, and got one of the bigger parts of it tackled for the most part over the last couple days. That, along with a long awaited NHL game yesterday afternoon, I felt like a special treat, so I grabbed the new Undercrown Dojo Dogma sample that I recently received from Drew Estate and fired it up. You may recall from my post in June (here), this is the follow-up to the Undercrown Dogma, which was Smoke Inn‘s and Cigar Dojo‘s first collaboration, and was a 6″ x 56 box pressed version of the Undercrown Corona Viva blend, which was a punched up version of the Undercrown blend. It had a little extra ligero. Think of a world where Steve Saka never worked for Drew Estate, now imagine the Mi Querida is the Undercrown, and the Triqi Traca is the Corona Viva/Dogma blend, that’s the best comparison I can make. Steve would probably get mad at me for making that comparison, but he never reads this, so I’m pretty safe, unless one of you jerks outs me. Anyway, The Sungrown Dogma has one distinct disadvantage off the bat from the Maduro version, in my opinion, it’s an inch shorter at 5″ x 56. Otherwise, it’s a beautiful cigar. It’s nicely box pressed, it’s firm, it’s solid, it burns well, the ash is perfect, and the draw is perfect. I lit this up and got the sweetness I love from the Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, but there’s the little extra oomph that’s not there in the regular line! There are the familiar spices and sweet bready flavors that I like in this line with a little bit extra! By the way, I did smoke a Gran Toro later to satisfy my curiosity, and, yes, the Dogma does have some more punch than the Gran toro! Maybe five inches IS the right size for this blend! When I got to the end, about half way through the first period of the exhibition game between the Flyers and the Penguins, it had picked up in the strength department. In comparison, later that night, I didn’t feel like the Gran Toro was as strong as it neared the end, and I typically smoke cigars until either my fingers burn or I get bored with them, these bothe burned my fingers. By the way, interestingly, this cigar has the T52 wrapper as the binder (obviously not wrapper quality leaves). Shoot, that was my last Gran Toro, I need to get some more. Great job with these Mr. Herrera.
So, a couple notes. I still need to smoke the new version of the Maduro Dogma, I have one from the original release in my humidor. I know they have a corona (actually a corona gorda technically) in the Sungrown line, but will they make a Corona
Viva with the punched up blend? Will they “Dogmafy” the Undercrown Shade, or will that just be whoring out the name or jumping the shark? Things that pop into my head. Anyway, the Undercrown Sungrown Dojo Dogma is awesome, if you like the Sungrown, or like Sumatra, you’ll dig it.
Finally, next Monday is Goose’s Philly Golf outing, I’ll be there cheerleading, or something, so if you are in the area and golf, hit Goose up and come along, it’ll be a great day! You can download the registration form here.
First off, let me get this little rant out of the way. One of the first things I saw when I got up this morning was a discussion about removing bands from cigars. In a nutshell, it seemed like there was a thought that there could be one single surefire solution to band removal. Here was my response: “There
’s absolutely no set rule on how a band will come off (I’ve figured out RoMa), after thousands of cigars of as many brands, just about as many just slide off as come off cleanly. Some paper absorbs the glue and some doesn’t. Some factories use more glue than others. Uncello’d cigars shouldn’t have the bands glued to the wrapper at all and would be easier. Shade wrappers would be easier to slide off than broadleaf or San Andrés because they are smoother, but would damage easier because they are thinner. 9 times out of 10 your best bet is to wait until you are about to burn the band and carefully slide it over the business end of the cigar, taking care not to burn your fingers or the ring. This is the only way to successfully remove the RoMa bands, by the way!
” Now, the only reason I referenced the RoMa bands was because someone else brought it up. It irks me that people put forth the notion that there is, or could possible be, a way to remove a band every time without either damaging the band or the wrapper or both. Some bands come off nicely, some are a trainwreck. As always on forums when I see misinformation, I try to correct and inform in a polite and respectful manner, and I hope to educate, although I often wonder if I’m wasting my time!
