Tag Archives: cohiba

November 2, 2025 · 8:58 am

New Cohiba Rubicon, Tatuaje Mummy and JFR 20th Anniversary Cigars

This may not be as wordy as usual, for some reason I cant seem to think of a lot to say about the three cigars I smoked for this week’s blog post.  Let’s just jump right in to the first one.  General Cigar Co. is very generous with samples, something I appreciate very much. I’ve had a good relationship with them since 2010, although there’s only a few people left there that I know anymore. they share a lot of Cohibas with me, many of which I wouldn’t buy because they are priced over my personal spending limit.  You will rarely see me spending more than $15 on a cigar.  Frugal to some, cheap to others, but I’ve come a long way from the days I was hard pressed to spend $8.  The newest Cohiba is the Rubicon, made at the HATSA factory in Honduras and all three vitolas are under $10.  This cigar has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, U.S. Broadleaf binder, and Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers.  Sounds like it should be good, right?  It’s better than the Cohiba Blue, and not a bad cigar. It started with a citric acid bite, which calmed down pretty quickly, and turned out to be a pretty nice smoke. No real flavors jumped out at me, it was just a pretty good cigar.  I feel like Cohiba should stick to the luxury space, and leave the budget offerings to the myriad of other lines in the portfolio.  I love the Riviera, although I’m picking the $15 lancero over the $20 robusto just based on price, and several of the other cigars in the line are good.  Take the Spectre out of the equation because it’s so expensive, but really very good.  I’m not sure why the Rubicon was needed.  Do they still make the Blue? They shouldn’t.

 

Friday was Halloween,  and for the last 30 years I’ve been smoking a cigar while handing out candy (the first few years I smoked a cigar while taking my kids out).  I always put the cigar in the ashtray when I see kids coming.  Nick did a nice piece on this topic on a Cigar Pulpit episode last week.  I did the cliché thing and smoked a Tatuaje Mummy Redux 5 this year.  Back when Pete Johnson started tis series, $13 was a pricey cigar, now it’s practically reasonable.  I wonder if the quality is going to go down in the future, or if rising prices are going to make him end this tradition?  This cigar is 7½” x 47, so a little longer than a Churchill. I like the size, especially when I have two hours to kill! This cigar lasted closer to two and a half hours!  The Mummy Redux has a Nicaraguan Criollo and Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  I am typically not a Criollo fan, which explains why my first impression was something along the lines of “what am I tasting here?”.  There was some very subtle sugar cane sweetness, and good, light tobacco flavors. I really quite enjoyed the cigar, and if I see more I might pick a couple up. It was a little confusing to me though, as it wasn’t really like any other Tatuaje cigar I’ve had, it was on the verge of mild. Full disclosure, I really haven’t smoked too many of the Monster Series, and I don’t smoke as many Tatuaje cigars as I’d like.

 

Like the Tatuaje, the JFR 20th Anniversary Super Toro is a cigar I picked up on one of my recent forays to the Wooden Indian.  I had been wanting to try this one.  I’m about 50/50 on cigars I like from Aganorsa, and the JFR line is usually one I like.  I can’t believe these have been around for twenty years. I think I remember when they came out, pushing the Just For Retailers thing, which I tink means for the brick and mortar retailers, but really anyone selling cigars is a retailer, right?  Am I not supposed to smoke this because I’m not a retailer?  Am I being too picky? Asking too many questions?  The JFR like is generally a budget friendly line, with a lot of larger ring cigars.  The 20th Anniversary has a pigtail cap, a closed foot, and is box pressed, they stopped short of putting a figurado in the range. I picked the Super Toro because I like toros and a super one has to be pretty great.  I also wasn’t prepared for a 70 ring cigar, of which they offer two in this line.  It’s box pressed, might not be horrible.  This has a San Andrés wrapper over Aganorsa grown Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos.  Other than the burn meandering a little, it was quite enjoyable. It had some interting baking spices, while I was expecting more of an earthy, chocolaty profile.  I put this down to go inside to watch the first period of the Flyers game, and finished up between periods.  I liked it, might go back and try one of the obnoxiously large sizes for kicks.  

