Category Archives: Stores

by Craig Vanderslice | March 28, 2021 · 10:06 am

Altadis Know Your Wrapper Series Event at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge

Friday evening I attended an event, sort of. Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA hosted the Altadis USA Know Your Wrapper Series event, both in their lounge and virtually. They probably had 15 or so people there in the lounge, which is spacious, no worries there, and a few of us attending virtually, including myself, Tom Stroud, the Altadis USA territory Manager and his wife, John Remer, who host the Facebook Group and show Johnny Smokes Uncut, and a few others. In this event, each attendee purchased a box which contained seven corona size cigars that were puros of seven different wrapper varieties. The event was led by Travis Pappenheim, the National Education Manager at Altadis USA. He guided us through the tasting of the first couple of the puritos, presenting information on the growing regions and some of the cigars that used the various wrappers. This event was interactive, as Travis, even though he was located in south Florida, was taking questions from the lounge at Gooses, as well as interacting with the rest of the guests.

A few geeky thoughts on the puros: The first one was the USA Connecticut: It had some natural sweetness on the lips at first, but I thought it was fairly sour with some bitterness. It smoothed out after a while. The Cameroon was surprising, as a wrapper only it is very distinctive, when the entire cigar is Cameroon it runs over itself and that sweet, nutty Camerooniness I love is overwhelming and exhausting. The Ecuador Connecticut is smoother and creamier than the than the USA version. In my mind, it worked better as a cigar. I don’t care much for Criollo, and a 100% criollo cigar doesn’t thrill me, the saving grace was that it was the fourth cigar in a little over an hour. Travis gave some great advice, which was to smoke the Sumatra on a fresh palate, and since that is one of, if not my favorite, wrapper varitals, I smoked this one last night. Once again, it tasted like Sumatra should taste, but too much of a good thing. HAlf way in, I switched to the Broadleaf, another favorite wrapper. This was the only one in the selection that wasn’t a puro, because, Travis said, getting the Broadleaf puro to burnright wasn’t happening. Not surprisingly, this was the best smoking experience of the bunch as a cigar, as far as balance and flavor went, with sweet cocoa and coffee notes that I love. I saved the Habano for another time, maybe today, as I was worn out.

As a cigar geek, I found this to be a really entertaining experience, as I always do. I’ve done these sorts of things before and I always learn something, and it reinforces things I knew, and reminds me of things I forgot. My main takeaway is that there’s a reason that these are wrapper leaves and there aren’t puros made from the various leaves. First, they’d be really expensive cigars, and mostly, they aren’t balanced and just don’t really taste good. There was one (the US Connecticut) that Travis mentioned a surprise at the halfway point and suspect he had the leaf tips thee or something and I got a cinnamon sensation somewhere thereabouts, but that was about the only thing close to complexity I got. I also have had indigestion and a sour stomach for the last two days, and it might have something to do with the tobaccos, not sure. I haven’t eaten anything strange. I wouldn’t trade the experience though, Travis did a great job presenting and Goose was a wonderful host as always. I would have enjoyed being there in person, he has a great lounge, but between the time and “the times”, joining over Zoom was ideal. Thank you John for having me!

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

CigarCraig

https://www.altadisusa.com/

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by Craig Vanderslice | November 15, 2020 · 10:04 am

All Saints Dedicación Cigars

Thursday evening I went to Cigar Mojo in King of Prussia, PA where they were having a cigar event revolving around the Masters. There was chipping and putting involved in a tournament with brackets and everything. The winner received a bottle of booze and a box of cigars. This was all sponsored by All Saints Cigars, and Mickey Pegg was there for the event. The cost of the event was $25 which included two cigars and food, but I decided instead to buy a bunch more cigars and pass on the food., I showed up two hours late anyway and had no intention of participating in the event really anyway, apart from smoking the featured cigars and meeting Mickey finally. It’s been months that we’ve been trying to connect. Of course, the several months that I was unemployed and had tons of time on my hands would have been ideal, but but there is this pandemic going on limiting contact and stores being open and all. Now that I am gainfully employed, my time is limited, and we still have the limitations of the pandemic. Fortunately, Cigar Mojo has a large outdoor area, and a large enough lounge and is responsible about occupancy and masks and cleanliness. I felt like it was a good opportunity to venture out. I bought a selection of All Saints Dedicación cigars, along with a couple other new cigars and went and met Mickey.

