Category Archives: Review

November 16, 2025 · 9:16 am

Camacho, Powstanie and Mi Querida Cigars

It’s funny, Camacho cigars were a staple for me back in the 90s, the Corojo and Havana were favorites. They used to label the boxes “dark” Corojo if I remember correctly, they were the best. I even smoked though a box of Camacho Candelas. This was all before the company was sold to Davidoff. Since they have owned the company, I’ve continued to enjoy the cigars, oddly not as often as I used to. I recently saw them on a local retailers shelves, and decided to pick some up. I grabbed a Camacho Corojo BXP, which is the box pressed toro, a size I haven’t tried before, and it’s been quite some time since I’ve had a Corojo in any size. This is a well-behaved, spicy cigar. Apparently they added some Pennsylvania ligero to this Honduran puro, giving it some more zip than the round versions. I liked it, and I’m going to grab more, along with the round version to compare the two.

I had to take a road trip for work this week, moving some vehicles around. It was 7+ hours of windshield time, just out and back. I dis go right past Harrisburg Beer and Cigar and it timed out right for a rest stop. Sadly, James wasn’t in the store, I’ll try to plan better next time I get out that way. I picked up some Powstanie San Andrés toros, a cigar I had been looking forward to trying. I like the guys at Powstanie, Mike and Mike (and Greg). If you were to search my archives you’ll find a video I did with them. (here, I made it easy for you!). I lit one up shortly after I got home. This is a Nicaraguan binder and filler with the San Andrés wrapped cigar made at Nica Sueńo in Esteli. It had a nice earthy, spicy sweetness, I liked it a lot. My only complaint was that it burned too fast, I’d like for it to have lasted longer. It was also pricy, but that’s getting harder and harder to complain about, they all are. Another winner from the Powstanie guys.

Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust traditionally sends out media kits around this time of year, strategically to get cigars on people’s year end lists. Over the last bunch of years this has resulted in one of his cigars being at or near the top of the Halfwheel Consensus. I think we can all agree that the timing is strategic, but we can also agree that the cigars are exceptional and deserve whatever accolades they receive. Two of the four cigars included have already graced my pages, as I went out and purchased some, but there were two that I hadn’t yet tried, one of which is the Mi Querida Gorila Gordo, This is a 6″ x 60 with a “109” style bullet head. It’s basically an overweight belicoso. It’s also an excellent cigar. I personally adore the regular old Mi Querida line with the blue bands. It’s rich and chocolatey, with just enough spice to make it interesting, but basically, to me, it’s smoking a dessert. I don’t shy away from 60 ring cigars, there’s a lot I like, it’s cool to have a Mi Querida in this gauge.

Back by popular demand, I’ve launched the 2025 edition of the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa. Go HERE to sign up. We have a really great core group. That’s all for today, until next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as BXP, Camacho, cigar, cigars, Corojo, Gorila Gordo, Mi Querida, Powstanie, San Andrés

November 9, 2025 · 9:46 am

La Flor Dominicana Suave, Rocky Patel Emerald and a Room101 Namakubi Cigar

Another week down. We’re well into November, I have to start thinking about putting up Christmas lights, and decorations, and as fast as time is going I’m wondering what’s the point? I’ll no sooner get them up and have to take them down. My grandmother always told me the older you get, the faster time goes by and she wasn’t wrong! Things need to slow down! Anyway, my daily vacation is a cigar, and I try to slow things down for the hour and a half I spend with one. This week I had a trio of new-to-me cigars (actually four, but one needs a second look. I’ll try to get that in next week). The first two I purchased on a visit to the Wooden Indian a couple weeks back. I’ll start with the La Flor Dominicana Suave Grand Maduro No. 6 . This is a 5¾” x 54 torpedo, with a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, binder from Jalapa, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic fillers. It’s a throwback to the original LFD blends back in 1994, before they were known for making powerhouse cigars. I likened the flavors to bakers chocolate, there was a dryness to it, cocoa without sweetness. As it warmed up it got some spiciness, but was never what I’d call strong, just a really nice, medium cigar. I’d recommend trying this, it’s a really nice cigar.

