CigarCraig's Blog

by CigarCraig | April 2, 2014 · 8:54 pm

Partagas 1845 Extra Oscuro and Extra Fuerte Cigars

I’ve been sampling the new additions to the Partagas 1845 line this week. The regular 1845 was released about 2 years ago and I really enjoyed them, I thought it was a solid addition to an already excellent line. This year they’ve come out with two line extensions, the Extra Fuerte and Extra Oscuro. As they’ve recently done with the La Gloria Cubana Serie R Esteli and Black, they’ve earmarked the Extra Fuerte for Brick and Mortar stores and the Extra Oscuro for the Internet and catalog retailers. I’m not sure how I feel about that, by the way. On the one hand, it gives each outlet something special and exclusive, on the other hand, it makes one have to go one place or the other to buy and splits the sale. If you were morally opposed to online shopping, you can’t get one, and if you have no other option than to order online, you miss out on the other. I suppose General Cigar Co. knows what they are doing, or they wouldn’t be so huge. I received samples of each from General Cigar Co. last week and couldn’t wait to smoke them.

So, you all know which cigar I had to smoke first, right? Monday I grabbed an Extra Oscuro and took it for a walk. The Robusto Gordo is 5½ x 52, a very good size for my tastes. It has a Connecticut Habano Oscuro wrapper which is very dark and oily. The purple band looks very nice on this dark wrapper. This reminded one of a bit smoother version of another favorite Partagas, the Black. Back in October of 2011 when I visited the General Cigar Factory, one evening at dinner we were given some unbanded samples and tasting sheets to complete, and I remember one of the cigars had a nice, dark wrapper that I mentioned to Jhonys Diaz, who runs the show for General in the DR, that I thought it was the same wrapper as the Partagas Black and he nodded and winked. I wonder now if those were early blend samples of the 1845 line? Anyway, this cigar had the coffee/cocoa flavors that I so enjoy and had a perfect burn and draw. This is a winner, it’s almost too bad these aren’t available in the brick and mortar stores.

Tuesday evening I thought about smoking something foolish in honor of April Fools Day, but that Partagas Extra Fuerte practically jumped out of the humidor at me. I had no choice but to fire it up. Just about the only similarity between this and the Extra Oscuro is that they use a unique barrel aging process in aging the filler, in the Oscuro it’s the Dominican filler that’s Barrel aged, in the Fuerte it’s the Nicaraguan. I remember seeing this barrel aging when I toured the facility, and I’ve seen it at Drew Estate as well. The wrapper is a high priming Ecuador Habano, and is a nice, dark brown. It’s got an oily sheen and is quite tasty. Again, I enjoyed this one, although I thought that it needed a little more humidor time to really shine. The flavors were maybe a little bolder than the original 1845. This one will be available on your local shops and not online.

The folks at GCC continue to make some very good cigars as far as my palate is concerned. I dig the new La Glorias, CAOs as well as these Partagas. I was poking around one of the coolerdors and came across a sampler from my 2011 visit that had a Benji Menendez Partagas Master Series that I may have to smoke one of these days (along with the other 4 nicely aged cigars that are in there). I have trouble breaking up cool samplers like that for some reason. It’s a disease.

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

CigarCraig

4 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, general cigars, Partagas

by CigarCraig | March 30, 2014 · 11:43 am

A Relajado, a CAO Flathead, and a Byron Cigar

Thursday I revisited the Relajado Robusto, which is a house brand from Best Cigar Prices. The cigar is made by General cigar, the trademark rounded head gives tha

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t away. Despite the band being pretty cheesy, and looking like a cheap bundle cigar instead of a reasonably priced boxed cigar, this was pretty darned nice. It reminded me a little of the Macanudo Cru Royal…a little…it has an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. This is a mild to medium cigar that has some sweet leather flavors. It burned OK, not razor straight but not needing correction. Nice smoke, but the band kills me on this, Based solely on presentation, I’d definitely pass this up on the shelf (figuratively, this is only available at Best Cigar Prices). I’ve mentioned this to Jason there, so I’m not blind-siding him. I hope to get up-state to Drums, PA to visit these guys one of these days. Thanks to Jason for sending these along to try, so far I’m quite impressed with the exclusive cigars from BCP. I really like the Six-Sixty and the Alec Bradley Star Insignia too.

