Tag Archives: cigar

September 21, 2025 · 9:50 am

Morphine, Rocky Patel and Wooden Indian Cigar’s Annual Pig Roast

I didn’t plan well this week, as I made a last minute decision to go to the Wooden Indian’s annual pig roast yesterday. Not sure why it was a late call, I try to make an appearance every year. But first, a couple of new-to-me cigars. A few weeks back when I stopped in the The Cigar Authority of Chester in Cochranville, PA , I picked up a Black Label Trading Co. Limited Edition Morphine 10 Year Anniversary Perfecto. It looked neat and I like sampling BLTC’s stuff, I generally like what they make. This is a 5″ x 50 perfecto, which is much smaller than a robusto because of the severe tapers on either end. This cigar needs to be smoked slowly, lest it overheat and get bitter. The flavors are heavy with black coffee that’s been on the burner for a while. Generally I like this kind of cigar, but the format is tricky. It burned well and was enjoyable, but required concentration. This will be a theme this week! BLTC has stood the test of time, ten years is an overnight success in the cigar industry. I’d love to visit their factory some day.

I got a couple Rocky Patel Vintage 2003 Cameroon toros in one of those Smoke Inn’s “too good a deal not to buy” samplers a few weeks back. It’s impossible to pass up 5 cigars for $20 delivered when they are good cigars that I either want to try or have enjoyed in the past. If I’ve smoked the RP Cameroon it’s been a long time ago, which is possible because this cigar has been around a long time. I like that Rocky adds a bonus half inch to a lot of his toros, 6½” x 52, with a Cameroon wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. While I don’t tend to smoke a lot of RP cigars, I rarely have one that’s distasteful to me, and I think I can smoke most of the Vintage line and be happy. This is no exception, although, like I alluded to above, this one needed to be smoked slowly to avoid it becoming foul. The Camerooniness came on right off the start. Sweet nuttiness with well aged tobacco. This is a nice cigar and worth at least twice what I paid for it!

While it was distressing to see that Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust’s Golden Megasquatch doll (action figure?) was stolen from their Intertabak booth, at least we can confirm that booth theft isn’t a strictly American thing. Steve is probably relieved that he doesn’t have to ship it home.

Yesterday I went to the Wooden Indian‘s annual charity pig roast, which I’ve attended most years in one way or another. Last year (or the year before, who can keep track, they celebrated their 60th anniversary, this year it’s the 20th anniversary of Dave Mayer’s ownership. Dave is one of my favorite people in the cigar biz. More on what they have going on for the 20th next week if all goes to plan. The weather could not have been better for this event, in previous years we’ve sweated, froze and been rained on, one year it was postponed because of a hurricane. Drew Estate sponsors the event, and Pedro Gomez and Calvin Zimmerman were on hand. The event was raising money for Operation: Cigars for Warriors, and had auction items donated by the family of Brandon Jones, who was a huge Drew Estate ambassador and passed away tragically last year. I knew Brandon, he was a great dude and loved all things Drew Estate. I smoked a couple of the new Nica Rustica Shade cigars, in the 5″ x 66 Gordo and the toro, and ate and fraternized with the folks at the event. The Nica Rustica Shade is a really good shade cigar for under $10. It was the last Freestyle live cigar. As always, it was a great time and I would have stuck around longer if I didn’t have other stuff to do. If you find yourself in the Philadelphia area, a visit to the Wooden Indian is a must.

