Tag Archives: JR Cigars

by Craig Vanderslice | April 7, 2024 · 9:40 am

Some Boneshaker Boneyard Cigars from JR Cigars

This is the third and final instalment of the Boneshaker series. JR Cigars sent these three 4-packs to me without prior warning, and it seemed like an interesting idea do a bit of a vertical tasting, I guess. It was fun to try the same blends in different sizes, in some cases it made a big difference. This week I smoked the Boneshaker Boneyard series. The base Boneshaker line and the Boneshaker Full Body Cast lines came in the same sizes. The Boneyard has the same names, but the sizes are different, with the exception of the War Hammer, which is the cigar I started with in all three lines. The War Hammer is the 6″ x 60. When I looked at the Bonyard “flight”, I noticed that the wrapper on this one was darker and oilier. It was very attractive, to me at least. This line is a Nicaraguan puro, made in the NACSA factory. This one started with some heat, spicy pepper. It had a heavy molasses sweetness and was unique and enjoyable. My only complaint with this one was that the ash fell off unexpectedly about a half in in and made a mess.

I’m not sure if it was the wrapper or not, but the other three cigars in this line were different, and not just the sizes. Next up was the toro, the Maul. In the other lines it was a 6″ x 54, this one it was a 6″ x 50. The Nicaraguan wrapper was lighter than the War Hammer, and while it still stated spicy, it never fully developed that dark molasses sweetness. It was good, burned well, and I kept an eye on the ash. I think it was more woody tasting, with the molasses sneaking in during the second half. It’s funny how thin a 50 ring gauge cigar feels nowadays.

The Mace in this line is 5″ x 52, as opposed to the 4½” x 60 0f the other two lines. This one was oddly drying to my palate, and had a sourness throughout. It also had a bit of a tight draw, which could have led to the flavor differences. This was my least favorite of the bunch. One wonders why the sizes for these were different when they came from the same factory. I think the other two lines were more consistent in flavor across the sizes. One would think that maybe this blend didn’t work in the other sizes? I wish the secondary band actually had the name of the line on it, it took me a while to get the stylized headstones and make the connection.

The Morning Star had the biggest difference in size, with the Boneyard version being a 6½” x 52 torpedo as opposed to the 5″ x 56 belicoso. I like a longer cigar, so this was OK with me, and I hoped that it would be as good as the gordo was. This one reminded me of dark bread. When I was a kid my mom would buy this date nut bread in a can, which we would slice up and eat with cream cheese. Imagine bread in the shape of canned cranberry sauce. I wonder if this is still around? I’ll have to look. Anyway, there was a dark molasses component to this one as well, and the burn and draw were spot on. JR’s sells this line with the largest size coming in around $4 a cigar by the box, with is a great bargain. If it were me, I’d go big in this line. I think the original Boneshaker line was my favorite of the bunch, but all of them were interesting, not your run of the mill bargain cigar by any stretch. You can get an even better price if you go through this affiliate link! Thanks to JR Cigars for allowing my to sample through the range of these three lines.

We were going to head to the north-western part of the state today to catch tomorrow’s eclipse, but decided to stay home because the weather didn’t look favorable. I’ll have to stop at a few local shops to see if any of them have any of the Ashton VSG Eclipse size, if not I have other VSGs on hand, as well as other sungrown cigars. Hopefully the weather holds out here. I’d also like to welcome Flatbed Cigar Co. to the CigarCraig family. They make the Panacea brand and are based here in PA. Look for some Panacea cigars featured in the near future as I bought a sampler (and the purchase experience was exceptional!). That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Boneshaker, Boneyard, cigar, cigars, JR Cigars, Mace, MAul, Morning Star, WAr HAmmer

by Craig Vanderslice | March 31, 2024 · 10:05 am

Some Boneshaker Full Body Cast Cigars from JR Cigars

This is the second of a three part series on the Boneshaker line of cigars from JR Cigars. This time I went through the Boneshaker Full Body Cast range, which is offerent in the same sizes as the regular Boneshaker line, a 6″ x 60 War Hammer, a 6″ x 54 Maul, a 4½ x 60 Mace and the 5″ x 56 Morning Star. This line has an Ecuadorian wrapper, a Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua. I smoked them in the same order as I did last week, starting with the War Hammer. This is a 6″ x 60 Gordo. The sizes are all named after medieval weapons, perhaps because the cigars are powerful, which I suppose they are. The cigar starts with a strong pepper and some sweetness, which continues throughout. Good burn and draw, nice cigar.

