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Contest: Welcome Fox Cigars Episode Two!

OK, so let’s do another giveaway! As we continue to celebrate our new friendship with Fox Cigars, let’s announce the winner of last weeks giveaway before we get on with this weeks. But first…I’ve been announcing things like this on various Facebook groups for years now, and I think I have to stop  doing that now. It seems that Facebook frowns upon any sort of tobacco transactions on their platform whatsoever, and has even shut down some groups because of this. I think one of the largest cigar groups on Facebook is gone now. Anyway, I’ll post a link to my root domain with a very general message that there’s something of interest there, just to not rock the boat, I don’t want to be the cause of any groups being shut down. I’ll continue to put this on Instagram, but I’ll be a little careful! Anyway, I made a list  of all of the people who commented on the blogpost and Instagram and assigned them a number in the interest of fairness. The winner of the Perdomo goodies is @imatexican8  who was an Instagram entry. Several people took advantage of multiple entries, and many people are Blazing Saddles fans! @imatexican8 needs to send me his address so I can mail out his winnings!  

 

Episode Dos!

Round two of our celebration of Fox Cigars features some Oliva goodies. We have a Nub cap, another awesome Lotus lighter, this one is a nice single jet torch with a double punch which comes out of the side, and an eight pack of cigars.

 

There are a couple of Nubs, a few Oliva Serie Os, a couple Oliva Serie Gs, and a Cain Daytona. All nice really cigars.  So, leave a comment to enter! I’m going to post this on Instagram, and I’m going to include comments on that post as well, just to make my life more difficult, so you can get two chances.  As usual, you must be of legal smoking age in your jurisdiction to win (and even that’s getting to be a PITA these days!), one entry per person  (per site). I’ll select a winner next Wednesday, August 7, 2019. Once again, thanks to Rob at Fox Cigars!  

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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A Mardi Gras, a Cain, a CigarCraig Safari Blend and a La Sirena

MardiGras_TorpedoLast year at the IPCPR show a little corner booth caught our eye, primarily due to the model they had working there. Oddly, my wife was the one who talked to her while she was getting in costume. Call me a cigar geek, but I’m afraid I get distracted by all the cigars at the show. Anyway, this young lady was IMG_0693representing Mardi Gras Cigars, which is a house brand of The Huntington Humidor in Huntington Village, NY. They call the Mardi Gras their own special, extra aged Double Ligero Corojo creation, and I smoked a corona at the show which was a pretty nice smoke, and came home with a torpedo and a corona. I finally smoked the torpedo on Thursday evening. I’ve already told you all I know about the blend, and the flavor was very nice. The construction gave me some problems as it refused to burn right. I had various issues including requiring frequent re-lights, poor draw and uneven burn. MardiGras BoxesIt’s almost as if the cigar was over humidified, but it was in the humidor since July of last year and I’ve smoked countless other cigars from that humidor.  I’ll have to give the corona a try one of these days, maybe it’s just a torpedo thing.  There aren’t many things more disappointing than struggling with a cigar.

 

Cain_NubFriday evening called for a great cigar, first because it’s Friday, and second because Thursday’s smoke was less than satisfying.  I was digging around for a shorter smoke and I came across a Cain Habano 460 which was given to me by Sam Leccia (who, at that time, was still with Oliva) at the 2011 IPCPR show.  I had forgotten about this (as well as a 4×60 Padilla Reserve Maduro Short Robusto…tough decision!). The Cain was what I was craving so it got the nod. I like Cain Habanos with some age quite a bit. This is one line where the maduro seems to be at the bottom of the list for me.  I don’t quite know why that is, but I prefer the Cain F, Daytona and Habano much more.  This cigar burned perfectly and tasted great.  Of course, when you choose a 4×60 and think it’s a short cigar, it’s short in length only, not necessarily smoking time. This size can certainly smoke longer than a robusto unless you have really fat fingers!  I suspect these are readily available now, when it was given to me it was something of a rarity.  This was a perfectly satisfying smoke.

 

CC_CigarSafariBlend2013Saturday we finally had some warm weather!  It was in the 50s all day and some of the piles of snow are starting to get a little smaller, and some of the tree limbs that came down in the ice storm a few weeks ago are re-appearing.  Those will have to get cleaned up soon!  I took a nice, long afternoon walk with one of the cigars I blended at CigarSafari last year.  This blend consisted of a San Andreas Negro wrapper with a Cameroon binder.  I used Brazilian Mata Fina, some Ometepe and Jalapa Ligero  in the filler. After 10 months in the humidor these haven’t changed too much. The first half is a little dry, I like the flavor, but I may have been over ambitious and have too much going on, the flavors fight with one another too much.  The second half mellows out to what I wanted it to be, a smooth and chocolate barrage of flavor.  I think sticking with a neutral binder is the way to go for me.  I don’t really care how the cigar tastes though, every time I smoke one I’m reminded of an exceptional experience in Nicaragua.

