Tag Archives: Foundry

A Couple of Shop Visit, a Couple of Cigars and a Contest Winner!

Happy Sunday! I suppose it’s the end of a holiday weekend for a lot of people, I had Thursday off, and stopped into the CigarCigars shop in the King of Prussia Mall and picked up a couple cigars, one of which I smoked later to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Sure, I have plenty of natural Padron 1964 Anniversary Exclusivos, but I hadn’t had a Maduro in quite some time, so I picked one up. My wife spied a Foundry Compounds, Elements and Musings Uranium box with two cigars left in it, so I bought them and got the box. I’m pretty sure I’ve smoked Uranium before, although I don’t smoke many 7″ x 70s. The artwork is cool and I’ll rig a light in the box and it’ll be a nice shelf piece. Gotta give Mike Giannini credit for creative design!  So my wife got a ring from Tiffany, and I got some cigars, it was a good day. The Exclusivo was exceptional, of course. I remember smoking my first one probably 20 years ago and they haven’t changed. 

 

Friday evening I took a ride up to Suburban Cigar Lounge in Mount Penn, PA, which is near Reading. This is a really nice lounge run by Gary, over top of what is, by all reports, a very nice restaurant, which, if I’m not mistaken, his wife runs. I went to meet up with Boston Jimmie, of Stogie Press fame, who took his sweet time showing up. If you advertise that you’re going to be someplace from 7-10, showing up at 8:30 is not acceptable, I don’t care how things are done in Florida.  😜Anyway, Gary has a nice lounge with a friendly clientele, and his humidor has a modest but diverse selection from which I purchased some Alec Bradley Magic Toast Gordos, and RoMaCraft Aquitaine Mode 5s, and lit up a Magic Toast.  I love this Magic Toast, it’s my kinda smoke. The dark, oily Honduran wrapper is beautiful, and the flavor is equally dark and lush. I smoked a Mode 5 next, and while I prefer the CroMagnon, the Aquitaine is damn tasty. This is a great example of how the wrapper can completely change the flavor of a cigar, as the wrapper is the only difference between the CroMagnon and Aquitaine lines. Jimmie finally showed up and hung out for a while. I hadn’t seen him since the 2017 IPCPR show, so it was nice seeing him again. Suburban Cigar Lounge is a great place to hang out of you find yourself in the area. I’m sorry I didn’t let long time reader Corey know I was going!

 

Last night I smoked the 2Guys Smokeshop exclusive Pistoff Kristoff Firecracker. Every year they do a special Firecracker release, last year it was the Mi Querida, prior to that it was the Fratello. I’ve managed to smoke a bunch of them, except for the original ones. It’s a small format, 3½ x 50, in a stronger blend. This was the second Pistoff Firecracker I smoked and I thought it was very good. I’m OK with the Pistoff blend to begin with, so I figured I’d be OK with this, and if I wasn’t, it wasn’t going to be a large time commitment. I do, generally, get an hour out of the Firecrackers, smoking them slowly. Because of the closed foot, a trademark of Kristoff, and usually a Firecracker trait, it starts with a blast of wrapper flavor, and some concern that the draw will be tight, once the wrapper burns, this one opens up to a perfect draw and has a good, bold flavor. It was strong, but well balanced. It looks like these are sold out, as is the case with most of the limited Firecrackers, but often the have second runs, and I would recommend these and others if you like small, strong cigars. They have all been exceptional in my opinion. 

 

Contest

It’s time to select a winner in last weeks contest.  To recap, I am giving away some great, in my opinion, Don Juan Calavera cigars from Danli Honduras Tabaco (from my own humidor, to protect the innocent), a Herics Cigar Tape, and a Cigar Prop and Light Bleed Tool from CigarProp.com. It’s possible some other goodies could fall into the box while I’m packing it up.  There were 42 entries, and according to the random number generator, the winner is Bob Langmaid! I seems like Bob wins everything all the time, but I could only find one instance of him winning one of my contests, and that was almost 4 years ago. I’d rather have someone who hasn’t won before win, but Bob’s name came up, and he’s been fanatically religious about entering my contests for many years, so fair is fair!  Please send me your address Bob! 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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News: Kretek International Acquires Foundry Tobacco Co.

