Category Archives: Review

by | February 13, 2013 · 6:49 pm

A Room101, an Alec Bradley, a Mucialago, a Nestor Miranda and More Cigar Events

As a follow up to last week’s mention of some of the great cigar events coming up in the next few months, I left out a couple of good ones.  The Western Pennsylvania Cigar Crawl is in May and by this writing is likely sold out.  This is an old fashioned bus crawl run by Rob Heming of the Blowin’ Smoke Podcast. I’ve been on this crawl once in it’s 11 or so years of operation and it’s quite a bit of fun, if you think hanging out with a bunch of guys smoking cigars while you visit cigar shop after cigar shop and eat a lot of great food is fun, which it is.  Another upcoming event is the 1st Annual CATS Cigar Festival. C.A.T.S. is the Cigar Aficionados Trades and Sales Facebook group, which is a very active group of cigar lovers that is closely affiliated with the Op:Cigars for Warriors group that puts cigars in the hands of out active duty soldiers. It’s a weekend long event starting Friday evening, May 24 and ending Sunday, May 26 in San Antonio, TX.  Check their Facebook page for more information.  More great events with great folks.

 

Wednesday evening I got off to a late start so I was looking for something on the smaller side.  I had picked up a Room 101 OSOK Filero a few months back w

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hen Gary Griffith opened his Total Tobacco store in nearby Newtown Square, PA.  It was pricey, but I knew it was a cigar I wanted to try.  Under the paper wrapper, and beneath the tissue wrap was a beautiful little perfecto, measuring 4½ x 52.  What a great little smoke. The smoke was thick and loaded with heavy flavors and really was what the doctor ordered to releive the stress of the day.  I absolutely loved this cigar and it’s my second favorite Room 101 cigar now, after the San Andreas (anyone surprised?)  Great smoke, get them while you can.

 

Thursday my wife and I went to the Flyers game and we stopped in the cigar bar again where I smoked a little Punch London Club maduro while we waited for everyone to get out of the parking lot.  The little Punch is a go-to winder smoke for me along with it’s Hoyo de Monterrey sibling, the Sabroso.  Friday I grabbed an Alec Bradley Family Blend VR1, a 5½ x 50 parejo with a fancy pigtail cap.  This is a cigar that probably came from either the trade show or an Alec Bradley event where I bought some cigars. I enjoy quite a few of the Alec Bradley cigars, and this one was very good.  I wish it had burned a little better for me, but cold weather smoking has it’s pitfalls, and one of those is that cigars don’t always burn like they should.  Let’s face it, cigars are tropical critters, and they want to be smoked in warmer weather!  Still a solid smoke with pleasing flavors.

 

Murcielago_Toro_GrandeSaturday evening my wife and I went out to the at Philadelphia Park for an evening of slot machines, and I whipped out a nice Murcialago Churchill.  This is a favorite of mine, and this was the last one of a handful I bought at the 2011 Delaware Cigar Festival.  Rich, meaty, loaded with the nice, dark flavors I love in cigar bearing my favorite wrapper leaf, all together now: San Andreas Maduro!  I haven’t had one of these since they changed production yet, but I’m confident that Eric Espinosa will continue making these with the same flavor and consistency that I love, as other cigars from his La Zona factory in Esteli have been very nice.  I’ll have to re-stock and see!  We had a great time at the casino and didn’t leave broke, so it was a winning night.

 

Finally, this afternoon I took a nice walk with a Nestor Miranda Special Selection Connecticut robusto. This was a pretty 5½ x 54 cigar that while milder than I like, had some nice sweetness that kept me smoking it to a finger burning little nub.  It burned perfectly and had a snug draw, but was perfectly relaxing and a fine way to end the weekend. Of course, Nestor is celebrating his 70th birthday this week, so if you see him, wish him a Happy Birthday!

 

Over the last week, and coming weeks, I have been transitioning CigarCraig.com to a new hosting provider, so there’s a possibility that there may be a few bumps in the road.  I’ve been trying my hardest to make this as seamless as possible, but it’s hard to say what might

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happen with the domain gets transferred. I currently have CigarCraig.net up and running on the new host, and hope that there aren’t any interruptions.  Please bear with me if there are, I’ll be driving myself crazy to get things restored to some kind of normalcy ASAP.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | February 6, 2013 · 7:13 pm

A Padilla, an Alec Bradley, a Hockey Game and Some Cigar News

A little snow here and there isn’t enough to deter me from enjoying a fine cigar! That’s what I did on Sunday. We’ve been getting off easy with little snow showers here and there, which is just fine with me. Sunday I took an afternoon walk with a Padilla Reserva. This is a 6” x 50 Toro with what looks like a nice Habano wrapper. I enjoyed the heck out of this cigar, although not quite as much as it’s maduro sibling. It had nice, smooth flavors that I found appealing. It performed flawlessly and was quite enjoyable. I think if I were to come across this cigar in a shop I’d pick a few up, provided they were out of the tasty maduro! Thanks again to Mike Staiber of Oliva for turning me on to these!

 

Monday evening I picked out a nice Alec Bradley American Sungrown robusto. I picked this up on a visit to the Cigars International store in Hamburg, PA I think, I probably picked up a couple another place too. Maybe I buy too many cigars? Anyway, I really like this cigar, and I like the American Classic with the Ecuador Connecticut Shade wrapper quite a bit too. I think the Sungrown has that extra little pop I need in the winter months. These have the added advantage of being very well priced, usually under $5. This is a great anytime cigar that is probably a cigar a broad range of people can appreciate. This is a great cigar to have around to share or smoke those days you have trouble deciding what to smoke and you just want a good cigar.

 

Tuesday night my youngest son and I went to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for the Flyers game. It was a great game with the Flyers winning over the Tampa Bay Lightning. After the game we stopped in the Cigar Bar in the center. This used to be Holt’s Cigar Lounge many years ago, and I don’t think it would be a bad assumption on my part that they still get their cigars from Holt’s, given the Holt’s cutter and matches that came with the cigars I purchased. I’m sure many wouldn’t be shocked by an $11 price tag on a Fuente Hemingway Short Story, especially in a cigar tax free state like PA. I rationalized it to myself figuring I was in on a free pass, and didn’t pay the membership fee that would come to something along the lines of $16 per game. We smoked out Short Stories while the 19,000 people outside were sitting in traffic and got to chat with Bernie Parent for a while. Of course, you may recall that Bernie has a cigar out, the BSB #1 Bernie Parent by Rocky Patel. He mentioned that they are going to add a Round Toro and a Box Pressed Torpedo to the line and use a band design featuring his crest. I am surprised that the Cigar Bar didn’t have the BSB #1 on their menu, but Bernie said they are working on it. It seems like an appropriate place to carry the cigar!

 

A Joke

 

A doctor on his morning walk, noticed the old lady pictured above:,

She was sitting on her front step smoking a cigar, so he walked up to her and said,

“I couldn’t help but notice how happy you look! What is your secret?”

“I smoke ten cigars a day,” she said. “Before I go to bed, I smoke a nice big joint.

Apart from that, I drink a whole bottle of Jack Daniels every week, and eat only junk food.

On weekends, I pop pills, have sex, and I don’t exercise at all.

“That is absolutely amazing! How old are you?”

“Forty,” she replied

Contest Winner!

The winner of the ScrewPop Punch and the 5-pack of My Uzi Weighs a Ton Baitfish and a MUWAT cap is MattRoss81!  The Random Number Generator spit out the number 6, and The Commish had won a prize in the 12SDOCG’s (12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways) so he was disqualified!  Matt, please send me your address! Thanks again to Drew Estate and ScrewPop for sponsoring this contest!

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

CigarCraig

 

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by | February 3, 2013 · 9:11 am

A La Palina, a Guayacan, Some Upcoming Events and a Contest!

Those of us who live in the colder climates may look forward to cigar events to enjoy cigars and the camaraderie that goes along with them.  While I have been to many events over the years, from Buffalo to North Carolina, and from New York City to Las Vegas, these events have evolved from intimate gatherings to events with thousands of attendees and all of the great cigar makers attending.  I’ve recently run across a couple that were announced that I won’t be attending, but are worth looking into if you want to attend a cigar event.  Of course, keep an eye on CigarEvents.com to find things going on in your area.  The first event to keep an eye on is a charity event in Washington DC, the DC Tweet-up 2013 on March 13 and 14. This event has a meet-up Friday night and a bus crawl Saturday.  In May is the New Jersey Cigar Festival at the Park Avenue Club in  Florham Park, NJ. Next, JR Cigars is having a cigar event in North Carolina on June 8th with cigars and Barbecue and other fun. Of course, Smoke Inn has their Great Smoke on February 16 in Florida, Cigars International’s CigarFest is no doubt sold out as tickets went on sale yesterday, and the Delaware Cigar Festival is generally held in September.  Add these events to the many cigar store events and there should be no shortage of opportunities to hang out with like minded folks and smoke cigars!

 

A while ago I smoked a La Palina Classic and was underwhelmed.  It was a nice cigar, but didn’t really seem all that special. The one I smoked was a sampled from the IPCPR show.  Friday night I picked out another Classic Robusto to give it a second chance. This one came from La Palina as well, but had rested in my humidor for the last four or five months.  I really enjoyed this robusto quite a bit, it was well balanced and had a little bit of savory sweetness that was very nice. It was perfectly built and a nice medium bodied smoke. I think if this came wrapped in the San Andreas Maduro wrapper they used on the Maduro I’d be in heaven!

 

Saturday afternoon I selected a Guayacan Torpedo for my afternoon walk.  This is a cigar that is distributed by Gary Griffith and was included with a bunch of brands in his stable.  So far I’ve been pretty impressed with the cigars he’s distributing, they all have a little bit something special, and this Guayacan was no different.  What a nice smoke!  I love a cigar that burns perfectly, and this one did, as well as having a great draw with only a small bit of the tip cut off.  I’m impressed with this and most of the cigars that Gary has been distributing, every one seems to have something that appeals to

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my taste buds with few exceptions.

 

Contest!

I think it’s time for another contest, it’s been a month. A couple of weeks ago I told you about the ScrewPop punch. I’ve been using this punch quite a bit lately and it works very well so

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I have one of those to give away. The size of this punch very nice for a corona or petite corona so I think it would work well on something like a My Uzi Weighs a Ton Bait Fish. So how about we also throw in a 5 pack of the My Uzi Weighs a Ton Bait Fish and a cool hat to go with it. Not a bad little prize! So you know the rules, leave a comment and I’ll pick a winner on Wednesday. The six month time-out for previous winners is in effect, so if you won something in the last 14 contests you aren’t eligible to win. Thanks to Brett at ScrewPop and Drew Estate for the goodies!

 

That’s enough for today, I understand there’s some game on tonight, so enjoy the festivities surrounding that!  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | January 30, 2013 · 7:47 pm

An Asylum, a Gurkha, a LegendArio and Some News

We’ve had some unseasonable weather, so I figured I could sneak some larger vitolas in this week.  It’s funny how we adapt to the weather.  Not long ago when the temps were in the 30s I’d be bundled up and freezing.  After a few weeks of really cold weather, a Sunday in the high 30s found me without my gloves, enjoying a 6×60 while walking the dog.  It’s in the 50s today, although it’s raining.

 

Sunday afternoon I grabbed an Asylum 13 Sixty, which is a 6″x 60 cigar made by Christian Eiroa in the Nicaragua American Cigars, S.A. (NACSA) factory. I picked this up the last time I visited Light’n Up Premier Smoke Shop a few Sundays ago, I think it was in the $6 range.  This was a well made cigar of medium strength with a good draw and pleasant flavor.  It really didn’t stand out, but there certainly wasn’t anything negative I can say about it.  It was a nice day and a pleasing 

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smoke while the dog and I walked around the neighborhood.  I ended up nubbing it and wasn’t dissapointed. Worth trying, I think.

 

Monday evening was g

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etting a little warmer so I pulled a Gurkha Royal Challenge out of the samples I got at the IPCPR show. This is a nice looking Connecticut shade wrapped cigar, but as I started taking bands off of it, some of the very thin, fragile wrapper was stuck to the bands and tore a little. Obviously, this did not bode well.  I figure the binder should carry most of the structural burden on a cigar, so it should be smokable with a bit of the wrapper missing.  Of course, I struggled with the burn on this cigar, as well as a large stem running nearly the length of the cigar.  While I really enjoyed the mild and mellow flavors of this cigar, it truly was a Royal Challenge to smoke.  Chalk it up to one bad experience, it happens.  It’s a cigar I’d smoke again because it was a very flavorful Connecticut wrapped cigar that had a lot going for it flavor-wise and I can’t imagine the construction problem I had was the norm.

 

Tuesday I grabbed another large cigar, a LegendArio Bertha from Camacho.  this line has been out for quite a while and this is the first time I’ve smoked one.  I purchased a couple at a Camacho event at International Tobacco in the King of Prussia Mall a while ago and decided it was time.  With a Mexican maduro wrapper I figured it couldn’t go wrong.  I was right, and it was a very nice smoke.  I liked it.  I’d like it better in a robusto, maybe.  Perhaps the burn wasn’t as straight as it could have been, but it didn’t give me too much trouble and I smoked it until it was time for the Flyers game (which didn’t end as well as the cigar did!).  This is a cigar that I wouldn’t mind having more of, and at around $5 for this cigar, it’s a winner.  You know I’m a sucker for the Mexican maduro wrapper.

 

News

For those of you who like to win free cigars, check out the Super Bowl Squares game going on at StogieBoys.com.  There are a few squares left so get on over and sign up.

Also, the same folks at StogieBoys.com have some other news related to this weekend’s big game:

StogieBoys.com, the nation’s fastest growing online retailer, along with Thurman Thomas Cigars, announced this week its sponsorship of the 4th annual Jaws’ Cigar Party at Vieux Bourbon in New Orleans. The party is to be hosted by Ron Jaworski, ESPN NFL analyst.

StogieBoys.com will be the exclusive cigar retailer sponsor at Jaws’ cigar party and will feature NFL Hall of Fame Running Back Thurman Thomas brand cigars. Mr. Thomas entered into a recent relationship with StogieBoys.com to create and distribute his own premium cigar brand.

The Press release is here.

In other news, Albany, NY’s PipesandCigars.com had some folks visit the Davidoff factory in the Dominican Republic recent

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ly.  The press release can be found here.  It sounds like they had a very educational trip!

As I’m sure you have read elsewhe

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re, the gigantic Cigar that Grand Habano displayed in their booth at the New Orleans IPCPR show a few years ago sold recently for $185,000, marked down from $200,000.  They claimed it was smokable, and had a contraption with a mess of hoses to affix to the head of the cigar so a whole mess of people could smoke it.  The story is here.

Lastly, CigarFest Tickets go on sale Saturday for approximately 5 minutes if you pre-registered and are quick on the draw or camp out at one of their stores overnight!

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | January 26, 2013 · 9:24 pm

A Room 101, a Cuenca 5 Anniversary and Some News

I’ve been taking a little break from cigars since it’s been so bitterly cold out and I haven’t felt like freezing my tuckus off.  Friday I finally said enough is enough and grabbed a cigar to take for a walk in the snow with the dog.  One good thing about snow when the temps have been so low is that it tends to be very powdery and doesn’t require a lot of effort to shovel. It didn’t hurt that we only got about an inch.  This was my kind of snow storm!

 

Room101_SA_213So, after last weeks discussion about gloves and cigar sizes, I figured I’d try a corona.  I figured it had sufficient length to handle with gloves, yet is small enough that it wouldn’t take two hours to smoke.  A few weeks ago I bought a couple of Room 101 San Andreas  213, which is a 5.5 x 44 corona. I really like this size, and when it’s cold and I haven’t had a cigar in a few days I typically reach for a San Andreas wrapper. Out of all the Room 101 lines, this one is, by far, my favorite. It’s rich and flavorful and perfectly constructed. I had just received a Screwpop Cigar Punch which i used with excellent results. The punch is a little larger than the one I’ve had, which was the perfect size for the corona. I also successfully opened a bottle of ginger brew with it! Anyway, I love this line of cigars, I know I’m in for a treat when I light one up. They are pretty fairly priced at around $5.50  which  appeals to my inner cheap bastard.

 

Cuenca_5AnniversarySaturday was a pretty nice day with temps climbing into the 20s so I decided to go large. Cuenca Cigars in Hollywood, Florida is celebrating their 5 year anniversary and are marking that milestone with a cigar made for them by AJ Fernandez, the Cuenca 5 Anniversary. This is a huge 7″x 54 box pressed torpedo that’s got a beautiful dark wrapper. This is normally far too large a cigar for outdoor winter smoking, but it’s funny how balmy the 20s feels after several days in the teens! This was a very enjoyable smoke, I smoked it to a finger burning/freezing nub.  Well balanced, nice little spice in the flavor and perfectly built.  This is a nice cigar, and I really look forward to smoking another one when it’s warmer and I can really relax and enjoy it.  Check out the press release for Cuenca Cigars Anniversary celebration here, and more information about the Cuenca 5 Anniversary cigar here.

 

News

I receive press releases all the time and some of my peers do a great job of posting them on their sites almost immediately.  I think that’s great, and I appreciate it.  Personally, I don’t have the ability to react that quickly and generally choose not to post them as opposed to repeating what others have done already.  We all have our little niches that make us different from one another.  That being said, once in a while I come across something interesting that I haven’t seen elsewhere.

I received a request from a gentleman named Hugo Melo, the president of Hispaniola Cigars, asking me to post his press release.  The press release can be found here, as well as other news outlets. According to the press release: “The Taino aborigines of the Dominican Republic attributed spiritual qualities to smoking tobacco during their ancient rituals. It was believed that smoking the tobacco leaf would elevate them to “Turei,” translated literally as “Heaven.” Hispaniola Cigars is proud to announce that in January 2013, the spiritual experience of the Tainos will be resurrected by Turei Cigars.” I haven’t heard of Hispaniola Cigars myself, and they seem to be based nearby in North Joisey. I’ll keep an eye out for them.

In other news, I’d like to welcome StogieBoys.com to the CigarCraig.com family of supporters.  They are offering a deal if you sign up for their mailing list.  They will send you three cigars and a V-cutter if you sign up to get e-mails ($4.99 to cover shipping, so really you are getting the 3 cigars for $5, quite a fair deal!).  I’ve been working with these folks for quite a while and have been a customer as well and they are a class act. You may recall that they started out the 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways strong with a nice prize pack, and we’re already working on an upcoming giveaway.

 

That’s about all I have for today.  It looks like temps will be climbing into the 30s today, so I may have to find something interesting to smoke before the 6:00 Flyers/Tampa Bay game!  Hopefully the Flyers didn’t use up all their goals last night.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

 

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