Tag Archives: Brimstone

Villiger Cuellar Black Forrest and Assorted Cigars

I’ve been smoking some random favorites this week, along with revisiting some cigars to re-evaluate my opinions on them. I spent a while with my web host’s support folks trying to iron out some back-end issues I’ve been having and I think something got fixed with the RSS feed and Google indexing. The e-mails seem to be going out again and searches don’t seem to be coming up in Chinese anymore! That was annoying! Spending ten years creating content, I’d like my legacy to be properly preserved in google searches! So it’s all sorted out, I think. I’ve been looking at new WordPress themes too, I’ve been using the same site design since 2012, and it might be time to refresh it a bit. When I find the right layout, you’ll know it! Anyway, Here’s some of my thoughts on some cigars I smoked this week. 

 

Southern Draw Jacob’s Ladder Brimstone – I love the shape, it’s perfectly constructed, and I really want to love the cigar, and it’s great, but I think I like the regular Jacob’s Ladder better. There’s something about the regular line that is richer, maybe the added strength of the Brimstone overpowers he blend for me. If I had smoked this before the regular line I might have had a different opinion, but I feel a little disappointed when I smoke these. I want it to be a better Jacob’s Ladder, and for me it just isn’t, something gets lost. 

 

Cornelius and Anthony Daddy Mac – As everyone should be aware, I have a fondness for everything in the Cornelius and Anthony line, except, maybe the Daddy Mac. I’ve always said I liked it, but it was my least favorite in the line, and the second half of that statement id certainly always been true, but it’s time to stop sugar coating it and just give up on the Daddy Mac. The cigar just doesn’t appeal to me. That’s not to say it isn’t a good cigar, and there are plenty of people who love it, it’s got that leathery, earthy profile that I don’t personally dig. I need to reach out to Steven Bailey and ask him what the future of Cornelius and Anthony looks like. I’ve been seeing a lot of posts from this weekend’s LaZonaPalooza and the name C&A hasn’t come up. Inquiries at a recent visit to El Titan de Bronze, where my favorite Cornelius is made were not exactly positive. I need to know how I should ration my existing stock. 

 

Speaking of cigars made at LaZona, I also smoked a La Sirena King Poseidon, the brand’s 6″ x 60 vitola. This is another small brand that I’ve had a long time affinity for. The 6″ x 60 size was an experiment, and I like it a lot, but I think I like the Trident, the Churchill size, better for a large vitola in this line. I love the Trident and Devine (belicoso) sizes the best in this line.  I still have a couple of the Tridents from a box that was made in the My Father factory, they are Devine…no that’s the Belicoso…you know what I mean. La Sirena’s family of brands, including Merloin, Oceano, and the 10th Anniversary, have a little something for everyone, and I enjoy the heck out of them. 

 

Let’s talk about this new cigar from Villiger, the Cuellar Black Forrest. This is made at the Tabacalera Palma in the Dominican Republic, which is where the Cuellar Krēmē is made, as well as one of my favorite Villiger cigars, the long gone and poorly named Trill. It’t box pressed and has a San Andrés wrapper and Dominican binder and filler and has a really interesting aroma out of the box. They often send samples in really nice little boxes of two or three, and while the presentation is top notch, one can’t help but think they might be better served saving that expense. Just a thought. This is a beautiful smoke, and everyone has been smoking this and raving about it. It was different from what most think of San Andrés wrapped cigars. It didn’t have the heavy earth that is associated with Mexican leaf, but would still qualify as earthy I guess. It was solidly in the medium category and smooth, consistent with it’s Cuellar Krēmē sibling, it compliments it well as the maduro counterpart if that is the intent. I can recall smoking a Krēmē at the Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival in 2014 and really enjoying it, and I might have one of similar vintage someplace in the humidor. This was a nice smoke that I’ll look forward to smoking again.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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Smoking Some New Southern Draw Cigars This Week