 

LaSirena_TridentAfter dinner, which was take out from a fairly new fish place specializing in  North Carolina style cuisine, Triton Seafood, I fished out a La Sirena Trident again.  I really have to bury this box or it will not last the summer.  Once again, this is a Churchill sized cigar with a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper, double binders of Nicaraguan Corojo and Habano and fillers of Nicaraguan Criollo ’98 & Nicaraguan Corojo ’06, all rolled at Pepin Garcia’s My Father factory in Esteli. How can you go wrong with that recipe and pedigree!  It is, indeed, a delicious cigar.  I love the dark, lush flavors and the construction is top notch.  I definitely have to move this box to the bottom of the coolerdor, it’s much to easy to reach in and grab one in a moment of indecision, and I have hopes of enjoying more than one of these in the pool on a hot summer day (perfect given the aquatic theme)! By the way, the Fish and Chips was pretty good, although we probably should have eaten in instead of taking it home as it would have been better piping hot! Their hush puppies were delicious!

 

That’s it for now. It’s another 50-something degree day, so I want to get out and clear some more of the snow off the patio before tonight when it goes and rains/snows again.  My back hurts, but it’s nice to be outside without freezing!  I’ll have to find some interesting cigars to smoke today…

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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Gurkhas and Nubs, ORTSACS and La Palinas – Cigars and Hockey

Today is Easter Sunday here, and we had the family over for breakfast. Not that I would normally have a cigar in the morning, but I usually spend my Sunday mornings writing, so that’s why today’s post is a bit later than usual.  I will, no doubt, have a cigar later today when things settle down.  It may not surprise you to know that I managed to smoke a cigar or  two this week, here’s the rundown. The last part of the week was kind of a blur, so I’ll do the best I can. I stuck with some favorites, I needed a change of pace.

Gurkha_SeductionThursday I went to the Flyers game with my brother-in-law, Jeff.  On the drive down we fired up a couple Gurkha Seduction robustos.  This is a cigar that really suits me.  I love the flavor of this Ecuador Habano wrapped cigar, and it’s perfectly made.  I’ve been using nothing but my new Xikar XV cutter since I got it, and the V cut worked perfectly. It was a delicious cigar that perfectly fit the hour long drive from home to the Wells Fargo Center in Philly.  I would have preferred it if the Flyers had won, they blew a 2 goal lead then Nub464T_Cameroonlost in a shoot out against the Islanders.  After the game we retired to the cigar bar once again. I find sometimes my time is better spent having a cigar there as opposed to sitting in traffic.  I had a couple Nub 464Ts in my pocket and I smoked a Cameroon.  I hadn’t thought about it when I grabbed these, but I only had the V cutter. As it works out, the V cut on the torpedo wasn’t terrible, and it worked out OK on this tasty Cameroon wrapped cigar.  The 464T is not a short smoke, we left about thirty minutes into the cigars and they just about lasted the drive back home.

 

ORTSAC_1962_HabanoFriday I took a walk with an ORTSAC 1962 Habano.  This is a cigar that was gifted to me by Victor Vitale, cigar maker, importer & distributor a few months ago.  It came in a neat little box with another Habano and two of the San Andreas varieties. It’s no secret that I adore the San Andreas, as a matter of fact, I will be on a mission to get some more of those in the near future.  The Habano is no slouch either.  It has a wonderful flavor and construction, and really works for me.  Here’s a suggestion to Victor: package the Habano and San Andreas in either boxes of ten with five of each, and/or boxes of twenty with ten of each.  I don’t know about anyone else, but that would make ME extremely happy, because now I’m not really sure if I like one better than the other!  If I had both I could continue to argue this point with myself. Please let me know when and where these will be available! 🙂

 