 

I managed to be more verbose than I thought! That’s all I have to today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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August 17, 2025 · 9:32 am

Cohiba Spectre, Rocky Patel Dark Star and Artista Falu Cigars

This week we made settlement on my parents house, the house I grew up in for the most part.  It was the end of three and a half months of clean-out, and there’s still a ton of stuff we have to find homes for. But the stresses of having to run back and forth to the house are over. I needed a celebratory cigar, and General Cigars was very generous in sending samples of the ’24 Cohiba Spectre, which was just recently released.  They have this cigar priced at $149.95, which is absurd, or course, but it makes this the second most expensive cigar I’ve ever smoked (Davidoff Dom Perignon from the ’70s was the most expensive).  These are packaged in a ten count articulated cylinder that has the cigars in individual humidified tubes, with a travel humidor in the middle.  My cigars came in cellophane.  Clearly a lot of the pricetag is in the packaging, it’s probably a better value dropping the $1500 on the box!  Not that the cigar isn’t great, I hate that I loved it.  It’s a 6″ x 52 toro, with a 7-Year-Aged Havana Connecticut 2017 wrapper, Mexican San Andrés binder and Criollo 98 from Mao Dominican Republic, San Andrés, Vuelta Abajo fillers.  It starts spicy, and progresses to a neat array of exotic spices throughout.  It’s quite interesting and delicious.  The only other Spectre I’ve smoked was the first one in 2018, and it doesn’t hold a candle to this one.  I was very impressed.

 

Coming back to reality, last week I had mentioned picking up some new-to-me cigars, and one of them was the Rocky Patel Dark Star, of course in the 6″ x 52 toro.  I thought Rocky liked making toros 6½”?  This is and interesting blend, it has a Honduran Corojo wrapper and Nicaraguan, Honduran & Paraguayan fillers.  I always appreciate a good burn and draw, this had it, and it had what I consider to be bright, woody flavors.  Around the band I got a sensation of cinnamon, which I found interesting. I probably don’t smoke as many Rocky Patel cigars as I should, I usually find something I like about them.

 

Another cigar I picked up was the Artista Falu in, you guessed it, toro size.  I believe this is the third in their newest series, with the Harvest and Midnight being the others.  This one has a Broadleaf wrapper, Indonesian binder and a proprietary blend of Dominican tobaccos.  It’s a box pressed 6″ x 50 toro.  I really like this series, they are fairly priced in the $12 range, and smoke really well.  This cigar had a lot of dark dried fruit and espresso characteristics, and was squarely in my wheelhouse. I’ve had a good relationship with Artista for a long time, nice folks who make a good product.  

 

Last night I smoked a Wise Man Claro, so I decided to smoke an old El Güegüense this morning to see how they compared.  No similarity, they are very different cigars.  Both excellent, grab up any El Güegüense you see!  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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April 13, 2025 · 9:44 am

Cuba Aliados, Some New CAO, Cohiba Cigars and an Ashtray Condom

I’m not in New Orleans for the PCA show, it was a combination of not being able to get the flights I wanted, the expense of it all, and having to tend to my mother that made me decide to skip it. I’ll try again next year. I have plenty of friends there now, watch for their content: CigarProp, Cigar Pulpit, Coop and his team, Boston Jimmie, Developing Palates, etc. I’d love to have been there just to hang with friends. I understand Anthony Mackey (Captain America/Falcon) was there and must have said something wrong to Abe Dababneh, because he’s launched a bit of a smear campaign saying he was a dick to everyone.  I’d love to know the whole story.  Anyway, I managed to get some cigars in this week. I started out with a Cuba Aliados Original  Robusto. This came in the bag from the Cigar Circus event.  I have had the Aliados that E.P. Carrillo made, but not this one.  This one is made by JRE Tobacco Co. in Honduras and is a Honduran Puro. I remember smoking some Cuba Aliados back in the 90s, and I seem to recall it was a favorite of Steve Saka back then. It was originally made by the Reyes family, who also made the Puros Indios brand, which had a 18″ x 64 cigar called the Chief, and was a little bit notorious for having tight draws.  True to it’s roots, this example was packed really tight at the head, and the draw was on the firm side.  It still smoked OK, and started with a citric sting, and ended with some cane sugar. Nice cigar, I’ll try it again. 

