Tag Archives: Aganorsa

November 2, 2025 · 8:58 am

New Cohiba Rubicon, Tatuaje Mummy and JFR 20th Anniversary Cigars

This may not be as wordy as usual, for some reason I cant seem to think of a lot to say about the three cigars I smoked for this week’s blog post. Let’s just jump right in to the first one. General Cigar Co. is very generous with samples, something I appreciate very much. I’ve had a good relationship with them since 2010, although there’s only a few people left there that I know anymore. they share a lot of Cohibas with me, many of which I wouldn’t buy because they are priced over my personal spending limit. You will rarely see me spending more than $15 on a cigar. Frugal to some, cheap to others, but I’ve come a long way from the days I was hard pressed to spend $8. The newest Cohiba is the Rubicon, made at the HATSA factory in Honduras and all three vitolas are under $10. This cigar has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, U.S. Broadleaf binder, and Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. Sounds like it should be good, right? It’s better than the Cohiba Blue, and not a bad cigar. It started with a citric acid bite, which calmed down pretty quickly, and turned out to be a pretty nice smoke. No real flavors jumped out at me, it was just a pretty good cigar. I feel like Cohiba should stick to the luxury space, and leave the budget offerings to the myriad of other lines in the portfolio. I love the Riviera, although I’m picking the $15 lancero over the $20 robusto just based on price, and several of the other cigars in the line are good. Take the Spectre out of the equation because it’s so expensive, but really very good. I’m not sure why the Rubicon was needed. Do they still make the Blue? They shouldn’t.

Friday was Halloween, and for the last 30 years I’ve been smoking a cigar while handing out candy (the first few years I smoked a cigar while taking my kids out). I always put the cigar in the ashtray when I see kids coming. Nick did a nice piece on this topic on a Cigar Pulpit episode last week. I did the cliché thing and smoked a Tatuaje Mummy Redux 5 this year. Back when Pete Johnson started tis series, $13 was a pricey cigar, now it’s practically reasonable. I wonder if the quality is going to go down in the future, or if rising prices are going to make him end this tradition? This cigar is 7½” x 47, so a little longer than a Churchill. I like the size, especially when I have two hours to kill! This cigar lasted closer to two and a half hours! The Mummy Redux has a Nicaraguan Criollo and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I am typically not a Criollo fan, which explains why my first impression was something along the lines of “what am I tasting here?”. There was some very subtle sugar cane sweetness, and good, light tobacco flavors. I really quite enjoyed the cigar, and if I see more I might pick a couple up. It was a little confusing to me though, as it wasn’t really like any other Tatuaje cigar I’ve had, it was on the verge of mild. Full disclosure, I really haven’t smoked too many of the Monster Series, and I don’t smoke as many Tatuaje cigars as I’d like.

Like the Tatuaje, the JFR 20th Anniversary Super Toro is a cigar I picked up on one of my recent forays to the Wooden Indian. I had been wanting to try this one. I’m about 50/50 on cigars I like from Aganorsa, and the JFR line is usually one I like. I can’t believe these have been around for twenty years. I think I remember when they came out, pushing the Just For Retailers thing, which I tink means for the brick and mortar retailers, but really anyone selling cigars is a retailer, right? Am I not supposed to smoke this because I’m not a retailer? Am I being too picky? Asking too many questions? The JFR like is generally a budget friendly line, with a lot of larger ring cigars. The 20th Anniversary has a pigtail cap, a closed foot, and is box pressed, they stopped short of putting a figurado in the range. I picked the Super Toro because I like toros and a super one has to be pretty great. I also wasn’t prepared for a 70 ring cigar, of which they offer two in this line. It’s box pressed, might not be horrible. This has a San Andrés wrapper over Aganorsa grown Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Other than the burn meandering a little, it was quite enjoyable. It had some interting baking spices, while I was expecting more of an earthy, chocolaty profile. I put this down to go inside to watch the first period of the Flyers game, and finished up between periods. I liked it, might go back and try one of the obnoxiously large sizes for kicks.

