Tag Archives: Alec Bradley

by | November 18, 2012 · 11:27 am

Alec Bradley American, ORTSAC 1962, Nestor Miranda and Brick Cigars

Can I start out by stating that this is my least favorite time of year? It’s dark when I get up, it’s dark when I get home, and the temperatures are dropping. It makes it harder to smoke larger cigars and really be able to relax. My evening routine usually involves walking the dog with a cigar. I’ve been walking with cigars for years, at least walking keeps me warm and I generally walk for half or more of a cigar and finish the other half off while I “cool down”.  An added benefit is that I get a little exercise while I enjoy a smoke. I have found that stronger cigars tend to hold up better in the cold and milder cigars tend to get lost.

 

Wednesday I grabbed an Alec Bradley American Sungrown robusto that I had purchased a couple weeks ago at the Cigars International grand opening. I had wanted to try these since they came out and this was the first time I thought to buy some. I love the American Classic blend, it’s a really nice cigar that’s smooth and tasty and well priced. I hoped for something a little bolder from the Sungrown version and I wasn’t disappointed. It was a very tasty cigar that was quite satisfying.  At the $5 price point this is a must try, along with its American Classic sibling.  Both are excellent smokes at a really reasonable price.

 

Thursday I went with a ORTSAC 1962 San Andreas from The Cigar Agency. I had smoked a sample at the IPCPR show reluctantly, and I say that because I love San Andreas wrappers and when Victor gave me a sample at the show and I lit it up, I was concerned that smoking it at the show wouldn’t give me the best opportunity to enjoy it.  I find it very awkward to walk into a venders booth smoking someone else’s cigar, and I had an appointment shortly after I spoke with Victor.  I was thrilled when a couple more showed up in my mailbox a few weeks ago.  If I’m honest, and I try to be, I’m not a huge fan of the regular ORTSAC 1962 Bulletproof, it just doesn’t suit my palate.  However, the addition of the San Andreas wrapper makes all the difference for me.  It’s got just the right balance of strength and rich flavors that I crave, especially in the colder months.  It’s a primo smoke and I’m looking forward to giving the Habano wrapped version a try as well.  These shouldn’t be tough to miss on the shelves as they are packaged in colorful EVA material zippered boxes that are unique.  This one’s a winner.

 

Friday evenings I usually grab something special, and this time it was a Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2012 which arrived a few weeks back in an unexpected package from Barry at Miami Cigar Co.  This is a beautiful torpedo with a nice Connecticut Broadleaf , another favorite wrapper of mine.  This cigar had a really nice  feel, it was appealing in both appearance and flavor.  I have not smoked many cigars from the Nestor Miranda Collection, but the few I have smoked I’ve enjoyed.  This cigar was no different, although I think this is a better cigar for a nice sunny and warm afternoon than an evening walk.  I get as much enjoyment out of watching a cigar burn as I do smoking it sometimes.  This is a very limited release and I’m thankful to Barry for sending a couple my way, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to try it.

 

A few weeks back the folks at Stogieboys.com sent me a selection of  The Brick line from Toraño.  These were all larger vitolas which gives me the additional challenge of finding time to smoke a large cigar.  I grabbed the Torpedo yesterday to putter around the yard.  It was a nice day, and I took the dog out for some play while I smoked the cigar.  This dog is full of youthful exuberance and likes to run when she gets a chance.  Thinking I could give her a little more room to explore I took her toward the back of the yard on the 25 foot cable, wrapping it around my hand like a super long leash.  She saw something and bolted at about the same time I let my guard down and pulled me off my feet, of course the cable squished my hand and I let go, and she took off through the woods.  I tried to follow, but the prickers and underbrush slowed me down and I lost track of her. I actually did a somersault when she first bolted and the ash stayed on the cigar!  I ended up putting the cigar down to go hunting for her and came back to it later, but at some point the wrapper developed some cracks and started to flake away.  I didn’t exactly give this cigar the attention it deserved.  The good news is that this is an inexpensive bundle cigar that doesn’t skimp on quality and flavor.  I have to admit that I wouldn’t have opted to smoke this if I were just going to be sitting outside on a beautiful fall day relaxing, but it gets high marks for dog chasing!  I still have a Churchill for another day, hopefully a warm day, and I thank the folks at StogieBoys.com for sending these samples and for sponsoring a day in the 12 Days of Cigar Giveaways coming in December.

