Category Archives: Review

August 28, 2022 · 9:59 am

A New Rojas and a Couple More PDR Cigars

I smoked a few more new cigars this week, but I’ll revisit them another time because I was less than impressed with them. It’s not that they were bad, it’s just that either they needed more time, or weren’t the ideal size. I’ll get back to them eventually. I was really impressed with the Rojas Unfinished Business. I see where Rojas has been celebrating the grand opening of their factory in Esteli, I know a few people that were there. I’ve really enjoyed the recent Rojas cigars I’ve smoked. The Street Tacos, and the cigars by Stolen Throne have been impressive. There’s a few I need to smoke yet, but, overall, Noel is making great cigars. I night have an old Guayacan cigar in the humidor someplace! Anyway, I smoked the Unfinished Business Toro th

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is week that Noel gave me at the PCA show and it was really to my liking. It has an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Nicarag

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uan binder and fillers from Nicaragua and Mexico. The blend hits a lot of “likes” for me. It was dark and rich, with all the flavors I like, espresso, a little spice, and some sweetness. I very much enjoyed this cigar. Definitely a future revisit.

I’m catching up on the PDR cigars, I think I only have one more in the queue for now. I actually need to organize the humidor I put these in to make sure I’m not missing any! I started with the A. Flores 1975 Serie Privada Maduro in Robusto. This is a 5″ x 50 robusto, and PDR has done a great job with consistency in branding with the little paper sleeves on each cigar and the name of each cigar on the band. The look is uniform and quite classy. This cigar has an Ecuadorian Habano Maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan Habano binder and Nicaraguan Habano and Dominican Corojo fillers. Oddly, this is not a sweet maduro, but more on the savory side. Burn and draw were acceptable and it was an enjoyable smoke. In the past few years I’ve gotten away from the Robusto size, but on a Saturday when I am going to smoke two cigars, this fit the bill.

I followed the Serie Privada Maduro with the A. Flores 1975 Gran Reserva Maduro, also in a robusto size, after dinner. This cigar has a Mexico San Andres Maduro wrapper, with Olor Dominican Republic binder and Dominican Corojo and Nicaraguan Habano fillers. It seems to go without saying that all of PDR cigars are made in the Dominican Republic. The PDR originally stood for “Pinar del Rio” after that region in Cuba, but they recently changed it to “Puros Dominican Republic” to better reflect the brand and factory. It was still on the savory side for a maduro, but had more spice and a hint of sweetness. It must be the Dominican Corojo that has the savory component. I enjoyed it while listening to Will Cooper guest on The Cigar Authority (I think he’s now one appearance behind me!). He gave me a shout-out and I appreciate that! He referenced my interview with George Hamilton (available here in the archives and still out there on my long defunct podcast, which is one of the few that Coop has never been on!). I always thought Hamilton missed the mark by not having a lighter wrapper under the band, so when you took the band off it looked like a tan line. The A. Flores 1975 Gran Reserva Maduro was good.

That’s all for today. Tomorrow marks the thirteenth anniversary of CigarCraig.com, looking forward to year 14! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as A.Flores 1975, cigar, cigars, Gran Reserva, PDR, Rojas, Serie Privada, Unfinished Business

August 21, 2022 · 10:11 am

A Couple PDR Cigars and a Las Calaveras

I’m working on something a little different, should be announced any day now. I found myself with more gear from the Barnsmoker than I know what to do with, so I’m going to have a fundraiser raffle for a worthy charity. I’m still working out the details, but the prizes are pretty cool. I felt the need to do something more than just the usual pick a random comment giveaway. We’ll see how it goes, stay tuned. I did manage to smoke some cigars this week, funny that there were sev

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eral that I just didn’t enjoy, but here are a couple highlights! Let’s get the Las Calaveras from Crowned Heads out of the way. This was the first Las Calaveras I’ve smoked. A friend commented that he was surprised by this, but I don’t fall all over myself for Crowned Heads in general. I did, however pick one of these up a week or two ago when I saw them, out of curiosity. The one I

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smoked was the Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2022 LC46 (5¾” x 46). It’s a Nicaraguan puro made at the My Father factory in Esteli. It has a dark Corojo wrapper, I believe, and packs a punch. I enjoyed the rich, espresso flavors, but. I thought it was stronger than I’d have liked, the strength overpowered the flavor at times. Perhaps a few years in the humidor would settle it down, but I

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‘m not inclined to go out of my way to find out. I did enjoy it, and it was not, by far, the worst cigar I had all week.

