Tag Archives: Aganorsa Leaf

by | 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.  

 

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

 

Craig

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by | January 21, 2024 · 10:38 am

Some Aganorsa Rare Leaf and Statesman Cigars

Thursday evening I found myself faced with a dilemma, go to an event at the Cigar Mojo shop a mile from home, or a pop-up event at the Wooden Indian 15 miles from home.  The subject matter of the Wooden Indian event was far more appealing to me, so it made the choice easy, otherwise I’d have made a token appea

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rance at Mojo and gone home to watch hockey.  It happen

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ed that Fabien Zeigler and Mike King of Aganorsa Leaf Cigars were in the a

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rea and were hanging out at the Indian, so I went, picked up some cigars, and hung out. Now, I’m hit or miss with the Aganorsa line, but there are a lot more hits than the event going on a the other place, and liking the people i

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nvolved means more than liking the cigars in some cases.  I hadn’t seen Fabien since he left Drew Estate, and it’s always nice hanging out with Mike King and I feel right at home at the Wooden Indian.  I bought a selection and lit a Rare Leaf Maduro, it the Toro shape.  Their Toro’s are 6″ x 54, which suits me fine, and the wrapper is a San Andrés over Nicaraguan Aganorsa tobaccos.  I managed to pay attention to this one enough while conversating to know that it’s not one of the Aganorsa cigars that I don’t care for, it’s a perfectly decent, earthy mexican maduro with some rich cocoa and a little spice.  I’d definitely smoke this again, although it’s not replacing any favorites.  

 

I decided to follow it the next night with the Rare Leaf Corojo, also in the 6″ x 54 Toro size.  This has what they call a Nicaragua Café wrapper, Aganorsa Corojo 99 binder and Aganor

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sa fillers, sounds like a Nicaraguan Puro to me.  My impression of this one was that the flavor was largely on the wood end of the spectrum.  It was a good smoke, performed well, had some interesting flavors, a little citrus tingle here, some pepper there. When it comes to the woody and leathery cigars, I tolerate them, but it’s not something I’m going back to, unless I  forget and buy one again (which is becoming more and more likely!). I grabbed a couple more toros, and I’m pretty sure I smoked them before, and maybe even liked them!  I’m still way ahead of the game if I had gone to the event at the other shop.  There will be plenty of people coming to the shop by my house, I can miss one here and there. 

 

I received an email from Tommy Allen of Statesman Cigars in California asking about getting some exposure for his brand, I was intrigued.  Any time someone decides to start a cigar business in California I get curious. Is this guy nuts?  I need to know more.  So I figured he might be a good subject for the next video interview,

which I’ll work on arranging, my “studio” is on the cool side this time of year. He sent me a couple cigars to sample, which I smoked yesterday. The cigars arrived in individual sealed pouches, and he shipped them separately in USPS Priority Mail boxes, which was unnecessary and overy costly.  He said it had to do with making sure the recipient got “as excellent an experience as possible”, which is a good thing.  Still could have put two cigars in one box, I’ve personally gotten ten in one of those!  Who am I to criticize though?  Taking  care of the customer is job number one, and it’s becoming less and less of a thing.  I started with what I believed to be the Bella Donna, their Habano blend.  Their ci

gars are all figurados, this was a 6″ x 56ish perfecto. I should have measured the ring gauge, but I did measure the length. This size isn’t listed on their site, which was a little confusing.  Regardless, or irregardless, depending on where you fall on that linguistic debate, it was a really nice smoke.  It burned well, once getting past the nipple, and had a perfect draw. This had the cane sugar sweetness I like, but it was pretty subtle, not at all cloying or overpowering.  Nice.  

 

The Maduro offering in the Statesman line they call the Nightcap, probably because one would smoke it in the evening, not because it looks like a hat one would wear to bed.  This is another perfecto, this one was 5 3/8″×52, not small, but smaller than the previous Habano cigar.  I definitely have to get into a video interview with Mr. Allen, I have a ton of questions.  They do say that the cigars are made in Esteli, nothing about who makes them, or any real info about the tobaccos.  The quality is good, the cigars are a little on the rustic side, but I not poorly priced at $11 for a figurado.  I’ve had a lot of more expensive cigars that weren’t as good.  The Maduro was a cocoa/coffee maduro with a little bit of strength, although approachable.  Good smoke. Like I said, I have lots of questions, stay tuned for more on Statesman.  

