Tag Archives: Camacho

by CigarCraig | April 3, 2013 · 8:01 pm

A Zen, a Camacho, a La Aroma del Caribe and an Iconic Contest!

My last post was on Easter Sunday, and by the time I was ready to get out the door to have a smoke it started raining. I don’t like sitting out in the rain, it takes the fun out of enjoying a fine cigar. So with the garage door open, I pulled up a chair and lit up a Zen by Nish Patel. This one was a pre-release sample from the 2011 IPCPR show when it was released. I’ve has a few of these that I purchased awhile back, so I didn’t see any point in having this funky banded example laying around. True to the hype, this is a Shade wrapped cigar that has some oomph to it. Nice and smooth, with a good bit of spice. It’s a nice smoke and was a great choice for a rainy, post-Easter breakfast carb coma afternoon.

Monday, after a trying day, I needed something satisfying and familiar. I grabbed a Camacho Corojo Maduro Monarca that I had picked up a few months ago. It’s interesting to see how the Camacho brand has evolved over the years. Back in 1996, soon after getting online and finding a community of cigar nuts, I was invited to participate in a blind taste test that one of the newsgroup participants, a young man named Steve Saka, was hosting. In that tasting group was a Camacho, before Christian Eiroa relaunched the brand with the Corojo wrapper. At the time I really liked the Camacho (but I gave a “dog rocket” rating to a Cuban Monte No.2 and wasn’t at all impressed with an expensive Lane Signet. Anyway, I’ve smoked tons of the Corojo, Havana blend, and even the Candela, and I always liked the Havana blend best (of course, discontinued). This maduro is a nice, strong cigar, with a good spice and thick, chewy smoke. I enjoyed it quite a bit until the Flyers game was about to come on, there was only about a half an inch left at that point.

Tuesday evening I picked out a La Aroma del Caribe Mi Amor Belicoso that I received from Tom at Cigar-Club.com, a UK based retailer that specialises in Havana cigars. This is the non-USA version of the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor, which I am going to hunt down to see for myself that it’s the same cigar. Besides my curiosity about the naming, it was a darned fine cigar. I should have known that I’d enjoy this smoke given that it is wrapped in Mexican leaf. It started out with a blast of spice, then settled into a nice, reasonably powerful smoke that was very satisfying and enjoyable. Thank you to Tom of Cigar-Club.com for giving my the oportunity to sample something that I may not have had the chance to smoke. This was a really delicious cigar.

Contest!

I know, it’s only been a few short weeks since the last contest, you have my apologies. I realize I run the risk of spoiling you all with great contests. I’ll try to scale it back a little. This month’s contest is truly something special, so I’m asking for a little bit more than the usual comment. You ‘ll still need to leave a comment, but this time we need you to answer the question: “What do you know about Recluse Cigars?” That leads to the prize, which is an amazing box of Recluse Kanu No. 1. Recluse cigars are one of my favorite new cigars of last year, and the Kanu No.1 shape is unique and a really fun smoke. So answer the question in the comments, and a week from Sunday I’ll pick a winner. Yes, I’m going to let this contest run for a week and a half (and hope I don’t forget to pick a winner!). Thanks to Scott and the gang at Iconic Leaf Cigar Co. for providing this awesome box of cigars!

This weekend I’m headed to New Jersey for the weekend where I plan to meet up with some folks and smoke some cigars. If anyone is around Lyndhurst, NJ Saturday afternoon, stop in to Cigar Emporium, and I’m thinking of going to JR Cigars in Whippany, NJ for Lunch Sunday maybe, unless I decide to head into NYC and go to Nat Sherman or De La Concha or someplace.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

55 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review

Tagged as Camacho, cigar, cigar store, Cigar-Club.com, cigars, Contest, Iconic Leaf, La Aroma del Caribe, Patel, Recluse, Zen

by CigarCraig | January 30, 2013 · 7:47 pm

An Asylum, a Gurkha, a LegendArio and Some News

We’ve had some unseasonable weather, so I figured I could sneak some larger vitolas in this week. It’s funny how we adapt to the weather. Not long ago when the temps were in the 30s I’d be bundled up and freezing. After a few weeks of really cold weather, a Sunday in the high 30s found me without my gloves, enjoying a 6×60 while walking the dog. It’s in the 50s today, although it’s raining.

