by | May 15, 2016 · 10:07 am

Another Tatuaje, La Gran Llave and Herrera Esteli and Some Cigar News

Kafie 1901 Coffee Co copyI’m going to start with this item from Gaby Kafie of Kafie Trading Co., maker of the Kafie 1901 cigars.  In an effort to help the CRA fight the impending FDA regulation, which, by the way, directly threatens Gaby’s business as well as MANY others, He has created the Kafie 1901 Coffee Co.donating a percentage of each sale to Cigar Rights of America to help in the fight. Here’s the text of the press release:

 

KAFIE TRADING COMPANY, LLC INTRODUCES KAFIE 1901 COFFEE CO.
TO HELP SUPPORT CIGAR RIGHTS OF AMERICA.

In light of the recent news delivered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding total regulation of the premium cigar industry, our family has decided to take action, but we need your help. We cannot do this alone.

Earlier this year, we decided to introduce to market a specialty grade organic coffee from Honduras. Our family has been in the coffee business since 1933 in Honduras. Our new line “Kafie 1901 Coffee” is intended to give coffee lovers an experience like no other. Quality is our utmost focus. This Grade 1, Organic, 100% Arabic bean coffee from select farms in Honduras will be the ideal pairing for a premium cigar. We are also proud to announce that all of our coffee will be roasted and packaged in the United States, thus creating jobs here at home. As with all our offerings, we guarantee the finest quality product.

With the FDA dropping this bombshell on us and the entire premium cigar industry, our business plans have now evolved. We have taken the initiative to partner up with Cigar Rights of America (C.R.A.), under the guidance of Executive Director Mr. Glynn Loope. In an effort to protect our rights as cigar makers, brand owners, retailers, and

buy nolvadex online http://mediaidinc.com/Contact/Maps/jpg/nolvadex.html no prescription pharmacy

connoisseurs, a percentage of each sale wi

buy zithromax online http://mediaidinc.com/Contact/Maps/jpg/zithromax.html no prescription pharmacy

ll benefit the mission of Cigar Rights of America. The C.R.A. works to protect the premium cigar industry in the United States, and throughout Central America. Now more than ever, we all need to come together and fuel this common cause.

We feel strongly that this venture will not only raise much needed funds for the C.R.A., but it will also create a greater awareness of the attack we are under. It is essential that we all unite towards this common goal.

Our coffee will be available through a participating retailers network. Inquiries are welcome. Your feedback and support is greatly appreciated.

Together we can make a difference,
Dr. Gaby Kafie
President and Founder
Kafie Trading Company, LLC

It’s very important that we continue to contact our elected officials to let them know that what the FDA is doing is over-reaching and unconscionable. They are going to put thousands of Americans out of work, and tens of thousands in Latin America.  It’s unnecessary and wrong, and it needs to be stopped.

 

Tatuaje_HavanaVI_NoblesThursday I took a half-day from work as my wife and I were going to a concert in the evening (read the review on my wife’s site here), so I selected a robusto for a pre-concert walk. I had received a great little care package from regular reader, Dan, containing, among other things, a couple of the Tatuaje Havana VI Nobles and I was itching to give one a try.  First off, I’m confused as to why these aren’t listed on Tatuaje’s website, I thought this was a pretty common line, and I see them listed at all the major and not so major online retailers. I’m quite sure I’ve seen these in brick and mortar retailers too, and may even have bought one or two there. So why this line isn’t listed on the site is anyone’s guess. Whether it’s on the company website or not, it’s a solid smoke, medium bodied, delicious cigar. It had some nice Mocha notes and a little spice and burned perfectly and was a perfect accompaniment for a walk on a beautiful spring day. Thanks to Dan for sending it, and I will get to the others very soon!

 

LaGranLlave_TorpedoFriday I dug into some samples I received from Michael Argenti recently, samples of his new line, La Gran Llave. according to a Cigar Aficionado article from February announcing the line, the blend consists of a dark Mexican San Andrés wrapper, an Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers. These are made at the AJ Fernandez factory, and, quite frankly, they look like cigars made there, and that’s not a knock.  The torpedo I smoked was beautiful, box pressed and pretty flawless. I was actually surprised to read that it had a San Andrés wrapper, which I read after smoking it. It didn’t look, feel or really taste like a San Andrés wrapped cigar, and I can usually pick that sort of thing out, or, I should go look again. It was a great tasting cigar, a little coffee, some woody notes, a very enjoyable smoke. It was a quality cigar, and I look forward to further exploring the blend.

