Yesterday I did one of my most favorite things to do, as relates to this blog. Usually when I have giveaways, the winner is in some far flung place, this time he was in the same county as I am! Of course, I save $20 in shipping, and spend triple that at a cigar shop, but it’s so much 
more satisfying! I get to meet a friend I hadn’t met yet, and visit a new shop! More on all that later, first I want to talk about a sampler I picked up 
from Best Cigar Prices last week. I had some birthday points or something, can’t really remember why I ended up shopping there, but does it matter? I have been trying to expand my experiences with Altadis products, so I settled on the Saint Luis Rey “Battle of the Titans” sampler. This had three each of the Natural and Maduro 
SLR Titan size, which is 5½” x 60, and was right around $40 delivered. Six cigars for $40 isn’t bad. Back around 2017 I was smoking one of these and took an unfortunate stumble and fellow my face, smashing the cigar. To be honest, I couldn’t tell you if it was a natural or maduro, so I figured a side by side comparison was worth doing. I also like the folks at BCP, and it wouldn’t hurt me if you used the links on my site to buy some stuff from them, this sampler seems to be available in limited qualities. These are good smokes. They both started off with what I consider to be a bitter wood, or maybe like peanut skins, if that makes sense. They both sweeten over time, with the maduro hitting that sweeties sooner than the natural. Both had a good burn and draw, I smoked a couple of each to compare. This is one of the few cigars in the Altadis portfolio that isn’t made by A.J. Fernandez thatI like! These are made in Honduras, quite possibly by Plasencia, so maybe it’s just stuff from Casa de Garcia in the DR that doesn’t trip my trigger? Obviously, more research is necessary.
Last week I grabbed some Tatuaje cigars that were in the “new-to-me” category, turns out a couple are pretty recent, this one goes back to last November. This was the first time I’ve seen the La Riqueza Tuxtla LE 2024, so I bought one. Back in 2010 I made a brief visit to the New Orleans IPCPR show, and Pete Johnson was the first guy I ran into, and he gave me a La Riquza Lancero. I haven’t smoked enough of this line for some reason! I guess I don’t see them on shelves that often. This is a 6 3/8″ x 44 Lonsdale or Cazadores size, which is a very cool size that doesn’t get enough love. This guy starts out strong, and it’s immediately apparent that I need to take my time with this (the case with any small ring cigar, smoke them slow or they overheat!). It was earthy, with some dark dried fruit and espresso notes. I’ll be putting a few more of these in the humidor, or it might just be a go-to when I stop in Cigar Mojo – The Grove for a smoke!
Yesterday I took a drive to the western side of my county, to a shop that I’ve been hearing about for a year os so, but hadn’t gotten out there to visit. When I found out that last week’s giveaway winner lived out that way, it seemed like a greet way to combine some of my favorite things, visiting a new shop, meeting a reader, and saving shipping! I hesitate to mention the name of this shop. I can imagine a very prominent retailer causing this new, and very nice, cigar shop a load of trouble, as the guy I’m thinking of, rightly so, is very protective of his trademarks. The last thing I want to do is cause the proprietor any problems. The shop is located in Cochranville, PA at the intersection of Rts 41 and 10, most folks would say it’s in the middle of nowhere. This is fairly 
accurate because I used to live not far from this location, and it is, indeed, in the middle nowhere. All that said, the shop seems to be doing well, the humidor is well stocked with a great variety at great prices, and the lounge is clean and has really good ventilation. As I expected, Jeff W. was a great guy and I enjoyed spending a cigar getting to know him! He was very kind and gifted me a cigar on the way out, a DBL 12th Anniversary Toro. He had seen this rated a 99 on Stogie Press and smoked one there and was impressed. I gave it a smoke when I got home and was equally impressed. This is a 5 7/8″ x 56 toro, I guess, with a Mexican Habano wrapper, Organic Corojo ’99 Cuban seed grown on the DBL Tobacco Farm binder, and Organic Criollo ’98 Cuban seed, Organic Carbonell, and DBL T-13 fillers. That’s a lot of words I copied and pasted! It’s box pressed and has a cedar sleeve. Nice looking presentation. This cigar smoked well, I got some citrus tang that I originally thought was an exotic spice, but then it mellowed out. It was a very nice smoke, even after giving Jeff a pretty large box of goodies, I felt like I owe him another cigar! I enjoyed the day, good cigars, nice lounge, good company.
I’m just noticing that some of my older content is disappearing, something I need to ask my web host about, I guess. It’s possible I only have so much database space, and older stuff scrolls off. I’m going to try to put some stuff back, but it’s not going to be easy! That’s all for today, until the next time,
CigarCraig