 

I’ve droned on enough, it’s time to run some errands so I can find something nice to smoke this afternoon.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | November 3, 2012 · 8:46 am

My Visit To The New Cigars International Superstore In Hamburg, PA

Friday I took a vacation day so that I could vis

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it the newest super store in the Cigars International empire in nearby Hamburg, PA.  My eldest son, Corey, and I drove up for the grand opening celebration. The first thing one sees when approaching the location is the Cabela’s store that sits on a hill, you can see this place for miles.  The Cabela’s is enormous.  In the shadow of Cabela’s is the newest Cigars International store.

Mike, who appeared to be the general manager, gave us a little tour of the place, along with Joe Winder, our local Perdomo rep.  He walked us through the cigar store area, pointed out the downstairs bar and lounge complete with a pool table, then took us upstairs to the second bar and lounge.  We walked around the outdoor deck and saw the view of the surrounding area.  Across the parking lot they have an amphitheatre.  He told us that they have a state of the art sound and entertainment system, if there’s a band playing in the amphitheater he can pipe it into any or all of the bars and lounges in the buildin

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g.  They also have what they call the “Man O War room”, a private meeting room overlooking the store as well as a lounge dedicated to the armed forces.

Corey and I bought some cigars and sat down in a couple comfy leather chairs to enjoy a smoke and take in the surroundings.  The waitstaff is very attentive, they have waitresses moving throughout the store, inside and out, taking care of your beverage needs, and rumor has it that they have an agreement with the neighboring Red Robin restaurant where you can place an order and have it delivered in fifteen minute intervals.  Did I mention the size of the store?  You may or may not have visited the Cigars International Super Store in Bethlehem, PA, or JR‘s in New Jersey, or even Corona Cigars in Orlando.  If you haven’t, you’ve probably seen pictu

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res or heard stories about the enormity of those stores (the JR’s in North Carolina don’t count, as the cigar stores are located inside big outlet stores with every consumer good imaginable).  This new location is easily twice the size of any of the aforementioned shops.  I’d venture to say that Corona in Orlando may have them beat in variety of cigars, they just have a ridiculous number of facings, and I can’t speak to the 2 Guys and Smoke Inn chains as I have yet to have the pleasure of visiting them.  It’s the biggest full service cigar store and lounge I’ve seen.  At 4 o’clock they had the official opening, and half of the place cleared out to get in a line outside that went clear out to the parking lot. Everyone received a gift bag with a Gurkha Beauty cigar, a $5 CI gift card, and a commemorative pint glass, which Corey and I got on the way out (prompting a return to the cashier to purchase some more cigars, clever bastards!

It was nice to hang out in a comfortable setting and have a cigar with my son for the afternoon, get a chance to hang out with Dave Lafferty of Drew Estate for a while and see Nick Perdomo again.  These pictures don’t do the place justice.

Antelope: is that Undercrown lion looking at me?

 

While there I smoked another Alec Bradley MAXX Brazil robusto that was delicious, and Corey had a Diesel Grind Robusto (I picked up a couple on his recommendation and

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smokedone on my evening walk, a very nice, smooth smoke!)

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | October 24, 2012 · 8:46 pm

A Few Cigars International Exclusives: MAXX, Punch and Man O’ War

The next series of retailer driven reviews are brought to you by Cigars International. I was approached by Scott, a web guy at CI, and he sent along

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some of their exclusive products. Of course, my CDO (that’s OCD in the correct, alphabetical or

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der) makes me worry too much about the order that I smoke the cigars, so it’s a constant battle. Should I smoke them alphabetically? Lightest to Darkest? Shortest to longest? I decided to smoke them in the order of my own personal interest level. I hadn’t previously smoked, nor in most cases even heard of most of the included cigars. So I started with the one which intrigued me the

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most.