I’ve been making an effort to sample more Rocky Patel cigars, the trouble is, I have a problem remembering what I’ve tried and what I haven’t. I will often search my own website to check, which is kinda why I started doing this in the first place, to create a record of what I smoke, a web log, I guess. There should be a word for that. Anyway, I knew I hadn’t tried the Rocky Patel Emerald yet, I’d have remember the green sleeve on the cigar. It reminded me of Christmas, even though it’s not supposed to. I smoked the Toro, and I’ve mentioned before that I like that a lot of Rocky’s toros are 6½” x 52, I like that extra half an inch. Of course, if it’s a bad cigar, that’s no good, but I don’t think I’ve come across a Rocky Patel cigar that was bad. I digress. The Emerald has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, over a Mexican binder with Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. They say that this is their first box pressed cigar that’s on the lighter side of medium. I think the green snuck into my subconscious, because it had a Christmasy flavor, baking spices like Christmas cookies. I liked it a lot, so much so that I went out and bought another one. Oddly, my Facebook post about this cigar had more engagement that most of my posts.

I’ve smoked a couple of these Room 101 Namakubi Chingon. I love the blue presentation, long considered a bad color for cigar bands, it’s come around and it really works on this. This is made in partnership with William Ventura in the DR, I’m guessing at his factory in Tamboril. It uses the Ranfla vitola, a 6½” x 50 perfecto. Interestingly, the size is incorrectly stated on the press release (twice) as 5½” x 60, and I’ve seen that parroted on other sites, certainly by people who would know the difference. I’d actually like to try this in a 5½” x 60, I almost feel cheated if I got the wrong samples….almost. This is an exceptional cigar, and it should be for the $25 price tag. It has an interesting herbal start, switching to cane sugar in the second two thirds. I enjoyed the first one so much that I had to go back for a second one, which unfortunately I didn’t get to enjoy as much because I was trying to watch the Flyers game, and the sketchy websites I was using were giving me fits. I would pay someone a nominal fee (or send cigars?) for the use of their cable credentials so I can watch on the NBC app, I’m too cheap to spend $38 a month for Peacock, that negates my savings dropping cable. I’m bitching about $38 a month while smoking $25 cigars, first world problems. I like this new Namakubi better than my memory of the old one, and I had an excellent well aged Namakubi Papi Chulo not long ago!

That’s all I have for today, until the next time.

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Chingon, cigar, cigars, Emerald, Forged, La Flor Dominicana, Namakubi, Ranfla, rocky patel, Room 101, Suave

November 2, 2025 · 8:58 am

New Cohiba Rubicon, Tatuaje Mummy and JFR 20th Anniversary Cigars

This may not be as wordy as usual, for some reason I cant seem to think of a lot to say about the three cigars I smoked for this week’s blog post. Let’s just jump right in to the first one. General Cigar Co. is very generous with samples, something I appreciate very much. I’ve had a good relationship with them since 2010, although there’s only a few people left there that I know anymore. they share a lot of Cohibas with me, many of which I wouldn’t buy because they are priced over my personal spending limit. You will rarely see me spending more than $15 on a cigar. Frugal to some, cheap to others, but I’ve come a long way from the days I was hard pressed to spend $8. The newest Cohiba is the Rubicon, made at the HATSA factory in Honduras and all three vitolas are under $10. This cigar has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, U.S. Broadleaf binder, and Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. Sounds like it should be good, right? It’s better than the Cohiba Blue, and not a bad cigar. It started with a citric acid bite, which calmed down pretty quickly, and turned out to be a pretty nice smoke. No real flavors jumped out at me, it was just a pretty good cigar. I feel like Cohiba should stick to the luxury space, and leave the budget offerings to the myriad of other lines in the portfolio. I love the Riviera, although I’m picking the $15 lancero over the $20 robusto just based on price, and several of the other cigars in the line are good. Take the Spectre out of the equation because it’s so expensive, but really very good. I’m not sure why the Rubicon was needed. Do they still make the Blue? They shouldn’t.

Friday was Halloween, and for the last 30 years I’ve been smoking a cigar while handing out candy (the first few years I smoked a cigar while taking my kids out). I always put the cigar in the ashtray when I see kids coming. Nick did a nice piece on this topic on a Cigar Pulpit episode last week. I did the cliché thing and smoked a Tatuaje Mummy Redux 5 this year. Back when Pete Johnson started tis series, $13 was a pricey cigar, now it’s practically reasonable. I wonder if the quality is going to go down in the future, or if rising prices are going to make him end this tradition? This cigar is 7½” x 47, so a little longer than a Churchill. I like the size, especially when I have two hours to kill! This cigar lasted closer to two and a half hours! The Mummy Redux has a Nicaraguan Criollo and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I am typically not a Criollo fan, which explains why my first impression was something along the lines of “what am I tasting here?”. There was some very subtle sugar cane sweetness, and good, light tobacco flavors. I really quite enjoyed the cigar, and if I see more I might pick a couple up. It was a little confusing to me though, as it wasn’t really like any other Tatuaje cigar I’ve had, it was on the verge of mild. Full disclosure, I really haven’t smoked too many of the Monster Series, and I don’t smoke as many Tatuaje cigars as I’d like.

