Category Archives: Review

by CigarCraig | September 10, 2015 · 6:41 pm

MBombay News and Cigars and the Ventura Psycho Seven Contest Winner

Since Mel at MBombay Cigars sent me the news item below and asked me to post it, I thought I’d smoke a couple of the samples he gave me at the IPCPR show when I met up with him and his crew. Tuesday I selected the MBombay Corojo Oscuro. Of the four cigars they gave me at the show, they all look basically the same, same bands, same general wrapper color, and the same robusto format. If Ron hadn’t written the line name on each cello I would have been lost. Anyway, these are all made in Costa Rica at the Tabacos de Costa Rica factory, all have a covered foot, and all seem to smoke very well. The cigar labeled Corojo Oscuro had a very rich flavor, sweet and spicy at the same time with some leather too. It really didn’t look like what I associate with “oscuro”, it was the same milk chocolate color the other samples are, although the photos do show a difference. I guess my eyes are going too! Good smoke, still prefer the classic in this line.

Last night I smoked the MBombay Habano, with the visual characteristics as the previous cigar, but with a bit more of a creamy and savory flavor to go along with the bit of spice. This one was very solidly packed and burned a long time for a 4½” x 50 robusto, although I would have liked to have had better smoke volume, it was a bit tight and took some effort to get a satisfying mouthful of smoke. Still tasted great, and I have a Kecara and Mora still to smoke, and I still have a Maduro from the original release floating around. I still lean toward the Classic as a very nice, refined Connecticut shade cigar as my favorite, which is odd as I generally prefer heartier blends. I haven’t had many cigars from this factory (and I have smoked a bunch over the last 10 or so years) that have been bad, Mel made a great choice having his cigars made in Costa Rica.

MBombay Offers A Chance to Attend one of Cigar Aficionado’s Big Smoke Evenings!

In an effort to provide Aficionados & Aficionadas a cigar Experience to remember, Bombay Tobak is offering a Drawing for 5 Tickets each to either Big Smoke Las Vegas or Big Smoke New York! The Deal…. BUY ANY 3 MBombay cigars at any MBombay Retailer, receive a Raffle Ticket to enter the Drawing… SIMPLE! Seek an MBombay Retailer near you by visiting www.bombaytobak.com.

MBombay is a Nationally Distributed Brand of Boutique cigars that incorporates Sophistication, Complexity, & Harmony of Flavors in their tobacco blends. Offering 5 different lines, their vitolas are truly unique in their smoking Experience… a definite must try for all cigar lovers!

This “Big Smoke Promotion” will start on September 1, 2015 and run through October 23, 2015 for the Las Vegas, NV venue, and through November 12, 2015 for the New York venue. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to attend one of the Cigar Industry’s most sought after Events!

Contest

I intended to post this yesterday, but I was still seeing some entries come in so I figured I’d let it run thru Wednesday like I said I would and push-off posting until today. There were 77 entries for the Ventura Psycho Seven prize pack, and Random.org generated the number 30, so the winner is Dan Colley! Dan is a pretty regular participant in the comments here, I’m sure I’m not going to have to chase him down for his address! Congrats Dan, please e-mail me you’re coordinates so I can ship these goodies to you.

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under Contest, News, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, MBombay, Psyko Seven, Ventura

by CigarCraig | September 6, 2015 · 9:39 am

Neya, Villliger, Kings and a Couple of Cigars from Drew Estate at the Wooden Indian

It’s Labor Day weekend where we ironically get an extra day of work off, and that means the guy remodeling my bathroom also took today and tomorrow off. We had a frustrating day with plumbing yesterday, but more on that later. I hope everyone is enjoying this last weekend of summer, a milestone which passes every year and just depresses the hell out of me. I like summer, sue me. Soon we’ll be back to bundling up, turning the heaters on, and not just being able to walk out to get the paper in your bathrobe (or, the winter bathrobe comes out if you’re a robe fan). Autumn sucks, Winter sucks and Spring is OK because it means it’ll be summer soon. That’s enough of my bitching, I manage to enjoy cigars year round despite the weather, and I certainly did that some more this week.