Saturday afternoon my wife an I went to the Flyers game again, this time they beat the Bruins in regulation. (short side note:  At the beginning of every game they bring five kids out to stand with the players during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. There was one little kid, couldn’t have been more than six, who could barely stand on his skates  Kudos to defenseman Bruno Gervais for holding this kids hand while he was out there. Seems like a little thing, but this little act of kindness was the highlight of the game for me. Well done Bruno!) Circumstances prevented us from attending the unveiling of a statue of Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent hoisting the  Stanley Cup after they won it in 1974, which is in front of the Xfinity Live entertainment/dining complex adjacent to the Wells Fargo Center. Also, due to some logistics, as well as the onset of a migraine, we decided to forgo the usual cigar bar visit and head home after the game.  After getting home and medicating, I took the La Palina El Diario Robustodog, and a cigar for a walk.  I selected a La Palina El Diario robusto and gave it a snip with the Xikar XV.  I am loving this cutter more and more every time I use it.  Anyway, this is another nice, Habano wrapped cigar made in Honduras.  It performed quite well, although the draw seemed to tighten up as the cigar burned.  I gave it another cut with the V cutter, making an X which opened it up a little.  By that time I was just about through with it anyway, but it was a great smoke.  The meds I take for migraines can sometimes space me out a little, but the walk along with the cigar took my mind off, and by the time I was done with the cigar, the headache was pretty much gone and I was left with the fatigue which comes along with whole experience.  I enjoy the El Diario line, although I find that they aren’t exactly priced like a “Daily” cigar in my world.  The Classic and the Maduro are also excellent smokes, however I have not had any experience with the initial line of La Palina cigars, which are priced well out of my comfort zone.  As I said, the cigars I have smoked are great, and you can’t beat the people in the company, great bunch of folks!

 

Don’t forget the promo codes currently available for you to use at these two sites:

You can use the code “MPCGRS10” on CigarFromBrazil.com to get %10 off any purchase on the site. The Monte Pascoal cigars are very nice.

ItalianSmokes.com has a special offer code for you, it’s CIGCRAIG10 and will get you 10% off your purchase of their selection of Toscano style cigars.

 

That’s it for today!  Whatever way you are celebrating the day, enjoy yourself.  I know I’m going to go ritually sacrifice some tobacco this afternoon.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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A Nub, an Arandoza, and Herfin to the Oldies! A Good Cigar Week

First off, a little administrative bitching business. I mentioned before that I have just changed web hosting companies, and with that transition came some minor changes to the URLs associated with older posts. Without getting into the boring details, if anyone out there has a link to a post of mine, please edit out the “/blog” part and everything will be fine! I have things set up so that any click on one of those old links redirects to the home page, which isn’t ideal, I really want people to be able to find what they are looking for. I’m open to suggestions from those more technically adept at this stuff than I am. Enough of the minutia, on with the cigars!

 

Nub464T_MadThursday evening I was in a maduro kind of mood, so I grabbed a Nub Maduro for my walk. This 464T was from a sampler I purchased from a Thompson’s auction which I wrote about here. There’s just something about these squat little torpedos that appeals to be, but they are not easy to smoke while wearing gloves.  Fortunately, it wasn’t that cold out, so I avoided either losing it or burning the gloves!  It was a tasty smoke.  Dark, oily, delicious, everything I was looking for.  I think I have one left from that sampler.  I actually haven’t touched the Connecticut Nubs yet, and I have a couple of each of the Habano and Cameroon. 

 

ArandozaBlueFriday evening I arrived home to find my brother-in-law visiting, so after dinner we grabbed some cigars and took the dog for a walk before the hockey game.  I had recently received some more samples from Robert Arango of his Arandoza Blue Label cigars.  This is a robusto that’s made at Erik Espinosa’s La Zona factory in Esteli with a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper.  I enjoyed the tobacco sweetness that this well made cigar gave me.  To me it was a nice, well balanced smoke that gave me an hour of enjoyment.  My BiL smoked an Alec Bradley Maxx Brazil which he enjoyed. I knew he liked the Alec Bradley line and knew he hadn’t tried one.  He is an infrequent cigar smoker, so I knew the Maxx Brazil would be a smooth and flavorful smoke for him.

 

Saturday was date night, my lovely bride and I went to Atlantic City, NJ to see the legendary Chubby Checker perform at Resorts International.  I had planned to stop at one or two cigar shops in the area, but that didn’t end up happening, and considering New Jersey cigar prices, I’m not really too dissapointed.  I ended up having a pre-show Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Robusto while winning at a slot machine before the show.  I love this smoke, it’s a perfect all-around, any time of the day smoke to me, and I just enjoy the heck out of them.  Strange, since my first instinct is to gravitate toward the maduros, but this cigar does it for me.  I loved this cigar even before I had the pleasure of watching them rolled in the factory.  Great smoke in any size, but i f you happen to come across the lancero, treat yourself.  Chubby put on a heck of a show, and my wife an I felt quite young in the crowd.  I was sure someone was going to break a hip!  I doubt any of the attendees are reading, so my risk CC02162013of offending anyone is minimal, but some of those blue haired old biddies were really shaking it!  The man really puts on an entertaining show.  After the show I was feeling optimistic when I sat down at a slot machine with my voucher from the previous session and lit up an Undercrown Corona Viva!.  I got about 2 inches into the cigar before the slot machine had gobbled up all of my previous winnings.  Oh well, between Jenn and I we only dropped a couple bucks into the machines, we had some fun. I wasn’t leaving that Corona Viva! behind, so I carefully extinguished it for the walk through the casino, which is largely smoke free, by the way. I finished the cigar on the ride home.  This might be my favorite size in this line, but I’ll be honest, put any Undercrown in front of me and I’ll be happy to smoke it!  Here’s a little video of Chubby from last night:




That’s it for this Sunday edition. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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A La Palina, a Recluse, an Oja and a Nub (and a little Oliva too)

I had this great idea that I’d try out the WordPress app on my iPod Touch.  It looked like it would be a handy idea, and I already use that device every day.  I used it for the majority of the videos from IPCPR show which I though turned out pretty good.  Unfortunately,  I ran into a little glitch where it wouldn’t connect and sync with the server, so I decided to abort that idea and do it the old fashioned way.  I could have easily gotten away with not boring you with that story, but I decided to do it anyway!  I’ve smoked a few cigars since Sunday, so here’s the recap.

 

Sunday evening I was, once again, in the mood for a San Andreas wrapped cigar, so I grabbed the La Palina El Maduro from the IPCPR show. I really wish I could have gotten a few minutes to talk to Bill Paley this year at the show, but both times I went by his booth it was very busy.  Great for them, lousy for me! Considering my affinity for the San Andreas leaf, I was sure I’d enjoy this one.  This is a dark, sweet and spicy cigar, very well made and smoked perfectly. I really enjoyed the heck out of this smoke, it made me happy.

 

We had a couple days of nice weather, I’ll take 50s and 60s in December any time.  I decided to celebrate with an Iconic Leaf Cigar Co. Recluse Kanu #1.  I got this one at the show as well, and I may not have decided to smoke it if I hadn’t gotten a couple more in the mail recently.  This is a very special cigar, this shape is unique in the industry.  Smoking it was akin to smoking a lancero, it’s a very narrow ring gauge on the ends with a swollen middle.  The box press also makes it unique.  It’s a fun cigar to smoke and it is so full of deliciousness that it’s not funny.  It smokes a little bit different than it’s parejo siblings, which are wonderful cigars, and the Brazilian maduro wrapper is savory.  This is a very nice cigar.

 

Continuing on the Brazilian maduro theme, I decided to fire up the last Oja Anniversary perfecto that I had on Tuesday. The weather continued to be unseasonable, so I took my usual walk and sat outside when I was done to savor every last bit  of the cigar.  This is another hard to find cigar, but it’s another tasty maduro that’s perfectly constructed.  I first encountered the owner of this brand on my trip to Cigar Safari in March of 2011, Luis was staying at Drew Estate while he was working with Kiki Berger on his cigars.  I’ve enjoyed quite a few of his cigars, but none quite as much as the Anniversary, which he made to celebrate his first year.  It’s a darned good smoke.

 

On my way home tonight I stopped at a cigar shop that’s on my way home. I’ve been to this shop several times and had mixed experiences.  Since I moved, I actually pass this store every day and today is the first time I’ve stopped in.  I was actually on a special “12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways”  mission where I met my friend and local Oliva rep Mike.  I picked up a couple of the little Oliva Serie G perfectos and enjoyed one while I waited.  This is a great little smoke and was really enjoyable.  Mike and the folks at Oliva out did themselves, by the way.  Stay tuned for their offerings in the contests starting next week.  When I got home I took my walk with a Nub Cameroon 464T to continue the Oliva and Cameroon theme.  This was a great little smoke, but was gone too soon.  I always joked that these would be better if they were longer, but it’s a great tasting cigar that hit the spot.  I love that special little something that Cameroon leaf brings to a cigar.  There’s a nice, sweet kinda nutty flavor that hits the spot.  It’s not often that I smoke two cigars in an evening, but, in my defense, they were both pretty small.

 

That’s it for now, as I said above, the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways starts in one week.  I have a lot of work yet to do, but it’s shaping up to be pretty spectacular, so don’t forget to check back every day and enter.  As the kids are saying (and the folks at Montecristo, evidently) it’s going to be “epic”!!

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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