Category Archives: Stores

by CigarCraig | July 12, 2015 · 8:33 am

A Visit to SMoKE Manayunk and Various Lanceros and another Fratello Cigar

Last Sunday my wife and I went into Philly for Afternoon Tea at a downtown hotel. While not a particularly manly pursuit, it was very nice, with good little sandwiches, scones and pastries to nibble on and a nice tea selection. Afterwards we stopped at SMoKE Manayunk, one of the newer lounges in the area which I’ve been hearing a lot about. It’s the place everyone goes after the other cigar stores close since they are open late. The building is located right next to the fire station, which is always a good idea, and has a rustic, industrial decor. The ceiling is open to the rafters with the galvanized spiral pipe ventilation system. There’s seating in the front of the store, a large bar (it’s BYO, but they have soft drinks) and the walk in humidor in the middle, and more lounge area in the back. It’s a spacious place, and we found it very comfortable. Kosta is the owner, and is a very gracious host, who is a lancero fan, and has a nice selection. Of course, I had to pick up a couple of his store exclusive cigars, the Zeus, named after the mascot of the place, a large, simian/yeti sort of painting in the front of the space. Of course, I got the lancero, and was impressed with the way it smoked, and I would go so far as to say that if you find yourself in the Philadelphia area, put SMoKE on your list of destinations and try this cigar. It was my favorite kind of cigar, dark flavors, rich espresso and cocao, and it burned smooth and perfectly. The cigar is 7″ x 38 with a nice pigtail cap, and I seem to remember Kosta saying it was made at

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Placencia, but he mentioned a Perdomo tour in the same conversation. I’m afraid I didn’t take very good notes on the blend either, I’ll try to update when I get the details, unless they show up in the comments. It was the outcome of a blending seminar on a factory tour. Great smoke!

Besides lanceros, I managed to fit another Fratello Bianco in early in the week, this time the 5″ x 56 Bianco III. I can’t wait to have easy access to this cigar, it’s got a little of everything I like in a cigar, the San Andrés maduro wrapper and fillers from Peru and Pennsylvania. Still an early favorite for one of my favorite new cigars this year. Omar is one of many people I’m really looking forward to seeing at the IPCPR show next week, he’s got a personality that goes along with his physical stature. For what it’s worth, I would smoke the crap out of the Bianco blend in the lancero format…just a little food for thought for Omar!

Back to the lanceros! I had enjoyed the Fratello Lancero that is one of Stogies World Class Cigars H-Town series, and decided to explore some other or the lanceros in the line. I love the Alec Bradley Nica Puro line in general, so I was excited about the lancero. Obviously, it’s a Nicaraguan puro, and the sweet and savory flavors I get have always satisfied my palate. It’s one of those go-to cigars you always keep around and default to when you can’t decide what to smoke. You can always count on them to deliver good flavor and a great over-all experience. The H-Town is no different, although the flavor is a little more sharply focused due to the small ring gauge. Smooth, full of flavor, and certainly a compliment to the already great line. I’ve been wanting to try the Diamond Rough-Cut in this line, but haven’t picked any up, is it much different from the regular lin

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e? I’ll have to keep an eye out for one. The H-Town lancero is recommended if you enjoy this line.

Thursday I went with another from the H-Town series, the Quesada España Lancero. This is the first I’ve smoked of the España line, and it was a very tasty smoke. It used to be that lanceros were prone to having a plugged draw, or other construction problems, but I can’t recall when I’ve had a poorly made lancero in the past few years. It takes a pretty specific hand shape to bunch these, long, thin fingers seem to be key. Anyway, this España was pretty terrific, loads of tasty smoke and perfect performance, I smoked this to a very small nub. It may be the only member of the H-town family with three bands. So far the H-Town series of lanceros are all winners for me. I smoked the Room 101 Namakubi Ecuador in the lancero format a few weeks ago and it was equally as enjoyable as it’s larger brethren, but with the little extra punch from the smaller ring. I’ll have to get to Houston one of these days to visit the store, it seems like quite the place!