PDR Cigars has been sending samples to me on a regular basis. They could save a lot on shipping by combining shipments, but that’s their business. One of the first cigars they sent me, maybe 6 weeks ago now (this summer has gone by far too fast for my liking), was the Flores y Rodriguez 10th Anniversary Reserva Limitada. I smoked one on or around my wedding anniversary and quite enjoyed it. It’s a beautiful perfecto, 6½” x 52, but it’s als

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o available in a Robusto, Gran Toro and Wide Churchill. it has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Dominican Olor binder and 7 year old Dominican Seco and Piloto Cubano Ligero, as well as Viso from Jalapa, Nicaragua. The filler tobaccos aren’t specifically named, but they taste great! The cigar burned perfectly and had nice sweet, nutty flavors. This may have been the best cigar I smoked all week (starting the week on Monday, of course, the bar was admittedly pretty low!). It’s a fairly sophisticated cigar, befitting of a milestone anniversary.

Another PDR cigar I smoked was the El Trovador Rosado,

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in the Corona Gorda (6″ x 46) size. Again, PDR isn’t very specific with the varietals, but it has an Ecuadorian Rosado wrapper, double binder described as one Nicaraguan and one Nicaragua Corojo, and fillers described as 2 Ligero Nicaragua, 1 ½ Viso Nicaragua. I really loved this cigar, second best of the week. It was pretty strong, without sacrificing

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flavor. It had some dark flavors, with some leather and spices. I dug it, and, like the other PDR cigars I’ve smoked recently, it burned perfectly. I have a few more to get to, and another package due this week, so watch for more PDR cigars sneaking into my rotation in the coming weeks.

That’s all for today. I need to get to work on that fundraiser thing. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Crowned Heads, El Trovador, Flores y Rodriguez, Las Caleveras, PDR

August 7, 2022 · 10:21 am

PDR and German Engineered Cigars

Welcome to post number 1601! I’m not sure

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if that’s a milestone, but I noticed that I had made 1600 posts over the course of the last 13 years (officially at the end of the month, but close enough!), and that seemed like something worth mentioning. That’s 123 posts per year, or 10 per month. I know it’s not Coop or Halfwheel, but I think it must show some level of dedication, right? Anyway, naturally I celebrated by smoking some cigars. As I write this I’m smoking a PDR El Criollito (pronunciation tips gladly accepted). This 5″ x 54 Robusto has an Ecuador Criollo 98 wrapper, San Andrés binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan Criollo 98 fillers. I’ll preface this by saying that I’m not the biggest Criollo fan. This cigar, however, is darned tasty. It’s a little nutty, but mostly just good, well cared for tobacco. I also don’t normally smoke in the mornings, but this is going very nicely with coffee. I’m kinda digging it.

I also smoked PDR’s Connecticut Valley Reserve Azul Churchill again this week. This is an interesting cigar. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf Rosado wrapper, Binder from Jalapa and Dominican Corojo, Condega, Nicaragua Criollo fillers. More Criollo. Obviously the wrapper isn’t fermented to maduro like we are used to with Broadleaf, so it’s not quite a sweet as usual, but still has some sweetness, with some drying sensation on the palate. It still was quite good. By the way, the band is gorgeous on this cigar, not that that makes a huge difference. The construction was exceptional, it burned with a flat ember that always amazes me, getting all the fillers to burn as the exact same rate is impressive.

Also this week I sampled a couple vitolas in the German Engineered Cigars Raumzeit line. This is what they have to say about it on their website:

Your first impression of RAUMZEIT is characterized by a light, silky, fragrant wrapper.

Its smoke combines aromas of nuts, cream, honey, stardust, and malt with white pepper, minerals, cloves, flying saucer, and nutmeg into a wondrously sweet and complex experience.

Body: light to medium

Wrapper: Nicaragua – Connecticut

Binder: Indonesia – Sumatra

Filler: Nicaragua -Jalapa & Dominican Republic – Piloto

First, “Raumzeit” is German for “Spacetime”. I wasn’t re

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ally much of a fan of the flavor of these, I found them rather floral. Perhaps is was just too complex for my palate. I did note that the construction on these was excellent, and the 3½” x 44 Half Corona was a bit more intense than the 5″ x 54 Robusto. Perhaps I just don’t care for stardust and flying saucer flavors, I guess, but if you like cigars that I don’t care for, these would probably be a great option to try. I didn’t get a chance to meet the German Engineered Cigars guys at the PCA show, they were busy when I walked by and I didn’t get back to them. I’ll make a point of it if we re in the same place at the same time again.

