Category Archives: Review

June 5, 2022 · 9:12 am

Liga Privada H99, Villiger San D’Oro and Nica Rustica Adobe Cigars

Monday was Memorial Day and that called for some special smokes. I pulled out the Liga Privada H99 that Joe Gro of Drew Estate gave me back in January at the TPE show. I’m not sure why I had been waiting to smoke this, but I figured a nice afternoon off was a great time to light it up.  According to the Drew Estate Website:  “Maintaining the core tenants of the Liga firebrand, the H99 features a Corojo capa from the heart of the Connecticut River Valley, where we grow the mighty leaf that graces Liga Privada with a San Andres Otapan Negro Último Corte capote over a core blend of well-aged Nicaraguan and Honduran tripa leaf.”  I like how this is written, it’s an obvious nod to the original creator of the Liga Privada line, who else uses terms like “capa”, “capote”, and “tripa” instead of wrapper, binder and filler? 😀.  This cigar burned very nicely, and was less like a Liga Privada cigar than I expected. I suppose it was more on the T52 end, obviously, it wasn’t as heavy as it’s broadleaf counterparts. I found it has a bit of spice, some salty, savoriness, and a hint of sweetness. It was very

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good, certainly worthy of the occasion.  As I often do, I finished the holiday weekend off with an old favorite, this time it was a Fuente Hemingway Classic, as aptly named as a cigar could be. 

 

I slacked off this week and didn’t write a midweek post. Pure laziness on my part, I have no excuse.  I did smoke some cigars I really like though, a Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms, an Undercrown 10, and a new Perla Del Mar Maduro (more on that another time). Another one I revisited was the Villiger San’Doro toro. I found a three pack in the humidor and decided to smoke one and had forgotten how much I liked this cigar. This one is the Colorado, with a ruddy brown Ecuador wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and filler. I’m not sure how old this three pack is, but I think it’s newer, which means these were made at Joya de Nicaragua.  I probably have an old one around that was made at Placencia if I dive into the hum

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idor a little deeper. I really enjoyed the flavor of this cigar, it had a cane sugar sweetness that I like a lot, but it was intermittent, so it didn’t get boring. I know Villiger premium cigars don’t get a ton of traction, but they tend to be pretty good, as far as I’m concerned. 

 

Yesterday I stopped in to the Wooden Indian where they were having a Drew Estate event featuring the new Nica Rustica Adobe, which they had in limited supply.  I picked up five toros and smoked one there in the Liga Privada Lounge, while catching up with Dave, Dan and their excellent staff, as well as Ray from Drew Estate and Matty Rock, famous for being Matty Rock. I had my choice of the three vitolas the Adobe is available in, and stuck with the Toro, even though I haven’t had the robusto yet, but I didn’t really like the gordo I tried inthe Freestyle pack. I’ve smoked a ton of Nica Rusticas, I really like them. We even went to the Belly launch event in Kentucky back in 2015. This was the third Adobe I’ve smoked and it’s growing on me, I’m liking the smoothness and balance. It has a bit of a creaminess, the Habano wrapper instead of Broadleaf makes a big difference. When this was the Freestyle live mystery cigar I had no idea this was what it was going to be, although I know one person in particular nailed it. you can’t beat the price, both versions are going to have a place in my humidor I think.

 

That’s all for today! It’s been a beautiful weekend, and I need to get out and get some things done, maybe smoke some more cigars!  Don’t forget to check out www.battleshipbeef.com and come out to the Battleship, Beef and Bourbon for the Ship Red Meat Lovers Club event. It should prove to be an orgiastic feast of the senses! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig 

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May 29, 2022 · 9:13 am

Platinum Nova and a Couple Guardian of the Farm Cigars

It’s Memorial Day weekend already, time is flying! I hope everyone enjoys the weekend and remembers why we celebrate it. I started the weekend smoking a Platinum Nova Leo 11 that Leonor Abzaradel, the CEO of Platinum Nova Cigars, sen

t me following the TPE show. She sent me a handful of cigars because she told me at the show that she wasn’t happy with the condition of the samples she had there, which was a very nice move on her part. This 6″ x 54 toro with a pigtail cap was very pretty, as their cigars tend to be. The aren’t generally inexpensive, so they should look good. This has an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers and binder. This cigar has a very unique flavor. It has a heavy, dare I say, cloying, experience on the palate. It’s like a dark fruit like a ripe plum or something, crossed with black licorice. It was weird and wonderful at the same time. extremely different from any cigar I can remember smoking. This was so much different than the Leo X, which was more subtle and delicate (see here).  It was a v

ery interesting and fascinating smoke!

