CigarCraig's Blog

by Craig Vanderslice | March 19, 2022 · 9:17 am

News: Drew Estate Releases New Gordo Size Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Exclusively for the Van Winkle Family

Just throwing this out there on a Saturday morning. I really enjoy the Pappy Family Reserve Cigar, it’s almost like a really, really refined Kentucky Fire Cured to me.

Drew Estate and Pappy

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& Company are teaming up once again to add the new Gordo (6 x 60) vitola to the Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Barrel Fermented premium cigar line. Crafted for connoisseurs who love large ring gauge cigars, the Gordo will launch on March 19 and will be initially available exclusively on Pappy & Company’s website, pappyco.com, before becoming accessible to Drew Diplomat Program participants nationwide in 2023.

Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Barrel Fermented cigars are the result of a close collaboration between Jonathan Drew, Founder and President of Drew Estate, and the Van Winkle family to pay homage to Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle and the unparalleled bourbon legacy he began creating more than a century ago. The cigars feature a Tapa Negra-style Kent

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ucky Fire-Cured and barrel-aged wrapper over a Mexican San Andres base wrapper, as well as aged Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan and Kentucky Fire-Cured filler tobaccos. Medium- to full-bodied, Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Barrel Fermented cigars offer an ultra-premium smoking experience with notes of coffee, cedar and charred wood and an overall smoky sweetness that pairs perfectly with bourbon, whisky or scotch.

“Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Barrel Fermented cigars are a symbol of quality, distinction and rarity, just like our family’s bourbon,” says Carrie Van Winkle Greener, Co-Founder of Pappy & Company “We are proud of our collaboration with Jonathan and the rest of the Drew Estate team to produce a completely one-of-a-kind cigar that deepens our family’s legacy for producing authentic handcrafted high-quality products and expands our already widely popular collection of Barrel Fermented cigars.”

“Pappy Barrel Fermented stands alone as the most difficult, complex blend we have ever produced due to the intricate level of leaf processing in both Kentucky and Louisiana, as well as leaf placement at the factory floor,” adds Jonathan. “Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Barrel Fermented is complicated to produce, and this is the singular reason that we produce very few of them.”

Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Barrel Fermented Gordo cigars are packaged in 10-count boxes with an MSRP of $175/box or $17.50/cigar. They will be available exclusively at pappyco.com beginning on March 19.

ABOUT DREW ESTATE

Founded in New York City in 1996, Drew Estate has become one of the fastest growing tobacco companies in the world. Under their mantra “The Rebirth of Cigars”, Drew Estate has led the “Boutique Cigar” movement by innovating new elements to the tobacco industry with their unique tobaccos and blending styles that attract new and traditional cigar enthusiasts. In their Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, the Nicaraguan headquarters, Drew Estate produces a variety of brands such as ACID, Herrera Estelí, Herrera Estelí Norteño, Isla del Sol, Kentucky Fired Cured, Liga Privada, MUWAT, Larutan by Drew Estate, Nica Rustica, Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Cigars, Tabak Especial, Undercrown, Florida Sun Grown, and Java by Drew Estate.

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by Craig Vanderslice | March 17, 2022 · 8:12 pm

News: CAO Presents Pilón Añejo

Here’s some news from General Cigar about a new CAO cigar, which is interesting since Rick Rodriguez recently announced that he will be retiring after 22 years with the company. I’ve known Ricky for a long time, although I never get a call when he’s in the area, like right now! I’d love to have gotten to see him one last time. Maybe he’ll stop by Son’s tomorrow night, but I somehow doubt it. I’ve liked a lot of what he’s done with CAO, and I think his contributions will be missed, to the point where I wonder what will become of the line. I enjoy the Pilón line, I look forward to trying this aged version, especially up against some old Pilóns I have in my humidor!

CAO is set to launch a blend called Pilón Añejo which pairs labor-intensive fermentation and finished cigar aging to deliver a cigar of great depth and character.

The limited-edition line will ship to retailers in April and a total of 5,000 boxes will be released in the US.

CAO Pilón Añejo is made with the same circular pilón fermentation technique as CAO Pilón, the collection that launched in 2015. However, that is where the similarities end. CAO Pilón Añejo features a unique blend of tobaccos that are met with aging after the cigar is finished, to release an intriguingly complex smoke.

Rick Rodriguez, CAO’s blender/ambassador commented, “With CAO Pilón Añejo, we’ve combined pilón fermentation which does such incredible things to the tobacco, with a full two years of aging of the finished cigars. Together, these methods add a whole new dimension to the blend. We’ve ultimately created a layered smoking experience that we could not have achieved through any other processes. This cigar is just a pleasure to smoke, and the team and I are really proud of it.”

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Handcrafted in Honduras at STG’s HATSA factory, CAO Pilón Añejo relies on the pilón process of natural fermentation to heighten the smoking experience and aesthetics of the Cuban seed Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper. The blend is rich and savory, consisting of Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers, beneath

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a Honduran Habano binder. CAO Pilón Añejo is a medium-to-full-bodied smoke that bears a deep, rich color and an array of notes including wood, earth and toast, with a touch of spice.

CAO Pilón Añejo will be presented in 20-count boxes, in the three sizes listed below.

CAO Pilon Añejo Robusto (5.5” x 54) — SRP per cigar $8.89

CAO Pilon Añejo Toro (6” x 52) — SRP per cigar $8.99

CAO Pilon Añejo Gigante (5.88” x 60) — SRP per cigar $9.29

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Tagged as Añejo, CAO, cigar, cigars, Pilon

by Craig Vanderslice | March 13, 2022 · 10:55 am

Memento Mori and CHC Serie E Cigars and a Short Rant

Friday evening I got back to working at Son’s after a two week hiatus, and the new Memento Mori from Black Works Studio had just come in. Of course, I had to sample one, so I selected the Lonsdale. This cigar has a Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper, Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers and starts out smacking you on the face with a load of pepper. This is a fairly heavy cigar, it’s rich, decadent, and loaded with flavor. I think it’s quintessentially Black Label, if that makes sense. I really like this cigar. I’ll certainly be picking up some more of these, they hit my palate just right, although I wouldn’t recommend smoking one on an empty stomach! One of my goals working at Son’s is to smoke more BLTC cigars, since they have a large selection and a great relationship with the company.

I had a whole Op-Ed piece written on the “responsible marketing” stuff that’s been in the cigar news lately, actually it was fairly short. I’ll summarize it here. I think , probably cynically, that the government doesn’t really care about cigars, they just want to see tobacco eradicated. To the brand owners who insist on “having fun” with their marketing by using names and images that could maybe in some way appeal to a child, think about all the people that will be displaced when the government shuts down the industry for a minute. When manufacturers family legacies are destroyed, and their employees families are starving, you can think of all the fun you had selling childishly branded cigars. That will be a pretty cool feeling, I imagine. Not really. By the way, I think “Self Regulation” means be responsible adults and do the right thing, not that there’s going to be a cigar industry rulemaking committee with Jorge Pardón, Carlito Fuente and Pepin Garcia sitting around telling everyone what to do. Let’s resist the urge to draw attention to ourselves, maintain the traditions of this 500 year old art form and not say f*ck the FDA every chance we get, or they are going to f*ck the cigar industry.

Another cigar I picked up was the Crowned Heads CHC Serie E Hermoso No. 2. While I have not typically been enamoured with Crowned heads cigars, or marketing (tho not irresponsible), I have been impressed with cigars made by Tabacalera Pichardo, so I thought I’d give this one a try. This is the cigar with the Eddie Van Halen theme on the band and box, the E in the name stands for Eruption, one of Van Halen’s famous guitar solos. I’m a musician, I’ve never made the connection between cigar flavors and music, but good for Jon Huber for conceptualizing cigars in that manner. Some people smoke in color too. This cigar has an Ecuador Habano oscuro wrapper, a binder from Jalapa, and fillers from Jalapa, ometepe and Pueblo Nuevo. They say where the tobacco is grown, but not the varietal. Pichardo likes using the Pueblo Nuevo tobacco, perhaps that’s a common denominator in cigars I like from that factory. I found this cigar to be thoroughly enjoyable, even delicious. There’s a sweetness, like warm breakfast rolls of some sort, along with some leather and spice. Despite not liking a lot of what Crowned Heads does (even though I like Miguel Schoedel!), I really liked this one.

I still need to hear from Xolotal! Don’t make me hunt you down! That’s about it for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by Craig Vanderslice | March 8, 2022 · 6:20 pm

News: Black Works Studio Announces Tiger Series Cigars

Here’s some news from the folks at Black Works Studio/Black Label Trading Co. I’m going to have to scrounge through the humidor to find something from BLTC to smoke tonight. I look forward to getting ahold of some of these cigars, I know there’s a BLTC event coming to Son’s in the next couple months, and I’m a sucker for fancy cigars.

Black Works Studio (BLK WKS) is pleased to announce the release of its Tiger Series; NEON TIGER, TIGER LILY and KHAN: Hand crafted in Esteli, Nicaragua at Fabrica Oveja Negra.

These will be available at select BLK WKS retailer events beginning this month.

“Given it’s the Year of the Tiger we wanted to release our Tiger Series in the US. These have previously only been available in Europe and as Factory Exclusives since 2017. These cigars will be released as event only boxes in very limited quantities. I wanted to offer something special for our retailers who support us with events,” said James Brown, creator of BLTC & BLK WKS and owner at Fabrica Oveja Negra.

NEON TIGER

Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Candela, Connecticut and Ecuador Maduro

Binder: Ecuador Habano

Filler: Nicaragua

Robusto – 5 x 48 (13 count) MSRP $18.00

KHAN

Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Ecuador Maduro, Candela and Connecticut

Binger: Ecuador Habano

Filler: Nicaragua

Robusto – 5 x 50 (13 count) MSRP $18.00

TIGER LILY

Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Connecticut, Candela and Ecuador Maduro

Binger: Ecuador Habano

Filler: Nicaragua

Toro – 6 x 48 (13 count) MSRP $18.00

These cigars are an expression of art showcasing the talent, technique and tobacco behind our boutique cigar factory; Fabrica Oveja Negra. BLK WKS cigars are available for purchase through Oveja Negra Brands. For more information visit OvejaNegraCigars.com.

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Tagged as Black Label Trading Company, Black Works Studio, cigar, cigars, Khan, Neon Tiger, Tiger Lily

by Craig Vanderslice | March 6, 2022 · 10:54 am

Perla Del Mar Connecticut, Bolivar Cofraida and Aganorsa Leaf Cigars and the Contest Winner

As I mentioned in my Friday news post, the last half of my week was disrupted with some unexpected drama. This has thrown me off my game a little, I missed my Friday night shift at Son’s Cigars just because I was exhausted from the previous evenings ordeal with the pain and the morphine and all, I was passed out at home well before the shop closed. I came home to some Chinese take-out, smoked a Punch Fu Manchu (which isn’t a bad inexpensive cigar, by the way! I ‘m not sure I get the marketing of Punch line with the Chinese food, but they are good smokes at a great price) and crashed. Hard. For the sake of my CDO though, I’m going to rewind a bit to Tuesday when I smoked the Perla Del Mar Connecticut Toro. This is a relatively new rebranded Perla Del Mar Connecticut from J.C. Newman, made in Nicaragua. I really like this line, although I can’t say I’m a fan of the PDM on the

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band. I liked the old bands better, this new one could have been better. I get it, it’s a budget brand, it could easily be presented in a bundle insead of a box, so I’ll take it as it is. These are fantastic cigars. Even for someone who’s first choice isn’t a Connecticut shade, this is a solid cigar. It’s creamy, with a lot of flavor. There are a few shade cigars that make my “rotation”, this might sneak in there. It has a richness without being grassy. I like it. I like the Corojo and Maduro better, but this Connecticut is very good, I’d reach for it over a lot of other shade cigars.

Yesterday I got around to the Bolivar Cofraida Lost and Found EMS Toro that I had on deck for Thursday evening. I had picked this up, along with the Punch, when I stopped in to the CigarCigars store in Downingtown, PA to drop off a bag of cigars for OP:Cigar For Warriors, as they are a collection point. I’m not sure why I didn’t get the Oscuro, seems out of character for me, perhaps they only had the EMS, I really don’t remember. This line is a collaboration between Justin Andrews of Forged/Scandinavian Tobacco and Robert Caldwell, where the marketing materials say they blended the cigars from bales of tobacco that they came across in the HATSA factory in Honduras. So these aren’t “found” cigars, but “found” tobacco, in this case. This is another reasonably priced cigar, in the $7-7.50 range, I think. Ten years ago I’d find that to be a fairly pricey cigar. Now it’s cheap. Anyway, I remember the Bolivar Cofraida cigars that JR Cigars used to sell were on the strong side, this one not so much. It was well balanced, medium bodied, with some pleasant, fruit notes. Nice afternoon smoke while I refilled the hot tub and sat around waiting to see if my kidney stone was going to cause me trouble.

Last night I took a look in the tray of cigars I put the cigars that I got at the TPE show that I hadn’t smoked yet, the “new to me” tray. I settled on the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Robusto that Terence Reilly gave me at the show. This is the 5″ x 52 box pressed Nicaraguan puro with a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper. The paper sleeve isn’t there to hide anything, the wrapper is really pretty. This was another really tasty cigar. I was in one of my rare moods for a shorter smoke. I was tired, a hockey game was on during nap time! This cigar falls into the leather and nuts flavor category for me. It’s not a sweet coffee, cocoa cigar. It burned perfectly, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Smoking more of the Aganorsa cigars is on my todo list, oddly it’s one of the brands that I don’t get around to as much as I should. I’ll fix that. Good smoke, less of what I personally look for, but good nonetheless.

Contest

OK, it’s time to select a contest winner! To recap, the giveaway this time was for a cool Drew Estate 20 Acre Farm case with five (5) 20 Acre Farm toro cigars. It’s possible some other goodies could fall into the box before it leaves the CigarCraig.com offices! It’s been known to happen! The winner is Xolotal! Send me your coordinates