I’d like to welcome a new advertising partner, Cigar Thief. You’ll notice their ad on the right side of the website. They have a nice selection of cigars, and I never work with companies I don’t personally do business with, so before taking them on I placed an order for a sampler from their site. I received communication from them promptly that they were out of stock of the item I wanted, with options, which included canceling with a full refund which included the offer to send free cigars! I looked around and chose a less expensive sampler and told them if they wanted to substitute that and credit me the difference it would be fine, freebies weren’t necessary. A few days later the package arrived, well packed and as I expected, only with a 5 cigar Diesel Torpedo Sampler as the “for my trouble” cigars. Totally above and beyond and not needed. The sampler was the classic CAO sampler, the same sampler my wife had gotten me about 10 years ago, the one with the CAO classic in natural and Maduro, an MX2, a Brazilia and an Italia (times two). Excellent service, check them out. I hadn’t smoked a CAO Italia in many years, honestly, it’
I always wanted to like, but never really did. The Ciao vitola is 5″ x 56, and smoked very well, and I quite enjoyed this one. It has some Habano tobacco grown in Italy, along with some Peruvian tobacco, so it has a unique flavor, so it’s not at all like the Toscanos that use Kentucky tobacco (I know, right?). Different, not as bad as I remembered, I think I like these now!
The Diesel Torpedo sampler was a little frustrating to me, as four of the five cigars are not clearly labeled as to what they are. I suppose the Diesel experts out there will scoff at me for no knowing the color scheme delineating the various series. I figured I’d start with a benchmark, the Unholy Cocktail, of which there is a box in the humidor (from 2011). Clearly the color palate of those bands has changed over the years, because there wasn’t a clear match. The Diesel Uncut had a band on that that said Uncut, so I smoked that one first! I’ll work the rest out later. This is a nice cigar, a natural shade PA Broadleaf wrapper with a good amount of strength and spice. This had a good dose of espresso and cocoa too, I liked it. I think it had a good dose of nicotine, judging by the poor quality of my sleep that night. I still like it quite a bit.
I sorted through the rest of the Diesels, colors on screens never match actual colors on things in your hand, and it isn’t helpful that the folks at Diesel like that PA Broadleaf Maduro wrapper so much. I figured out that the beige band must be the Unlimited Maduro, which made it easy to match up the rest based on the band colors and wrapper colors. So I smoked the Unlimited Maduro. This one has a PA Broadleaf Maduro wrapper with a Mexican binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. It was rich, earthy, spicy, but not as strong as I figured it would be. Actually, it was downright smooth. Like the Uncut, it burned well, it’s made by AJ Fernandez, so that’s not a surprise, and it’s the 5″ x 56 “Unholy Cocktail” vitola. I’d be interested to see how this compares to the original Unholy Cocktail, but I think I’ll be more interested to see how the current Unholy Cocktail compares to a 2011 Unholy Cocktail, which I might do this week.
I just realized that the last four cigars I smoked were al 5″ x 56, that’s kinda weird. Last night I followed the Unlimited Maduro with a CAO Brazilia GOL. This is a pretty old school CAO, it came out in 2001, so it’ll celebrate it’s 20th anniversary next year. Let’s just get this in the post for the sake of search engine crawling: “CAO Brazilia 20th Anniversary”. There, I said it here first! Ha! Anyway, The Brazilia is a bit of a classic, Brazilian Maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan filler and binder, it’s been a good, consistent smoked for a long time, and I think we all can agree that it’s managed to survive the transition from Ozgener CAO to General Cigars CAO without any issues. It seems like the same darned cigar that it used to be to me, rich and spicy and pretty darned tasty. They even manage to hold the price down pretty reasonably. It’s hard to go wrong and I imagine this is still one of the workhorses of the CAO line.
That’s about all I have for today, until the next time,
Villiger Cigars has a couple of firsts with this cigar. It’s their first TAA cigar, exclusive to participating Tobacconists’ Association of America stores. Looking at the listing on the website, I’m not entirely sure they have the name right, they have it listed as “Villiger 1888 Edicion Regional USA”, where the band just says TAA Exclusiv
e 2020. Considering this second point, it doesn’t have any relationship with the Villiger 1888, except that it’s made in the Dominican Republic. The second first for Villiger is that this is the first time they’ve worked with Ernesto Perez Carrillo Jr. to produce a cigar. It’s a box pressed toro, 6” x 54, with an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers.
