Tag Archives: Tabaquero

Tabaquero, Punch and Montecristo Cigars and a Contest

tabaqueroThursday evening I ended up smoking a Tabaquero by Hamlet Paredes from Rocky Patel in the robusto format after hearing an interview with him on the Smooth Draws Radio show (I think they ripped off me website design, at least in concept!). What a fascinating story this guy has, and a very interesting cigar! For a guy who was used to blending cigars with Cuban tobacco, that is to say not a great deal of variety, he made a very interesting blend of Nicaraguan fillers, Mexican and Brazilian binders with a Mexican wrapper. If this had some Peruvian tobacco in the blend it might just be the perfect cigar for me! This isn’t the first one of these I’ve smoked, although it is the first robusto, and it’s a cigar that I should put more of in my humidors. I love the  strong, straightforward flavors of sweet earth, cocoa and coffee, which is very rich and palate coating. This is probably my favorite Rocky Patel cigar, with the Super Ligero coming in second, although there aren’t a great many RP cigars that do a lot for me.  Great cigar for me, and I’ll continue trying other sizes. I may look at the new Sungrown next time I see it in a shop, I’ve heard good things.

 

I would have been talking about another cigar here, one that a co-worker gifted me a few weeks ago, but something weird and stupid happened about a third of the way into the cigar while I was taking my evening walk. For some reason I stumbled and did a face plant on the street, smashing the cigar, scraping my chin and nose, among other scrapes and bruises. Macha was there to lick my face and see if I was OK, which I really didn’t know if I was or not yet. This whole thing surprised me because I’ve been walking for a long time, and thought I had it down pretty good. So I came home, cleaned myself up, and grabbed a Punch London Club Maduro to try to wrap my head around this turn of events, it freaked me out!  Ironically, it was on this exact date in 2012 I wrote about the London Club, it what I like to think was a pretty good article comparing the Punch and Hoyo de Monterrey lines. Give it a read and let me know what you think. I still have a few of both the Hoyo Sabrosos and Punch London Clubs, they are great little 5″ x 40 cigars, is it a thin corona or a fat panatela?  The Punch has maintained it’s richness and full flavor over the five years they’ve been in my humidors. The Broadleaf wrapper is oily and flavorful and the burn was perfect. This was a great choice to ponder the evening’s events.

 

MontecristoYesterday was a beautiful day for mid-February, temperatures in the 60s, which is a good 50 degrees over what it could be. Still feeling out of sorts, I napped a bit, and hung out in the yard with Macha and a Montecristo White Vintage Connecticut No. 2 torpedo. This is a 6″x 50 torpedo with the taper such that it feels like a smaller cigar than that. This cigar is made in the Dominican Republichas a vintage 2008 Connecticut Shade (Grown in U.S.A.), Nicaraguan binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Peru. I do like cigars with Peruvian tobacco, and I like this cigar, although I think I like the Double Corona (really a Toro, but OK) a bit better. It’s a milder cigar, with that grassyness you’ll get from the US Connecticut Shade wrapper, and a nice little spice. Certainly a quality cigar, and a good mid-afternoon choice.

 

Contest!

ContestIt’s been a while, so let’s give some goodies away!  Since I had Punch on my mind, I have a Punch Bobblehead, along with a Macanudo branded rubberized Colibri cutter and a pair of La Gloria Cubana Branded scissors. It’s always possible some cigars might fall into the box when I pack it up too, I get sloppy that way sometimes. Leave a comment here to enter, I’ll pick a winner on Wednesday! Usual rules apply, one entry per person and only comments here on this post will qualify.  Must be of legal smoking age to win.  Thanks to Victoria at General Cigar Co. for the giveaway goodies!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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A Sobremesa Event, Tabequeros by Hamlet and a BG Meyer Cigar

