Category Archives: Review

by | February 28, 2016 · 10:10 am

An Asylum and a La Gloria Cubana from Famous, Along With Some Other Cigars

The problem with taking Wednesdays off is that I have to decide which of the cigars I’ve smoked during the week to talk about on Sunday.  The reason I skipped my midweek post was that I had a Prime Living magazine article deadline, and I wanted to get that taken care of.  I have a calendar of the due dates for the rest f the year, let’s see if I can use that to plan ahead so I’m not waiting until the last minute every time!  I think it’s been about two years that I’ve been writing the Cigar Notes feature in Prime Living, it’s still crazy to me when I see my name in the byline.  I did smoke some really interesting cigar this week, I’m going to touch on these four briefly.

 

First off I smoked a Swag SoBe  Lavish, which is a robusto from Boutique Blends. This was part of the Cigar Authority Care Package and I smoked it while listening to the show in podcast form. This cigar really surprised me in that it had  distinctive flavor, I want to say it was like a green tea maybe, and I tasted it for hours after I was done. I’ll be looking for more of these. Yesterday I took a long walk with what I believe to 4 cigarshave been a Perdomo 20th Anniversary Sun Grown Churchill, I didn’t take any measurements, but I swear it was larger at the foot than the head. I know it wasn’t a torpedo because Perdomo torps are pretty distinctive in their pointyness. For you cigar walkers, this size is good for five miles. Very tasty, but I prefer the Maduro in this line.  The Cohiba Luxury Edition is a stupidly expensive cigar, I can’t imagine dropping $38 on one cigar, but it was an exceptional example of cigar making and blending, and it was very good. This was the subject of my Prime Living piece, so you’ll have to wait until the May/June issue drops to read more about this. Finally, and these were in no particular order  by the way, there was one day this week that I was in the mood for an Epic Maduro, so I grabbed a Double Corona, which is really a gordo, for my evening walk. This line is rising to the top of my go-to list, and it takes quite a bit of will power not to just grab one the few of these I have on hand every day.  These are frickin delicious and Dean Parsons is a really cool dude. There were others, but these were the ones I had some thoughts on off the top of my head.

 

Asylum_Lobotomy_ToroA couple of weeks back I received some cigars from Famous Smoke Shop, cigars that are made exclusively for them.  One of them was the Asylum Lobotomy in the toro size. Thank goodness they didn’t send the 770, that’s too darned large for winter smoking, shivering knocks the ash everywhere! These are a value priced take on the Asylum line, with a Maduro Nicaraguan Habano wrapper. This is a really nice cigar for under $5 if you like a strong, bold flavored cigar that has enough changes to keep things interesting. The burn on the samples I smoked was pretty good, I had to touch up a few times, but aging will certainly fix this. I imagine these will age well too, although they are good pretty much off the truck.  These come in the toro, 770 Double Toro (6×60) and a 4×44 “corona”, so there’s something for everyone.  I half expected this to be a lot stronger than it was given the name.

 

LaGloriaCubana_SerieRF_NoThe other new offering in Famous’ exclusives line is from La Gloria Cubana.  This is a take on the Serie R line, called the La Gloria Cubana Serie RF (I’m guessing the “F” is for Famous…ya think?). As much as I love just about all things La Gloria Cubana, I haven’t had the greatest experiences with the regular Serie R line. These were really one of the first large ring gauge cigars back in the early 2000s, and I really wanted to like them, but they always came up short for me. I love the Serie R Esteli, and to a lesser extent the  Serie R Black (I find the Brick and Mortar exclusive Esteli a bit richer than the catalog/internet exclusive Black). So I went into the Serie RF with a cautious optimism.  I smoked the No. 13, which is a 5½x54 robusto. The blend is a Ecuador Habano wrapper, Connecticut Havano binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers.  I need to smoke some more of these, because I really enjoyed the crap put of the one I smoked. It was smooth, sweet and full of flavor. These are a priced in the mid $8 range, but worth it, in my opinion.