Next was the Boneshaker Full Body Cast Maul. This is the 6″ x 54 toro, me favorite size cigar. I have a Maul I use to split wood, although I don’t have a fireplace any more, and don’t cut down any trees. Mainly I use it in place of a sledge hammer these days. This cigar might have been a little more straight forward than the gordo, but not much. I didn’t really note any difference, starts with a strong pepper and the Habano wrapper over the broadleaf binder gives it some sweetness. Good smoke. These all come out of the NACSA factory in Esteli.

Saturday afternoon we had my daughter and her family visiting, so I did something I normally wouldn’t do, and smoked the Mace and the Morning Star back to back after they had left. I wouldn’t ever do this if I were evaluating different cigars, but I figured it would be OK with the same blend in different sizes. I started with the Mace, the 4½ x 60. One might call this a Nub, but that’s a brand, so is it a petitt gordo? Gordo minor? I have to say that it’s not a bad size for a cigar. Sometimes one needs a four or four and a half inch cigar, and 60 seems to be the new 50. Nothing overly different in the flavor profile. I was watching hockey on the porch, so I followed the Mace with the Morning Star. When I first looked at the size names I thought Morning Star seemed out of place, then I did a little research and see that it fits in with the rest. A Morning Star is a mace with a spiky ball, a pretty nasty looking weapon. This is a 5 x 56 torpedo. Same profile, slightly different experience because of the shape. One interesting thing, not sure if it’s coincidental or not, but the last few nights after having smoked this line, I had some really weird dreams. Maybe these have more nicotine than I think? I didn’t have trouble falling asleep, except for after waking from the dreams and lying awake thinking WTF? These are good smokes if you like them strong. Personally I liked the regular line more, and I look forward to trying the Boneyard line extension next.

As with last week, the links included in this are affiliate links. With the exception of one person making a large buy, I’m not getting much action from them. If you happen to buy from JR Cigars or Cigars.com, I could use a couple more dollars to buy cigars and you might get a discount! If you celebrate, Happy Easter. I hope all your dried out cigars can be rehumidified and come back to life. That’s all for today, until the next time.

CigarCraig

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Some Boneshaker Cigars from JR Cigars

This post, and the next couple that follow, are something a little bit different for me. The folks at JR Cigars shared line samplers of three of their Boneshaker brand cigars, and I have been looking forward to trying them. I started out with the Boneshaker line, what I assume is the original. These are made at NACSA, the factory that makes some really great cigars, Mi Querida, Patina and Dapper come immediately to mind. They also crank out a ton of bundle cigars for JR, who I believe has an ownership interest, along with the Oliva tobacco company. I’ve been a fan of this factory’s work, which is one reason I was looking forward to these. The Boneshaker has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. These top out around $4 each, making them an exceptional bargain (five packs seems to be the way to buy, oddly enough). Any links included here are affiliate links, so I’ll get a little juice off of any sales (still waiting for this to happen!). I started with the largest in the range, the Boneshaker War Hammer. This is 6″ x 60. They very nicely kept the vitola names standard across the various lines, more on that later. This cigar starts with a strong pepper spice, and has a long finish. I think the larger ring tempered the strength a little, as this wasn’t as strong as I was led to believe. It’s still a powerhouse!

Next I smoked the Boneshaker Maul, which is the 6″ x 54 toro. This one might have been the strongest of the four, with the pepper tingle being nearly off putting. Naturally, I soldiered on, and really enjoyed the cigar. These have a nice Broadleaf sweetness once you acclimate to the pepper. There’s also a tobacco in the blend that has a cloying effect, like when you eat licorice and it coats your tongue. So far, this line has a unique flavor that I’m enjoying. I’m oddly drawn to the band, I’m not generally a skull and bones fan, but it reminds me of another brand I’m fond of.

