Category Archives: Review

December 29, 2021 · 5:47 pm

A Trilogy of Alec Bradley Trilogies

Back around 2004 I was at a cigar event in Las Vegas and these weird, triangle pressed cigars from a fairly new cigar company were passed around. They were called Trilogy by Alec Bradley and they were really good. I smoked a bunch of them, bought boxes and passed them around, then they vanished. In 2008 I found myself at the IPCPR show and met George Sosa, then VP of sales at Alec Bradley and asked about them, no go. I got to know Jonathan Lipson, who moved from sales to marketing, and asked him from time to time about them, nothing. Finally, now that Alan Rubin’s sons, Alec and Bradley, are involved in the company, the Trilogy are back, I came across a box of each at Son’s and grabbed some for a stroll down memory lane, hopefully.  Having Monday off, I spent the afternoon with the Native Cameroon. These were initially offered in a robusto, torpedo and toro if I remember correctly, now they are just available in a 6″ x 52 Toro. They might be available in robusto, I’m really not clear, they definitely didn’t bring back the torpedo. The Authentic Cameroon has an African Cameroon wrapper, Honduran binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s a delicious cigar, quite tasty, with the nice nuttiness one gets from that wrapper. 

 

I followed the Native Cameroon with the Authentic Corojo. This had the lightest wrapper of the three, a Honduran Corojo, with a Honduran grown Connecticut seed binder,  and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. This was a medium bodied cigar that was pleasing enough, with some spice and sweet earthy flavors.  I would have liked it if this example had been a little freer with the draw, as the other two were, but it was still OK. It was still close to what I remember of the original, I think I smoked more of these long ago than the others, just because of availability at the time. Oddly, it was my least favorite of the three. 

 

Finally, I smoked the Exotic Maduro, the cigar that I would have usually smoked first, I think we all know that. The reason I smoked in the order I did was because I smoked the Cameroon in the afternoon, and I w

anted to

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save the Maduro for an evening cigar. I also had a recollection that I liked the Exotic Maduro the best of three, and I wanted to save the best for last. OK, I’m weird. The Exotic Maduro has a Nicaraguan Jalapa grown Maduro wrapper, fairly exotic, I guess, the Honduran Connecticut binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers.  This was a wonderful tasting cigar. It had an interesting spice throughout that I suppose warrants the “exotic” moniker, over some dark chocolate and espresso. This ended up being my favorite of the three, with the Native Cameroon coming in a close second. We should probably not be surprised that these are more than double the price that they used to be, all cigars are really, aren’t they?  I am happy to finally smoke these again after al

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l these years, it was a fun walk down memory lane.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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December 26, 2021 · 10:35 am

A Neanderthal, a Diamond Crown and Boxing Day Cigars?

It’s the day after Christmas, so I don’t have a great deal to write about, since the last few days have been busy with family and the whole build up to the holiday and all.  I have just been smoking good cigars, and whatnot.  I started off the long weekend with a Paladin de Saka after a private discu

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ssion amongst some bloggers about how this yet to be released cigar might end up on the Halfwheel Consensus. A little insider info for you there.  I toyed with the idea of doing a top whatever list myself, just to see if I make the consensus again, but it would be a vanity project, and I think I’ll just discuss my favorites of the year in a different way.  There were some new cigars that impressed me, and I want to give credit where credit is due, but my ego doesn’t need to be stroked. One of the cigars I treated myself to was a Christmas Eve Romacraft Neanderthal Gran Perfecto. I had purchased a collection of Gran Perfectos from Son’s Cigars a while ago and have been working my way through them. I have to say, the Whiskey Rebellion has been my least favorite, there’s something I don’t like about it. Of course, the Cromagnon was excellent, as was the Neanderthal. This format, the 5 5/8″ x 60 perfecto, changes the flavors ever so slightly. In the cases of the latter two, the flavors seemed stronger, or more focused, which makes sense considering the tapered format. I’m a fan of the brand, of course, I’ve known Skip and Mike for over a decade, they are one of the brands that I’ve purchased 99% of the cigars of theirs that I’ve smoked! 

