Blood Medicine, Davidoff Chef’s Edition and Black Star Line Cigars

Next week is going to be busy with some travel and Thanksgiving and all, so I’ll try to come up with something to write about next Sunday. It may have something to do with the travel, or perhaps the Cigar & Lifestyle Fest next weekend at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds in Oaks, PA which I plan to check out.  I’m not at all sure what this is going to be all about, I know there’s one cigar related vendor listed that I’m familiar with, and two brands that I’ve heard of, but they are super small companies.  I’ll likely go Saturday, let me know if anyone’s going to be there. It would be more fun hanging out with someone rather than going alone.  I probably should have mentioned this Wednesday when I met up with Craig (the Breadman) for an impromptu Craig summit.  Anyway, let’s talk about some cigars I smoked this week. A few weeks back I was at the Wooden Indian and bought a selection of cigars. I smoked the Crowned Heads Broadway that night, and was really impressed. When I was deciding what to smoke, the gentleman working there, we’ll call him “Mark”, asked if this would be my first cigar of the day and recommended the Blood Medicine B+ as it was the mildest of the bunch.  I told him that he just doesn’t know me very well, as that’s not really a thing in my world. Unless it’s a breakfast cigar, I don’t really ever concern myself with cigar strength.  Thirty years I’ve been smoking cigars.  Anyway, I smoked the Blood Medicine B Positive toro this week. It’s a 6″ x 52 toro with Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, Ecuadorian Connecticut binder, and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s made at Pichardo’s D’Hatuey factory in Estelí.  “Mark” set me up to think it was mild, and maybe compared to the other cigars I had selected that day it was the mildest.  It starts with a citrus tingle, has some interesting baking spice flavors, and is, overall, a really nice cigar. I kept thinking there was a mineral/metallic flavor, but that might just have been the blood reference in the naming.  I’m O Negative, by the way, so I will be obliged to purchase a Blood Medicine O- if it ever come to that.  

Friday evening I was feeling fancy, so I picked out this year’s Davidoff Chef’s Edition, generously provided by Davidoff.  I had just finished what is probably considered the polar opposite of a gourmet meal, Dominoes Sausage and Pepperoni pizza, with some Parmesan bread bites.  It’s a very pedestrian fare, but I fed two of us for two day for $15, I deserved a reward! Don’t judge me, I’d rather have a great cigar than a great meal.  For the Chefs Edition 2025 cigar, Davidoff collaborated with five renowned chefs, holding eleven Michelin stars between them. Paolo Casagrande (Lasarte, Spain), Christian Bau (Victor’s Fine Dining, Germany), Kirk Westaway  (Singapore), Nick Bril (The Jane, Belgium) and Michael Beltran  (Ariete, USA),  all passionate Davidoff aficionados whom I’ve never heard of, see above. Back in 2017 we were invited to a Davidoff Chef’s edition event in New York City (here) which was a special evening.  Anyway, the 2025 is a 6¼” x 52 toro, with a wrapper from Ecuador, binder from Mexico and Dominican fillers. My main takeaway from this flavor-wise was umami. It was a savory cigar, maybe a touch of floral, but largely earthy and some sice as it progressed.  It’s quite good, but me smoking a cigar like this is like if I mowed the lawn with a Cohiba Siglo 6.  It was a very good cigar, and it was really enjoyable to smoke as it performed perfectly. It’s a little out of my league, but I appreciated it nonetheless.  

When I stopped in to Harrisburg Beer & Cigar last week, another cigar I grabbed was the Black Star Line Lalibela in a toro size.  I was surprised to see this in their discount bin. I hope I don’t get in trouble for disclosing that.  For $6 for a cigar I’d been wanting to try it was a no brainer.  I’ve never met Aric, the owner of the brand, but I’ve heard him on a lot of podcasts and he sounds like someone I’d like to meet.  If I’m not mistaken, the guys at Cigar Dojo do the graphic design for these cigars, and they are made at Aganorsa Leaf.  I should have bought more than I did.  This has a San Andrés wrapper, with Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  The name Lalibela comes from the area in Ethiopia where a bunch of chapels were cut into the bedrock. It’s quite a fascinating place as there are all these big holes with solid stone churches carved out of them. It’s an engineering marvel.  It kinda has to be the work of aliens, right?  I joke.  Anyway, the cigar was quite good, presented with a closed foot and pigtail cap,  it had some nice coffee and spice flavors.  I forgot to take notes, which is usually an indication that I really like the cigar.  I have to hunt down more cigars from Black Star Line now.  

That’s about it.  There’s still time to get in on the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa.  Go HERE to sign up. Have a great week!  Until the next time, 

CigarCraig