 

HerreraEsteli_TAA ExclusiveYesterday I selected a cigar that’s exclusive to Tobacconists Association of America (TAA) from Drew Estate, the Herrera Esteli TAA Exclusive.  This is a 6″ x 52 size which is a common vitola with Drew Estate, and is Willie’s first cigar with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, and has a Brazilian Mata Fina binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I’ve enjoyed the Herrera Esteli line in the past, it’s an elegant blend, very refined and flavorful. The addition of the Connecticut Broadleaf gives it a meaty flavor, at least on first lighting, which was unexpected. I lit the cigar and it took me a while to figure out that It had a flavor quality like a grilled steak. Very interesting. It burned well enough, although it hit a stretch in the middle where it took some effort to keep burning. It could have been that there was a lot of moisture in the air since it just rained, or a void, but I don’t get a lot of problems with Drew Estate cigars. It was odd, but easily overcome and didn’t negatively impact the experience.  There’s now two TAA cigars I’d pick up (no TAA stores around though!), and I’ll revisit the other one this week hopefully. Another good one from Willie Herrera and Drew Estate.

 

That wraps this weekend’s post up. I received some other press releases, but everyone else posts those anyway, there was new information from Córdoba & Morales Cigars, Gran Habano, Schrader Cellars and Fratello. I hope the fact that I rarely post the press releases doesn’t stop people from sending them! It’s just that a bunch of others already do it.  If you want me to post that information, I’ll work it in, just let me know

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

Share

6 Comments

Filed under News, Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

by | May 11, 2016 · 10:03 pm

Tres Lindas Cubanas La Negrita, La Mulata and La Clarita Cigars

A few weeks ago I received three lovely torpedos from Yvette at Tres Lindas Cubanas Cigars, and if it sounds like I start every review like this it’s because I like to let new arrivals rest a few weeks in the humidor before sampling them. I think it’s especially important when I only have one example to give it the best poss

buy neurontin online https://fromaddictiontorecovery.com/japan/htm/neurontin.html no prescription pharmacy

ible chance of performing well. There have been cigars I had several of that I smoked shortly after receiving and I knew upon smoking that they needed more time. People are kind enough to share their precious TresLindasCubanas_La Negrita_Torpedobabies with me, they deserve to me treated well.  Yvonne and Yvette Rodriguez are the twin sisters behind the brand, they are first generation Cuban-Americans, and are passionate about cigars.  The three cigars are the La Clarita,

buy ozempic online https://fromaddictiontorecovery.com/japan/htm/ozempic.html no prescription pharmacy

La Mulata and La Negrita, the Conecticut, Habano and Maduro respectively. I bet you can’t guess which one I started with! Monday I lit up the Maduro wrapped La Negrita, a 6½ x 52 torpedo with a beautiful dark, oily wrapper.  All the cigars are made in Esteli, with Nicaraguan binders and fillers. The La Negrita was an excellent cigar, heavy flavors of espresso and dark chocolate, exactly what I love. I couldn’t not smoke this one first, and I was so glad I did, although that often leads to disappointment down the road (it didn’t). Great cigar.

 

TresLindasCubanas_La Mulata_TorpedoT

buy zanaflex online https://naseaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/png/zanaflex.html no prescription pharmacy

uesday I smoked the Habanos wrapped La Mulata torpedo.  The best I can tell, this one is a Nicaraguan Puro (the Maduro might be too, the information I got didn’t specify), it was medium to full-bodied and loaded with sweet earthy flavors. While the La Negrita had a draw that I would consider perfect, just a bit of resistance, the La Mulata had a very free draw, it’s fortunate that I snipped only a little bit off the perfect torpe

online pharmacy purchase arimidex online with best prices today in the USA

do head. This small opening eventually let to a bit of tar ooze, which I snipped off before I got any of the nastiness on my lips, which can run the rest of the cigar experience. Still, this was a very nice smoke.

