Monthly Archives: January 2014

by CigarCraig | January 29, 2014 · 7:00 pm

Dignity, Alec Bradley Nica Puro, Ezra Zion and Foundry CE&M Carbon Cigars

Thanks for all of the positive feedback on my last post. It just frustrated the heck out of me when states want to do stupid things like declaring that you can’t smoke in a cigar store (or private anything…don’t get me started!) when there are so many other more productive things they could be worrying about! Anyway, despite the frigid weather, I managed to smoke some cigars this week.

I made the mistake of taking this Churchill sized Dignity White Gold Reserve cigar for my Saturday afternoon walk. First off, this cigar is 7” x 52 with a slight box press. Don Juan Gross, the man behind Dignity Cigars, and a very cool guy, gave this to me at the IPCPR show last year. Here’s the blurb from the website:

“A rich medium body, spicy aroma and a sweet tangy pop of caramelized flavor nicely accented with a light note of spice perfect for a summer evening. This unique cigar is composed of tobacco all from the same plant and aged over 3-years.”

Here’s why I say I made a mistake selecting this cigar: the part above about it being perfect for a summer evening sounds about right. The delicate flavors of this cigar got lost in the cold, winter air. I do have to ask Don Juan about the “tobacco all from the same plant” line, as that just seems like a logistical nightmare that would make the cigar’s cost out of reach of your everyday Saudi prince. I can’t imagine being able to track 4 or 5 leaves from one plant for 3 years through the curing, fermenting and aging process. Perhaps I’m reading too much into that verbiage, but it just sounds like an outlandish claim. I am glad I have one more example of this cigar that I can save for a summer evening, and that can’t come soon enough!

Sunday evening I went to a cigar that’s one if the cigars on my go-to list, the Alec Bradley Nica Puro Robusto. There are a handful of cigars that I can count on to satisfy me, cigars I smoke when I want to enjoy a cigar without having to think too hard about it. We had a busy afternoon with our daughter and granddaughters, and the dog needed walking so I grabbed one of these and hit the road. It’s a well made, great tasting cigar that’s on the stronger side of medium. It’s a cigar that I put up there with the Nica Rustica, Joya de Nicaragua Antaño 1970 and Dark Corojo and the 601 La Bomba in terms of personal satisfaction and enjoyment. Not to say it’s the same as any of those, and none of them are the same as the others, but they are all cigars that consistently float my boat and are ones I reach for when I just want to enjoy a cigar without thinking.

Monday evening I selected a Ezra Zion Inception robusto which I had purchased last summer when I went to hang out with Kyle, Chris and The Don, the guys behind Ezra Zion Cigars and Cigar Federation, at a local shop (The Wooden Indian). These are now called Jamais Vu instead of Inception, and I think that’s because JSR Cigar Distributors in Texas also has a brand called Inception and the Ezra Zion guys, being the nice guys that they are, backed off of the name to avoid a trademark issue. I always appreciate when I hear about folks in the cigar industry resolving their differences in a civil, gentlemanly manner. Inception or Jamais Vu, it’s a tasty smoke, although again the cold weather may have been a detriment to this cigar. I gave it a V cut, and when I got back from my walk and into some light I noticed some really gross tar bubbling from the cut. I’m quite please that none of that nastiness came in contact with my tongue or lips, or it would have been all over! I cut the end off (twice) and the cigar finished off fine. These are really nice cigars, reasonably powerful, dark flavors and good strength, it would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the goo. Second lesson learned, no V cuts when the ambient temperature is below about 25 degrees Fahrenheit (the first was not to smoke mild cigars in the cold). One piece of advice, if you ever have the misfortune of encountering the oozing tar and cut it off, make sure you give that cutter a good cleaning afterwards.