 

I’m to understand that there will be a multi vendor event on Saturday, May 4 at Goose’s in Limerick, PA.  I’m looking forward to this event, I’ll have more information as it becomes available.  

 

That’s all for today, until the n

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ext time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | August 13, 2023 · 9:59 am

Validating Some Aganorsa Leaf La Validacion Cigars

I’ll admit it, I’ve struggled to find Aganorsa branded cigars that hit my palate right.  Not sure what it has been about the ones that I’ve sampled that I haven’t cared for, I’ve tried. I think  Terence Reilly is a fine gentleman and I’ve known him a long time and feel like I can say we are friends, so I want to find something in the portfolio I like.  I also like a lot of cigars that have been made in conjunction with Aganorsa. In my continuing quest I picked up a couple cigars in the La Validacion series last week when I stopped in New Tobacco Village in Whitehall, PA. As sometimes happens, I am remorseful that I didn’t pick up more. I started, as is my modus operandi, with the Maduro ( I threw some Latin in there for Terence). I selected the Gran Toro size, which is 6″ x 58, a nice compromise between a toro and a gordo.  This has a San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan Aganorsa tobaccos in the binder and fillers.  I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar!  It was really good.  It checked all the boxes for me, cocoa, coffee, some earth and spice, and I found it to be solidly medium bodied. This is the Aganorsa Leaf cigar for me!

 

I also picked up the Aganorsa Leaf La Validacion Corojo, also in Gran Toro.  This one has an Aganorsa grown Corojo wrapper, over more Aganorsa binder and filler, making it a Nicaraguan Puro.  Aside: Friday evening an old friend going back to the days of the alt.smokers.cigars Usenet group days stopped by for a cigar or two. Bruce lives a few miles away now and we’ve kept in touch over the years.  I think I met Bruce in the late ’90s, so I’ve probably known him for 25 years.  Yesterday I met up with a friend I’ve known for much longer for a cigar at the new Cigar Mojo location (a mile from my house). I met Jeff when I was 7, so I’ve known him more than twice as long as I’ve known Bruce! We smoked Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms toros in the lounge while we caught up. Anyway, the Corojo is another cigar I want more of, I really liked it.  The wrapper change gave it a lighter spice, and, although I wish the cigar had been a tad drier (it was a humid evening, rain, thunder, stuff like that), it was very tasty.  I’ll buy more of these, and I now am anxious to try the Habano (and I’d probably try the shade if it were presented to me). I’m happy that I found cigars in Aganorsa’s portfolio that appeal to me, I was feeling bad. There seem to be companies that come along that you want to like their products but can’t find common ground, I suppose it’s better than loving cigars made by a company that you don’t like personally! 

 

That’s all for today Good news for the cigar industry with the FDA regulations being vacated.  Plenty of other sites covered this. I originally thought regulation was inevitable, I’m happy to have been wrong. Between all the hard work the family owned cigar companies and associations did fighting this and the FDA screwing up, it turned out good. I don’t think it’s over so keep supporting the efforts and we can’t let our guard down. You can start with the PCA site for details.  Aaso Halfwheel has very good insights on the issue as always. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 18, 2023 · 10:17 am

DBL, Aganorsa Cigars and a Battleship Beef Experience!

 

Yesterday had a lot going on, most of which wasn’t cigar related, with the day culminating in the Battleship Beef event on the New Jersey.  We’ll get to that in a bit, but first, I had a few new-to-me cigars this week.  Last month when we went to the Atlantic city event, Francisco Almonte gave me a DBL Amarillo Belicoso, which is the fancy, barber pole style cigar in the Connecticut Shade Amarillo line, 5 5/8″ x 54.  It’s a pretty cigar, it’s box pressed to, there’s not a lot of box pressed, barber pole, shaped cigars out there. Nice presentation, I liked it a lot.  It had a really nice flavor, mellow cream and nuts, I think the accent striping gave it some extra flavor. I don’t smoke a lot of DBL cigars, and I know there’s a shop or two in the area that have them, and I believe Francisco has his own shop in New Jersey someplace, which I’ll have to hunt down. 