 

TresLindasCubanas_La Clarita_TorpedoTonight I lit up the Ecuador Connecticut La Clarita. Shade wrapped cigars can go a couple different directions, they can be really good, or mild and flavorless. This example is anything but the later, it was full flavored and medium bodied. It had that nutty flavor that generally comes with the Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, probably my second favorite of the set.  It had a very open draw like the La Mulata, it would have been very easy to over smoke it and make a hot, nasty mess, but I smoked it gently and got a great, tasty smoking experience. It was very well-balanced and flavorful, I liked it quite a bit.

 

All three

online pharmacy purchase zithromax online with best prices today in the USA

were well made, flavorful and sa

buy motilium online https://naseaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/png/motilium.html no prescription pharmacy

tisfying to smoke. These may be hard to find, but while there isn’t a great deal of information about the cigars on the Tres Lindas Cubanas website, there is a list of retailers who carry these cigars and they are available for sale on the website. Keep up the good work,  Yvette and Yvonne, and thank you for sharing the fruits of your labor with me!

 

That’s if for now, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

Share

8 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | May 8, 2016 · 9:52 am

Some Bobalu Cigars, Camacho Shellback and the Contest Winner

Bobalu_TexasSelect_TorpedoA while ago I had included a cigar quiz courtesy of Bobalu Cigars in Austin, Texas which was pretty educational, so I wanted to smoke some of the cigar they roll right in Austin to see what they were all about. These guys have been around for a long time, kind of flying under the radar, at least mine. I remember hearing about them a long time ago, but they fell off my radar, I guess I assumed I would have heard more about a factory making cigars in the US. Anyway, I smoked a few of their cigars this week, the Texas Select Torpedo, and the Red Label Sun Grown Toro Grande. I would suspect the Texas Select is their flagship line. It’s got a Sumatra wrapper with Dominican fillers and all the tobaccos are aged five years.  I had a pretty good experience with this cigar,  it burned right, smoked right and had a little nutty flavor with a subtle milk chocolate. Not a bad smoke.

 

Bobalu_RedLabelSunGrown_Toro GrandeI followed that with the Red Label Sun Grown Toro Grande, which is a huge 7″ x 54 parejo. While I generally smoke the first half of my evening cigar while taking a walk, it was raining, so I skipped the walk and settled in on the back porch to enjoy this rather large cigar. This line was to commemorate the company’s 15 year anniversary, and If I knew how long the cigar has been on the market, I could deduce how long they have been around. If it just came out, they’ve been on the scene since 2001, which isn’t too shabby anyway, but one can assume this cigar has been around a few years longer than that, as my feeble memory seems to remember hearing about them in the later part of the 1990s.  This cigar is a Nicaraguan puro, it’s woody and nutty, and well made, requiring only a few touch-ups. I’d be interested in visiting the factory one day if I ever find myself in Austin, but in the mean time they have live Roller Cams (that they seem to have had since the invention of live cams) here if you want to watch them work.  While neither of these cigars were in my particular wheelhouse, they have a large range

of offerings listed on their site, many of which I’d be interested in trying.

 

Of course, we’ve all read about the FDA issuing the worst possible option for regulating cigars, the dreaded Option 1, which would basically do away with all cigars that came out since 2007, effectively ban any kind of cigar event (including the IPCPR show) and make things like me having contests giving away cigars impossible. I’m hoping that our elected officials can squash this nonsense through legislation and prevent the FDA (who, by the way, are defying Congress and the Office of Management and Budget, who’ve both said that Premium Cigars should not be included in regulation) from putting thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Latin Americans out of work.  If you aren’t a CRA member, now’s the time to join, tell them I sent you, and shame on you for waiting this long.