Happy Halloween everyone!  I was going to post the winner of the Big Papi humidor contest tonight, but I think I’ll give it one more day while I hand out candy tonight and smoke a nice cigar on the front porch as I do every year! In the mean time, here’s some exciting news from the folks at Kretek International and Ventura Cigar Co. I’m glad to see that Michael Giannini has reconnected with the brand that he put so much energy into in his time with General Cigar Co!  

 

Kretek International, Inc. Acquires Foundry Tobacco Company

Effective immediately, Most Foundry Brands to be Distributed by Kretek International, Inc.

October 31, 2018 – “The wheel is come full circle.” So said William Shakespeare long ago, but the notion is never more true than today. With Michael Giannini as General Manager at Ventura Cigars, parent company, Kretek International, Inc. has just acquired the Foundry Tobacco Company. This marks a return of a brand to its master, as under his tenure at General Cigars, Giannini created Foundry Tobacco Company, disrupting the cigar scene with its edgy look and avant-garde experience. Most of the Foundry cigars are back under the wing of Giannini and now under the powerful distribution arm of Kretek International.


“It’s both a new day, and a familiar day,” says Giannini. “To see Foundry boxes on my Ventura Cigars’ desk is a little bit unreal. And yet, it seems so normal to have them sitting there. Almost like they are returning home. I’m thankful to General Cigars for taking such good care of the brand, and to the solid relationship between General and Kretek International that enabled this new phase for Foundry. I’m proud to represent the brand, both where it started, and now where it’s headed.”


Unconventional and conversational since its inception, Foundry Cigar Company is a study of past, present, and future. Each cigar features distinct blends of tobaccos that guide the senses on a journey of evolving tastes and experience. Foundry offers the unexpected and uncovers all possibilities.

“We’re excited to bring Foundry Tobacco Company brands into our fold,” says Jason Carignan, CMO of Kretek International, Inc. “Their products have an edge that plays well with our vibe, and the quality of their smoke is exactly what we’ve built Kretek’s reputation upon. General Cigars has done an amazing job with Foundry, and we’re going to keep up the good work that they’ve started.”

Effective immediately, Kretek International, Inc. will begin distributing Foundry Tobacco Company brands. Foundry’s popular Time Flies blend, developed in collaboration with A.J. Fernandez, is moving under Ventura Cigars. The company will soon begin to work on new blends under the Foundry brand, which will be announced soon. For more information about Ventura Cigar Company, or to inquire about any of these brands, please visit venturacigar.com.

 

# # # #

About Kretek International, Inc

Kretek International, Inc. parent company to Ventura Cigar Company, is America’s number one importer, marketer, and distributor of specialty tobacco products to convenience, mass, and national retailers. For over 30 years, Kretek has enjoyed a strong reputation for providing exceptional customer relationships and top-quality goods. The company continues to offer standout brands like Djarum, Cuban Rounds, and Djeep Lighters to distribution channels across the United States and Canada, bringing value, high-margins, and growth to retailers and distributors.

 

About Ventura Cigar Company

Ventura Cigar Company (VCC) is a unique cigar brand born in sunny Southern California that is on a mission to create memorable, complex cigar blends that excite the senses and reward discriminating palates. Their flagship Archetype, Case Study, Project805, and PSyKo SEVEN brands offer multiple award-winning blends that earned 90+ ratings in Cigar Aficionado, Cigar & Spirits, and Cigar Snob. And Archetype’s Axis Mundi won #13 Cigar of the Year for 2017 from Cigar Aficionado. Ventura Cigar Company also distributes the 4th Generation and Comoy’s of London line of pipe tobacco products, extending its reach and tradition of offering top-quality tobacconist products. Pipes and blends under these brands are cultivated through generations of craftsmanship, making them longtime favorites of pipe tobacco enthusiasts.

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La Palina, Macanudo and Foundry Cigars, and the Contest Winner

LaPalina_Black Label_Petite LanceroI had a hankering for a La Palina cigar this week and chose a 6″ x 40 La Palina Black Label Petite Lancero that I bought last year at an event at a local shop. I’ve been a fan of the line for about five years or so, and tend to like the darker cigars in the line, although I fail to find fault with many of the cigars. The Black Label is made in the Dominican Republic at the PDR factory, with a Brazilian wrapper, Dominican and Nicaraguan binders and  Dominican and Nicaraguan ligero fillers. It’s a nice, stronger cigar with some great sweet and dirty flavors, very much to my liking. The 40 ring gauge format gives it some bite, burning a little hotter than the larger rings. This is one of my favorites in the range. Thanks to the folks at La Palina for their support over the last five yeas or so.

