Tag Archives: aj fernandez

January 18, 2026 · 9:59 am

Romeo y Julieta, Knuckle Sandwich and The Lost Angel Cigars

I see myself diving into some, perhaps, older cigars that I haven’t posted on here over the coming weeks. It’s a slow time of the year, so I’m picking up stuff I’ve overlooked in the past here and there. I’ve also found myself smoking a lot of the Bariay 1492 Red and Black recently, which has moved other stuff to the back of the queue. I may just smoke cigars that are called Red and Black this week, that leaves me with a few options. Anyway, I’ve had this Romeo y Julieta 1875 Connecticut Nicaragua Toro in the humidor for a long time and I realized I hadn’t had one yet. This cigar is made in Nicaragua, with a Nicaraguan shade grown Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The tobaccos are grown by the Plasencias, one would assume it’s rolled in their factory also. This wasn’t a mild shade cigar. It started with an odd combination of cream and spice, which eventually turned into a bright citrus. I regret passing this over for who knows how long it was in the humidor. It came out in 2018. It was a good smoke, I enjoyed it.

I stopped in one of the local CigarCigars shops on the way home one day and picked up a few of the TAA releases that I hadn’t seen there before. Since the ownership of the chain changed last year, I’m not sure how the TA membership works, so I’m just going to keep picking them up there when I see them. I know some people who write about cigars ignore the TAA releases, but I do what I do, it’s new to me I’m going to write about it! as the kids said 20 years ago, whatev. One of the ones I grabbed was the Knuckle Sandwich Off Menu, the 2025 offering. This is made by Espinosa in AJ Fernandez’ San Lotano factory, part of Guy Fieri’s Knuckle Sandwich cigar line. It’s a butt kicker. It has a Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper, with Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and is a 6″ x 54 toro. $16 is at the high end of my range, but it looked good and I wanted to smoke it. This has a spicy, dark coffee and cocoa flavor profile, and it was powerful. It was exhausting to smoke, but quite satisfying! Definitely have a meal before smoking this one. Recommended.

Another TAA cigar I grabbed was the 2023 from The Crowned Heads. Obviously I have overlooked this cigar since it came out in 2023, but there are a lot of Crowned Heads cigars I’ve overlooked so that’s not really unusual I guess. This cigar is made by Ernesto Carrillo in the DR. It has a Ecuador Sumatra hybrid wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and fillers from the DR, Mexico and Nicaragua. It’s 6″ x 54, which seems to be the size I smoked most often, doesn’t it? I wish there were more Churchills out there. Anyway, this is a dark, oily wrapper, which started with some bitter cocoa and sourness, which wasn’t off putting and smoothed out over time. There are probably other Crowned Heads Cigars I like better, and there are probably other TAA cigars I like better, but this was was an interesting cigar. If you like them and can’t find them, I know a place.

That’s all for today. It’s snowing here, so I’ll probably shovel some, and have a cigar with a movie this afternoon. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as aj fernandez, cigar, cigars, Crowned Heads, Espinosa, Guy Fieri, Knuckle Sandwich, Off Menu, romeo y julieta, Romeo y Julieta 1875 Nicaragua Connecticut, san lotano, TAA, The Crowned Heads, The Lost Angel, Tobacconists Association of America

January 4, 2026 · 9:14 am

Davidoff, Rojas and San Lotano Cigars and the Giveaway Winner

Happy New Year! Another year of writing stuff about cigars! I’m a few years away from the twentieth anniversary of CigarCraig.com, I’ll have to come up with something big to celebrate. Speaking of celebrations, last Wednesday was New Years Eve, and I celebrated like I celebrate just about every evening, with a cigar on the porch! Davidoff was kind enough to send a couple of the Year of the Horse cigars, their 2026 Limited Edition. I know, the Chinese New Year isn’t until February, but I couldn’t wait to try this. This is the first “Year of the” Davidoff I’ve ever smoked, they are way out of my price range. Kudos and thanks to Law Ream and Jack Heyer for getting these out to those of us who choose to write stuff about cigars! The Davidoff ornament looked great on our tree. Anyway, I decided to close out what was not the greatest year for me with a great cigar (I hoped). I have previously stated that I have a very limited range of experience with the Davidoff line overall, so I was hoping for the best. I believe this is the best Davidoff I’ve smoked to date. There wasn’t a hint of horse at all in this cigar. This is a 6½” x 55 cigar with wrapper and binder from Ecuador and Dominican fillers. I have to assume the wrapper is a Habano varietal, it’s too dark to be a Connecticut Shade, and doesn’t taste like it either. It had an interesting sweetness, with some nuttiness and what I think of as a lemon zing. It was delicious, burned perfectly and was a great way to spend New Years Eve. After that I watched hockey until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. Great cigar, as it should be for $65.

