Tag Archives: OSA Sol

by CigarCraig | November 28, 2012 · 7:52 pm

The CAO Concert Event at G & G Cigars

It snowed! It’s not even December yet and we have a blanket of snow on the ground. Last year the only major snow we had was at the end of October 2011, so maybe we get it out of the way again and have a nice, mild, uneventful winter? I can hope. I like cigars too much to limit myself to coronas and petite coronas all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I think a smaller ring cigar is fine, love a lancero and coronas, but variety is the spice of life! Go away snow!

Right before it snowed I had an opportunity to attend an event at G & G Cigars in West Chester PA. This is a nice little shop in the downtown area in what was once the Warner theater and is now the Warner Hotel. The hotel is a new addition and just looking into the lobby from the street (what was once the movie theater lobby, I think I saw the Muppet Movie there! back when you could smoke during the movie and you d didn’t think twice about rats running over your feet…you know, the good old days!) it looks like a very nice place. G & G Cigar Co. has been here for 13 years and is capably run by Doug and Jan, who I run into at the trade shows more than I see in the shop. Admittedly, I don’t get to this shop as much as I’d like, but that’s because I really don’t frequent any one shop over another in my area. I end up going to cigar events wherever they may happen to be and am not one to just go hang out at any one shop. If I were and lived a little closer, this shop would be the place. They work things a little differently here, the lounge and their events are for their members and not open to the public. I was lucky enough to weasel and invite out of Doug because my buddy Rick Rodriquez was bringing his CAO Concert tour to my home town. Rick is the man when it comes to the new blends coming out of CAO and I was fortunate to get to know him a bit when I visited General Cigar Co. in the Dominican Republic last year. He has studied the blending arts with Benji Menendez among others and knows his stuff and is a heck of a cool dude too. A big thank you to Doug and Jan for extending me their hospitality and Ricky and his crew as well. As you can see in one of the pictures, they even had a cake for Ricky’s birthday that’s this week, Happy Birthday Bro!

I enjoyed a CAO Concert Roadie while enjoying the company of several of the members. I have to say that many shops, membership or not, can be a little intimidating at first. I have been a guest of Doug’s in his lounge on two occasions and was welcomed and treated as a friend both times. This says something for the clientele at this shop and after talking to several members, they all seem to drive past one shop or another to come to this one. I wasn’t a fan of the members only lounge and events model but it’s working quite well here and if I were closer and would spend more time hanging around I would gladly pay the membership. Good group of folks for sure. As far as the CAO Concert goes, it’s a nice smoke. Medium bodied with a nice sweetness here and there that probably comes from the broad-leaf binder. I enjoyed the heck out of the cigar as well as the time I spent talking to all the folks at the event. It was a fun time. If you get a chance to meet Rick on one of his tour stops do it, he’s a great guy and really knows his art.

Since it’s cold and there’s still stinkin snow on the ground I grabbed a short smoke for my walk, a CAO OSA Sol Lot T. This 4 ½” x 50 box pressed torpedo is quite a neat little smoke. It was loaded with flavor and burned perfectly. It’s a different experience from the Concert, it’s got refreshing, bright flavors that will be even better on a 80 degree summer afternoon by the pool than a cold evening with the moon and Venus lighting up the snow. It was perfect for my walk. I picked up a few of these at Cigars International when I was at the new super store and they were in the $5 range, quite reasonable.

That’s it for this installment, enjoy the rest of your week and take some time to relax with a fine cigar, whether it’s at home in your favorite smoking spot, or in a nice lounge like G & G Cigars has.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as CAO, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Concert, G & G, general cigar, OSA Sol, PA, west chester

by CigarCraig | November 20, 2011 · 2:58 pm

A Monte Pascoal, an ORTSAC 1962, a CAO OSA Sol and a Video

My Wednesday “Take a Cigar for a Walk” cigar was a Monte Pascoal Belicoso courtesy of Wes Gensel at Monte Pascoal. I recently included one of these in a prize pack and figured it might be a good idea to sample one myself before I give them all away! This is a 5½ x 52 belicoso that really burned well. It’s a Brazilian puro that has a very nice, well balanced flavor. I often think of Brazilian wrappers being maduro, which this one is not, but I’d love to try this cigar with an Arapiraca wrapper. One does not often find a Brazilian puro, but this is one to seek out and try.

Friday I took the heater out on the back deck and fired up an ORTSAC 1962 Bulletproof Robusto. I got this from the IPCPR show, where an old friend happened to be working in the booth. Mike introduced me to Victor Vitale who gave me the tour. I included a video of Victor talking about this cigar before (here). I think the name ORTSAC is dumb, I don’t mind saying it. However, it’s a well made and reasonably tasty cigar, although it wasn’t overly distinctive to me. One of the interesting things about this cigar is that it comes packaged in a ballistic nylon/kevlar “box”, which really does nothing to enhance the flavor of the cigar, but it is kind of neat and stands out on the shelf. Again, dumb name, pretty OK cigar.

