Tag Archives: Alec Bradley

December 7, 2025 · 9:38 am

Some Alec Bradley, Panacea, Stolen Throne and CAO Cigars

I didn’t do anything as interesting this week as I have the last few weeks! I have been working on the daunting task of putting my Secret Santa package together, I hope everyone who participated is having an easier time. If I recall, I got stiffed last year, so the person who had me wasn’t invited back. If anyone was going to get the short end, I prefer it’s me anyway. It’s nice getting goodies, but I prefer the giving part. If only buying my wife gifts was as easy as sending cigars! Anyway, I managed to get some new-to-me cigars in this week, more or less. Starting out with a new release from Forged and Alec Bradley Cigars, the Do Not Disturb. The press release explains the name: “Alec Bradley’s latest offering encourages cigar lovers to press pause, unwind and let the world wait.” Honestly, that’s pretty much every cigar for me. Anyway, this cigar comes out of Tabacalera La Isla, which makes other cigars I like, so I was looking forward to trying this. It’s a Ecuador Connecticut shade cigar, which doesn’t really excite me, with a Dominican Criollo binder (not a big criollo fan), and Dominican and Mexican fillers. My first thought was along the lines of “gee, another shade cigar”, but I smoked it and it was very nice. My notes say sweet cream with a hint of bitterness, which. doesn’t really sound as good as it was. This held up well as an end of the day smoke, but would be really nice in the morning with coffee (in the summer). I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

Next up was the Twisted Hitch from Panacea/Flatbed Cigar Co.. Of course, Panacea is an advertising partner here, and I probably use all of the ad revenue to buy Panacea cigars. There’s always a discount code (CCFS25 for 25% off and Free Shipping on your First Order) and there’s a widget on the left sidebar with daily specials. There’s some great cigars at good prices there every day. I encourage people to try this Dominican brand that’s been around for a long time. Anyway, I saw that the Twisted Hitch was recently released, so I picked up a 4 pack. This is a 6½” x 55 Toro Grande with a Brazilian Maduro wrapper, Dominican binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan filers. This is a fairly full bodied cigar with an interesting light spice, nuts and maybe a little dark dried fruits. I think it’s got some similarities to the White Label. Looking forward to smoking more of these.

I smoked the Stolen Throne Castle 919 in the belicoso vitola a while back and was enamoured with it. I had picked up a robusto at the same time and lit it up yesterday. I needed a sweet treat after a hefty lunch, and this was it. This has an Ecuadorian Habano Claro wrapper, with a Nicaraguan binder with Nicaraguan & Dominican/Peruvian fillers. The robusto is 5″ x 50. I didn’t get much of a difference in flavor between this and the belicoso, maybe it was a little shorter smoke. I get white sugar on this, it’s a flavor I enjoy in a cigar, and I really enjoyed this one. I’d pick up more, but my local shop has been low on Stolen Throne, and I haven’t been out to the Wooden Indian recently, it looks like they have them in stock. Personally, I’d pay the 50¢ more for the slightly larger belicoso, but that’s me. You aren’t going to go wrong either way, just like it’s hard to go wrong with Stolen Throne cigars (I don’t like the Yorktown, apparently some people do). Oddly, this isn’t on their website yet.

I have had some mixed results with the CAO Arcana line. I really liked the Mortal Coil and Thundersmoke, but thought the Firewalker was an abomination. The Stokk is an interesting addition to this line. It uses some Adullo, Cyprian Latakia, some Honduran fillers , A nicaraguan binder all wrapped in US Broadleaf. It’s only available in an 6½” x 52 Belicoso, where as the rest of the Arcanas are Toros. I think it’s called Stokk because of the collaboration with pipe maker Stokkebye, I doubt it’s a coincidence. The Latakia is mostly used in pipe tobacco. This pipe tobacco thing in cigars is becoming a little over done. There is the Deadwood line, Stillwell Star, Outcast, now this. Does anyone remember Sam Leccia’s Bumpy Root? That might have been the first. Anyway, the second one of these I smoked was way better than the first, moving it ahead of the Firewalker in my rankings. While note my favorite in the range, it has some interesting flavors in the beginning, transitioning to some nice, sweet tobaccos in the end.