 

Another cigar that came from the Atlantic City festival was an Aganorsa Rare Leaf that Mike King gifted me. Mike is a great broker who was there working the Aganorsa booth.  I was there on a media pass, so I didn’t get the cigar coupon book like a regular attendee, which is quite fine as I’m quite fortunate not to be in need of cigars (just ask my wife!). However, it’s nice to be presented with something I haven’t smoked, and, to be honest, many of Aganorsa Leaf’s cigars don’t excite me enough to hunt them down.  I’ll pick one up here and there if I can’t find anything else new and interesting, and there are a few that I’ve really enjoyed, and this Rare Leaf was one of them.  This was a corona or lonsdale size, I didn’t measure it, figuring (incorrectly) that I could do some research after the fact. Perhaps it’s a new size, I want to to say it was 6″ x 44. I’m not generally a Criollo fan, which is probably why the Aganorsa line is so hit or miss with me. This was a really nice smoke, a nice blend of spice and sweetness.  

 

Last night was the Battleship Beef event on the Battleship New Jersey, which is docked across the river from Philadelphia.  This event was a Red Meat Lovers Club event, put on by Evan Darnell, the Secretary of Steak, in partnership with Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, Casa de Montecristo, and a few other folks.  I fear that this second annual feast may be the last.  While the Battleship invited the  RMLC back to put on this event, which raises money for the Battleship Museum, apparently there was a last minute scramble when it came out that smoking would be restricted to a small area. Obviously, this wasn’t going to be tolerated, as this was a cigar event. To Evan’s credit, I don’t think anyone would have known there had been a problem if they hadn’t been told, and there were some upsides to the change in setup, having everyone in one area. Shame on whoever changed the plan at the last minute and caused Evan all that stress, but he and his team made it work.  The food was amazing, Katz’s Deli from NY had the most incredible Pastrami, although the structural integrity of the rye bread didn’t hold up.  Saka and Lafferty were there, as well Tim and Travis from Altadis, Kevin from CigarProp, James from BL Luxuries, and other friends. We had a great time hanging out with my fellow Craig, Craig “the Breadman” Gilpin. Sadly, we passed on the after-herf at LouLigas Lounge, it had been a long day.  One bit of advice to the Casa de Montecristo folks: I think sales would be better if you sold smaller quantities, just selling boxes seems like a big ask at an event where people have already spent the cost of a box to get in, and are being hit up for auctions and raffles. Seems like people would buy a bunch of five packs more than boxes, but what do I know?  Great event, if it happens again next year it should be on your list, and if you see the Red Meat Lovers logo on an event, expect it to be first rate! 

 

Happy Father’s Day to everyone, whether you are one or have one. As I’ve been typing this I’ve been enjoying my traditional Father’s Day cigar, the Esperanza Para Los Niños, now 24 years old, and it’s really quite good, one of the best ones I’ve smoked in recent years.  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | May 1, 2022 · 9:46 am

A Selection of Cigars: Hits and Misses

This is going to be a bit of a weird post. I, of course, smokes a bunch of cigars this week, and had some mixed results. I probably should follow the rule of not saying anything at all if you don’t have anything nice to say, but it’s not all negative. SOme of it is personal preference, some of it is something else. There are also some standout cigars that I’ve probably mentioned here before but merit repeating. Let’s start with the CAO Arcana Firewalker. This cigar is a nice, big 6½” x 56 cigar, with a massive band. It employs a strange method of fermentation for one of the Nicaraguan filler leaves where they bury the pilon in volcanic soil for two months. Sounds like a fun story, and I don’t doubt it, but this wasn’t where I had a problem. The cigar tasted fine, I rather enjoyed the flavors. It was kind of bready, with a little cocoa and some spice, very nice. When I received these samples they were bone dry, as measured with my Humidimeter. Bone. Dry. The first one I smoked just kind of flaked apart. I let them rest in the humidor for a couple months, I guess, to get some moisture into them. When one had achieved what I felt was an acceptable level of internal moisture content, I gave it another go. For whatever reason, the Ecuador Habano Rosado wrapper on this one just wouldn’t burn. It was like the original H2000 wrappers 20 years ago. I