I received two samples of the Duran Cigars Neya F8 cigars from Miguel at the IPCPR show, and I selected the Yankee which is a 6″ x 60. My alternative was the “Big Jack” at 7″ x 70, aptly named after Jack Toraño, Duran Cigar’s Marketing/Sales manager. 7″ x 70 is a time commitment. I did smoke the Yankee, and it was a great tasting smoke. This cigar is made in Nicaragua, has a Ecuador Habano wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler and is priced in the $7 range. It wasn’t particularly powerful or “in your face”, but it had nice, smooth subtle flavors. It almost made me wish I had smoked the larger cigar, as it would have been that much more enjoyment. I know my local shop carries some Duran cigars, and I’m going to have to see if they have the Neya, because it’s one I want to smoke again.

Two years ago Villiger celebrated their 125th anniversary, and the cigar they released in the U.S. to commemorate the occasion was a really nice smoke. It turns out they had an even better version that they released in Europe, the Celebration 125th Anniversary, and this is starting to be distributed in selected shops here now. The sample I received was a 6″ x 50 toro, and was packed in a reusable black gloss tube, the kind that “pops” when you open it quickly. I have a collection of tubes and I like having these around for the odd occasion I carry a single cigar around, or have one un-cello’d that I want to protect (assuming it fits!). The blend is top-secret, it’s been rumored to contain some Cuban tobacco, although I’ve had European Villiger execs infer that the machine-made Export has some Cuban tobacco in it too. I suspect it wouldn’t be hard to get away with that, but I remain skeptical (not to say the little Villiger Export isn’t a tasty smoke). The tube is probably a good idea for this cigar because the wrapper color is just plain weird. It’s got an olive tinge to it, somewhere in the shadows between the beige of Connecticut Shade and Candela. To my eye it was unappealing, and I would pass over it on a tobacconist shelf based just on the color of the wrapper. However, this is a great tasting and performing cigar, and it should be as it commands a hefty price. It burned perfectly, was subtle with some sweetness, and nothing I would guess as Cuban, although there are those who get the flavors of Havana cigar. Despite what I consider an ugly colored wrapper (although it was smooth and uniform, just not the color I look for) this was another great cigar.

I’ve been questioned as to whether I love every cigar I smoke, and the answer in “of course not”, but I just choose to feature cigars I rather enjoy here, and I value my cigar time such that I shy away from smoking cigars I don’t like! Another cigar I do like quite a bit was the Kings Cigars King of Kings Broadleaf. I got to try this cigar at the IPCPR show when we caught up with the very fun group from Kings: Anwar, Pete and Greg. We met these guys when they debuted King’s at the 2013 IPCPR show and developed a raport. Unfortunately I never see Kings Cigars on my local shelves, so I had been missing out on this Pennsylvania Broadleaf monster. The King of Kings vitola is a 6″ x 64 box press, and, looking at the website, it appears that they also have this in Brazilian Arapiraca as well as the original Habano. Damn, there’s another cigar I have to try to find! This cigar is a heavy, dark chocolate flavor bomb, a perfect desert cigar, sweet, but also savory, quite a nice smoke. I savored this one until my fingers nearly burned. I had, on a whim, double punched this one, giving me a bit of a figure 8 hole, and that worked perfectly, I never had the need to open it up. I was impressed, as I have been with the Kings line. These guys make some good cigars.

Yesterday I installed a pedestal sink in our powder room, which took much profanities, irritation and trips to the hardware store. I also had to fix the screen on the front door twice, as Macha the three-legged pitbull realized that it took little to no effort to go through it. I still have a little swearing to do at the plumbing work today, but I got to a stopping point yesterday and headed down the The Wooden Indian Tobacconist in Havertown, PA to stop by their annual charity event with Drew Estate benefiting TECHO, who builds housed for the underprivileged in Nicaragua (of which there are many). There is generally a huge auction of Drew Estate stuff as well as some Original art by Jessi Flores and his Subculture Studios. The turnout was impressive, and I only hung around for a Liga Privada No.9 Parejo, a little over an hour. After the frustrations of the day I felt I deserved to treat myself to a LP. Of course the Liga was excellent, and after a short conversation with Pedro Gomez, the DE Factory spokesmodel and Cigar Safari master of ceremonies, I decided that Ligas are great, but if I can get two Nica Rustica’s for the price of one Liga I can be very happy. When I got home, I set about testing this theory, which may be considered heresy by many. I got one sample of the Nica Rustica in Robusto at the IPCPR show, and picked up a handful at the event, so I took to the porch and lit up the show sample. I’m right, of course. I find the Nica Rustica to be as pleasing to me, if not more, than the Liga No.9. I found it to have a similar dark cocoa espresso flavor and just as rich. I make sure I always have these on hand, it’s one of my go-to cigars. I like them so much I over paid for a bundle of the Bellys when we went to the release party in Louisville in July (that worked out pretty well because I won a MUWAT ashtray too). I won’t turn down a Liga Privada and they remain special occasion cigars, but the Nica Rustica is an awesome smoke.

