August 24, 2025 · 9:28 am

Saint Luis Rey and Drew Estate Free Style Live Cigars and a Giveaway!

I didn’t have a lot of new stuff to write about this week, so I figures a classic CigarCraig giveaway was long overdue.  Stuff has been piling up and it needs to find a new home!  More on that after I talk about a couple cigars!  First up is the Saint Luis Rey Natural Broadleaf Rothschild.  I’ve always liked the Saint Luis Rey brand, and really need to check out some of their newer offerings.  I remember when they were made for Altadis by the Eiroas, boy were they good back then!  This is a 5″ x 54 with a severe box press, not really a Rothschild at all.  Obviously, I would have gotten a toro had it been available, but this is what the shop had. I thought this was quite a nice cigar.  It had a rich, spicy sweetness, burned well and was very nice.  These should be around $7 each, so are a really good cigar at a great price. 

 

Drew Estate will be having a Freestyle Live event this Tuesday, 8/26/25, at 7 Eastern on YouTube and Facebook to reveal what the cigar in their most recent Freestyle Live pack will become.  The pack consisted of three cigars (all Toros), and a 40 ounce Tumbler.  I’ll be honest, previous FSL packs had a little more substance.  The tumbler is nice, I should probably use it myself, but it will be included in the giveaway below, along with some stuff from a previous FSL event.  The cigar is obviously a mystery for now.  I can tell you a few things about it, though.  It has a lighter wrapper, and may be a shade wrapper, based on what I perceived as a breaddy sweetness.  My money is on Nica Rustica Shade, but I’m never right about these things.  It’s a really good smoke, I’ll be delighted if it’s in the Nica Rustica price range.  The pack comes with three cigars, and is probably still available in retail, so it’s a good deal if you need a tumbler.  Tune in to Drew Estate’s broadcast Tuesday to find out what it is.  

 

OK, giveaway time!  I hope you read the paragraphs above and didn’t just scroll down to the free stuff section!  OK, you know how this works.   Leave a comment on this blog post to enter.  Not on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Threads or anywhere else, just here.  I’ll select a winner at random and announce it in next Sunday’s post.  Here’s what I’m including, other stuff might fall in the box when I pack it up,  and I’m not listing cigars, but the humidor will be full of selections from my humidor.  First, from Drew Estate, there’s the Freestyle Live Tumbler (and a cigar), the ten count travel humidor from the last FSL event (which I will fill with cigars!), which includes a lighter.  Then there’s some various swag from last year’s Barnsmoker, a hat, spray can lighter (hard to believe I got that through TSA!) and cutter.  From J.C. Newman there’s a pair of Brick House Bricktoberfest pint glasses (stock photo since they are already nicely wrapped for shipping). I’m also including a melamine Romeo y Julieta ashtray, and, like I said, whatever I might find laying around in the meantime. 

Any cigars I include will have been featured on my site at some point, and or are personal favorites. They won’t suck.  So hit the comments, let me know what you think!  I just remembered, next week will be the 16th anniversary of CigarCraig.com, so there’s a good reason to celebrate with a giveaway! 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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August 17, 2025 · 9:32 am

Cohiba Spectre, Rocky Patel Dark Star and Artista Falu Cigars

This week we made settlement on my parents house, the house I grew up in for the most part.  It was the end of three and a half months of clean-out, and there’s still a ton of stuff we have to find homes for. But the stresses of having to run back and forth to the house are over. I needed a celebratory cigar, and General Cigars was very generous in sending samples of the ’24 Cohiba Spectre, which was just recently released.  They have this cigar priced at $149.95, which is absurd, or course, but it makes this the second most expensive cigar I’ve ever smoked (Davidoff Dom Perignon from the ’70s was the most expensive).  These are packaged in a ten count articulated cylinder that has the cigars in individual humidified tubes, with a travel humidor in the middle.  My cigars came in cellophane.  Clearly a lot of the pricetag is in the packaging, it’s probably a better value dropping the $1500 on the box!  Not that the cigar isn’t great, I hate that I loved it.  It’s a 6″ x 52 toro, with a 7-Year-Aged Havana Connecticut 2017 wrapper, Mexican San Andrés binder and Criollo 98 from Mao Dominican Republic, San Andrés, Vuelta Abajo fillers.  It starts spicy, and progresses to a neat array of exotic spices throughout.  It’s quite interesting and delicious.  The only other Spectre I’ve smoked was the first one in 2018, and it doesn’t hold a candle to this one.  I was very impressed.