Like the Tatuaje, the JFR 20th Anniversary Super Toro is a cigar I picked up on one of my recent forays to the Wooden Indian. I had been wanting to try this one. I’m about 50/50 on cigars I like from Aganorsa, and the JFR line is usually one I like. I can’t believe these have been around for twenty years. I think I remember when they came out, pushing the Just For Retailers thing, which I tink means for the brick and mortar retailers, but really anyone selling cigars is a retailer, right? Am I not supposed to smoke this because I’m not a retailer? Am I being too picky? Asking too many questions? The JFR like is generally a budget friendly line, with a lot of larger ring cigars. The 20th Anniversary has a pigtail cap, a closed foot, and is box pressed, they stopped short of putting a figurado in the range. I picked the Super Toro because I like toros and a super one has to be pretty great. I also wasn’t prepared for a 70 ring cigar, of which they offer two in this line. It’s box pressed, might not be horrible. This has a San Andrés wrapper over Aganorsa grown Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Other than the burn meandering a little, it was quite enjoyable. It had some interting baking spices, while I was expecting more of an earthy, chocolaty profile. I put this down to go inside to watch the first period of the Flyers game, and finished up between periods. I liked it, might go back and try one of the obnoxiously large sizes for kicks.

I managed to be more verbose than I thought! That’s all I have to today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 20th Anniversary, Aganorsa, cigar, cigars, cohiba, JFR, Mummy, Redux, Rubicon, tatuaje

October 26, 2025 · 10:16 am

Crowned Heads Broadway, Tatuaje Corojo T110 and AJ Fernandez Decenio Cigars

I had occasion on Wednesday to hang out at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, so, of course, I bought some more cigars to smoke. I don’t smoke a lot of Crowned Heads cigars, I like Miguel there a lot, and do actually like a lot of their cigars. Jon has always been cordial to me, but one time he blew me off at a trade show left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t think I ever made that public. Anyway, the Broadway line intrigued me, so I picked one up and smoked it there in the Wooden Indian’s Liga Privada Lounge. Of course, I smoked the toro, which is 6½” x 54. This cigar has a beautiful, oily broadleaf wrapper, over a Jalapa binder and fillers from Estelí, Jalapa and Ometepe, Nicaragua. It’s made at NACSA, which is where Saka makes Mi Querida, Umbagog, and the Red Meat Lovers Club cigars. This factory has a steady supply of Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. My expectations were exceeded, as this cigar was absolutely delicious. I may like this more that the Mi Querida Blue, which I like a great deal. Construction was perfect, the flavors were smooth, rich cocoa and coffee, right up my alley. my only regret is that I only bought one, and I considered picking up a few more before the shop closed. I want to thank Dave at the Wooden Indian for letting me hang out in the members lounge after the shop closed, I very much appreciate it! By the way, the Crowned Heads website is in dire need of updating.

The Tatuaje T110 Corojo is a 4 3/8″ x 52 short robusto with a Corojo wrapper. I smoked the Cohete (4″ x 50) back in August and really liked it, so I was very much looking forward to this one. I have smoked the T110 in the Broadleaf and Tuxtla wrappers and enjoyed them. This one I didn’t care for, and there aren’t many Tatuaje cigars I don’t like. It started out with a sourness, and skirted the line between sweet and sour through out the whole smoke. It was disappointing, but I always look at situations like this as a learning experience, what do I like in a cigar and what don’t I like, and how can I avoid it in the future? It’s money well spent, as long as I remember what I don’t like and don’t spend money on it again? This one had been in the humidor for a a couple months.

Another cigar I selected from the vast humidor of the Wooden Indian was the A.J. Fernandez New World Decenio in the toro size. This cigar commemorates a decade of the New World line, and made in the San Lotano factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua. I was hoping to pick one of these up a week or so ago when I saw Laurel at another nearby shop, but I either didn’t see them, or they didn’t have them. They had a really expensive 20th anniversary cigar, which may have distracted me (I didn’t bite). I adore the New World Dorado, and the rest of the New World line are really very good. This cigar is 6½” x 54 with a box press that makes it seem thinner. It has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos from Honduras and Nicaragua. I expected a good smoke, and I got a good smoke. This started out spicy, no surprise there, really. It moved to sweet, dark coffee, which is a combination I really like. I also really like that bonus half inch on a toro, more of a good thing. This was a really good smoke, and, dare I say, worth the $14 I paid. This is another anniversary cigar for a budget brand that is higher in price, like the Rocky Patel Edge and the Foundation Charter Oak.