 

Yesterday I took a drive to check out a shop I’d recently heard about in nearby Reading PA, Smokies. It’s a very nice shop, a walk-in humidor in the back with all the standard fare, and cabinets lining the wall with boutique brands. They appeared well stocked and the two level lounge was very comfortable. It was easy to get to and had ample parking. The staff was excellent as well. If you find yourself in Reading (you know, the Reading RR in Monopoly?), check it out. I picked up a few Aganorsa cigars that I’ve been wanting to try, and started with the Guardian of the Farm Cerberus Toro. This 6½ x 54 Toro has a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. Oddly, I struggle to find an Aganorsa cigar I love. This falls into the “woody” flavor spectrum to me, which isn’t in my top five, but it was still an enjoyable cigar. I kick myself for choosing the Toro over the Lonsdale, but I almost always go Toro. I have another, and I think I might like it more if it were a little bit drier. We’ll see.

 

A little rant, if I may. I received yet another email from the PCA trying to entice me to re-join and attend the trade show. This email offered to share my contact information (as a media member) with the exhibitors, as well as list me on the PCA website.  I’m sorry, but, as a member, shouldn’t my contact information already be listed in the directory and on the website? I was born at night, but not last night. I will attend the show when media is invited to cover the show as media, not sold a “membership” and made to believe they are getting more than a ticket to the show out of it. And stop with the guilt trip of “support the industry”, what do you think we do when we take our own time and money to promote the industry? That just irritated me, and I needed to get it off my chest. By the way, there are any number of ways I could get into the show if I so desired, but I’m making a statement by not going.

 

I may have found that elusive Aganorsa Leaf cigar that I really like in the Guardian of the Farm Nightwatch Maduro.  I picked up a couple in the Campeon shape, with is a Toro with a 109 head. This makes it almost a torpedo or belicoso shape. Honestly, I can’t remember if I’ve smoked a cigar in this shape, I’ve heard the term tossed around, but I don’t know if I’ve held one in my hand. It’s 6″ x 52, which is the right size for me, with a dark, oily Aganorsa Leaf Shade Grown Corojo Maduro wrapper.  The binder and filler are, of course, also Aganorsa tobacco grown in Nicaragua. Perhaps “maduro” is the key for me, because this was a delicious cigar, and I dug it. Like the Cerberus, this one could have stood to be a little drier, but that’s why I always buy more than one! Dark chocolate and coffee, just like I like, with some saltiness, maybe. This was a great smoke. I was actually hoping to catch up with Terance while he was in the area, but couldn’t manage to coordinate that. Maybe the next time. 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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May 22, 2022 · 10:20 am

ThermoPro TP393 Hygrometer and Vice-Versa Cigars

Every now and then the folks at Thermopro send me a new gadget to try out. In this case I protested a little, and suggested something else, but they insisted that this was better technology than the older model I asked about, and were rather insistant! I agreed to evaluate the ThermoPro TP393 Hygrometer even though I thought it seemed a little large for most humidors. I set it up in my cabinet humidor for a week or two next to a known accurate hygrometer and left it alone. There are quite a few things I like about this, besides the fact that it appears to be accurate. My old eyes like the large display, in this application, the backlighting, time and date function are

Before you panic about the humidity, the top unit is in my Family Room!

pretty superfluous, but in other applications this are nice to have. It has a rechargeable battery, which should make things easier over time, as saves having to find weird button cell batteries, or keep a stock of AAA batteries around. I’ve noticed no battery power reduction over the two weeks it’s been in use. It interacts wi

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th the App seamlessly via bluetooth, one can set alerts easily, and historical data is tracked. I have three devices now in my app and can see the conditions in three humidors at a glance. It may be a little big for a desktop humidor, it’s good for a large cabinet, and would be ideal for a walk-in. It’s a nice unit for a very reasonable price. I also have been using their TP200B Indoor Outdoor Thermometer to monitor the temperature in my enclosed smoking porch. This is a neat thermometer for indoor and outdoor, but doesn’t really have a good application in the humidor without a hygrometer, and it isn’t Bluetooth. The links included are Amazon affiliate links, I get a few pennies if anyone buys one. I recently received an Amazon payment about enough to buy a cigar, and it’s the first one I’ve gotten in a few years, so I’m not getting rich off of affiliate links! Thank you to Thermopro for the promotional consideration.