 

Christmas day, after all the kids and grandkids have gone and our big brunch was cleaned up,  I hit the porch with a Diamond Crown No. 7. It has been my tradition over the years to smoke a classic cigar on Christmas day, usually something

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Fuente or Padron, something I love that I can just enjoy. This is such a cigar and brings with it a lot of memories. I always think of a cigar party in Vegas in 1998 when I smoked a Diamond Crown for the first time. My wife smoked one too, and Saka was there as well as a few other folks I’m still in touch with (Ed Sullivan of The Cigar Authority and The Ashholes podasts, for instance). It’s a quintessential Connecticut shade cigar, mild, bready, a hint of sweetness, and just an all around pleasant cigar. When they came out in the mid-90s, available only west of the Mississippi, oddly, enough, they were absurdly large 54 ring gauge. This pyramid is a 6 ¾” x 54, and manufactured at Tabacalera Fuente. My preference is generally for the maduro, or the Maximus, but the original version is always a treat for me. 

 

 

Today is Boxing Day in the British Commonwealth countries, and I don’t quite know the intricacies of that holiday, but I know it doesn’t have anything to do with pugilism. There goes my plans to watch Rocky movies all day. That saves me hours of going frame by frame looking for myself in the fight scene in Rocky 5 (we were extras ringside). Anyway, whatever Boxing Day is, for me it’ll mean finding a box of cigars and taking a cigar out and smoking it, maybe doing it more than once. It’s supposed to be a nice day too.  I’m certainly not going shopping. Anyway, I only mentioned Boxing Day because I couldn’t think of anything else. Didn’t Rocky Patel make a cigar for a boxer?  So, that’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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December 19, 2021 · 8:47 am

Oscar Valladares McFly, Espinosa Laranja Azulejo and Crema de Laranja Cigars

First order of business: if you haven’t already, go back to the post before this one and enter to contest! Last Tuesday I took a day off and found myself running and errand that ended up in the Mushroom Capital of the World, Kennett Square, PA, which is in the southern part of the same county where I live. A few doors down from where I was going there happened to be a cigar shop, Living My Best Cigar Life, of course I stopped in. It’s a nice little shop on the main drag in Kennett, with a nice walk in humidor, a knowledgeable shopkeeper, and a small lounge. The selection was adequate, but on the sparse side, I was to find out that they had just opened a new store a few miles away. I picked up a couple of the Oscar Valladares McFly Toros, which I have been meaning to try, and headed home. Since the new location was more or less on my way home, I decided to stop in and check it out. The Glen Mills location is actually on a property that has a sentimental meaning to me. The lounge where I played my last professional gigs as a drummer back in the 80’s was located there. Weird, right? Anyway, the shop was previously a bank, and they’ve retrofitted two former offices as the humidors. The lounge is in the back, and they will ha

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ve membership with 24 hour access through the back. It’s all very clean and sharp in design. The selection is decent, it’s a new shop, but it wouldn’t be hard for someone to find something to smoke there. I came out with a Romeo by AJ I hadn’t tried. It’s on Rt 202 between Rt 1 and the Delaware state line, for those familiar with the area. It’s a long name for a cigar shop, I wish them well! I smoked the McFly when I got home and thought it was very good. It’s a 6″ x 52 with a San Andrés wrapper, Honduran binder and fillers from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Honduras. It was rich and earthy and pretty much what I expect from that blend, with a little spice. I liked it, very nice. 