When I lit this cigar up, before I looked at the blend and where it was made, I was 99% certain it was a Sumatra wrapper. It had that nice, sweet hard candy flavor I love. I wasn’t surprised when I read who made it either. Ernesto is a huge Sumatra fan, and he used a wonderful tasting Sumatra leaf on this cigar. I absolutely was enamored with the flavor of this cigar! It was a fantastic smoking experience. Like I said, it had that great Sumatra sweet flavor that I love, and it was medium bodied and not overpowering, very well balanced. Of course, as I got to the band it lost some of the sweetness and became slightly stronger, but don’t they all? Later I smoked the Villiger Cuellar Black Forrest toro (yummy), which, u
p until smoking the TAA, was my favorite Villiger to date. I suppose the limited nature of the TAA will force me to rein in my desire to stock up on these, my local Cigar Cigars stores are TAA members, and one can hope that they have these in stock (if I ever get out to visit one of them again!). By the way, if anyone from Cigar Cigars reads this, let the folks who run the TAA website know that they have the wrong website address listed for you!
Another week has passed with some progress made around the house, some applications submitted, and several cigars smoked. I came across a couple Avo Classics while scavenging around the humidors, and it occurred to me that I had never actually smoked and Avo Classic. Sure, I’ve smoked the newer Avos, the Ritmo, Syncro, the odd XO here and there, but never smoked the Classic. Well, it was about time I remedied this situation, I suppose, and I had two Classic No. 2s sitting right here, and the’ve been here for quite a few years! I’m not even sure where they came from! This is a 6″ x 50 toro with a sun-grown Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and DOminican binder and fillers. I’m not sure what I was expecting, perhaps I was expecting a mild, Connecticut shade style cigar, but I was surprised to find that it was a very rich tasting, sweet tobacco flavorful cigar. Naturally, the construction was perfect, it’s a Davidoff product, after all, and solidly medium bodied. This was a great cigar that I regret missing out on all these years. It was loaded with sweet, creamy flavor and quite enjoyable!
Regius Cigars is a brand that’s been around for a decade, but doesn’t have a huge footprint in the US. They are carried by a lot of the bigger retailers, and they are made by Placencia, so they aren’t small potatoes by any stretch. I was introduced to Akhil Kapacee. the principle of the company, several years ago at the IPCPR show by Mitchell Orchant, who, as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve known for over 20 years. Mitchell owns C.Gars Ltd in the UK, one of the more prominent retailers of Havana cigars on the planet. Last January at the TPE show I ran into my old friend Ann, who is with Sutliff Distribution Group (who was with Villiger for a long time), who, in addition to distributing Platinum Nova Cigars and introducing me to them, mentioned that they were also distributing Regius. So I went to their booth to say hello to Akhil, and he gave me a Regius Orchant Seleccion robusto, since Mitchell never gave me one ;-). (Note: There’s a Drew Estate Seleccion Orchant that I’d love to sample, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more). Regius cigars I’ve sampled in the past have been exceptional, and this one was no different. I found it to be extremely smooth, with a very clean finish, I’d almost say refreshing. It had a nice sweetness, that is a quality I like, and burned perfectly. As a company with UK roots, and a cigar that made for a UK retailer, I can see how this would appeal to a palate that’s used to Havana cigars, although I think it has more complexity, at least to my palate that’s used to a more diverse flavor wheel. It was very good, highly recommended.