 

The Alec Bradley MAXX Brazil was a beautiful, dark robusto. Whether I’ve ever stated it publicly or not I don’t know, but the robusto is my default size. 4”-5½” x 49-54, although a rather broad range, is the size range I find myself reaching for regularly. I rarely have the time to commit to a larger cigar, although I do like toros, and torpedos. I love the occasional corona or lancero too. I guess it would be safer to say my favorite size range is 4” to 7” x 38 to 60 ring. I’ve gotten silly and I digress. The MAXX Brazil was a fantastic smoke. It had that nice balance of flavor and strength. it’s not a heavy smoke, but

very tasty and very satisfying. I loved the dark and rich cocoa flavors. This cigar suits my palate just about perfectly, and they are quite fairly priced, going for $3.00 to $5.00 each.

 

The next cigar I selected was a Punch Bareknuckle, this example being the Belicoso, weighing in at 5” x 50. Where the MAXX was smooth as butter, this Punch was a powerhouse. Despite the fact that the picture on the website shows a cigar with a smoking ¾” ash and an uncut cap, and I don’t care for footbands (another inconsistency in said photo) this is also an outstanding cigar. If you like the standard Punch line, this will appeal to you as well. It’s got a little more oomph, maybe a more concentrated flavor. Burn and draw were perfect and the belicoso shape was fun and interesting. Another winner.

 

Third up was the Man O’ War Side Projects Little Devil. This was a corona which fought with the previous two for my interest, but something in my head told me that this would be a tasty smoke, it being from A.J. Fernandez. I can’t think of a cigar from A.J. that I haven’t liked. I lit this cigar up and BAM!, there was a blast of loamy, musty, earthy tobacco goodness from the uncut foot. All that extra wrapper folded over the foot really shows how much flavor that Habano wrapper has.  This cigar also burned very well and was very nicely presented with the unfinished foot and the little pig-tail head.  These are still fairly priced at around $4.  Steve Saka once told me that coronas cost almost as much to make as larger cigars, but they have to be priced quite a bit lower because of the percep

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tion that a smaller cigar has to cost a lot less than a larger one. So the people who buy larger cigars actually subsidize those of us who buy smaller ones!  Anyway, this was a fun cigar to smoke.

 

I have two more cigars to smoke, I’ll cover those in Sunday’s installment.  Tomorrow evening I’m going to visit International Tobacco in the King Of Prussia mall.  This mall is one of the largest in the country, and it’s nice to have a shop in the mall where one can stop and smoke a cigar.  They are having a Camacho event and I certainly like Camacho cigars.  Probably an uninteresting fact, but the very first cigar I reviewed online was a Camacho Monarca back in 1996 when Steve Saka held a blind taste test on the alt.smokers.cigars news group, which eventually ended up on the now defunct CigarNexus website.  I loved the Camacho, but one of the other cigars in the test was a Havana Montecristo No.2 that I called a dogrocket because it w

as so terrible.  Anyway, thanks to Scott at CI for letting me try these cigars, they were all new to me and I think I found some gems.  Is this post a big CI commercial? Maybe, but the cigars are good and well priced, worth a look if you have the chance.

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | August 12, 2012 · 5:50 pm

An Almost Regular Sunday Cigar Post

Since coming back from the IPCPR show earlier in the week I’ve been working on getting some of the videos we shot during the show.  I actually haven’t been smoking a lot of cigars lately, and really didn’t smoke many while at the show!  I started getting a cold while there, and everything has tasted funny for the last week, so why bother!  I had made a decision that while I was on the show floor, I was going to abstain from smoking cigars for two reasons: first that it’s one more thing to have in my already full hands, and second, I hate walking into one persons booth with another person’s cigar, it just seems rude.

 

On the opening night I smoked an Emilio AF1 athe “Gala” dinner, followed by an Alec Bradley Prensado Robusto at their after party.  I had brought both of these cigars along with me, and they were both exceptional.  The one cigar I did smoke on Friday was a pre-release ORTSAC San Andrés robusto, which was amazing.  I’ll get more when I can because I really want to experience it without the distractions of the show. Friday night we went to the Joya de Nicaragua party which was in an enormous tent in the parking lot of one of the Corona Cigar stores.  These Corona stores are amazing places, by the way.  They are set up in a super market style, with everything out on display in rows.  I purchased a pair of the new CLE Corojo Preferidos for future enjoyment while there, and went on to enjoy a wonderful Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Lancero at the party.  I know, I should have smoked the new Cuenca y Blanco which we were there to celebrate the release of, but when the lancero calls…

 

Saturday was our last day on the show floor.  At this point I just propped myself up with various over the counter cold remedies and soldiered on.  As you can see, and will see in the coming weeks, we shot a fair amount of videos over the course of the day.  After the show closed, we visited the Toraño hospitality tent for a smoke where we ran into our friends Mitch and George.  At the hospitality tent we had our choice of the new size they were debuting at the show, the LFC, which is a 4½x60.  Charlie talks about these in the video I did with him which I posted last week. I selected an Exodus 50 years, but they also had the Vault, the Loyal and the Master.