When I got home I sat down with a Blackened M81 Lancero, which is a new line extension this year apparently. I saw them in the humidor and picked up a couple to try. I seem to have misplaced one, which is really weird for me, I’m usually really good about keeping track of my cigars! Anyway, I am less concerned about it after having smoked one. This is a 7″ x 40 lancero, a little fatter like the Liga L40. I was intrigued, then I smoked it. I like the M81 line when I want a heavy maduro cigar, which this is. The Lancero format didn’t seem to lend itself to this heavy blend. Yes, once again, this needs to be smoked slowly, but even “sipping” the smoke was a little overwhelming. Too much burnt cocoa, espresso for me. I rarely speak ill of a cigar, but I think this is one that didn’t need to be made. Also uncharacteristic of me to say, but this would probably be OK in the S84 blend. I’m not going to go crazy looking for that missing cigar.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Anniversary, Black Label Trading Co., Blackened, Cameroon, Charity Pigroast, cigar, cigars, drew estate, M81, Morphine, Nica Rustica, rocky patel, Vintage 2003, wooden indian

September 14, 2025 · 8:33 am

El Baton Cameroon, El Mago El Cubano and El Whippoorwill Cigars

I selected an interesting batch of cigars to feature this week. The first two I bought from 2 Guys Cigars, who held their 40th anniversary festivities this weekend. One of these days I’ll make it back up there for a visit. I actually had a bad dream last night about moving to New Hampshire, we bought a run down house and I was against moving north, if I ever move, it won’t be north! Anyway, I picked up some of the newly released El Baton Cameroon Firecrackers by J.C. Newman and United Cigars. This branding confuses me. El Baton isn’t a budget brand, but it’s not on the Diamond Crown level, it’s a mid-line brand I guess. I love them, they are really tasty smokes (I smoked a belicoso after smoking the Firecracker). To my knowledge, it’s never had a Cameroon wrapper, where as they have made a Cuesta Rey with Cameroon. Is Cuesta Rey not a strong enough brand to carry the firecracker? Not sure what the thinking here was. Anyway, the Firecracker is 3½” x 50 with a fuse cap, and aren’t inexpensive at $9.29 each. It started on the bitter side, then the nutty Camerooniness© kicked in, just in time for it to be done. It’s too short. Like I said, I followed it with the El Baton Belicoso, and I can see where it’s in the same family. Fun smoke, happy to have added some to my firecracker collection.

When I ordered the Firecrackahs, I added on a few of the El Mago El Cubano toros, as I’ve been having good luck with the El Magos and wanted to try more. Seems like I’m doing a lot of complaining today. Neither the tube, which is very nice, nor the bands, also nice, say El Mago on them anywhere. This confuses me. This is a new brand that needs all the exposure it can get, because, in my limited experience, they are making great cigars. They can’t rely on imagery to identify the brand just yet. I’d like to see “El Mago” on the packaging somewhere. I’ll admit when I ordered these I didn’t even look at the blend, I may not have ordered them had I known they were shade wrapped cigars. But I did, so I smoked it. It was very heavy on the citrus tang, made it on the sharp side in flavor. Like other cigars in the brand, it burned very well and I enjoyed it for what it was, but it wouldn’t be my first pick. I may take one out of the tube and see if some age smoothes it out. I’ll continue sampling through the El Mago line as I come across them.

Finally, Flatbed Cigar Co. rarely has a new release. Their Panacea line is very good, please check out the daily deals on the left side of my page. You can get some great cigars at a good price. Paul announced a new line last week, the Whippoorwill, so I bought a pack to try. Despite the title of this post, it’s just Whippoorwill, not El Whippoorwill! This falls in the Homestead line, and has a Habano Oscuro wrapper, at least on most of it. The first half inch is just binder, which is Nicaraguan, and the fillers are Nicaraguan and Dominican. Once the burn reaches the wrapper, this is a really good cigar! I say that because I thought it started out a little harsh, but when that wrapper kicked in it was terrific. It smoothed out to a spicy, sweet treat, had a perfect burn and draw, and it’s 6″ x 52, my favorite size. It lasted all the way through the Thunderbolts movie, which I found entertaining (the Red Guardian cracks me up!). Good smoke, keep the great cigars coming Paul!

That’s all for today! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 2 Guys, Cameroon, cigar, cigars, EL Baton, El Cubano, El Mago, Firecracker, Flatbed Cigar Co., J.C.Newman, Panacea, United Cigars, Whippoorwill

September 7, 2025 · 10:25 am

Some Saint Luis Rey Cigars, a La Riqueza, a DBL and a Shop Visit

Yesterday I did one of my most favorite things to do, as relates to this blog. Usually when I have giveaways, the winner is in some far flung place, this time he was in the same county as I am! Of course, I save $20 in shipping, and spend triple that at a cigar shop, but it’s so much more satisfying! I get to meet a friend I hadn’t met yet, and visit a new shop! More on all that later, first I want to talk about a sampler I picked up from Best Cigar Prices last week. I had some birthday points or something, can’t really remember why I ended up shopping there, but does it matter? I have been trying to expand my experiences with Altadis products, so I settled on the Saint Luis Rey “Battle of the Titans” sampler. This had three each of the Natural and Maduro SLR Titan size, which is 5½” x 60, and was right around $40 delivered. Six cigars for $40 isn’t bad. Back around 2017 I was smoking one of these and took an unfortunate stumble and fellow my face, smashing the cigar. To be honest, I couldn’t tell you if it was a natural or maduro, so I figured a side by side comparison was worth doing. I also like the folks at BCP, and it wouldn’t hurt me if you used the links on my site to buy some stuff from them, this sampler seems to be available in limited qualities. These are good smokes. They both started off with what I consider to be a bitter wood, or maybe like peanut skins, if that makes sense. They both sweeten over time, with the maduro hitting that sweeties sooner than the natural. Both had a good burn and draw, I smoked a couple of each to compare. This is one of the few cigars in the Altadis portfolio that isn’t made by A.J. Fernandez thatI like! These are made in Honduras, quite possibly by Plasencia, so maybe it’s just stuff from Casa de Garcia in the DR that doesn’t trip my trigger? Obviously, more research is necessary.

Last week I grabbed some Tatuaje cigars that were in the “new-to-me” category, turns out a couple are pretty recent, this one goes back to last November. This was the first time I’ve seen the La Riqueza Tuxtla LE 2024, so I bought one. Back in 2010 I made a brief visit to the New Orleans IPCPR show, and Pete Johnson was the first guy I ran into, and he gave me a La Riquza Lancero. I haven’t smoked enough of this line for some reason! I guess I don’t see them on shelves that often. This is a 6 3/8″ x 44 Lonsdale or Cazadores size, which is a very cool size that doesn’t get enough love. This guy starts out strong, and it’s immediately apparent that I need to take my time with this (the case with any small ring cigar, smoke them slow or they overheat!). It was earthy, with some dark dried fruit and espresso notes. I’ll be putting a few more of these in the humidor, or it might just be a go-to when I stop in Cigar Mojo – The Grove for a smoke!

Yesterday I took a drive to the western side of my county, to a shop that I’ve been hearing about for a year os so, but hadn’t gotten out there to visit. When I found out that last week’s giveaway winner lived out that way, it seemed like a greet way to combine some of my favorite things, visiting a new shop, meeting a reader, and saving shipping! I hesitate to mention the name of this shop. I can imagine a very prominent retailer causing this new, and very nice, cigar shop a load of trouble, as the guy I’m thinking of, rightly so, is very protective of his trademarks. The last thing I want to do is cause the proprietor any problems. The shop is located in Cochranville, PA at the intersection of Rts 41 and 10, most folks would say it’s in the middle of nowhere. This is fairly accurate because I used to live not far from this location, and it is, indeed, in the middle nowhere. All that said, the shop seems to be doing well, the humidor is well stocked with a great variety at great prices, and the lounge is clean and has really good ventilation. As I expected, Jeff W. was a great guy and I enjoyed spending a cigar getting to know him! He was very kind and gifted me a cigar on the way out, a DBL 12th Anniversary Toro. He had seen this rated a 99 on Stogie Press and smoked one there and was impressed. I gave it a smoke when I got home and was equally impressed. This is a 5 7/8″ x 56 toro, I guess, with a Mexican Habano wrapper, Organic Corojo ’99 Cuban seed grown on the DBL Tobacco Farm binder, and Organic Criollo ’98 Cuban seed, Organic Carbonell, and DBL T-13 fillers. That’s a lot of words I copied and pasted! It’s box pressed and has a cedar sleeve. Nice looking presentation. This cigar smoked well, I got some citrus tang that I originally thought was an exotic spice, but then it mellowed out. It was a very nice smoke, even after giving Jeff a pretty large box of goodies, I felt like I owe him another cigar! I enjoyed the day, good cigars, nice lounge, good company.

