward to trying the 652, and I just figured “Why not” on the 764. It’s a ridiculous size, but people rave about the Mi Querida Gran Buffalo (same size, next on my list to try). The Triqui Traca is another Broadleaf wrapped cigar that is based off of the Mi Querida Firecracker blend (of which a third, and tweaked, release is imminent. Damn, that’s another order I’m going to have to place with 2 Guys…) which is an amped up version of the Mi Querida. I’ll be honest, I love them both. If the Mi Querida is a Hershey’s Special Dark bar, then the Triqui Traca is one of those dark chocolate bars with the hint of cayenne pepper. It’s got some extra kick, but not too much, just enough to keep things interesting. Of course, it burns perfectly, if it didn’t, Saka wouldn’t sell it. Here’s a secret, because I’ve known him as long as I have, and he’d kill me for revealing this: he makes each cigar a half an inch longer than advertised and personally smokes a little bit each one to make sure it’s right before the cap is applied and it’s banded and packaged. That’s how much he cares! :-). (Before someone believes this and Saka comes after me for defamation and slaps me with a cease and desist, it’s a joke. He only does it with about half). If you like the Broadleaf cigars, you can’t go wrong with either cigar mentioned in this post, and of course they share some common ancestry.

 

So far there is a tie for the CigarCraig Readers Poll Cigar of the Year, so get your votes in! Please e-mail me at craig@cigarcraig.com with your choice for the 2020 cigar of the year. I’ll compile the results and post them on December 31. Please be as specific as possible. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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A Few A.J. Fernandez Cigars, a Pancetta and STFU!!! Thoughts

I smoked a few more of the A.J. Fernandez cigars that I had picked up last week at CigarCigars in Downingtown. I’ve managed to smoke a great many more cigars that are made by AJF for other people than under his own name, but I imagine that’s just a function of scale. The San Lotano was a cigar that I really enjoyed several years ago. The first one was the New World Puro Especiale Robusto. This is a 5½ x 52 “robusto”, not a bad size, right in between a robusto and a toro really. I thought it was a pretty decent cigar, on the leathery side, which generally doesn’t excite me a whole lot. It has Nicaraguan Habano wrapper and binder, with Nicaraguan fillers. One wonders if they go to the trouble of identifying the wrapper and binder varietals, why skimp on naming the fillers? Anyway, it was a very good cigar if that’s your flavor preference, mine tends toward something sweeter.

 

Next up was the Enclave Broadleaf, a cigar that I had been hoping to pick up, but was disappointed that they didn’t have for sale. How is it that I came to acquire this cigar, you ask? Well. Tom, the new manager at CigarCigars in Downingtown, PA, happened to mention that he was smoking one that the rep, John, had given him to try, and he was going to recommend bringing them in, which I replied that I had hoped to find them there. He then gifted me one, which was mighty nice of him, I think he’s going to do alright there! 😀 Like I said, I had been looking forward to trying this cigar, so I lit up the 5” x 52 Robusto and took a walk. This is a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapped cigar with Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and it’s on the strong side. I actually found it to have a biting sensation, to the flavor. It had the bitter espresso thing going on to a pretty high level, in my opinion. There was nothing subtle or smooth about this cigar. When I come across these in the shop I’ll pick a few up and leave them rest for a while (six months to a year) and see if the rough edges smooth out. For me, this is a cigar to follow a heavy meal, it’s a full frontal assault on the palate.

 

I posted the news release last week about Drew Estate’s re-release of the Liga Privada Lounge exclusive Liga Privada Serie Unico Pancetta. This is a shop exclusive that is exclusive to only two shops, the Wooden Indian, which is near me, and one of my favorites, and Barristers In New Jersey. Last year Dave, the proprietor of the Wooden Indian, gave me one out of his private stock, long after I had missed out on getting one. Now that they are available again, or maybe they sold out of the latest batch, I’m not sure, I figured I’d smoke it. It’s a smaller cigar, at least for my tastes, a 4 ¾” x 50 belicoso. I got a late start last night, and the size worked well for me.  This cigar has the T52 wrapper, around a variation on the Feral Flying Pig blend. The combination resulted in an excellent cigar, although I was hard pressed to make any connection to either the T52 or the FFP. To be fair, the last FFP seemed different from the previous FFP I smoked, so who knows, right? Anyway, it was an outstanding cigar that I savored until I couldn’t savor any more, it certainly is a cigar that Dave at the WI is proud to have representing his wonderful lounge, which I look forward to visiting once it reopens! I’ve actually only been there once since the remodeled, and it was at Christmas. Between lack of employment and pandemic, I haven’t had a chance to get there. Call them and see if they still have some available!