I managed to be more verbose than I thought! That’s all I have to today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 20th Anniversary, Aganorsa, cigar, cigars, cohiba, JFR, Mummy, Redux, Rubicon, tatuaje

June 23, 2024 · 9:47 am

La Union, Cro Magnon, EP Carrillo and JFR Lunatic Cigars

My week started with a really nice Father’s Day with all my kids and grandkids visiting. My youngest stopped at CigarMojo and asked for a recommendation, and, once again, they sold him a very expensive cigar. I’m never super happy about him spending his hard earned cash, and part of me feels like the guys at the shop take advantage, but he does make a good point: it’s not something I would buy for myself. He picked up the new(ish) My Father La Union Black para Tatuaje .This is certainly a cigar that piqued my interest, but there was never any way I was shelling out for it. I’m a cheap bastard, my sphincter tightens when I look at a cigar over $15. This is a 100% improvement over 12 or so years ago. So, it being Father’s Day, and having this wonderful gift, I had to smoke it. The cigar is 7¼” x 50 with a 109 head, the head is slightly tapered and rounded. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers, including Pelo de Oro. I’ve walked through the Pelo de Oro fields, although it’s been 13 years, so probably not the same stuff. This was blended by the Garcias for Pete Johnson’s palate, I almost expected it to be heavier. It wasn’t. It had a very delicate, nuanced flavor, started with an interesting mintiness, some woodyness and some spice. It almost reminded me of a Havana, but loads better. This was a brilliant cigar, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to try it. Later I smoked the now 25 year old Esperanza para los Niños, which has held up well!

I’d been itching to try the new Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapped variant of the RoMaCraft CroMagnon which came out recently, so I had added a couple of the 4½ x 60 Mandibles on to a recent order. I haven’t seen these locally, although I haven’t been out shopping much lately. This version uses a Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper, Sumatra hybrid binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. The original CroMagnon didn’t have any Dominican leaf in the blend. I was hoping to try the Cranium (toro) size, but this was what was available. I thought this was spicier than the original, and it wasn’t for the faint of heart. I thought I got some grilled steak, but that might have been a neighbor cooking. I’ll be on the look out for other sizes, but this one hit the spot, although I’ll always have a soft spot for the original.

E.P. Carrillo is launching a line called the Essence series, the Sumatra and Maduro should be on shelves, with more wrapper variations on the horizon. I smoked the Maduro Friday evening on a drive north. My wife offered to drive the first leg so I could enjoy my cigar. I actually don’t like to smoke while driving my car because it’s a manual and it just isn’t relaxing. Fortunately, we were in her car. Ain’t she the greatest? The E.P. Carirllo Maduro has a San Andrés wrapper, Honduran binder and Nicaraguan fillers. While it’s made in the D.R., note that there is no Dominican leaf. I couldn’t help but remember my first La Gloria Cubana Maduro back in the ’90s. This cigar had some spice with espresso and cocoa, it was right up my alley. Burn and draw were perfect (which is nice in the car) and it smoked for about an hour and a half. I’m excited to try the Sumatra, and add some more of the Maduro to my humidor.

Finally, when we got home last night fairly late, I sat down with the newest Firecracker offering from United Cigars. This year it is the JFR Lunatic Firecracker, Made by Aganorsa Leaf. I’m hit of miss on the Aganorsa cigars, but the JFR Lunatic is a good one, although I haven’t smoked any of the obscenely large sizes (there’s only a few 60 ring and under). This has what they are calling a shade grown Corojo maduro wrapper, and I assume Aganorsa Nicaraguan fillers and binder. It’s 3½” x 50 with the signature “fuse”, which I get rid of right away. Smoking time was the better part of an hour, which is good for a little guy. It had that cane sugar sweetness that I like, and was quite tasty, one of the better Firecracker treatments in my mind. Not that any are bad, this one distinguished itself. Super-tasty and it looks like it might still be available. Grab some to try if you see them!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Aganorsa, Aganorsa Leaf, cigar, cigars, CroMagnon, E.P. Carrillo, Essence, Firecracker, JFR, La Union, Lunatic, My Father Cigars, RoMaCraft, tatuaje, United Cigars