A few weeks ago I lied to you. I said that I had the CAO Flathead Big Block 770 in my humidor, when I actually had the Carb 660. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again. I took Friday off from work to get some things done, and one of the things I got done was taking this CAO Flathead Carb 660 for a walk. Our dog and I took a nice long walk while I smoked this 6″ x 60 square pressed cigar. I am going to have to bite the bullet and get one of the 7x70s just to complete the set, I suppose, as I really enjoy the dark roast coffee, cocoa flavors these cigars have. I think I like the Camshaft the best o

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f the bunch, 5″X 56 is just an all around more manageable size and of the three of four sizes I’ve smoked I liked that one the best in terms of balance. I can make the assumption that the 7″ x 70 won’t be as good as the 6″ x 60, but I like to collect the data first hand. That’s not to say I didn’t like the Carb, I did. The square press makes it feel smaller than the 60 ring, and it burned unusually well. This line is loaded with Connecticut Broadleaf goodness. I know there are loyalists and purists who poo-poo the CAO line in the General Cigar era, but they are missing out. Rick, Ed and their team have really made some good cigars for CAO, and the Flathead line is, so far, my favorite. I purchased this Carb, as well as the Piston I smoked previously, and I’ll buy them again.

Saturday was a rainy day, so my plans to do some yard work were put off once again. I ran a couple errands and took a chair out to the garage and lit up a cigar I’d been trying to find a good reason to smoke since Dave Garofalo, of 2 Guys Smoke Shop, gave this to me at the IPCPR show last year. The Byron line of cigars is made in Costa Rica by Nelson Alphonso. Señor Alphonso is the gentleman responsible for most of the modern Habanso S.A. packaging, the jars and humidors, all the fancy stuff. He started making cigar in Costa Rica under the Byron, Attabey and Bandolero marques a few years ago. I smoked the Byron Londineses, which is 5½ x 54. These are seriously pricey cigars, they come in a beautiful ceramic jars, not unlike the Cuban special editions. As far as the tobaccos involved in these, it’s a big secret, but I seem to recall hearing that they color sort the filler leaves to make sure the flavor is consist

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ent. This certainly adds to the cost of production. I knew going in that this was a pricey cigar, but I had no idea it was a $30 cigar. You know me, I’m a cheap bastid, I think the most I’ve paid for a cigar is around $12. I did smoke this with an open mind and a clean palate and it was a wonderful cigar. At one point, I swear I had a hint of buttered popcorn in the middle of the cigar. It came and went quickly, but it was there. The rest was a buttery smooth, flavorful cigar that burned perfectly. This was quite a nice smoke and I appreciate Dave giving me the chance to try a cigar I certainly wouldn’t purchase for myself. I was told once that a small amount of Cuban product is allowed by law based on weight, so the heavier the packaging, the more Cuban ingredients could be used. I found this to be hard to believe, and I haven’t been able to verify it, but I’ve smoked the Byron and Bandolero and there’s a little “Twang” in both that is reminiscent of Cuban tobacco. Considering Señor Alphonso’s close ties to the Cuban cigar Industry, he certainly has access to Cuban tobacco, or he was able to find other tobaccos that replicate this profile. I don’t suppose we’ll ever know, and if anyone knows anything about this loophole in the trade embargo, please let us know!

That’s it for today. I’ll be looking for a cigar later today to either celebrate the Flyer

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‘s victory, or console myself. I hate weekend afternoon games, I have so many better things I could be doing. I suppose if it’s rainy like it is today it makes it a little easier to handle. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 2 Guys, Best Cigar Prices, Byron, CAO, cigar, cigars, Flathead, general cigars, Relajado

by CigarCraig | March 26, 2014 · 8:01 pm

An Undercrown, A Six-Zero, a Nomad and a San Lotano Cigar

At some point last week, probably Friday, I grabbed an Undercrown Gordito from the Drew Estate Humidor and took it out for a walk. I enjoy the undercrown line, especially the Corona Viva, but there are some sizes I like better than others. This 6” x 60 turns out to be one of my favorites oddly enough (not including the Viva, which is a slightly different blend). Of course, I love the San Andrés wrapper, and I feel like the larger girth smooths out the blend for me. This was an eminently enjoyable cigar that was hard to put down. It was rich with a little bite to let you know you’re smoking something great. I continue to be a fan of this cigar.

Sunday evening I wanted something enjoyable but unchallenging, if that makes sense. Sometimes you just want to grab a cigar and enjoy it without thinking about it. A month or so ago a picked up a fiver of Six-Zero Robolo’s from BestCigarPrices.com. This is a 4½x60 San Andrés wrapped cigar made for BCP by Boutique Blends. While I haven’t sampled a lot of the Boutique Blends products, this is my favorite. I really enjoy the medium strength and full flavor of this fat rubusto (or short Gordo?). These are a no-brainer at around $3 each for flavor, construction and burn. As I said, I purchased these, they weren’t provided for review. I dig these cigars, I’d buy a bundle in a heartbeat.