That’s it for me, off to spend Labor Day weekend trying not to labor too much. whatever you do to celebrate, be safe, and enjoy a fine cigar, I know I will be! Don’t forget to go back to my last post and enter to win some cool Ventura Cigars and Psyko Seven stuff! Contest ends Wednesday. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, drew estate, Duran, Kings, liga privada, Neya, Nica Rustica, TECHO, Villiger, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | August 30, 2015 · 6:58 am

Ora Vivo, La Aurora, Atabey, AJ Fernandez Enclave and New World Cigars

It’s been such a busy week, ran the 5K without dying, tried to cut off my thumb, colonoscopy, and a birthday, along with having our bathroom renovated and working on remodeling thee downstairs powder room. If only I didn’t have a 9-5 job taking up valuable time during the day! (I’m looking for a new job,mine’s going away in a few months, so careful what I wish for, right?). Anyway, I still managed to get some great cigars in starting with a Nica Rustica Belly after the 5K. I bought a bundle at the release party in Kentucky last month and the extra few weeks in the humidor has done well for them. I though maybe it was a bit wet in July, although it may have just been the cigars that handed out at the event. They seem to be ready now and was a great two-hour warm down after the run. Sunday afternoon I started the powder room project, and aft

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er getting some stuff done I took a walk with an Ora Vivo Armand Assante European edition, a generous gift from Kruk in New Hampshire. Kruk is probably a bigger fan of Victor Vitale‘s work than I am, and apparently bought many boxes of the European Edition when they became available. He very generously sent me a couple, and I did my best to compensate him with a few cigars. Anyway, the European edition comes in a Coronaish size, 5 ½” x 46ish, not too far off the 5½” x 48 Cedro No.5 size I like a lot. This cigar burned perfectly, it had a smoot

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h, refined Nicaraguan flavor and was very elegant. This is a great cigar for any time of the day, but I can easily see sparking one up with a morning cuppa joe. I don’t have many negatives to say about this line in general, but this corona may be the best of the bunch.

Monday’s evening walk was accompanied by a new offering from La Aurora, a line extension to their Untamed line, the Extreme in a robusto. I really likes the Untamed, it was bold, had some strength, and was very satisfying. This Extreme takes it up a notch, with some more of the heavy, espresso and cocoa flavors and a kick. I would venture to guess that this also has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, with was beautifully dark and oily. It’s a powerhouse, and I can’t find a lot of info on it at this writing. I loved it, and I really liked the regular Untamed line as well. These may be my favorites in the La Aurora line (although the Preferidos are pretty good too…and the Puro Vintage…and the Corojo…).

I celebrated a successful colonoscopy with a special cigar, the Atabey Ritos, the newest size in the line, a 6 1/8″ x 55 cigar that has what appears to be a beautiful Connecticut shade wrapper. These are made in Costa Rica under the careful supervision of Nelson Alphonso, the man responsible for the Cuban Cohiba Behike packaging as well as the designer of the Padrón 50th anniversary humidor. This was a trade show sample from David Garofalo, who distributes the brand. It’s not a cheap date, MSRP is around $33, but it IS a spectacularly good smoke. It simply could not have burned better, the burn was straight with a flat ember and perfect draw. It had sweet woody, earthy notes and was quite the elegant cigar. Often times high-end cigars are lost on me, I really don’t have a sophisticated palate, but this was a great smoke.

