Tag Archives: KFC

Rodriguez Cigars, a Few Favorites and a Kentucky Fire Cured Revisit

Spring is upon us finally, although we got through this winter relatively easily. I always look forward to warmer weather!  This week I enjoyed a few cigars I really love, the Umbagog Toro Toro, and the E.P. Carillo Seleccion Oscuro Especial No. 6, both 6″ x 52 parejos that’s my preferred size, and both maduros, with the former being Connecticut broadleaf and the latter being Mexican San Andrés Negro. The two cigars aren’t that similar, but both overwhelm the palate with rich flavors and have heavy espresso notes in common, with Umbagog being sweeter and the Oscuro Especial being earthier and dirtier. I love them both, and never have regrets when I light either one up. They are two cigars I could see having in a rotation (of about 20) if I were to hang up my blog hat and settle into some normal semblance of cigar consumerism. As it is, I like to enjoy one of these every now and again, they are both so good.

 

For some reason I have been wanting to revisit a Drew Estate MUWAT Kentucky Fire Cured lately, and I’m not sure why. I actually really like the Swamp Thang line extension now and then, heck, I’ll just say it, I’d smoke it more than now and then, I don’t so the novelty doesn’t wear off. I didn’t care for the KFC when I smoked a prototype at the factory in Nicaragua in 2013, it was too campfirey for me, but I’ve grown to enjoy the production version after some humidor time, and I have a handful that have been in the humidor for quite a while. So I went all in and grabbed a “Just a Friend” which is the 6″ x 52 toro, again, a size I like, and “fired” it up. I have a couple smaller vitolas, including a Flying Pig, floating around, but I figured I’d commit. It had the campfire on the pre-light, but no hint once lit, which is fine by me. I would put this cigar on the savory end of the spectrum flavor-wise, maybe leathery. It’s good, enjoyable, but I think I like the what the Candela adds to the blend in the Swamp Thang version better, it’s just a little more interesting to me. It’s not a cigar that I’d avoid, that’s for sure.

 

Last week I saw an article on Cigar Aficionados website about the formation of the Coalition of American Cigar Rollers, and one of the companies mentioned was Rodriguez Cigar Factory in Key West, Florida. I hadn’t heard of this factory until a few months ago when my neighbors who winter in Florida happened to send me a box of five of their Reserva Privada series Torpedos from a visit. I had set this little box aside in the humidor not knowing how long it had been out of proper conditions, and kinda forgot about it until this article reminded me of it, so I figured last night would be the right time to give one a try. The Reserva Privada has a four year aged Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, which is on the darker side in my opinion (I wasn’t sure it was Connecticut until looking it up actually), with Nicaraguan fillers and binder, rolled in Key West. The torpedo is a perfectly formed 6″ x 52 with a pointy head like a Perdomo torpedo and burned perfectly with an ideal draw, even though I snipped a rather small bit off the end to start. I was very impressed with this smooth, rich tasting cigar. It was elegant, with a caramel sweetness that was enjoyable. I am a bit jaded, and often go into cigars like this wondering if they will be either just another cigar, or worse, but this was a very nice smoke, and worthy of attention. It’s even priced well for a U.S. manufactured product.

 

That’s enough from me for now. It’s supposed to be nice today, and I have some things I want to get done in the yard, and I have the day off, so there are cigars to smoke too. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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CigarCraig’s Holiday Giveaways No. 3 – Drew Estate Goodies!

Happy New Year’s Eve to everyone,  2017 is just about in the books, the year went by really fast.  I honestly don’t know what to expect from 2018, but I’ll keep smoking cigars, visiting shops and going to events I suspect. So I wish everyone a safe and happy 2018, and be careful out there tonight!  I’ll be finding an appropriate cigar to smoke this evening, that’s for sure.  Anyway, there’s the business of selecting the winner of the La Gloria Cubana Contest, which includes a travel humidor and a dozen La Gloria LaGloriaCubana ContestCubana cigars. The random number generator selected Trent Berry as the winner!  Trent, please send me your address so I can ship this off to you!  Once again, thanks to Rami at General Cigar Co., Cigar Cigars in King Of Prussia for having a great event with Ernesto Carillo which caused me to open my wallet and end up with a cool humidor to give away, and of course, General Cigar Co, for being an awesome steward of a long loved brand.  Gee, I wonder what today’s giveaway is?

 

Contest (note: not Comic Sans this time Mike P!)