Sunday afternoon I grabbed an Asylum 13 Sixty, which is a 6″x 60 cigar made by Christian Eiroa in the Nicaragua American Cigars, S.A. (NACSA) factory. I picked this up the last time I visited Light’n Up Premier Smoke Shop a few Sundays ago, I think it was in the $6 range. This was a well made cigar of medium strength with a good draw and pleasant flavor. It really didn’t stand out, but there certainly wasn’t anything negative I can say about it. It was a nice day and a pleasing smoke while the dog and I walked around the neighborhood. I ended up nubbing it and wasn’t dissapointed. Worth trying, I think.

Monday evening was getting a little warmer so I pulled a Gurkha Royal Challenge out of the samples I got at the IPCPR show. This is a nice looking Connecticut shade wrapped cigar, but as I started taking bands off of it, some of the very thin, fragile wrapper was stuck to the bands and tore a little. Obviously, this did not bode well. I figure the binder should carry most of the structural burden on a cigar, so it should be smokable with a bit of the wrapper missing. Of course, I struggled with the burn on this cigar, as well as a large stem running nearly the length of the cigar. While I really enjoyed the mild and mellow flavors of this cigar, it truly was a Royal Challenge to smoke. Chalk it up to one bad experience, it happens. It’s a cigar I’d smoke again because it was a very flavorful Connecticut wrapped cigar that had a lot going for it flavor-wise and I can’t imagine the construction problem I had was the norm.

Tuesday I grabbed another large cigar, a LegendArio Bertha from Camacho. this line has been out for quite a while and this is the first time I’ve smoked one. I purchased a couple at a Camacho event at International Tobacco in the King of Prussia Mall a while ago and decided it was time. With a Mexican maduro wrapper I figured it couldn’t go wrong. I was right, and it was a very nice smoke. I liked it. I’d like it better in a robusto, maybe. Perhaps the burn wasn’t as straight as it could have been, but it didn’t give me too much trouble and I smoked it until it was time for the Flyers game (which didn’t end as well as the cigar did!). This is a cigar that I wouldn’t mind having more of, and at around $5 for this cigar, it’s a winner. You know I’m a sucker for the Mexican maduro wrapper.

News

For those of you who like to win free cigars, check out the Super Bowl Squares game going on at StogieBoys.com. There are a few squares left so get on over and sign up.

Also, the same folks at StogieBoys.com have some other news related to this weekend’s big game:

StogieBoys.com, the nation’s fastest growing online retailer, along with Thurman Thomas Cigars, announced this week its sponsorship of the 4th annual Jaws’ Cigar Party at Vieux Bourbon in New Orleans. The party is to be hosted by Ron Jaworski, ESPN NFL analyst.

StogieBoys.com will be the exclusive cigar retailer sponsor at Jaws’ cigar party and will feature NFL Hall of Fame Running Back Thurman Thomas brand cigars. Mr. Thomas entered into a recent relationship with StogieBoys.com to create and distribute his own premium cigar brand.

The Press release is here.

In other news, Albany, NY’s PipesandCigars.com had some folks visit the Davidoff factory in the Dominican Republic recently. The press release can be found here. It sounds like they had a very educational trip!

As I’m sure you have read elsewhere, the gigantic Cigar that Grand Habano displayed in their booth at the New Orleans IPCPR show a few years ago sold recently for $185,000, marked down from $200,000. They claimed it was smokable, and had a contraption with a mess of hoses to affix to the head of the cigar so a whole mess of people could smoke it. The story is here.

Lastly, CigarFest Tickets go on sale Saturday for approximately 5 minutes if you pre-registered and are quick on the draw or camp out at one of their stores overnight!