Tuesday evening I grabbed a Foundry Compounds, Elements and Musings Carbon which I had picked up last week when I visited Goose’s Tobacco Lounge. This cigar is listed at 5 ½” x 60, but doesn’t really feel like a 60 ring gauge, not sure why. It’s also listed as being made with Nicaraguan and “lower 48” tobacco, which I guess means that there’s absolutely no tobacco from Hawaii or Alaska. there is also something refered to as “Smoke It”, which could either be a mystery tobacco, or simple instructions. Honestly, I don’t care where the tobacco in this cigar came from because it’s delicious. This is a $5.00 cigar here in Pennsylvania, and worth every dime. My only complaint was that the cap had almost nothing holding it on and really wanted to unravel on me after I gave it a full cut (not taking chances!). It worked out OK, though, some salivary juices stuck everything back where they belonged and I was treated to a really nice cigar. It was a little bold in a smooth way, like smoking a Hershey’s Special Dark candy bar. The flavor cut through the cold air nicely and I hated to put this cigar down. The Foundry site has very little information, but according to the information at Cigar-Coop.com, this is a regular production cigar and that’s a good thing. I can see picking up some more of these, although I don’t think a box is in my future as these come in boxes of 75. The Carbon is a solid smoke for the money, if you come across some, give them a try. I think they are yummy, and when I put it next to the Compounds, Elements and Musings Vanadium I get my initials!

Remember, the Famous Smoke Shop Coupon Codes expire Friday. Get over there and use them or we may not see coupon codes from them again! I used one myself, so I know they work.

Discount codes:

CAPULET5 – Free 5-pack of Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet with any $75+ purchase

MONTAGUE5 – Free 5-pack of Romeo y Julieta House of Montague with any $75+ purchase

CAPULET20 – $20 off any $100+ purchase of Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet

MONTAGUE20 – $20 off any $100+ purchase of Romeo y Julieta House of Montague

Another coupon code you can use is from our newest sponsor, BuyDiscountCigars.com. You can get $5 off your order if you use the code “CigarCraig”. Welcome aboard! They seem to get some good stuff over there, give them a look.

This video is always on the left sidebar, but please check it out again. We shot this back in August of 2012 and it’s as relevant today as it was then. Please have a look again and join Cigar Rights of America if you haven’t already.

httpv://youtu.be/Z0AKcX7olKI

That’s all I got, until the next time,

CigarCraig

7 Comments

Filed under Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk

Tagged as Alec Bradley, Carbon, cigar, cigars, Dignity, Ezra Zion, Foundry, general cigars

by CigarCraig | January 26, 2014 · 10:29 am

The Ethical Challenges of Cigar Smokers in America, Are We Bad Citizens?

It’s been so cold here this week that I haven’t been able to bring myself to go out for a cigar. Â It was certainly too cold to go for my usual walk (although I managed to have one in the snow yesterday), and once I got home from work, going out to a cigar shop for a smoke didn’t feel like a good idea either. Â This cold and snow and stuff is getting to me! Â C’mon Spring! Maybe because Winter got off to an early start we can expect it to get warmer sooner? Â We’ll have to wait until February 2nd to see what the groundhog has to say (that’s the only event of any importance happening that day, right? 🙂 ). Â Anyway, when I don’t smoke any cigars, you get the benefit of one of my rants. Â Today’s editorial is on smoking bans and regulation.

This week we learned that my home state of Pennsylvania had bills in both the state house and senate (Thank you Halfwheel) that aim to remove exemptions in the 2008 “Clean Indoor Air Act”. Â The exemptions these bills want removed are tobacconists, bars, casinos, private clubs and “other places”. Â This is an obvious assault on freedom! Â Private Clubs? Â Really? Â Shouldn’t not only private clubs, but private businesses be allowed to decide what legal activities can go on in their businesses? What next? Â Private homes? Your yard? Â There is also proposed legislation in PA to ban smoking in your car if there are children present. Hey, I get protecting kids, don’t get me wrong, but this is legislating what should be common sense, and taking away personal liberties at the same time! Â There is legislation like this popping up all over the country, so we need to pay attention!Â Cigar Rights Of AmericaÂ lists them all.