I’m just noticing that some of my older content is disappearing, something I need to ask my web host about, I guess. It’s possible I only have so much database space, and older stuff scrolls off. I’m going to try to put some stuff back, but it’s not going to be easy! That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 12th Anniversary, cigar, cigars, DBL, La Riqueza, Saint Luis Rey, tatuaje, Titan

August 31, 2025 · 10:12 am

Stolen Throne 919, Tatuaje Cohete Corojo, Howard G Cigars and the Giveaway Winner!

Photo credit Micky Pegg

Here we are, 16 years of writing CigarCraig.com! After all this time I still have to talk myself into going to a cigar shop after work! It’s nothing personal, and I always regret it when I pass up an opportunity, but it’s a struggle for me to leave the comfort and safety of my home smoking lounge! Weird, right? I’m actually an introvert, but I do my best to hide it. Anyway, Thursday evening I visited the Wooden Indian where Lee Marsh from Stolen Throne Cigars was doing an event. I consider Lee to be a friend, and it wouldn’t have been right for him to be in the neighborhood and miss seeing him. I love some of his cigars, add the Castle 919 to that list. I picked up a couple of the new Castle 919 cigars, a Robusto and a Belicoso, the only two sizes offered. Castle 919 has an Habano Claro wrapper, over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, made at the Rojas factory. I smoked the Belicoso, which is 5″ x 54 (the Robusto is 5″ x 50), and was delighted. This has the sugar cane sweetness I enjoy and was really good to the last drop! This may rise to the top of my Stolen Throne list of favorites, although the Crook of the Crown and Three Kingdoms will always rank highly. It was a treat to see Micky Pegg there as well and learn that All Saints Cigars is healthy! It is disappointing that they dropped my favorite size from their lines (Churchill), but glad they are still around! Lee and I stopped by Cigar Mojo – The Grove afterwards where I smoked a Yorktown Fleet Robusto, which is still not my favorite, but growing on me. Lee is deeply hurt that I don’t care for this blend (or the Call to arms).

Friday was my birthday, my whole family (8 of us) went out to a nice dinner. It makes me happy having all of us together. We got home a little late, so it was the perfect time to smoke a 4″ x 50 Tatuaje Cohetes Corojo that I had picked up when I visited Cigar Mojo – The Grove. I should get over there more often, it’s literally a mile from my house, refer back to the first couple sentences of this post. This is the first Cohetes I’ve smoked in the Tatuaje line, it’s curious to me that it exists along with the 4 3/8″ x 52 T110, they are different blends, but similar sizes. This was a really good little smoke. It started out with spice, but an interestingly different spice. Starting with spice is expected, but this was a different flavor. It sweetened slightly as it smoked, and was a really delicious little smoke, that lasted at least an hour for me. Looking forward to the T110 Corojo I picked up as well to see how they compare.

Once again, a Smoke Inn special sucked me in, who can pass up $20 for five cigars delivered to your door in a couple days? This one was two Rocky Patel Cameroons and three Howard G Cameroons. It’s a no-brainer. While I was interested in trying both, the Howard G cigars were my first priority. I think I met Howard at a trade show, it would have been outside the bar in the Venetian, but I don’t recall formal introductions. I’ve been hearing good things, so I wanted to sample the brand, and I like Cameroon, always have. It looks like this is in the Magic Stick line, which also has a Habano and Connecticut. I notice that they also have a Golf themed line which has a Front Nine and Back Nine. I hope Ryan Gallimore (check out the new Cigar Circus site!) is OK with that, as he had a Front Nine and Back Nine in his Swinger Cigars line many years ago. I will be on the lookout for the Magic Stick Habano, but this Cameroon wasn’t bad! It has a raw nuts sort of nuttiness, and I seem to get some kind of nuts flavor from Cameroon. It was a fairly bold flavor, the cigar smoked very nicely.

OK, now to announce a winner in last Sunday’s big giveaway. Apparently I guessed right on what the mystery Freestyle Live cigar was. which surprises me more than anyone. It’s a really good smoke, and I look forward to getting my hands on them when they hit stores. I consulted Google’s random number generator, and 4 was the number, and the number of the counting was 4. This corresponds to Jeff W., who needs to email me his contact information so I can get this out. I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with some more stuff for future giveaways! Thank you all for reading over these last 16 years!

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under Contest, Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as Cameroon, Castle 919, cigar, cigars, Cohetes, Corojo, Howard G, Stolen Throne, tatuaje

August 24, 2025 · 9:28 am

Saint Luis Rey and Drew Estate Free Style Live Cigars and a Giveaway!

I didn’t have a lot of new stuff to write about this week, so I figures a classic CigarCraig giveaway was long overdue. Stuff has been piling up and it needs to find a new home! More on that after I talk about a couple cigars! First up is the Saint Luis Rey Natural Broadleaf Rothschild. I’ve always liked the Saint Luis Rey brand, and really need to check out some of their newer offerings. I remember when they were made for Altadis by the Eiroas, boy were they good back then! This is a 5″ x 54 with a severe box press, not really a Rothschild at all. Obviously, I would have gotten a toro had it been available, but this is what the shop had. I thought this was quite a nice cigar. It had a rich, spicy sweetness, burned well and was very nice. These should be around $7 each, so are a really good cigar at a great price.

Drew Estate will be having a Freestyle Live event this Tuesday, 8/26/25, at 7 Eastern on YouTube and Facebook to reveal what the cigar in their most recent Freestyle Live pack will become. The pack consisted of three cigars (all Toros), and a 40 ounce Tumbler. I’ll be honest, previous FSL packs had a little more substance. The tumbler is nice, I should probably use it myself, but it will be included in the giveaway below, along with some stuff from a previous FSL event. The cigar is obviously a mystery for now. I can tell you a few things about it, though. It has a lighter wrapper, and may be a shade wrapper, based on what I perceived as a breaddy sweetness. My money is on Nica Rustica Shade, but I’m never right about these things. It’s a really good smoke, I’ll be delighted if it’s in the Nica Rustica price range. The pack comes with three cigars, and is probably still available in retail, so it’s a good deal if you need a tumbler. Tune in to Drew Estate’s broadcast Tuesday to find out what it is.

OK, giveaway time! I hope you read the paragraphs above and didn’t just scroll down to the free stuff section! OK, you know how this works. Leave a comment on this blog post to enter. Not on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Threads or anywhere else, just here. I’ll select a winner at random and announce it in next Sunday’s post. Here’s what I’m including, other stuff might fall in the box when I pack it up, and I’m not listing cigars, but the humidor will be full of selections from my humidor. First, from Drew Estate, there’s the Freestyle Live Tumbler (and a cigar), the ten count travel humidor from the last FSL event (which I will fill with cigars!), which includes a lighter. Then there’s some various swag from last year’s Barnsmoker, a hat, spray can lighter (hard to believe I got that through TSA!) and cutter. From J.C. Newman there’s a pair of Brick House Bricktoberfest pint glasses (stock photo since they are already nicely wrapped for shipping). I’m also including a melamine Romeo y Julieta ashtray, and, like I said, whatever I might find laying around in the meantime.

Any cigars I include will have been featured on my site at some point, and or are personal favorites. They won’t suck. So hit the comments, let me know what you think! I just remembered, next week will be the 16th anniversary of CigarCraig.com, so there’s a good reason to celebrate with a giveaway!

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

CigarCraig