 

I got a few things in the mail this week that were a surprise. General Cigar sent some samples, and I figure while a lot of the folks who would have received this are away, I’d get a head start on this batch.  First was the CAO Fasa Sombra. I rather enjoyed the Sol and Noche, I think they are some of the best CAO cigars in the post-Ricky Rodriguez era.  This is a Shade wrapped cigar, Ecuadorian shade-grown wrapper, a Cameroon binder and a filler blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos. I smoked the 6″ x 50 toro.  This was a nice shade cigar, with some bready, nutty notes. It was very pleasant, nothing overly exciting, just a solid shade cigar.  Although not my favorite Fasa, It’s a nice addition to the Fasa lineup. I’ve had worse CAOs (Firewalker anyone?).

 

General was very generous, they provided me with a $30 cigar, the Cohiba Serie M Reserva Azul.  This is made at El Titan de Bronze, a factory which the Brand Ambassador for Cohiba, Sean Williams, has a history. When I first met Sean in 2011 he was working with Sandy and Willie Herrera at El Titan making his El Primer Mundo cigars there.  The first Cohibas made at ETB were just called the Serie M, and were really quite good (the lonsdale was better than the toro, to me), and I never had the 2024 Reserva Roja. Reserva Azul’s blend is a Dominican Corojo wrapper, Esteli binder and Nicaraguan Jalapa Viso & Ligero, Nicaraguan Estelí and Dominican Piloto Cubano fillers.  This is an exceptional cigar!  It starts out with some baking spices, and there’s a sweetness that comes and goes, I’m reminded of spiced gumdrops. I really enjoyed the crap out of this cigar while watching hockey.  It’s competing with the Cornelius and Anthony Cornelius for my favorite ETB cigar. 

 

An envelope from Kevin at Cigar Prop arrived this week with a strip of Cigar Porn Ashtray Condoms. I feel like he’s pranking me.  There have been some incredibly useless “Cigarbage” items I can think of.  The Shurikan “cutter”, the Select Draw and Five Star piercing tools, and the Cigar Bib, all silly useless gadgets.  Maybe I’m being overly cynical, but an adhesive backed silicon disc to adhere to ashtray stirrups is silly.  I think it’s supposed to protect your cigar from germs, I don’t know about you, but I don’t set any part of the cigar that touches my lips on an ashtray. Besides being dumb, it’s a few years too late. Maybe it would be clever if it had your logo on it and you went around to lounges putting it on ashtrays to promote your brand, I don’t know. I wouldn’t do it.  Anyway, thanks Kevin! (pictured on a Cigar Prop for irony sake). 

 

I was going to talk about the new Macanudo Emissary, but I think I’ll save that for next week so I can smoke another one. I liked it, I just was distracted and didn’t take notes.  I smoked a Panacea Green Label earlier in the week that was delicious,  and I can’t stress enough how good the Panacea line is. Check the daily deals on the left sidebar, you can try some cheap, and you’ll be happy you did! That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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June 2, 2024 · 9:52 am

Crook of the Crown, Romeo y Julieta, Villiger Limited Release and Silencio Cigars

I had last weeks cold kicked by Monday, but it seems to have come back a bit.  I haven’t had a cold this bad since I quit smoking cigarettes (and had sinus surgery) back in 2007. Anyway, I didn’t have any trouble tasting this week, not that I have the greatest palate anyway, but I know what I like.  I think Lee Marsh of Stolen Throne Cigars is still mad at me because I didn’t really like the Yorktown Fleet (although I admit it’s growing on me, I’m due to pick up another one and try it), but I hope I redeem myself a little here. I picked up a few of the new St

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olen Throne Crook of the Crown 5th Anniversary cigars this week, and had to smoke one right away.  I’ve been a fan of the Crook since the first one I tried, so I was excited to try it in what they are calling a Corona, but I’m not sure on what planet a 6″ x 46 is a corona.  Gran Corona, perhaps, but a corona is 5½” x 42.  It’s too long to be a Corona Gorda.  Whatever it is, I like it.  It has a Pigtail cap, a partially closed foot, with a San Andrés wrapper, Indonesian binder, and Nicaraguan fillers, made at the Rojas factory.  This one has the same Cocoa and spice as its namesake, with a little more focus given the smaller ring.  Burn and draw were perfect, this

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was an amazingly good smoke.  

