by | June 2, 2021 · 10:27 pm

A Few Ortega Serie D Cigars

As I mentioned in my Sunday post, Ortega Cigars is a new partner on the site. I purchased the sampler that’s featured in the ad that’s running currently, and it arrived promptly. It’s an amazing deal, I almost feel guilty recommendi

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ng it, as it must be a big losing proposition. Anyway, Like I said before, I’ve known Eddie Ortega for many years. I believe I met Eddie at a local shop here when he had a 601 La Bomba Event, back when they were made by Pepin Garcia. It was about ten years ago because my then 21 year old son was with me and he had his first taste of Zacapa rum courtesy of Eddie. I’ve only made it through three of the seven cigars so far, but I’m pleased with the new offerings. The first cigar I tried out of the pack was the Seri

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e D Habano. This was a powerful cigar with a lot of pepper. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I don’t remember the old version being this spicy, but this one was very good if that’s the kind of cigar you like. All the cigars in the sampler are the toro vitola, which, of course, is great for me. The burn and draw were perfect. 

 

The second one I tried was the Serie D Black. I think I remember this cigar coming out at the tail end of Eddie’s first go around, and I wanted to try it but never got the chance. The Serie D Black sounds like it should be a maduro cigar, but it isn’t. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers. While this is very close in make-up to the Serie D Habano, it was very different in flavor, much smoother and mellower. This was a pretty nice cigar! 

 

Tonight I smoked the Serie D Maduro, a sharply box pressed toro with a San Andrés wrapper, Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan fillers. This is probably the Ortega cigar with which I was the most familiar, obviously it’s been years since I’ve smoked one. I still have one left, although there’s no sense trying to compare a several year old cigar to a new one. Eddie’s using a different factory, TACASA S.A., which has made cigars in the past for Veritas, as well as having worked with Quality Importers, where Eddie worked at one time and who distributed Ortega cigars a few years ago. The new Serie D Maduro is a tasty Mexican Maduro, with some spice and rich earthiness. 

 

I still have four cigars to go in the sampler, I’m interested in the Serie D Connecticut, not that I typically gravitate toward Connecticuts, but I don’t recall that wrapper in the original lineup and I’m curious to see how it smokes. The Cubao was a great cigar that I look forward to revisiting as well and the M3 and Jalapa look really interesting, both featuring Jalapa tobacco. I’m excited. Welcome back Ortega Cigars! 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | May 30, 2021 · 11:18 am

Black Lion Luxuries Cigar of the Month Club for April

Greetings from the coldest and rainiest Memorial Day weekend in my memory, perhaps in anyone’s in my area! I wanted to re-enclose my porch yesterday and get the propane heater out again, it was that uncomfortable. I suppose we can be a little uncomfortable as we remember what this holiday is about. I recently read something that brings the times we are living in into perspective. As people lament the “tragedy” of their high school seniors missing out due to the pandemic, look back 50 years and consider that many highschool “boys” were heading to Vietnam many never to return, and those who did return weren’t received well. Something to think about as we “celebrate” this weekend. On a lighter note, I am still catching up on the Black Lion Luxuries Cigar of the Month Clu

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b offerings. This week I smoked through the April pack. Once again, Ron and James have done a great job of selecting four nice cigars at a great value. Once again, I’m not going to give a paragraph to each cigar, but I am going to hit some highlights!

 

Since I had been heavy on La Flor Domincana already this week, it seemed only right to lead with the LFD 1994 Rumba. Honestly, this may be one of my favorites in the LFD range. I love the 6½” x 52 size, and the San Andrés wrapper over the La Canela DR fillers and binder make for a really nice smoke. It’s got great flavor but isn’t so strong as to be bothersome. This was the only cigar in the pack with which I had any prior experience. I’m sure nobody remembers, but my final post of the year listed my top ten cigars I hadn’t smoked last year. The Plasencia Alma Fuerte Sixto II marks the third one I’ve managed to tick off the list so far. This is an amazing cigar, so much so that I am actually tempted to go ahead spend the $21 on another one or two to smoke it again. Let’s forget the kitsch of the hexagonal press, which is pretty cool, that’s not what I like about it, nor does the 60 ring gauge impress me, although it doesn’t bother me in the least. This is just a damned delicious cigar. Let’s do a quick look at the financial impact: the COTM is $30 (+ shipping), the LFD is a $9 cigar and the Sixto is $21, and there are still two $8+ cigars left. see where I’m going here?