 

Wednesday I found myself at Son’s Cigars again, this time in the company of Jack Toraño of Espinosa Cigars. Jack is coming up on his three year anniversary with Espinosa in a couple weeks. He was recalling that he was with Toranño cigars for three years, and General for three years…I think we are all hoping that this gig is going to break that pattern for Jack. I’ve known Jack for a long time, and it’s always a treat to catch up with him. Mark Weissenberger, the broker that handles Espinosa, ironically from Kennett, dragged Jack out earlier than expected, and I offered to give him a ride back to his hotel, but I’m afraid he thought he wouldn’t fit in my car. I had been looking forward to smoking the Laranja Azulejo, which translates to orange blue tile in Portuguese, the best I can figure. I picked up a couple of the box pressed 6″ x 60 Gordo size. These are made at AJ Fernandez’ San Lotano factory for Espinosa. This cigar has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Brazilian Arapiraca binder and Nicaraguan fillers, and boy is it tasty. I like Sumatra, and Brazilian, and of course, Nicaraguan, and this is delicious blend of flavors. It’s got some sweetness, and some coffee and cocoa and some spice. I enjoyed it so much I smoked another one last night. Now I need to get more. I also had a great time hanging out with Craig the Breadman at Son’s!

 

Jack (and Vince) gave me an event cigar, the Crema de Laranja, which is a barber pole which is a mashup of the Laranja and the Crema cigar

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s. It shares blend components of the two cigars, and has both the shade wrapper from the Crema (which I’ve never smoked), and the Brazilian “Laranja” wrapper. Jack likes milder cigars, I can see him liking this one. Last week I smoked the Back in Black from the same factory, and it’s apparent that La Zona knows how to make a good barber pole cigar. This is kinda the opposite of that Back in Black, though, it’s on the milder side, creamy and tangy. Certainly a nice change from the heavier, darker flavored cigars.  Quite nice. I recommend going to an event where Erik, Jack, or one of the other guys is attending, and buy enough cigars to merit receiving one of these, it’s a good one.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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December 12, 2021 · 10:41 am

Cigar Prop Back in Black and HVC Black Friday Cigars

Thinking back, I suppose I should have smoked an Alec Bradley Black Market to complete the thematic trilogy, honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about both of these cigars having anything in common. Let’s start out with the Cigar Prop Back In Black By Espinosa (not a sponsored link). This cigar might be lesser known outside of certain circles. It’s a collaboration between Kevin Shahan at Cigar Prop and Espinosa Cigars, and was/is exclusive to Smoke Inn. This was the third one of these I’ve smoked, the first out of the production run, and the first I’ve been able to talk about. Kevin had sent me some samples of prototypes for my feedback some time ago, and there were two blends, this excellent blend which, obviously went into production, and another even better blend, which better fi

t the theme of the project (in my opinion), which ended up not being sustainable due to material shortages. Kevin likes barber pole style cigars. This one has a Habano (the wrapper Espinosa uses on the La Bomba line) and a San Andrés, and a Jalapa binder and viso and ligero fillers from Estelí and Condega. It’s a 6″ x 52, which we all know is a size I like, and has a simple black band. Funny that Kevin doesn’t usually like powerful cigars, not that this one is super strong, but it does have a little kick to it, it isn’t mild! I loved the samples I smoked, and I am glad I bought a box when they were finally released. These are suited to my palate, they are rich, with cocoa/espresso flavors like I enjoy. I’ve yet to have a barber pole cigar that I could detect any flavor changes, I mean, the wrappers are spiralled, they are both burning at the same time through the course of the cigar, but it’s a neat look, and as long as it burns well, I’m happy, and these have. Congratulations to Cigar Prop on his first collaboration! It’s fun to see the name on a box, isn’t it? I remember when he was but a simple CigarCraig.com reader…

 