That’s all I have for today, until next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Alec Bradley, Arcana, CAO, Castle 919, cigar, cigars, Do Not Disturb, Flatbed Cigar Co., Panacea, Stokk, Stokkebye, Stolen Throne, Twisted Hitch

November 30, 2025 · 9:38 am

Alec Bradley Kintsugi, Umbagog and a Visit to the Cigar & Lifestyle Fest

First off, the names have been drawn for the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa, so if you snoozed, you losed! Don’t miss out next year! Anyway, my wife came across this event a month or so ago: The Cigar & Lifestyle Fest at the Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. Actually the last day is today, Sunday, Nov. 30 (10-5). It kicked off with a “VIP” event Friday evening, and a whole day (9am-9pm) Saturday. The only advertising I saw for this event was on social media, and none of the cigar industry people I know in the area (reps, store owners) knew anything about it. I figured for $10 admission it was something I needed to check out. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t for me. There were four or five cigar brands, I’d be surprised if anyone’s heard of them. I did have a nice conversation with Christian at Los Gallos Cigars, a “new to me” brand, and they seemed to be doing things right. I’ll smoke a couple of their cigars, which I purchased, this week. I’m admittedly jaded when it comes to new brands, they often try to tell me that they are somehow different than any other brand, when nine times out of ten they are putting bands on someone’s leftovers. I didn’t get that from these guys. OM cigars was there as well, and I met Osvaldo at a TPE a few years back, but obviously didn’t make an impression on him. Jason from Fog Box was there with their very nice collection of travel humidors and lighters, and I talked to Kevin Stone from the Smoke World Podcast for a bit. I’ll let the pictures here paint the picture.

There are probably some things the organizers could have done better to make this a better cigar event. Talking to local shops and reps might be a start, and advertising it to a broader audience. I think a three day event was ambitious, I’m sure one day would have been plenty (I made it about an hour and a half before I got bored). Obviously someplace where one can smoke indoors would be ideal, although challenging. We’ll see if this happens again next year, I’ll check it out.

With Thanksgiving this week, and all that went with it, I didn’t smoke a lot of new cigars. My wife and I were balloon handlers in the Philadelphia parade (the oldest in the country), which was a whole other story. It’s fairly well documented on our Facebook pages. I did smoke the new Alec Bradley Kintsugi Wabi Sabi yesterday when I got home from the fest. I looked at the “smoking lounge” they had set up at the fest and said to myself, “self, you can smoke much more comfortably at home”, which I did. I should try not to talk to myself in public, but nowadays you can pass it off as being on the phone. Anyway, this Alec Bradley Kintsugi Wabi Sabi is actually made by A.J. Fernandez in Esteli. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Mexican binder and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s a 6″ x 52 toro. I really liked this cigar. It’s different from my usual preference, it has some cream, bread and baking spices and was really quite delicious. Remember when blue and green bands were a no-no? This is a nice presentation, a really good tasting cigar, and it’s $12.50, which ain’t bad these days. It turned a disappointing day around.

Last night I decided to smoke the new size in the Umbagog Bronzeback line, the Robusto. The original Bronzeback, a corona gorda, won the Halfwheel Consensus last year, and a Dunbarton cigar has been in the top two or three on that list for the past decade I think. Expect the Solita Red to top the list this year, it’s head and shoulders above the other new releases. Steve is strategic in sending samples of his excellent cigars near the end of the year so that everyone scrambles to smoke them and put them on their year end lists. I just don’t think this Bronzeback Robusto has what it takes to top the list. It’s a perfectly good cigar, although I think the spice it has overwhelms the chocolaty goodness that I like about the “classic” Umbagog. I guess it’s the same reason I prefer the Mi Querida over the Triqui Traca, different strokes for different folks! Come to think of it, I smoked a Red Meat Lovers Fritanga Thursday after the feasting, and wished I had chosen the Ribeye instead. Anyway, I don’t mind the Bronzeback, but would chose the OG Umbagog over it.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Alec Bradley, Bronzeback, cigar, cigars, Cigars & Lifestyle Fest, Kintsugi, Umbagog, Wabi Sabi