 

Thursday I lit up the Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Nicaragua Midnight Twist Toro that was handed to me at the Smokeonos event by Charlie Watson of Altadis USA. I don’t have a great track record with Altadis Cigars, many of them just don’t appeal to me.  The exception is those that are made by AJ Fernandez, almost universally.  The Reserva Real Nicaragua line is made by AJ Fernandez, and I like it. I quite enjoyed the regular Reserva Real Nicaragua and really liked this one.  It’s a 6″ x 54 (also comes in the “Love Story” 4½” x 46 perfecto size), with a barber pole wrapper consisting of Nicaraguan Habano & Maduro leaf.  It has the same binder and filler as the Reserva Real Nicaragua, which, you guessed, is Nicaraguan.  I almost liked this more than the Crook of the Crown…almost.  This is a rich and decadent cigar, I got some creamy cocoa and spice.  It was really good and I want more.  To be fair, if it just had a maduro wrapper, and wasn’t presented as a barber pole, I’d probably like it, but obviously they can’t call it Midnight Twist if it doesn’t have the contrasting wrappers.  I believe I enjoyed the Twisted Love Story too.

 

Also at the Smokeonos I spoke with René Castańeda of Villiger Cigars, who handed me this Villiger Limited Release No. 39 Torpedo.  I can’t find any information about this cigar, and my message to René went unanswered.  I will update this post when I get a reply.  My assumption is that it’s made at the Villiger de Nicaragua factory, which I also assume is a subfactory within the Joya de Nicaragua factory.  I also assume that this is a Nicaraguan puro.  I can only find info about a No. 29, and a No 41, no No. 39.  I was really hoping to hear back from René.  One thing I’m not going to assume is that I really liked this cigar, and the fact that I may never find another one is disheartening. I took limited notes as I was enjoying the cigar too much (OK, I always take limited notes).  I liked the Chocolate and spice I got, it was really nice.  The torpedo shape was well made and it had a good burn and draw.  I was quite happy with this cigar, it was a nice way to wrap up the work week.

 

One of my favorite Saturday afternoon activities is sitting in my screen porch and watching TV with a cigar, after all the chores are done.  Yesterday it was “Clarkson’s Farm” season 3, the first three episodes. Jeremy Clarkson is a hoot.  Anyway, I chose one more cigar that I was handed at the Smokeonos, a Silencio toro.  This is a cigar that Sean Williams, Cohiba brand ambassador, uses as his calling card.  Silencio is also the name General Cigars/STG uses on the Cohiba line in Europe, as they can’t use Cohiba there.  The cigar has a Nicaraguan wrapper, a Cameroon binder, and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.  I found the smoke to be rather drying, which is odd for me.  It seemed leathery with some interesting spices. I felt like this would sit well with a European palate for some reason.  I always like seeing Sean Williams, he’s just about the nicest guy you’ll want to meet, and he’s cooler than the other side of the pillow.  If you see him at an event, maybe he’ll give you one of these.  I enjoyed it, but I like the Cohiba Riviera more!

 

That’s all for now.  Please take notice to the Daily Deal graphic on the left sidebar courtesy of Panacea Cigars.  It changes daily, and there’s always something good offered.  They are great cigars, I might have one today!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

 

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May 12, 2024 · 10:13 am

Blackbird, Sobremesa, Cohiba and Brickhouse Cigars

First off, I’m really looking forward to going to the Smokonos event at Best Cigar Prices in Drums, PA next Saturday.  There’s going to be a lot of the A-list cigar celebrities there, and a bunch of friends I haven’t seen in a long time. Unfortunately it’s sold out, but I hope to see some of you there!  It’s a shame that it’s the same day as the Atlantic City Cigar Social, we had a nice time at that event last year.  If you happen to be attending that event, say hello to my friend Dan at Bucksco Barrels! Wednesday evening we went to Parings Cigar Bar in Media, PA to visit with Jonas Santana of Blackbird Cigars, and his area broker Mark Weissenburger. We didn’t stay around for it, but he was hosting a tasting session wi

