CigarCraig's Blog

by CigarCraig | February 15, 2015 · 10:20 am

La Aurora Untamed, La Palina and Recluse: All Maduro, All Dominican, All Tasty!

The La Aurora Untamed is a new release from the oldest cigar maker in the Dominican Republic, and is a departure from the norm in a few ways. As it’s name suggests, the Untamed is a strong cigar. It’s got a dark, rustic Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper surrounding Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The packaging is also a departure from the traditional and classy presentation of the rest of the La Aurora line, with a noticeably agitated lion’s head roaring in front of what appear to be bloody scratch marks in black, red and foil. It’s a striking band that some consider tacky, but I rather enjoy it. The cigar is made for my palate. I’ve had a very long histor

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y with La Aurora, going back nearly 20 years to my very first box purchase, and my experience has

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run the gamut from not caring for certain cigars at all, to absolutely adoring certain blends. This Untamed, at least in the robusto size (I’ll certainly try more sizes), is a contender for my overall favorite, at least in the normally affordable range. I can’t count the Preferidos or the Puro Vintage lines, as they are special, either because they taste great, or because of events surrounding them that evoke pleasing memories (I’ve smoked Puro Vintage 2003s whenever granddaughters were born, I only can only have two more granddaughters…). The Untamed is strong, bold, and loaded with rich, sweet, earthy cocoa and espresso flavors that I love. I seriously dig this smoke, box worthy in my early opinion. Thank you to Jason at Miami Cigar and Co., and Gabriel Piñeres for providing these samples.

Taking a nearly 180° turn from the unapologetic, in-your-face nature of the La Aurora, Friday I decided to wrap up the week with a La Palina Black Label robusto that had been in the humidor for a while. In it’s uncellophaned state, I felt it was time to spare it any further risk of wear and tear and smoke it up. This has a Brazilian maduro wrapper, another wrapper I really like, and is more refined and delicate in flavor, sophisticated, perhaps. This cigar is made in the Dominican Republic also (PDR factory? Working from memory, not always a good thing for me to do), and has Dominican and Nicaraguan leaf in both the double binder and the filler. I really enjoyed this perfect smoking cigar for it’s complexity, it kept me guessing as opposed to having a bold flavor throughout, and was entertaining to smoke.

Wrapping up a string of Dominican maduros, yesterday I took a long afternoon walk with the Recluse Draconian Sidewinder #3 from Iconic Leaf. This one has an Ecuador maduro wrapper, I’m guessing Habano. The cigar is a formidable 7″ x 57, and is their proprietary Sidewinder shape which is a round/box press hybrid with a head reminiscent of a blunted woodworking tool one might use to make mortise joints, or square off a hole, or perhaps recess a hinge. What’s great about this cigar is it’s self cutting, a gentle squeeze pops the cap, which you peel away and it looks like you have it a cut with a brand new guillotine cutter. This cigar fell somewhere between the La Aurora and La Palina cigars in terms of strength and complexity. It was solidly in the medium bodied range, with nice dark coffee flavors and great construction. I’ve been a fan of these guys from the beginning, they are innovative and make exceptional cigars. This one was a good 2 hour smoke, and the head of the cigar was much more comfortable in the mouth than a 57 ring cigar “in the round”. this particular example had been in my humidor since the 2013 IPCPR show. Interesting to note, I took a walk that was about two and a quarter miles, and when I got home I had about four inches left that I was able to enjoy in the porch. Seven inch cigars are a commitment.

I came across this article at Barron’s website today: Nanny Doesn’t Like Cigars which is well worth the read. There are a couple points that I think are off the mark though. I don’t think the Nannies want to do away with smoking because of the health issues, I’d say it costs more to keep people alive longer than it does to have them die early from smoking related disease. Consider people living for one third of their lives on social security, medicare, etc., has to be more expensive than “treating” tobacco related diseases. Also, I think they are more concerned with seeing people doing something enjoyable, if it were just nicotine that is bad, I have no problem banning tomatoes and eggplant, both of which contain nicotine. I don’t like them, they must be banned. Sounds ridiculous, right? But it’s the same thing. The government should worry about more important things than trying to put people out of business and regulate what we do with our free time. Down with the pleasure police! Everything in moderation, raise your children to know the difference between right and wrong, and join Cigar Rights of America!