Friday I sat down with a Rocky Patel Super Ligero in the Lancero size. I had picked this up when I visited SMoKE as I had been eager to try the lancero size in this blend. I’ve been enjoying the toro shape, and really like the lancero. Once again, it’s got a little more punch in the flavor department, sharper, more direct. As with the others I smoked this week, the burn and draw were spot on, and I nubbed the sucker. Great dark roast coffee flavors which are right in my wheelhouse. SO far I’ve smoked this blend in both the Toro and Lancero formats and really enjoyed the experience. I’ll pick up a some more in the Robusto and Sixty sizes when I see them. This isn’t a ridiculously strong cigar, the “Super” in Super Ligero is actually the name of the leaf, not a characterization of the power or even the priming, as I understand it. It’s generally a bit odd to have Ligero in a lancero as it doesn’t burn great and lanceros need to burn right. There’s a lot of Rocky Patel cigars (I could end the sentence right here) that I can take or leave, but this one is a winner for me.

Yesterday we rented a truck one last time and finished moving all the big stuff out of my wife’s parents house and into our garage. I was exhausted last night, so after a shower I sat down with a nice Inca Imperio and caught up on some podcast listening. Great smoke to unwind after a long day of sweating and swearing (I don’t think I swore as much as other times…). Now to start preparing for our trip to New Orleans this week for the IPCPR show, I’ve made some appointments, I have a list of folks I want to see and have been plotting my course on the floor plan. I’m sure once I get on the floor that will go out the window due to the overwhelming nature of the event! So, the next time you hear from me should be from the show, whether it’s short video updates or something else, we’ll see what happens. Have a great week, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Review, Stores

Tagged as Alec Bradley, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Fratello, lancero, Quesada, rocky patel, SMoKE Manayunk

by CigarCraig | June 28, 2015 · 9:03 am

Cigar Brothers, Wooden Indian, Cigar Mojo and the Fratello Bianco Toro

I had a pretty busy week this week, visiting cigar store and hanging out with some great folks, smoking great cigars! I was actually planning to stop in to Smoke Cigar Lounge in Manyunk, PA, just outside Philadelphia, but traffic was backed up, and it sounded like they were having a street festival on the main street there, so we gave up on that idea and stopped at a new shop only a few miles from home called Cigar Brothers in Berwyn, PA. This shop is an old house, and the downstairs part is the store, all humidified with the cigars out on shelves. The selection was very good,lots of boutiques as well as old standards.

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I grabbed a few CAO Flathead Sparkplugs and some Rocky Patel Super Ligeros and chatted with the properly named co-owner, Craig. The lounge is upstairs, basically two rooms and a hall with a bathroom. It’s not a great space for an event, as there’s no one large gathering area, but it’s nice for just hanging out with a few people. It’s bright and comfortable and well ventilated. I smoked the CAO Sparkplug there, as we had spent the afternoon in traffic and Craig was closing in an hour. I love the Flathead line, and really like this little cigar. It’s rich, full-bodied and burns right. We had a great afternoon talking to Craig and hanging out in this

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new shop that I think will do well.

This weekend was Famous Smoke Shop’s Cigarnival event, which I’ve attended in the past, so there have been a bunch of “cigarlebrities” in the general vicinity. Wednesday my oldest son and I went down to the Wooden Indian in Havertown, PA where they were having a Drew Estate event with Chris Stone and Pedro Gomez. Pedro runs the Cigar Safari and tours the US doing events in the off-season. My son hadn’t seen him since we were in Nicaragua in 2011, so it was a nice reunion and it was nice to go out and have a cigar with the kid for a change. I went with another favorite, the Nica Rustica. It looks like it’s a Maduro week! Great cigar, great friends, and a great shop. I even won an Acid Fat Tips t-shirt, who remembers those? I never smoked one, but it was supposed to be a mass market Acid with a plastic tip, but it never really caught on. Anyway, if you haven’t met Pedro, don’t miss the chance, and if you ha

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ve, well, you know why I’m recommending you meet him! I didn’t take one darned picture the whole evening dammit.

Thursday found me at Cigar Mojo for a packed house. Earlier in the day they had visits from Nick Perdomo and Jesus Fuego, but the evening event featured Aging Room Cigars and Rafael Nodal, along with his sons Carlos and Rafael Jr. I continued the maduro theme with an Aging Room Maduro that was the free cigar with purchase, Rafael said the bundle came from his personal humidor and they were from the initial release. Once again, this was a nice smoke, very rich with a nice sweet mocha vibe, fortunately I picked up a few more, as well as some Havao. I generally run into someone I know there and caught up with some old acquaintances from another shop I’ve been to. I had a nice time conversing with Rafael and his sons, Rafael is one of the nicest guys around.