March 17, 2024 · 10:33 am

Knuckle Sandwich, Julius Caeser, Postanie and Aganorsa Cigars

I smoked a good variety of cigars this week, the next couple weeks will probably be featuring some retailer exclusive cigars, so I figured I’d mix it up. I had picked up the Knuckle Sandwich 56 Maduro on a recent visit to the Wooden Indian, it was on the high side of what I like to spend, but I wanted to try it. This cigar is made by Espinosa, at the A.J.Fernandez’ San Lotano factory, for Guy Fieri’s 56th birthday. Obviously, it has a 56 ring gauge, and looks to be made using the San Lotano Oval molds. I like a 6″ x 56, and I liked the Oval shape. It has a San Andrés wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. Can anyone tell me why the word “Sandwich” sounds like “Sangwich” when persons of Cuban descent say it? I went through a phase of smoking cigars with the ring gauge of my age for a while, now that I’m 60 I’m over that. I loved this cigar, which is a shame because it’s limited and expensive. It started with a nice spice over cocoa, and mellowed into a chocolaty treat, with a hint of the spice. I dug it, even though when I met Guy at the PCA show a few years ago he really could have cared less and my request for Erik Espinosa to get in the picture with us was ignored. I don’t get starstruck and fawn over celebs, some of them don’t like that. Anyway, I don’t regret the purchase at all, it wa sa really good smoke, probably the best I had all week. It was my Pi Day treat.

We are in the midst of a string of March holidays, so on Friday I was compelled to smoke a Diamond Crown Julius Caeser Toro. We all know that March 15 marks the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. We know the exact date because he invented the calendar we use. He instituted that just a year before his death. Anyway, he was a heck of an Emperor, but I guess his friends thought he was a dick, so they stabbed him. I may be oversimplifying things a little. A few millennia later some Hungarian folks named their son after him, and US immigration screwed up the spelling on his paperwork and Julius Caeser Newman started a cigar company that makes some great cigars. The Diamond Crown Julius Caeser is made at Tabacalera A. Fuente, has an Ecuador Havana wrapper, Dominican binder and Caribbean and Central American fillers. They could just say Dominican, Nicaraguan and/or Honduran fillers, but they can be vague if they want. I enjoy Diamond Crown cigars, from the mild Diamond Crown, to the bolder Maximus and Black Diamond, and this falls in between. I find the flavor to be largely sweet wood, which is a nice change of pace for me. I like this cigar a lot, I remember smoking one of these a long time ago with a shop owner who has since passed, before a big celebrity cigar launch dinner. It didn’t give me any stabbing back pain either.

Saturday ended up being a Connecticut Shade day, which isn’t normal for me, but I had a couple shade cigars I hadn’t smoked yet, so I figured I’d give them a go. The first one I have smoked, but there’s a new size launching at the PCA show that I had a chance to smoke. It was the Powstanie Connecticut Justice, a 5½ x 46 Corona Gorda which Mike Szczepankiewicz blended nine years ago for the birth of his son. This is made at the Nica Sueño factory like the rest of the Powstanie cigars. I really like the Robusto that Mitch shared with me late last year. This shape seemed different, it didn’t have the character that the larger ring had, although I still found it to be exceptional. This was a really good shade cigar with some body, which I think must come from the PA Broadleaf binder in large part. For someone who doesn’t gravitate to shade wrapped cigars, this is a really good one, and worth a shot, but I don’t even think it’s due to be released until next month, some additional age won’t hurt this one. If you come across any Postanie cigars, try them, they are all really quite good.