 

Camacho_ShellbackYesterday it rained again in the morning, but finally started clearing up later in the day. I tried another Bobalu offering, but it didn’t work as well as I would like and I’ll revisit that line some other time. For my evening walk I selected a Camacho Shellback, which I picked up a few weeks back when I was visiting a few shops in Delaware. While cigar taxes are higher in Delaware, they have no sales tax like we have in PA, so the cigar prices are just a little bit higher there than in PA, but not a big difference like other states. I think I paid $12 for this cigar because I wanted to try one, and it was there in front of me. I was a bit upset when I removed the foot band to find some chips in the wrapper, to me, a $12 cigar should be perfect buck naked, not using the band to hide damage.  This was a limited edition released in 2015, and Shellback relates to a US Navy term for a sailor who has crossed the equator. It’s got Nicaraguan guts with a Ecuador Habano wrapper. I enjoyed the cigar, although it had a drying effect on my mouth, an almost tannic quality. This is another cigar that’s not up my alley, really, but it was well made (except for the foot chips), and milder than I expected (or desired). There was some spice, there was some sweetness. The best cigars of the week were the Sobremesa and Nica Rusticas I shared Wednesday night with a great friend from high-school, those two are tough to follow, and there’s nothing better than sharing cigars and catching up with an old friend.

 

Contest Winner

AJFPrizeHopefully this isn’t the last contest here, heck, I’ll keep giving stuff away until the black helicopters catch up with me! To recap, Today’s lucky winner will receive an AJ Fernandez cap, a really nice metal ashtray, and a  five pack of the new cigar from AJ Fernandez, the Last Call, loveley and tasty little petite robustos (I guess).  I’ve consulted with the random number generator at Random.org, and was given the number 30. By my count, Howard Glaeser is the winner, please send me your address so I can ship these goodies out to you!  Thanks to all who entered, and thanks to Javier Carranza at AJ Fernandez Cigars for sending these goodies (even though his e-mail address comes back un

deliverable, anyone have a contact at AJF?).

 

That’s it for now. It’s Mother’s Day in the US, so do something nice for your mother if you want, take care of your children’s mother (or mothers, I’m not judging) or be a mother, listen to The Mothers, whatever…until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

Share

6 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review, Stores

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | May 4, 2016 · 6:27 pm

AJ Fernandez Last Call Cigar and a CONTEST!

AJF_Last CallOver the last couple days I’ve been smoking the newest cigar from AJ Fernandez, the Last Call.  The Last Call is 4½ x 48 and was originally made exclusively

buy amoxil online https://www.skincareandlaser.com/f

ormhandler/resources/words/php/amoxil.html no prescription pharmacy

for Abdel Fernandez in small batches to enjoy at home with guests during the fourth quarter of late night NFL games.  This cigar falls into their new “Portfolio Series”. They will be packaged in a 25-count box and the ble

nd is Habano Rosado wrapper from Ecuador, with a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers grown on AJ’s farms. These will be a brick and mortar exclusive. I smoked the first one on Monday, and I put a second one in my p

buy tirzepatide online http://francisholisticmedicalcenter.com/services/html/tirzepatide.html no prescription pharmacy

ocket expecting my evening walk to outlast the cigar. I was wrong, the cigar burned for well over an hour. It starts off quite strong, a little powerhouse, but by the midpoint it settled into a smooth, right smoke, with some creaminess and a hint of licorice here and there. Maybe it’s the covered foot that provides that blast of strength, but it takes an inch or so to mellow out, so that theory doesn’t hold water. This is a great little smoke, and the cigar burned perfectly and, as I  mentioned before, burned much longer than I expected.  I suspect these will be

released in the next few months, if not at the IPCPR show, but I’m sure they will be on retailers shelves by football season. These are currently appearing on retailers shelves and are priced in the $5 range.

 

AJFPrizeI  found myself overburdened with AJ Fernandez swag and samples, so let’s have a contest!  We’re back to the usual rules, leave a comment here, on this post, for an entry, and I’ll select a winner by random on Sunday, May 8, 2016.  The prize pack will be made up of a 5-pack of the Last Call cigars, an AJ Fernandez cap, and an AJ Fernandez pewter ashtray.  Must be of legal smoking age to win, and the winner must e-mail me with their address or I will hunt them down!