Friday evening I was back in my routine of taking Macha for a walk and enjoying a cigar, and I selected a Fratello Bianco II Toro to celebrate the end of another week. Omar made this cigar with me specifically in mind! (I have an e-mail from him saying that, but I don’t really buy it…). The San Andreas wrapper is a beautiful dark brown with a sheen of oil, it’s dark, even though the cigar is named “White”. It has a Dominican binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Peru and Pennsylvania, my home state (maybe Omar wasn’t blowing smoke up my skirt after all! **now there’s a mental image for you!**). If I knew nothing more than the composition of this cigar I’d figure it was a really good chance I’d love it, but I also know where it’s made and the guy behind it, there would have to be something monumentally wrong for me not to like this cigar. As it turns out, all my preconceptions did not lead to disappointment. The Fratello Bianco is a brilliant cigar. It has the similarity to strong, bitter black coffee that I like, as well as a solid core of savory flavor and perhaps a hint of

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sweetness. This is an after dinner espresso (double, it was a 6″x 50 toro after all). I dig it, I can’t wait to smoke the 5″ x 56 III and the corona that Omar so generously sent to me, and buy some of these when they hit the stores. I may even put the mooch on Omar at the trade show in a few weeks (naw, I’ll leave the samples for the retailers…). This is a winner, hands down. Molto buon sigaro!

So ends another week. It did nothing but rain yesterday, so I got nothing done save for smoking a nice Inca Secret Blend Imperio after dinner on the back porch, breaking my maduro binge. If you happen to find yourself in Easton, PA today (Sunday June 28), Rafael Nodal is going to be playing piano at Leaf, the great restaurant at Famous Smokeshop. Going to events at shops is a great way to increase your appreciation for cigars, as well as add some new stock to your humidors. Support your local retailers, and Cigar Rights of America while you’re at it!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as Aging Room, cigar, Cigar Brothers, Cigar Mojo, Cigar Safari, cigar store, Cigarnival, cigars, drew estate, Fratello, Nica Rustica, wooden indian

by CigarCraig | May 24, 2015 · 8:53 am

Montecristo, Romeo and H. Upmann, and Goose’s Cigars Anniversary

It’s been a nutty week. I planned on posting something mid-week, but time got away from me. Then, yesterday we went to our local SPCA to donate some old towels and stuff, and ended up adopting another dog. I’m already doubting the wisdom of this, but apart from having to break up a bit of an incident last night, I’m sure it will work out OK. Cherry is a very sweet brindle pitty, and we have a lot to work on. Most of the time, Macha seems to like having a playmate, but they need some apart time now and then. It’s part of the experience I guess. Our SPCA is not a no kill shelter, so seeing this sweet, beautiful dog had been the longest resident got to me and made me do irrational things. No excuses for not taking evening walks now!

Wednesday evening we went to Goose’s Cigars in Limerick, PA to help them celebrate their 5th anniversary. It had been a while since I visited Goose’s, and I was surprised to see the humidor vastly expanded. It used to be a rather small, U shaped arrangement with a door on either end, with the area outside of that having tables and displays of gift sets, specials and samplers. They’ve walled off the whole area and taken the glass out of the old humidor making a huge walk-in humidor that has all of their stock. It was a great improvement. They also have a large Vape and Hookah selection, as well as RYO tobacco at the far end of the store, making it a full service tobacco store. The Montecristo Lounge was the focal point of the anniversary celebration, with the local Altadis rep, Tom there, as well as his boss, Paul. I chose the occasion to purchase some cigars from the Altadis line that I hadn’t smoked yet, and lit up the Montecristo Espada Guard, a 6″ x 50 toro. This is a unique Montecristo as it’s made in Nicaragua by the Placencias from Nicaraguan tobacco, all from 2008, 2009 and 2010, from Jalapa, Ometepe and Condega (it’s a bit confusing, they list a “Habano Jalapa Viso Ometepe Vintage 2008” in the filler on the website, perhaps someone from Groupo de Maestros can clarify that!). I don’t smoke a great many Montecristos, for no other reason than I just am busy smoking so many other great cigars that I forget to get back to the traditional brands. This Espada was really nice, and a special smoke. It was sweet with a bit of spice and quite a good cigar, and, you know me, it should be for the price. I splurged because it was a special occasion, and have no regrets. Happy Anniversary to John, Joanne and the gang at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge, nice to see things constantly improving!