Finally, as I’m typing this, I’m having a cup of black coffee and enjoying a Perdomo Habano Bourbon Barrel-Aged Connecticut Robusto. It’s infrequent that I light up a cigar at 7:30, however for some reason I was up super early and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got an early start and decided to sit on the porch and write. As long as I’m on the porch, I might as well have a cigar. The selection process for me wasn’t easy. Sometimes I choose a coffee infused cigar, last week it was a Macanudo M. I had a Tabac Especialle in my hand, then I figured I’d look for a milder Connecticut robusto just to thin the herd of cigars that seem to get passed over more often. I might have had other cigars that would be milder, but this Perdomo stood out to me. You have to admit the bands on these are pretty eye-catching. The wrapper is a 6 year old Bourbon Barrel-Aged Ecuador Connecticut and the Binder and fillers are Nicaraguan. I’m three for three here on good smokes, although I generally don’t write about the sub-par cigars I smoke, and I try not to smoke that many sub-par smokes to begin with! To be honest, some of my choices that I decided against were the Don Juan Calavera Connecticut and the La Sirena LT, both Honduran, both excellent Connecticut cigars that I love, but I passed on them because I only have them in Toro sizes and I wanted a robusto. Considering this Robusto is 5″ x 54, it might have been a wash, but I always consider length to be more of a determining factor when it comes to time than girth anyway. This cigar is not without body, it’s no mild cigar. It has plenty of flavor, rich, creamy, nutty flavors with a little bit of spice. Nice smoke. I still favor the maduros in the Perdomo line, but this is probably my favorite Connecticut in their range. Not bad at all.
For my local golfing friends, come out to Goose’s Golf Even for a great day of eating, smoking, golfing and all that goes with it. I’ve been to many of Goose’s events and they are always top notch. You can’t beat the food, cigars and golf offered with this deal! You can download the registration form here. I plan to be there to offer encouragement and smoke along with the golfers!
My friends over at Groovy Guy Gifts have, once again, increased their selection of cigar related offerings. I always applaud mainstream companies that include cigar items in their product mix. Tommy Bahama does it, and Groovy Guy Gifts does it too. I have a few items from them that they’ve personalized, which they do very well. They are great for getting gifts, for guys…I guess that’s obvious. One of the new items they offer is the Stinky Car Ashtray. Unfortunately, this can’t be personalized, but it ships quick, tracking is provided and it’s a solid ashcan for the car. It has a solid hinge, and the spring clips to hold your cigar are gentle enough not to damage a reasonable sized vitola. This is only going to be useful in a cup holder though, as the lid throws the balance off (the Xikar Ashcan has the advantage here, it can be used as a stand-alone unit). This will be a welcome addition to the car, as it fits in the cup holder better than the Xikar, it’s one piece, where the Xikar is two, and the rest/holder is more secure. I’ve always had great interactions with the folks at Groovy Guy Gifts, if you have an event or occasion where you need a little something personalized for some guys, this is the place to get it done.
Here’s a news item for my readers in the south Florida area mostly, or those traveling there. It’s an odd time for this, in my thinking. I suppose if you planned this for a long time and kept to your timeline, this is the way it works out. I wish everyone involved the best with this!
EMPIRE SOCIAL LOUNGE LOCATED IN SOUTH MIAMI (DOWNTOWN DADELAND) NOW OPEN
The much-anticipated Empire Social Lounge is the newest project by the proprietors of Casa De Montecristo by Prime Cigar & Whiskey Bar
South Miami welcomes Empire Social Lounge, the second Miami location by the founders of the Prime Cigar brand. Located in Downtown Dadeland at 8955 Dadeland Blvd #D-170, Miami, Florida 33156, Empire Social is bringing a dose of “Sophisticated Relaxation” to South Miami. Proprietors Jason Reznik, Ryan Leeds and Peter Berntsen will proudly unveil Empire Social (which is the evolution of the Prime Cigar brand). Hour of operation Sunday – Saturday, 12:00 Noon until close.
“Sophisticated Relaxation” is a motto created by Empire Social/Prime Cigars founders, Jason Reznik and Ryan Leeds.It was embraced by patrons of their first venture which was Prime Cigar Boca Raton, considered THE cigar & whiskey lounge in all of Florida. The popularity of Prime Cigar Boca Raton carried over to their second venture, the widely acclaimed Casa de Montecristo by Prime Cigar & Whiskey Bar in Brickell-Miami. The success of these two locations created a demand in the Magic City which will spawn the much-anticipated Empire Social Lounge.
The Empire Social brand is a sophisticated lounge, which features a walk-in humidor, full bar stocked with rare and hard to find whiskeys, member’s lounge, and patio. Custom furniture and design elements (which exude simple elegance) will please the cigar aficionados, or those looking for a unique experience, a rare whiskey, craft cocktails, or a nightcap. Empire Social is perfect anchor location for one of Miami’s most dynamic neighborhoods, Downtown Dadeland.
