by | December 19, 2021 · 8:47 am

Oscar Valladares McFly, Espinosa Laranja Azulejo and Crema de Laranja Cigars

First order of business: if you haven’t already, go back to the post before this one and enter to contest! Last Tuesday I took a day off and found myself running and errand that ended up in the Mushroom Capital of the World, Kennett Square, PA, which is in the southern part of the same county where I live. A few doors down from where I was going there happened to be a cigar shop, Living My Best Cigar Life, of course I stopped in. It’s a nice little shop on the main drag in Kennett, with a nice walk in humidor, a knowledgeable shopkeeper, and a small lounge. The selection was adequate, but on the sparse side, I was to find out that they had just opened a new store a few miles away. I picked up a couple of the Oscar Valladares McFly Toros, which I have been meaning to try, and headed home. Since the new location was more or less on my way home, I decided to stop in and check it out. The Glen Mills location is actually on a property that has a sentimental meaning to me. The lounge where I played my last professional gigs as a drummer back in the 80’s was located there. Weird, right? Anyway, the shop was previously a bank, and they’ve retrofitted two former offices as the humidors. The lounge is in the back, and they will ha

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ve membership with 24 hour access through the back. It’s all very clean and sharp in design. The selection is decent, it’s a new shop, but it wouldn’t be hard for someone to find something to smoke there. I came out with a Romeo by AJ I hadn’t tried. It’s on Rt 202 between Rt 1 and the Delaware state line, for those familiar with the area. It’s a long name for a cigar shop, I wish them well! I smoked the McFly when I got home and thought it was very good. It’s a 6″ x 52 with a San Andrés wrapper, Honduran binder and fillers from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Honduras. It was rich and earthy and pretty much what I expect from that blend, with a little spice. I liked it, very nice. 

 

Wednesday I found myself at Son’s Cigars again, this time in the company of Jack Toraño of Espinosa Cigars. Jack is coming up on his three year anniversary with Espinosa in a couple weeks. He was recalling that he was with Toranño cigars for three years, and General for three years…I think we are all hoping that this gig is going to break that pattern for Jack. I’ve known Jack for a long time, and it’s always a treat to catch up with him. Mark Weissenberger, the broker that handles Espinosa, ironically from Kennett, dragged Jack out earlier than expected, and I offered to give him a ride back to his hotel, but I’m afraid he thought he wouldn’t fit in my car. I had been looking forward to smoking the Laranja Azulejo, which translates to orange blue tile in Portuguese, the best I can figure. I picked up a couple of the box pressed 6″ x 60 Gordo size. These are made at AJ Fernandez’ San Lotano factory for Espinosa. This cigar has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Brazilian Arapiraca binder and Nicaraguan fillers, and boy is it tasty. I like Sumatra, and Brazilian, and of course, Nicaraguan, and this is delicious blend of flavors. It’s got some sweetness, and some coffee and cocoa and some spice. I enjoyed it so much I smoked another one last night. Now I need to get more. I also had a great time hanging out with Craig the Breadman at Son’s!

 

Jack (and Vince) gave me an event cigar, the Crema de Laranja, which is a barber pole which is a mashup of the Laranja and the Crema cigar

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s. It shares blend components of the two cigars, and has both the shade wrapper from the Crema (which I’ve never smoked), and the Brazilian “Laranja” wrapper. Jack likes milder cigars, I can see him liking this one. Last week I smoked the Back in Black from the same factory, and it’s apparent that La Zona knows how to make a good barber pole cigar. This is kinda the opposite of that Back in Black, though, it’s on the milder side, creamy and tangy. Certainly a nice change from the heavier, darker flavored cigars.  Quite nice. I recommend going to an event where Erik, Jack, or one of the other guys is attending, and buy enough cigars to merit receiving one of these, it’s a good one.

 

That’s about all I have for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 16, 2021 · 6:41 pm

Contest! CigarCraig’s Holiday Giveaway

It’s time for a Holiday Giveaway!  I know it’s nothing like the twelve and more days of giveaways we used to do, but it is what it is! Times change and we roll with it. So here’s this week’s giveaway! Last month Drew Estate announced the 20 Acre Farm on the Freestyle Live show, and they led with a cool kit that had three myster

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y cigars that turned out to be these cigars. They have recently started showing up in stores. Here’s your chance to get a couple without shelling out for them! 

 

The giveaway is for the Freestyle Live kit, less one cigar, the Gordito (6″ x 60) which I smoked. They are tasty cigars.  I’m also throwing in two Drew Estate FSG Toros and a couple Undercrown 10 toros. As usual, I may find some other cigars tho toss in. The kit includes

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a cool 30 oz. RTIC tumbler, a three finger leather case, a dual j

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et lighter and a cutter.

 

As usual, leave a comment here to enter, one entry per person. Comments on this b

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log post only will count, no  comments on Facebook posts or any other forums will count. Of course, you must be of legal smoking age in your jurisdiction to win. Thanks to the folks at Drew Estate for providing these goodies! I’ll select a

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winner next Thursday, December 23, 2021.  I might even include a list of my favorite cigars of 2021!  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

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CigarCraig

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by | December 12, 2021 · 10:41 am

Cigar Prop Back in Black and HVC Black Friday Cigars

Thinking back, I suppose I should have smoked an Alec Bradley Black Market to complete the thematic trilogy, honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about both of these cigars having anything in common. Let’s start out with the Cigar Prop Back In Black By Espinosa (not a sponsored link). This cigar might be lesser known outside of certain circles. It’s a collaboration between Kevin Shahan at Cigar Prop and Espinosa Cigars, and was/is exclusive to Smoke Inn. This was the third one of these I’ve smoked, the first out of the production run, and the first I’ve been able to talk about. Kevin had sent me some samples of prototypes for my feedback some time ago, and there were two blends, this excellent blend which, obviously went into production, and another even better blend, which better fi

t the theme of the project (in my opinion), which ended up not being sustainable due to material shortages. Kevin likes barber pole style cigars. This one has a Habano (the wrapper Espinosa uses on the La Bomba line) and a San Andrés, and a Jalapa binder and viso and ligero fillers from Estelí and Condega. It’s a 6″ x 52, which we all know is a size I like, and has a simple black band. Funny that Kevin doesn’t usually like powerful cigars, not that this one is super strong, but it does have a little kick to it, it isn’t mild! I loved the samples I smoked, and I am glad I bought a box when they were finally released. These are suited to my palate, they are rich, with cocoa/espresso flavors like I enjoy. I’ve yet to have a barber pole cigar that I could detect any flavor changes, I mean, the wrappers are spiralled, they are both burning at the same time through the course of the cigar, but it’s a neat look, and as long as it burns well, I’m happy, and these have. Congratulations to Cigar Prop on his first collaboration! It’s fun to see the name on a box, isn’t it? I remember when he was but a simple CigarCraig.com reader…

 

I followed the Back in Black later in the day with the HVC Black Friday 2021. Maybe there’s a subconscious connection to my mood this time of year. I seemed to be in a better frame of mind back in the days when I could spend the two weeks leading up to Christmas giving away tons of cigars and swag. Can you believe 2015 was the last year I had one of my mega-day giveaways?  On the other hand it was a major time suck, but a great one! Anyway, I have a few goodies stashed away for next week, stay tuned. So a normal person might have smoked the HVC Black Friday on the day after Thanksgiving, but I forgot about it. I probably have a few of them around, one from last year, a couple Firecrackers, and then this one I picked up a few weeks back on the recommendation of Brian at Son’s. This keeps happening with HVC cigars and the guys at Son’s, they ask me if I’ve tried one yet, I say know and take the one from them and buy it. I should always buy more than one. Either they need to learn or I do. The Black Friday 2021 is a 4 3/8″ x 54 short, chubby robusto, with a mottled broadleaf wrapper. Last years was a Corona Gorda, now that I think of it, I just saw one when rooting through the humidor. The rest of th

e blend is Nicaraguan, made at the Aganorsa Factory in Esteli. I was told it was strong, to smoke it after a hearty meal. I prepared by eating a leftover slice of Sicilian pizza with sausage and bacon. It was good. I’ll reiterate my failure to buy/Son’s failure to sell additional examples of this cigar. This is a friggen outstanding cigar. Yeah, it’s got some power, but not porcelain hugging level power. The size is good for a little over an hour for me, I could have smoked it in a toro last night as it was fairly mild for a december evening, but it was still quite satisfying. As I think about it, maybe a toro would have been too much and would have ratcheted it up to an uncomfortable level. This is going on my list of cigars to grab a few more of (box of 50? let’s not get carried away). The Corona Gorda and Firecrackers better hide.

 

Everyone who signed up for the Secret Santa should have gotten their assignments.  I am to understand at least one person signed up and for whatever reason it didn’t take in the system. It seems like there’s always something that goes wrong when I try to do these things! I sent mine out yesterday, and posted a small rant on Facebook and Instagram about how the USPS sets the expectation of 2 day shipping right on the label, I didn’t ask for it. It’s their idea, they should make goo on it, right?  Anyway, we’ll see how that goes…that’s al for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 9, 2021 · 9:18 pm

Supreme Tobacco’s Bohekio Robusto and Secret Santa News

By now those who are participating in this year’s CigarCraig.com Secret Santa should have received their assignments. Please do your best to take care of your recipient promptly (says the worlds biggest procrastinator…it’s on my weekend project list, I promise!). It’s a small group, but I know everyone will have fun with it and brighten everyone’s holidays. I don’t need anything, by the way. 

 

A few weeks ago the folks at Supreme Tobacco emailed asking me if I wanted to try their Bohekio cigar made in Haiti. I’ve heard some things about this cigar, and I was intrigued by something new. New cigars are becoming few and far between recently, so I was excited about this cigar. Here’s a quote from “JP” at Supreme Tobacco: 

Our company Supreme Tobacco was founded in 2015 and this project began with a dream between friends to one day grow our own premium tobacco, place Haiti amongst the best growing countries and eventually make our first Haitian cigar with Haitian grown tobacco.
After several years of hard works and challenges, we launched this year in July at the PCA, our very first cigar, Bohekio.

I received a couple 5″ x 50 Robustos.  the filler is a “Unique blend of finest tobacco grown in Haiti”, the binder is Olor Dominicana grown in Haiti and the wrapper is Sun grown Habano from the Dominican Republic. Interestingly, the first flavor I got off the pre-light, and the first half of the cigar was something akin to cola flavored Bottle Caps candy. Weird, right? Halfway through the second sample I got a strong cinnamon blast, but only for a short time.  Overall it had a sweet flavor, and I liked it. The second sample burned perfectly, the first one was a little troublesome, it didn’t want to burn, the first two thirds of the cigar had the burn characteristics of kevlar. I had to relight it for just about every draw, up until about the last quarter, at which point it was too late. This is why evaluating a cigar based upon one sample is a bad idea, because the second one was excellent. Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, so it’s not too big a stretch to think that tobacco can’t grow there. I suppose it’s a question of infrastructure. Long story short, I liked the Bohekio. Many thanks to the folks at Supreme Tobacco for allowing me to sample these cigars. I’ll be picking up some other sizes after the holidays.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | December 5, 2021 · 10:05 am

Crook of the Crown, Triqui Traca, and Room 101 Cigars

As the holidays and year end gets closer things seem to get busier. As I mentioned in last Sunday’s post, I went to Son’s Cigars and hung out with the crew from Stolen Throne Cigars, less brand-owner Lee Marsh, who’s wife has been expecting their son to be born any day and felt that being five hours from home would be less than prudent. What a wuss. 😀. I got past the initial disappointment, and hung out and smoked cigars with them, and my friend Greg, whom I’ve known since high school. I smoked another Three Kingdoms Toro, and a Crook of the Crown Robusto while there, and during the week I smoked a Crook of the Crown Toro. These are some outstanding cigars. The Crook of the Crown has a San Andrés wrapper, and is exactly my kind of cigar, it’s down and dirty, reich and earthy, but I think I like the Three Kingdoms a little more! I love the swe

etness it has. They both have a place, and I think I smoked more of those two cigars last week than I’ve smoked any one brand of cigars in a week in a long time. I just got hooked on them. Great stuff from the Rojas factory in Esteli. I’m still looking forward to meeting Lee, I’m told there will be another event in the Spring at Son’s, hopefully he doesn’t have another lame excuse! Meeting Kevin, JR, and Josh made up for his absence. 

 

I know a lot of seasoned cigar smokers like smaller cigars, and I do consider myself a seasoned cigar smoker. Heck, I’ve been smoking cigars for 25 years, that should count, right? I actually prefer larger cigars, smaller cigars don’t satisfy me. There are times, however, when time doesn’t allow for a larger cigar. If I don’t have 45 minutes, Im just not even going to have a cigar, if I have 45 minutes to an hour, I figure I can squeeze in a petite corona or a short robusto or one of the smaller formats. Such an occasion presented itself Friday. My youngest son (27), graduated from Nursing school Thursday evening, so we celebrated Friday evening with a family dinner. I snuck in a Montecristo No. 5 which I had purchased at the Duty Free in the Rome airport back in 2018 when one could do such things, before dinner (which was a very nice little cigar) and then when everyone had gone, I sat down with the new Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca 448. Steve (who still hasn’t shared my Stillwell posts, while sharing everyone else’s!) had given this one to me when we saw him in South Carolina a few weeks ago, it’s basically his regular production version of the Firecracker, which was the genesis of the Triqui Traca blend. This is a bold little smoke, and there’s really nothing unsatisfying about it. It’s got some pepper to it, along with the espresso that I love. It’s definitely the Mi Querida on steroids, and I love it. I was afraid that smoking it as late as I did would give me problems, as sometimes happens (trouble falling asleep, weird dreams, etc), but I was OK. If you loved the Firecrackers and can’t get any more, this is a reasonable alternative. If you never had the Firecracker, and like small, delicious cigars, you’ll like this one.

 

I like listening to podcasts, and one of the ones in my rotation is the A Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Ironically, there’s a cigar store called Cigar Hustler, and the guys on the Podcast are also involved in the store, one of them even is one of the owners! I suppose this helps to avoid trademark infringement. It was on this show where I heard about the Room 101 Who Shot Ya, which is an exclusive for Pospiech, which is, ironically again, owned by Mike Szczepankiewicz of the aforementioned Cigar Hustler. I saw these on the counter at Son’s and had to give one a try, or a shot, I guess. Like the Bangarang, which is the other non-Powstanie cigar in their portfolio, it’s also a pretty strong cigar, and starts with a heavy pepper flavor. It’s a well behaved torpedo, it burns well and was

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a nice smoking experience throughout the 5″ x 52 of the cigar. The components of the cigar are not disclosed, but it tastes good, defini

tely worth a “s

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hot”. The podcast is fun too, I recommend it, and Mike and Mike are nice guys, I’ve met them, and they’ve met me!

 

Wednesday I posted the link for the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa, so get in on that if you would like to!  I need  to get a few giveaways together for the holidays I suppose, I have a few goodies laying around! That’ll do it for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

 

 

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