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th puritos and rum. I picked up some of my favorite Blackbird cigars, the Crow,

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and some of the new Superb in toro.  I smoked a Supurb there, and had one Thursday night at home.  This is a 6″ x 52 toro, where most of their toros are 54 ring gauge. It has a Habano wrapper and undisclosed binder and fillers. Jonas is very tight lipped about the blend, claiming he forgets, which I don’t buy for a minute.  I speculated that it had Dominican Olor, and got nothing…I find it has a dryness that I associate with that tobacco. It also has some sweet spice, and was a very nice cigar. I generally don’t smoke the same cigar twice in a row unless it’s really good. It’s always nice to see Jonas and Mark, and the staff at Pairings is top notch. It’s one of the few cigar bars around the area, so if having a drink with your cigar is something you enjoy, check this place out if you’re in the Philadelphia area.

 

Friday evening came around and I decided it was the right time to smoke the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Brûlée Wagashi that was a generous Secret Santa gift from a fellow Craig.  This is from the original CigarDojo release, not the new regular production.  If I have to smoke a shade wrapped cigar, there are a short lis

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t of ones I’m attracted to, and the Brulee blend is one of them. I’ve had the Brulee and Brulee Blue, and I’d heard this was milder.  Maybe so, but it was packed with sweet, nutty tobacco flavor right off the start.  This is a box pressed, 6″ x 50 with a bun type pigtail cap.  I think I liked this better than the previous two iterations of Brulee, and I like them a lot. Highly recommended. 

 

I noticed that my friends at CigarMojo’s The Grove location (the one close to me) decided to use one of my pictures in an Instagram reel. I don’t mind, but a photo credit would be nice.  Remember people, when you use someone’s intellectual property, it’s the right thing to do to give them credit.  I left a snarky comment, but I might have to stop in and have a talk with them!  Anyway, yesterday afternoon I watched some TV on the porch with a Cohiba Riviera Lancero, which, admittedly, had just arrived the day before. I let it rest overnight, it seemed fine, and I gave it the old Humidimeter test, but the prongs on the meter are ever so slightly narrower than the cigar, so it was really only reading from between the binder and wrapper.  This is a box pressed 7″ x 38 with a San Andrés wrapper, Honduran grown Connecticut shade binder, and fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua, made at STG’s factory in Esteli. The box press makes it seems slimmer than 38 ring gauge.  I really liked the Robusto size in this line, so I felt compelled to smoke this lancero.  I really liked it.  It has dark chocolate and espresso, and since I figured out that dark chocolate gives me migraines, I seek it out in cigars.  The Lancero is actually the most affordable i

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n the Riviera line at $15, the rest of them are in the $20 range, which means I won’t be smoking them. $15 I can handle and it’s a very nice smoke. It surprises me that it took this long for General to make a Cohiba in the Lancero size, considering how iconic the Cuban Cohiba Lancero. is. 

 

I wanted to include a fourth cigar today, and I was hunting

around the humidors for something I hadn’t written about yet, and it occured to me that I hadn’t talked about the Brickhouse Crystal Churchill from J.C.Newman.  I’ve had a box in the humidor for a year or so and have smoked half a dozen.  This is the 7¼” x 50 Habano wrapped Brickhouse in a glass tube.  They come ten per box and run just under $10 each. I quite enjoy the Brickhouse line, they are Nicaraguan cigars that aren’t terribly expensive, but provide a good smoking experience. It’s on the leathery side, but I like it anyway!  The tube doesn’t do much for me, although it’s a nice presentation, I worry about carrying glass around in my pocket, so would prefer aluminum tubes for portability.  I like Churchills,  and this is a good one (although it’s a couple rings oversized!). 

 

That’s all for now, happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate.  Don’t forget the Smokin Tabacco Raffle for The CFCF! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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