 

I had an opportunity to try a new cigar this week, two of them, actually. It’s actually the same cigar, smoked two different ways. This is a cigar that Kevin at CigarProp/Trash Panda Cigars has been working on with Omar of Fratello Cigars for the last two years, it’s not a new concept, just maybe one that hasn’t been perfected yet. They have made a cigar that has a different smoking experience depending on which end you light. It’s capped on both ends, one end has a lighter cap, and is about 7″ x 50. I smoked two cigars,

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one from each end, and did, indeed have a different experience. I know nothing about the blend, but I am guessing it’s got some Dominican tobacco, and strikes me as a cigar rolled in the DR. It appears to have a Habano wrapper. The first one I smoked, lighting the Habano capped end (hint, cut both ends, burning through the cap doesn’t go well!), seemed to start spicier, and built in strength. The second, lighting the shade end, seemed to start smoother. Overall these are on the leather side of the flavor spectrum to my palate. My personal opinion on cigars that are copped on both ends is that they need to be stored at a lower humidity, because once the humidity is inside the cigar there’s nowhere for it to go. I found that both samples needed frequent relights in the last third, although the burn and draw were still pretty good. It’s an interesting concept, there have been a couple cigars in the past that have done similar things, on

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e of which was a blatant SCHIP tax dodge! Check out Kevin and Jess’s video about this cigar. I’ll be interested to see how this project pr

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ogresses! Thanks for including me in the select group of people allowed to know about this! 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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May 15, 2022 · 11:11 am

Cohiba Serie M, ATL Black and All Saints Cigars

Another exciting week! I rather expected an avalanche of press releases from Drew Estate after the event Thursday. I expect a bunch in the coming week. Of course, I smoked a bunch of cigars this week. One of my favorites was a La Sirena Trident, which  I think is one of the best cigars out of the La Zona factory. I smoked one of the new size of the Cohiba Serie M this week, which they are calling a Corona Gorda. It’s actually 6½” x 48, so I don’t know what else one would call it, but I do like the size. I didn’t mention it when I wrote about the initial release in the 6″ x 52 shape, but I had some technical issues with the ones I smoked that were frustrating. Burn and draw types of issues that were not typical of cigars made at El Titan de Bronze from what I know, I can only attribute the problems to storage somewhere along the line. I still have a couple in deep storage to smoke sometime down the line. This smaller size was outstanding. I

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t had the same woody profile, with some sweetness, and a sophistication that should come with a cigar priced where this is priced. This is what the press release said about the blend:

 

Crafted according to old-world techniques and featuring a double binder, closed foot and triple cap with a signature fan,

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Cohiba Serie M is a medium-to-full-bodied cigar brimming with depth and character. Made with exquisite, aged tobaccos, the cigar is enveloped in a lustrous Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, a first for Cohiba. The binder is Nicaraguan and the blend features hand-selected Nicaraguan Jalapa and Esteli and Dominican Piloto Cubano tobaccos.

 

It’s a tasty cigar, and a good looking cigar too. I’m fortunate that I was given samples to try, because I personally would have been scared off by the price tag, but that’s just me, I’m a cheap bastard. I was really pleased that it burned perfectly and I had a great experience smoking it. very pleasurable.

 

Another pleasurable cigar I smoked this week (I try to reach 100% pleasurable cigars if at all possible!), was the ATL Black in a torpedo format. This is a 6″ x 52, with a San Andrés wrapper. these are made in the Pichardo factory, where they made their “Magic”, which I thought was excellent. I think a recent change, something makes me think these were originally made by Martinez in New York. I never sampled the original, so I can’t be certain of that. I like Martinez cigars. I also apparently like Pichardo cigars, because I really liked the ATL Black Torpedo. It was quite a bit different in flavor that I expected from a San Andrés wrapper maduro cigar. It was a meaty, savory tasting cigar, as opposed to a sweet maduro. This entertains me. As much as I have a sweet tooth when it comes to cigars (not only cigars), I like a nice, tasty surprise. I don’t like bad tasting surprises, but I like good tasting surprises like this one. Quite yummy. If you don’t know much about ATL cigars, I spoke with Leroy at the TPE show, the video is here.

