Category Archives: Review

November 30, 2025 · 9:38 am

Alec Bradley Kintsugi, Umbagog and a Visit to the Cigar & Lifestyle Fest

First off, the names have been drawn for the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa, so if you snoozed, you losed! Don’t miss out next year! Anyway, my wife came across this event a month or so ago: The Cigar & Lifestyle Fest at the Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. Actually the last day is today, Sunday, Nov. 30 (10-5). It kicked off with a “VIP” event Friday evening, and a whole day (9am-9pm) Saturday. The only advertising I saw for this event was on social media, and none of the cigar industry people I know in the area (reps, store owners) knew anything about it. I figured for $10 admission it was something I needed to check out. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t for me. There were four or five cigar brands, I’d be surprised if anyone’s heard of them. I did have a nice conversation with Christian at Los Gallos Cigars, a “new to me” brand, and they seemed to be doing things right. I’ll smoke a couple of their cigars, which I purchased, this week. I’m admittedly jaded when it comes to new brands, they often try to tell me that they are somehow different than any other brand, when nine times out of ten they are putting bands on someone’s leftovers. I didn’t get that from these guys. OM cigars was there as well, and I met Osvaldo at a TPE a few years back, but obviously didn’t make an impression on him. Jason from Fog Box was there with their very nice collection of travel humidors and lighters, and I talked to Kevin Stone from the Smoke World Podcast for a bit. I’ll let the pictures here paint the picture.

There are probably some things the organizers could have done better to make this a better cigar event. Talking to local shops and reps might be a start, and advertising it to a broader audience. I think a three day event was ambitious, I’m sure one day would have been plenty (I made it about an hour and a half before I got bored). Obviously someplace where one can smoke indoors would be ideal, although challenging. We’ll see if this happens again next year, I’ll check it out.

With Thanksgiving this week, and all that went with it, I didn’t smoke a lot of new cigars. My wife and I were balloon handlers in the Philadelphia parade (the oldest in the country), which was a whole other story. It’s fairly well documented on our Facebook pages. I did smoke the new Alec Bradley Kintsugi Wabi Sabi yesterday when I got home from the fest. I looked at the “smoking lounge” they had set up at the fest and said to myself, “self, you can smoke much more comfortably at home”, which I did. I should try not to talk to myself in public, but nowadays you can pass it off as being on the phone. Anyway, this Alec Bradley Kintsugi Wabi Sabi is actually made by A.J. Fernandez in Esteli. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Mexican binder and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s a 6″ x 52 toro. I really liked this cigar. It’s different from my usual preference, it has some cream, bread and baking spices and was really quite delicious. Remember when blue and green bands were a no-no? This is a nice presentation, a really good tasting cigar, and it’s $12.50, which ain’t bad these days. It turned a disappointing day around.

Last night I decided to smoke the new size in the Umbagog Bronzeback line, the Robusto. The original Bronzeback, a corona gorda, won the Halfwheel Consensus last year, and a Dunbarton cigar has been in the top two or three on that list for the past decade I think. Expect the Solita Red to top the list this year, it’s head and shoulders above the other new releases. Steve is strategic in sending samples of his excellent cigars near the end of the year so that everyone scrambles to smoke them and put them on their year end lists. I just don’t think this Bronzeback Robusto has what it takes to top the list. It’s a perfectly good cigar, although I think the spice it has overwhelms the chocolaty goodness that I like about the “classic” Umbagog. I guess it’s the same reason I prefer the Mi Querida over the Triqui Traca, different strokes for different folks! Come to think of it, I smoked a Red Meat Lovers Fritanga Thursday after the feasting, and wished I had chosen the Ribeye instead. Anyway, I don’t mind the Bronzeback, but would chose the OG Umbagog over it.

