Category Archives: Review

Gurkhas and Nubs, ORTSACS and La Palinas – Cigars and Hockey

Today is Easter Sunday here, and we had the family over for breakfast. Not that I would normally have a cigar in the morning, but I usually spend my Sunday mornings writing, so that’s why today’s post is a bit later than usual.  I will, no doubt, have a cigar later today when things settle down.  It may not surprise you to know that I managed to smoke a cigar or  two this week, here’s the rundown. The last part of the week was kind of a blur, so I’ll do the best I can. I stuck with some favorites, I needed a change of pace.

Gurkha_SeductionThursday I went to the Flyers game with my brother-in-law, Jeff.  On the drive down we fired up a couple Gurkha Seduction robustos.  This is a cigar that really suits me.  I love the flavor of this Ecuador Habano wrapped cigar, and it’s perfectly made.  I’ve been using nothing but my new Xikar XV cutter since I got it, and the V cut worked perfectly. It was a delicious cigar that perfectly fit the hour long drive from home to the Wells Fargo Center in Philly.  I would have preferred it if the Flyers had won, they blew a 2 goal lead then Nub464T_Cameroonlost in a shoot out against the Islanders.  After the game we retired to the cigar bar once again. I find sometimes my time is better spent having a cigar there as opposed to sitting in traffic.  I had a couple Nub 464Ts in my pocket and I smoked a Cameroon.  I hadn’t thought about it when I grabbed these, but I only had the V cutter. As it works out, the V cut on the torpedo wasn’t terrible, and it worked out OK on this tasty Cameroon wrapped cigar.  The 464T is not a short smoke, we left about thirty minutes into the cigars and they just about lasted the drive back home.

 

ORTSAC_1962_HabanoFriday I took a walk with an ORTSAC 1962 Habano.  This is a cigar that was gifted to me by Victor Vitale, cigar maker, importer & distributor a few months ago.  It came in a neat little box with another Habano and two of the San Andreas varieties. It’s no secret that I adore the San Andreas, as a matter of fact, I will be on a mission to get some more of those in the near future.  The Habano is no slouch either.  It has a wonderful flavor and construction, and really works for me.  Here’s a suggestion to Victor: package the Habano and San Andreas in either boxes of ten with five of each, and/or boxes of twenty with ten of each.  I don’t know about anyone else, but that would make ME extremely happy, because now I’m not really sure if I like one better than the other!  If I had both I could continue to argue this point with myself. Please let me know when and where these will be available! 🙂

 

Saturday afternoon my wife an I went to the Flyers game again, this time they beat the Bruins in regulation. (short side note:  At the beginning of every game they bring five kids out to stand with the players during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. There was one little kid, couldn’t have been more than six, who could barely stand on his skates  Kudos to defenseman Bruno Gervais for holding this kids hand while he was out there. Seems like a little thing, but this little act of kindness was the highlight of the game for me. Well done Bruno!) Circumstances prevented us from attending the unveiling of a statue of Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent hoisting the  Stanley Cup after they won it in 1974, which is in front of the Xfinity Live entertainment/dining complex adjacent to the Wells Fargo Center. Also, due to some logistics, as well as the onset of a migraine, we decided to forgo the usual cigar bar vis

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it and head home after the game.  After getting home and

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medicating, I took the La Palina El Diario Robustodog, and a cigar for a walk.  I selected a La Palina El Diario robusto and gave it a snip with the Xikar XV.  I am loving this cutter more and more every time I use it.  Anyway, this is another nice, Habano wrapped cigar made in Honduras.  It performed quite well, although the draw seemed to tighten up as the cigar burned.  I gave it another cut with the V cutter, making an X which opened it up a little.  By that time I was just about through with it anyway, but it was a great smoke.  The meds I take for migraines can sometimes space me out a little, but the walk along with the cigar took my mind off, and by the time I was done with the cigar, the headache was pretty much gone and I was left with the fatigue which comes along with whole experience.  I enjoy the El Diario line, although I find that they aren’t exactly priced like a “Daily” cigar in my world.  The Classic and the Maduro are also excellent smokes, however I have not had any experience with the initial line of La Palina cigars, which are priced well out of my comfort zone.  As I said, the cigars I have smoked are great, and you can’t beat the people in the company, great bunch of folks!