 

Coming back to reality, last week I had mentioned picking up some new-to-me cigars, and one of them was the Rocky Patel Dark Star, of course in the 6″ x 52 toro.  I thought Rocky liked making toros 6½”?  This is and interesting blend, it has a Honduran Corojo wrapper and Nicaraguan, Honduran & Paraguayan fillers.  I always appreciate a good burn and draw, this had it, and it had what I consider to be bright, woody flavors.  Around the band I got a sensation of cinnamon, which I found interesting. I probably don’t smoke as many Rocky Patel cigars as I should, I usually find something I like about them.

 

Another cigar I picked up was the Artista Falu in, you guessed it, toro size.  I believe this is the third in their newest series, with the Harvest and Midnight being the others.  This one has a Broadleaf wrapper, Indonesian binder and a proprietary blend of Dominican tobaccos.  It’s a box pressed 6″ x 50 toro.  I really like this series, they are fairly priced in the $12 range, and smoke really well.  This cigar had a lot of dark dried fruit and espresso characteristics, and was squarely in my wheelhouse. I’ve had a good relationship with Artista for a long time, nice folks who make a good product.  

 

Last night I smoked a Wise Man Claro, so I decided to smoke an old El Güegüense this morning to see how they compared.  No similarity, they are very different cigars.  Both excellent, grab up any El Güegüense you see!  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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August 10, 2025 · 7:00 am

Black Label Trading Co. Eletto, Enclave by Eladio Diaz and Timeless Supreme Cigars

One of the shops local to me recently changed ownership, and I’ve been able to find some new-to-me cigars there.  the first one that caught my eye was the Elatto from Black Label Trading Co.. This it Black Label’s tenth anniversary cigar, Eletto is Italian for “chosen one”.   I’m pretty happy I chose this one.  This was the 6″ x 50 toro, and has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Ecuadorian Habano binder, and Nicaraguan fillers, made at their Oveja Negra factory in Esteli.  This didn’t taste like a typical Connecticut Broadleaf cigar, not that it was a disappointment, there are plenty of cigars I can chose if I want that flavor.  This was very interesting. It started with some dry cocoa powder, a little on the bitter side, and sweetened gradually, but not very much.  I really like a lot of the cigars BLTC makes, and I grab one as often as I can.  It was nice to see something this new (only a week or two on the market) in this local shop.  It’s not the closest shop to me, it’s two miles away, but it’s pretty convenient.  

 

Another cigar I picked up was the A.J. Fernandez Enclave by Eladio Diaz in the 6″ x 54 toro size.  Eladio Diaz spent 40 years at Davidoff, and was most recently Head of Production and Quality Control.  He’s quite a prolific blender, then partnered with William Ventura to start Freud Cigars.  The blend is a Corojo ’99 wrapper from Ecuador, an Ecuadoran binder and all-Dominican filler. It’s made at Tabacalera Diaz Cabrera in the DR.  This is all a little odd, since the cigar doesn’t seem to have anything to do with A.J. Fernandez except for the name. The Enclave line celebrates camaraderie in the cigar industry, so I guess there’s that.  I’ll be honest, this was not a cigar that really fit my preference.  It had a nutty, creaminess, but a little bite as well. I actually thought it was a shade wrapped cigar, and was surprised that it was Ecuador Corojo.  While it’s not for me, if you like the older Davidoffs, or Ventura cigars, this would be a good cigar to try, especially for just under $10.  

 

I’ve been negligent in sampling the offerings of Ferio Tego, so I was pleased when I saw the Timeless Supreme on the shelf.  I haven’t been able to pull the trigger on the Elegancia and Generoso, too rich for my blood.  I picked up the box pressed 660, which feels more like a toro.  I used my CigarMedics The Baller on this one, I’ve been using the Il Maestro and Guillotina De Saka most of the time. Both cut exactly the same, by the way. This is a Nicaraguan puro, made by Plasencia. Of course, Timeless was a brand developed by Michael Herklots when he took the Nat Sherman brand from a catalog brand back into the premium space. When Altria divested itself of the Nat Sherman cigar brands, Ferio Tego acquired the trademarks to continue the brands. Timeless Supreme is probably the strongest of the four varieties offered, at least I found it to be quite strong.  This is a leathery cigar, burn and draw were perfect, and I put it down sooner than I normally do.  I still enjoyed it, and look forward to sampling, or resampling I guess, the rest of the Timeless line. 

 

We’ve been super busy cleaning out my parent’s house, but the end is in sight. We have settlement this week and that chapter will be behind us. We still have a lot of stuff to liquidate, but at least we won’t have to worry about the house.  Wednesday’s cigar will be a good one!  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

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August 3, 2025 · 9:36 am

Hoyo de Monterrey, Devil Crab and Tatuaje Corojo Cigars

A few weeks back I mentioned that I was smoking the new Hoyo de Monterrey Shade while writing, and that I’d report back later. Today is the day.  This is the third cigar in the revamped line, the first two were the Oscuro and Rojo, which I talked about back in August of last year. Along with La Gloria, Hoyo de Monterrey is one of the brands I got started on early.  The Excalibur No 1 was a special occasion cigar for me, when spending $5 on a cigar was really extravagant. This new Hoyo has a Honduran shade grown wrapper, with Honduran binder and fillers, made at the HATSA factory in Danli, Honduras.  I may revisit the Oscuro and the Rojo, but I think this Connecticut is my favorite of the three. It was rich and creamy, well balanced and burned perfectly.  My initial impression was that this was a cigar that didn’t really need to be made, It seems that adding a shade cigar to a line is a go to move with General Cigars.  This one is really nice, and priced well.  It’s funny as I sit here smoking a shade cigar I think about how it’s the last wrapper I go to, but I really like them! This Hoyo is a good one.  When I first started this journey, General Cigars sent me a box of Hoyos, and I think I still have one left. That was 15 years ago!

 

I smoked a West Tampa Cigar Co. Devil Crab a few months ago at the Smoke-Onos when Ricky pretty much made me smoke it, and I had some thoughts, but I wanted to smoke one on a clean palate to validate those thoughts.  I can use “validate”,  Aganorsa hasn’t protected it somehow, right? Anyway, This is a classic size, 4½” x 60 perfecto. I see the term “double perfecto” bandied about, and that seems redundant to me, a perfecto is a figurado that’s closed at both ends.  What would a single perfecto be?  Anyway, it’s pretty close to the classic Flying Pig vitola, which Steve Saka resurrected from a late 1800s cigar catalog while working at Drew Estate. I like this shape, it’s a fun smoke.  This is made at the Garmendia factory where the White, Black and Red lines are made.  This is a very interesting cigar, and I had a very similar experience this time.  It smokes well, once you get thought the foot, initially it’s tight, but that’s a typical perfecto trait.  To my palate, it has a sweetness, but not a sugary sweetness, more of a saccharine sweetness. It’s a little odd,  Certainly worth a try and a decent change of pace.  There are other West Tampa cigars I like better.  

 

Finally, I was hunting for something new to me, and I came across the Tatuaje 7th Corojo.  This is the fifth cigar in the 7th size, which is a 5 5/8″ x 46 classic Corona Gorda shape. They’ve recently release this as a regular production, along with the Tuxtla in this size. It has a Corojo wrapper grown by the Garcia family in Nicaragua, I assume over Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  It’s decently priced around $9.50.  I remember feeling extremely extravagant paying that for a Liga Privada when they first hit (double that today!).  This was a perfect cigar to unwind with after a very busy Saturday.  It has an interesting sourness, not off putting, with a floral overtone.  It’s different from what I generally expect from a Tatuaje,  but if they all tasted the same, what fun would that be?  Perfect construction as always. I should have gotten a Tuxtla too, I haven’t had one in a while, but they will be readily available.  Great cigar.

 

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

CigarCraig

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July 27, 2025 · 9:05 am

My Father Blue, Diamond Crown Tampa and Davidoff Maduro

I smoked a few pricey cigars this week, outside my usual comfort zone. However this first one wasn’t one of those! I picked up a few of the new My Father Blue in toro and gordo, and smoked one in each size. This is from the company’s new Honduras factory and uses tobacco grown on their Honduran farm. It has a Connecticut rosado broadleaf wrapper, and Corojo and Criollo tobaccos from Honduras. My first impression was what a gorgeous cigar this was. The bands are beautiful, tying in the whole “Blue” thing, they really pop on the shelf. Blue was once considered the kiss of death on a cigar band, but now longer, this is a stunner. It starts with some spice, who’s surprised? The best food comparison I can make is rye bread (TY NK for putting that in my head). I smoked both the Toro Gordo and the Toro and they were superb, a real winner. I’ll be very interested in smoking more cigars from the Honduras factory, including whatever Tatuaje might do there.

 

I was fortunate that J.C. Newman shared some of their new Diamond Crown Tampa cigars with me, it’s hard to say when I’ll get back to Tampa, as these are exclusive to shops in the city.  I also have a hard time dropping $30 on a cigar.  This is a Diamond Crown with a little extra, which is the Florida Sun Grown tobacco grown at Jeff Borysiewicz’ farm in Clermont, Florida.  These are still made at Tabacalera Fuente, and still have an Connecticut Shade wrapper, although it looks darker to me than I’m used to.  It’s only available in a 6½” x 52 Toro. The guts are Dominican, except for the FSG ligero.  I was amazed at how good this cigar was, but I shouldn’t have been, I guess.  My first Diamond Crown cigar was back in 1998 and it, along with all it’s siblings, have been favorites ever since.  The new Diamond Crown bands are beautiful, and they added a large band on the body of the cigar that has Tampa imagery, El Reloj (not El Rehol, dammit Coop!), a rooster, Gaspar’s ship and other Tampa landmarks.  It’s my week for smoking beautiful cigars!  This was another bready cigar with the FSG spice which is unique.  I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to try it, and recommend it, it’s a special treat.  

 

I could have smoked something more ridiculously expensive than this next cigar, but I’ll hold off on that one for a couple weeks. Once again, I was fortunate to receive a sampling of the newish Davidoff Maduro, and selected the 6″ x 54 Toro for my Friday evening smoke.  This has a chocolaty maduro wrapper from Ecuador, a Mexican binder and Dominican fillers.  A box will run you a little over a grand, make sure you get free shipping if you buy online!  If I ever have a box of these you’ll know I won the lottery. This was another pretty cigar, the bands are classic, in this case it’s the wrapper that catches the eye.  This cigar burned perfectly, razor straight with a perfect draw. It had some of the cocoa one expects, some spice, and that musty umami that I think Davidoff cigars usually have. This was stronger than I expected, it being a Davidoff and all, and I had to put it down sooner than I usually do (most cigars are finger burners for me). I had to take Zino’s advice and put it down around the band, which made me sad. My value brain saw me leaving $15 in the ashtray!  I inherited frugality from my late mother.  This was an impressive cigar anyway, and I very much appreciate Davidoff sharing these with me.  It was a special treat.  

 

We’ve been busy with the stresses that go with handling an estate, getting a house ready to sell, going through generations of  stuff, and trying to turn some of it into cash.  Cigars have been my therapy, hopefully it’ll be behind us soon. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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