Getting back to reality, I smoked a Rojas Street Tacos Al Pastor Gordo Friday, after treating myself to a Padron Damaso (not as good as I remember, but still tasty), and a Diamond Crown Black Diamond, one of my favorites. I chose the 6″ x 60 gordo, as Noel Rojas is the self proclaimed king of the small ring gauges, and it seems funny to me that he even makes a 60. The Al Pastor has an Ecuador Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan fillers. Like the Davidoff, which is in excess of six times the price, this burned perfectly. I looked at a few other reviews, as Rojas doesn’t seem to have a working webpage, and one reviewer listed flavors of “earth and cedar”, “espresso, and white pepper” and “dark brown sugar and cream”. I don’t get any of that. I got some leather and baking spices. I liked it, it was a good cigar, and well worth the price. I’ve enjoyed a lot of cigars from this factory, especially some of the Stolen Throne lines, and this was a good one. I’m sure I’ve smoked the Carnitas and Barbacoas before, I needed to give this one a shot and I think it’s my favorite of the bunch.

Yesterday I dropped a few things off at Goodwill and stopped into JM’s Cigars in Exton PA. Unlike Rojas they have a website, however it hasn’t been updated in 12 years. It’s fine to have a static landing page, but delete the event from 2013 please! This was the first shop I sent to in the mid-90s (apparently when the website was created) and it’s been a while since I stopped in. It really hasn’t changed much over the years (like the website). I picked up a couple cigars that I hadn’t had before, one of which was the A.J. Fernandez San Lotano Requiem Habano in the “Churchill” size. It’s probably closer to a Double Corona, as a Churchill is 7″ x 47, and this is 7″ x 54. Actually, I don’t even think a Double Corona is 50 ring, but times change. It’s a big cigar. I think the last San Lotano I smoked was an Oval, and it’s been well over a decade. This has a Brazilian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. It started out spicy, and had some nice coffee flavors. I liked this and I think it was around $10 so I call it a very good value. I may be overly concerned about the shops website.

It’s time to pick a winner for last week’s giveaway! I haven’t even selected cigars yet, but I don’t think the winner will be disappointed. The random number generator spit out the number 4, which corresponds to Ron Hunt! To answer Ron’s question, While I purchase most of the cigars in the northeast, most should be available all over. There are some brands that just seem to be regional, All Saints comes to mind, but that’s a function of the brand being small and maybe one or two people involved and they can’t get all over the country to support the sales. Different shops in the same area will have a different mix too. I’ll try to include some cigars that may not be widely available in your package. Ron is the host of the All About Wine podcast. I had the good fortune of meeting him a few years back at the Tampa Heritage Festival, and I talk to him regularly. Send me your address Ron!

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as A.J. Fernandez, aj fernandez, Al Pastor, All About Wine, davidoff, Davidoff of Geneva, Rojas, san lotano, Street Tacos, Year of the Horse