EsperanzaI smoked a bunch of nice cigars this week, starting off with my traditional Father’s Day Esperanza para los Niños which smoked very well for a 17-year-old cigar, and still had a nice, rich flavor. I followed that with an Aging Room Maduro, another great smoke with a great flavor. Both were up my alley, and hit the spot.  There was also another La Gran Llave torpedo from Michael Argenti’s newest venture, which was also a great smoke. Yet another wonderful cigar out o f the AJ Fernandez Factory. On anpther note, my wife ordered me a box of Sam Leccia‘s new cigar, Desnudo, which I’m excited to try (and she wants the box!). I have mixed feelings about the upcoming trade show. Everyone is going to be releasing new cigars to meet the August 8th FDA deadline. Considering that cigars in the last 10 years have been the best that they’ve ever been, how many of the hundreds of new cigars that are going to be released aren’t going to be ready? Another aspect in my mind is how are retailers going to be expected to buy all these new brands with shelves that are already full? It’s all deeply troubling and depressing. Anyway, on to more positive things…

 

Sobremesa_TorpedoThursday night I had the privilege to be invited to a lounge event at The Wooden Indian cigar shop. My old buddy Steve Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust was there to talk for a solid three hours on everything tobacco. He covered 10,000 years of tobacco history, how cigars are made, the economics of cigars and how our government is going to goof if up. Always a great story-teller too. I took my old friend Scott along with me, and his mind was sufficiently blown I think, and I learned a great deal from the talk. I also bought a bunch more Sobremesas, Sakasmoked a Torpedo Tiempo and an El Americano over the course of the evening, and even got my hands on the new Short Churchill size (4¾”x48). Of course, the cigars were perfect, the Torpedo, despite Steve saying it was his least favorite size, had an interesting sweetness that I haven’t found in the other sizes. I can’t wait to try the new Mi Querida, with a broadleaf wrapper. I could have gotten one if I had bought a box of Sobremesa, and Dave, the proprietor of the Wooden Indian, smoked one and seemed to be quite impressed (judging by the tiny saka97nub he begrudgingly dropped in the ashtray. It’s always a treat to see Steve, and I had a great time hanging out with Scott and smoking some great cigars.  Just for fun, I scrounged up a picture of Steve from a cigar event in 1997. Pardon the quality, but back then you had to scan printed pictures to get them on to the web, it wasn’t as easy as whipping out your phone.

 

Tabaquero_ToroFriday I wrapped up another week with a cigar I had been anticipating for quite a while. I purchased a Tabaquro toro at a visit to Jacoub’s Cigar & Tobacco Outlet in Ridley Park, PA a few months ago. I had been wanting to try the cigar, blended by Hamlet Paredes, a rather well-known Cuban cigar maker, who made this cigar with Rocky Patel. I think this is my new favorite cigar from the Rocky Patel stable, following the Super Ligero line. This cigar features a San Andrés wrapper, a double binder of Brazilian and Mexican leaf, and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s rumored that Hamlet never touched anything but Cuban tobacco before working with Rocky, but he really came up with a great cigar. It’s got a bit of kick to it, a pleasing mix of sweet and savory, and provided a satisfying smoking experience  from start to finish. All I can say is “yum”. I liked the Tabaquero a lot.

 

BG Meyer_Gigantes_56x6Yesterday after enjoying a Leccia Luchador El Hombre (one of my favorite cigars) at Delaware Park while watching the horses (we came out ahead!), I came home to enjoy a BG Meyer Gigantes 56×6 on the porch. It was a beautiful day, watched the ponies with our grand-daughters, saw the Budweiser Clydesdales, managed to get some things done around the house, and kicked back with this cigar. I would have sworn this was a 6×60, it had a large feel to it, but maybe just the name “Gigantes” influenced my judgement. This one was 6″ x 56, with a Habano wrapper, Brazilian binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican filers. As seems to be the case with Davidoff’s Honduran brands, it’s hard to find a website with all the info. I did find some info on the Davidoff of Geneva retail page, and was surprised to see typos in the product description.  I can’t understand why they don’t have BGMeyerCigars.com, or something, and have the same gripe when I go looking for Room 101 info (and probably Cusano if I looked, which I haven’t). Anyway, the cigar is good. It’s got some pepper, some coffee/cocoa and sweetness, very much in my wheelhouse. I dug it.

 

There’s probably something I’m forgetting, but I’ll wrap this up now. I have an article to write for Prime Living Magazine that I have to smoke some great cigars for, so I better get busy with that!  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

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