Category Archives: Review

February 28, 2021 · 9:42 am

An Illusione HL Candela and Some Oveja Negra News

Yesterday I smoked another cigar that I bought from Scotty’s Cigars, an Illusione ~hl~ Candela.  This is a 7 ½” x 40 Lancero with a pigtail cap and a bright green candela wrapper. It’s a Nicaraguan puro made in Honduras apparently. I’ve smoked the ~hl~ in Maduro and loved it. First I’ll say that I need to smoke more Illusione cigars, I don’t frequent the local stores that have a good selection of them, enough. I love smoking them when I pick them up, and I love listening to Dion any chance I get.  I need to sample more of the lines. Regarding the Candela ~hl~, or Holy Lance as it’s sometimes referred, if you aren’t a fan of candela, this may not be for you. If you are a fan of candela, and I really enjoy it from time to time as a change of pace and palate refresher, this is a great cigar. It’s got that crisp, clean, herbal kind of flavor. You can taste the chloroform chlorophyll and, like I said, it’s refreshing! This example had a great burn and draw and gave me two hours of relaxation on the porch.  I wouldn’t have wanted to take this for a walk on a cold, winders night, but in the comfort of the propane heater, it was real nice. It was a damned tasty smoke.

 

I received a couple news stories this week from Oveja Negra, and I want to comment on the first one, involving the distribution in Belgium and Luxembourg. I usually don’t pass along news items about international distribution, but there was another piece of this that cought my eye. The company that is the distributor in that small part of Europe is called Media Rueda and Halfwheel’s holding company is called Rueda Media (Halfwheel reported on the story and commented on this, saying they had no prior knowledge of the European company until this story). I’m guessing Halfwheel has had the name since it’s inception in 2012 or ‘13 or whenever it was they started, so my question is: will there be a letter sent from the attorneys on this? Is a cigar distributor in tiny Belgium/Luxembourg worth the legal fees, or is it a matter of ego? Am I right in assuming that my readers neither care about international distribution, nor the name of Halfwheel’s holding company or are likely to confuse it with a European distributor? Disregard all of this and check out these two news items from the folks at Oveja Negra, the second of which is probably far more interesting!

 

Oveja Negra Brands is pleased to announce their distribution agreement with Media Rueda™ for Belgium and Luxembourg.

Starting today Black Label Trading Company and Black Works Studio cigars will be available in the Belgium and Luxembourg markets through Media Rueda™.

 

“After entering the German market a couple of years ago, we have been humbled by the incredible reception our cigars have received. We are excited to continue our expansion in Europe by adding Media Rueda™ to the Oveja Negra family.  Pieter and his partners have been amazing supporters of what we do and I’m looking forward to working with him in the Belgium market,” said James Brown, creator of BLTC and BLK WKS, and partner at Fabrica Oveja Negra.

 

“We are excited to bring Oveja Negra Brands to our markets. There is great demand for excellent, hand crafted cigars and we feel honored Oveja Negra Brands put their trust in us to serve our local customers,” added Pieter De Windt, partner at Media Rueda™.

Black Label Trading Company and Black Works Studio create handcrafted premium cigars of the utmost quality in small batch, limited quantities at Fabrica Oveja Negra. 

 

Media Rueda™ bv has the express goal to import and distribute added value, hand-made premium cigars in Europe.  For more information, please visit mediarueda.eu

 

 

 

I look forward to trying this Cameroon wrapped cigar! Corona Gorda and Lonsdale are neat sizes too.

 

Black Works Studio (BLK WKS) is pleased to announce the release of Hyena: Hand crafted in Esteli, Nicaragua at Fabrica Oveja Negra.

HYENA is a Limited Edition that will be shipping to select BLK WKS retailers at the beginning of March.

“Hyena is the latest addition to the BLK WKS portfolio. A truly unique cigar that is focused on showcasing a perfect balance between Nicaraguan fillers and the Cameroon wrapper. The profile is spice forward with white pepper & semi-sweet baking spices blended with herbal notes & cedar. The finish is a blend of bitter cocoa, cream & malt. Hyena is an extremely complex and balanced cigar and is a tribute to my wife’s and my many years of living in Africa,” said James Brown, creator of BLTC & BLK WKS and owner at Fabrica Oveja Negra.