The owners and management are well known for being customer-centric which led to the commission of a state-of-the-art air control system for Empire Social Lounge. This innovative A/C replaces 100 percent of the air constantly to provide an environment which will curb smoke and create a comfortable environment for patrons.
The Prime Cigar/Empire Social brand was born out of the life experiences between father and son. Ryan Leeds and his father shared a close relationship, as they bonded over the love of premium cigars, fine spirits, traveling, and all things luxury. Ryan was inspired to bring together best elements of his travels under one roof. Today, guests come from all over the world to experience “Sophisticated Relaxation.”
About Empire Social Lounge
Empire Social is the evolution of the Prime Cigar brand, founded in 2010, which ushered in a new way to engage those who enjoy sophisticated experiences. Empire Social Lounge will feature premium cigars, top-shelf spirits, and fine wines while boasting a state-of-the-art air control system, ensuring a comfortable smoke-friendly environment. Empire Social Lounge will open its doors respecting all CDC guidelines including social distancing.
We’ve been freshening up the back porch, the place I spend most of my time. Repainiting and replacing the screens, mostly, and replacing some wood here and there. I’d say it’s about 40% done. I’m trying to figure out the best way to put windows on the north-east facing side that gets the most rain comin
g in, solid plexiglass sheets? Old-style jalousie type louvers? As you can imagine, now is not the time to be trying to buy sheets of plexiglass! Anyway, between coats of paint yesterday I smoked a Platinum Nova Perfecto that I brought home from the TPE show. I generally wouldn’t sit down, all sweaty, paint on my hands, needing a shower, and smoke a $25 cigar, but this one had been at the top of the humidor, and I’m pretty low on cigars I haven’t smoked before. So I figured, screw it, it’s a perfect size for between coats, I’ll smoke it anyway. This is a beautiful 4½” x 56 perfecto, with a Nicaragua Rojiza 2000 wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican 98 (Criollo? not telling what varietal of Dominican!) filler. Rojiza means Reddish or ruddy, and the wrapper is that, it’s on the rosado side. The cigar was a brilliant cigar in every way, maybe one of the best Nova cigars I’ve smoked. It had a sweet, floral flavor, very interesting and pleasing. It was on the milder side of medium, but it had a lot of flavor, if that makes sense, and the flavor was entertaining. I really enjoyed this little cigars, although I don’t know how I feel about the cost. Personally, I wouldn’t be able to pry my wallet open that far for a short cigar like this, but it was a great smoke, there’s no denying the quality. I’m humbled to have had the opportunity to smoke this, it was delicious! I smoked a spectacular Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust Todos Las Dias Thick Lonsdale last night too, my favorite size in that line, for sure.
That’s all for today, I think. I need to go to Home Depot and buy some trim for the outside of the screens and put it on, and stop for a birthday cake for my wife. We usually go out for dinner to celebrate, but I don’t see that happening, so maybe I’ll order out tonight. Weird times we live in. It would be so much easier if I could just give her a nice cigar! Anyway, that’s all for today, until the next time,
We have been working on freshening up the screen porch over the last several weeks 
draw is perfect. I lit this up and got the sweetness I love from the Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, but there’s the little extra oomph that’s not there in the regular line! There are the familiar spices and sweet bready flavors that I like in this line with a little bit extra! By the way, I did smoke a Gran Toro later to satisfy my curiosity, and, yes, the Dogma does have some more punch than the Gran toro! Maybe five inches IS the right size for this blend! When I got to the end, about half way through the first period of the exhibition game between the Flyers and the Penguins, it had picked up in the strength department. In comparison, later that night, I didn’t feel like the Gran Toro was as strong as it neared the end, and I typically smoke cigars until either my fingers burn or I get bored with them, these bothe burned my fingers. By the way, interestingly, this cigar has the T52 wrapper as the binder (obviously not wrapper quality leaves). Shoot, that was my last Gran Toro, I need to get some more. Great job with these Mr. Herrera. 
Finally, next Monday is Goose’s Philly Golf outing, I’ll be there cheerleading, or something, so if you are in the area and golf, hit Goose up and come along, it’ll be a great day! You can download the registration form here. 