I followed that up on Thursday with a new cigar from AJ Fernandez, the Enclave in a 5″ x 52 robusto size. This cigar has a Habano Rosado wrapper, Binder from Cameroon and fillers that are described as AJF Piloto Cubano and AJF Select Nicaraguan, which leads me to believe they were grown on the company’s own farms and are top-secret varieties. Is the Piloto Cubano Dominican? Don’t know, bit what I do know is that this was a stout, powerful cigar with great flavor. It was spicy and woody, and I really l

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iked it. I think this is a winner, and AJ Fernandez has his share of winners in my book. I will certainly sample other sizes in this line, there is a Figurado that looks really cool.

Without even thinking on Friday I grabbed a New World by AJ Fernandez for my evening walk. This one was in the 5½” x 55 Navigante size. While this isn’t a new cigar, it’s a good one, maybe not quite as powerful as the Enclave, but a super tasty blend of tobaccos from Esteli, Condega, Jalapa and Ometepe in Nicaragua. this one had the coffee/chocolate flavors I really like in a cigar. I want to say I remember this, as well as the Enclave, being a collaboration between Abdel and his father Ismael, and there are certain similarities, chief being I really like both of them! The New World Connecticut is a winner in my book too, but that really doesn’t mean a lot considering I really enjoy most cigars from this f

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actory. Abdel is a tobacco genius and is only in his thirties.

Saturday was my birthday (thanks in advance for any well wishes) and after a nice afternoon with my granddaughters and family, I picked one of my last three cigars I blended on my 2013 Cigar Safari trip. These had a San Andres wrapper, Cameroon binder, and fillers from Brazil and Esteli if I remember correctly. I thought it from the beginning, and it remains true, but there are just too many flavors going on in the blend, it’s very busy. That’s not to say I don’t like it a lot, and it always brings back memories of a great trip, as well as providing a relaxing celebratory smoke. I’m going away for a few days and packed some favorites to relax with, it will be nice getting away with no events or other things to do, it’s been a long time since we just went somewhere to be human beings instead of human doings.

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

CigarCraig

Next up

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Tagged as aj fernandez, Atabey, cigar, Cigar Safari, cigars, Enclave, Extreme, La Aurora, New World, Nica Rustica, Ora Vivo Armand Assante, Untamed

by CigarCraig | August 23, 2015 · 6:21 am

Gran Habano, Cult, Foyle and Viaje Cigars

It’s been a bit of a busy week, I went out Wednesday and bought a new car, a Chevy Spark in Lime Green. I know, I’m a big ol’ dork who likes small cars and scooters…what can I say? I got a good deal on what I think is a cool little car, so I’m happy. I did manage to smoke a few cigars this week, From Gran Habano, the Gran Reserva #5 2011, which arrived in the mail a week before the IPCPR show, which was handy because that was a few less cigars I had to lug back from New Orleans. This was a nice looking milk chocolate-brown cigar presented in a cedar sleeve. It’s listed as full-bodied, but I found it solidly medium, and it has a Corojo wrapper, Habano binder and fillers from the Jalapa Valley in Nicaragua. It’s apparently available in five sizes,Corona Gorda: 5 5/8 x 46, Gran Robusto: 6 x 54, Imperial: 6 x 60, CZAR: 6 x 66 and Grandioso: 7 x 70, however this example was a 5″ x 50ish robusto. Not sure what that’s all about. It smoked very well, it was smooth, had a nice woody flavor from the cedar sleeve, and some sweetness. This is certainly a cigar I’d smoke again.

After getting home late from car buying on Wednesday, I took a quick walk with a Foyle Epee petite corona. The Foyle line was introduced to us during the media tour of the Aging Room/Boutique Blends booth, and is basically a private label cigar made in Tabacalera Palma ( I believe, there were previous Foyle Cigars made at Raices Cubana, and the information listed on their website is quite vague) for Alliance Cigars, a wholesaler out of New York state. This little 4″ x 40 cigar was loaded with flavor right from the st

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art. The flavors were fairly sharp and focused, and it interested me quite a bit. I can’t really pinpoint the flavor, except that it intrigued me, so much so that I wanted to sample this in a larger format, which I did the following evening. It was a very interesting little smoke.