March 23, 2025 · 10:18 am

Alec Bradley, El Mago, Bentley, and Plasencia Cigars

I spent some time this week smoking cigars that I got on my two trips to Florida this month. Three of them came from the outstanding Cigar Circus opening party, and one I picked up at Smoke Inn. Some I liked better than others, but they were all pret

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ty good. I’ve been really trying to limit my consumption of sucky cigars. Anyway, I started with the Alec Bradley Post Embargo Blend Code B15. I remember picking up some Post Embargos nine years ago, might still have one somewhere, and them not really being up my alley. I misidentified this as Blend Code 815, upon closer inspection it’s a B. I thought it took them 815 tries to get to this, I would have given up well before 500. They have a large “Post Embargo” band covering the high priming Trojes Honduran wrapper, with a Honduran binder and fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua. This stares with a little hint of Mesquite wood, and it struggled with some minor tunneling. The second half redeemed itself, with some nice, medium milk chocolate and nuts. Not a bad smoke, interesting flavors. I think this came out since the STG purchase of the brand.

A cigar I picked up when I visited the Smoke Inn shop in West Palm a few weeks back was the El Mago Miami Disco. I have been hearing a lot about the brand, great story behind it, and the packaging is pretty spectacular. The Disco reached out to me, maybe it’s one of the brand’s newest offerings, or that the tube was quite nice. I like that the cigars are in cellophane and the tube skips the cedar sheet, that’s an expensive and unnecessary feature and adds nothing for me. This is a 6″ x 60 cigar with a dark Habano Oscuro wrapper, Criollo binder and Nicaraguan fillers. These are made at the MGE Cigars Factory in Esteli, one which I haven’t heard of previously. Upon lighting this I instantly regretted only buying one, and for a moment considered shelling out for a box, even though this is near the upper limit of my price comfort zone. The cigar started with a delicious Cayenne dark chocolate kind of thing, it r

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eally got my attention. This was my star of the week, it was a delicious cigar to the end. The Cayenne dropped off and it was pure dark chocolate til the end. Yummy cigar, and I need to try some of the other cigars in the line. I think Wooden Indian might have some, I owe them a visit anyway!

The Bentley Green toro was my Saturday afternoon watching hockey cigar. This was in the cigars from Cigar Circus, while Jon Carney, who owns the US distribution of the brand, was there with Hooten Young cigars. The Bentley line is owned by the Schusters, who are big cigar distributors in Germany, and made at Joya de Nicaragua. I like a lot of the cigas made at JdN. The 6″ x 52 toro has an Ecuador Rosado wrapper, and fillers from the Jalapa Valley in Nicaragua. Flavorwise, his one gave me the feeling of dry cocoa powder, in a medium bodied package. It was a good cigar, maybe not my favorite if the week, but that bar was set high. I’d give it another go. I was a little surprised that the green was provided instead of the White, I thought the White might have a broader appeal, although I haven’t tried it yet.

Finally, one more cigar that was in the Circus pack was the Plasencia Reserva 1898 robusto. This is a cigar I had never seen before, although it looks like its a line that they have had for a very long time, and may have been for the international market. Is it a reprise? Would they put a discontinued cigar in a retailers swag bag? I’m confused. From what I can put together, this 4¾” x 54 robusto is a Nicaraguan Puro, maybe. Some sources list a Honduran binder. I’m really confused. I see this available at both domestic and international retailers, but it’s not on the Plasencia website. Nothing surprises me with cigar makers websites, El Mago has a search function and “Disco” had no results, yet it’s on the page. I digress. This cigar was pretty darned good

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! It was dark and ri

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ch, and quite strong I think. I noted espresso and cocoa, but a savory as opposed to sweet sensation. I had a sneezing fit in the final third, not sure what that was all about! From what I can gather this is a sub $10 cigar, and was very good.