I smoked the 6” x 60 “Huge” while there. The Dedicación has a San Andrés wrapper, which does not appear to be fermented to a Maduro to me, and Nicaraguan binder and filler. I also bought some of the 6 1/2 x 52 Commandant and Mickey hooked me up with a 5 1/2 x 50 Berkey. the later of the two being box pressed. I’m not going to break each one down individually, the Huge was smoked at an event while I was talking and distracted, but it was a really nice smoke. I smoked the Commandant on Friday. It smoked well and had flavors similar to the Huge, which were earthy for the most part. I found the Berkey to be the best of the three. It had a spice and sweetness that the other two didn’t seem to have. I also felt like the larger two burned faster than I would like, I think the smoking time on the smaller Berkey was darned near the same as the larger two. If I recall, Mickey said that the 6” x 60 would be the outlier flavor wise, I suppose I’ll give them all some humidor time and revisit them at a future date. I certainly won’t hesitate to buy more of this brand though, either front mark, the Dedicación of Solamente, both are excellent. Both are made at Rocky Patel’s Nicaraguan factory, but they are blended by Mickey Pegg. I wrote about his backstory in my Solamente post on September 30.

Reader’s Poll!

Instead of me selecting a cigar of the year this year, I thought I’d do something different. Let’s have a CigarCraig’s 2020 Reader’s Poll! E-mail me at craig@cigarcraig.com with your choice for the 2020 cigar of the year. I’ll compile the results and post them on December 31. Please be as specific as possible. It’ll be fun!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as All Saints, cigar, Cigar Mojo, cigars, Dedicación, Readers Poll

by Craig Vanderslice | September 27, 2020 · 10:34 am

Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Nicaragua and Bellas Artes Maduro Cigars

I mentioned that I picked up some new-to-me cigars recently, and one of those was the Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Nicaragua in the 6″ x 54 toro size. I can’t say as I’ve really taken to a great many Romeo y Julieta cigars, although I do recall enjoying the Reserva Real line the most. I have enjoyed a few of the newer RoMEo blends, although none were particularly mind-blowing for me. As with many cigars in the Altadis portfolio, it seems that the ones I’m drawn to are the ones that come out of the A.J. Fernandez partnership. There are some exceptions in the Montecristo line, but the only H. Upmanns I really like are the A.J variety, and this new Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real, blended by Rafael Nodal and Abdel Fernandez really hit my palate right. This is a Nicaraguan puro, made with tobaccos grown on A.J. Fernandez farms. It’s a beautiful looking cigar, milk chocolate colored wrapper, perfect draw and a solid ash. It was a pleasure to smoke. It kind of has a bready, sweet flavor, with some spice. It’s reminiscent of the Reserva Real, with a Nicaraguan spin, and I like it a lot. It’s a $9 cigar, and it wasn’t that long ago that I’d bristle at spending that much on a cigar, now I do it without much thought. Weird, huh?

Yesterday I had the occasion to visit one of the several local CigarCigars stores, this time the one in Downingtown, PA. Beer fans will know that name as the home of Victory Brewery. It’s the town I lived in when CigarCraig.com launched in 2009. Anyway, my friend Kevin, who had been the manager of that store, was celebrating his retirement, passing the reins to Tom, and they were having a little celebration. I stopped to pay my respects. They also had an A.J. Fernandez event, ironically, so I bought so more AJF cigars. I finally, after many years, met Art Toll, who is one of the owners of the CigarCigars empire, and we had a nice chat, I even got some inside info. More on that as it develops. We’ve “known” one another for many years, but hadn’t met in person. This is not uncommon in the virtual world, I “know” people for 20 years that I haven’t met yet. Anyway, one of the cigars I picked up was the Bellas Artes Maduro in the Short Churchill size. Saka’s Short Churchill is a Robusto or Hermoso sized cigar, where this one is a 6″ x 48 thin toro, or fat lonsdale. Maybe it’s a long, fat gorona gorda, heck, I don’t know what it is, Saka has a 6″ x 48 in the Umbagog line he calls a Corona Gorda. It’s a good size whatever you call it and this one was delicious. Brazilian Matafina wrapper over a San Andrés binder with Nicaraguan fillers. This is my kind of cigar, deep, rich chocolate flavors, with some pepper. Delicious cigar. Of course I’ll miss hanging out with Kevin at the shop, and I’m sure he’ll have a wonderful retirement travelling the country.