 

Don’t forget the promo codes currently available for you to use at these two sites:

You can use the code “MPCGRS10” on CigarFromBrazil.com to get %10 off any purchase on the site. The Monte Pascoal cigars are very nice.

ItalianSmokes.com has a special offer code for you, it’s CIGCRAIG10 and will get you 10% off your purchase of their selection of Toscano style cigars.

 

That’s it for today!  Whatever way you are celebrating the day, enjoy yourself.  I know I’m going to go ritually sacrifice some tobacco this afternoon.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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A La Gloria Cubana, Some CAO Concerts and Some Cigar News and Stuff

La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Liga YG-23It’s funny, the days are getting longer, and I seem to have fewer opportunities to enjoy my daily cigar walks!  I keep trying to fit them in because the dog still needs walking and so do I!  It’s my cigar time, what can I say?  So Sunday afternoon was pretty nice, and I took a nice long walk with the Pooch (that’s her name, she’s 2 year old Pit/Lab mix with a lot of energy).  I h

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ad been sitting on the La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show samples from the IPCPR show and figured it was a good time to smoke the 7″x 60 Liga YG-23.  This is a monstrous cigar, and  will be a great one for lazy summer days in the pool.  The YG stands for Yuri Guillen, the head man at the El Credito portion of the General Cigar Co. factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic.  I’m going to make an educated guess that the 23 refers to the number of blends he went through before hitting on this one.  Sounds like a lot, but it probably isn’t in the grand scheme of things, since it’s really not an easy process developing a blend with the massive amount of

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tobacco they have to work with there.  The cigar features a band printed on homogenized tobacco leaf paper that’s printed with a non-toxic ink so it’s actually smokable. My samples were without the band, so I wasn’t able to test this theory, and the photo here is a stock photo courtesy of General Cigar Co.  The cigar was quite tasty. It has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over Dominican and Nicaraguan filler and is a nice, well balanced smoke.  I probably smoked it for 2 hours, or 3 miles depending on how you measure.  As I said, I look forward to a balmy summer day in the pool for the next one….

 

CAO_Concert_Solo…since it snowed Monday! I shouldn’t complain, we’ve had a pretty easy winter snow-wise, but my calendar says it’s Spring, and I’m ready for some warm weather!  So Monday night I went with the smaller, 5½” x 50 CAO Concert Solo.  The folks at StogieBoys.com were kind enough to send me a few CAO Concert cigars so, knowing I like the cigar, I dug in.  The Concert is the second new release in the CAO line since General Cigar Co. acquired the company, and it’s a very nice cigar.  It’s got a nice Nicaraguan/Honduran blend with a pretty Ecuador Habano Rosado wrapper.  It also has a Connecticut Broadleaf binder that I think gives this cigar a nice sweetness.  Well made smoke with a reasonable price point in the $5.75 to $7.50 range. I used the punch on this one which worked well.

 

CAO_Concert_RoadieTuesday evening I went to the Flyers game with my father-in-law, and they played so poorly even a cigar wouldn’t help, so I took a night off.  Tonight, however, I grabbed the other CAO Concert that StogieBoys.com sent, grabbed my new Xikar XV cutter and hit the bricks.  The cutter cut a beautiful notch in the 5½x 54 Roadie and I enjoyed the cigar as much as the others I’ve smoked in this series.  All of the Concert line are 5½” with varying ring gauges, and I happen to enjoy that length, it works into my schedule quite nicely.  As I said, I’ve smoked my fair share of the Concerts and enjoyed them.   Certainly a worthy smoke.

 

Allow me to plug the cutter for a moment.  I purchased this with the Living Social deal I got for Gotham Cigars that I ended up getting for free since some of you folks were kind enough to purchase it with the link I provided.  I kinda felt like a whore posting it, but a free $40 cutter that I’ve been lusting after for a while is a free $40 cutter. Thank you to those who purchased the deal, Gotham was very nice to deal with and I feel confident recommending them along with the other retailers that I’ve had the pleasure of coming to know over the years (although I can do without the pop-up ad!). The quality is typical Xikar (I’m still a little weirded out by the Xikar sign in the men’s room at Cigars International in Hamburg, by the way), and I’m confident that if ever I do have a problem with it, their lifetime guarantee will cover it. I love the design and, I’ve only used it once, but I can see it becoming my go to cutter.  