 

DE Contest2017Today’s third and (maybe) final giveaway of the season is a collection of goodies from my friends at Drew Estate. Included are some items that may not be very common in the wild. These are items I’ve received over the course of the year, there’s a Barnsmoker cap from the Connecticut Barn Smoker (I’m not a hat guy), a DE backpack which contained a lighter, ashtray, and other assorted goodies which was from the media party that DE threw at the 2017 IPCPR, some various stickers that I’ve accumulated over the years, some of which are from my last visit to the factory in 2013, and a selection of cigars from my humidor including Undercrowns (and example of each wrapper), a KFC, a Nica Rustica and some Joya de Nicaraguas because Drew Estate distributes them and I have a bunch.  I’ll add to it if I come across more stuff. Once again, it’s not that I don’t appreciate these gifts from Drew Estate, I do, but I like to share my good fortune, and I have lots of “stuff”! You know the de4l, leave a comment here to enter and I’ll pick a winner next Sunday, Jan 7, 2018. As always, thank YOU all for your continued support!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

(I was thinking of making a version of the logo with a party hat and one of those noisemaker, party things, for New Years, but lack the patience for that right now…something for me to work on for next year!)

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CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2015 Day 13: Drew Estate and Broc Jackson

Regular readers will know that around here it’s never over until it’s over! So today is bonus day number one (infer from that what you will), and today we have some great gifts I think you’re going to like. From our friends at Drew Estate, we have not one, but two 10 count bundles of MUWAT Kentucky Fire Cured Fat Molly, the 5″ x 56 chunky, oh, wait, that’s the name of another size in the line, chubby robusto featuring the fire cured Kentucky tobacco, giving it a unique smoky flavor.  As if that wasn’t a great enough item for today’s giveaway, Broc Jackson, the jeweler who makes the great Drew Estate rings and pendants that Jonathan Drew and his team wear, has provided a hand made, silver Kentucky Fire Cured pendant and chain. Broc’s work can be found here, and he can be reached at kensingtonwatchservices(at)yahoo.com. The pictures don’t do it justice, it’s a beautiful piece. He offers a one year warranty on his work and also does custom pieces.  Retail value is $290 on the pendant, and the Fat Molly’s go for about $64 each, so this is a very nice gift indeed.

 

KFC-FatMolly

 

KFC-pendant1KFC-pendant2

 

 

 

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of hand delivering two of the presents again this year. I met Mike and Andrew, winners of days 5 and 6, at a local shop, spent way more than the cost of postage, but it’s OK, I’d rather support my local brick and mortar shop. The winner of the day 12 Gurkha package is Chad Miller. I secretly hope that he is local as this will cost me a fortune to ship! Chad, send me your info!  Thanks again to Bianca and everyone at Gurkha!

 

You know what to do now, leave a comment here, check back tomorrow to see if you won!

 

RULES

 

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on the post of the day, if you can, try to post what you know or how you feel about today’s present, the folks donating the gift should get some feedback for their troubles! It’s not a condition to win, but it’s nice to have something to read. We did this last year and it benefits everyone. Once you’ve won, you’re out, let everyone else have a chance. Must be over 18 to win. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

 

Until tomorrow,

 

CigarCraig

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A MUWAT Kentucky Fire Cured, a J. Fuego, a Villiger and an Editorial

It’s been a weird and busy week. The onset of Autumn bums me out. There were events I could have gone to, but just wanted to be at home.  On weekdays I’m happiest to come home from work and stay there.  I skipped the Delaware Cigar festival yesterday because we were supposed to pick up our son st the airport after a 23 day trip, and I’ve been there the last couple years. Its a great event, don’t get me wrong, and I love seeing old friends, but do you guys really want to hear about it again?  So I’m working on some new and unique cigar adventures in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

 

MUWAT_KFC_JAFThursday evening I was rummaging through the IPCPR samples and came across a Drew Estate My Uzi Weighs a Ton Kentucky Fire Cured “Just a Friend”, which is the toro size in the line.  This is another cigar that utilizes the fire cured tobacco from Kentucky.  I figured since I had just smoked another cigar utilizing this tobacco that it would be interesting to compare.  This cigar is made in the Joya de Nicaragua factory, and, like the Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta, it has a two inch wrapper overlay on the head of the cigar. Jumping ahead a bit, I’ll mention that whatever this leaf is, it doesn’t burn.  I’ll also mention that when I smoked this cigar at the factory a few months ago I found it to be unique and interesting, but not entirely to my liking.  This hasn’t changed.  I personally find what strikes me as a campfire aroma off the unlit foot to be off putting.   That flavor isn’t overpowering in the smoke once it’s lit, it gives it a savory flavor that is interesting.  Obviously, this is just me. Everyone raves about this cigar and it certainly is well made and something that should be experienced.  If I said I loved everything that comes out of my favorite factories I’d be lying.  Smoke it yourself, it may be a cigar you love!