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

CigarCraig

5 Comments

Filed under News, Review

Tagged as Asylum 13, Camacho, cigar, cigar store, CigarFest, cigars, Gurkha, LegendArio, pipesandcigars.com, Royal Challenge, Stogie Boys

by CigarCraig | October 28, 2012 · 9:43 am

A Camacho Cigar Event, a Room 101, a Genesis, an El Mejor and a Quick Contest

Last weekend I stopped in at International Tobacco in the King of Prussia Mall (one of the largest in the US, located just outside Philadelphia). I stop in here whenever I visit the mall, they have a nice coffee bar where you can sit and have a cigar and rest up from all the shopping :-). When I was there I found out that they were having a Camacho event to celebrate the addition of that line to their product mix. I like Tom Smith, the area Davidoff/Camacho/Cusano rep, so I figured since it’s 20 minutes or so down the road I’d stop in.

Having picked up a handful of Camacho Corojo Maduro Monarcas that I didn’t need last weekend, I purchased a couple Room 101 Daruma Lanceros and a Mostro (5″ x 60), and a couple of LegendArio just because I hadn’t t tried either and Tom recommended the Daruma. I got 2 of the 5 free for the event, which eased the financial pain a little . I sparked up one of the Lanceros and got to socializing. Tom introduced me to a gent named Chris, who was a former blogger, and we struck up a conversation about all things cigar. Chris introduced me to his friend Jay, who lives down the road from me. We had a terrific discussion of cigars, among other things, and I look forward to running into these guys again one of these days. The cigars was as outstanding as Tom had indicated. It was full bodied as one would expect, and the beauty of the Lancero format is that it forces you to smoke it slowly and really savor all that it has to offer. It was a very nice evening. Tom, the owner of the shop does a nice job with events, and I look forward to seeing Tom, the Davidoff rep again in the near future.

This seems like an appropriate place to throw in the video interview I did with Matt Booth at the IPCPR show. I managed to catch Matt right as the show closed and he graciously consented to spend a few minutes with me. Matt is a super-cool dude and his cigars are pretty awesome too. Which reminds me, did they have the Room 101 San Andreas at International Tobacco and I missed them? Anyway, here’s the video:

httpv://youtu.be/HpSABzpP4mI

Back to the retailer sponsored “reviews” I’ve been doing all week. The last two cigars I receive from Cigars International were the Genesis The Project by Ramon Bueso Robusto and an El Mejor Robusto. You may recall the last time I said that I started smoking this in order of my personal interest. I hadn’t heard of the Genesis The Project cigar until receiving it, and the name Ramon Bueso wasn’t familiar to me. The wrapper was very mottled and wrinkly, which doesn’t really show in the picture here. I thought the band was reminiscent of the Liga Privada band, adding a little to my preconception. Just a disclaimer, these opinions and biases are my own. The Genesis was a pretty powerful cigar and, despite it’s ugliness, it performed well. It wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, but it certainly had plenty going for it. I’d say if you like a full flavored cigar with some strength, give this one a try.

As far as the El Mejor is concerned, I’ll admit to having a bias based on my impression that this is strictly a house brand. I’ve learned over the years to have lower expectations of house brands, that’s probably wrong, but that’s the way I feel. This cigar had an attractive, milk chocolate colored Corojo wrapper and lit and burned quite nicely. Once again, this one didn’t exactly wow me, but it was a solid, straight up cigar, certainly not a waste of time, and something I would smoke again, and I did smoke both cigars to a finger-burning nub, if that says anything.

I really appreciate Scott sending me these samples, and I hope to get to meet him this Friday when I go up to Hamburg, PA for the grand opening of their newest Super Store. I know some folks consider CI, Famous and the like, the Walmart of cigar stores, and I can see their points, especially when those people own local shops in the areas where these large companies open stores. Considering what we face from the government where cigars are concerned, I have trouble finding fault with someone who’s willing to shell out millions of dollars to build a cigar store. I am looking forward to seeing the new store, but there’s a lot to be said for the personal experience of sitting down in a small, family owned tobacco shop and enjoying a smoke!