Monday I selected possibly the most appropriately named cigar for my evening walk, the Nomad Vagabond. I purchased this nice little Dominican perfecto last year at the end of my vacation week after I came home from Nicaragua. Fred Rewey (@Godfadr) of Nomad Cigars was at a local shop (The Wooden Indian) along with the Ezra Zion guys and Nate McIntyre of Team Emilio. It was technically an Ezra Zion event, but I had to buy a handful of Fred’s cigars as well. This is a really nice, smooth Dominican cigar with hints of sweetness and a really nice draw, at least after I cut it a second time. Funny thing, I gave it a little snip with my Xikar scissors and it was fine, but about an inch into the cigar it kinda clogged. Very strange, but once I cut another eighth of an inch off it drew fine! This is a neat shape, very fun and enjoyable to smoke. I think this is the best in the Dominican line I’ve smoked.

Tuesday I wanted a sure thing, and I happened to come across a lonely San Lotano Maduro Robusto. I think I bought this a couple years ago at an AJ Fernandez event at another shop in Lancaster, PA. I really like this blend, and the box pressed robusto really worked well. It possessed my favorite aesthetic feature in a cigar, a nice, flat coal. I know what you’re thinking, again with the San Andrés wrapper, but what can I say, I’ve been in the mood for that flavor this week. This Robusto is 5½ x 54 and is sweet and creamy with a hint of spice. I have trouble finding anything wrong with most of AJ Fernandez’ work. I had actually thought earlier in the day that I wish I had a Man ‘O War Dark Aged Maduro, so when I saw this San Lotano I knew it was the one.

That’s about all I have this time around! I’m REALLY looking forward to consistently warm weather! I certainly won’t be complaining that it’s too hot this summer after the winter we’ve had! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as aj fernandez, cigar, cigars, drew estate, Nomad, san lotano, Six Zero, undercrown

by CigarCraig | March 23, 2014 · 1:17 pm

D & S Cigar Lounge and Fratello Cigars

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful spring day, so, after cleaning up some more of the tree limbs from one of the winter’s ice storms, I dusted off he scooter and too

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k it for a spin. Now, when I say scooter, I actually mean scooter. I have a 400cc Yamaha Majesty because I’m a geek, what can I say. It’s big enough to go on the highway and gets 65 mpg. Loads of fun. Anyway, I took a ride out to Lancaster, PA to visit D&S Cigar Lounge. I had met Shaun, the owner, at the 2011 IPCPR

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show and have been meaning to get out there since. This is a really nice shop in a strip mall outside of downtown Lancaster, and features cabinet humidors lining the walls in the front of he store, and a very well appointed 1502 Lounge in the back with a bar, TVs, and plenty of leather chairs. The lounge was pretty populated for the first really nice Saturday in a while. I hung out in the front of the shop with Shaun. Their selection is very good, with a nice variety of boutiques and mainstream brands, priced well.

They were having a Fratello Cigars event, and Omar de Frias was there too. I met Omar at the trade show last year where he was the talk of the town. Imagine a really tall dude, born in the Dominican Republic, works for NASA in DC, makes a brilliant cigar in Nicaragua, and manages to have store events too. This is a hard working dude, and really a super nice guy. I bought a handful of toros and robustos and proceeded to fire up the 6½ x 52 toro. A little part of me is regretting not picking up some of the 6″x60s too, as these are really tasty smoked. They have a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper with a Ecuador Sumatra binder, and the filler is a blend of Nicaraguan and Peruvian tobaccos, and all this works really great together. These are manufactured in one of my favorite factories, but I’m not allowed to say which one. Omar also said that they are working on a box pressed torpedo in this line, and hinted at working on either a Brazilian or San Andrés wrapped sequel. I am excited to try both, they sound yummy. The toro started out with some spice, and smoothed out in the middle, with some spice coming back at the end. I smoked this one to a finger burning nub and enjoyed every last puff. I gave it a V cut which worked quite well.

The 40 mile ride home was uneventful, and I decided to smoke the robusto on my evening walk (I had a delicious dinner of Chicken Parmesan my wife made that I had to walk off!) I thought the robusto was a little spicier than the toro, which is OK, and obviously the stretch in the middle where it smooths out is shorter. I like that it’s a little bit longer than a standard robusto, it’s 5½ x 52. These are really tasty cigars, if you see them, grab one, and if you don’t, ask your tobacconist to get them! Omar tells me he’s in 100 stores now, which is a heck of a deal for a small manufacturer. I’m happy I got a chance to catch up with Omar and finally pay a visit to Shaun at D & S Cigar Lounge in Lancaster. Here’s the video of Omar from the IPCPR show last July:

httpv://youtu.be/IHjzjuaVquU

I work with a guy who collects bottles, and he brought this turn of the century bottle for me to take a picture of to share with you all. It’s hand blown, and the detail is really incredible. He suspects it was a way to get a nip secretly, back when it was far more acceptable to smoke in public than to drink! Now you’d sooner be vilified for even looking like you’re smoking than having a drink! Support Cigar Rights of America!