 

That’s it for t

oday, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

Share

83 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as , , , ,

by | May 1, 2016 · 10:53 am

Fausto, CroMagnon and Sobremesa Cigars

Fausto_FT127 RobustoA few weeks back when we were in Philly for the Pops concert, I made a stop at Holt’s on the way to the train station and picked up a couple Fausto Robustos in my continuing effort to familiarize myself with the Tatuaje range of cigars.  Technically, I believe, this is called the FT127 Robusto, measures 5″ x 54, comes in a 25 count box (I wish everyone would go back to the 25 count over the 20 count), and has a dark Habano Ecuador wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and filers.  I took one of these along Thursday night when we went to Harrah’s TomKeiferRacetrack and Casino in Chester, PA to see Tom Keifer (of Cinderella fame) play in their “The Block” showroom.  So 33 years or so ago I went to community college with Tom and hung out with him, obviously pre-Cinderella. A few years later when I was working in a record store, I opened a box of new releases to find a record from a band I had never heard of, Cinderella’s Night TomKeifer-CraigSongs, and recognized the guy on the jacket as my old friend Tom. I never was able to re-connect with Tom over the years, so after missing him at the pre-show meet and greet, we hung around afterwards by the tour bus, like fricken teenagers, only we weren’t the oldest ones there…and got to finally say hello and congratulate him on putting that community college music theory class (that we were both in) to good use.  Prior to the show, after getting a bite to eat, while feeding slot machines, I really enjoyed that Fausto FT 127 Robusto. It was a hearty smoke, nice dark flavors right up my alley. what a perfect smoke with a great burn and draw, and loads of deep, rich flavors of espresso and cocoa (my favorites). It was a great night, the show rocked, I was glad to reconnect with an old friend after so long, and I am just getting caught up on the sleep I lost…defiantly getting too old for hard rock shows…but I really enjoyed it, and the cigar.

 

CroMagnon_AtlatlI had a very busy and frustrating Friday at the day job, so I wanted to smoked something memorable on my evening walk and unwind time.  I had bought (not weaseled) a few CroMagnon Atlatl lanceros when we were at SMoKE Manayunk for the RoMaCraft event, and I only had room for one of them in the lancero section of the humidor, so that made my decision easy. An Atlatl is an Aztec spear throwing device, basically giving the spear thrower a mechanical advantage over just throwing the spear by hand, it’s a lever of sorts. These cigars are store exclusive/event only cigars, I felt compelled to add some to my lancero selection. On a side note, SMoKE has an unparalleled lancero selection, Kosta, the owner is a lancero fan and puts every one he can find in his generously appointed humidor. Anyway, the Atlatl has all the great flavor of the CroMagnon line, I sound like a broken record (for the younger readers, that’s a record with a scratch that skips and repeats itself over and over), but it has those coffee cocoa flavors I love, but in a sharper, more focused way due to the 38 ring gauge. I dig lanceros from time to time, but in most cases I enjoy the more rounded flavors from larger rings, so it’s often hard to compare the flavor of a lancero to it’s larger siblings, so I can only recommend smoking them all, in the case of CroMagnon, they are all good!

 

Sobremesa_EleganteenCedrosWrapping up the week yesterday, I felt like I had a couple great cigars that were going to be a tough act to follow. I had spent the day cutting my lawn, spreading some mulch, taking Macha to a nearby town’s flea market kind of thing where my wife and daughter had a booth selling some stuff, and celebrating my granddaughter’s 5th birthday. It was a crazy day, and when I finally got home I went big. Several weeks ago we went to Famous Smoke Shop’s Leaf Cigar Bar in Easton, PA to hang out with Steve and Cindy Saka, and Cindy laid a couple of the new Sobremesa Elegantes en Cedros cigars on me, with the caveat to let the rest because they were “not ready”. I figured a month in the humidor would suffice. This line extension is supposed to be released at the July IPCPR show, is a 7″ x 50 cedar sleeved parajo. The blend is tweaked for each vitola in the line, so each size is designed to be a little different, but the addition of the cedar sleeve makes a very distinct change from, say, the El Americano toro, which is similar in size. The cedar flavor is quite dominant, and tasty! I really couldn’t imagine this cigar being any more “ready” as it’s burn was perfect, there were no construction issues at all, and I spent a wonderful two hours with this cigar just enjoying the crap out of it. It was the perfect end to a very good day.

 

That’s all I have for now, it’s a rainy Sunday here in PA, I may put a new lamp in the smoking patio and clean it up a bit, and catch up on some relaxing. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

Share

5 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , ,