by | January 8, 2023 · 10:05 am

Reinado Grand Apex, JTrain, Fosforo and Rocky Patel Cigars

First week of 2023 is in the books.  I managed to smoke a few new-to-me cigars this week!  First off was the Fosforo Toro, a 6″x 50 cigar with a Ecuadorian habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers from the Condego and Jalapa regions of Nicaragua.  This is a creation of Jeff Mouttet of Riverside Cigars, and is distributed by

Pospiech Inc., Mike Szczepankiewicz’s distribution company.  Ironically, I also smoked a Guaimaro yesterday, also distributed by Pospiech.  This cigar, while it looks like it could come out of Nica Sueno (RoMaCraft), it’s actually made at Garmendia, the factory which makes West Tampa Cigar Co.’s cigars.  The cigar is tasty, some earthiness, some espresso and cocoa, very much up my alley.  Burn and draw were perfect, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Thanks to my Secret Santa, once again, for sharing this with me!

 

I may be going out of order, but I’m probably the only one bothered by that! I also smoked the Rocky Patel The Edge 20th Anniversary, which I picked up on a recent visit to Goose’s Montecristo Lounge.  I’m probably one of the few people who haven’t smoked a whole lot of RP Edge cigars, I’ve probably only smoked a couple, to be honest.  Not sure why, just is.  I felt like I wanted to give this anniversary cigar a try, and it’s a little pricier than the regular Edge line.  It’s advertised as having 10 year aged tobaccos, although exactly which tobaccos are aged isn’t clear.  The wrapper is an Ecuador Sumatra, with Nicaraguan and Honduran files and binder.  I’m used to Sumatra having a unique sweetness, and this one started out with a cloying pepper spice that I wasn’t ready for. it was tongue coating.  Eventually it smoothed out, and was a very nice smoke.  I’d smoke this again, and I suppose I should samply my way through the Edge line, I think there’s 23 different cigars in that line? 🙂

 

Almost a year ago I saw John Remer at

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the TPE and he gave me his JTrain cigar, made at La Zona by Protocol Cigars. It has the Protocol logo in the band at least.  John has a web show called Johnny Smokes Uncut, and a facebook group of the same name. I’m not sure what’s up with the “uncut” part of the name.  Obviously one can’t smoke a cigar uncut, I have to assume it refers to the videos being unedited. This Robusto is 5″ x 50 and has a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper,with  Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers.  There are several cigars from this factory which are among my favorites, the La Sirena, and most of the no longer produced Cornelius and Anthony line (Someone recently compared the C&A Meridian to the new Knuckle Sandwich, the y may be similar, but all of the C&A cigars had some Virginia tobacco in them that I don’t think is available to La Zona any more).  The JTrain cigar hit me with a really different flavor, it was almost acidic, with an odd spice. It must have turned out OK because I stopped taking notes, a sure sign I am enjoying a cigar.  I have an FTrain that John gave me at the PCA show on deck, anymore I am not satisfied by a robusto, I save them to fit certain times, and I have a crapload of robustos in my stock.  

 

Finally, I smoked a R

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einado Grand Apex Gordo this week. This is a 6″ x 60 cigar that has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers and is made at Aganorsa’s TABSA factory.  I’ve known Antonio Lam, the owner of Reinado Cigars, for a very long time.  When I met him he was making cigars with Yadi Gonzalez, maker of Flor de Gonzalez cigars.  We had some amusing times trying to record pieces at the IPCPR show a

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few years back. Antonio is a Jersey guy, and the Grand Apex has an altruistic side to it, as some proceeds go to Dementia Society of America

.  Anyone who’s been reading here for any period of time will know that this cigar is my kind of cigar.  Maybe not so obvious is that many cigars that come out of Aganorsa aren’t particularly interesting to me.  I try, of course, but I haven’t found one that hits me just right. This one, however, does.  It’s got my espresso, along with some dark fruits, and I really dig it.  It’s definitely on my “buy” list, even in this size.  Great job Antonio and Aganorsa!  

 

That’s all for today. I was hoping to get to a shop today, but it looks like the grandkids are coming by, so that will have to wait, some things are more important!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | January 5, 2023 · 5:31 pm

News: Punch Spring Roll Announced

I don’t usually pay any attention to the limited “Year of the whatever” cigars, and I find the branding of this particular line curious.  Punch has its origins in the UK, I’m not sure why they’ve put together a Chinese food theme. The thing is, I like the cigars and the price is right, so I overlook the weird branding. They have been pretty darn good cigars. In other news, it looks like the Macanudo brand ambassador position is open, as Laurel Tilley is now with AJ Fernandez!