 

News and Stuff…

I received an e-mail today from Scott at Cigars International directing my attention to one of their new website features, Cigar 101. It’s an educational guide to cigars that looks to have some good cigar information.

It looks like Jay-Z will have a cigar “expert” on his tour staff.  He’ll be hand-rolling cigars back stage at all of his shows. Not a fan of Jay-Z myself, but anything that presents cigars in a positive light (I think it’s positive) is OK by me.

Don’t forget that you can use the code “MPCGRS10” on CigarFromBrazil.com to get %10 off any purchase on the site.

I’ve got another discount code for you: ItalianSmokes.com has a special offer code for you, it’s CIGCRAIG10 and will get you 10% off your purchase of their selection of Toscano cigars.  Look for some of their cigars featured here in the future.  I’ve smoked my fair share in t

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he past and they are certainly an interesting change of pace and a lot of fun. I’ve enjoyed the occasional Toscano cigar since my wife brought some back from Italy in 2000.

 

Loads of product placement in this post, I realize that.  Truth is, I’ve spent my own money with just about everyone mentioned, and I’m not making any money off of t

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his. You all know that I pass along savings and have plenty of contests for you.  Even though I get the occasional promotional cigar to smoke and talk about, I maintain a position that I won’t promote a company I don’t believe in and I value my honesty and integrity above everything.  Thanks for the opportunity to  share that.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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A 262 Cigars Event at Ned’s and a Room101 Big Delicious and Some Cigar News

I’m trying to get back in the swing of things after the interruption of my trip to California.  I figured the best way to do that was to jump in with both feet and head an hour west to Newtown, PA and Ned’s Cigars where Clint Aaron of 262 Cigars was having an event.  Clint has done something exceptional with 262, he’s left a career in finance behind and launched a successful cigar brand.  Ned’s is a nice little shop on a quaint little street, located in a building that probably dates back to the 1700s.  We were well received by Luca, the owner, who is a super nice guy and a terrific host.  Clint sold me a couple cigars, I started with a 262 Paradigm Lancero, which was a stellar smoke.  I followed it up with the 262 Revere which was the free cigar that I received for buying 4 cigars.  I thought the Revere had a nice sweetness that the Paradigm didn’t have, and both cigars burned dead even and had perfect draws.  I have a few more of the Paradigms left and still have an Ideology floating around from the IPCPR show.  It was a fun event, the traffic in the store wasn’t too bad.  The lounge is small but comfortable, and between watching “Used Cars” and a basketball game on the TVs, and the great cigars it was an entertaining evening.

 

Room101_BigDeliciousSaturday I took a walk around lunchtime since it was a nice, sunny day.  Unfortunately, it’s still cold (where’s Spring? They are forecasting 5-8″ of snow tomorrow!).  A Couple weeks ago I received a pair of pre-release samples of Smoke Inn‘s latest micro-blend release, the Room101 Big Delicious.  This cigar is a box pressed torpedo with a nice, dark wrapper and an untrimmed foot, great for getting a big blast of wrapper upon lighting.  Last weekend I smoked and loved the last micro-blend release, the Tatuaje Anarchy Apocalypse, but I think I enjoyed the Big Delicious even more!  It had a unique and different flavor that excited my taste buds. Was it the right cigar for a pre-lunch walk?  Probably not.    It probably would be better after a sumptuous feast instead of some supermarket donuts from last night, but it was still a most enjoyable smoke that was filled with surprises and didn’t disappoint.  Two thumbs up to Abe and Matt on this one, it’s a winner!   I’ve had fun reading along with the comic strip on the website as well.

 

 News

Here’s the latest news from CAO cigars:

CAO Brazilia Carnivale Hits Retail

CAO Brazilia Carnivale is hitting cigar shops as we speak. The 6 ½” x 60 box-pressed beauty is a limited edition release that puts an innovative spin on the popular Brazilia blend.

 

“Carnivale” is made with ligeros from the DR, Honduras and Nicaragua, and a binder from Brazil. The wrapper is a rare Habano Grueso leaf cultivated only in small quantities. 

 

Rick Rodriguez who heads up blending for CAO said, “We haven’t changed any CAO blends since we took over the brand. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t put our spin on one of them. That’s exactly what we did with Carnivale…it’s my and my team’s take on Brazilia. We added a new wrapper, made the original wrapper the binder, and cranked the whole thing up with more ligero.”