 

If you get a minute, take a look at the beautiful Saladini cigar cutters at Italian Pottery by Merchant of Prato.  Click the link here or click the graphic at the top of the right sidebar.  The Coltelleria Saladini knifemakers date back to the mid-19th century and make some beautiful items. Cool stuff!

 

Macanudo_Mao_RobustoIn honor of our contest this week I dug into the IPCPR samples of the new Macanudo Mao robustos. The Mao uses tobacco grown from seeds from the ’60s, from a varietal used in the original Macanudo, actually cross breeding it and growing in the Mao region of the Dominican Republic. I had the good fortune to have visited this beautiful farm back in 2011. This cigar had the typical excellent construction of a Macanudo, and was not mild, I put it right at medium, with a load of interesting flavors. It had a citrus-like acidity and some hayish earthiness. Yeah, I make up words sometimes. This was a limited release, and comes packaged in individual coffins, like several of the limited Macanudo Estate Reserve releases of the last few years, stunning packaging.  Worth a try, if nothing more than to see what magic can be worked with fifty year old seeds.

 

Foundry_Time Flies_550Tonight I gave blood voluntarily this time (regular readers will remember my last post where a stumble left me bloodied and sore), and after getting home and carbing up, I grabbed another General Cigar newbie, the Foundry Time Flies in a rubusto size.  This is another cigar that was made at AJ Fernandez’ factory in Esteli, it has a Habano 2000 Ecuador wrapper, and the binder and filler are Nicaraguan tobacco cultivated by AJ and his collective of Nicaraguan farmers. I’m already a fan of the vast majority of the output of General’s Foundry division, and this is no different, as a matter of fact, it may be the most widely accessible blend so far. It’s another medium bodied cigar, it has a nice spice and a smooth, rich flavors. The burn was perfect, like a cigar that would cost much more than whatever this cigar costs, wait, I have to go look….OK, I see these for $6.38 for a single at one outlet. I want to find other sizes of these to try, although my La Gloria Cubana/Foundry humidor is a little full right now, I need to do something about that. This and the AJ Fernandez made Hoya were definite highlights of last year’s IPCPR show for me.

 

Contest!  

OK, I need to select a winner for the goodies from General Cigar Co., a Punch Bobblehead, La Gloria Cubana scissors and a col Macanudo cutter. I have several cutters like this and really like using them, they seem to hold up well.  I plugged the numbers into the random number generator at Random.org and came up with the number 3. By my figuring, the third comment was from John Budka! Please send me your address so I can send you goodies, be warned, I am sloppy when I pack boxes, sometimes cigars fall in. Thanks again to Victoria and everyone at General Cigar Co.!

 

One last note: tune in to Kiss My Ash Radio Saturday because Kevin Shahan will be on talking about his CigarProp, a beautifully machined cigar stand that I’m proud to use, and you heard about it here first! Kevin has been a long time reader and friend, I hope Abe isn’t too rough on him! I kid. That’s all for now,  until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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Foundry, Montecristo, Civil Disobedience and Matilde Cigars from IPCPR

Foundry_Time Flies_550Earlier this week the news came out that Michael Giannini, the creative director and General Cigar, and the mastermind behind the Foundry cigar line, had left the company after 17 years. I met Michael back in 2010 at the IPCPR show, when got to spend a few days with him at the factory in the Dominican Republic which was really educational.  He’s one of my favorite people in the business, and it’s hard to imagine General Cigar without him.  So to honor him on Thursday I broke out the IPCPR samples and lit up the new offering from Foundry Tobacco Co., and a cigar Michael worked on with AJ Fernandez, the new Foundry Time Flies. The samples provided are robustos, 5″ x 50, and has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, and binder and fillers from Nicaragua’s Quilali region, cultivated by AJ Fernandez and his  farmers collective. Quilali is about halfway between Esteli and Jalapa, I looked it up as I hadn’t heard of it before (still haven’t TimeFlies Boxesfound the famed Jalapeño Valley yet). I dare say, this cigar was the best cigar of the week. It was just what I have been enjoying in cigars recently, smooth, a little sweet, not too strong with some interesting spice flavors. The branding on this is interesting, it features a stylized skull on a prism kind of band, and the boxes are another example of something I noticed at the trade show, bright colors. Each size s in a different colored box, and the are not subtle colors. It’s a very well made, great tasting cigar.