Saturday afternoon I sat on the porch and watched the first period of the Flyers game with the 4½” x 60 Boneshaker Mace. This started out with a hint of sourness, along with that licorice-like mouth coating feeling. This might be the strongest in flavor of the bunch. It’s amazing how an inch and a half difference changes the overall experience. Still a powerhouse, loads of flavor. Might be my favorite of the line. I can’t help but draw some parallels to JR’s competitor’s house brand (which also has lines in national distribution). As I look a little further, it looks like the Boneshaker brand is available in distribution, so you might find them in your local shop.

Finally, I smoked the Boneshaker Morning Star, with is a 5″ x 56 torpedo, or maybe belicoso. Let’s call it a figurado. I enjoyed this cigar too! Again, these have a uniqueness to them. It’s almost like it’s enhanced in some way to make it stand out from others (thinking like pipe tobacco is cased, perhaps they use something in the water). I don’t think there’s anything more than tasty tobacco though, and I like it. I wasn’t overwhelmed with nicotine strength on any of these, they just hit me right. I like this line and look forward to trying the Full Body Cast and Boneyard versions. In the Boneyard line, they seem to have strayed from the sizes, the Maul is a 6″ x50, and the Morning Star is a 6″ x 52 torpedo. I find this interesting because they come from the same factory. I suppose I’ll smoke the Full Body Cast this week so when I mention the size thing with the Boneyard it won’t seem so repetitive. To recap, I think my order of preference is Mace, Warhammer, Morning Star and Maul, which is weird because the Toro is my preferred size.

A lot of my friends and colleagues are in Vegas right now for the PCA show. I hope to make it back next year when it’s in New Orleans and in April. This year it just didn’t make sense. Please use my affiliate links if you shop at JR or Cigars.com so that I can stay in a hotel when I go! That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Boneshaker, cigar, cigars, JR Cigars, Mace, Morning Star

by Craig Vanderslice | February 13, 2024 · 9:17 pm

Crowned Heads Mother Church a JR Cigars Exclusive and a Contest

Mother Church is a nickname for Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium, the “Mother Church of Country Music”, and it’s the name of an exclusive cigar by Crowned Heads for JR Cigars. This is a Churchill, I just got it…Church…Churchill? andyway, I like Churchills a lot. It seems like maybe the wrong time of year for large cigars in the Northeast, but I have the time and a warm enough smoking area, so I’m good with taking an hour and a half or so for a smoke. The Mother Church is 7″ x 48, has an Ecuador Corojo wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and Nicaraguan fillers, made in the Pichardo factory in Nicaragua.

I found this to be a woody and nutty cigar, I didn’t get any real sweetness, but there were some mild spices here and there. The burn and draw were excellent, it was a very well made cigar. I’d like to share some of these with someone, so let’s have a giveaway! I have a five pack of Mother Church, and I’ll add five other cigars to go with them for a total of ten cigars. Usual CigarCraig rules apply, leave a comment on this post to enter, you must be 21 or older to be eligible, and I’ll select a winner on Sunday, February 18. The links in this post are affiliate links, any purchases thought those links may put a couple dollars towards my expenses!

That’s all for today, until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Crowned Heads, JR Cigars, Mother Church, Pichardo

by Craig Vanderslice | November 26, 2023 · 9:57 am

A Drew Estate Nightshade and a Few Lampert Cigars

Thanksgiving is behind us and we have Christmas and Hanukkah to look forward to, then New Years and we can start this whole mess all over again! As we’ve done for the past few years, I’ve started a CigarCraig Secret Santa through Elfster. You can go HERE to sign up. It’s a simple $40 minimum, send what you like. I send without expectation, it isn’t a trade, I look at it as gifting, I don’t worry about getting! I think that’s the most healthy way to go into these things. So far there are 7 people signed up, let’s get a bunch of people this year! I also have some of the usual holiday giveaways planned, so stay tuned! I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend!