Saturday’s “Take a Cigar for a Walk” cigar was an CAO OSA Sol Lot 54. This is a hefty 6 x 54 cigar that I’ve enjoyed before. I really enjoyed this one. In the past, I’ve thought that the Lot 50 was better, and that may be true, but this particular example was much better than the previous one I smoked. These have a “bright”, kind of refreshing flavor to them that I enjoy. Good for a mile or so and the necessary “cool down” in the front porch afterward.

Since I don’t have too much to say this time around, so I thought I’d include a video from the IPCPR show. I met Don Juan of Dignity Cigars at a General Cigar event which was held at a swanky night club. I had just wandered in and was at the bar to get a Coke and he introduced himself. We made arrangements to meet the following day on the show floor. He gave me one of his organically grown and eco-friendly Costa Rican puros at the time and I recall enjoying it, although it’s really hard to pay a lot of attention to samples smoked at the show. Needless to say, I didn’t take notes, but I will pick one up to re-sample the next time I come across one. Here’s a little video from the show, standard volume disclaimers and apologies apply! Thank you to Don Juan for taking the time to talk to me, he’s a super nice guy!

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under IPCPR, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk, Video

Tagged as 1962, Brazil, CAO, cigar, Cigar Agency, cigars, Dignity, Don Juan, general, IPCPR, Monte Pascoal, ORTSAC, OSA Sol, Take A Cigar For A Walk

by CigarCraig | September 21, 2011 · 8:38 pm

Cigars So Far: Kristoff and CAO, A Schnorr, and Some 7-20-4s

I forgot to make mention of the cigars I smoked at the Delaware Cigar Festival. As I said, the format was that cigars were for sale at the vendors tables. $3.00 per cigar, with 100% of the proceeds going to charity, which was the family of a local police officer recently killed in the line of duty. I purchased a handful of cigars, some I wanted to try and some favorites I don’t see very often. Obviously, in most cases $3.00 each is an excellent deal for a lot of the cigars that were offered. I started with a Kristoff Corojo and I regret not getting a second one of these. Very nice cigar and a nice way to start the day. I also smoked a CAO OSA Sol Lot 50 that, while not as good as the first one I smoked, was very nice. Buy the time I picked up the OSA it had been out on a table most of the afternoon, not right out of a humidor. No worries as I did get another one of these. When I buy singles I like to buy in pairs for some reason. I also picked up some Murcielagos from Eddie Ortega as well as a bunch of other assorted goodies.

Sunday I closed out the weekend with a Berger & Argenti Mooch Schnorr which was a sample from the IPCPR show. I love the name of this, even though it’s a little redundant. For those who don’t know “Schnorr” is a Yiddish term for a mooch. I know this because I have a good friend who refers to another friend as such, and it cracks me up. So while I was at the show in July, having a Cuban coffee with Kiki Berger in his booth, he made sure I had some samples. In my limited experience at the IPCPR shows, Cuban Crafters has always been very generous with samples, however, a great many over the years have not been to my liking. This led me to avoid Cuban Crafters over the years, and it wasn’t until spending an excellent evening in Esteli with Mr. Berger that I re-thought that position. I’ve since enjoyed several other cigars that carry the Berger name. The Mooch Schnorr was really a very tasty cigar, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I would even go so far as to say it was the best cigar all week. It was smooth and flavorful and perfectly built. The sample I grabbed did have a small crack just below the cap line which gave me a few problems initially, until I patched it with part of the cap, which solved the problem completely. I smoked this down to a finger burning nub, and was sorry to see it end. The Schnorr is a nice size (robusto) and a tasty, well balanced blend. I can’t wait to dig into the rest of the samples from the show. I have some maduros and some more of the Entubar line to try.

By the time I was ready to sit down and enjoy a cigar on Monday it was getting fairly late. I was rooting through the humidor looking for something small and settled on the 7-20-4 Dogwalker that Kurt Kendal gave me when I met him at the 2010 IPCPR show. Don’t know why it took so long to get around to this one, it jsut did, what can I say. The Dog Walker is a handsome little cigar, 4¼” x 40, with the same straight “pigtail” as the rest of the line. It was definitely full flavored and may have been on the verge of being strong, I enjoyed it quite a bit and it lasted close to 45 minutes before I put it down to go in for the night. I don’t have a dog to walk, but my cat, Frank, hung out with my on the porch while I smoked it. Nice little cigar and Kurt is a nice guy.

I visited Kurt at this years show and he gave me his 7-20-4 1874 blend to try. While the regular line is made in Honduras, the 1874 is made in Nicaragua, with a lovely Nicaraguan wrapper. This one had a very open draw, so I smoked it slowly. It was a really nice smoke, I think it was a little bit milder than the Dog Walker, but had a more balanced flavor. There was a taste in there that I really liked, can’t place it, but it was good. The sample I smoked was a robusto and I would happily smoke it again. Nice job on this line extension.

As long as I’m ending on a 7-20-4 thing, here’s a little video Kurt took with me at the show. Standard disclaimer applies: Don’t forget to turn down your PC speakers after watching so you don’t blow your speakers on the next Windows Error chime (or whatever weird sounds Macs make)!