I don’t want to forget to mention that in between doing all that yard clean-up and heading to a cigar event, I also appeared on the “Blogger’s Corner” segment of Kiss My Ash Radio yesterday. I don’t think Abe (the host, and owner of the Smoke Inn stores in Florida) is very happy with me for reviewing a cigar that’s virtually impossible to buy any more. I’ll have to prepare better in the unlikely event I’m invited back 🙂 . Anyway, if you don’t already listen, check out the podcast version, if you can’t listen live Saturday mornings. I look forward to hearing what my bud Eddie Ortega had to say on the show, he was the guest in the “Meet Your Maker” segment and was there in the studio.

That’s it for now! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

Filed under Events, Review, Stores, Video

Tagged as cigar, cigar rights, cigars, D & S, Fratello

by CigarCraig | March 19, 2014 · 8:27 pm

A Camacho Candela for St. Patrick’s Day

While everyone was smoking Alec Bradley Filthy Hooligans on Monday, leave it to me to be different. Long before ABâ€™s master stroke of marketing the candela wrapped Black Market (which I really like, and despite them being sold out at the event I went to, as well as at Holtâ€™s, I grabbed a couple more at a local shop) I bought a box of Camacho Corojo Monarca (robusto) with candela wrappers. I believe it was 2008. Iâ€™ve been enjoying these sparingly over the years, and it was my usual St. Patrickâ€™s Day smoke until last yearâ€™s Hooligan interceded. I dug into the depths of the humidor and came accross the last two of the Camacho, which are now lightly dusted with plume, giving them a very light, flat appearance. I noticed early on in this box that they were loosely rolled, so Iâ€™ve been punching these so that a too open draw isnâ€™t overwhelming. These are the original Camacho Corojo blend, so they pack a punch, but I find that the candela wrapper tempers the blend a bit, while the heavy filler blend compensates for the grassiness of the candela, much like the Filthy Hooligan (as an aside, last week when my brother-in-law, Jeff, asked for a cigar recommendation as he was on his way to Holtâ€™s, I texted him â€œAlec Bradley Filthy Hooliganâ€ and he replied â€œOK, you dirty bastardâ€, which I thought was pretty funny). I enjoyed the Camacho down to the nub, it burned perfectly and was quite the satisfying smoke. Green cigars donâ€™t have to be grassy, mild smokes. I am going to make an effort to try the La Flor Dominicana and Illusione candelas one of these days.

I have a question for all my readers: Do you want me to post the press releases I receive from the cigar companies? I know several of my blogger brethren do it, and Iâ€™m not in a position to be able to do it immediately as I receive them. I guess I just want to know if thereâ€™s a need for me to do it, or if you are getting information on other sites and donâ€™t need the repetition. I ask in an effort to provide what the people want! Please let me know in the poll below.

[poll id=”4″]

I’ll leave the poll run until the end of the month. Â In the mean time, here’s one of the press releases that came in today:

FRATELLO CIGARS ANNOUNCES 6 Â¼ x 52 BOX PRESSED VITOLA

Springfield, VA (March 17, 2014) â€“Omar de Frias is proud to announce a new addition to the Fratello line o

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f cigars. The new vitola will be a 6 Â¼ x 52 Box Pressed Torpedo. â€œWe are very excited about this new vitola, it has a punch of flavor thanks to its ring style and slightly modified blend but staying true to the Fratello flavor,â€ said de Frias.

The Fratello Box Pressed will debut in a 20-count box. Prices have not been set yet but it will be in the range of the current line. Please visit www.fratellocigar.com/thecigar for a description on the cigars.

The new vitola will have a soft launch at a Fratello Authorized retailer prior to this years IPCPR and readily available shortly after. â€œFratello Cigar Company has grown exponentially since the IPCPR show and this new line will add to our calculated expansion in Americaâ€™s humidors,â€ said de Frias. Fratello is currently being sold in 25 states.

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For the complete list of all our retailers please visit www.fratellocigar.com.

I’m hoping to catch up with Omar this weekend if all goes as planned. Omar makes some darned tasty cigars and I’m looking forward to smoking some again. Â He makes me feel short (and I’m 6’0″) because hes exceptionally tall. Â I also may be appearing once again on Kiss My Ash Radio Saturday morning.

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

CigarCraig