I spent the week smoking some new cigars from Southern Draw Cigars, thanks to a generous care package from Robert and Sharon. They were very busy this year producing some new cigars and sizes, and this was their fifth year in business, which is quite a milestone, and they’e been very successful in a short time. If you follow this site, you saw a lot of press releases about these cigars in the weeks leading up to the IPCPR. This is largely due to their partnership with A.J. Fernandez, who makes all of their cigars, but Robert is very involved in all of the blending. He’s not an absentee brand-owner by any means, I’ve sat with him and had this discussion, and while he is relatively new to the industry, he gets his hands dirty, and spends time in the factory and buys the tobacco and really is involved in the process. I have a lot of respect for him and his family, and I’ve had he pleasure of meeting Sharon and her parents, and they are all super nice folks. SO I had to start the week trying out the Lustrum, with is the brands fifth anniversary cigar.

 

Lustrum is a take on the Kudzu, which was their first release. Makes good sense. I always enjoy a Kudzu, and I really enjoyed the Lustrum. The Lustrup is a 5½ x 52 box pressed Belicoso, with a Nicaraguan Habano Medio Tiempo wrapper, Nicaraguan Ometepe binder and Nicaraguan Proprietary fillers. Media Tiempo refers to a priming above ligero, which doesn’t happen on all tobacco plants, so it’s a small, rare leaf, with a lot of power and flavor. I loved the pepper, wood and coffee notes, and thought it was an amped up version of the Kuzdu. It was a special cigar and a nice celebration of Southern Draw’s five years. I liked this cigar a a lot, might be my second favorite of the new stuff, second to this next cigar.

 

From what appears to be the same mold, the next cigar I smoked was the Rose of Sharon Desert Rose. I know, I usually start with the maduro, I’m getting there. I’m very selective about the Connecticut shade cigars I smoke. Let me rephrase that, I’m not that selective about the ones I smoke, but the ones I really enjoy are on a pretty short list. Rose of Sharon is on that list. So I was excited to try the latest Southern Draw cigar with the pink band, the Desert Rose. They’ve used a heartier wrapper on this, calling it a Ecuadoran “Cloud Grown” Claro, which I suppose allows for it to be box pressed, where box pressing a thinner shade wrapper seems to be more difficult. The binder is Nicaraguan Habano  fillers of  Corojo 99 and Piloto Cubano ligeros from Honduras and the Dominican Republic. What all this ends up producing is a beautiful, medium bodied cigar, with a buttery smooth flavor, with a hint of spice. Pretty yummy.

 

Next up I made my selection based upon the time I had and I was in the mood for a double corona. Fortunately, one of this years Ignite cigars was a double corona, 7½ x 50, and is called Private Blend no. 3. There are two others, Private No.1, and Private No.4. I didn’t ask about Private No.2. Anyway, this year’s Ignite program includes a charitable donation to the Navy SEAL Foundation, and the band features the SEAL seal. This cigar has an Ecuador (presumably Habano) wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and proprietary Nicaraguan & Brazilian fillers. To me, this cigar had a totally different flavor profile than any Southern Draw cigar I’ve ever smoked, and I really enjoyed that. It was loaded with flavor, medium, smooth and rich, with some nuttyness, perhaps. This would be a great cigar for a long Sunday morning with a pot of coffee. a terrific cigar all the way to the end, and it took a good two hours to get to that end.

 

Ok, here’s the cigar you’d think I would have started this whole mess off with. If you know me, you know I love the Jacob’s Ladder. One time I was smoking my last one on a frigid winter night on a walk, and I noticed at one point that the cigar was no longer in my gloved hand and I panicked. I had to double back and luckily I found the cigar on the street, which, fortunately, was dry, as there was snow on the ground at the time. No damage, and I was able to finish the cigar, five second rule be damned. Anyway, I was excited to give the new iteration of the Jacob’s Ladder a try. This one is called Brimstone, and, as if it were possible, is another amped up version of the regular line. This guy is a 6″ x 56 perfecto, has a PA broadleaf wrapper, another US (PA?) maduro broadleaf binder and Ligero fillers from Nicaragua and the DR. This was a strong cigar. It’s a beautiful specimen, perfectly constructed, of course, and loaded with espresso and bitter dark chocolate and lots of pepper. It might have overpowered me a little, and maybe I like the regular Jacob’s Ladder more, but time will tell. Maybe this will be a better fall or winter cigar than a hot summer day cigar, who knows. This flies in the face of my usual tastes.

