Casa Favilli and Mi Querida Cigars and Groovy Groomsmen Gifts

It was cold this week, and I had a hard time getting opportunities to have a cigar.  Last Sunday when I visited Pairings Cigar Bar in Media, PA, I picked up a couple Mombacho Casa Favilli torpedos that I spied in the humidor I was sitting next to. I didn’t even look at the price, uncharacteristic of me, I just knew I wanted to try a cigar with a broadleaf wrapper grown in Jalapa, and I knew these were not widely available. The opportunity presented itself and I had to take advantage of it. I still don’t know what they cost, and I don;t want to know, I paid my tab and felt like I got a good value for my visit after spending a nice afternoon with Bill Coyne, recording a good podcast episode, and having a nice smoke in a nice place! At any rate, I did smoke the Casa Favilli, named after the Mombacho factory in Granada, Nicaragua, which is named after the Italian architect who designed the colonial mansion in which the factory is located. visiting this factory is on my wish list, BTW. I’ve only whisked through Granada, it looks like a beautiful little town. As I mentioned, the wrapper on this cigar is from an experimental crop of broadleaf tobacco grown in Jalapa, with a Jalapa binder and fillers from Jalapa and Condega. The flavors in this are interesting, there’s some sweetness, which one expects from Jalapa, but the Broadleaf wrapper offset it with a little bitterness, not unlike the espresso-like flavors in Connecticut broadleaf. It’s a must-try for Broadleaf fans, I think, and another great cigar from Mombacho,  who’s cigars have grown on me lately.

Since it was really cold this week, I took a few nights off, but one night I snuck in a little Mi Querida Firecracker, a Two Guys Smokeshop exclusive from Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust.  I understand these will be making a comeback, which is a good thing, because this was a really nice little smoke, distinctly different from the slightly larger Gordita, as it has some Ligero loaded in the front to give it some punch, and slow the smoking time. For a 3½” x 50 cigar, it smokes for a good 45 minutes and the flavor is fantastic. Of course, I’m a fan of the Mi Querida, and it’s ugly (Saka’s opinion) sibling, Umbagog, in any size and shape, but this little bastard has a little extra oomph which sets it apart. I’ve had the good fortune to have smoke several in the Firecracker series, although, oddly, never the original Don Pepin versions, and they all are excellent. One of my favorite cigars of last year was a Fratello Firecracker smoked on the Spanish Steps in Rome! For little cigars, they are yummy!

Last year I featured a lighter from Groovy Guy Gifts, and last week their partner site, Groovy Groomsmen Gifts got in touch with me and wanted me to have a look at one of their cigar related offerings. I found that most of the offerings they had were combination cigar/booze accessories…cigar holders with flasks, that sort of thing, and frankly, I have no real way to evaluate that kind of thing. When one isn’t a drinker, drinking accessories aren’t really of interest, and, come to think of it, at my age, chances of me either being a groomsman, or having them are relatively low. Regardless, I decided to have a look at one of the engraved humidors they offered and see how the fit and finish looked, and how their turn around time was.  The item was the “Coolector“, which is a 9″ W x 8 1/2″ D x 2 1/4” H cherry finished humidor. Since I have a relationship with the folks at Prestige Group, who make s this humidor, I was able to get some details, such as this is Spanish Cedar lined, and is used by a lot of companies for promotions.

It’s a pressboard construction and seems to seal well, it closes with a nice enough “woosh”. As you can see in the animated gif I made, and the photo, the engraving is very nice, and they turned it around in about 5 days. I would say if you are in the market for personalized gifts to mark an occasion of reasonable quality, I wouldn’t hesitate to use Groovy Groomsmen Gifts, they have a lot of options and they do a nice job of personalizing and shipping quick. The cigar accessories are sourced from a major importer, and while they’re not Elie Bleu quality humidors, they are perfectly usable. My cabinet humidor is from the same company and I’m quite happy with it.

I also managed to get in a Cornelius and Anthony Meridian Robusto, which is number four of my favorite C&A cigar behind the Cornelius, Señor Esugars and The Gent. Heck, they are all good. I still need to revisit that Mistress, although I get a little queezy thinking about it…soon…anyway, that enough for today, until the next time!

CigarCraig