 

I smoked the last two cigars yesterday, like I said, the weather is atypical for the end of May. It was rainy and in the 40s. I was bundled on my screen porch with the La Galera Connecticut Tubo listening to some Podcasts. I find my friend Kaplowitz to be entertaining. I honestly can’t remember if I’ve smoked anything from La Galera before, I know I haven’t smoked the Connecticut, maybe I’ve smoked something but I don’t think so, which is actually pretty unusual. I just don’t know where I would have gotten one. This is one of the values of a COTMC such as this, the ability to not only try cigars that you don’t have access to, but also ones you might not pick out on your own. Like the Sixto, I am hard pressed to pry my wallet open that far for a cigar myself, and in the case of this La Galera, I don’t generally buy Connecticuts for myself. But, I do smoke  them when presented with the opportunity, and this was a good one! It has flavor and body and it was well made. If I had one nit to pick it would be that when I took the band off it lifted a large piece of wrapper off w

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ith it, but that was a small annoyance, and it I listened to Zino Davidoff (who is, no doubt, rolling in his grave over the treatment done to the brand with his first name on it), I would have been done with the cigar prior to reaching that point.  Good cigar. Finally, another cigar that I hadn’t tried before, the Warped Corto, a 4½” x 46 cigar that was ideal considering the weather conditions. Had it been a warm evening I would have wanted something longer, but this worked out well. This cigar is made at the TABSA (Aganorsa) factory, and is a hot little number. It starts with a blast of pepper and is rich and satisfying. I’m quite happy I had a chance to try this little guy. The only Warped cigar I’ve smoked is the Guardian of the Farm, once again, this isn’t a brand I regularly see around here. The April pack, like March’s, was excellent! 

 

Please take a moment to check out two new advertising partners on the right side, Blackbird Cigar Co. and Ortega Cigar Co. My advertising policy has always been to only display ads for companies whose products I like, and for people I like, and these two are no different. Heck, I’ve known Eddie Ortega for ten years I think! Point is, if you see the link on my page, you can trust the company as I do, they carry my seal of approval!  Anyway, my gratitude to those who’ve served, and those who’ve lost in service to their country. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | May 26, 2021 · 9:05 pm

A Night Under The Stars with La Flor Dominicana Cigars and Tobacco Plaza

Last night we went up to Roslyn, NY on Long Island to the Swan Club for a cigar dinner put on by Tobacco Plaza in Great Neck.  The evening featured a meal cooked by Jonathan Carney, VP of sales of La Flor Dominicana, and one of the guys behind the Hacking Gourmet Series, who sponsored the event.  I suppose it’s valid to question how someone from Southeast PA ends up at a cigar dinner in Long Island. Well, of course, I’ve known Jon Carney for a long time, and he was kind enough to invite us when I was on the Smokin’ Tabacco show a few months ago. I also know Danny Ditknowitch, co-owner of Tobacco Plaza, as he is also a partner in the La Sirena brand, which has been a great supporter over the last several years, and remains one of my favorite brands. Another reason my wife and I went was that in person cigar events have been few and far between, and it was nice to get out, so it was worth the 3+ hour drive with the rush hour traffic around New Your City (unfortunate planning on my part). This was a very cool event, combining Mr. Carney’s Gourmet Smoke Sessions events with a cigar dinner. The event site, the Swan Club, was a beautiful spot, located on a harbor off of Hampstead Bay. There were 100 or so people there, I didn’t count, but Danny said that they were all custom

ers of Tobacco Plaza. Everyone received La Flor Dominicana cigars and a lighter, and one of the cigars was an event only cigar called the Long Island Iced Tea, which had an iced tea glass in tobacco leaf applied to it. It’s hard to photograph, due to the curve of the cigar. I smoked one, and I found it to be very

mild, perhaps I was expecting something different. It seemed to have more flavor on the retrohale. Perhaps I’ll let a second one rest a while and try again.

 

The food was amazing. I appreciated the fact that the menu was fairly simple as I’m not an adventurous eater (that’s a euphemism, I’m a picky eater). There were two Penne pastas, I had the one with the scallops, it was good, and the shrimp were also good. I skipped the chicken, although my wife enjoyed hers, and we both agreed that the filet mignon was amazing. There was also an open bar, which matters not to those of us who don’t drink. The coffee was good though, and I needed some of that for the ride home! I finished the night with a tasty LFD Double Ligero No 600. This cigar got me to the highway, but there’s challenges to driving a manual car in the dark, while trying to navigate unfamiliar roads and merge New York City traffic.  It ends up being more trouble than it’s worth. Fortunately it was about finished when I dropped it in the mobile Stinky ashcan. It was a good night, we met some nice folks, smoked some good cigars and had some great food. It was nice catching up with Jon and Danny too. I didn’t even miss wearing a mask, and I’ve been to events where the staff wore masks over the last 20-some years, so that didn’t phase me! Many thanks to Jon for the invite.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | May 23, 2021 · 11:14 am

Three Catrina De Mi Vida Cigars from Danli Honduras Tobacco

As everyone should be quite aware by now, I have been enamoured with the cigars made by the folks at Danli Honduras Tobacco for nearly two years. It was June of 2019 when I had my first experience with the Don Juan Calavera cigars, and the Sumatra, Maduro and Connecticut became three of my favorite cigars in their respective categories. Soon the Marchetti and The Clown came into the rotation as well, all Toros, all cigars I reach for knowing I’ll be happy with the experience. One of my local shops even brought the line in having read about it here, without my direct input, making them one of the first stores in the country that sold them, and they continue to do well with them. The company

‘s lines have  since been picked up by an excellent regional broker now, and they are appearing in more and more shops. I know they have some growing pains, but they make amazing cigars, and I really want to see them succeed. I was very excited to try their newest line, the Catrina De Mi Vida. The branding follows the Don Juan Calavera theme from the female perspective, at least that’s my interpretation. The colors of the paper sleeves on the cigars are bright and festive, where the Don Juan Calavera sleeves are black. I got one of each of these cigars in their sampler box, which is an amazing presentation in itself. Of course, I started with the Maduro. 

 

Once again, I’m not going to devote a paragraph to each cigar, as I only smoked one example of each. I will pick up a few more the next time I fisit Cigar Mojo, as I know that they have them there. The company says that the Maduro is he strongest of the three, and I suppose that may be true, I thought they were all on the medium side. Oddly, all three started out with a sourness that caused me some concern, but it went away after a bit, with the maduro, af

ter the initial sourness it turned into a bolder, meatier maduro blend, with a good flavor that I enjoyed. the Corojo also had that initial sour note, but transitioned  after about a half an inch and tasted like I thought a corojo cigar might taste like, it had some nutiness and sweetness and I enjoyed it. the Connecticut was pretty interesting. The sourness dissipated early and it smoothed out, but it wasn’t a mild Connecticut, it  had some cojones, if you know what I mean. I will say that the Catrina line won’t replace the Don Juan Calavera line in my list of favorites in Danli Honduras Tobacco’s portfolio, but they are good tasting, well made cigars for sure, and there’s something for everyone. I wouldn’t let the packaging lead you to believe these are feminine in any way either, although some men may not gravitate to

ward a cigar with a pink sleeve. T

hese are three more examples of good cigars from a small company in Honduras. I love these guys and I’m happy to help them out in any way I can.

 

That’s all for today, still working on a great contest, which, by the way, will include some cigars from Danli Honduras Tobacco from my hu

midor! Have a great day, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | May 19, 2021 · 6:12 pm

News: Black Label Trading Ships 2021 Bishops Blend

It’s Wednesday and I’m working on putting together a contest, so in the meantime I’m going to attempt to keep you all busy with some news items. Here’s one from Black Label Trading Com

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pany.

 

 

Black Label

Trading Company is pleased to announce the shipment of Bishops Blend to select retailers later this month. Bishops Blend is handcrafted in Esteli, Nicaragua at Fabrica Oveja Negra. This is the sixth vintage of Bishops Blend in the Corona Larga and Robusto vitolas. The Lance

ro vitola was first released in 2020.

 

“We are very excited about this highly anticipated release. Bishops Blend boasts big bold flavors of anise, pepper, raisins and a sweet earthiness on the finish. It is very complex and extremely refined. As with the past vintages, the broadleaf fillers shine at the forefront and are perfectly balanced by the Nicaraguan filler tobaccos,” said James Brown, creator of Black Label Trading Co. and partner at Fabrica Oveja Negra.

 

BISHOP

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S BLEND will be available at select retailers.

Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano Maduro
Binder: Ecuador Habano
Filler: Nicaragua, Connecticut & PA Broadleaf
Corona Larga – 6.25 x 46 (20 count) MSRP $11.50
Robusto – 5 x 48 (20 count) MSRP $11.00
Lancero – 7 x 42 (12 count) MSRP $12.00

 

Black Label Trading Company is redefining the standards for cigar making. With a “less is more” philosophy, Black Label Trading Co. creates handcrafted premium cigars of the utmost quality in small batch, limited quantities.

 

For more information please visit OvejaNegraCigars.com. Consumers may search by zip code for retailers nearest them.

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