Beside the myth of second hand smoke (OSHA has Permissible Exposure Limits for all of the measurable chemicals in tobacco smoke, see here) , what are some of the reasons cited for smoking bans? Park and beach bans cite litter as a reason. Gee, aren’t there already laws against litter? How about enforcing existing laws instead of making up new ones? Â I would be willing to bet that every public park and beach in the US (and elsewhere, I would guess) has laws on the books regarding litter. You drop something, you pick it up or get a fine. Â I’m even fine with calling a cigar butt litter, even if it’s biodegradable. Â I don’t need to see a chewed up stinky cigar butt on the ground. Â Put it in the right place, it’s not that big a burden, right? Â We are, as a rule, considerate, responsible cigar smoking citizens, are we not? Â Another popular anti-smoke angle is that we don’t want people to think that smoking is “normal”. Â Kids see adults smoking and want to do it, sure, I get that. Â What about a little thing called PARENTING? Â Can you imagine what the orphanages would look like if parenting was legislated and enforced? For example, I smoked in front of my three children all of their lives, and I smoked cigarettes too up until about 7 years ago. Â I never worried about them sneaking cigarettes or cigars, and they never did! Â Both my sons joined me for a cigar on or after their eighteenth birthdays. My eldest son, who went to Cigar Safari with me in 2011, probably hasn’t smoked a cigar in a couple months (has a humidor with a bunch of pretty decent cigars), but will join me for a smoke from time to time. Â My youngest has smoked on and off, and goes to a hookah bar with friends from time to time. Â The nannies would paint me as a bad parent, perhaps, but I see success! They were adults when they smoked their first cigars, Â capable of making their own choices. Â My daughter has never smoked as far as I know, I think our setting a bad example turned her off to the habit, she rebelled by being far more conservative than her mother and I. Another win for us! Anyway, the point is, raise your kids to know….wait, I don’t really have to expand on that….raise your kids! Â Don’t rely on society to do it for you! If we outlaw all the things we don’t want our kids growing up doing there won’t be anything!

I’d like to implore everyone to be vigilant and contact your legislators when ever one of these bills comes up, not only locally, but nationally as well. These people work for us, they need to hear from us. Cigar Rights Of America has tools that allow you to send a pre-written e-mail to your elected officials. Â Fill in your zip code and it automatically fills in the right people, again, both state and federal governments. While you’re there, make sure to send an e-mail to your Federal legislators about the FDA regulating our cigars out of existence! You can do that here. I don’t even think you need to be a member to use these tools, but for $35 a year it doesn’t hurt. Â Please let these people know that we are voting citizens and we value our freedom to enjoy a legal product (which, by the way, governments are making a ton of money on!). It’s not going to stop at tobacco, you know, and all of these bans put people out of work!

On a related note, my father-in-law pointed out this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about The State of Pennsylvania Â subsidizing films that feature smoking. Â Anti-smoking zealots will target anything smoke related, but I bet they have a cocktail or two and get behind the wheel of their pollution producing automobiles (or worse, take a bus?). Do these people really go to movies and look for things to complain about? The article is here.

Finally, I’d like to point you to a couple articles by one of my favorite musicians, Joe Jackson. I don’t know that Joe is a cigar smoker, and many of his works relate to U.K. smoking bans, but it applies to us here in the colonies as well.
From Spiked-Online.com:

[pageview url=”http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/9278#.UuUPZtIo6IX” title=”A dozen reasons to stub out the smoking ban” border=”yes” scrolling=”yes”]

Also, check out Joe’s essay “SMOKE, LIES AND THE NANNY STATE” which he published in 2007. I’m going to go line up some Joe Jackson tunes and have a cigar.

One final thought: Maybe if states that banned smoking were not allowed to generate income from tobacco taxes, they’d think twice about bans. Â Once they get rid of tobacco, you better believe they will come after something else you like. Â Live and let live, folks! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

8 Comments

Filed under Editorial

Tagged as cigar, cigar rights, cigars, FDA, liberty, rights, Smoking Bans

by CigarCraig | January 22, 2014 · 7:39 pm

A Crossfire, A Nica Rustica and A Legend…wait for it…Ario Cigar

This time of year gets a bit frustrating for me because of the weird weather. I get times when the weather isn’t very good and I really don’t want to waste a really good cigar, or smoke something new that I want to pay attention to. I usually end up smoking something I’m familiar with, and that’s not a whole lot of fun for you guys! So far, this has been one of those times.