 

HYENA
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano
Filler: Nicaragua
Corona Gorda – 5 x 46 (20 count) MSRP $12.00
Lonsdale – 6.5×42 (20 count) MSRP $12.50

 

These cigars are an expression of art showcasing the talent, technique and tobacco of our boutique cigar factory; Fabrica Oveja Negra. BLK WKS cigars are available for purchase through Oveja Negra Brands. For more information visit OvejaNegraCigars.com.

 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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February 24, 2021 · 9:04 pm

Perla Del Mar Corojo and a Diamond Crown Cigars

The  folks at J.C. Newman recently shared some cigars with me, so I figured I’d smoke some of them. I’ve been a fan of the budget-friendly Perla Del Mar line for a while, and I was quite curious to try the new Corojo they recently released. I can’t say that I’m overly enthralled with what they’ve done with the bands, I thought the old bands were pretty cool, and the new bands with just PDM in the middle bring to mind another brand, and I don’t find it as classy as the old ones. I get it if that’s not what they are going for and it’s none of my business really, and isn’t going to make me like the cigars any less. I looked in my local shop for the Corojo a few times over the last few weeks to no avail, and was thrilled when some showed up in my mailbox. These are made in J.C. Newnan’s PENSA factory in Nicaragua, with a Corojo wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I was fortunate to come in to possession of the Corona Gorda vitola, which would be my second choice after the Toro. After the Toro, I do like the 5½” x 46 size the best, I think. These are box pressed as well. This is a really tasty cigar, with a sweetness like I enjoy in the Sumatra wrapped cigars, with some nuts and leather as well. For about $6, you can hardly go wrong with this one, recommended.

 

The Diamond Crown is a sentimental favorite of mine.  Back in 1998 I was at a cigar event in Vegas that was hosted by, among other people, Steve Saka, before he was actually employed in the cigar industry. He was writing for a website called CigarNexus at the time, and it was a gathering of folks who contributed to the alt.smokers.cigars Usenet newsgroup. At the time, Diamond Crown was only available on the West Coast (Opus X was only available on the east coast), so it was a treat to get to smoke one. My wife and I smoked these large cigars, probably the 7½” x 54 No. 2 size, I don’t think it was the No. 1, but that was a long time ago and memory isn’t what it was. All of the cigars were 54 ring gauge, which was enormous at the time. I always remember this event when I  smoke a Diamond Crown. I admit that my preference is for the maduro or the Maximus nowadays, but the Diamond Crown remains a Connecticut Shade cigar that I can always smoke. I smoked the No. 7, a torpedo measuring 6¾” x 54 and found it to be medium bodied and delicious. It has a Connecticut grown shade wrapper, Dominican binder and five fillers from the Caribbean and Central America. It’s made at the Fuente factory in the Dominican Republic.It’s a flavorful cigar, with a nuttiness, and creamy coffee flavor. It’s certainly a great cigar, and will always be special to me. 

 

Thats all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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February 21, 2021 · 10:47 am

The Humidity Cigars Subscription Pack

I’ve been seeing a lot of talk about monthly subscription services, and they seem like a great idea for the right consumer. Heck, they might even be good for someone like me who gets preconceived notions about what I might like or not like based on the blend, appearance, or even the bands or packaging. I know, it’s wrong, but it’s a reality isn’t it? You do smoke with your eyes first, after all, it’s part of the overall experience. That being said, I’ve never committed to a monthly subscription service, I know there are good ones out there, but I’ve always had a large enough stockpile of cigars here in the past and always seemed to have a steady flow of new cigars to try. That is until recently. I don’t know that I want to commit monthly, but I don’t mind putting up a given dollar amount now and then and having someone send me some cigars of their choosing, this model would appealed to me. Anyway, the folks at Humidity Cigars contacted me and sent me one of their monthly kits, and I’ve subsequently placed an order for another one. The one they sent included the Finch and Jackdaw Robustos from Blackbird Cigars, a Medrano Toro Maduro and an Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente King B. It was a year ago this week that I posted about the Blackbird Cigars along with a video, which apparently you now have to go to YouTube to watch because YouTube won’t allow me to embed videos here anymore due to age restrictions. Nice. They also included one of their can cozies and masks, along with a nice pocket tasting notebook from tastejournal.co.uk. Now, I can’t guarantee that every months subscription comes with all the goodies, but the presentation was very nice. The cigars came in a sealed bag with Humi-smart packs in it and were in good condition as checked with my Humidimeter.

