I have been remiss in having contests! Between job hunting, the whole pre-IPCPR news deluge, a lack of companies being forthcoming with goodies to giveaway contributed to this, but mostly it’s my forgetfulness. I’m going to make up for it now. The prize is going to be a selection of cigars from my humidor relating to the cigars featured in this post, and then some, no less than five, most likely more. A few I don’t have more of, but that will me more than made up for, rest assured. I also will include a Stage V Clinger Cigar Clip! It’s not going to be the usual random, pick a comment out of a hat game this time, I’m going to require a little work. There still might be some randomness, because I don’t think it’s going to be that hard. More on that at the end of the post.
Let’s get started! Last week I went on a bit of a La Sirena bender, and I guess I omitted the Merlion brand from that bender, because a package showed up from Danny D this week with a few of the Merlion Robustos and Merlion Maduro Toros with a note thanking me for the post! Merlion Maduro Toro is a favorite of mine, and I have half a box on the shelf, but I’m always happy to add a few to the box, and I’m sure I had some naturals around, so the omission last week was more because I ran out of time than anything else, but I always appreciate the generosity of my friends and valued sponsors! La Sirena is a great little company and produces beautiful cigars which I highly recommend, and will feature prominently in this week’s contest prize, by the way! So I smoked the Merlion Maduro Toro from existing stock, as the ones that arrived this week came off a very hot UPS truck and needed some resting time. The Merlion is made in the DR, with a Mexican San Andrés maduro wrapper, Brazilian Sumatra binder, and Brazilian, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The only difference between this and the “natural” Merlion is wrapper, we’ll get to that later. As I said, this is a cigar I really enjoy. It’s not a traditional Toro, as the size is 5½” x 54, but it has pretty much the same burn time for me, so it’s OK.
Next up was a Fratello Oro Robusto. This is Omar de Frias’ Third release, and his first cigar out of his home country of Dominican Republic. Of course, Oro means “Gold” in Italian, which fits in with his theme of a cigar with an Italian brand name. Of course, Oro is also Spanish for Gold, so everyone can figure it out. I’m two releases behind on the Fratello portfolio, sad to say, I still haven’t smoked the Navetta, and the new Navetta Inverso. I gotta get my hands on those two. I have to check the humidor for some Biancos, as this week is the Diner en Blanc in Philadelphia, which my wife and I are attending, and I like to have a selection of “white” themed cigars along. I have my white guayabera all ready to go. Anyway, the Fratello Oro has a n Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Cameroon binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. I think the Cameroon binder is what makes this cigar stand our from other “shade” cigars, it gives it a little special something, that “Camerooniness” that sets it apart, along with the little extra oomph from the Nicaraguan in the filler blend. It’s a really flavorful cigar, smooth and creamy with some sweetness and spice. A very nice cigar.
Next up I had to really do some humidor diving for, but it was worth it. This was a cigar from a company that used to be called Evil Genius Cigars, but due to some trademark dispute or another, has ended up with the name “Censored Genius Cigars“. These guys are basically neighbors of mine, up the road in Allentown, PA, and came on the scene in 2013 with a couple of cigars called White Chapel and Black Chapel, I think the White was the stronger cigar and the Black was the milder, but maybe I’m thinking of some other tricky brand that tried that game. The cigar I chose was the Time Machine, and I want to say it came out at the 2015 IPCPR show. One aside, when ever I meet with the guys at this company, whatever they call themselves, I feel short, and I’m 6″ 0″. I think the shorted among them is about 6″ 4”. The Time Machine Robusto is 5″ x 50, wrapped in Nicaraguan Habano, with a Nicaraguan Corojo binder and Dominican and Cameroon fillers. Interesting, one doesn’t generally see Cameroon used in the filler but it can’t all be wrapper or even binder quality, can it? This was an interesting tasting cigar, and, with three years of age, it performed very well. I don’t recall having smoked this before, maybe I did, I’d have to look back, but it was a good smoke and I’d smoke it again. I’ve lost touch with Alex and his guys, perhaps I’ll run into them someplace in the area one of these days.
After nine years of being a Cigar Rights of America member, and not smoking many of the cigars they send me when I renew, I came across this Viva Republica Rapture in a Rothchild size that was the right size for the time I had, and piqued my curiosity. I have a bunch of CRA banded cigars, somehow I never have gotten the Ligas, or the Opus or anything like that, but some of them probably have enough age on them that I should smoke them. There’s one Hawaiian something or other I never heard of, but the rest are name brands. Anyway, Viva Republica is a brand that is owned by another Pennsylvanian, Jason Holly, who owns a cigar store up in the Scranton/Wilkes Barre area of PA (way up north). They say that the CRA banded cigars are special blends, so this might not be right, but the cigar might have been 4½”x 50 (it most likely was) Ecuadorian Havana Vuelta Abajo wrapper, with Dominican Republic binder, Nicaragua, Brazil, Dominican Republic filler. Could have been, I don’t know, but it was a really tasty cigar, I’m not going to dwell on it too much because it’s an oddball. I would recommend trying the Rapture line, if you are a CRA member and you have this one in your humidor, smoke it, you’ll not be disappointed, if you’re not a CRA member, why not? sign up, tell them I sent you!
Finally, I circled back to the Merlion Natural, the original Merlion, and the second release from La Sirena. Like I said earlier, this has an Ecuador Corojo wrapper, with Brazilian Sumatra binder, and Brazilian, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The robusto was 5″ x 50 and the band is easily 4″, but, brilliantly, and much to the dismay of the factory staff tasked with the application of the bands, it’s in two parts, so when the lower part is removed, one is still left with a beautiful upper band, and a beautiful band it/they is/are. I like this cigar, but I’m not as fond of it as I am of the maduro version. There’s not a darned thing wrong with the cigar, but it’s a strong argument about the wrapper making a huge difference in the flavor of a cigar, and there a flavor in the Ecuador Corojo on this that isn’t in my particular wheelhouse. Oddly, and people argue that smaller ring gauge cigars showcase the wrapper flavor, the little Merlion Sea Lion perfecto is fantastic! I guess I’m just weird, a point which is rarely disputed. Anyway, I do like the entire La Sirena portfolio, but you can’t love everything.
Contest!
The prize: An orange Stage V Clinger, a cigar holding device that’s got a magnet and a velcro strap and gently holds your cigar when you’re out and about. It’s heavily marketed to golfers, but I’ve used one around the yard, when I’m out on walks (it’s handy if I have to go to someone’s door, I leave my cigar clipped to the mailbox so I don’t have to be standing at the door with a cigar). It’s a nifty device, and it’s free, who are you to complain! Also, I’ll put together a selection of cigars from my humidor that will include a Merlion Maduro Toro, a Merlion Robusto, an Anchor by La Sirena, an Oceano Atlantic and a La Sirena Trident. No doubt, some other cigars appropriate to the theme of this contest, but would give the answer away, will make it into the prize pack. So your job is to leave a comment, but this time you have to look back a the five cigars mentioned in this post and tell me what they all have in common! I’ll choose a winner from the correct responses next Sunday, August 19, 2018. It’s pretty easy, good luck!
That’s all for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
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