Sunday wasn’t too bad. I decided to take a nice afternoon walk and selected an IPCPR sample from Crossfire Cigars. As I’ve mentioned before, I somehow lost the interview I did with the Crossfire guys at the show. This is another cigar with altruistic goals. All the profits go toward helping people in the Dominican Republic do little things like eat and wear clothes and learn stuff. All in all, a very good plan, and the cigars I’ve smoked have been well worth it for the good that they do. I smoked a Habano Torpedo on my walk, and it was a good tasting smoke. It was a pretty cigar too, however it gave me some trouble. With only one sample, I’m certainly not going to pass judgement. I had trouble keeping this cigar lit, and the cold and breezy weather may not have helped, although I smoke a fair number of cigars outdoors in the winter without these problems. So it was a tasty, yet unfulfilling cigar. I’ll seek more of these out because I liked what I tasted and want to give this another try. Please keep in mind, I’m just relating my experience with this single cigar, not disparaging the brand in any way.

Monday evening, after the less than satisfying cigar experience Sunday, I decided on a sure thing. Again, boring for you, but the key to continued sanity for me. I opened the Drew Estate humidor and had an Undercrown Corona Viva in one hand and a Nica Rustica El Brujito in the other hand and the El Brujito won. Either of these cigars are on my “sure thing” list, but with an impending snowstorm on the horizon I wanted a nice, long smoke. I can’t tell you anything more about the Nica Rustica that you haven’t heard. It’s a great dark and dirty cigar. Big flavor, great construction, very satisfying. I love the uncut foot with that big blast of Connecticut Broadleaf right off the bat. I can take or leave the little pigtail cap, it’s a nice touch but I just cut it off anyway. I loved the original blend with the Nicotiana Rustica tobacco in it, it was something special, but the blend they sent to production is really yummy too. I always want to have some of these on hand, and for $6 and change it’s not hard to do.

Tuesday we got our promised snow, and my place of work closed at noon. I felt it would be prudent to take the dog (and a cigar) for a walk before it got too bad. It’s a tricky thing picking out a snowstorm cigar. It’s almost like selecting a good pool cigar, but you really have to consider flavor more in the winter. It has to be sturdy enough that a little moisture isn’t going to hurt anything, because there’s no doubt an errant snowflake or a hundred are going to find their way on the wrapper. I decided on a LegendArio Bertha (links to retailer site). The Bertha is a 6″ x 60 maduro, which is a Honduran puro, but it’s really loaded with dark, earthy cocoa flavors. The wrapper is nice and rugged, it’s easy to handle with gloves on, and it burned quite nicely. This cigar really hits the spot for me, and it gave me a good two hours of dog walking, snow shoveling, watching the snow fall goodness. I had bought a couple of these a year or so ago and will need to get a couple more to have around. It wasn’t expensive, another cigar in the $6 range that’s pretty darned good in my opinion. I’d probably lean toward the toro though, but I don’t mind a 6″ x 60 as long as it delivers in the flavor department. These are from the makers of Camacho, and if I have one complaint, it’s that they have devoted their website to the Camacho line, and it’s next to impossible to find information about this or the Room 101 brands except for retailers sites. It annoys me a little when I have to work too hard to find information!

That’s all I have for now. It’s hovering in single digits tonight, so I’m not even feeling like taking a walk tonight. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

5 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as Camacho, cigar, cigars, Crossfire, drew estate, LegendArio, Nica Rustica

by CigarCraig | January 19, 2014 · 11:55 am

An Azan White, A Toraño Exodus 50th Cigar and I Got Hex’d!

It’s been a busy time in the cigar industry, it seems. Press releases are flying everywhere, and, although I’m not the guy who has the ability, or the inclination, to post them upon arrival, they did inspire some of my cigar selections this week! There are several sites I can count on posting a press release shortly after I receive the e-mailed version, and I think that’s great! I just feel like it would be redundant for me to post it a few days later and I try to keep my content just a little different from everyone else. That being said, I’m all about promoting the premium cigar industry, so I’ll endeavor to smoke a cigar from a company in the news and link to the relevant press release on one of my esteemed colleagues sites. Everyone (with some exceptions) loves links, so hopefully this is a winning solution. Enough of my editorial views, I smoked some cigars this week!

