by | August 31, 2016 · 8:37 pm

Protocol Probable Cause Robusto from Cubariqueño Cigars

One evening at the IPCPR trade show Corey and I were hanging out at the Laguna Champagne Bar in the Palazzo Hotel, which was the big after hours spot at this year’s show, and Juan Cancel handed me a Protocol Corona Gorda and a Probable Cause robusto.  I was thrilled to finally get my hands on some of the Protocol cigars, as I Protocol_Probabal Cause_Robustohave yet to find any in the year that these have been on the market. Juan and his partner Bill Ives started Cubariqueño Cigars last year, having their cigars made at the La Zona factory in Esteli, and they’ve been a runaway hit. Tonight I smoked the Probable Cause, a lovely box pressed robusto measuring 5″ x 52, although the box press makes it seem smaller than that. The cigar has Nicaraguan binder and filler, covered with a Mexican San Andrés wrapper that is dark and oily. I found this to be a powerful cigar, and, like the rest of the cigars manufactured at La Zona, the burn and draw were perfect. They say this is a medium strength cigar with full flavor, but I thought it was a little powerhouse.  It was loaded with dark, rich espresso flavors and had a unique spice that I couldn’t put a finger on, but was quite entertaining.  Juan and Bill have a winner with their sophomore release, it’s a shame that the FDA and our government is against this sort of creativity and entrepreneurship. Two cops from New Jersey/New York have brought some exceptional cigars to the market!

 

Poll Results

 

Last week’s poll about the possibility of a CigarCraig.com Secret Santa program results are in  96% of respondents are in favor, with 4% not in favor, so if I can’t pull off a big holiday giveaway like I’ve done in years passed, we can have some fun among ourselves, at least with the 23 people who registered a “yes” vote in the poll. Hopefully we can get more of you interested. I haven’t written off a giveaway of some sort.

 

That’s all I have for now, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | August 28, 2016 · 7:02 am

A CAO Cigars Event, an EP Carillo and a Padilla IPCPR Release

IMG_3694[1]Thursday we went to G & G Cigars in downtown West Chester, PA to see Ricky Rodriquez at a CAO event.  G & G changed hands in the last couple years, and while the selection in the  humidor changed a bit, it remains a very nice shop managed by Mike, who keeps a clean and inviting lounge.  I picked up a few Flatheads in the 660 size and the Steel Horse Apehanger size and wandered into the lounge and sat down next to Ricky, who was deep in conversation with another patron.  I have known Ricky since probably 2010, having spent some time with him in the Dominican Republic in 2011, and seeing him at the IPCPR show just last month.  My son and I actually hung out with him and Ed McKenna the first night we were in Vegas at the Circle Bar in the Venetian, where he shared the new CAO Consigliere with us (the re-release of the Sopranos).  I sat next to Rick smoking my Flathead 660 for close to ten minutes before he got up and my wife “introduced” us…it was a very IMG_3697[1]amusing moment.  It was fairly quiet in the lounge, so we had a great time talking about the cigar world, and the world in general with Ricky.  He had been at another location about two miles from

home that afternoon, but who among us working folks can make a 12-3 event on a Thursday? It worked out well, the Flathead line remains one of my favorites, and the one I smoked was quite satisfying and lasted until the parking meter expired.  Ricky knows his tobacco and is always a treat to hang out with.  If he comes to your area don;t miss the opportunity to hang out with him.

 

EPCarillo_Dusk_ObscureFriday I opened the IPCPR sample humidor (which, by the way, is a reasonably large Psyko Seven humidor that my wife won on a Best Cigar Prices Facebook Contest, totally legit and above-board, I checked! It’s a pretty darned nice humidor that can be had at a very reasonable price. It’s been working very well with Boveda packs. Enough of the commercial, and there will be more on Psyko Seven in the near future. Please note that nobody asked me to say anything about this) and pulled out an EP Carillo Dusk Obscure, the largest in this new line at 7″ x 54. The Dusk has a US grown wrapper, clearly a Broadleaf, an Ecuador binder and Nicaraguan fillers, made at Ernesto’s factory in the Dominican Republic. Having been a fan of Ernesto P. Carillo’s work over the last 20 years, it was a treat to finally sit down with him and meet him at the trade show. I don’t get starstruck by many in the cigar world anymore, but Ernesto was one of the people who I was nervous about meeting.  The Dusk was a great cigar, and another cigar I will seek out to further sample.  It was sweet and had the dark flavors I prefer.