That’ll do it for today. Next weekend I’ll be going to the Connecticut Barnsmoker (to make up for missing the PA). Looking forward to seeing everyone there. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as A. Flores, cigar, cigars, Connecticut Valley Reserve Azul, El Criollito, German, PDR, Raumzeit

July 31, 2022 · 9:21 am

West Tampa Tobacco Cigars, a Street Taco Carnitas and a Patina Sumatra

I’ve started smoking some PCA show samples now that I feel fully recovered from the post-Vegas Covid situation. I started out revisiting the West Tampa Tobacco Co. Black and White. Rick went out of his way to give me a 6×60 from a bundle, that had never been in a box! This is significant because I told him about an experience I had initially with the cigars I had sourced locally. This was the first cigar I smoked, and it was very good. If you refer back to the video interview with Rick (HERE), he explains how the Black and White have the same wrapper, it’s just fermented differently. The Black has nice espresso notes and is up my alley. The construction was perfect and everything tasted the way it should.

I had another West Tampa Tobacco Co.White Toro that Ricky also gave me, which was also very good, but I find the Black suits my palate more. The White has more of a woody character, with some citrus tang to me. Rick explained that the White was blended more for the European palate, with the wrapper being highlighted, and the darker wrapper Black highlighting the filler blend. I like them both, but the Black is better for me. I still have to try the robusto. GOod stuff from a very small factory in Esteli.

Thursday evening I had the pleasure of being a guest on the All About Wine Podcast, of all things. We had a panel of folks talking about cigars. I pre-gamed with a Rojas Cigars Street Taco Carnitas, the Connecticut shade version of the Street Taco. This has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I had the 5″ x 50 robusto. Oddly, this comes in a Robusto and Toro, with the 5½” x 46 Short Corona being the closest thing to a small ring gauge in the line. I think of a corona being 5″ x 42, so I’m not sure I understand the name. Regardless, the robusto was very good. It was creamy, with some oomph to it. There was some spice and it wasn’t a mild Connecticut. Considering that shade wrappers are fairly low on my preference list, this one was very good.

Finally, when I met with Mo Maali at the show, he gave me a Patina Sumatra. This is his new release, which excited me for a few reasons. First, I’ve enjoyed the Patina line in general, Maduro and Habano, I don’t think I ever had the Connecticut (see above). They are made in the NACSA factory where Mi Querida cigars are made, as well as several others! I want to say that factory mad the majority of JR’s Alternatives bundle brand, which is millions of cigars. NACSA is one of the largest factories in Nicaragua. The other reason I was looking forward to this is because I really love Sumatra wrapped cigars! This one didn’t disappoint. It had the sugar cane sweetness that I really like. It burned perfectly and gave me a great experience. Check out my video with Mo here. Good stuff!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Black, Carnitas, cigar, cigars, Patina, Rojas, Street Taco, Sumatra, West Tampa Tobacco Co., White

July 24, 2022 · 9:28 am

PCA 2022: Platinum Nova Cigars and a Nova 484

Believe it or not, I’m nearing the end of the PCA show videos I took. As I’ve said before, I’m not competing with other media sites, I do things my way. I’ve maintained that I’m a blogger first, not a media site, I just love cigars and write stuff about them. I do enjoy doing the video interviews though, it’s fu

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n talking to my friends in the cigar industry. My approach to the PCA show this year was casual, yet I had some goals and targeted a select few personalities to interview. I hope you’ve enjoyed the videos. This one was with Leo of Platinum Nova cigars, who I first met at the 2020 TPE show. These folks make some really tasty cigars, and their model is one blend/one size, as opposed to having a line with numerous vitolas. It’s an interesting and probably costly way of doing things. The cigars are pricey, but they are really

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quite good. I like the way this video turned out, I hope you do too.

While I was writing this I decided to smoke the Nova 484 (which I incorrectly described as 4×44 on the video) that Leo gave me after the 2022 TPE show. As the name indicates, it’s 4″ x 48, and comes in a Dominican and Nicaraguan version.The Dominican has an Ecuador H2000 wrapper, Dominican Piloto Cubano binder and Olor Dominicano, while the Nicaraguan Has Ecuador Habano wrapper, Habano Esteli binder and Habano Jalapa filler. My one complaint is that the cigar I am smoking doesn’t indicate which one it is, although I’m fairly confident that it’s the Nicaraguan. It has a nice sweetness and some coffee flavors, and I like it a lot. I am not a huge fan of Olor, which is why I’m confident in my assumption. Some indication, if even on the barcode sticker, would be nice. The cigar burns perfectly, and was about the perfect size for composing this article. As I said in the interview, I’m fortunate to have time to smoke larger cigars, but once in a while I need something short, and this was a great option. At $25 for a 4-pack, I may keep some on hand (and I might try the Dominican!). BTW, Leo, if I’m wrong please spare me the embarrassment and correct me privately! 🙂