I followed the Back in Black later in the day with the HVC Black Friday 2021. Maybe there’s a subconscious connection to my mood this time of year. I seemed to be in a better frame of mind back in the days when I could spend the two weeks leading up to Christmas giving away tons of cigars and swag. Can you believe 2015 was the last year I had one of my mega-day giveaways?  On the other hand it was a major time suck, but a great one! Anyway, I have a few goodies stashed away for next week, stay tuned. So a normal person might have smoked the HVC Black Friday on the day after Thanksgiving, but I forgot about it. I probably have a few of them around, one from last year, a couple Firecrackers, and then this one I picked up a few weeks back on the recommendation of Brian at Son’s. This keeps happening with HVC cigars and the guys at Son’s, they ask me if I’ve tried one yet, I say know and take the one from them and buy it. I should always buy more than one. Either they need to learn or I do. The Black Friday 2021 is a 4 3/8″ x 54 short, chubby robusto, with a mottled broadleaf wrapper. Last years was a Corona Gorda, now that I think of it, I just saw one when rooting through the humidor. The rest of th

e blend is Nicaraguan, made at the Aganorsa Factory in Esteli. I was told it was strong, to smoke it after a hearty meal. I prepared by eating a leftover slice of Sicilian pizza with sausage and bacon. It was good. I’ll reiterate my failure to buy/Son’s failure to sell additional examples of this cigar. This is a friggen outstanding cigar. Yeah, it’s got some power, but not porcelain hugging level power. The size is good for a little over an hour for me, I could have smoked it in a toro last night as it was fairly mild for a december evening, but it was still quite satisfying. As I think about it, maybe a toro would have been too much and would have ratcheted it up to an uncomfortable level. This is going on my list of cigars to grab a few more of (box of 50? let’s not get carried away). The Corona Gorda and Firecrackers better hide.

 

Everyone who signed up for the Secret Santa should have gotten their assignments.  I am to understand at least one person signed up and for whatever reason it didn’t take in the system. It seems like there’s always something that goes wrong when I try to do these things! I sent mine out yesterday, and posted a small rant on Facebook and Instagram about how the USPS sets the expectation of 2 day shipping right on the label, I didn’t ask for it. It’s their idea, they should make goo on it, right?  Anyway, we’ll see how that goes…that’s al for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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December 9, 2021 · 9:18 pm

Supreme Tobacco’s Bohekio Robusto and Secret Santa News

By now those who are participating in this year’s CigarCraig.com Secret Santa should have received their assignments. Please do your best to take care of your recipient promptly (says the worlds biggest procrastinator…it’s on my weekend project list, I promise!). It’s a small group, but I know everyone will have fun with it and brighten everyone’s holidays. I don’t need anything, by the way. 

 

A few weeks ago the folks at Supreme Tobacco emailed asking me if I wanted to try their Bohekio cigar made in Haiti. I’ve heard some things about this cigar, and I was intrigued by something new. New cigars are becoming few and far between recently, so I was excited about this cigar. Here’s a quote from “JP” at Supreme Tobacco: 

Our company Supreme Tobacco was founded in 2015 and this project began with a dream between friends to one day grow our own premium tobacco, place Haiti amongst the best growing countries and eventually make our first Haitian cigar with Haitian grown tobacco.
After several years of hard works and challenges, we launched this year in July at the PCA, our very first cigar, Bohekio.

I received a couple 5″ x 50 Robustos.  the filler is a “Unique blend of finest tobacco grown in Haiti”, the binder is Olor Dominicana grown in Haiti and the wrapper is Sun grown Habano from the Dominican Republic. Interestingly, the first flavor I got off the pre-light, and the first half of the cigar was something akin to cola flavored Bottle Caps candy. Weird, ri

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ght? Halfway through the second sample I got a strong cinnamon blast, but only for a short time.  Overall it had a sweet flavor, and I liked it. The second sample burned perfectly, the first one was a little troublesome, it didn’t want to burn, the first two thirds of the cigar had the burn characteristics of kevlar. I had to relight it for just about every draw, up until about the last quarter, at which point it was too late. This is why evaluating a cigar based upon one sample is a bad idea, because the second one was excellent. Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, so it’s not too big a stretch to think that tobacco can’t grow there. I sup

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pose it’s a question of infrastructure. Long story short, I liked the Bohekio. Many thanks to the folks at Supreme Tobacco for allowing me to sample these cigars. I’ll be picking up some other sizes after the holidays.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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