 

Padilla_Anniversary_ChurchillSaturday I wound up a busy day with another IPCPR sample. Remember I said there seemed to be a lot more larger sized samples at the show this year? Well, I’ve been selecting the larger cigars as the weather allows, I’ll have plenty of robustos to get through the winter. I selected the Padilla Anniversary in the 7″ x 50 Churchill size. I’m not entirely clear which anniversary this line celebrates, the company has been around for about 14 years, but I don’t suppose it matters as special anniversary releases will be severely limited moving forward thanks to the FDA regulations. The Padilla Anniversary is a  Nicaraguan puro made at Raíces Cubanas in Honduras. It’s got a Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan Corojo binder and fillers from Esteli and Jalapa.  This cigar started out pretty smooth and built in strength, ending up to be quite a powerhouse. The burn and draw were perfect, with a good amount of smoke.  The band is really beautiful, with the Padilla signature lion holding a trident. It’s quite stunning, and the presentation is completed by a cedar sleeve. This will be a regular release, although limited. It was quite a nice smoke for a Saturday evening.

 

That’s about all for now, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | August 24, 2016 · 10:51 pm

Cirque Strongman Cigars and a Poll

CirqueOver the last several weeks I had the opportunity to smoke several of the Cirque Strong Man from Best Cigar Prices. This 5″ x 50 robusto is made at Tavicusa, Rocky Patel’s factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. The cigar has a dark Habano wrapper with tobacco from Esteli, Condega and Jalapa in Nicaragua and Honduras. I found the cigar to be aptly named, as it packed a punch. It started strong and the strength continued through

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out with heavy cocoa and wood flavors. The examples I smoked had a perfect draw and burned well, requiring few corrections. I found that a 7mm punch worked well with these cigars although examples smoked with a straight cut worked equally well. If you like cigars on the stronger side, on a budget, this is a cigar to try. BCP has a lot of great exclusive cigars, I’m partial to the Six-Zero and many of the Robolo (4½” x 60) sizes, like the EP Carillo.

 

Poll

I had an idea for something fun to do this upcoming holiday season assuming that the 12 Days of Spectacular Cigar Giveaways can’t happen given the new FDA regulations.  I’m certainly open to any manufacturers that want to do something, but I’m not holding my breath for another epic giveaway like I’ve done over the past five years. So I thought maybe I could organize a Secret Santa among my readers, and I would certainly participate.  So in the poll below, please cast your vote on whether this would be interesting to you, and if there is enough interest, I’ll put it together. Back in the old Us

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enet days I used to run a monthly cigar swap, so I’m not new to this. I look forward to your input!

 

[poll id=”6″]

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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by | August 21, 2016 · 10:24 am

IPCPR Cigars: Quesada, Foundation and Cordoba & Morales

Quesada_Oktoberfest2016_NicTripBockHausI dug into the IPCPR samples humidor in the latter half of the week and gave some new cigars a try. The first out of the three was the Quesada Oktoberfest 2016 in the Nicaraguan Triple Bock Haus size, I comfortable 6″ x 56. I’ve smoked some older versions of this in the Uber size, the massive 6″ x 65 and enjoyed them, and this one was quite enjoyable as well.  I am aware that Oktoberfest isn’t until September, and I’m aware that not being a drinker the whole premise of pairing it with beer is lost on me. The Oktoberfest line has cigars that are made in both a Dominican and Nicaraguan blend, differentiated by the secondary date band, the Nicaraguan having the red band, with the DR line having a blue one. The best I can find about the blend is that it’s a Nicaraguan Puro, made by Placencia in Esteli, no other details were available. I like the cigar, it has a nice, bold flavor that was satisfying, but I was a bit distracted by the draw. Humid evenings will do this to some cigars sometimes, so I can’t assign blame to the cigar, and I just checked the IPCPR samples humidor and it’s being Boveda controlled at 68%, Maybe I’ll try to bring that down a little, although the next few cigars I smoked from the same humidor (spoiler alert!) smoked spectacularly. Good smoke though, please let me know how it works with beer!