 

That’s all I can manage this morning. It’s supposed to be a beautiful day, so I need to get something done around here,  including getting a nice, long cigar walk in.  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

Share

10 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

by | February 21, 2016 · 10:42 am

La Boheme, Nomad Therapy and a Quesada Cigar from Casa de Montecristo

LaBoheme_PittoreSince we last spoke, which was only Friday, I’ve not had the chance to smoke too many cigars, but I did try to smoke good ones! I’ll have to rewind to Thursday, when I selected a La Boheme Pittore (5 1/8″ x 52) from a prior month’s Cigar Authority Care Package, to smoke while I listened to last week’s show.  I should have smoked the Eiroa Classic Prensado, which I really look forward to smoking, but it was a 4″ x 48 size that I knew wouldn’t fit into the time allotted, it would leave me wanting. I’ll get to the Eiroa eventually, but I had the La Boheme that I missed previously, and I was looking forward to smoking Rafael Nodal’s latest creation too. The La Boheme, named after the famous Puccini opera (and I didn’t have to look that up, just so you know!) with sizes are named after characters in the opera, attempts to blend Rafael’s passions of cigars, music and Cuba, and I felt a little bad that I was listening to a cigar podcast while smoking this instead of listening to the opera. This is yet another cigar that I will be smoking again, it was very good, with a hint of that twang that’s a signature of most Havana cigars. Burn and draw were outstanding and it was a very enjoyable smoke. Another job well done from the folks at Aging Room Cigars.

 

Nomad_TherapyMaduro_ToroFriday evening I celebrated the end of another week, as well as my youngest son’s 22nd birthday, with the Nomad Therapy Maduro Toro.  This line is made at Tabacalera Fernandez in Nicaragua, and the maduro uses a Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper, which Abdel Fernandez is reasonable famous for working with. Besides the PA wrapper, which I like a lot and it’s grown right down the road from where I live, this cigar had a Habano binder grown in Jalapa, and Nicaraguan filers.  One can’t buy boxes of these, they are presented in trays that retailers can refill with bundles, lowering the cost. That’s not to take anything away from the premium nature if the cigar, it’s not a cheap bundle offering. I had no issues with the burn and draw, and the flavor was awesome! A little sweet, a little spice, a lot of flavor, and it’s right up my alley. Great, another cigar I need to buy…thank you to Fred for including this and it’s Connecticut Shade and Habano siblings with the 12SDOCG offering back in December!

 

Quesada_Espana_FabulososYesterday we had an odd February day with temps in the 50s, so I grabbed a big cigar and took Macha for a nice long walk, 3.1 miles to be exact.  The cigar came in a selection of cigar sent to me by the online arm of Casa de Montecristo in Chicago, CDMCigars.com. I’ve been to the Casa de Montecristo in the Chicago area and it’s spectacular, and the members lounge which I weaseled my way into is just about as good as it gets. The cigar I selected was the Quesada Sellecion España Fabulosos, a 7″ x 54 corona doble. This line was originally blended for the Spanish market to offer an alternative to Cuban cigars, and was a bit of a unicorn for a while, now they are available in the US, although not widely. The blend consists of a Ecuador grown Arapiraca wrapper, Dominican binder and fillers from Connecticut (broadleaf), the DR and Nicaragua. Here’s wear my general laziness bites me in the ass.  The cigar could have been a little dryer, and that’s my fault, as I placed the bag of samples, along with the Boveda pack, in the bottom of the cabinet. I’ve found before that this is a bad idea, and I didn’t learn. So I’ve removed the Boveda pack and put the rest of the cigars on the top shelf to lose a little moisture. While this cigar didn’t smoke as well as I’d have liked, it still was a terrific tasting cigar and smoked for over two hours. It was rich and creamy with hints of spice. I only have the H-Town lancero to compare this to, and it’s quite different, as the lancero is a lot more potent as one would expect.  The folks at CDMCigars.com also included the Beli-Lance, a 7″ x 40 with a belicoso head, along with a bunch of other exclusive cigars that I look forward to smoking. If you find yourself in the Chicago area make Casa de Montecristo a destination.