That’s it for now, don’t forget to go to my previous post and enter the current contest! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Contest, Events, IPCPR, Review, Video

Tagged as 7-20-4, Berger & Argenti, CAO, cigar, cigars, Contest, delaware cigars, IPCPR, Kiki Berger, Kristoff, Mooch, Murcielago, OSA Sol, schnorr

by CigarCraig | September 4, 2011 · 10:21 am

It’s Contest Time! An Alec Bradley, An OSA Sol, A Macanudo and a Lighter Review

I realized that my last post had “and Some News” in the title, and I failed to include said news. Bad form on my part! While I go back and edit the title, I’ll say here that the news I was going to mention, while no longer breaking news, is that José Blanco joined Joya de Nicaragua this week in the capacity of Senior Vice President. I met José at the IPCPR show, as well as Dr. Cuenca, his new boss, both are fine gentlemen. I had the pleasure of visiting the Joya de Nicaragua factory last March and, while I loved their cigars before, I developed a special fondness for them that comes from having a personal connection. If I can blend what I think is an excellent cigar at that factory, José will be able to do amazing things there. Best wishes to José and Joya de Nicaragua from everyone here at CigarCraig.com!

I had purchased an Alec Bradley American Classic Blend for myself for Father’s Day, and I came across another one in my IPCPR samples, and I was in the mood for a big cigar, so I grabbed this 6×60 Gordo and took it for a walk to the store. It’s got a beautiful band, and a really nice looking wrapper, made me really look forward to smoking this one. This is made at the Plasencia Factory in Esteli, and had a Honduran Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I really enjoyed the flavor, although I wish it had produced copious mouthfuls of smoke so that I could get more of the flavor. It took a little bit to get a good mouthful of smoke, which was a little frustrating considering the huge girth on this cigar. I’ll happily try this cigar again, and will try to get some different sizes in the future.

Friday brought the beginning of the Labor Day weekend, so I grabbed a CAO OSA Sol Lot 54 and enjoyed it on the front porch. This 6x 54 version didn’t impress me quite as much as it’s 5x 50 little brother, but it was a darned fine cigar. I don’t know exactly what made the 2 cigars different to me, maybe the Robusto seemed a little cleaner to me if that makes any sense. I suppose there are a dozen variables to consider, what I had to drink and eat, the weather, my mood, so my opinion really doesn’t matter in the end! Perfect burn and draw and a pleasing flavor. Lasted a good hour and a half on a beautiful late summer evening. I look forward to the CAO website having some information on it about this new cigar! 😉

For my Saturday evening walk to the store, I selected a Macanudo Crü Royale Robusto that I received at the IPCPR show. I had gotten one of these at the show last year and thought it was a really nice cigar, and this one was no different. It’s not a mild cigar and, along with the 1968, is a really good, flavorful cigar. It goes without saying that the quality of the construction is excellent. I’ve smoked Macanudos that I could barely taste, but they’ve ALWAYS been perfectly rolled. I like these a lot and they are priced well and they will be releasing a couple new sizes (if they haven’t already) in a tinned 4 3/16″ x 36 and a Poco Gordo at 4 x 60, to satisfy that 60 ring gauge demand. Nice cigars for sure, something that any cigar smoker is sure to enjoy. While I’m thinking of it, head on over to the Macanudo Millionaire site and enter their contest to win a trip to Vegas and a chance to win a Million bucks.

Contest

Sticking with the Macanudo theme, General Cigars provided me with some of their Macanudo Millionaire 4 packs featuring 6 x 60 versions of the Cafe, Maduro, 1968 and Crü Royale cigars. I’m going to select 2 winners on or around Wednesday, September 14, so leave a comment on THIS post saying something a little more substantive than say “comment” or “hello” to enter! This time, as an added twist, I’ll count tweets which include @cigarcraig and the link to this article, doubling your chances to win! Usual rules apply, Lloyd is ineligible this time around! 🙂

All of my cigars this week were ignited by a lighter that was provided to my for evaluation by Aaron at ButaneLightersWolesale.com. The lighter is the Ergonomic 4.5″ Cigar & Pipe Butane Torch Lighter, which is a nice looking lighter. It’s hefty, which makes it a little heavy in the trouser pocket, but has a nice feel in the hand. My initial complaint is that on the lowest flame setting it doesn’t light for me, and on the highest setting the flame is just adequate. I let Aaron know this and he is looking into it with the manufacturer, which is a good sign that he’s a internet retailer with integrity. This particular model wouldn’t be my personal first choice, but my wife thinks it’s cool looking, which it is. Check out the site, http://butanelighterswholesale.com/, he seems to be concentrating on the “good lighters at a reasonable price” market segment, which fits my lighter philosophy just right. I’ve owned a couple of fairly expensive lighters in the past and they’ve all crapped out after a while, and the cheaper lighters seem to last forever. I’ll keep using this lighter exclusively and see how it holds up, and see if I can adjust the flame setting a little better. I like to see a good 2″ blue flame on my single torch lighters. Thanks again to Aaron for thinking of me.