 

You won’t miss CAO Brazilia Carnivale at your favorite cigar shop. It’s in an eye-catching, bright yellow, 12-count box, and is a must-have for the CAO collector. Single CAO Brazilia Carnivale cigars are on sale for $8.30 until the limited supply is gone.

 

Rick hinted that there could be another small batch twist on the horizon for another one of CAO’s top blends. “My team and I have been experimenting with some fantastic tobaccos, so CAO fans should be on the lookout to see what we come up with next.”

 

I look forward to smoking this one, as I’ve always enjoyed the Brazilia.  Since Ricky took over the blending at CAO I’ve been pretty impressed with the new releases. Both the OSA Sol and the Concert had something that appealed to me, and the cigars in the Last Stick Standing promotion were all pretty tasty.

 

In other news, the Midwest Smokeout is coming up in about a month.  This year’s Smokeout will be held on April 25 at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, In.  They will have a bunch of cigar makers on hand and it looks like a $150 ticket will get you a load of cigars.  They also offer a $95 ticket that doesn’t include the cigars.  I’ll try to get more information on the event and pass it on.   

 

That’s it for today.  I want to thank whoever took advantage of the Gotham Cigars Living Social link I posted.  At least three people purchased the deal so I got it for free.  I used it to purchase a Xikar VX  cutter and a couple cigars to make up the difference.  I’ve been thinking about buying the V-cutter for  a while.  Truth is, I’ve never spent more than about $3 on a cigar cutter.  The V-cut takes me back to when I first started smoking cigars, buying them one at a time and cutting them on the Boston cutter on the counter in the shop.  It’s certainly not that I needed a cutter, I’ve got plenty ranging from cheapos to nice Colibris and the like, but I didn’t have a good V cutter and it was a perfect opportunity to get one.  Gotham’s service was exceptional and I look forward to the delivery of this order.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

 

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A Non-Cigar West Coast Swing – A San Lotano at Bo’s and a La Atelier at Old Oaks

I was going to wait until I got home to post, but I hate to miss a Wednesday post (it’s still Wednesday on the west coast) so I thought I’d share a couple experiences I managed to have on my business trip to the Los Angeles area.  My trip’s focus was to visit a couple of the venders I buy from and visit my company’s home office.  Fortunately, my boss likes a cigar, so Monday evening when we got into town we located Bo’s Cigar Lounge.  I was expecting sticker shock in California, and I wasn’t disapointed.  However, this lounge was very nice.  They have plenty of TVs which had the Flyers game on, and very comfortable seating. There was even a TV in the loo!  There are two locations, the one closest to us was in Torrance.  One of the highlights was that one on my longest and most loyal readers, DB, came down to meet and have a cigar or two with us.  It’s always a treat to meet a cigar friend whom I had only corresponded with electronically, and I’ve done it hundreds of times. I really appreciate DB taking the time to make the trip down, it was great to finally have a cigar with him in person.  The lounge patrons were very friendly and we didn’t feel out of place at all.  The selection was excellent, but, as I said, the prices were roughly double what I see in Pennsylvania, which was shocking.  Given that we were hanging out in

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the lounge, the price was justifiable, as one would spend more than that hanging at a bar or something. I picked out a San Lotano Maduro that was a terrific smoke.  I think I like this better than the Oval line, the Mexican Maduro is loaded with sweet coffee/cocoa flavors and burned perfectly. We ended up being joined by one of the venders we were meeting later in the week who also is a cigar lover, and ended up having a fine Mexican dinner before parting ways.

IMG_0277[1]

 

IMG_0278[1]Wednesday, after all of the meetings and tours and whatnot, our host took us to his local cigar shop, Old Oaks Cigar Co. in Thousand Oaks, CA.  First, I was blown away by the prices in this shop as they were only a dollar or two more than PA prices. How do they do this.  They also had a gentleman in the humidor rolling cigars that were also well priced.  I really should have picked a couple up in retrospect.  I seleceted a La Atelier LAT 56 as I hadn’t smoked one of them before. It should be noted that the cigars I smoked on this trip were not paid for by me. Kevin, our host is a regular at this shop, and introduced me to the owner, Albert, who has an amazing operation.  In addition to cigars, they have what my boss described as an unbeliveable selection of Scotches, as well as wine, and a very busy lounge.  Kevin directed us to the enclosed patio area in the rear where we enjoyed our smokes and watched some hockey.  The LAT 56 was a very nice cigar.  Not mild or strong, yet very flavorful and interesting.  This was a great shop, exceptional selection and the pricing wasn’t rediculous!  Highly recommended.