 

That’s it for now, it’s supposed to be milder temperatures again today, but we may get more snow and winter stuff this week. Until the next time,

 

Cigar Craig

Share

7 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

by | February 19, 2016 · 7:03 pm

La Prov Natural and Maduro Cigars

LaProv_Maduro_ToroFrom the owners of Churchill’s Smoke Shop and Lounge in East Providence, RI, comes the La Prov.  This line of cigars is made in Nicaragua at Fabrica de Oveja Negra, which is the factory that Black Label Trading Co. operates in Esteli.  The La Prov comes in two wrappers, and Bryan there was kind enough to share one of each with me.  Both samples provid

buy tamiflu online https://www.dentistwaycrossga.com/js/js/tamiflu.html no prescription pharmacy

ed were a 6″ x 50 toro size, I’m not sure what other sizes these come in, nor do I know the price point. Bryan has been preoccupied with the birth of his child, so I have only bugged him a little.  As is my custom, I smoked the La Prov Ecuador Habano Maduro first. This has a Nicaraguan binder and filler blend under the Maduro wrapper, and was a medium bodied smoke. I enjoyed the fairly typical maduro flavors of cocoa and coffee, and was quite impressed with the burn and draw. It was very well made, and made me anxious to try more cigars from the same factory. I found it quite enjoyable.

 

LaProv_Corojo_ToroThe La Prov natural version was equally as satisfying.  This one is Nicaraguan binder and filler with a Corojo wrapper from Ecuador. While I still think this falls into the medium bodied category, I found the flavor to be mellower, some sweet tobacco flavor with a little bit of spice.  Again, perfect construction, burning with a nice, flat ember. I suspect I’ll be able to find cigars from this factory under the Black Label Trading Co. brand locally as they have just began distributing through Boutiques United (formerly House of Emilio), as they

buy furosemide online https://www.dentistwaycrossga.com/js/js/furosemide.html no prescription pharmacy

have a good presence here in PA.  It seems that La Prov brand has only been on the streets since mid January, but the cigars are ready, and if you come across them, they are worth a try.  I was quite impressed with the small sampling of these  I smoked.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

Share

7 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , ,

by | February 17, 2016 · 8:04 pm

Cigar Contest Winners: Gotham Heroes Alec Bradley Robusto From Gotham Cigars

Gotham Heroes Alec Bradley RobustoThis is going to be a short post with the winners of the Gotham Heroes Alec Bradley Robusto From Gotham Cigars.  I’m waiting for some more info about some new cigars

buy flagyl online https://ivfcmg.com/icc/js/js/flagyl.html no prescripti

on pharmacy

I smoked this week so I can bring you my thoughts on them, hopefully I’ll have that for you tomorrow.  For tonight, We have two winners to announce from last weeks contest. The goodies that these two folks will win are five packs of the Gotham Heroes Alec Bradley Robustos, along with some other Gotham items, generously provided by Manny and Stephanie at Gotham Cigars.  As you will recall, I really enjoyed these, so much so that I voted with my wallet and bought some.  They are still reasonably priced at $19.99 per five pack, and I highly recommend them.  The winners, as selected by the random number generator at Random.org are George and Chris m!  Please send me your addresses or I’ll track you down if I don’t hear from you!

&n

bsp;

Than you all for entering and stay tuned

buy super cialis online https://ivfcmg.com/icc/js/js/super-cialis.html no prescription pharmacy

for the next giveaway, whatever that might be (they are always good, aren’t they?).  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

Share

12 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | February 14, 2016 · 8:26 am

Henry Clay Stalk Cut and Tattoo, a Padilla and an Esteban Carraras

HenryClay_StalkCutI’ve been a bit obsessed with the newest offerings in Altadis’ Henry Clay line this week, and today I’ll write about what I talked about on my appearance on Kiss My Ash Radio yesterday.  I smoked both the Henry Clay Stalk Cut and the Henry Clay Tattoo this week, the Tattoo being the limited release that Pete Johnson collaborated with Altadis’ Groupo de Maestros on (on which they collaborated? I’ve never been good with prepositions…). Both cigars have very similar blends, in fact, it seems that the only difference is that the Stalk Cut has a wrapper from the 2012 harvest, and the Tattoo was from 2010, and the inclusion of Ometepe in the filler blend of the Tattoo (I can’t say whether that’s and omission in the  Stalk Cut description or not).  Here are the blends copied from Altadis’ website:

 

Stalk Cut: Wrapper: Dark Connecticut Broadleaf Vintage 2012, Binder: Dominican Piloto Vintage 2010, Filler: Dominican Olor Vintage 2012, Dominican Piloto Vintage 2012, Nicaraguan Criollo Vintage 2013