Have you ever lit a cigar and struggled to get smoke, but when you blow through it smoke billow though it like a california wildfire? That pisses me off. That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by Craig Vanderslice | June 17, 2020 · 10:24 pm

A Visit to Best Cigar Pub and Best Cigar Prices Exclusive Rare Select Cigars

Pic from PCB’s website

Yesterday my wife and I took a drive to Scranton to pick up a cool cigar lamp that she won in an auction, so on the way back we stopped in to Best Cigar Pub in Drums, PA for lunch. I had visited here briefly over the winter and gotten a tour and had a cigar (you can read about it here), today we enjoyed a meal at the pub. They had just re-opened last Thursday, and were observing all of the precautions we need to become accustomed to. Fortunately it was a beautiful spring day, and they had copious outdoor seating, even extending into the parking lot. My first stop was into the retail shop, masks required, with only three patrons allowed in a a time and no handling the product. Charlie was very helpful, recognizing me behind my cigar mask (which coordinated with my shirt, I’m a dork). I picked up some of their exclusive 601 Pennsylvania Toros and joined my wife outside. The Pub has an excellent menu of fresh food, My wife had a Cuban sandwich, and I had a Short Rib with Provolone sandwich and both were delicious served with potato chips made there. I enjoyed one of the 601 Pennsylvanias while we enjoyed the views. Kyle was our server and did an excellent job, everyone there was very friendly and accomodating, although I am having trouble getting used to hearing people speaking through masks. I have enough trouble hearing as it is. I really like the 601 PA Edition, by the way, but it was a bit breezy and I had trouble with the burn, leading to a bit of a tunnel. Best Cigar Pub is a destination, I can imagine when restrictions are lifted it will be a great place for events, or just to hang out and have a nice meal.

Papier-mâché cigar lamp

By the way, here is the cool lamp we picked up. While we were eating, Charlie from the humidor came out and very kindly handed me a bag with one each of their Rare Select series from General Cigar. I selected the CAO Rare Select when I got home for my evening walk. After spending the day in the car I needed to stretch my legs. The CAO Rare Select was a 6″ x 50 toro with a Sun Grown Honduran wrapper, Honduran binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. I’ll preface this by saying there are some CAO cigars I like, and some I don’t, and the ones I don’t are typically the Criollo and Gold series. this cigar performed very well, and was not a bad cigar by any stretch of the imagination. It was a medium bodied cigar, with flavors on the leathery side, not a lot of sweetness. It was a good smoke, and I enjoyed it, and I think if you like cigars that fall more on the floral/leathery side, this is a cigar you’ll like.

Today I selected the Macanudo Rare Select. I was surprised by a Macanudo with a Sumatra wrapper as opposed to a shade wrapper. I wonder about the through process here, I see that green Macanudo band and I expect a Connecticut Shade Wrapper over a Mexican Binder. In this case, we have an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder with fillers from the DR, Nicaragua and Jamaica. I was also expecting a milder cigar than I got, this was a medium bodied cigar with some interesting flavors. Again, the construction was right, the burn and draw were perfect. The Jamaican tobacco adds a little something interesting to the blend. I’ve had a Macanudo in the past couple years with Jamaican tobacco, one of the Estate Reserves I think, but prior to that I have to go back to the 90s when I had a box of Price Philips from Jamaica. Considering those had the Connecticut wrapper, there’s no way to make a comparison, not sure why I mentioned it. This was a pretty good smoke!

Tonight I smoked the Punch Rare Select. Looking at this, I knew I was in for a treat. The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper was dark and oily. It has a Nicaraguan binder, and, get this, fillers from Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic! I didn’t have to light it and the flavor on the lips made me happy. It had a nice, chocolaty taste, and when I lit it those flavors intensified. This is a hearty cigar, loads of flavor and good to the last drop. All those great tobaccos combined to make for a delicious cigar, and the whole Rare Select series is very reasonable priced, making these a great bargain. Punch is another brand that I’ve enjoyed for a long time, almost always in the darker expressions. I can’t tell you how many maduro and double maduro Rothschilds smoked in the 90s. This one competes favorably, and it’s a cigar I’ll smoke again. I smoked it to a finger-burning nub and was sad when it was finished. Thanks to Charlie at Best Cigar Prices shop for sharing these three cigars with me!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Best Cigar Prices, Best Cigar Pub, CAO, cigar, cigars, macanudo, punch