Thursday evening I selected my last IPCPR sample from Roberto Duran Cigars, an Azan White Robusto. I had enjoyed the Campaña a while back (here with some back story) and really enjoyed it. I’m sure glad that I accidentally came by samples at the show, because this is a dynamite cigar. It’s flavor is smooth and rich and it’s what I look for in a premium cigar. The construction is also perfect. I have it on good authority that they are coming out with a Corojo Maduro next, which sounds really interesting. This 4 7/8 x 50 robusto has an Ecuador Corojo wrapper and perhaps it’s the Brazilian Mata Fina in the filler (along with leaf from Jalapa and Esteli) that give it that little something extra that I like. This is a really nice, refined cigar that would be smokable just about any time of the day. Another cigar with a “very nice” rating. The press release I mentioned above can be found posted at Cigar Federation here.

Friday I cracked open a Toraño 90+ Rated Sampler I received last year from Jack Toraño. As I am prone to do, I started with the maduro offering, the 93 rated Toraño Exodus 1959 50 Years Toro. This is also the highest rated out of the bunch. Aesthetically, this is a beautiful dark, oily cigar and I really like how the copper colored band looks against the wrapper. Very pretty. This is a rich, smooth maduro that is another “very nice” cigar. Burn and draw were spot on and it gave me about an hour and a half of smoking enjoyment. I’ll continue to smoke through this sampler and report in on the rest of the blends represented, it’s nice to know that this can be purchased for under $25 at a lot of outlets (BCP has them here, shilling for one of my advertisers!). Toraño announced last week their “Blends From the Vault” tour beginning in February. TheCigarNut.com is one place you can find the press release about the tour. I was actually having a discussion yesterday with a gentleman in a local lounge about the lack of a big Toraño presence here in south-east PA, and the proprietor of the same shop asked me about Sam Leccia in a separate conversation. Toraños are great smokes and Sam is the hot ticket over the last six months or so, it amazes me a little that the presence is so limited.

Wednesday I posted the press release for National Hex Day, so I hunted down a participating store in my area and took a forty minute drive to Goose’s Tobacco Outlet in Limerick, PA. I had visited this shop once before and had wanted to visit again anyway, so this gave me an excuse. I walked in and said “Hex Me” and was presented with a Hex Figurado, and then purchased three more. John, the proprietor, invited me into their members lounge to enjoy my free Hex Figurado. From talking to a couple members there, I came to find that if you spend $20 in the shop you are welcome to enjoy the lounge without a membership. This isn’t generally a problem for me anyway, but I prefer a shop have a public area for patrons to come in and enjoy their purchases. Not everyone buys more cigars than they plan to smoke at one sitting, there may be people who want to come in and buy one cigar and sit and enjoy it in a comfortable setting. Just one of my pet peeves, and I can’t complain about Goose’s selection or lounge, because it’s not bad and the two times I’ve been there I’ve managed to meet nice people and be accepted, like one finds in many cigar shops. I’ve smoked the Hex before and enjoyed it quite a bit. The example I smoked yesterday smoked a little on the wet side, and in talking to some other patrons they seemed to have similar issues. I still found it to be delicious, but if I didn’t understand the problem, I may have been put off by the way it smoked. I know the ones I brought home will smoke great after some rest in the humidor (they are in the new Adorini humidor for now). Keep an eye out for Sindicato Cigars, they are doing some pretty interesting things! I also understand that Goose’s is working on bringing a brand to market as well as hosting a festival in the fall. I’d much rather get Hex’d at Goose’s than Goose’d at Hex’s! I hope some of you went out and got Hex’d yesterday (or goose’d, I’m not judging)!