 

PUNCH TO “SPRING” IN THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT WITH LIMITED EDITION RELEASE

Punch will kick off The Year of the Rabbit with a limited–edition smoke called Spring Roll. The new release marks the fifth installment of the brand’s highly successful Chinese New Year Series which has included these sought-after Punch blends: Fu Manchu (2022), Kung Pow! (2021), Chop Suey (2020) and Egg Roll (2019).

 

John Hakim, brand manager of Punch said, “Punch Spring R

oll is like a three-course meal:  It delivers a great smoking experience in a size that really brings the blend to life, and it comes at a price point that hits the post-holiday sweet spot for cigar lovers. Paying homage to the original, Spring Roll is the yin to Egg Roll’s yang. Since the Year of the Rabbit is said to bring good fortune, we invite Punch fans to kick back and let the good times Spring Roll.”

Handmade at the HATSA factory in Danli, Honduras, Punch Spring Roll is a five-country blend featuring filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Mexico and the USA(Broadleaf), with a USA Broadleaf binder and an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. The smoking experience is richly spiced, with notes of leather and a natural sweetness that comes from the cigar’s Ecuadoran-grown wrapper.

 

Punch Spring Roll cigars feature the signature shaggy foot and come in 25-count “takeout” boxes inspired by the packaging of Punch Egg Roll which kicked off the Chinese New Year series.

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Limited to 5,000 boxes, Spring Roll will ship on February 1.

 

Punch Spring Roll (4.5” x 50) – SRP per cigar $5.99

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by | January 1, 2023 · 9:59 am

Happy New Year, Winner Announcement and a Cigar or Two

It seems that 2022 is in the books, and it’s 2023 now.  Still no flying cars, but we do carry the entirety of human knowledge in our pockets, at the expense of education and common sense! I am blessed with a beautiful family and enough cigars to get me through for a while, so I’m not complaining. I’ve had worse years than 2022.  I managed to fly 4 times, a record for me. Twice to trade shows in Las Vegas, once to Tampa and a personal vacation to Puerto Rico.  We also went to a Barnsmoker, a Red Meatlovers Club dinner on a friggin battleship, and a few shop events, although not as many of the latter as I’d like.  It was a good year. Hopefully ’23 is equally good!  I know I’ve slowed down a little on original content, I’m just not smoking the volume of new cigars that I used to. I’m finding as I get older I tend to want to smoke what I like!  Weird, huh?  I have no plans to give up though, after 13 years I’m invested.  I do have a prize to give away, so let’s get on to that!

 

I let this giveaway go on a week and a half, longer than usual, but it’s been a busy week or two!  You may recall the prize was a hefty pile of stuff from various venders, and undisclosed cigars from my humidor.  I’ll have fun packing up a bunch of my favorites to share with the winner.  I referred to Google’s random number generator and the number it spit our was 2, which corresponds to the second comment at 9:28pm on 12/21, which was by Tim McCabe.  Tim, please email me your info!  Tim is a long time reader, and I have to appreciate the patience and fortitude of the many folks who’ve been reading my nonsense over the years!  Thanks to everyone, I may be able to scrounge up some more goodies in the near future. 

 

Naturally, I smoked some good cigars over the last few days. Most notable was another of the Alec Bradley Fine and Rare series, this one dated 2017. The one I smoked last week I’m told was from the tenth anniversary set, and I assume this one is from the same.  My Secret Santa, Mitch, was very generous and shared these with me.  Aside, he managed to send a bunch of cigars I’d never smoked before!  No small feat.  Another aside, and Kevin Shahan witnessed this, while in Tampa I met a gentleman, we’ll call him Aaron, who was shocked when he attempted to gift me a cigar he was sure I’d not had before, a pre-release Nica Rustica

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with actual Rustica leaf in the blend, and I had smoked that back in 2013 in Nicaragua.  I digress.  The ALec Bradley Fine and Rare 2017 (BR12-13) is a 6″ x 52 torpedo, or maybe 109, shaped cigar.  It has mostly Honduran components, with some Nicaraguan in the filler.  It started off with a little bit of a bite, some acidity, perhaps, but that quickly became what I call spicey. It was, overall, a very good cigar, with some nice, medium flavors, and I think there was a cinnamon or baking spice flavor that came and went.  Thank you, Mitch, for the opportunity to try these! 