 

Montecristo_PiloticoPepeMendez_toroAnother IPCPR sample was a new one from Montecristo, the Montecristo Pilotico Pepe Mendez in the Toro size. This toro is a 6¼” x 52, and has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Dominican binder, and both Nicaraguan and Dominican Pilotico fillers. The Pilotico varietal is an old seed that Pepe Mendez brought from Cuba in the ’60s and revitalized in the Cibao Valley in the DR. There was some of  this tobacco in the Montecristo 80th anniversary cigar that was out last year. It was hard to find anything bad to say about this cigar, it burned right, it had nice flavors along the leathery lines, with a hint of sweetness. It’s one of those cigars that is, no doubt, I very good cigar, but not in line with my preferred flavors. There are a few Montecristos I really like, most on the mild end of the spectrum. The box is cool with an old-timey suitcase motif, paying homage to Pepe Mendez’ traverls in the 60s to find the right area to plant his prized seeds.

 

MoyaRuiz_Civil DisobedienceSaturday afternoon I sat down with a Moya Ruiz Civil Disobedience. While they had this cigar at the IPCPR show, and have moved it from “event only” to regular production, this sample came to me through the generosity of a gentleman named Dave Payne. I met Dave at the show in July, he has a PR firm, but I first started corresponding with him when he had a cigar blog called The Cigar Sage. We had started around the same time, and compared notes from time to time. Dave was kind enough to send me some goodies that I didn’t have access to, and I am overdue in returning his generosity. Anyway, this is another well made cigar from the La Zona factory, with an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan filler and binder. It’s only available in a 5″ x 50 robusto, and proceeds from the sales goes to Cigar Rights of America. Once again, it’s a great smoke from La Zona, with that leathery profile that isn’t particularly my favorite, but it certainly wasn’t offensive. I was more in awe of the perfect burn and draw than that flavor. This is another cigar that did “wow” me, but was still very good, and I appreciate Dave sharing it with me. There are a couple more he sent that will be featured here in the very near future. I need to get to work on that reciprocal package!

 

Matilde_RenacerQuadrata_TorpedoSaturday evening i sat down with one more IPCPR sample, the Matilde Renacer Quadrata, a box pressed  6″ x 52 torpedo.  I first sampled the Matilde Renacer after it was released, and had some issues with the burn on the samples I had, they had a core of tobacco that refused to burn, making smoking it a very messy affair (especially in the car!). I didn’t get a very good feel for the cigar which I really wanted to like. However, when I finally got around to smoking the Matilde Oscura, I thought it was fantastic, right in my wheelhouse. All that being said, I was looking forward to smoking this new box pressed iteration of the original Renacer blend. I’m happy to report that this box pressed torpedo had none of the burn problems I initially experienced and was a really god cigar. I still lean toward the Osucura in this brand (heavily), but the Quadrata is a really good smoke. Jose Seijas and his son Enrique are outstanding people, and they make some darned good cigars.

 

That’s enough for now, my wife is pressuring me to get out the door to go up to Cigars International’s Downtown Bethlehem store for the afternoon, so I better get moving! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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A Gurkha, a 1502, New Bolivar and Ramon Allones Cigars

Gurkha_CellarReserve_Platinum_HedonismThursday I dug into the sampler pack that Gurkha gave me at the trade show, and came out of it with the newest addition to their Cellar Reserve line, the 12 year aged Platinum in the 6″ x 58 Hedonism size. This is a nice perfecto shaped cigar with a Ecuador Oscuro wrapper (and I can’t guess what actual varietal that might be, couple be a Connecticut fermented to a dark color, or something else…hard to tell). The band boasts a “blend strength” of 98%, again, not sure what that means as it was a perfect medium in strength to my palate. It also has a Nicaraguan binder and 12 year old fillers from Esteli, Congega and Jalapa in Nicaragua. It’s made in the Dominican Republic. Aside from all the marketing buzzwords and vague information on the blend, what I found it to be was a very good tasting cigar. It was creamy and smooth and quite nice.  There was no shortage of flavor, it was by no means mild, and was probably my second favorite of the four blends in the Cellar Reserve line, second to the maduro Limitada with the Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper. I owe the Edicion Especial with the Corojo wrapper another shot as I smoked one in New Orleans outside in hot, soupy weather and it wasn’t the best representation of that cigar I don’t think. There are quite a few Gurkha cigars I like, and this happens to be one of them.