 

Editorial

 

You, no doubt, have read on other cigar media sources of the resignation of Bill Spann as president of the IPCPR.  This probably has little or no relevance to the majority of cigar smokers, but since I interacted with Bill quite a bit over the last couple years, I’m going to bore you for a few minutes with my thoughts on this.  I first “met” Bill in March of last year after I posted  a rant on the IPCPR Internet Media Membership (http://www.cigarcraig.com/?p=3605).  Bill worked with those of us involved to try to make things right with this IPCPR membership category.  We came to an agreement, although there’s still quite a few wrinkles to be ironed out (more on that later).  Bill gave me an open line of communication, even though the president of the association had much better things to do than dealing with the smallest category of membership.  When I did have to contact him, he produced results, and I did my best not to bother him. Of course, the internet media members are members as much as your local tobacconist is, and this is where my rant begins. I hope Bill’s successor gets new media as much as Bill did, and I hope he is able to convince the board to accept us as members, because the Internet Media, and I am going out on a limb speaking for everyone, still feels unwanted.  I’d like to see one of two things happen:  either do away with the membership category and invite the media and bloggers That the IPCPR wants to have at the show, or give us the same consideration as the retail membership gets. Both would require the IPCPR to have one person in charge of the media, one point of contact.  I, for one, am tired of spending a boatload of money to join an association who doesn’t know I’m a member, and travel to the annual show. Unlike a retailer, my income is not derived from the cigar industry, I do what I do because I love doing it, not because it’s my job, and that’s the same with most if not all of the IPCPR New Media members.  Anyway, I wish Bill Spann the best of luck in his future endeavors.  I can imagine that he had a thankless job, but I want to say “Thank you” to him.

 

JFuego_Conn_ToroBack to the cigars!  Yesterday afternoon I dug into the trade show samples and came out with a J. Fuego Connoisseur Classique Toro. First, if anyone from J. Fuego is reading, the size is incorrect on the site, it’s a 6″ x 50 and not a 5″ x 60.  This has a nice looking Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over a San Andrés binder with Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers.  All of this makes for a nice, medium bodied cigar that smoked for almost 2 hours. I really love the 777 Maduro line, and have enjoyed a bunch of other cigars made by Jesus Feugo, this one is probably in the middle for me.  It was good, well behaved, and enjoyable, but not entirely up my alley. Looking at this post so far, I really need to adjust my attitude, the Autumn thing is really getting to me!  This was a very nice cigar though and I enjoyed smoking it on a beautiful late summer afternoon on the deck.

 

Villiger_Selecto_CGAfter dinner I grabbed a Villiger Selecto Corona Gorda. This cigar comes in only Corona Gorda and Lancero, and I would have taken the Lancero for a walk if it wasn’t going to rain. This is a line extension to the Talanga line, as it has the beautiful Talanga Connecticut wrapper, similar binder and fillers.  It’s a refined cigar. It is buttery smooth with loads of nice, mild flavors that dance across the palate.  After smoking the 5″ x 46 Corona Gorda, I can’t wait to try that Lancero.  It’s not a super mild, grassy Connecticut, it’s got a lot more.  Perhaps the Nicaragua Ometepe filler leaf makes the difference. All I can say is it’s damned good, and I’d say that even if I didn’t like the Villiger company as much as I do.  They are a good bet whether you need a quick machine made cigar or a fine premium.  Another job well done with the Selecto!

 

Also, From the folks at NewestCigars.com:

NewestCigars.com is finally official and we’re pretty excited about our new website. Please see the attached press release. We’re having a website launch party with Asylum, CLE, Edgar Hoill and Wynwood in Detroit, and we’re also giving away a 5 pack of new cigars each week for a year in The Great Cigar Giveaway, visit our website to enter.

That’s enough of my nonsense for a beautiful Sunday. I have to go to the airport later today to pick up the son who I had to reschedule flights for yesterday! I may get a walk in before having to leave!

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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