 

These couple cigars over the course of a few days really helped relieve the stress I had about this trip.  It’s always nice to visit a strange place (and I think we can agree that LA fits that description) and find friendly cigar folks to spend an hour or two communing with.  I appreciate everyone’s hospitality.  This post was brief, but it’s late and I’m away from home.  I didn’t even mention having gone to Cigars International last Sunday and smoking an Alec Bradley Filthy Hooligan, which was delicious, by the way. If you have been scared off of the candela wrappers, give this one a try.  The blend takes the grassy, chlorophyll flavor out of the wrapper, and the wrapper mellows out the filler blend a bit.  I think it’s a fine smoke.

 

That’s it for now, long day of travel tomorrow an

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d I can’t wait to get back home. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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A La Aurora, a Visit to CI in Hamburg and a Stogieboys Contest Winner!

It been a busy week and I really haven’t been able to smoke too many cigars. I know, usually when I say that I spew out three or four cigars I’ve enjoyed over the previous couple days, but this

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time I really mean it.  In the news department, I received word this week that  Cigarfrombrazil.com has relaunched their website  and Wes gave me a discount code to pass on to you to get 10% off your purchases.  Enter MPCGRS10 when you check out.  Wes has been a generous supporter here and the

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Monte Pascoal cigars are delicious Brazilian puros that are a must-try. Check out the new site and give their cigars a try.  


In some other news, the website
LivingSocial.com, a site similar to Groupon, ran a deal for Gotham Cigars. For $25 you get a voucher that will give you $50 to spend on their site. I’ve gotten deals like this before and I’m a sucker for cheap cigars! I’ll let you know what I end up getting. As of this writing, the deal is good for

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another 3 or 4 days, and if you use this link, I might get my deal for free! Of course, you too will get a link to share in hopes of getting 3 friends to buy it then you too will get it for free! Its a great deal either way and Gotham has

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been around quite a while and is a reputable outfit.

 

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ttle walk with the dog and a La Aurora 107 Corona.  La Aurora is a great company, and they make great cigars. The first box of cigars I ever purchased back in the ’90s was a box of La Aurora Bristol Especiales.  So far, there are only a couple cigars in their lines that I really enjoy, the Cameroon, the Vintage 2003 and that’s about all I can think of.  Something just doesn’t suit my palate right in the majority of La Aurora cigars I smoke.  This 107 was tasty, it was perfectly constructed, and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t for me (I know, I said I enjoyed it, but I didn’t like it…just because there’s some aspect of the flavor that I don’t care for, it wasn’t offensive, and the experience of smoking a cigar is half the battle here.  As long as I’m not physically repulsed by the flavor, a cigar I don’t like can be a great experience!).  I need to find a 107 Maduro, perhaps that will be more in line with my personal tastes.

 

Today, Sunday, March 17th, my wife and I are taking a drive up to Cigars International‘s little shop in Hamburg, PA to have a cigar and make some plans for my upcoming surprise birthday party.  I’m hoping to find the new Alec Bradley Filthy Hooligan there to smoke.  I’m leaving tomorrow for a business trip to the Los Angeles area, which I’m not particularly looking forward to, but I’m planning to visit Bo’s Cigar Lounge in Torrance sometime Monday evening around 5:30, so if anyone is in the area stop in and look for me.  I’ll be the guy smoking a cigar!

 

Contest!

stogieboysStPatscontestThe folks at StogieBoys.com were very generous in sponsoring this month’s contest!  Thanks to Sheryl for setting the whole thing up!  As usual, I use Random.org to select a winner. This time I need the winner to e-mail me their contact information so that I can pass it on to Sheryl so she can ship you your prize.  There were 45 entries, and the random number generator spewed forth the number 13.  By my calculations Travis is the winner!  Please send me your details.  Th

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anks to everyone for participating, and check back frequently, one never knows when another contest might pop up!

 

That’s it for now.  I’m off to the cigar store, then have to pack and get ready for a 6 hour flight tomorrow. I don’t know how you folks who travel for business on a regular basis do it!  Also, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!  Any day that celebrates an anti-snake sentiment is OK by me!

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

 

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