October 26, 2025 · 10:16 am

Crowned Heads Broadway, Tatuaje Corojo T110 and AJ Fernandez Decenio Cigars

I had occasion on Wednesday to hang out at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, so, of course, I bought some more cigars to smoke. I don’t smoke a lot of Crowned Heads cigars, I like Miguel there a lot, and do actually like a lot of their cigars. Jon has always been cordial to me, but one time he blew me off at a trade show left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t think I ever made that public. Anyway, the Broadway line intrigued me, so I picked one up and smoked it there in the Wooden Indian’s Liga Privada Lounge. Of course, I smoked the toro, which is 6½” x 54. This cigar has a beautiful, oily broadleaf wrapper, over a Jalapa binder and fillers from Estelí, Jalapa and Ometepe, Nicaragua. It’s made at NACSA, which is where Saka makes Mi Querida, Umbagog, and the Red Meat Lovers Club cigars. This factory has a steady supply of Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. My expectations were exceeded, as this cigar was absolutely delicious. I may like this more that the Mi Querida Blue, which I like a great deal. Construction was perfect, the flavors were smooth, rich cocoa and coffee, right up my alley. my only regret is that I only bought one, and I considered picking up a few more before the shop closed. I want to thank Dave at the Wooden Indian for letting me hang out in the members lounge after the shop closed, I very much appreciate it! By the way, the Crowned Heads website is in dire need of updating.

The Tatuaje T110 Corojo is a 4 3/8″ x 52 short robusto with a Corojo wrapper. I smoked the Cohete (4″ x 50) back in August and really liked it, so I was very much looking forward to this one. I have smoked the T110 in the Broadleaf and Tuxtla wrappers and enjoyed them. This one I didn’t care for, and there aren’t many Tatuaje cigars I don’t like. It started out with a sourness, and skirted the line between sweet and sour through out the whole smoke. It was disappointing, but I always look at situations like this as a learning experience, what do I like in a cigar and what don’t I like, and how can I avoid it in the future? It’s money well spent, as long as I remember what I don’t like and don’t spend money on it again? This one had been in the humidor for a a couple months.

Another cigar I selected from the vast humidor of the Wooden Indian was the A.J. Fernandez New World Decenio in the toro size. This cigar commemorates a decade of the New World line, and made in the San Lotano factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua. I was hoping to pick one of these up a week or so ago when I saw Laurel at another nearby shop, but I either didn’t see them, or they didn’t have them. They had a really expensive 20th anniversary cigar, which may have distracted me (I didn’t bite). I adore the New World Dorado, and the rest of the New World line are really very good. This cigar is 6½” x 54 with a box press that makes it seem thinner. It has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos from Honduras and Nicaragua. I expected a good smoke, and I got a good smoke. This started out spicy, no surprise there, really. It moved to sweet, dark coffee, which is a combination I really like. I also really like that bonus half inch on a toro, more of a good thing. This was a really good smoke, and, dare I say, worth the $14 I paid. This is another anniversary cigar for a budget brand that is higher in price, like the Rocky Patel Edge and the Foundation Charter Oak.

My name was mentioned on yesterday’s Cigar Authority show which was about the cigar inventors. I’ve been on the show a couple times and I’ve known these guys for a long time. It’s humbling to be mentioned, and it gives me some credibility, I guess, to be recognized by them, but I want to set a couple things straight. I, in no way, created anything or was the first of anything. When I started this there were a lot of cigar blogs, I just happened to have outlasted a lot of them. Certainly Stogie Review (which is making a comeback with the Smoke & Steel podcast) was one of the first, and Casas Fumando has stood the test of time. I take some pride in being mentioned by my peers (I got a nice mention by Kevin on a recent El Oso Fumar show too, TY). I’m still just a guy who writes stuff about cigars.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as A.J. Fernandez, aj fernandez, Broadway, cigar, cigars, Corojo, Crowned Heads, Desenio, New World, T110, tatuaje, The Cigar Authority, wooden indian

July 21, 2024 · 7:00 am

Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto JR Cigars Exclusive

I’m having a busy weekend here, so today’s post will be dedicated to the Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto. JR Cigars has been sending me some of their exclusive cigars for me to write about, and this was the most recent. The links in these posts are affiliate links, so if you shop at JR, do me a favor and do it through these links. I don’t seem to have a lot of success with affiliate links, over the last nearly 15 years I don’t think I’ve made more than $100. I keep trying though. Maybe I’ll use the links myself to buy more of these Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez cigars, because they are right up my alley! I’m going to be right upfront when I say that there are very few Montecristo cigars that float my boat, I would even go as far as to say that Altadis cigars in general mostly don’t do it for me. There are some exceptions, and the vast majority are made in partnership with AJ Fernandez. The cigars JR provided me were robustos, 5″ x 52 and have an Oscuro Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, a Mexican San Andrés binder, and aged long filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, and the United States, or Honduras, the website actually says two different things!. Based on the flavor and strength, I’m inclined to believe that there’s Pennsylvania or Connecticut broadleaf in the blend.