Finally, I smoked an Aganorsa La Validacion Connecticut Robusto that I got at the Wooden Indian a few weeks ago when Fabien and Mike King were there doing an event. Aganorsa is a brand I struggle to find a favorite in. There’s a few I like, and some I don’t, and I can’t seem to remember which is what. So I buy them and smoke them and enjoy them or not and start the cycle over again. I don’t care for Criollo ’99 too much, so that probably has something to do with it. I think this series is one I like, and I definitely liked this Connecticut. It was medium bodied, nutty with some wood and spice and really a nice cigar. I’m going to remember that I really like the La Validacion line (I just went back and checked and I did like the Maduro and Corojo!).

Today is Green Cigar Day, or as some call it, St. Patrick’s Day, so pick out a nice Candela and drive the snakes out of your country! Why have none of these companies made a Candela Culebra in honor of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland? Because it would suck and it wouldn’t sell, that’s why. I’ll suggest it to Saka. I mentioned him making a Candela Lancero on my last Podcast episode with him and he poopoo’d it, now he’s making a lancero box featuring the candela. I’d write more today but I used a lot of letters on Mike Szczepankiewicz name. Anyway, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 56, Aganorsa, Aganorsa Leaf, cigar, cigars, Diamond Crown, Espinosa, Guy Fieri, Julius Caeser, Justice, Knuckle Sandwich, La Validacion, La Zona, Powstanie

February 9, 2024 · 5:40 pm

News: Wooden Indian Tobacco’s 60th Anniversary Supreme Leaf Gran Robusto Now Available

Here’s some Friday news from my friends at the Wooden Indian. I’ve only been patronizing the Wooden Indian for 14 or so of the 60 years they’ve been around. It’s one of my favorite local shops, the selection is amazing and the staff is second to none. I’m looking forward to trying this anniversary cigar, I can’t remember if the Supreme Leaf is one of the ones I like or not, but chances are excellent that it’s a really good cigar. I celebrated a 60th anniversary myself last year, this was a year too late!

AGANORSA Leaf Unveils Supreme Leaf Gran Robusto Exclusively for Wooden Indian Tobacco‘s 60th Anniversary.

AGANORSA Leaf, is proud to announce the release of its latest addition to the Supreme Leaf line – the Gran Robusto. Measuring 5” x 56, this exclusive vitola commemorates the 60th anniversary of Wooden Indian Tobacco, a milestone for the Havertown, PA brick-and-mortar.

The Supreme Leaf Gran Robusto is a Nicaraguan puro blend that has become iconic to the Aganorsa portfolio since the line’s debut in 2020. Unlike its predecessors, the Gran Robusto features a 56 ring gauge, providing a unique and bold smoking profile.

Supreme Leaf Gran Robusto has a limited production of only 500 boxes of 10 cigars with an MSRP of $125. This particular vitola will be available solely through Wooden Indian Tobacco, solidifying the partnership between AGANORSA Leaf, Wooden Indian Tobacco, and Privada Cigar Club who collaborated with Aganorsa on the design and creation of the original Supreme Leaf.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Wooden Indian Tobacco and Privada Cigar Club for this special occasion,” said Terence Reilly, VP of Sales at AGANORSA Leaf. “The Supreme Leaf Gran Robusto represents a celebration of our leaf and dedication to quality, and we believe it is a fitting tribute to Wooden Indian Tobacco’s 60 years of excellence in this industry.”

The AGANORSA Leaf Supreme Leaf Gran Robusto will be available exclusively at Wooden Indian Tobacco in Havertown, PA through their brick and mortar location and online retail site.

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Tagged as 60th Anniversary, Aganorsa, Anniversary, cigar, cigars, Supreme Leaf, wooden indian