 

Saka had his big reveal show for his STFU!!! Brûlée Sampler, hosted by Kevin at CigarProp and the I’d Tap That Cigar show. I don’t normally watch live streams, but this one was a must see. Kevin did a great job moderating this one with Steve and Dave Lafferty, although someone should tell Steve that his signature black shirt against the dark background made him look like a disembodied head on my screen, which was a little disturbing. I lit up a Mi Querida Firecracker because it was supposed to be an hour,  I should have gone with a Sobremesa Short Churchill, because it went an hour and  20 minutes. It’s Saka, I should know better. Anyway, The announcement was that the S and !!! were regular Brûlée, T was double sweet and F and U were sweetened. My assessment was close, although I struggled with F and U, missing U altogether I think. The way Steve explained the sweetening process, they make all the cigars the same, then wipe the sugar solution on after the fact, and the sugar solution is concentrated differently to achieve the sweetness level. The F and U samples I received must have had the cloth with the sweetener on it waved over them, because they either were ever so slightly sweetened, or I don’t taste sweet very well. I have quite. A sweet tooth, so I don’t think that’s the case. Anyway, I rather enjoyed the T actually, it was an interesting change of pace, and I do enjoy a sweetened cigar once in a while, although the saccharine is a little much, but Steve explained why that is used instead of sugar in a lot of cases to. Go to the CigarProp YouTube channelCigarProp YouTube channel if you missed the show, there’s a lot of good information there.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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Podcast: CigarCraig Podcast Episode Four

In this, the fourth episode of the CigarCraig podcast, I present another recap of the Drew Estate Pennsylvania Barnsmoker held Saturday, June 23, 2018 in Strasburg, PA., this time with Pedro Gomez, Drew Estate’s Factory Spokesman. Pedro talks to me about the event. A full recap of the event can be found here.  I had hoped to talk with a few other people at the event, but everyone there is so busy, it’s hard to get people to get a few minutes uninterrupted, which, you’ll hear, didn’t even happen with Pedro, who was very generous with his time (we go way back!).  Barnsmoker’s are a good time, a great mix of education, good food and smokes a great people.  If there’s one you can get to, I recommend attending one if you can. I can hardly imagine one being disappointed if one were a fan of anything cigar related.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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Enclave Broadleaf by AJ Fernandez

AJ Fernandez Enclave BroadleafFirst off, I updated my last post on the Dominion Cigars Black Lotus, it turns out that it was the natural wrapper version, and not maduro. I suck, let’s move past it!  It was a good smoke, whatever it was!  Anyway, Tonight I smoked a cigar I picked up a week or so ago at one of my local Cigar Cigars stores (there are no less than 6 within a 10 mile radius of my house), one I had been anxious to try. I smoked one there the day I hung out for a while and loved it, and very much enjoyed the one I smoked tonight. The cigar, as the title of the posts suggests, is the Enclave Broadleaf by AJ Fernandez.  I picked up a couple of the toro size, a hefty 6½” x 54, with a dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler. This is a fantastic broadleaf cigar with some weight to the smoke, it’s dark, has some sweetness and strength. It burned well, although tonight’s example required one minor touch up as one side burned a little faster than the other. This will be yet another cigar I’ll keep in the humidor, it’s right up my alley and fairly priced in the $8 range.  I remember a time not long ago when I’d bristle at spending that much for a cigar, but it seems like the norm now.

 

If Podcasts are your thing, check out Cigar-Coop’s Prime Time Episode 37 with Jack and Charlie Toraño. It’s an enlightening interview, Will and Aaron get to the bottom of the sale of Toraño Family cigars. I’ll be making an appearance on Aaron’s Developing Palates show next week as they do their 2017 recap.  Should be a lot of fun, although this time of year I think I’ll be doing it from in the house sans cigar, much to my dismay.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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