One of the cigars I picked up at Goose’s was the H. Upmann The Banker Annuity, a 6″ x 52 Toro with a very annoying, yet visually attractive paper sleeve. I say it’s annoying because as I was removing the cigar from the cello the paper sleeve and bands stayed with the cello and tore the wrapper near the head. Way too many bands and wrappings for my tastes. The cigar had a very loose, open draw, and burned quicker than i’d like. However, the flavor was very nice, a bit of coffee and old baseball glove. I’m glad I got two of them so I can see if I have the same experience. The website says that the blend is a recreation of the Upmann brothers blend from 1844, which seems like some marketing nonsense to me, but, once again, I invite the Groupo de Maestros to weigh in! A quick website complaint, since I’ve referenced two Altadis brand websites already, is that they don’t have the sizes listed anywhere. I had to use retailers websites to confirm sizes and names, mostly because I was too lazy to make note of them at the time I smoked the cigars. I think a brand’s website should be a one stop shop for all the information about the cigar, blend, sizes, whatever. Things like this get under my skin!

John Giese gifted everyone at the anniversary event one of the Montecristo Casa de Montecristo cigars that only are sold at Montecristo lounges. I’ve had the pleasure of smoking this cigar on one occasion before, and really enjoyed it. It’s not a small cigar, it’s a 6″ x 60, which came out in June of 2014. It’s got a nice, Ecuador Sumatra wrapper and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers and burned really well and was quite tasty. It’s rich and smooth, and not anywhere near as mild as the typical Montecristo. Quite good, and worth a try if you happen to find yourselves in a Montecristo lounge. I’m fortunate to have two within a short drive. Both this cigar, and the following cigar have black and silver bands that are very difficult for an amateur like myself to photograph.

I took both dogs for separate walks yesterday, and on the latter walk I smoked the RoMEo Añejo robusto, which I had purchased a few weeks ago at another local shop. This is billed as an aged version of the RoMEo, with a 2010 Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. This has been sitting on the top shelf of the cabinet for a few weeks, where the humidity is slightly lower, but it still burned like it was a bit damp, needing to be re-lit a couple times. It was very flavorful, and I dig the broadleaf, so I imagine one of these that behaved itself would be pretty darned good. I’ll have to pick a few more up to see, and I don’t think they were priced unreasonably. Good smoke, when it was working right, and lots of potential.

I’m going to wrap this up as we have a day full of dog acclimation. They have taken to rough housing, and we need to break that up quick. I also have some yard work I want to get to, and I’d like to get my annual walk at Valley Forge Park in this Memorial Day weekend, which I find to be inspiring. Of course, I smoked a bunch of other great cigars this week, the Sindicato Maduro Churchill I smoked on one of yesterday’s many walks was quite good, as well as a great Foundry Worm Hole Hell-E-IN and an Alec Bradley Maxx Connecticut. It’s the start of my favorite time of year, and while I’ll miss having a pool this summer, it’s going to be a good year with lots of great cigars!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as Alec Bradley, altadis, cigar, cigars, Foundry, H.Upmann, Montecristo, Montecristo Lounge, Romeo, romeo y julieta, Sindicato, SPCA

by CigarCraig | April 29, 2015 · 7:38 pm

In the Cigar Mojo Humidor with Fred Rewey of Nomad Cigars and a Contest Winner!

Sunday we spent the afternoon at Cigar Mojo In King of Prussia, PA with Fred Rewey of Nomad Cigar Co. and Alex Mayer, our local House of Emilio rep hanging out, shooting the bull and smoking cigars. I was lucky enough to smoke Fred’s newest offering, the Nomad Lot 8613 in a robusto size, thanks to Alex. I would have bought some of these, but they weren’t in the shop yet, so I bought some S-307s, one of which I enjoyed this evening. The Lot 8613, as Fred explains in the video below, is the sustainable version of his limited edition Lot 1386 (I have one of those in one of the humidors someplace), and was a very good smoke. It was just right for the early afternoon, after breakfast, but before lunch time that we were there. It’s always fun visiting with Fred, he told us about the “Hacking the Blend” seminars he’s doing breaking down a cigar with puros of each component. While I

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haven’t caught Fred’s rendition of this sort of event, I have done it before and it’s a great way to appreciate how a cigar is put together by tasting each individual leaf that goes into a blend. It’s no easy task finding tobaccos that work well together, that’s for sure. Anyway, check out the Nomad line when you get a chance, there’s something in the line for everyone.

Here’s my latest installment of “In the Cigar Mojo Humidor” for your entertainment.

Contest!