 

1502_BlackGold_ToroFriday I wrapped up the work week with a 1502 Black Gold toro that I had in the humidor for a couple years.  This has always been my favorite in the 1502 range, it’s got a deep, dark maduro wrapper that I want to say is San Andrés from Mexico if I recall.  I like the way the wrapper leaf is folded around the foot off the cigar on all the lines, it’s a nice touch, and you get a little bit more wrapper flavor on the light. It has to add cost to the process though.  Anyway, it was 1502 owner Enrique Sanchez’ birthday Friday, so I thought it seemed appropriate to smoke one of his cigars. I had some trouble keeping this one lit for some reason, but it has the dark and dirty black coffee and earth flavor that I really like. All of the 1502 cigars are great smokes, this one, when it burns right, is always a favorite. Oddly, when I smoked the 1502 line in the Lancero size last year, I think the Emerald was my favorite, and the same with the coronas. Maybe the flavor I really like from the Black Gold wrapper needs to be tempered by more filler, too much of a good thing, you know.

 

Bolivar_550As usual, when I toured General Cigar‘s booth at the IPCPR show, I had no idea what to expect from their Foundry division. I knew that  Sam Leccia was working under that umbrella, but one never can tell what’s going on in the creative mind of Michael Giannini.  I was surprised to find that his latest project was the re-imagining of the Bolivar and Ramon Allones brands.  I sparked up the Bolivar first in the 550 size. This has an unfinished foot and a curly-q pigtail cap, and is a nice, dark cigar. As is the custom with Foundry, all we know about the blend is that it’s  six country blend. If FTC_Bolivar_LRI had to guess, I’d say this has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, based on the delicious and lush espresso/cocoa flavor. As you might guess, I really liked this cigar, it had the dark, bitter flavors I like, with a hint of sweetness.  It burned perfectly and that uncut foot gave a huge blast of wrapper flavor on the light. The box art is pretty sharp, featuring images of the bands that Bolivar has used over the one hundred or so years it’s been on the market. I am not over fond of the bands on the cigars, though, I am afraid it makes the cigar look like an inexpensive bundle instead of the fine premium cigar that it is.

 

Ramon Allones_550The Ramon Allones 550 shares the same sizes as the Bolivar line, but is a Nicaraguan puro, and that’s all the information available on the blend.  The presentation follows the same theme as well, with the Ramon Allones having a blue band where the Bolivar has red.  I will never forget the first Cuban Ramon Allones I ever smoked, a “Specially Selected” robusto back in the late ’90s. This cigar was so peppery that I could still feel the tingle on my tongue the next day.  I’ve had others since and never had that much pepper, but still enjoyed the cigars.  The new version Michael Giannini has put together has FTC_Ramon-Allones_LRnone of that. Once again, the uncut foot showcases the dark Nicaraguan wrapper upon lighting, and it’s a blast of what I can only associate with sourdough bread.  The sourdough flavor persisted throughout the cigar. Again, the construction was perfect, and it burned and drew great.  I have to say, I would lean toward the Bolivar if I had to choose between the two, I’m not a fan of the sour flavors, but there are those who are, and the Ramon Allones is a very good choice if that is your preference.  I look forward to trying both of these in the other sizes to see how they differ. Again, I’d like to see a classier band, but that’s just me, there’s no denying that they will stand out on the shelf.

 

One thing I’ve noticed as I’m writing this article is that companies are still slow to update their websites to reflect the new releases. It’s now almost two months after the IPCPR show where some of these cigars were released and the only information I can find are on media sites. I should think that should be a priority in 2015, and it’s not that difficult to expensive to do, like the old days when they would have to re-print a catalog or something. It’s just something that continues to befuddle me. On another note, since my wife is going to be selling books at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention near Baltimore this weekend, I am going to be looking for cigar shops to waste time in. The Humidour in Cockeysville, MD is first on the list, but if anyone is in the area please let me know, I will be down there Thursday, Friday and Saturday. That’s enough from me, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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