 

Of course, I smoked the Finch first, I’ve smoked this one before and enjoyed it, I like Sumatra a lot and this didn’t disappoint. It’s nice and sweet like I expect. Oddly, the Jackdaw Connecticut is one I hadn’t smoked, and still have one from the TPE show last year! This is a case like I mentioned above, Connecticuts are low on my “try” list. I like them enough, there’s just a select few I really like, and it’s not a genre that I get stoked about sampling. This one, however, it a very nice representation of the genre. It’s a flavorful Ecuador shade wrapped cigar. As with all of the Blackbird Cigars I’ve smoked, the construction is very good. In my area, this line is being distributed by Mark Weissenberger (formerly of Rocky Patel), who is also handling Danli Honduras Tobacco, who makes my favorites, the Don Juan Calaveras, Marchettis, and Clowns. I should be able to find them in my local shops.

 

I hadn’t heard of the Medrano cigar in the pack before. This was a dark Maduro with a foot band that had Five-Four on it. The website for the company gives little info apart from that it has a San Andrés wrapper, Honduran binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. It was a 6” x 54 (maybe that’s what the Five-Four means?) toro and was well made. It smoked well, had a nice flavor, very much what I expected a San Andrés wrapped cigar should taste like, and gave me a good smoking experience. Looking at the website, I’m not sure if they are a cigar company or an apparel company, as they have more clothes than cigars for sale, but perhaps they are just getting started. They need some background info about themselves on the site! Best of luck to them, they seem to be headed in the right direction.

 

The ringer in this pack was the Chateau Fuente King B. I don’t know if it’s my age, or the time I got started smoking cigars, or what, but for me, a Fuente with a Black or White band is always a special thing. When I want to smoke a great cigar, I reach for a Hemingway, Don Carlos, or Añejo, and I’m never disappointed. This King B seems to fit into that family somehow. It’s still in the Gran Reserva line, but has the black band. It’s a 6” x 55 Belicoso with a cedar sleeve, and has a Sungrown Ecuador wrapper. While this isn’t quite on the level of the aforementioned three cigars, it‘ s still quite a good cigar, and while I haven’t smoke a green banded Fuente in a while, my recollection is that it appeals to me more than most of those. It was a nice, coffee and woody flavored cigar. It’s one I wouldn’t mind having in my humidor.

 

Humidity Cigars seems to have a good model, two cigars for $20, four for $35, and they are in PA, not far from me, which is good for a small percentage of my readers :-). I appreciate their consideration, and I’ll let you know how the subsequent order ends up (I should have used and assumed name and address…but I’m not that sneaky…). Maybe I’ll get to Camphill one of these days and meet up with the owners (I have lots of maybes in a post-pandemic future).

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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February 14, 2021 · 10:59 am

Romeo y Julieta 1875 Nicaragua and a Partagas Serie D No. 6

Let’s talk a about a couple of completely different cigars! Yesterday I was out and about and I decided to stop in my local shop on the way by and see if they had anything new. There are shops in the same chain a few miles east and west that I would probably have had a better chance of finding newer stuff, but I had been running errands for a while and was tired of driving around. The only thing that struck me as new (judging by the self talker that said “new arrival”, which may or may not have actually been “new”), was the Romeo y Julieta 1875 Nicaragua. I picked up a few toros, what the hell. Historically, there have not been a lot of Romeos that have tripped my trigger in the 25 or so years I’ve been smoking cigars, at least not the ones made outside Cuba. I have to confess an affection for the RyJ Coronitas en Cedros as I bought a box to share at my daughter’s wedding that was spectacular, so that’s a sentimental favorite. It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, what’s more romantic than a cigar named after a couple who committed suicide together in the name of love? Anyway, the cigar is a 6” x 52 Nicaraguan puro made by Plasencia for Altadis, who is owned by someone now.