 

Foundation_Tabernacle_ToroSaturday afternoon I enjoyed a new cigar from Nick Melillo’s Foundation Cigar Co., the Tabernacle.  This is Nick’s Connecticut Broadleaf blend, and there have been those who compare is head to head with the Mi Querida from Steve Saka. Sure, Nick and Steve blended the Liga Privada No.9 for Steve’s palate, so there is definitely going to be some parallel, but let’s let these two great cigars stand on their own and not compare them to each other or the Liga No 9. The Tabernacle is produced at AJ Fenandez in Esteli, yet another great cigar from that factory. It has a Broadleaf wrapper over a San Andrés binder, with fillers from Esteli and Jalapa, I love the cigar already! The cigar had a perfect burn and draw, so there was no missing the great rich flavors of the broadleaf and Mexican, a nice sweet and earthy flavor. I say this often, but this is a cigar I’ll want to have in my humidors. I look forward to trying Nick’s other new blends, the Charter Oak, and maybe even the Upseters, although I’m always a little shaky when it comes to infused cigars. The Tabernacle is a winner.

 

CordobaMorales_Platino_DCLast night I went searching for a cigar for my evening walk, and I settled on the Cordoba & Morales Platino Double Corona, a big cigar at 7 ½”ish by 54 by my measuring (because there’s np mention of the Platino line on the website!). This cigar had a “bun” style pigtail cap and a covered foot, so I snipped off the cap and went right into lighting this so I got the full effect of the blast of flavor from the wrapper. I couldn’t find much out about this line, but I believe it to be a Sumatra wrapper. The first thing that came to mind when I lit this was that is had a savory, grilled beef kind of flavor, it was really quite different and appealing. This was another cigar that burned perfectly, with only a slight touch-up near the end, I don’t think that’s too uncommon with cigars this size. Oddly, this was the first Cordoba & Morales cigar I have smoked, and I look forward to smoking more of them. The Platino is an awesome smoke.  Here is a re-run of the video interview I did from the IPCPR show in case you missed it the first time around.

 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | August 17, 2016 · 9:23 pm

Cornelius & Anthony Venganza Robusto

One of the booths I stopped at the IPCPR show and didn’t get to spend much time in was Cornelius & Anthony. They were busy every time I went by, which is a good thing for them. I wanted to say hello to Courtney Smith, which I did, but I didn’t get to meet Steve Bailey, w

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hich was disappointing. I’ve had the good fortune to sample the Cornelius line, as well as the Daddy Mac, both of which were excellent, with my personal nod going to the Cornelius, although I like the mellowness of the larger ring gauges to the Corona Gorda, which has a little more of a bite. Not to say the Corona Gorda isn’t excellent, it’s just different and that little bite covers the nuance that I like in the Toro. The Daddy Mac is also very good, and the new Venganza is a step up in strength. Both are made at the La Zona factory in Esteli, Nicaraugua, a factory producing some of the better cigars I’ve smoked over the last couple years.

 

Cornelius & Anthony is the premium cigar division of the Bailey’s tobacco company that’s been growing Flue Cured tobacco in Virginia since the 1860s. The family has been involved in tobacco for five generations and the parent company, S&M Brands makes Bailey’s, Tahoe and Riverside cigarettes and Lex12 electronic cigarettes. The Cornelius line is made at El Titan de Bronze in Miami.  They also have the rosado wrapped Meridian in the premium line, also made at La Zona.

 

CorneliusandAnthony_Venganza_RobustoOver the last couple evenings I smoked the Cornelius & Anthony Venganza Robusto, and it’s unusual for me to smoke the same cigar twice in a row, but this cigar was one I wanted to go back to. One was a sample from the trade show, and one was a sample that came in the mail.  Both had a nice, open draw, after straight cutting the first, I decided to V-cut the second. The V-cut restricted the draw a little, and gave me a little longer smoking time, which I liked. It started out with a bit of strength, them mellowed a little, but still had some punch throughout.  It went from spicy and woody to some nuts and coffee, with a bit of pepper throughout.  Venganza means vengeance in Spanish, and th

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e cigar fits the name, as it is more aggressive than the other cigars in the line, but still balanced and full of great flavor.  I personally love the colors of the bands across the line, hardly a criteria for enjoyment, but it’s been hard for me to not pick one of these up as long as they are in my humidor. Great cigars!

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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