Last week I posted a giveaway for a nice prize pack of cigars courtesy of La Sirena Cigars. Arielle and her team have been great friends of the site, and many thanks to them for providing this weeks gifts! Some lucky reader will receive a sampler of delicious La Sirena, Oceano, Merlion Jaxx and Stixx cigars, a cutter and matches, everything you need to smoke these beauties! The winner, as chosen by

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the random number generator at Random.org is lonniemarci1991! I’ll chase you down if I don’t hear from you in a couple days with your mailing address. Thanks again to La Sirena Cigars, and to everyone for playing along!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, Cigar Mojo, cigars, House of Emilio, La Sirena, Nomad

by CigarCraig | December 28, 2014 · 6:18 pm

To’Makao Fine Cigars and Goose’s Tobacco Outlet and Cafe

It’s been a while since my last normal post. The two weeks of contests was great, I hope everyone enjoyed winning and having the chance to win a lot of great cigars. Thanks again to all the sponsors! One of the great things about these contests is when someone reasonably local wins. I had two such opportunities this year, the first on Day 1. This saved me postage and allowed me to meet a reader and visit a new store. Adam won the Gurkha goodies, and I met him at To’Makao Fine Cigars in Bethlehem, PA. This is a nice shop filled with great boutique brands, as well as the owners own line, rolled right there in the shop. Franklin, the owner, worked for Fuente in the Dominican Republic for many years rolling Fuente Fuente Opus X PerfecXion #2. I don’t know how he ended up in the metropolis of Bethlehem, but he has a very nice shop and lounge. I bought a few of his cigars, along with some Arandoza Red toros (a recurring theme…), and lit up his Habano wrapped cigar, which was unbanded and I think it was a toro, but it was a week ago, so I can’t remember! The cigar burned perfectly, and had a nice, mellow sweet flavor. I spent an hour or so enjoying the cigar and getting to know Adam a bit while enjoying the lounge, which was all but empty. I guess the Sunday before Christmas isn’t a big cigar lounge day. The lounge is comfortable, the cigars very good, and the hospitality was awesome. Franklin is a terrific guy, and you should visit him if you are ever in the area. Last night I smoked his maduro, which I believe is in his “Big Papi by Franklin” line, and, again, it was quite nice

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. Smooth, rich maduro flavors, quite the unexpected surprise from cigars rolled right

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here in Pennsylvania. Of course, PA has a rich tobacco history, but the last cigars I smoked that were made here were quite the opposite of good! Van Slyke and Horton cigars were pretty terrible, and I admit that I haven’t had a John Hay in some time (I treasure my cigar time…but I’ll take one for the team with a John Hay maduro that’s been in the humidor one of these days!). Great shop, great company. Pictures below.

Today I found myself, once again, in the position to hand deliver another prize. Joe K won the Day 14 prize of Nestor Miranda goodies from Miami Cigar and Co. I met Joe last year at Goosefest and decided to meet him at Goose’s Tobacco Outlet and Cafe in Limerick, PA. This was probably my fourth visit to Goose’s, and John Geise, the owner, greeted me warmly and pointed me toward the humidor, where I once again picked up some Arandoza Red Label Toros. Quick aside, if I were posting a top ten list this year, the Arandoza would be darned near the top. Great cigars from this company, The Blue and White labels are outstanding, the Red is a flavor bomb (and starts quite strong too!). Anyway, as usual, Goose’s was well stocked with a lot of great cigars. I also got a couple of Foundry’s Compounds Elements and Musings that I hadn’t tried before, and a Gurkha Cellar Reserve Limitada Solara, which I enjoyed in the lounge. Joe was waiting in the lounge, and I greeted my friend Bruce on my way to sit with him. I get to Goose’s infrequently, but it seems I always know a couple guys there. I had a great time smoking the cigar, chatting with Joe and John.

Of course, I smoked a bunch of cigars over the past couple weeks, but I tried my best to make it cigars that were featured in that day’s contest ff I had them. One of the ones that was new to me that I smoked for the fist time was the CAO Columbia, which I really enjoyed. It was early in the day, and I found this to me a really nice, creamy smoke. As I said before, I love giving away cigars, but it’s even better when they are cigars I personally love, and the vast majority were. I haven’t smoked the Kentucky Fire Cured in the Kyoto size yet, but I have had the KFC in other sizes and while it’s not my cup of tea, I see why people love them. That’s enough about the contests for now, I hope everyone received your packages, please let me know if you didn’t. Thanks again for playing along!