by Craig Vanderslice | March 1, 2020 · 12:18 pm

Some Powstanie Cigars at Philadelphia Cigar & Tobacco Company Event

Friday afternoon I traveled to Northeast Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Cigar & Tobacco Company shop for the event they were having with Mikes Szczepankiewicz and Palmer. Mike Szczepankiewicz is one of the owners of Cigar Hustlers cigar shop in Deltona Florida, and the Powstanie cigar brand, which is made at the Nica Sueña factory in Esteli. Mike Palmer is Mike Szczepankiewicz’s co-host on the Cigar Hustler’s Podcast, which is in my regular podcast rotation. There’s two things that I’m really spoiled with, one is that I really like smoking cigars and knowing the people behind the brands, and the other is listening to podcasts where I know the people behind the voices. I’m very fortunate to have had opportunities to know a lot of the people who make cigars and present podcasts. There’s nothing special about me, anyone could have put themselves in the position to know these people, and I’m not particularly outgoing by nature. Anyway, when I know the people I’m listening to I feel like I’m listening to friends, more so than when I haven’t really met them. Oddly, when I do meet them, I feel like I know them already, which is awkward, because it’s not always reciprocal. Enough about that. I got the the Philadelphia Cigar & Tobacco Company early, because it seems to take a really long time to get there from my house. I can be in downtown Philly in 40 minutes on a good day, but it took over an hour to get to this location, 33 miles away. I had visited the shop several years ago, back when Bryan Scholle was doing the Studio Tabac rolling events for Oliva (June 2013). The setup of the store has changed since then, the checkout counter is in the humidor now, and the lounge is set up differently. I selected a Powstanie Broadleaf Belicoso and joined the gentlemen in the lounge, where much spirited ball-busting was ensuing amongst the indigenous population. It was entertaining. The Powstanie cigars are made at the Nica Sueña factory, where CroMagnons are made, and this cigar was just brilliant. I really enjoyed it very much. It was full-bodied and rich and right up my alley. I would have liked this in the toro, but the Belicoso was the only size they had. I went back and bought more later, along with some of the Warbear (Wojtek) which I smoked next. The Broadleaf Belicoso is 5½”x 54 with a Broadleaf Maduro wrapper and, I’m guessing, Nicaraguan binder and fillers? It was a fantastic smoke.

I introduced myself to Mike and Mike and chatted with them for a bit, then delved into the Powstanie Wojtek, or Warbear. I figured I wasn’t going to drive an hour to smoke one cigar and leave right after they arrived. I’m not going to comment too much on the flavor of this 5″x 50 perfecto, I’ll smoke another one another time on a clean palate and maybe give my impressions. It’s a barber pole wrapper consisting of Habano and San Andrés, so it’s pretty subtle, you have to look for the difference as there isn’t a lot of color contrast. It did really enjoy the cigar, although after smoking a full bodied Broadleaf cigar, there’s no really getting a good handle on any real flavors. Of course, the construction was perfect, when was the last time you had a poorly made cigar from Skip Martin’s factory? He’s got the whole ISO9001/Lean Manufacturing/Six Sigma thing going on in the factory down there, I imagine it to be quite impressive, hopefully one day I’ll get back down to Esteli for a visit. Anyway, I enjoyed meeting Mike and Mike (super nice dudes) and smoking the Powstanie cigars and hanging out at Philadelphia Cigar and Tobacco CO., but I wanted to get. home and watch the majority of the Flyers beating the Rangers (hopefully they do as well today on national television!).

Yesterday I was putting away the cigars I picked up at the previous evening’s event, which I need to stop buying, and I held out one of the Powstanie Habano Toros and took a bit of a walk with it. It’s been quite a while since I smoked the Habano, I recall picking up a few of these at BnB cigars a few years ago and enjoyed it, but not as much as this Toro. This cigar was impressive! I really enjoyed it, and I’m not sure if it was the size, the former was a Belicoso, I’d have to dig around, there may be one left someplace. The Toro is 6″ x 52, perfect size for me. It has a Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder with Dominican criollo, Estelí ligero and filler from Condega and Jalapa. This had a nice sweetness that I liked, and rich tobacco flavors throughout the smoke and was really a very nice cigar. I highly recommend this, and these are widely available, it seems, if not in your better brick and mortar shop, they are in the larger online shops (or Cigar Huslter’s web store). Very different from the other cigars from Nica Sueño, but equally as awesome. I had initially underestimated this cigar, or when I smoked it 3 years ago I was just coming off a cold. Powstanie is Polish for “rise or “uprising”, and I’m not going to go so far as to say they were so good that “it moved”, but they are really good cigars.