 

I wrapped up the week with the new size in the Cedrus line, the Toro. I have previously smoked the original size, the Belicoso, and I enjoyed it, but I’ve never been a great fan of the Indonesian wrapper. That being said, I like Sumatra wrappers, and that could be Indonesian, so maybe there’s some Indonesian wrappers I do like. Maybe I don’t know what I like. Either way, the 6″ x 52 toro is my favorite size, so that’s a plus. It has a Nicaraguan Habano 2000 binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I found this to be an interesting cigar. It started off rather spicy, with a tinglyness on the tongue. it smoothed out after a while, and continued with various spices throughout, and was a very entertaining ninety minutes of smoking enjoyment.

 

I didn’t get to the 300 Hands Connecticut, maybe tonight. Many thanks to Robert and Sharon for sharing their bounty with me.  There’s only so much time in the week. I have to work today, it’s been work, work, work the week! You can do me a favor though. I have an event coming up that that will require cigars with a “white” theme, so please suggest “white” themed cigars. For instance, in years past for this event I’ve smoked Montecristo White, Macanudo Inspirado White, Leccia White, and Fratello Bianco. See where I’m going with this?  Also, don’t forget to enter the contest that’s underway! That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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News: Southern Draw Announces Jacob’s Ladder Brimstone

More news tonight, this one is another  upcoming release from Southern Draw debuting at the upcoming IPCPR show. Jacob’s Ladder is my favorite in their lineup, I’m sure this amped up version will be another winner! 

 

Southern Draw Cigars’ boldest blend will rain down its vivid interpretation of wrath with the Jacobs Ladder hail, fire and brimstone – the names applied to each of its triple ligero filler tobaccos.  

Brimstone, a moniker referencing the Bibles passages about fiery torment, is the fifth size of the Jacobs Ladder and uses a patiently aged Pennsylvania Broadleaf USA wrapper, a Maduro USA binder and a potent new filler combination consisting of three different ligeros from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.  The Brimstone is a very full bodied, full flavored bomb that burns uniformly and yields a beautiful white ash.  The company believes this new size of Jacobs Ladder remains#boldbutapproachable and it is hand-made by AJ Fernandez Cigar Co. in Esteli, Nicaragua.  

 

 

Jacobs Ladder is the popular cigar blend named in part for Ethan Jacob, the son of Founders, Robert & Sharon Holt.  A limited number of samples of the new 6.0×56 perfecto will ideally be available from the hands of Ethan Jacob who has plans to share this line extension with media members and current valued retailer partners of Southern Draw Cigars.  The unveiling of the Jacobs Ladder – Brimstone (the name was shortened to fit on the secondary bands and boxes) is scheduled for June 30, 11 a.m. in Booth #3061. The company is keeping images of the new releases under wraps to further benefit those that attend IPCPR.  

The Jacobs Ladder – Brimstone will be available in the 6.0×56 perfecto size and will be priced at $11.99 MSRP, available in 20 count boxes and 20 count refill bundles.  Total production for 2019 is 75,000 cigars and is scheduled to be released in equal amounts in July, September and November. Shipping dates are subject to our stringent quality control process.  

The Brimstone is only available to current valued retail partners of Southern Draw Cigars (account must be in good standing) and will be sold on a first come, first served basis beginning at the official unveiling.  

Please direct all questions, comments to robert@southerndrawcigars.com.  To set IPCPR appointments for media or retail partners please email shelly@southerndrawcigars.com

For general information about Southern Draw Cigars, a list of retail partners and reviews, please visit us at www.southerndrawcigars.com.  

Soli Deo Gloria!

 

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