I smoked a few new cigars this weekend, one wasn’t new but new to me. I’ve been hearing about the JR Cigars Exclusive Drew Estate Nightshade for quite a while and never got around to trying it, so I ordered a five pack recently. Don’t forget to click through the JR Cigars and Cigars.com affiliate links on the left sidebar if you order from either place! I got the 5″ x 52 robusto because that’s what was available in a fiver at the time, of course I would rather have had the toro. This cigar has a maduro Connecticut Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. I think this falls somewhere near a Nica Rustica and an Undercrown Maduro for me, which both have Broadleaf wrappers, so are sweeter. This is a little earthier than those, but it has a nice flavor, for a reasonable price, it’s an interesting cigar. I think if you like the Liga Privada T52, you’ll enjoy this. I think you can get a box of 20 for around a c-note. That moves it well into the great cigar for the price category.

I’ve recently gotten a sampler of cigar courtesy of Lampert cigars, a company I’ve heard of, but haven’t really seen on local shelves. I tried three this week and will attache the other three next week. I tried to arrange them logically, next weeks will be the three in the Nicaraguan 1675 line, this week I smoked the cigars made in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. The first one was the Lampert 1593 Oscura. Lampert is another company that devotes one size per blend apparently, with this one coming in a 6″ x 52 toro. Is it any wonder I was drawn to it first? It’s listed as having a Mexican wrapper, Indonesian binder and Dominican filers. The factory is called El Maestro, which is the smaller William Ventura factory, the one that didn’t burn down. I don’t have a track record of liking cigars from this factory, however this one is an exception, it was really good. I questioned the wrapper seed varietal, which is listed simply as “Mexican”. It clearly isn’t San Andrés to my palate, it was more reminiscent of Sumatra, and I was told that it was Indonesian grown in Mexico, and since Sumatra is in Indonesia, I’m going to go with that. It’s good. It has some of that cane sweetness I like, along with just good tobacco. It’s a really nice cigar.

Next up was the Lampert Ocean Breeze. This is a 5″ x 54 Robusto with an Ecuador wrapper and binder and “undisclosed” fillers. I’m told that some tobaccos in this blend are aged near the ocean, hence the name, and I’m not sure about that, and the name sounds more like a cologne than a cigar, but what do I know, I’m just some cynical old jackass who smokes cigars. I do know that this cigar, along with the next one, is made at the Tobaccos de Costa Rica factory, the same factory that makes Atabey, Byron, Bandelero, Alphonso, apparently some El Septimos, used to make Mbombay Cigars, and, as far as I know, still makes Vegas de Santiago. I go back 20 years with Vegas de Santiago, they made some great, affordable cigars back then. Last I heard, they got rollers from Cuba on special work visas and sorta rotated them in and out as the visa allowed. It’s rumored that they use some Cuban tobacco in the blends, but Villiger tells me there’s some in the Exports too, so believe what you want. Back to the Ocean Breeze, this was a really well made cigar, and was very interesting. I found it to be bright and a bit floral, perhaps that’s the saltiness from the ocean? My compadre Kaplowitz likes this cigar, he likes stuff that isn’t necessarily in my wheelhouse.

Finally, the other cigar made a the Costa Rican factory is the Lampert Oro Don Patron. The band has a top hat wearing, bearded gent who should probably have a monocle, but does not. This is the mild line, with an Ecuador wrapper (obviously a Connecticut Shade variety), an Ecuador binder and Dominican and Peruvian fillers. This is a really well crafted cigar with a perfect burn and a well formed ash, and when I lead with construction, most of my regular readers know that I’m not excited about the flavors. True, this isn’t my style of cigar, it’s light, creamy, with some herbal and gassiness. It’s very good, if that’s what you’re looking for. I had just had Thanksgiving redux for dinner (day three!), something with more weight would have been better, but I’m not doing this for me, readers…I’d say if you are a fan of the Atabey, this will probably be a good fit for you. No idea what they cost, gotta think it’s less than the Atabey! So far, the Lampert line is impressing me.