Tattoo: Wrapper: Hand-selected Dark Connecticut Broadleaf Vintage 2010, Binder: Dominican Piloto Vintage 2010, Filler: Dominican Olor Vintage 2012, Dominican Piloto Vintage 2012, Nicaraguan Criollo Ometepe Vintage 2013

 

 

HenryClay_StalkCutTattoo

 

HenryClay-TattooThe other differences are that the Tattoo has a pigtail cap and is presented naked, and the Stalk C

buy propranolol online https://www.dentistwaycrossga.com/slick/fonts/woff/propranolol.html no prescription pharmacy

ut has a closed foot and is dressed in cello. I was hard pressed to find much difference in flavor between the two, although the Tattoo may have been a tad richer. I can tell you this, it’s been my experience with both of these cigars that they smoke much better on the dry side, that Broadleaf wrapper is thick and sucks up moisture like a sponge, which is what the Tattoos I picked up felt like fresh from the retailers humidor. These need a long rest at about 65% RH or lower in my humble opinion. Both had rich coffee and cocoa flavors with a nice sweetness and some spice, a little something for everyone who prefers a heavier cigar. These are a refined version of the original broadleaf Henry Clays I remember from the ’90s, that were inexpensive, packed wet and tied with a ribbon in wheels of 50 so they were pressed in all sorts of crazy shapes. You’ll be disappointed in both of these cigars if you smoke them too wet, at the right RH they are exceptional. One final point about the “Stalk Cut” name, it seems that virtually all Connecticut Broadleaf is stalk cut, so that’s not really a big deal (and I verified this with someone in the know). It’s kind of like calling a cigar “Dirt Grown”, or saying it’s “hydrated by water”.

 

Padila_ReservaCriollo-98_RobustoI had a couple “new to me” cigars again this week, this one having been a trade show sample from Padilla Cigars, the Padilla Reserva Criollo-98.  I’m typically not a huge fan of the Criollo wrapped cigars, but I have been a fan of cigars made at Raices Cubanas in Honduras.  This was a 5″ x 54 robusto with the Criollo 98 wrapper (from where? not sure), and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I really enjoyed the cigar, it burned well, tasted great and was perfect for wrapping up the work week. Fortunately, the smoking porch is about 20° warmer than the outside, especially when it’s windy, so I took a short walk and smoked most of the cigar in comfort. Ernesto needs to work on his PadillaCigars.com website though, it’s been under construction since at lea

buy cialis professional online https://www.dentistwaycrossga.com/slick/fonts/woff/cialis-professional.html no prescription pharmacy

st the IPCPR show.

 

EstebanCerreras_10Anos_RobustoYesterday I skipped the walk completely, just too darned cold and windy to contemplate it, so I sat on the porch with the propane heater going and smoked an Esteban Carraras Diez Años Robusto. I had picked this up a few months back because I liked the way it looked and hadn’t ever smoked anything from Esteban Carraras before. This is a Nicaraguan puro with a wrapper aged ten years, although the website (if you can read the tiny print on the graphic, another terrible website…why are there so many?) would lead you to believe the entire cigar is aged ten years. It might be, but who knows? To complicate things more, I found reviews on these going back to 2009. Whatever the story, it’s a tasty smoke, medium, nice box press, attractive and not priced to bad if I recall (if it had been too pricey I likely wouldn’t have bought it).  I’d smoke it again and take a look at other cigars from Eteban Carraras.  Not bad at all.

 

Somehow I managed to be running two contests at the same time.  Last week I offered a fiver to whoever could match my score in the Bobalu Cigar Company’s “Test Your Cigar Knowledge“. I received one screen shot via Facebook with a perfect score, which is what I got (plus I pointed out that they misspelled “Tercio”, how geeky is that?). So I will throw together a five-pack for Alan Price, although Alan has the advantage of working in a cigar store, being a Cigar Rights Ambassador, and working on his Tobacconist University  curriculum. It will be a challenge finding something interesting that he hasn’t tried. He’s local to me to , so I’ll run into him somewhere in the near future. Don’t forget to enter the Wednesday contest to win one of two five-packs of the Gotham Heroes Alec Bradley Robustos, I’ll select the winners this Wednesday, February 17, 2016.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

Share

14 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , ,