It’s Memorial Day weekend, and it feels more like a rainy Thanksgiving! Last week started with days in the 90s, we’re back in the 50s now. That’s why I’m not enjoying a cigar while I type today! Anyway, tomorrow is the day we remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can do stuff like smoke cigars and live our lives. Thank you to all who’ve paid the price. Anyway, I smoked a few new cigars this week. I am a regular listener to the A Cigar Hustlers podcast, which is hosted by the two Mikes, Palmer and Szczepankiewicz and 
comes out every weekday. I heard them talk about the new Powstanie Sumatra and that it’s available in a Churchill, which led to an unintentional mooch. All I wanted to know was where I could buy some! Anyway, a couple showed up in my mailbox and I smoked one. This is new core line is pretty much the same blend as the Catastrophic Failure, which was a limited release lin 2024, which I wrote about here. They’ve made this line in four sizes that they haven’t used in their other lines, a petit robusto, gran robusto, gran toro and Churchill. These are all box pressed, have an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Mexican and Pennsylvania binders, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, made at Nica Sueño in Esteli. I expected a little more of the sweetness I usually get with a sumatra, and got with the Catastrophic Failure, perhaps the larger size tempers this a bit. It was still a delicious cigar that I had to smoke slowly so as to not overheat it, the draw was on the open side. Obviously this has well worked tobaccos, given the factory, and is a cigar I will smoke again. I’ll be sampling other sizes, but I always get excited about 7″ x 48 (or 47) Churchills, it’s becoming a forgotten size, and is one of my favorites.
Last weekend I missed seeing Ricky Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco at Smoke-onos, but Dan, who does sales for the company handed me their new offering, the Barbershop. I smoked the “Clipers” size, which is 6″ x 54. This is a new core line cigar, offered in three sizes, with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers from all over Nicaragua. It’s box pressed and I’ve heard comparisons to another broadleaf box pressed cigar that Ricky was involved with, although I did not need to get my large punch cutter out for this one. This one also had an open draw, so I smoked it slow. There’s a savory sweetness, if that makes sense, very tasty. There was some leather and dark chocolate, absolutely no hints of Clubman or talc. I appreciate any cigar with dark chocolate flavors, I love dark chocolate, but lately it’s a migraine trigger for me, so I avoid it. This is another really nice cigar, and I’ll try the other sizes, which include a 6½” x 64 called the Barber Chair, and a 5″ x 52 called the Straight Razor. A lesser brand owner would just have called them toros and robustos, bt Ricky likes clever names.
Lastly, La Gloria Cubana has a new offering called the Intención, made at the STG Esteli factory, and ranging from $6 for the Gran Robusto, which is what I sampled, to $8 for the Gigante (6″ x 60), there’s a toro right in the middle both size and price-wise. I’m reading the info sheet and wondering if I smoked the right cigar, it has the Intención band on it, but it really doesn’t look like a San Andrés wrapper, it looks lighter than I expect. Not all San Andrés wrappers are maduro, so I’ll let that slide. It also has an Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos, with ligeros from both. I found this to be a medium cigar, with some baking spices to start and a heavy citrus tang throughout. The data sheet cites spiced chocolate and leather, neither of which I got at all. The cigar I smoked was excellent, I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it was very different than the literature would suggest, and I think others might agree. Of course, I’ve always been a fan of the La Gloria Cubanas, this one is a winner, I’d gladly add a box to my humidor.
That’s all for today, until the next time,
CigarCraig