My name was mentioned on yesterday’s Cigar Authority show which was about the cigar inventors. I’ve been on the show a couple times and I’ve known these guys for a long time. It’s humbling to be mentioned, and it gives me some credibility, I guess, to be recognized by them, but I want to set a couple things straight. I, in no way, created anything or was the first of anything. When I started this there were a lot of cigar blogs, I just happened to have outlasted a lot of them. Certainly Stogie Review (which is making a comeback with the Smoke & Steel podcast) was one of the first, and Casas Fumando has stood the test of time. I take some pride in being mentioned by my peers (I got a nice mention by Kevin on a recent El Oso Fumar show too, TY). I’m still just a guy who writes stuff about cigars.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as A.J. Fernandez, aj fernandez, Broadway, cigar, cigars, Corojo, Crowned Heads, Desenio, New World, T110, tatuaje, The Cigar Authority, wooden indian

October 19, 2025 · 9:36 am

A Panacea Farmers Blend Habano and Foundation Charter Oak Especiales

Thursday I felt like crap for some reason that I haven’t figured out yet. I came home from work, went to bed until it was time for the Flyers Game, watched the game and went back to bed. I usually start my blog post smoking Thursday evenings, so this put me behind a little. I felt fine Friday, so when I got home I decided to tackle the formidable 6″ x 70 Panacea Farmers Blend from the “6 Shooter Sampler”. I was sure I had smoked this before and liked it, although, looking back through my notes, I smoked a 7″ x 60 version. I’m certain I can tell the difference, and noted in the blog post that the website listed the 6″ x 70 and not the 7″ x 60. Perhaps Paul at Flatbed Cigar Co. can weigh in. Anyway, I’m not a huge 70 ring gauge fan, I think I’ve smoked a handful of them in the 30 years I’ve been smoking premium cigars. The blend is the Sumatra wrapper, Cuban Seed (?) binder, Dominican Ligero x 2, Nicaraguan Ligero, Dominican Seco, and PA in the filler. This is a really good tasting cigar, I enjoy the blend. It has the cane sugar sweetness I like in a Sumatra. Maybe the last one I had was the Habano. It had an open draw, which beats a tight draw any day. You can always draw more gently with a loose roll, you can’t compensate for a tight one. I enjoyed the cigar, although when it got to the end I still felt like there was a lot of tobacco left! Paul always has a great offer on Panacea cigars, there’s links on both of my sidebars, with a special CigarCraig discount code, CCFS25. Please buy some cigar from him so he knows people are reading my site! 🙂

While I was feeling better Friday, but I felt like I was better off staying home Friday evening. I missed the Foundation Cigars event at the Wooden Indian with Nick Melillo. I have mentioned before that I have to talk myself into going out sometimes, this was one of the times I lost. One of the factors is that I know it would be 6:00 by the time I got there with traffic, and they close at 7. So I decided to take a ride out to Havertown Saturday and see what I missed. While I was there I picked up the two Charter Oak Especiales cigars that I’ve put off buying. Mark (right?) at the Wooden Indian recommended the Pegnatero, while my inclination would have been to buy the Pasquale. Naturally, I bought both. These two cigars honor Nick’s grand-fathers. I like grandfathers, I’ve had a couple, and am one myself. So I went home and smoked the Charter Oak Especiales Pegnataro. This has a Connecticut shade wrapper, Jalapa binder and Esteli & Jalapa fillers, rolled at A.J. Fernandez’ factory in Esteli. This is only offered in a box pressed 5½” x 48 vitola with a pigtail cap. This has loads of flavor. It’s buttery with a distinct citrus tang. It was a very nice cigar.

One of the things that made me take so long to get to these two cigars was the fact that they are $13, which seemed like a lot for a cigar in a budget line. I guess it’s akin to the Rocky Patel Edge anniversary cigar, or a Bricktoberfest being considerably more than the regular line. I got past it and realized that these cigars not only honor the grandfathers, but also honors state of Connecticut by using Connecticut wrappers on both cigars. The Pasquale has the Broadleaf wrapper, something that Nick Melillo is rather known for. This one has Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, Jalapa binder and Esteli & Jalapa fillers, also rolled at A.J. Fernandez’ factory in Esteli. This is the same size at the Pegnatero, 5½” x 48. As much as I like a Toro, this sort of corona gorda extra is a nice size. I wasn’t expecting the utter lack of sweetness in this blend. To me it was bakers chocolate and espresso flavors, not a grain of sugar anywhere to be found. Not that I don’t enjoy that sort of thing, I do, it just took me by surprise. I loved it, it had the slight edge on the Pegnatero only because my preference is the darker leaf.