That’s about all I have for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Alec Bradley, Bentley, cigar, cigars, Disco, El Mago, Green, Plasencia, Post Embargo, Reserva 1898

October 13, 2024 · 10:01 am

Sweet Jane, Murcielago and Alec Bradley Filthy Ghooligan Cigars

As October mo

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ves along, we get closer to Halloween (and eventually winter, ugh), so I figured I’d string together a few cigars following that theme. I’m omitting the obvious, mostly because I haven’t gotten out and found any yet, but there are other options. It brings up the question: do we really need holiday themed cigars? No, of course not, but it gives the marketing guys something to do. Drew Estate recently added the Sweet Jane Dia de los Muerto cigar to the very popular Deadwood line. It’s a 6″ x 50 box-pressed toro, with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper with binder and fillers from Nicaragua (although some sources say “undisclosed”, we are pretty sure there’s some tobaccos more usually associated with pipe tobacco). This has a sweet cap, and is aromatic. There are some baking spices, some cocoa, and it’s a nice change of pace. The sample I picked up locally, and at $12 I only grabbed one to try, ended up with a tunnel about half way in, but it eventually worked itself out. This is frustrating with any cigar, bu

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t more so as the price goes up. A $12 cigar should always burn right. I do enjoy the Deadwood line once in a while, and I see the appeal to the o

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ccasional smoker.

My local TAA shop had the Espinosa Murciela

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go de Oro TAA 2023 in stock, so I grabbed one of those on my last visit. I’ve been a fan of the Murcielago line going back to 2011 or so, when it was

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still Espinosa and Ortega (EO Brands). I miss Eddie Ortega, I need to see what he’s up to. It’s not meant to be Halloween themed, but I figured the bat thing would fit in here. The original has a San Andrés wrapper, This one, and the name gives it away a little, has a shade wrapper.

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I thought it seemed darke

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r than usual, but that’s OK. It’s presented in a 6″ x 54 oval-pressed toro format, made at A.J. Fernandez’ San Lotano factory. This was a bold cigar, not as mild as one might think. I liked it, but it sorta seemed like a strong cigar with a shade wrapper, maybe some Cafe con Leche flavors? Nice cigar, probably another cigar that’s near $12, I think I’ll stick with the maduro version. I’ll have to stop back in and see what other TAA cigars they have that I haven’t tried.

Finally, Alec Bradley has added a cigar to their holiday offerings. They have had success with the Filthy Hooligan, which started out in 2012 as a Candela cigar (I still have one someplace), and morphed into a Candela/Jalapa barber pole with Honduran and Panamanian fillers, a Sumatra binder. Then they

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added the Shamrock, with Honduran Candela, Habano and Habano Maduro triple wrap. This year they decided to jump on the Halloween bandwagon with the Filthy Ghooligan. These are all in the Alec Bradley Black Market family and are limited releases. First, I think it’s silly. I get the play on words, but Ghoul is spelled with a U, and while the band is cute, it pushes “Marketing to children” to the line a bit. I know this isn’t the case, but I’m more of a traditionalist. That being said, I don’t mind a Barber Pole style cigar. This one has Ecuadorian Habano and US Broadleaf wrappers, making a nice light vs. dark brown spiral. It has Indonesian Besuki binder and

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Nicaraguan Jalapa,Estelí, and Condega fillers alongside Dominican Piloto. It smoked well, has a decent flavor, some leather and da