Generally when one registers at the IPCPR show, one receives a bag with literature and this time it also had a couple of cigars included. It’s been my past experience that media did not receive these bags, but we did this year and I gave up on complaining. One of the cigars was a Cult Classic in a toro size. It came packaged in a neat cardboard display box with their booth number and a run-down of their line. Unfortunately, the packaging is generic, so it was up to me to deduce that this cigar was the Classic Toro. I assume this was just somethingg they did for the trade show and not a retail packaging anyway. They list the ingredients as Ecuador wrapper, Indonesian Binder and Jalapa, Nicaragua filler. I found it to be a nice cigar, smooth, nice flavors and I regret that I missed the booth at the show, I have no excuse, the booth number was right there on the box! I would pick this brand up again.

Thursday I went to the opposite end of the Foyle spectrum, selecting the Foyle Pudau at 7″ x 52. This was a pretty cigar with a slight box press and felt good in the hand. The burn and draw were perfect, and it provided better than two hours of relaxation. It was markedly milder than it’s baby sibling, and the flavors were far more muted and mellow. I actually had a hard time finding that same unique flavor I got in the Epee, but that’s not to say it wasn’t a very enjoyable cigar. I think it definitely highlighted the flavor difference between large and small ring gauges, it’s just a different experience altogether. I really liked the Foyle Padua, as much as the Epee, but for different reasons, and look forward to trying it in the toro and perfecto sizes. I’m guessing this can be found at retailers who buy from Alliance Cigar, there’s a list on the Foyle website.

Friday I wrapped up yet another summer week with a Viaje Oro El Padre that I picked up a few weeks ago when we stopped in J. Shepherd Cigars in Louisville, KY. They were having a bit of an event with a special on Viaje, Drew Estate and Leccia, and I was going to just get some Nica Rusticas and Luchadors, but I decided I had a

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bunch of Luchadors, and I was headed to a Nica Rustica event, so I decided to dip my toe in the Viaje pool. I haven’t sampled many Viajes, and an Oro may have been one of the few I’ve tried, and it was very good. I grabbed some of the Summer Blends and Oros, and decided an Oro was a good choice for my Friday evening cigar. I was right, it was good. This is a milder cigar with tons of rich, yet subtle flavors. It was super smooth and creamy and was a really nice smoking experience. the draw and burn were as perfect as I’ve had in a while. It did build in strength, but never too much. This is a great cigar, and I will continue to sample the Viaje line as I come across them.

That’s about it for today. I’m off to run my first 5K today, the last time I did any running was when I had a stress test a few years ago :-). I ran a few times this week, enough to get a feeling for what my run/walk ratio might be and how far off the winning time I’ll be, and I’m fine with it. I’m doing it for fun and charity anyway, and look forward to a nice cigar poolside when it’s all over! Have a great week, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Cult, Foyle, Gran Habano, Viaje

by CigarCraig | August 16, 2015 · 8:54 am

Marrero Cigars, Flor de Gonzalez, Macanudo Estate Reserve and Cigars with Friends

I’ve been working through some more new cigars from the IPCPR show, and I ran across some Marrero cigars that it took me a moment to remember. We ran across the booth late on the last day we were there and got to talking to Joel Vazquez Marrero about his cigars. My memory is hazy on this, but I think these are rolled at the same factory as Vegas de Santiago, MBombay and Atabey, Byron and Bandolero. If this is the case it’s one more bit of proof that this particular factory is producing some excellent cigars. The Marrero Tico Pigtail is 6½ x 56, has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder and what they call Costa Rican/Proprietary Blend as the filler, as well as a long pigtail, as the name would imply. The cigar was solid, firmly packed with a similarly firm draw, although it wasn’t annoyingly so. I found it to be on the milder side of medium, with a nice flavor and burn. It was a nice cigar for my evening walk. I look forward to trying the Tesoro Mio blend in the near future.

On Thursday I had a brief moment of wishful thinking that it was Friday, but reality soon slapped me in the face. So Friday deserved what I hoped would be a special smoke. Another booth we stopped at late in the show was Flor de Gonzalez. We had a brief visit with Yadi, and she shared their 20th Anniversario cigars, which come in either a Ecuador Connecticut or a Connecticu

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t Broadleaf wrapper. My natural inclination is to go with the Broadleaf, which I did and was very pleased. This was a rich, chocolaty smoke with a great burn and draw. It’s a rubusto, but is 5½” x 50, a little more of a good thing than your traditional 5″ robusto. I can’t wait to try the other one. I’ve always enjoyed the Flor de Gonzalez line, it seems to fly under the radar in a lot of places, at least around here.

