Here’s some news from the folks at General Cigar. There hasn’t been a lot of news coming out recently. I find it interesting that this is being made in Honduras. I’m not sure why this is significant, or if it is. Maybe it’s a matter of factory capacity, I’m not sure. It kind of looks like a (ahem) “budget” Spectre. I smoked a Spectre on the first day of my last job, I hope I get to smoke another one soon!
The artisans of Cohiba are proud to present COHIBA ROYALE, a super-premium collection that joi
ns the Cohiba portfolio as the brand’s fullest-bodied expression to date. Cohiba Royale also marks another important milestone for the brand, as it is the first Cohiba line to be handcrafted in Honduras.
Cohiba Brand Ambassador Sean Williams said, “Cohiba Royale was created with the cigar connoisseur in mind, bringing to life the microclimates and fertile soils of the Caribbean and Central America in a way that is unique to the brand. All of the tobaccos that comprise Cohiba Royale are hand-selected and deeply aged, representing the best of the best tobacco growing regions in the world. The result is a cigar that is as bold as it is refined, befitting of the Cohiba name.”
A dimensional, multi-country blend with tobaccos from Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic, Cohiba Royale provides the most profound smoking experience of the renowned Cohiba brand.
Cohiba Royale begins with a lustrous, sun-grown wrapper from Nicaragua’s celebrated Jalapa Valley. In a nod to Cohiba’s Dominican roots, the Jalapa wrapper crowns a Dominican Piloto Cubano binder which sits atop a quintessential selection of tobacco from Honduras’ Jamastran valley and the Nicaraguan valleys of Jalapa and Esteli. Each leaf of the blend has undergone intensive aging for five to six years before being deemed worthy of inclusion in Cohiba Royale.
The result is a balanced cigar that is best described as sublime, as notes of leather and spice ming
Cohiba Royale is handcrafted at General Cigar’s HATSA factory in Danli, Honduras, where a special team of artisan cigar makers was selected to produce this full-time addition to the Cohiba portfolio.
Available in these three sizes, Cohiba Royale will ship to retailers in April. The line will be available in both 5-count and 10-count boxes.
I’m back after a few days of smoking some favorites out of the humidors. I found a few old Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Dark Corojo El Martillos with the old bands, the first one I lit up just wasn’t drawing right, which irritated me. Usually I work my way through, but I wasn’t willing to aggravate myself on that particular day, so I set down the cigar after fighting with it for a third of the cigar, ran an errand, and came home and lit another one, and enjoyed the crap out of it. This has been a cigar I’ve been a fan of for a decade. I can remember smoking one of these when I first toured the Joy de Nicaragua factory in 2011, and with the heat and humidity there that day, I had to put it down or become overwhelmed. It’s a powerful smoke. I love it. I still have a few of these with the old band, and a few with the new. I had a Numero Uno last week which was exceptional also. Love the Joya cigars (I can do without the Red and Black oddly enough). A four year old La Gloria Cubana Serie RF, a Famous Smoke Shop Exclusive, was also smokes this week, and was also very good. It was strange when I looked back through “memories” and saw I smoked the same cigar four years prior almost to the day. It’s funny how often that happens!
My wife has been sewing masks lately and sent some to a hospital, and made me a couple out of the cigar fabric that I have. She made a couple extras, and is having a raffle on Facebook to raise money for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The raffle “tickets” are $1 each, and I’ll sweeten the deal by adding a few cigars to the winner. Click here (or on the picture) to make a donation and be entered. All the details are on the post. It’s only running until Saturday, so don’t delay.
Of course, I try to introduce something new in my Sunday posts, r at least new to me. This time it’s from Providencia Cigars. Ray at Providencia sent me some of their new cigars, so look forward to more featured in the coming days. One smells particularly boozy, not sure about that one…but anyway, this one caught my eye right off, and I had to smoke it. The cigar is called the Providencia Shenanigans, and it’s a barber pole style cigar. First off, it was a toro, 6″ x 50 or 52, I failed to measure it. Secondly, it’s a barber pole comprised of Candela and San Andrés Maduro, a striking contrast. The binder is Indonesian, and the fillers are Honduran with Nicaraguan Ligero. Naturally, this cigar seems to target a March 17 smoking date. I can’t help but draw comparisons to other cigars, not gonna lie. Since there’s no way I was going to wait almost a year to smoke it, I fired it up last night. Often barber pole cigars can have odd burns, not this one, it was perfect. Draw was perfect, combustion was perfect, all of the tobaccos burned at the same rate with a flat ember, no coning, no tunneling, absolute perfection. This is how every cigar should perform in a perfect world. The flavors were equally pleasing and entertaining. The interplay between the earthiness and espresso of the San Andrés and the refreshing chlorophyll of the candela was unique, and the spice from the ligero gave it some oomph. Overall, I very much enjoyed this cigar, it was really very good and entertained my for a good hour and a half. It was well worth missing the beginning of “The Ten Commandments”, which is only slightly longer than one of Coop’s podcasts! :-)_~.
That’s all for today. Don’t forget to keep up the social distancing, call your local tobacconist if you need cigars and try to keep them in business! Until the next time,
Among the many cigars I’ve been smoking this week, I smoked a couple of cigars that were handed to me at the TPE show back in January, when life was relatively normal. Normal being relative, at the time, I was still jobless, although I thought I might have an opportunity in the works. Sadly, that opportunity fell through, although who’s to say what would have happened as the months passed. Anyway, as I’ve been self-medicating with premium tobacco, I’ve been searching for a new cigar here and there to include in a post, and I selected a cigar that Terence Reilly handed me while I was visiting with him at the Aganorsa kiosk. He was one of eight sharing one of the several “pods” they had, and was the lone representative of Aganorsa Leaf, and seemed to be having a good show. I enjoyed a brief conversation with him, mostly personal stuff. He gave me a JFR Connecticut Super Toro, which is a 6½” x 52 Parejo wrapped in tissue paper. This cigar had a pigtail cap on it’s Ecuador Connecticut wrapper covering Nicaraguan Aganorsa binder and fillers. This is a relatively inexpensive cigar, under $6 in
lower tax states, and well worth the price. It’s got a smooth, creamy flavor, with some wood and pepper. It’s not without some body, I put it in the medium range. This is actually the first JFR I’ve smoked, and I’d certainly be interested in trying the Corojo and Maduro versions.
The other cigar I selected was the Vintage Rock-A-Feller Dominican Blue Line Churchill. Rock-A-Feller Cigars was another one of the Pod-dwellers at the TPE, which seemed to be a great set-up for a lot of the vendors. This setup had a counter and displays pre-built, and all the vendors had to do was bring in their wares and put them on the shelves and they were ready to go. No paying porters, renting furniture or any of the major expenses of traditional booth space. It kind of discouraged customers from hanging around, they did their business and moved along. I met Craig Roth, the sales manager for the company, and naturally, we developed an instant bond. I might have beat him to the “CigarCraig” moniker. Anyway, he gave me this cigar, and I decided to give it a whirl. The blend is as follows from their website:
Filler: • LIGERO-PILOTO-TIPO CUBANO: A Cuban seed Grown in the Dominican Republic. • SECO SAN VICENTE: A Cuban seed Grown in the Dominican Republic. • OLOR DOMINICANO: A Dominican Seed Grown in the Dominican Republic. • LIGERO DE NICARAGUA: Nicaraguan Seed Grown in Nicaragua.
Binder: • Olor: A Dominican Seed Grown in the Dominican Republic.
Wrapper: • Habana: A cuban seed Grown in Ecuador.
The Churchill is 7″ x 48, close enough, and if I remember correctly, it h
ad a box press. The burn and draw were exceptional, although the burn meanders a bit in the final inch, and by then it was just about finished anyway. This is a medium bodied cigar, and fairly middle of the road in flavor. It had some woody, and earthy notes, with a bit of coffee. It was a good cigar, although less in my wheelhouse. I’ll seek out the Nicaraguan line and see how that lines up with my preferences.
That’s all for now, back to social distancing and quarantine. Until the next time,
Here’s some Tuesday news from the folks at Fabrica Oveja Negra! Funny enough, I’m listening to James Brown on the How Bout That CigarHow Bout That Cigar show as I type!
Black Label Trading Company is pleased to announce the shipment of Bishops Blend 5 Year Anniversary Lancero to select retailers.
Bishops Blend is hand crafted in Esteli, Nicaragua at Fabrica Oveja Negra.This is the fifth-year anniversary of Bishops Blend. Black Label Trading Co. is releasing a special edition Lancero to select retailers in hopes it will encourage sales for its retailers in this difficult time.
The release of the other vitolas are being postponed. “I worked with a lot of vitolas when dev
ncero for the five year anniversary. Like the previous vitolas, the lancero boasts big bold flavors of anise, pepper, raisins and a sweet earthiness on the f
inish. It is very complex and extremely refined. As with the past vintages, the broadleaf fillers shine at the forefront and are perfectly balanced by the Nicaraguan filler tobaccos,
” said James Brown, creator of Black Label Trading Co.and partner at Fabrica Oveja Negra.
BISHOPS BLEND Lancero will be available at select retailers.
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano Maduro
Binder: Ecuador Habano
Filler: Nicaragua, Connecticut & PA Broadleaf
Lancero – 7 x 42 (12 count) MSRP $12.00 – 150 box production
Black Label Trading Company is redefining the standards for cigar making. With a “less is more” philosophy, Black Label Trading Co. creates hand crafted premium cigars of the utmost quality in small batch, limited quantities. For more information please visit OvejaNegraCigars.comOvejaNegraCigars.com. Consumers may search by zip code for retailers nearest them.
Funny thing, I’ve been on a two cigar a day thing this week, which is more than normal. It’s not like my schedule has really changed too much, but it’s psychological, I suppose. I’ve been taking an afternoon and evening walk when possible, just to get out of the house for a little bit. I also haven’t been smoking many new cigars, which doesn’t give me a lot to talk about here. Follow my Instagram (or Facebook) feed to see what I’ve been smoking and feel free to interact with me on those platforms. A few of the cigars I smoked this week I feel like talking about, first of which is The Clown. This is the latest cigar from Danli Honduras Tabacos, the little Honduran company that I’ve been enamoured with over the last year. This is t
he company which make the Don Juan Calavera, Flor Maya and Marchetti cigars which have become go-to cigars for me. The Clown is a Doble Capa cigar, with Mexican Maduro and Jamastran Connecticut wrappers in a Barber Pole configuration. It has a Nicaraguan Habano binder and the fillers are secos from Jalapa and Condega in Nicaragua and Visos from Jamastran and Copan in Honduras. You’ll notice there’s no ligero in the blend, so it’s a very smooth, medium bodied cigar, but it has a lot of sweet, nutty flavors, and is very well balanced. This is a cigar that is perfectly suited for any time of the day, great for any experience level, and just an all around wonderful cigar. It looks nice too, and the presentation is nice, as long as scary clowns don’t freak you out. I saw an online vender started carrying these saying they are the exclusive, however I know that isn’t the case, as I know of a few brick and mortar shops who have them. That being said, in the current state of things, it’s hard to say who’s open and shipping.
Yesterday I smoked a few new-to-me cigars, the first of which was a cigar that was given to me by the guys from Martinez Cigars in New York City at the TPE show. This cigar, the Forty Five Series in the Natural Robusto, celebrates their 45 years in business. From their website:
In celebration of 45 years in business, we are introducing our newest blend of cigars
“THE FORTY FIVE SERIES!”
This incredible cigar was Created by both of our Master Tobacconist Crystian Polanco and Marino Rosario.
You will encounter a nice progression of flavor beginning as a true medium body and building up to a rich robust full body cigar.
We combined four different fillers from Nicaragua and Dominican Republic, along with a rich Nicaraguan binder and finished off with a natural Habano or San Andres maduro wrapper.
I smoked the Natural wrapper version in the 5″ x 54 vitola, it’s also available in a torpedo, on the porch while watching a Harry Potter movie on the iPad. 😀 There’s an interesting quality I find across the board about the Martinez cigars, and maybe it’s hokey, but there’s a Havana style flavor profile that I get. It’s strange, but Whenever I smoke a Martinez cigar I’m reminded of a Cuban cigar for some reason. It’s probably just me, and I look at it as a good thing, I really enjoy the cigars. Of course, they have more complexity generally, and in the case of this Forty Five Series, it was just a really good smoke. The burn was perfect, it was full flavored with some spice and leather and coffee notes. I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is not an inexpensive cigar, it’s $15 before shipping on their site. I’d me interested to smoke this in the San Andrés wrapper, maybe when the dust settles, life returns to normal, I’llvisitt them in NYC again. Hopefully it’s before too many years pass beyond that 45th anniversary. In the mean time, here’s the interview from the TPE again:
The last cigar I had was last night. I took a break from the Harry Potter marathon for a while and smoked another cigar from the Platinum Nova line. This was another cigar from their Limited Edition (read: not cheap) line. Yesterday was rainy and about 50°F all day, so it wasn’t a beautiful day, so I wasn’t looking for three hour smokes. I chose the 5½” x 52 square pressed Legacy. This is a beautiful cigar with a Habano 2000 wrapper, Esteli binder and Dominican 98 filler (Criollo?) This cigar runs a whopping $31. I’ve had the good fortune to have smoked (not necessarily bought) some pricey cigars, many times they leave me wondering why they are price the way they are. Nova Cigars has several cigar that are in the $30 range, they have a factory in the US, they don’t make a great many cigars, they hold very high standards, and they produce a high end, luxury product, I get why they are priced where they are. In the case of this cigar, it tastes and performs at a very high level. Burn and draw are perfect, as should be expected. It had bright flavors, some complexity, although I can’t go as far as identifying the flavors that are listed on their website, but it was interesting and entertaining smoke that just made me happy, no small feat recently. Ari and Leo were very generous with cigars and their time at the TPE show! I appreciate them sharing these with me. And you know I occasionally incorporate a theme in my smoking routine, I was going to smoke a Joya de Nicaragua Quatro Cinco to follow the Martinez, but chose this, with the connection being that Ari and Leo both used to work for Nat Sherman in NYC.
Who has partaken in any virtual herfs? I want to get in on one, but haven’t found one that fits my time schedule. I have Zoom, wou
ld anyone be interested in setting up a herf? How should we schedule it? Reach out to me and let me know if you’d be interested. My best time is afternoons or early evenings Eastern Time. Anyway, that’s enough for today, until the next time,