Mitch and George with an old car that had the steering on the wrong side

From there we went to see the downtown Corona store with Mitch and George.  We sat and ordered a pizza from across the street and from someplace a Gurkha Cellar Reserve Perfecto appeared which I smoked and enjoyed. I have Mitchell to thank for that, as well as the food and drinks, he really needs to take a couple bucks for this stuff one of these days!  George gifted me a very special cigar which I will report on when I can taste again, thank you very much! I would love to have smoked it then, but it would have been criminal in the state I was in.  The volume went up on the music at Corona, so we found where I parked the car and headed back to the other Corona location for the Miami Cigar/La Aurora party in the tent.  They had a live band there, it was very loud and smokey and a lot of the party had spilled out into the driveway, which had been closed off.  Everyone seemed to be there again, many of the manufacturers, retailers and bloggers.  It was very kind of Corona Cigar Co. to host all of these fine events.  I understand the Sunday night Drew Estate event was fantastic. We packed it in around midnight, it had been a long day and we had my 18 year old son and his friend to worry about.

 

We spent Sunday at the Magic Kingdom, riding the rides and having a nice day. Monday we made the long drive home, stopping for dinner at a Waffle House in NC, just because I didn’t think it would be right to drive down and back without eating there once!  We had a great trip.  Took too few pictures, smoked too few cigars, but had a great time seeing old friends.  I have to thank my publicist/ videographer/wife for putting up with me dragging her around the show floor and helping me out along the way.

Here’s a few random pictures:

Uncle Sam getting the most of the second hand smoke!

 

Kiss My Ash Radio going live from the show floor

Fake Cubans in a little grocery in Kissimmee near our hotel. I told the girl they were fake, she didn’t care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had asked for input into what you wanted to know from the manufactures, and I’m afraid I avoided the questions about the FDA.  I did this because I really want to remain positive about it, and I thought asking what plans they have should the FDA regulate cigars would result in being told that it would shut down all but the largest players.  In retrospect, maybe having a library of videos of people saying they’d be put out of business would make a point to the government, but I didn’t really want to bring down the excitement of the show and new products.

 

Stay tuned for plenty more videos over the coming weeks.  I’ll try to pair them with smoking the samples, if my taste buds ever return to normal!  I’ve  smoked a cigar or two since getting back, but have felt that it was a waste to have done so.  I didn’t even have a cigar in the pool today!

Anyway, until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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by | August 3, 2012 · 7:28 am

IPCPR 2012 Day 1 Quick Recap

Day 1

Thursday evening found the CigarCraig.com team (that being myself and my adviser/publicist/partner in life, Jenn) attended the Gala Opening reception at the Hilton.  We got something to eat and made our way through the room meeting up with old friends, some of whom I had not met face-to-face before.  Among those were Kip Fisher from The Cigarmy/CigarMedia.tv and the folks from The Cigar Federation/Ezra Zion.  It’s always a treat to meet people you only know through written correspondence, it’s surprising how you almost always feel like you’ve known them all along.  Saw too many old friends to mention and ended up going to a big party Alec Bradley Cigars was hosting with old friends Mitchel Orchant of C-Gars.Ltd, Frank Seltzer, MangoJoe Phillips among others.  The party was night-clubbish, with a DJ, an ice sculpture, and the works.  They had an open bar, and people were lined up to get in.  They even offered bus service to shuttle people back and forth from the  convention center hotel. A very nice event, hosted by a great group of folks. We ended up calling it a night as we had been out much longer than we had planned.  Friday is opening day, and I needed my beauty sleep!

 

Stay tuned for continuing coverage as internet access allows!

 

From the 2012 IPCPR show in Orlando,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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