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rk chocolate with some spice. I did smoke a Shamrock later in the day and I can see the family resemblance. The Candela makes the shamrock a little brighter in flavor. I do. find myself wanting to smoke more maduros in the fall, so I suppose this is a good choice. Overall

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, not a bad smoke

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Alec Bradley, Black Market, cigar, cigars, De Oro, Deadwood, Dia de los Muertos, Espinosa, Filthy Ghooligan, Murcielago, Sweet Jane, TAA

August 11, 2024 · 9:59 am

Some New Hoyo de Monterrey, Bolivar and Alec Bradley Cigars

I have long been a fan of the Hoyo de Monterrey brand, going back to the ’90s. I smoked the maduro (and double maduro) Rothschilds, and when I wanted to splurge, I picked up an Excalibur No. 1 (for about $5!). I even wrote an article back in 2012 comparing the Punch and Hoyo brands (Punch vs. Hoyo-de-Monterrey, A Debate Finally Settled). I always get a little excited when General Cigars comes out with a new Hoyo. This time around they have the Oscuro and Rojo. I sense a theme at the company, after the release of the CAO Fasa Sol and Noche, releasing two cigars with different wrappers. I, as I usually do, tried out the Oscuro first. The Hoyo de Monterrey Oscuro has a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, and comes from the HATSA factory in Danli, Honduras. The wrapper is dark, I had high hopes. I smoked a couple of these and found that the initial flavors were weird, bordering on yucky. Creosote, came to mind, like how burning a railroad tie might taste, very pungent. The company has tasting notes of cherry cola, white and cayenne pepper, molasses and rye bread. I’d have to really reach to get maybe the molasses. It moved to tolerable after a while, but never really tripped my trigger. Construction was good! I’ll let some age for a while.

Moving on the the Hoyo de Monterrey Rojo, which has a Honduran Jamastran wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. Both of these were in the Toro size, 6″ x 52, which made me happy (although I might have prefered the Oscuro in the Rothschild, as it would have been done quicker). I really liked this cigar! As was the case with the CAO Fasa, I liked the “natural” more than the maduro! This cigar has what I refer to as “bright” flavors, a citrus tang, and just good tobacco. This was a really nice cigar and I look forward to smoking more. These are both priced from $5.99 to $8.49, darned reasonable these days.

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Next up was what I believe to be the first Alec Bradley cigar produced under new ownership, the Alec Bradley Safe Keepings. This is the first in a line that is from the Alec Bradley bled book, a Nicaraguan puro made at the Oliva factory. It uses Jalapa, Condega and Esteli Criollo 98 tobaccos, and prices run from $10.49 to $15.19. I had the robusto, which is 5″ x 52. I find that I like robustos on a Saturday afternoon after the chores/projects are done, possibly before an afternoon nap. No nap yesterday, but it’s been known to happen. Considering Criollo usually isn’t my bag, nor are flavors I consider woody, this was a really nice cigar. It has a woody sweetness, medium bodied, and really quite elegant. The band is kind of cool, it leaves room for alterations for future releases. I can see the starry, crescent moon background being changed to a sunny blue sky for another release. I was surprised how much I liked this.

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Finally, I smoked the newest addition to the Bolivar line, the Bolivar Cofraida Oscuro. Like the Hoyo Oscuro, this has a Ecuador Sumatra binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers, but has a dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. It comes in three sizes, Robusto, Toro and Gigante, I had the 5″ x 54 Robusto. I believe this line started as a JR Cigars exclusive, much like the Hoyo Excalibur line, that was before JR was acquired by Altadis. I really like this cigar, it’s up my alley. It has rich, dark chocolate with some spice. Remember when they came out with the Bolivar with the big red band? I really liked that cigar, although I prefer the classic Simon Bolivar bands. That one was a Foundry line, this one is in the Forged line. This is also a reasonable priced cigar, I’ll be on the lookout for the toro. Remember when the Cuban Bolivar was a really strong cigar?