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I’ve smoked a handful of these this week, and I was really quite pleased with them! They have an espresso or strong, black coffee thing going on, with a hint of some sweetness about half way through the cigar. Lately a robusto is only good for about an hour, so larger sizes in this blend interest me. This is a bold, premium cigar at a great price. The presentation is nice too, although the wrapper is so pretty it’s a shame to cover it up with the large sleeve! By now my regular readers probably know what style of cigars I like, and if you find yourself liking the same cigars, this one is a no-brainer. Every sample I smoked burned perfectly, which shouldn’t be a surprise given their provenance. This is my new favorite Montecristo. JR has a whole line of “Crafted By” cigars, I’d love to see a sampler of them, there’s some I’d love to try.

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I’m off today to Harrisburg, PA to visit Harrisburg Beer and Cigar and Cindy Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust. I’ve been wanting to get out to visit Nick and James, and we don’t get to see enough of Cindy, usually that Steve guy is taking the spotlight. It might be a good chance to replenish some of my DTT cigars that have run low. Until the next time,

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CigarCraig

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Tagged as aj fernandez, cigar, cigars, Crafted by AJ Fernandez, JR Cigars, Montecristo

June 25, 2022 · 6:32 am

News: Diesel Sunday Gravy Grappa Announced

I’ll admit, I’m behind on sampling the Sunday Gravy series. The first one was pretty good, and I’ve been meaning to revisit it. I don’t think I’ve seen any of the others. I’m not a big fan of tomatoes, so that gets into my head a little, and, subconsciously, I don’t tend to look for them. A sampler would be nice, now that there are five versions!

It’s a widely held belief that Italians wrote the book on eating and drinking. Food, libations and socializing are part of the culture and meals can stretch on for hou

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rs. Not for the faint of heart is grappa, an Italian-made digestivo made from the distillate of grape seeds, stalks and stems. The distilled spirit is enjoyed as a palate-cleansing firewater. And when the grappa comes out, things get interesting.

Or so says Justin Andrews who explained that the fifth Diesel Sunday Gravy expression was named “Grappa” in a nod to the blend’s bold flavor profile and the brand’s ability to spark conversation. “Diesel Sunday Gravy Grappa, like our previous Sunday Gravy expressions definitely packs a punch. It’s a great, medium-plus blend, handmade with premium tobaccos. And given its affordable price, Diesel Sunday Gravy Grappa is a cigar that’s meant to be smoked with good friends during spirited discussions.”

Blended by AJ Fernandez and Justin Andrews and crafted at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez in Esteli, Nicaragua, Diesel Sunday Gravy Grappa is rolled with an Ecuadoran Habano wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and Honduran filler. It is a layered smoke that delivers notes of leather, earth and spice.

“Grappa” is being released in a robusto gordo size only.

Grappa (5” x 56); SRP per cigar $4.99

Diesel Sunday Gravy Grappa will be available nationally from July-September 2022, or until the blend is sold out. The sixth and final Sunday Gravy blend will be released in October, 2022.

Diesel cigars are produced by Scandinavian Tobacco Group and distributed by Forged Cigar Company.

About Diesel Sunday Gravy

Diesel Sunday Gravy launched in August 2021 as a full-time line of seasonally-released, Nicaraguan-forward smokes, blended and handcrafted through Diesel’s winning partnership of AJ Fernandez and Justin Andrews. Blends will be released quarterly, sold until their limited supply is deleted and offered at an unbelievable SRP of less than $5.00 per cigar.

About Diesel

Handcrafted by artisans in Esteli, Nicaragua, Diesel cigars are “bold by design.” The brand challenges the current conventions of the handmade cigar category through the bold, unapologetic style of its Cigar Master, AJ Fernandez. Diesel cig

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ars are unified by their deeply complex flavor which is achieved through AJ’s steadfast adherence to time honored cigar making techniques and his insistence on using the highest quality tobacco. The Diesel portfolio includes Hair of the Dog which was released in 2019; Whiskey Row which launched two expressions, one in 2019 and one in 2018, and Diesel Grind which debuted in 2017. For more information, visit www.dieselcigars.com.