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would feel safe making childrens pajamas out of this wrapper, it was so flame retardant. I gave up on it with about 2 inches to go, after just about emptying my lighter relighting it. I guess I’ll leave the remaining samples in the humidor, and if I see some in a shop maybe I’ll try one to see if my batch was an anomaly. I hope it was because it was a good tasting smoke and I like the first Arcana a lot. If you’re keeping score at home, this is a miss.

 

One cigar I had which isn’t new, but one I really enjoy and bears repeating is the Crow Corona from Blackbird Cigars. I’m generally a toro guy, but I think I like this in the 6″ x 44 corona the best. The narrow ring adds a little more of an edge to the San Andrés wrapper that I like. I always like a good Mexican maduro, and this one really made me happy. I’m to understand that Blackbird has opened a new, larger factory in ght Dominican Republic. I’ve been a fan of their cigars, I can’t recall having a bad one, with the Crow being my favorite. They do a really nice job with Sumatra wrappers too. I will be putting some more Crow Coronas in my humidor, for sure.  In case you were wondering, this is a hit!

 

Another repeat is the Yagua. I smoked one from a 2021 box this week that was amazing. J.C. Newman just announced that they are shipping the 2022 release, with a second wave due in November. These have aged well, the one I smoked was practically round, which was strange. They say that this is wrapped in an “underfermented”

Broadleaf wrapper. whatever that means, I ‘d say it works.  I had some distinct sensations of black licorice several times while smoking this cigar, and I really liked that. I enjoyed it so much I was tempted to smoke one the following day, alas, I should have followed my instincts! Again, a hit.

 

The Drew Estate Freestyle Live event is coming up on Thursday, May 12, and receiving a lot of buzz, so I figured I’d give the Mystery Cigar in the pack a try and see what the deal was. I tried the 6″ x 60 gordo first. This digital event is happening on the eve of the Florida Barn Smoker, and the cigars in the pack happen to be the same sizes that the 20 Acre Farm Mystery cigars were presented, leading some to believe there may be a connection. It’s possible, although many cigars are offered in robusto, toro and gordo, so that’s a bit of a stretch. I personally didn’t really like the cigar I smoked, it was heavily woody to me, and that’s not my preference. I don’t like FSG tobacco, so there could be something there, and I’m also not a big fan of the original Herrera Esteli, so it could be a variation on that. I don’t think it’s a riff on the MUWAT, as

I grabbed a fiver of Baitfish yesterday and forgot how good those little guys are!  I’ll suffer through the rubusto I guess and see what I think of t

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hat size, maybe it’s different. I’ll be very disappointed if those guessing it’s in the Nica Rustica line are right. Big miss.

 

Let’s finish strong. OK, I lied. I picked up an Aganorsa Leaf Rare Leaf Toro yesterday because I’ve been wanting to try it. It’ a 6″ x 54 with a “Nicaraguan Café” wrapper, and Aganorsa Leaf binder and fillers. I’ve been having trouble finding cigars

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in the Aganorsa range that suit my palate, quite honestly. Sadly, this was another one that did not. I’m sure it’s a great cigar, it certainly performed well, but the flavor left me wanting. This was another that I’ll call wood heavy in the flavor department. I also found it slightly drying. It was a bit sneaky strong. Everyone has different tastes, that’s what makes cigars so much fun, this one wasn’t for me. I’ll keep working thought the range, and I know there are a lot of cigars made by Aganorsa that I like! Unfortunately a miss.

 

That’s it for today, I’ll be smoking a few favorites today!  My part-time retail experiment has come to an end. ore on that

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, maybe, another time, but it was fun while it lasted. My Friday evenings are now free, who wants to herf?  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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