We had some friends over last night, so we spent the better part of the day getting ready, and in the hour or so before people arrived, I sat down with a Macanudo Estate Reserve Jamaica 2015. This is a very special Macanudo, here is what the folks at General Cigar have to say about it:

To experience Macanudo Estate Reserve is to savor a tradition that spans nearly half a century, for this exceptional cigar hearkens back to the very roots of the brand.
For the 2015 release of Macanudo Estate Reserve, the artisans of Macanudo blended a 10 year old Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper from the sun-drenched, highest priming, with proprietary Jamaican tobacco cultivated on small, independent farms and aged exclusively for this year’s small batch offering. The dark, well-oiled wrapper adds a new dimension of complexity to the flavor that ignited the passion for one of the world’s most beloved cigars.
Jhonys Diaz, master blender and vice president of operations said, “We selected a broadleaf wrapper for this year’s release to deepen the flavor profile of the cigar. The wrapper delivers bold notes of leather and earth, while complementing the unique attributes of the Jamaican filler. This is a rich and complex smoke, one that will appeal to the true cigar lover.”
The Jamaican tobacco tells a story all its own. The varietal used in Macanudo Estate Reserve is called Silver Tongue, a native seed favored by locals. It is an extremely low-yield tobacco and is the most expensive long-filler leaf in the world.
Due to the scarcity of Silver Tongue, this exquisite cigar will only be available until the limited release of 1,800 boxes per size is depleted.
Macanudo Estate Reserve 2015 will be available in three frontmarks, each protected in 10-count boxes and shipping in October. They are:

No. 7 — 7 x 50; SRP per cigar is $17.00

No. 8 — 6 x 57; SRP per cigar is $18.00

No. 9 — 5 x 50; SRP per cigar is $16.00

The presentation is beautiful and goes back to the Jamaican roots of the brand, which at one time was made in Jamaica. I remember having a box of Macanudo Prince Philip back in the 90s that was still made in Jamaica (won it on the CigarWorld.co

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m website somehow, and that was a very long time ago when there weren’t a lot of cigar websites). Anyway, this Estate Reserve was really very tasty and had about the most perfect construction imaginable. The cigar was perfect in every way, and had a nice flavor of espresso and cocoa. I found it to be medium bodied, and I smoked to a very tiny nub. It’s not a cheap date, but it is one of the most flavorful Macanudos out there.

One of our guests, my old friend Bruce, presented me with a very rare cigar, a Padron Millennium, claiming that he came across the humidor (these came out in 2000 in a humidor of 100, of which there were only 1000 made) in his basement. I believe he gifted me one of these nearly 15 years ago, but I smoked it long before I started documenting my daily smokes so religiously. This was a special blend of the 1964 series and had five year old tobacco at the time they were rolled in 1999. He was concerned that they had been neglected, but upon smoking the cigar all was well. If it was blended to be bolder than the 1964 series, the last 15 years might have tempered the original intent, but it was still a spectacular cigar that had a perfect burn, draw and the chocolate bar creamy sweetness that one would expect. Quite a treat, and I can’t thank Bruce enough for sharing that special cigar.

One of our other guests, Victor, brought some Tortuga Cigars, so I smoked one of my favorites from the line, the Cedro No. 5 as my last cigar of the night. Talk about a trifecta of exceptional cigars to go along with a night of great friends, food and stories. It’s a treat when you can get three couples together, many of whom haven’t met, and go late into the evening talking about a myriad of topics. Anyway, the Tortuga line is obviously high on my list, and the No. 5, at 5½” x 48, is just about the perfect size and is a great representation of the blend. After the pair of chocolaty maduros, this spicy Nicaraguan puro it the spot, and never fails to satisfy. We don’t entertain much, but with our big screened in porch it is something we need to do more. Thanks again to Victor and Rebecca and Bruce and Shirley for spending the evening with us.