 

Yesterday we met friends at what might be the only White Castle in PA for lunch, and I would have stopped in to New Tobacco Village, in Whitehall, PA, but, you know…White Castle…When I got home after an h

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our drive and got things squared away, I sat down to watch hockey with what might be my favorite cigar of 2022, the Diamond Crown Black Diamond. It gives the Muestra de Saka The Bewitched a run, if I had smoked more of those it would have been my number one for the year.  As it stands, I’m going with the Black Diamond, so good!  I ended 2022 with a Partagas Serie D No. 6 which I had picked up at the Rome Duty Free several years ago, just a little guy, but tasty. So let’s just say that the New Diamond Crown Black Diamond Emerald is my favorite cigar of 2022! Thanks to J.C.Newman for making this year memorable for me! 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 25, 2022 · 6:00 am

Merry Christmas and a Couple of Cigars

This is going to be a short one, I mean, I have family stuff to do today, and I assume many of you do also.  Not many people are going to have time to read a long post!  So Happy Holidays to everyone!  Go back to my last post and enter the contest! Maybe you’ll win some great stuff!

 

We’re enjoying a cold snap here, Friday started out a balmy 50 and dropped to the teens by evening. I got my cigar in early, my heaters can’t keep up with this bitter cold.  I chose from a selection sent to me by my secret Santa this year, an Alec Bradley 2014 Fine and Rare.  It was my first time smoking a Fine and Rare, I may smoke another Fine and Rare later if time and temps allow.  This was a special smoke, a 7″ x 54 perfecto-ish cigar. I’ve had the same shape in a tubed Tempest ,I think.  It didn’t seem like it was that big, but it smoked for a good two hours.  When I say “good”, I mean really good! I seem to recall the Raices Cubanas factory having some quality issues around this time, which were not apparent in this cigar, it was perfectly built.  I believe the blend is Honduran and Nicaraguan with a Honduran wrapper. I also seem to remember some ridiculous number of varietals in the blend on these. Seven? Anyway, this was a really delicious cigar, pretty nunced and refined, but full of flavor.  It was bready, with some spice, but not much. It certainly was a special cigar befitting the season.  TY MS for these! I look forward to future Fin

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e and Rare’s.

 

Yesterday I stopped by Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA for a smoke or two.  I intended to just pick one or two nice cigars out to smoke, but I started looking through the discount bin (buy 3, get one free) and found some gems, some CyB Corona Reals, Cornelius and Anthony Meridian Corona Gordas, Jaxx LTs (forerunner of the La Sirena LT) and even an Emilio AF2 (AJ Fernandez).  So after I smoked a gifted Montecristo Epic, I lit up one of the CyBs I bought and it was delicious.  These had a pretty short life, coming out sometime around 2013 when José Blanco (the B) worked at Joya de Nicaragua with Dr. Alejandro Cuenca (the C).  It was originally called Cuenca y Blanco until someone pulled a trademark dispute. The cigar was really good, and I think I found all that he had in the bins. The cigar has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Dominican Piloto binder and fillers from Nicaragua and Peru.  It’s woody and sweet with some spice, the spice probably from that Peruvian leaf.  Good stuff!  Goose’s is a great spot with a large selection and comfortable lounge.  I’d like to get there more than I do! 

 

That’s all for today, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to a

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ll, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | December 21, 2022 · 8:55 pm

Contest! Year End Goodies Giveaway!

As we come to the end of another year, I realized that I should do a bit of a giveaway.  I miss the days of doing the CigarCraig’s 12 Days of Giveaways, so here’s a huge prize pack of goodies I’ve collected.  There are a couple caps, a Gran Habano t-shirt, lighter and cutter, a pair of J.C.Newman Bricktoberfest boot glasses, a Villiger ashtray, travel humidor and Xikar cutter, and assorted Drew Estate goodies!  Of course, I’ll curate a selection of my favorite cigars from my humidor too, I can’t send out a package full of cigar goodies without including some cigars!  You never know what other stuff I’ll find to include.  

 

 

The usual rules apply! You must be of legal age in your jurisdiction to win.  Please leave a comment on this blog post for an entry to win, and I’ll select a winner on January 1, 2023.  Thank you all for reading over the past year, my 13th year of sharing my cigar experiences! 

 

Happy Holidays to all!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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