Contest

One last thing, and you’ll have to act fast! I’ve been tweeting this week about a little contest. Today is the 2nd Annual #TickNTweet Virtual Walk, which benefits the Tick Borne Disease Alliance in their efforts to to help us build awareness, promote advocacy and support initiatives to find a cure for Lyme and other Tick-Borne diseases. I am a Lyme disease sufferer myself, so this is something important to me, especially since I live in the worst county in the country for Lyme disease. If you go to our page and make a donation, I’ll choose a random person and send a 5 pack from my humidor, and I promise there will be some great cigars in there. I personally appreciate any consideration you may give to this. Today is the last day to get in on this. Thanks!

That’s more than enough for today. Hopefully this storm that’s been getting all the hype doesn’t cause too much damage (Walmart’s water aisle was empty! There’s going to be plenty of water falling from the sky folks!). Stay safe out there!

CigarCraig

2 Comments

Filed under Contest, Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as Camacho, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Cigars International, El Mejor, Genesis, International Tobacco, IPCPR, Ramon Bueso, TBDA

by CigarCraig | 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 some of their exclusive products. Of course, my CDO (that’s OCD in the correct, alphabetical order) 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 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 perception 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 was 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

7 Comments

Filed under Review, Stores

Tagged as Alec Bradley, Camacho, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Cigars International, Man O' War, Maxx, punch

by CigarCraig | September 5, 2012 · 6:28 pm

IPCPR 2012 – A Pair of CLE Cigars and Christian Eiroa

Monday was a rainy Labor Day, which is a little depressing for me. I love summer and the end of the season makes me sad. I don’t look forward to autumn or winter very much. Of course the rain didn’t help matters, as my lovely wife and I had tickets to see some dude named Springsteen at Citizens Bank Park in Philly and concerts are less fun when you’re wet. So while we were hanging around waiting to head out, I decided to chose between a cigar and a nap, and the cigar won. I selected a CLE Corojo corona as I hadn’t yet tried Christian Eiroa’s new cigars. I brought these back from Orlando with me, but it’s not what you think, I purchased them at one of the Corona Cigar Co. locations we visited. I purchased a couple coronas, which are a corona gorda size at 5½ x 46, one of my favorite sizes, and they were reasonably priced at under $6 a stick. If you try the CLE cigars expecting a Camacho, that’s not what you’re in for. This cigar was quite nice, medium bodied with a nice flavor, except for a mineral flavor that didn’t really hit my palate right. Still, perfect construction and burn, and savory flavor. I suspect that flinty mineral flavor could age out after a few months in the humidor. I have another one that I’ll use to test that theory.

The Springsteen show was great, fears of wetness were unfounded as our seats were covered and I had bought 2 ponchos in the parking lot for $5 (cheap insurance!). He put on a heck of a show of well over 3 hours, hitting all the old favorites as well as some new material. Of course, no smoking in the venue, but I did get a waft of a familiar aroma at one point that reminded me of concerts in the 80s. Funny, if I lit up a cigar I’d get tossed out on my ear, but the stoners are free to enjoy their smoke! I’m 49 and I think I fell somewhere in the middle of the demographic at the show, which I though was funny. This isn’t a concert review blog, so I’ll move on. Tuesday I took my traditional evening walk with a CLE Cuarenta corona. This cigar was an IPCPR trade show sample. The Cuarenta was Christian’s 40th birthday cigar (young punk!), and it has a Habano wrapper and is a little bit lighter than it’s Corojo sibling. Oddly, I got the same mineral notes in this cigar that I taste in the Corojo. Obviously they share a component. Flinty taste aside, it was still a flavorful smoke and, like the Corojo, worth seeking out and sampling. As I alluded to earlier, I had a chance to sit down with Christian at the show and recorded this video with him talking about all his new ventures.