 

I spent Friday evening hanging out with Micky Pegg of All Saints cigars and smoked a Dedicación Mitre that he handed me that was very good. Micky is introverted and quiet…I lie, he’s quite the opposite. As long as I’m linking back to TPE content, my video with him is here. I’m going to intentionally leave out where I hung out with Micky, and there will more on that at a later date. Let’s just say I won’t be giving a certain place any more free advertising here. Last night I smoked my favorite cigar in the All Saints line, the Saint Francis Churchill. This box pressed 7″ x 48 Ecuador Oscuro wrapped cigar is like smoking desert. I actually smoked one Friday night, and one again last night. Such a great smoke. Micky actually told me that he blends to the Churchill size, which is a bit unusual, but explains why I tend to like that size in his line the best across the board. I suppose it helps that I like that size cigar! The Saint Francis was one of my favorite cigars of last year, and remains a favorite. Big fan.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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May 8, 2022 · 9:42 am

Cuesta-Rey No. 95 Cameroon Cigar and Random Thoughts

This week J.C. Newman announced the release of the Cuesta-Rey No. 95 Cameroon to celebrate the 127th anniversary of the company.  It’s going to be a factory exclusive, so one will have to visit the El Reloj factory to get them.  The cigar is a 6½” x 42 lonsdale with an African Cameroon wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder and Dominican fillers.  They’ve put a $15 per cigar price on this and will sell them in 5-packs.  Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but

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it seems to me that Cuesta Rey No 95 used to be sold in three or five packs in most pharmacies that sold cigars. There were bundles of Craftsman’s Bench in several varieties, Berings, a bunch of cigars in tins, Macanudo Ascots, and Cuesta Reys.  I’m quite sure I’m remembering this right.  I don’t think I ever bought any cigars at the drugstores, they weren’t in humidors, and, at the time when the drugstores still sold tobacco, I had plenty of good options to get properly stored and curated selections of cigars. It was nice to know these were available in an emergency! I do understand why pharmacies got away from selling tobacco products, but they sell a whole lot of other unhealthy stuff there, so it’s a little hypocritical. Anyway, here’s a little excerpt from the J.C. Newman press release:

 

“After the Cuban Embargo was imposed in 1962, my grandfather, Stanford J. Newman, scoured the world for new types of tobacco. He discovered exquisite African Cameroon Wrapper (ACW) and was the first premium cigar maker to use it in the United States. Stanford wrapped ACW with a Connecticut Broadleaf binder and long filler tobaccos grown in the Dominican Republic to create the Cuesta-Rey No. 95. It was smooth, elegant, and flavorful, and became the top-selling premium cigar in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.  Sixty years later, we are proud to have recreated the original blend of my grandfather’s most famous cigar, the Cuesta-Rey No. 95.”  – Drew Newman
 

Cuesta-Rey No. 95 Cameroon is handmade in J.C. Newman’s historic El Reloj cigar factory in the “Cigar City” of Tampa, Florida.  It’s a 6.25 x 42 cigar that retails for $15 each.  Beginning today, J.C. Newman is selling this special cigar in limited edition packs of 5 cigars as a factory exclusive.  Cigar enthusiasts who visit J.C. Newman’s cigar museum, take a factory tour, or attend a special event at its El Reloj factory will be able to enjoy this very special cigar.   

 

It’s impressive that the cigar is made in the Tampa factory, which accounts for the price being what it is.  I had the good fortune to smoke a couple of these this week. It’s been a long time since I smoked a 95, a long, long time. I want to say the standard No. 95 is made by Fuente in the DR, and do

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esn’t have the Broadleaf binder, but I could be mistaken.  Had I taken the time and thought about it, I would done a comparison, but I’ve been lazy lately.  I’ve found myself smoking a lot of cigars that I like lately and not smoking new stuff. Selfish, I know. Anyway, this was a really good tasting cigar. Actually, the first one annoyed me a little as the first half failed to burn very well and didn’t really get going until the second half, but the second one was perfect.  It had the nutty “Camerooniness” that I expect, with some sweetness from the broadleaf.  It was unique enough to be special, and worth trying. Visiting El Reloj is on my list of things I want to do in the near future, it’s just a matter of making my way south sometime soon. 

 

Since I spent the week smoking some cigars I know I liked, I really don’t have much else to talk about today. I was impressed with the mentions of cigars on NBC’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby yesterday. I know cigars are a tradition there, but they could easily have censored them.  There was probably something stupid that someone did or said that I thought about talking about, but I can’t think of it now.  I did hear that the Smokin’ Tabacco CFCF Charity Raffle has been extended, so check out https://go.rallyup.com/smokintabacco/Campaign/Details and get in on that.  Also, don’t forget the Red Meat Lovers Club Battleship, Beef and Bourbon for the Ship event in June. Tickets are available here. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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