CAO Arcana Mortal Coil and Some Random Thoughts

Before I get to the cigar, let me get some stuff off my chest. Little things get under my skin that maybe shouldn’t. but they do. Simple misuse of cigar terminology, for instance. Call it a pet peeve. One that came up recently was while listening to a podcast that I don’t often listen to, and the host is a large reason why. I firmly believe that if you are hosting a cigar podcast, and consider yourself experienced in the cigar industry, you should have a good grasp on simple terminology. For instance, if someone says they take the wrapper off a cigar and put it in their wallet, I’m picturing peeling the outer leaf off and it making a big mess in someone’s billfold, leaving an ugly cigar with just the binder, basically ruining the cigar and changing the flavor dramatically. I try to correct this when I see the mistake made in forums by laymen, I pretty much correct those who refer to either cello or the band as the wrapper. Generally the question is something like: “should I remove the wrappers from my cigars when I put them in the humidor” and my response is :“ No! The wrapper is the most expensive leaf and takes skill to apply, and adds flavor to the cigar! You probably mean the cellophane” or something similarly smart ass. But I don’t expect this mistake from someone hosting a podcast, writing a cigar blog, or otherwise in cigar media. In talking to other people, this isn’t this individual’s only flaw by any stretch. I find his interviewing style egregius and he’s unentertaining. I’ve gone as far as to remove the link to the show from my site as it’s no longer worth having any association with. This is actually one of the kind of cigar media guys who could give the rest of us a bad name in the industry. That’s the end of my rant, before I go any further down a rabbit hole. I smoked cigars this week, let’s talk about that!

 

I smoked a few cigars this week that I can’t talk about that were really interesting, and a couple that I want to smoke more of before writing about, but the one standout was the new CAO Arcana Mortal Coil. With Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) coming to their senses and hiring back their PR director recently, samples have begun showing up in my mailbox again, and I haven’t had to journey out looking for this cigar, which I would have done anyway, because it sounded amazing. The Mortal Coil has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, with a Connecticut Shade binder and Dominican Andullo, Honduran Jamastran, Nicaraguan Esteli and Dominican Piloto Cubano fillers. It’s 6 1/8″ x 50 and they only made 5000 boxes (I think they left out how many per box!). I found this to be a powerhouse cigar, and I loved it. It was rich and spicy, with some nice sweet flavors, and I really enjoyed it. I wan’t enamoured with the band though, it’s about 7½” long when unfurled. I get it, it coiled around the cigar, but it’s a lot of band to deal with, and must irritate the folks in the STG factory in Esteli who have to apply it to the cigars, as it’s totally different that banding any other cigar. That being said, it’s not a cord of tobacco, so there’s that. Overall, it’s a really good cigar for my palate, and I’ll be picking up some if I see them in the shops, just to have on hand for a treat. I appreciate the interplay of the Broadleaf and shade wrapper/binder combo, the CAO Bones has the same combo and I really like that. 

 

Speaking of bands, my wife is working on another cigar band table project and needs yellow bands! What cigars have yellow bands? Leave comments with suggestions, or if you have some, let me know and we can come to an arrangement (wink, wink). 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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UPDATED News: United Cigars Celebrates Our Beloved Sports Stadiums

I’m disappointed in this news for a few reasons.  I was looking forward to the cigars, and I feel

like the reasoning is pretty weak. I think it’s pretty safe to assume this was killed due to the word “Monstah” infringing on Pete Johnson’s “Monster” trademark, but I fail to see how there could be any confusion. The only thing I can understand is that the trademark has to be defended in an evenhanded manner, if he allows one person to get away with one permutation of the word, someone else can find another loophole. It seems crappy, but I suppose the owners of United would defend their trademarks as well (and probably have).

United Cigar is disappointed to announce that its 1st Stadium Series releases has been halted. The Asylum Green Monstah, a collaboration with CLE Cigars and United Cigars, was due to ship to United retail partners just in time for opening day of baseball scheduled for April 1, 2021. This limited release was produced in two vitolas packaged in 9 count boxes representing the nine innings of baseball. The box is shaped as home plate with both sides fashioned after the iconic left field wall of Fenway Park: The Green Monstah.

“This project meant more than cigars,” said Oliver Nivaud, Director of Operations at United Cigar. “Baseball is America’s pass-time; stadiums delivered sports, music and life before the pandemic and we wanted to share our passion with other enthusiasts. My connection to Boston’s Fenway Park is deeper than just a cigar project, I named my son after the park in 2004. I never expected the cancel culture to show itself in the cigar industry, especially not because we named our first series after a green wall that was built in 1912.”

United Cigars i

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s regretfully pulling the Stadium Series Green Monstah from the market for now until a direction is decided upon. This decision was made after another cigar brand owner reached out to CLE directly and said that a portion of the name of would need to be concealed. As this was not an option United Cigars wanted to accommodate, the decision was made to pull the series to avoid further distress to their friends at CLE.

This will not stop the Series Unidas Stadium Series however, United Cigars has new plans for this annual release and has begun the early steps for the next one which should be announced by this Fall.

 

 


A rare Saturday morning post, I was going to do this one last night, but I didn’t get around to it. Funny, because I had candela on my mind, but that’s a story for another day. I like a candela, and Christian Eiroa made one of my favorite Candelas when he made the Camacho Monarca in Candela years ago. I really miss that cigar, I smoked through a box of them a dozen years ago or so. Maybe this will be similar blend? I guess I’ll have to get my hands on some and see (if my memory holds up).  As far as the stadium series goes, I can only hope they don’t do one for Vet Stadium, as many great memories I have of that stadium, it really wasn’t what I’d call a great baseball stadium (and there’s already a Phillies cigar, and I ain’t smoking it)! 

 

Wi

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th nearly a year behind us since we have had the opportunity to visit a stadium to cheer on our favorite  athletes, United Cigars has decided to bring the stadium to you. Teaming up with Christian Eiroa and Tom Lazuka of  Asylum Cigars, United Cigars is launching a new line as part of their Series Unidas collection and will ship to retailers next  wee

k in time for baseball’s opening day. The Green Monstah cigar release will pay tribute to the Boston Red Sox and  Fenway Park as the launch of a planned United Cigars Limited Edition Stadium Series line.  

 

A collectible series honoring America’s beloved stadiums, the Green Monstah boxes will showcase the iconic scoreboard  and celebrate our love of the game. Available in two classic Asylum Cigar vitolas, 6 x 60 and 7 x 70, the Green Monstah  limited series features an Ecuadorian candela wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Esteli and Jalapa. This Limited  Edition Stadium Series production was kept to 250 boxes of each size and will be available in boxes of 9 cigars for 9  innings of baseball. The boxes were constructed to resemble home plate, so this is perfect for every baseball  enthusiast’s collection and cigar lover’s humidor. 

 

 

“The sounds at the ballpark have always been a part of my Spring,” said Oliver Nivaud Director of Operations for United  Cigars. “Now we have an Asylum cigar to smoke for opening day. Fenway Park is my Holy Cathedral, but we have a few more  stadiums in mind for this stadium series.” 

 

Tom Lazuka, Co-Founder of Asylum Cigars added, “This was an exciting project as both Christian and I are huge baseball fans.  We worked hard to have a candela in a large format, turned out to be an amazing cigar that has filled a few of my ashtrays.” 

 

 

The Green Monstah will begin shipping to retailers on March 22nd in limited quantities. MSRP on the 6 x 60 is  $79.99/$8.88 and the 7 x 70 will retail for $89.99/$9.99. 

 

About United Cigars 

United Cigar began as a US based cigar store chain in 1901 growing to nearly 3,000 shops. United Cigar eventually  became part of the corporation that bought Marvel Comics in 1968. The United Cigar chain represented the interests of  the Consolidated Tobacco Company, the tobacco trust that controlled the American Tobacco Company. 

Today United Cigars distributes and manufactures premium cigars within the United States. Distribution agreements  with Selected Tobacco (Atabey, Byron & Bandolero) as well as Jose Dominguez cigars. United Cigars has its own brands  including the quick-selling bundle line Classic, La Gianna Havana, and our flagship brand United to name a few.  United Cigar Series Unidas, a collaboration with respected manufacturers, provides premium cigar retailers with Limited  Release productions.  

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News: Blackbird Cigar Co and Stogiebird Hatch New Blend

If ever there was

a perfect partnership, it’s Blackbird and Stogiebird! It just makes sense! Of course, I’ve known Sam Leccia of Stogiebird for many years, and I met Jonas of Blackbird last year at the TPE. I’m looking forward to this becoming available, I’m almost tempted to su
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bscribe, as subscription services have been on my radar lately. The problem is, I just can’t spend the cash to subscribe to all of the services I’d like to! Sam seem to be doing it right, as he always has! I have a s
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Today, Blackbird Cigar Co announces the creation of their latest cigar the “Ruffed Grouse” made exclusively for Stogieb

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fter the Pennsylvania State bird, is a four-country blend starting with a beautiful oily Habano wrapper around an Indonesia binder using grade A Criollo 98 and Pennsylvania long filler tobaccos.


“Sam Leccia has done an amazing job with Stogiebird. I was excited to work with him on this project.” said Jonas Santana, President Blackbird Dominicana


The Ruffed Grouse is shipping immediately

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for Stogiebird monthly subscribers and will be available in all subscription packages until April 14th. Afterwards it will be available online via the Stogiebird cigar store.

 


“Jonas really hit it out of the park with this blend.” said Sam Leccia, President, Stogiebird. “I am already trying to convince him to add it to his portfolio.

 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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A Celtic Ash Cigar from Humidity Cigars and a Deadwoods Crazy Alice

After the folks at Humidity Cigars were kind enough to send me a

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sample of their monthly subscription pack to try, I placed an order with them to see what would really happen! I chose the “Flight and Light” pack which, at the time, was on sale for $30. I was hoping for some new and interesting cigars to try, and I did get that. I recently had a conversation with Ernesto Padilla about why I hadn’t posted many of his cigar recently, my answer was that they were not available in the shops I visited, so I now have a Padilla (which I have to find out about). One think I would like to see included with the Humidity Cigars shipments is details on the cigars, maybe that’s just because I’m a cigar geek, or I need the details. Fortunately, Gian, the owner of the company, has been responsive to my questions. Yesterday I dug into the pack and smoked the cigar that looked the most interesting to me, the Celtic Ash.

 

 

The Celtic Ash seems to be an exclusive to Humidity Cigars. I should have measured it, but I think it was around 6½” x 52 or 54 maybe. I suppose I expected to find some information about it somewhere, being the optimist that I am (sometimes). I did confirm that it has a Corojo wrapper with Dominican binder and fillers. The wrapper is a dark shade, which is one of the things that drew me to it, as well as the size, which was appropriate for the time I had available. I assume this was included in a March pack to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day, kudos to them for not falling into the candella trap. The cigar is very good, despite some slight burn irregularities, nothing a little torch work can’t fix. It had some really nice sweet and spice flavors, good, well fermented tobacco. Whoever made this for Humidity Cigars knew what they were doing. I admit, at first look with my admittedly jaded eye, I was concerned with the selection I received, now I’m looking forward to trying the MyLuck and Padilla at least (I think I’ve smoked La Perla a long time ago, but I’ll give it another shot). I’ve been impressed with the serv

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ice so far, the cigars are well packaged and presented. 

 

I have a pet peeve or two, and one big one is when folks insist that Drew Estate‘s Larutan (nee Natural) and the Deadwoods are infused or flavored. I’ve actually seen people argue with Vaughn Boyd, who owned Deadwood Cigars in South Dakota, for whom the Deadwood line was made, about this point. You’d think she would know the answer. I’m going to give you the answer right now, they are not infused or flavored, except that they have a sweet cap in some cases. The exotic tobaccos that are used, the Periques, Syrians and Latakias, that are more traditionally used in pipe tobaccos, are not cased in sweet stuff, they are processed like cigar tobaccos. I know this from discussions with people at Drew Estate and having been to the factory on two occasions. People will still argue that they are infused cigars because they don’t taste like traditional cigars, but that’s because the tobaccos they use taste different! After having this argument yet again yesterday, and correcting someone who should have known better, an “influencer” if you will, I decided to smoke a Crazy Alice. This is a cool shape and a really interesting little smoke. I recently picked up a box of these just because I enjoy them for a change of pace once in a while. They are an explosion of flavor, unique spices and sweetness, I just find them very enjoyable. It filled an hour in between dinner and the Flyers game very nicely. Just because something is different, doesn’t mean it’s wrong!

 

That’s all for today, if this post is an hour late, you forgot to change your clock. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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Accessory Review: ThermoPro TP59 Wireless Thermometer Hygrometer

Recently I was sent a ThermoPro TP59 Wireless Thermometer Hygrometer to test out. I mostly use Govee brand remote hygrometers, along with some Western Digital Hygrometers in my humidors, so they were used as my baseline for testing out his unit. To be honest, I’m not one of these guys who obsesses about my humidors being spot on humidity wise, as long as the cigars are smoking right, I’m happy, but I do want to know when there are wild fluctuations. There are a few things I like about this unit and and a few things I don’t like. Let’s hit the high points first. It’s inexpensive, I think the cost on this is around $17.99 (I can’t tell for sure, which will come up in the “cons” portion). It seems to be reasonably accurate. It matches up within a point or two of my other hygrometers in both temperature and humidity. Any hygrometer at this price isn’t going to be dead-on accurate, the spec is +-2% on the humidity. The display is large and easy to read, backlit, and

the overall look is nice enough. It’s Bluetooth, so you don’t need to see it to get a reading. The smartphone app is easy to use and provides plenty of historical data, as well as alerts if the temperature and humidity goes above or below thresholds that you can define. Another plus is that it takes normal AA

A batteries, which were included. This is a decent unit for a larger humidor.

 

 

Now for the downsides. I say that it’s good for a larger humidor because it’s on the large side. The screen itself is 3″ diagonal. It’s going to take up some space in a small humidor, although it can certainly be mounted in the lid. I was going to list the ease of purchase through Amazon as a “pro”, then I looked it up, and see t

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hat it’s currently unavailable. I can only assume that this is a brand new model and it will soon be available, but I don’t have a date right now. Other than that, I don’t have anything bad to say about it! It does what it’s meant to do, and loo

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ks good doing it, and provides plenty of data and features through the app.  I just need to find a good place to mount it now that I’m done with the side by side testing. 

 

Thanks to the folks at ThermoPro for allowing me to try out their

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product! that’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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