January 28, 2024 · 11:01 am

Adventura, Aganorsa, JFR and DTT Cigars

I was looking at some of the gifted cigars I have this week and pulled out a couple that seemed topical. Not for any other reason than Abe is a friend and Smoke Inn is a great retail establishment, take note that their event, The Great Smoke, is coming up on February 24. Hopefully I’ll make it to one of these some year, I’ve heard good things. My secret Santa this year gifted me an Adventura Sociedad Secreta which was a Great Smoke release last year I believe, and actually has ties also to Secreto Cigar Bar in Detroit. This cigar is a cool size, 6″ x 48, a size I like a lot. It’s midway between a toro and a Lonsdale, pretty cool. This cigar is made by Henderson Ventura in the DR, and has a San Andrés wrapper that has been aged four years, Broadleaf binder with five years’ age, and 3-5 year aged fillers of Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. I’ll be honest, when I read the blend I was surprised, because I would not have thought it had that combo of wrapper and binder. It lacked the darkness and earthiness I associate with those tabacos, but did have a nice, sweet woody flavor. It was medium bodied at best, and quite tasty. I typically am not a Adventura fan for the most part, but this was quite nice. Thanks to Craig for allowing me to try this!

I had a couple more cigars I picked up at last week’s Wooden Indian visit, and smoked a Aganorsa Leaf Signature Maduro in the toro size. To be honest, I wasn’t going to get this, until I was informed I had a $5 credit on my account and figured, what the hell, I’ll put that towards another cigar! Perfect cigar logic right? Why take the discount on the cigars I’m buying already when I can get one more for $5 off? It made sense to me at the time. Anyway, this looked like one I’d like, and, for the most part, it was. This 6″ x 52 Toro has an Aganorsa Corojo wrapper, over Aganorsa binder and fillers, all gown in Nicaragua. Apparently there’s some media tiempo in the blend, I would expect that to give it some oomph, but the cigar was so packed at the head that it was a snugger than normal draw. It was good, some nice spice and good tobacco flavor. I can’t seem to remember which Aganorsa cigars I really like and which one’s are just OK, until I try another, this falls into the latter category. I should find a place to write this stuff down! 🙂

Non-cigar related, my wife and I took a little road trip to see Patterson Great Falls in Patterson, New Jersey yesterday, we had no idea there was a waterfalls in New Jersey. It was pretty nice, I hope the guy who found it wasn’t canoeing down the Passaic River! Apparently Alexander Hamilton founded the city around the falls and built an industrial complex after the Revolution. Neat history and cool waterfalls. On the way home we stopped at Ringing Rocks Park in Bucks County, PA, which has a boulder field that some of the rocks ring when hit with a hammer. Strange to see this naturally occurring boulder field, again, I wonder who figured out that they ring? Anyway, I came home to a losing Flyers game and had a cigar.

The cigar I chose was another Great Smoke release, this one from a few years back, the DTT-EX-38, another secret Santa gift, this one from Mitch (TY!). This one was an exclusive for the ’21 Great Smoke, which was the one that was virtual, an 8 hour telethon style event. I think Carlito Fuente stole a Sakasquatch on the broadcast. This was a cigar Saka had been working on for several years using a Costa Rican Morron ligero if I understand correctly. He made some for the Great Smoke, and is either still working on the blend, or has given up, hard to say. This was a fascinating cigar. It was 5″ x 46 with a pigtail, nice size for the time I had before dinner. It was very chocolaty, but a weird, chocolate that coates the palate. Loads of flavor. This had a long finish, I might still taste it 17 hour later and having had another cigar after it. I think the people that were able to get these had a special treat, and I’m fortunate that I had the chance to try one.

Finally, as I was leaving last week’s Aganorsa event, Fabien handed me a JFR Corojo Robusto “to smoke on the ride home”. I didn’t, of course, it wasn’t that long a ride. This is another Aganorsa puro, featuring the Aganorsa Corojo wrapper. It’s a dark wrapper, I had to look at the band to determine if it was the Corojo or the Maduro. I have to smoke more of these JFRs, I think. This was a good smoke, burned well, was fairly strong and had a lot of spice. I liked it. I’m not sure if it was the cigar or not, but I had weird dreams all night, the kind that you wake up, then spend the better part of an hour trying to figure out WTF that was all about, then falling asleep and waking from another weird dream. I ended up getting up around three and watching Shazam on TBS until I fell asleep again (which didn’t take too long). Very strange. I didn’t eat anything spicy or anything like that, strange how the brain works. Won’t prevent me from giving the JFRs more attention.