That’s enough for today, enjoy the day, I understand there might be a game on or something (the Flyers played last night and tomorrow, so I don’t know what other games there might be…). Until the next time,

CigarCraig

7 Comments

Filed under Editorial, Review

Tagged as Azan, cigar, cigars, Goose's, Hex, Roberto Duran, Sindicato, Toraño

by CigarCraig | January 17, 2014 · 6:14 pm

CigarCraig’s Celebrity Cigar Chat with Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown

Back in the 1980’s I worked in a record store. For you youngins, “records” were the media that stored our music. We also had “tapes” and eventually “CDs”. Now we have MP3s and no record stores to speak of! Anyway, this is where I first encountered the band Savoy Brown. Kim Simmonds founded the band in England in the mid-60s, when Blues was all the rage. My guess is that they were influenced by many of the same American blues artists who influenced other English groups of the same time. Perhaps Kim will leave a comment and expand on that! Anyway, nearly fifty years later and Kim Simmonds is still touring the US with Savoy Brown, now calling New York home. A few months ago he followed me on Twitter, which I took to mean he may have an interest in cigars. Further conversations confirmed this and I’m honored to say that he is a reader of CigarCraig.com! I’ve been overdue for a Celebrity Cigar Chat installment, so I imposed upon him to take a few minutes out of his schedule to answer a few cigar questions for us!

1. How and when did you come to be a cigar smoker?

I’ve never thought about that question until now. I’m thinking it was back in the 70’s in London when I started smoking cigars. All the pubs sold them from behind the bar (Hamlet was one brand) and I’d have the occasional one with a beer. It was just a natural pairing…a beer and a cigar.

I’ve been playing music now for 50 years come 2015 and it’s strange what sticks in your mind…..one memory is of a Decca Record Company executive pulling out an expensive cigar from his desk humidor, at a meeting we were having, and soon the office was full of Cuban aromas. I must have been in my early 20’s but I can still taste that marvelous cigar now!

2. What is your “goto” cigar? What is it you like most about that cigar and how long has it been your favorite?

My cigar smoking is pretty much like my guitar playing and my music…it changes every day (I like to keep things fresh for myself and the audience).

That being said I always had a preference for the old H.Upmann’s. I must have tried the new brand but I’m not sure…I do have it in mind to buy a five pack and find out what they are like these days. I did smoke a “Havoc” from that company fairly recently and was surprised the band looked so average. The cigar itself was okay.

Recently my “go to” cigar has been the “Vegas 5 A series”. I got some at a good price from CI and they have a nice taste, don’t knock my head off and are smooth. I’ve enjoyed those cigars, off and on, for over two years now.

I like a smooth cigar be it mild, medium or strong. I don’t inhale…it’s a matter of taste rather one of nicotine buzz. I used to only enjoy mild cigars but so many of those have no taste so I have gone to a more medium cigar as a general rule.

I like Montecristo whites and Cohiba Red Dots but rarely smoke them as I’m always looking for a $2.00 bargain!

I like your blog because it gives me ideas for cigars to smoke other than the usual I might run into.

3. What is your ideal situation for enjoying a cigar?

In the summer sitting on my patio with my dogs (well, dog now..my eldest passed away)….nothing beats it. For that matter….sitting in the summer with a cigar on anyone’s patio!

I also like smoking a cigar on the road with my band mates. It’s a way for us to relax together and share time together other than professionally.

And quite often in the winter, I will go for a drive simply to smoke a cigar and let my thoughts clear up problems or give me ideas. I live in the country so traffic is minimal.

4. Do you have the opportunity to enjoy cigars while touring? Do you search out local shops or lounges?

That’s one of the highlights of touring! As a band we all seek out a cigar lounge wherever we are and that ends up being the most relaxing time during stressful tours. And it’s fun, at the lounges, trying a cigar you might not normally smoke.

5. If you could hang out and smoke a cigar with anyone, living or dead, who would that be, why, and what cigar would you smoke?

That’s a no brainer. Sir Winston Churchill. A monumental presence in British political history and someone I grew up admiring for his strength and fortitude. Also, like me, he is a painter and his book on the subject inspired me years ago. And, of course, we would smoke a Romeo y Julieta!!!

Thank you Kim, for taking the time to give us a little glimpse into your cigar passion, and thank you for following along with my adventures! I seriously hope to be able to have a cigar with you one of these days, and you can bet I’ll be looking for a Philly area show to come to! You can read more about Savoy Brown and Kim at their website: http://www.savoybrown.com/ and get the music on iTunes and Amazon. It’s a lot of fun when passions collide!