 

Quick aside: with all the discussion of General Cigar splitting off a bunch of their brands into the new Forged Cigar Company, has anyone considered that they could be positioning their portfolio of legacy Cuban brands for sale? It seems funny to me that they have placed all of the old Cuban brands under this umbrella, leaving the brands that have the brand ambassadors, like Macanudo, CAO and Cohiba (not a legacy Cuban brand, but a post-embargo brand), with General Cigar. It seems like a nice package deal to sell to, I don’t know, maybe whoever just bought the Altadis brands like RyJ, Upmann and Montecristo (along with the portion of Habanos). It would tie things up pretty nicely  from a trademark standpoint. Just a thought, probably doesn’t make sense, but what makes sense? Wait, Punch isn’t included in Forged, that throws a monkey wrench into my theory, and why does “Forged” have to be so similar to “Foundry”? Couldn’t they come up with something more original? There’s something funny about the Punch trademark that I can’t recall. It’s all very confusing.

 

Back to the 1875 Nicaragua, it’s a nice cigar. Oddly, still not my cuppa tea for some reason, but a perfectly good cigar. The construction was perfect, and it smoked for a good two hours plus. Why is it that the cigars you love don’t seem to smoke long enough and the one that you tolerate last forever? It was woody, with some subtle spices, but more on the leathery/earthy side than I prefer, which seems to be the trend with the RyJs to me. I think the Reserva Real Nicaragua was one I liked, which seems consistent because I recall liking the original Reserva Real. Different strokes, right?

 

Back in May of 2018 my wife and I took a trip to Rome, Italy to see the sights. Of course, I took some cigars with me, but I picked some up while I was there. Toscanos were very inexpensive there, and I bought some that I hadn’t seen here. I’m pretty sure I had Toscano Garibaldi’s before they were available in the US. I think a 5-pack of Toscanos was €7 or something. I probably still have some I haven’t opened. That was also at the time that you could still legally buy Cuban cigars abroad. I don’t desire a lot of Cubans, but I do like one now and then, so I picked up a five pack of Montecristo No.5 and a five pack of Partagas Serie D. No.6, both  small cigars. I hadn’t smoked any of them until last night when I was looking for a short smoke and came across the pack of D No. 6 and opened it up. This is 3½” x 50, a nice little smoke for under an hour. Of course, it’s a Cuban puro, and one never knows if you’re going to get the one that’s plugged or not. Cuban Roulette? This one wasn’t, and it was a good smoke, typical Cuban twang, and what I like in a Cuban Partagas, which is my favorite Cuban brand anyway. This was a pretty cool little smoke, I’m sorry I didn’t get more than one of the five packs.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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February 10, 2021 · 8:45 pm

Tatuaje The Michael Monster Series Cigar

Tonight I was on the Round Panel on the Kaplowitz Media network of podcasts again, which was a free-form discussion of sorts. Give it a listen, my sole contribution seemed to be neighborhood dogs (or wildlife of some sort) bleeding in. My dogs were quiet, I promise. I enjoy the panel, taking part in it is something I enjoy, I’ll try to contribute more. I have I guest spot coming up next week on the Smokin Tabacco podcast. Look for that on Wednesday, February 17. I enjoyed a fairly old La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros 750, which was outstanding. I have to see if there are any more of the three packs at one of the local shops. Anyway, last night I smoked another cigar that I bought from Scotty’s Cigars, a Tatuaje The Michael Monster Series. 

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Tatuaje The Michael was the 2017 release in the Monster Series, and is a 6½” x 52, most of the Monster cigars are Churchill or Double Coronas. I have only smoked a few of the series, The Krueger and the Wolfman, I think, and a few of the smaller varieties. I don’t chase stuff like this or collect, but I’ll pick them up here and there when the opportunity arises.  Such an opportunity arose, and I picked up the Michael on a whim. This has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and wrapper and is made at the My Father Factory in Esteli. This cigar was a bit of a surprise to me compared with other cigars in the Tatuaje range. It seemed more creamy and floral than I expected, with some spice, but not the heavy Nicaraguan spice I would expect. I enjoyed it completely, it was well balanced and sophisticated, definitely medium bodied and quite tasty. Certainly well worth smoking and I’m glad for the opportunity, although it’s not something I’d yearn to have a box of in my humidor, which is probably a good thing, given it’s scarcity. 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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