Off of my soapbox and on with my Sunday. I may have to visit a shop for a smoke today as it’s cold, the wind has had it’s way with the plastic on the back porch…and it’s cold…Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, Cigar Rights of America, cigars, La Aurora, La Palina, Recluse, Untamed

by CigarCraig | February 11, 2015 · 9:14 pm

Macanudo, Leccia, Tortuga and Montecristo Cigars

Sunday was supposed to be much warmer, in the 50s, but I don’t think it got out of the 40s. I still managed to get two cigar walks in. I started with a Macanudo. I know what you’re thinking, but this was the Estate Reserve no. III robusto from the 2013 IPCPR show. The Estate Reserve uses Dominican tobacco for the binder and filler, which is aged eight to ten years, and a proprietary wrapper leaf grown by a private grower in the Connecticut river valley. The cigar is silky smooth and loaded with clean, nutty flavor. I was struck by how slow this cigar burned. I smoked it well over 90 minutes, and it was even and never required any extra attention. I would almost go as far as saying it’s worth the hefty price tag, but I have trouble justifying any cigar that exceeds the $10 price point. I’m a cheap SOB.

I followed it after dinner with a Leccia White Robusto from last year. The big difference between this and the same sized Macanudo was the burn time. I barely got an hour from this rubusto. Granted, they were stored in different humidors but the difference was startling. It still was a tasty smoke. The African wrapper gives a nice flavor, and the Pennsylvania seco in the filler gives an interesting pop, even if it’s only the faintest hint. It’s a very tasty cigar and I hope it doesn’t change with the change of ownership. I prefer this over the Black, as I am not the fan of the fire cured tobacco that others are, but I like the Luchador even more, and that would have been my choice, but I only have two left. I’ve only smoked this in the robusto, I’ll have to try another size one of these days to see how it stacks up. Sam makes great cigars, I look forward to see what he does with the tobaccos available to him now at General.

Monday I smoked another Tortuga Coyote Negro No. 500, the cedar wrapped belicoso with the Brazilian Mata Fina Maduro wrapper. I had heard a lot from Victor over the last week or so, he appeared on The Cigar Authority (again!) and I understand he made an appearance on the local Cigar Time show that the guys at Cigar Cigars (a Southeast PA chain of 10 stores, one of which is two miles from home). which plays on a local cable access channel. It’s a pretty bad show, but it’s about cigars, so it gets points for that. Anyway, the Coyote Negro is a really tasty cigar that I’ve talked about a lot so I won’t spend much time on it except to say that if you can find anything from the Tortuga line buy it and smoke it, you won’t be sorry. This coming from one of the few Tortuga Appointed Cigar Blogs. 🙂

Tuesday I selected a Montecristo Monte Conde, a 5 1/2 x 48 corona gorda (for want of a better size name) that came from my trip last year to the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival. I don’t give Altadis quite enough exposure so I figured it was about time. This cigar burned well and the Ecuador Habano wrapper gave a nice flavor to to mostly Dominican cigar. There’s a Nicaraguan Corojo leaf used as half of the double binder. It started pretty mild, and built to a solid medium. I like the size, and it was a nice smoke. it had a cute little pigtail cap too. I will try to get to some other Altadis cigars as I come across them in the humidors. When the cabinet arrives I’m sure I’ll find some as I move cigars in, along with some other forgotten goodies.

That’s about it for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, leccia, macanudo, Monte, Montecristo, Tortuga

by CigarCraig | February 8, 2015 · 9:19 am

Smoking Semi-Traditional Cigars from Rocky Patel, Perdomo and La Flor Dominicana

I titled this the way I did because it seems like there are three basic categories when it comes to cigar brands, the old school, the boom brands that stuck, and the newer boutiques. Obviously the brands with Cuban names fall into the first category, Partagas, Montecristo, as well as Macanudo, which

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has been around since way before the mid-90s cigar boom. Then there are brands like Perdomo, Rocky Patel, La Flor Dominicana, that started in the 90s, either had a family tradition in the tobacco industry or not, bu

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t managed to succeed in making consistently great cigars over the years. Then there are the hundreds of boutiques that have come along in the last few years, some have morphed into huge enterprises like AJ Fernandez and Pepin Garcia and Drew Estate, others keep it small and cater to a niche market. Just something that I thought about after I looked back at what I smoked this week and realized that, once again, there was a pattern.

To start off, Thursday I was rummaging around looking for something to smoke when I came across a box pressed robusto called Evolution by Rocky Patel. It’s so hard to keep Rocky’s releases straight, but Will Cooper let me know it was a Famous Smoke Shop exclusive. This was a 5″ x 50 with a Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, and was not a bad cigar tha

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t can be bought for around $3 by the box. I wasn’t “wowed”, but it was perfectly acceptable. I personally think my lowest rating on a cigar would be either “disappointing”, or “a waste of my time”, and this was neither. While it wasn’t particularly notable, there was nothing bad I can say about it. Flavor was good, burn and draw were excellent, it was a good cigar. The name of this cigar didn’t have anything to do with the complexity as far as I was concerned, but it’s a good smoke that I found satisfying. Perhaps I’ve become a cigar snob…

Friday nights call for a great cigar, so I picked out my last Perdomo 20th Anniversary Sun Grown Robusto. I really developed a fondness for this cigar in the Maduro wrapper, especially in the Corona Grande size, but this 5″ x 56 robusto is a really nice smoke. I noticed that it had been Nick Perdomo’s 50th birthday (the dude is younger than me!), so it seemed fitting to smoke one of his cigars. I remember my 50th birthday like it was a year and a half ago…but I digress. The 20th Anniversary uses the highest primings from Esteli, Condega and Jalapa in Nicaragua, and that sun grown wrapper is aged in a bourbon barrel for an additional 14 months (one would imagine it aged in traditional bales for several years before it’s day in the barrel). This is one smoove and flavorful cigar, and very well made. It really may be a toss up now which wrapper I prefer, I’d have to say there’s a time and a place for both, and this Sun Grown version of the 20th Anniversary is rich and elegant and quite enjoyable.

Saturday I went with a La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel Maduro which I’ve had taunting me on the top tray of one of the humidors (one of my two Adorini humidors, which have turned out to be really excellent, rock solid humidors. I can only hope the new cabinet is as trouble free when it arrives!). The chisel is a fun size to smoke. It’s a torpedo with a flattened head, somewhat akin to a pipe stem. I chose to snip a bit off with the scissors, as I’ve been unimpressed with any of the other creative ways people have found to cut this, including Litto Gomez’s recommended method of squeeze and

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pop the cap off. I like a more open draw, so I took about an eighth of an inch off. This cigar had one of the straightest, most perfect burns I’ve seem on a cigar in some time. The draw was good, the flavor was rich, meaty, spicy but not overpowering. I remember smoking the smaller version of this nearly 20 years ago, a Chiselito, and it was great, it’s nice to see that they are still great after all these years. LFD is really doing it right, I’ve enjoyed several cigars from the line after becoming re-acquainted with it last year. I smoked this cigar until I couldn’t hold it any longer.

That’s it for today. It’s supposed to be in the 50’s here today, and if it weren’t for the little bit of snow remaining on the ground, I’d drag the chipper out and get some yard waste cleaned up. No snow tires on the chipper though, plenty of other things that need doing.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, La Flor Dominicana, Perdomo, rocky patel

by CigarCraig | February 4, 2015 · 10:05 pm

An Ortega Mini Cigar, a Nestor Miranda and a Short Story

It’s been Maduro week so far! Monday turned out to be very cold and windy, and after taking Macha on a car ride (she loves the car) to PetSmart for a little outing in lieu of out evening walk, I hit the back patio with an Ortega Mini Cigar in maduro. Oddly, I was about to grab a little A. Flores Gran Reserva half corona when I came across the Ortega Mini Maduro from the 2013 IPCPR show. These are both made in the PDR factory in the Dominican Republic, which didn’t occur to me until I lit up the Ortega. I enjoy everything that I’ve smoked from Eddie Ortega, especially the Serie D maduros, and these little 4″ x 38 cigars are perfect for a half hour or so in my protected, but unheated patio. It smokes like a much larger cigar, with all the richness and flavor. It’s kinda like the last half of a lancero without the time commitment.

Tuesday was a little better, although still pretty cold, so I went with a Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro in the 4½ x 50 Robusto size. I’ve had the good fortune of smoking a few of these and it’s a really tasty cigar. It’s made in Don Pepin Garcia’s My Father factory, so it’s got a bit of the signature spice that one would expect, but is loaded with smooth, cocoa flavors and burns and draws exceptionally well. The new bands on these are very cool, the maduro having the red accents with black and silver foil, which makes it tricky for an amateur like me to photograph, but is quite striking otherwise. This is a tasty smoke, as is it’s Habano wrapped sibling. I am looking forward to sampling the Ecuador Connecticut one of these days when the weather is better. I find that lighter cigars get lost in the cold weather, and the risk of the fragile wrapper splitting is greater. Jason Wood at Miami Cigar an Co. did a really nice job on this line.

Tonight I got off to a late start after replacing the guts in one of the toilets. I’m hesitant to replace these commodes with modern ones, I never realized how much I missed the flushing power of the old three gallon flush johns. Somehow it seems more efficient to use three gallons once, as opposed to 1.6 gallons twice or more. Another case of shortsighted over regulation I suppose. Along those lines, I re-upped my CRA membership today, something everyone should do. Anyway, I ju

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st came in from enjoying the heck out of an Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story Maduro that I had bought 2 years ago. A business associa

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te just sent me a bag of Fuente cigars, and there was a Short Story Maduro in there, so I figured it was as good a time as any to burn the one I had been holding on to. Because of the way the head of these is finished, I recommend a straight cut as opposed to the punch. There was a fold that the punch didn’t get and I wasn’t getting a good draw, even after burning through the perfecto tip. A quick snip and it was free flowing broadleaf goodness all the way down to a tiny nub. The Short Story has been a special treat for me for nearly twenty years, but the maduro is a relatively new version for me. I loved it, but there’s nothing quite like the Cameroon wrapped SS. Either way this is a cigar that should be experienced, if it seems pricey for such a little cigar, and I can get thing in the $6 range here in PA, I think it’s a classic, and a great value as it gives an excellent smoking experience.

That’s all I have for now. I have a cigar I need to smoke this week for an upcoming Prime Living Magazine article I’m in the midst of writing, you can check out my prior articles in the Gentleman’s Room area of their website. This month features Arielle of La Sirena‘s Oceano, a very tasty smoke.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Arturo Fuente, cigar, cigars, Eddie Ortega, Miami Cigar and Co, Nestor Miranda, PDR

by CigarCraig | February 1, 2015 · 3:46 pm

A CAO Flathead and a Headlines 1st and 2nd Edition by Fusion Cigars

I’ve only got a few cigars to feature today, largely for two reasons. First is I came home from work Friday with a screaming migraine, the second wave of which I woke up with today), and yesterday I just managed to get too much accomplished in one of our new house renovations. I

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attribute this weekend’s migraines to the weather, they are calling for snow and rain again, and that’s generally a pretty normal trigger. The room wave been working on lately is a 12×10 room between the garage and the family room which houses the heater and water heater, and will serve as a mudroom/storage room. It got painted top to bottom, ceiling, walls and an epoxy coat on the floor. Not terribly exciting, but progress none the less.

Thursday was another one of those days I knew exactly what I wanted to smoke all day. It was cold, so I knew I’d opt for something short, and it

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had to be loaded with straight forward flavor on the strong end of the spectrum. The CAO Flathead Sparkplug was the obvious choice. This was the fifth size released in the Flathead line of square pressed, Connecticut Broadleaf wrapped cigars that I personally find to be right up my alley. The Sparplug is 4½” x 50 with the same flat head as the rest of the line, but has a closed foot. It’s also individually boxed like it’s automotive namesake would be. The flavors are strong, sweet, espresso, the perfect accompaniment for a brisk (read: brrrrr!) evening. I love this line, even the gargantuan 7 x 70 Big Block, it has everything I enjoy in a cigar, and the packaging is pretty spiffy too.

After finishing up with my painting and stuff, I headed to the back porch with a new cigar from Fusion Cigars which are distributed by Antillian Cigar Corp. The Headlines 1st Edition is an interesting cigar from the folks at Fusion in the Tampa, Florida area, where they have a Fusion cigar Lounge. This cigar was a toro, but I swore it was a corona as it came along with the 5½ x 60 Maduro 2nd Edition. It looked smaller than the 6″ x 50 that it actually is and smoked very quickly. I think I was through this cigar in 45 minutes. It had an interesting flavor, I imagine due to the Pennsylvania seed broadleaf wrapper which is grown in the Dominican Republic, where the rest of the components come from. It was medium bodied and meaty, it had a savory flavor that was quite different. Not a terribly bad smoke, and I’ll revisit this after some humidor time.

Today I smoked the Headlines Maduro 2nd Edition, also from Fusion Cigars. I feel like this one had a lighter wrapper than the 1st Edition, it’s listed as Dominican Habano Oscuro, but isn’t as dark as you would imagine. Perhaps this wasn’t the right choice for an afternoon walk, although it wasn’t as frigidly cold as we are expecting snow tonight. It was a mild smoke, and had some trouble staying lit as the wrapper didn’t want to burn. Still, there were some entertaining flavors and it burned much longer than the toro. The remaining samples will get put down for a rest to be revisited on a nice, warm day with little distraction. The draw was on the loose side of perfect, and it had a straight burn, and it definitely had a different flavor than it’s sibling. Proof that timing is everything. If I manage a second cigar today, it’ll be something on the strong side and something familiar.

I understand there’s a game on tonight, and I understand you aren’t allowed to call it the Super Bowl without getting into trouble? We’ll see how that works out since I just said Super Bowl…I see it referred to as “the big game” and such. It doesn’t seem like it’s a big problem saying World Series, or Stanley Cup or anything like that, what’s the deal? Anyway, that’s nonsense, I hope the team your rooting for wins, I know I have readers in both the New England area and the Pacific Northwest. I don’t even tune in for the commercials or halftime show…doesn’t interest me in the least. I’ll just be sitting here waiting to see if the weather people are right again forecasting this winter storm. 🙂

Until the next time,

CigarCraig