Category Archives: Review

February 8, 2026 · 10:06 am

Avo, Adventura and Montecristo Cigars

I seem to be going two for three in my luck with cigars over the last few weeks.  I like to try new things, whether I personally like them or not isn’t the issue.  Poor construction or materials is a problem.  More on that later.  I grabbed some Avo Syncro Caribe Special Toros at one of the local shops recently in my effort to smoke more of the Davidoff family of brands.  The Syncro line is mostly, if not all, box pressed, and the Caribe has a Dominican wrapper, Ecuadoran binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers.  This Special Toro is 6″ x 60.  It’s made in the DR at Davidoff’s OK Cigars factory, which seems to be a pretty modest name. I have a feeling it’s a shortened form of Occidental Kelner, but that’s just a guess.  I think the factory is more than just OK, it’s pretty darned good.  I digress.  Smoking this Avo Syncro Caribe was perfection.  It starts with a heavy citrus tang, which continued throughout.  It’s very different from what I usually go to, and was really refreshing. I found myself thinking that I’d like to share this with a friend who I generally share dark, heavy cigars with to show how different cigars can be. It was very good and I plan to pick up some more.

 

I’ve heard a lot about this ADVentura Blue Eyed Jack’s Revenge over the last year or so, and saw it in a local shop a week or so ago and picked one up. This has a loose connection with Davidoff, I guess. ADVentura is made by Henderson Ventura, and I think his father, William,  worked for Davidoff.  Between the William Ventura cigars, and what I’ve smoked from Tabacalera Mina del Rey, Henderson’s factory, nothing has really hit my palate right.  It’s a me thing, not a them thing.  This was a 6″x 54 toro, with a San Andrés wrapper and Dominican binder and fillers.  It had a bit of a floral profile, until it didn’t. This example perplexed me.  It smoked very poorly, there seemed to be components in the blend that burned differently than the surrounding tobaccos, leaving almost a charcoal like ash, very dark grey and dense. Obviously, this negatively affected the flavor.  I may grab another to see what’s up, I may cut my losses. I have heard great things about this one, but there haven’t been a great many ADVentura cigars that have appealed to me.  This is the miss I alluded to in the first sentence, in case that wasn’t obvious! 

 

A while back I wrote a post about this next cigar in the Robusto size. I was surprised to see that it was a year and a half ago.  The Montecristo Crafted by A.J. Fernandez is a JR Cigars (and their partners, Cas de Montecristo and Cigars.com) exclusive.  I recently came by a great deal on the Gordos and followed through on my promise to try these in other sizes.  I should have gotten more. This has a Ecuadorian Sumatra Oscuro wrapper, Mexican San Andrés binder, and aged long filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, and Honduras.  The wrapper is dark and oily, really too nice to cover with the oversized sleeve.  Like the Avo, this is box pressed, and 6″, but with a 58 ring, not 60. That’s where the comparison ends.  This is my kind of smoke, rich, dark coffee and dried dark fruits, perfect burn and draw and the box press makes it seem slimmer than the 58 ring would be.  I’m a big fan of this one, it remains my favorite Montecristo.  The link above is an affiliate link, if you feel compelled to use it, I might get a few pennies. 

 

That’s all for today. The high here today is supposed to crack double digits, it was 4 this morning.  Brrr.  Propane is my friend, but I may venture to a shop one of these days.  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

 

 

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February 1, 2026 · 9:33 am

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Camacho and Maestranza Cigars

We are saddened here this week by the passing of our beloved dog, Macha.  Many have met Macha over the years, she even made an appearance on the Cigar Authority once, and she was a large part of our household.  We suspect she was 14 or 15 years old, so she lived a long life, especially since the last 12 were with three legs.  We adored here and she leaves a hole on our hearts.  I appreciate everyone’s condolences.  I smoked a Padron 1964 Anniversary that I got in 2014, the year we adopted Macha, in her honor.

 

A few weeks back I walked into a local shop that I haven’t been to in a while, and asked the owner what was new and exciting.  He said that they just got the Colonel E.H. Taylor San Andrés and it was selling well.  I don’t know anything about this brand, I suspect it’s a Meier and Dutch (CI) creation. It, obviously, has a San Andrés wrapper, Criollo binder and Nicaraguan fillers and is made in the Dominican Republic (La Isla, I generally like their stuff).  It isn’t really budget priced, I think it was around $12.  I smoked it, and my first thought was that I should have asked Jeff what was good, not what was new.  It was OK. I would think it would be better at half the price.  I know E.H. Taylor is a bourbon brand, and I didn’t get any boozy flavors, but I really wouldn’t know one if I tripped over one.  It was a typical dry cocoa, San Andrés cigar. Nothing special. My notes say that the E.H. is for eh…

 

For obvious reasons (welcome Davidoff to the CigarCraig family! thanks for the support!), I feel the need to get back into some of their lines, such as Camacho and Avo. This week I revisited the Camacho Triple Maduro in the gordo size. This 6″ x 60 has a Honduran wrapper, Mexican binder, with a filler blend from Brazil, Honduras and the DR.  The website is a little out of date, it says it’s the only all maduro cigar, a category which now includes the Drew Estate Blackened.  Fun fact: Abe Dababneh, owner of Smoke Inn, coined the term Triple Maduro and licensed it to Christian Eiroa when he owned Camacho. Davidoff bought the brand and I want to say they paid Abe off. (Edit: Abe tells the whole story on the latest Prime Time show with Cigar-Coop, which I listed to a whole 24 hours after writing this post.) I remember smoking this a long time ago.  This was a really good cigar.  It’s heavy and rich, with a load of cocoa and some sweet earth.  I enjoyed this and will pick up some more.  

 

Finally, I was in yet another store nearby and picked up a couple of the RomaCraft Maestranzas Caballería Valencia (6 x 52).  These were very reasonably priced, around $10 I think.  This is a core line cigar that’s been out for a year or two and this is the first I’ve come across them in the wild (granted, I don’t get out much).  This is another San Andrés wrapper cigar, with a Brazilian binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua.  It’s made at the Nica Sueńo factory.  I’ve been a fan of the Nica Sueno output going back to 2011 or thereabouts. Fortunately the new ownership of the local CigarCigars stores brought in RomaCraft stuff, so I have a local source now.  I enjoyed this 6″ x 52 cigar quite a bit, although it didn’t have the intensity that I find in most of their stuff.  Again I got a dry cocoa predominantly. I’ll be grabbing more of these, as well as the Cromagnons, next visit.  

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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January 25, 2026 · 2:54 pm

Another Knuckle Sandwich, La Aroma de Cuba and Diesel Cigars

It’s snowing here, I think I’ll be doing some shovelling later, followed by cigars on the porch.  I’m pretty sure I have enough propane to keep my heather going for a few days!  It would have been smart to get a back up tank filled yesterday.  I think we’ve had more snow this winter than in the past 4 winters combined.  Like I always say, I need to get the driveway cleared so the ambulance can get in to get me when I hurt myself shovelling.  Enough of my snow whining, on to some cigars.  In one recent visit to a local shop, I picked up a Knuckle Sandwich Puro Nicaragua Toro.  This is made by Espinosa at the San Lotano factory, with a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  It’s a nice box press and a pretty good looking cigar.  This example had a loose draw, which I had to manage carefully.  It has a lot of sharp pepper, and I know it’s going to go bad really fast if I over do it.  I think it’s a strong cigar, not as strong as last week’s TAA cigar, but still formidable.  I think I like the plain old Knuckle Sandwich Maduro best out of the line, but I’ll certainly try any Knuckle Sandwich (or Espinosa for that matter) that comes along. 

In another local shop I grabbed a La Aroma de Cuba El Jefe in the 7″ x 58 vitola.  I don’t see this on the La Aroma de Cuba website. This is a “value” priced cigar, it was under $10, and it’s made at the My Father factory.  It seems like this is the only vitola this comes in. It has a rather ugly Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, with Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I bought two of these, from different retailers because the first one that I bought didn’t work right. Let me tell you,  when you have a 7″ cigar that isn’t producing smoke, even though the draw seems open, it’s frustrating.  I spent an hour and a half waiting for something to happen.  That prompted me to stop at a completely different shop and get another one, which smoked perfectly.  OK, there was a little burn meandering, but it was within tolerance.  It was an OK cigar, some dry cocoa, but hardly worth giving it a second chance.  If a cigar doesn’t work right, but I feel like it should taste good, I like to give second chances.  

Last night I smoked a Diesel Worthy Fool that I had picked up earlier in the day.  This is one I hadn’t seen before.  This is the third in the Fools Errand  line, it’s a limited edition.  It’s a neat little perfecto. It has an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper and  Nicaraguan habano tobaccos for both the binder and filler. It’s made by Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. I got a late start, and while 5″ x 58 isn’t really a small cigar, it worked for the time I had.  It was spicy, no surprise there, and it had a nice meatiness.  Like most Diesel cigars, I liked this one.  I think this has been around for a year and a half or so, not sure why I missed it.  

Stay safe if you are having bad weather this week. I know this was a major storm. Until the next time, 

CigarCraig

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January 18, 2026 · 9:59 am

Romeo y Julieta, Knuckle Sandwich and The Lost Angel Cigars

I see myself diving into some, perhaps, older cigars that I haven’t posted on here over the coming weeks.  It’s a slow time of the year, so I’m picking up stuff I’ve overlooked in the past here and there.  I’ve also found myself smoking a lot of the Bariay 1492 Red and Black recently, which has moved other stuff to the back of the queue.  I may just smoke cigars that are called Red and Black this week, that leaves me with a few options. Anyway, I’ve had this Romeo y Julieta 1875 Connecticut Nicaragua Toro in the humidor for a long time and I realized I hadn’t had one yet.  This cigar is made in Nicaragua, with a Nicaraguan shade grown Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  The tobaccos are grown by the Plasencias, one would assume it’s rolled in their factory also.  This wasn’t a mild shade cigar.  It started with an odd combination of cream and spice, which eventually turned into a bright citrus.  I regret passing this over for who knows how long it was in the humidor. It came out in 2018.  It was a good smoke, I enjoyed it.

 

I stopped in one of the local CigarCigars shops on the way home one day and picked up a few of the TAA releases that I hadn’t seen there before.  Since the ownership of the chain changed last year, I’m not sure how the TA membership works, so I’m just going to keep picking them up there when I see them.  I know some people who write about cigars ignore the TAA releases, but I do what I do, it’s new to me I’m going to write about it!  as the kids said 20 years ago, whatev.  One of the ones I grabbed was the Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu, the 2025 offering.  This is made by Espinosa in AJ Fernandez’ San Lotano factory, part of Guy Fieri’s Knuckle Sandwich cigar line. It’s a butt kicker.  It has a Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper, with Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and is a 6″ x 54 toro.  $16 is at the high end of my range, but it looked good and I wanted to smoke it.  This has a spicy, dark coffee and cocoa flavor profile, and it was powerful. It was exhausting to smoke, but quite satisfying! Definitely have a meal before smoking this one.  Recommended. 

 

Another TAA cigar I grabbed was the 2023 from The Crowned Heads. Obviously I have overlooked this cigar since it came out in 2023, but there are a lot of Crowned Heads cigars I’ve overlooked so that’s not really unusual I guess.  This cigar is made by Ernesto Carrillo in the DR.  It has a Ecuador Sumatra hybrid wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and fillers from the DR, Mexico and Nicaragua.  It’s 6″ x 54, which seems to be the size I smoked most often, doesn’t it?  I wish there were more Churchills out there.  Anyway, this is a dark, oily wrapper, which started with some bitter cocoa and sourness, which wasn’t off putting and smoothed out over time.  There are probably other Crowned Heads Cigars I like better, and there are probably other TAA cigars I like better, but this was was an interesting cigar. If you like them and can’t find them, I know a place.  

 

That’s all for today. It’s snowing here, so I’ll probably shovel some, and have a cigar with a movie this afternoon.  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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January 11, 2026 · 9:47 am

Crowned Heads, Sinistro and Tatuaje Cigars

The new year is off to a start, and I’m still managing to find new-to-me cigars to smoke. Over the last couple weeks I’ve stopped in to a few local shops and bought cigars.  Now I’m forgetting where I got what!  One of the cigars I picked up was a Crowned Heads Coroneta Maduro Baron, their 6″ x 56 toro.  This cigar is made at Casa Carrillo by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, uses a Mexican San Andrés maduro wrapper over a Ecuadorian Connecticut binder, and Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Pennsylvania fillers.  It’s a diverse blend for sure, and it’s not uncommon to see Ecuador Connecticut over a San Andrés binder, but vice versa is a little unique.  This cigar came out in May of 2024, so I guess I’m not that far behind.  I have an affinity for Carrillo cigars, have since the old La Gloria days, and this was no different.  I was a little disappointed in the aesthetics, the cap was pretty sloppily applied, but it made no difference in the burn and draw, which were perfect.  It had some dry cocoa and a nice depth of flavor, very satisfying.  The band annoyed me, the pointy part hit my lip so I took it off.  I hope this is one that they are rebranding.  It seems I keep finding Crowned Heads cigars that I’ve overlooked, maybe because I was turned off to them early in the game and I just haven’t paid much attention to them. A few discussions I’ve had with Miguel Schoedel have made me take a second look. 

 

I was surprised to find some Sinistro cigars in one of the shops I visited last week, which has more of a traditional selection.  I picked up a Sinistro The Last Barbarian to give a try.  Naturally, I got the Toro, which is 6″ x 54, why wouldn’t I?  This has a Dominican Maduro wrapper, Cameroon binder and a Ligero heavy filler blend including Dominican, Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania Ligeros and a Nicaraguan Seco.  These are made at the El Artista factory. I met the Sinistro guys at the Smoke-onos event last year, and I’ve known the folks at El Artista for a long time. I’m going to make an effort to smoke more of their stuff. This one was really good, right up my alley.   It started chocolaty with some spice.  It was very rich, and well behaved and not as strong as one might expect given the amount of high priming leaf in the blend. This is a winner, and I seem to remember it wasn’t stupidly priced. 

 

Yesterday we painted our family room, one wall of which extended into the kitchen and dining room. Lots of moving stuff around, taping, painting and cleaning up. I really don’t like painting. It looks really good now though and needed to be done. While waiting for the walls to dry so we could put things back, I took a break with a cigar.  I chose a 4½” x 60 Tatuaje Sextooth William Blake.  This is a strange name for a cigar.  It’s named after a track on musician Andreas “Sextooth” Contogouris EP Smoking Mirror.  The Sextooth line consists of four sizes which are all priced in the $5.50 – $8.50 range, made at the My Father factory.  They have an Ecuador Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. I don’t know what a “Sextooth” is, but I thoroughly enjoyed this little guy. It had kind of a caramel sweetness, and no issues with the burn and draw. This is a line I will be further exploring.  

 

I still have to get Ron’s winnings shipped, I’ve been carefully curating a selection of cigars for him.  I hope it makes it out in tomorrow’s UPS. I should have gotten it out last week, but I’ve been a slug. It’ll be worth the wait, I think.  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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