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under Events, Review

Tagged as Alec Bradley, Bronzeback, cigar, cigars, Cigars & Lifestyle Fest, Kintsugi, Umbagog, Wabi Sabi

November 23, 2025 · 10:52 am

Blood Medicine, Davidoff Chef’s Edition and Black Star Line Cigars

Next week is going to be busy with some travel and Thanksgiving and all, so I’ll try to come up with something to write about next Sunday. It may have something to do with the travel, or perhaps the Cigar & Lifestyle Fest next weekend at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds in Oaks, PA which I plan to check out. I’m not at all sure what this is going to be all about, I know there’s one cigar related vendor listed that I’m familiar with, and two brands that I’ve heard of, but they are super small companies. I’ll likely go Saturday, let me know if anyone’s going to be there. It would be more fun hanging out with someone rather than going alone. I probably should have mentioned this Wednesday when I met up with Craig (the Breadman) for an impromptu Craig summit. Anyway, let’s talk about some cigars I smoked this week. A few weeks back I was at the Wooden Indian and bought a selection of cigars. I smoked the Crowned Heads Broadway that night, and was really impressed. When I was deciding what to smoke, the gentleman working there, we’ll call him “Mark”, asked if this would be my first cigar of the day and recommended the Blood Medicine B+ as it was the mildest of the bunch. I told him that he just doesn’t know me very well, as that’s not really a thing in my world. Unless it’s a breakfast cigar, I don’t really ever concern myself with cigar strength. Thirty years I’ve been smoking cigars. Anyway, I smoked the Blood Medicine B Positive toro this week. It’s a 6″ x 52 toro with Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, Ecuadorian Connecticut binder, and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s made at Pichardo’s D’Hatuey factory in Estelí. “Mark” set me up to think it was mild, and maybe compared to the other cigars I had selected that day it was the mildest. It starts with a citrus tingle, has some interesting baking spice flavors, and is, overall, a really nice cigar. I kept thinking there was a mineral/metallic flavor, but that might just have been the blood reference in the naming. I’m O Negative, by the way, so I will be obliged to purchase a Blood Medicine O- if it ever come to that.

Friday evening I was feeling fancy, so I picked out this year’s Davidoff Chef’s Edition, generously provided by Davidoff. I had just finished what is probably considered the polar opposite of a gourmet meal, Dominoes Sausage and Pepperoni pizza, with some Parmesan bread bites. It’s a very pedestrian fare, but I fed two of us for two day for $15, I deserved a reward! Don’t judge me, I’d rather have a great cigar than a great meal. For the Chefs Edition 2025 cigar, Davidoff collaborated with five renowned chefs, holding eleven Michelin stars between them. Paolo Casagrande (Lasarte, Spain), Christian Bau (Victor’s Fine Dining, Germany), Kirk Westaway (Singapore), Nick Bril (The Jane, Belgium) and Michael Beltran (Ariete, USA), all passionate Davidoff aficionados whom I’ve never heard of, see above. Back in 2017 we were invited to a Davidoff Chef’s edition event in New York City (here) which was a special evening. Anyway, the 2025 is a 6¼” x 52 toro, with a wrapper from Ecuador, binder from Mexico and Dominican fillers. My main takeaway from this flavor-wise was umami. It was a savory cigar, maybe a touch of floral, but largely earthy and some sice as it progressed. It’s quite good, but me smoking a cigar like this is like if I mowed the lawn with a Cohiba Siglo 6. It was a very good cigar, and it was really enjoyable to smoke as it performed perfectly. It’s a little out of my league, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

When I stopped in to Harrisburg Beer & Cigar last week, another cigar I grabbed was the Black Star Line Lalibela in a toro size. I was surprised to see this in their discount bin. I hope I don’t get in trouble for disclosing that. For $6 for a cigar I’d been wanting to try it was a no brainer. I’ve never met Aric, the owner of the brand, but I’ve heard him on a lot of podcasts and he sounds like someone I’d like to meet. If I’m not mistaken, the guys at Cigar Dojo do the graphic design for these cigars, and they are made at Aganorsa Leaf. I should have bought more than I did. This has a San Andrés wrapper, with Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The name Lalibela comes from the area in Ethiopia where a bunch of chapels were cut into the bedrock. It’s quite a fascinating place as there are all these big holes with solid stone churches carved out of them. It’s an engineering marvel. It kinda has to be the work of aliens, right? I joke. Anyway, the cigar was quite good, presented with a closed foot and pigtail cap, it had some nice coffee and spice flavors. I forgot to take notes, which is usually an indication that I really like the cigar. I have to hunt down more cigars from Black Star Line now.

That’s about it. There’s still time to get in on the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa. Go HERE to sign up. Have a great week! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Black Star Line, Blood Medicine, Chef's Edition, cigar, cigars, Crowned Heads, Davidoff of Geneva, Lalibela

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.