Tag Archives: Don Kiki

Sunday Cigar Recap: Joya de Nicaragua, Brick House, Berger & Argenti, Broadway and a Contest Winner!

Here’s a few cigars I smoked this week:

Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Robusto – I just love these cigars.  I loved them before I watched them being rolled in the factory, and I love them more every time I smoke one.  Such a good cigar.  Well balanced, great tasting and beautifully constructed.  To me they are special because I watched them rolled in Nicaragua, and they are reasonably priced (which is astounding considering the extra steps taken in the rolling process), and suite my taste buds.  If you haven’t tried these, you should.  I will purchase a box of the lanceros at some point, it’s just a matter of time…

 

Brick House Mighty Mighty 6¼” x 60   – For some reason I’ve been in the mood for large cigars, and this was a big one. This line has been around a while and received glowing reviews and is another reasonably priced cigar.  I picked this one up on my Father’s Day cigar run.  Very nicely made with rich flavors.  A most enjoyable 90 minute vacation in a cigar.  This line received an award from Cigar Journal magazine for the best value Nicaraguan cigar last month at the IPCPR show, an event which I was fortunate enough to attend.  This is made by the folks at J.C.Newman in Nicaragua based on one of the company’s first brands in the US. Again, a very nice cigar for a fair price.

 

Berger and Argenti Entubar Double Corona (7 5/8” x 54)  – Another large cigar, this one carrying a warning band at the foot advising to toast the entire foot, not just the protuberance of ligero, under penalty of death.  I was tempted to ignore this sage advise, but having spoken to both Kiki Berger (who gave me this sample) and Al Argenti at the show, I decided not to risk it and did as instructed.  There is something to be said for the entubado method of construction as the burn and draw were spectacular on this cigar.  It tasted good too, the Ecuadorian ‘Desflorado’ Connecticut wrapper, which seems to be all the rage these days, was very nice (I believe “Desflorado” means “deflowered”, and I was under the impression that all of the tobacco plants except for the absolute healthiest and strongest specimens have the flowers removed, so I’m not sure what this means in the description, but it is a cool sounding word!).

 

Broadway by La Aurora – I picked this up last March on a family trip to NYC at De La Concha. This is a cigar that La Aurora made specifically to help New York tobacconists survive after the 75% Tax on cigars was put into place. I picked up similar themed cigars from Alec Bradley and Gurkha while I was there. This is a nice cigar that starts out with a little kick. It’s a 5¾ x 54 with a unique double wrapper of Ecuador Sumatra and Nicaraguan, with Dominican Corojo binder and Dominican, Nicaraguan and Peruvian fillers. Mine burned fairly well, although my son, who smoked one with me, had some trouble with the burn on his. We may need to check his humidor, I can imagine with a double wrapper, the right humidity is going to be the key to a good burn with this. I’m trying to figure out how they manage to reduce the manufacturing cost of this cigar for sale in New York, but use two wrappers. It seems counter-intuitive, but I suppose it works, because the cigar is pretty tasty.

 

Here is a quick video of Kiki Berger from Cuban Crafters at last month’s IPCPR show. I’ll take this opportunity to thank Don Kiki again for taking the time to talk to me, hooking me up with a Cuban coffee and some samples, and giving me this spiffy new Perfect Cut cutter. I’ve been using this a lot in the last few weeks and I like it a lot. Unlike similar cutters that I like a lot, this one has a resin (plastic) body that is very light in the pocket. My other favorite cutter is all stainless steel and quite heavy. This one does a great job, has a cool hole in the back so you can cut a torpedo and doesn’t drag your trousers to the ground!

 

In the News

Here are a few interesting links I came across this week, the first is about an old brand that was made up the road from me in Reading, PA. The second one isn’t really cigar related, but is a cool article about a Beatles themed bar in Havana.

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=325430#.TkPxXgeipfs.email

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/world/americas/08havana.html?_r=3

 

Also, many thanks to our local newspaper, the Daily Local News for including this site on their Blogtown page and featuring it on the front page of their site yesterday!

 

Contest!

I need to select a winner of my General Cigars prize pack.  As you can see, the prize pack has doubled since I announced it a week ago, thanks to Victoria at General Cigars for sending along some more goodies.  Be sure to get on over to http://www.macanudomillionaire.com and enter to win a trip to Vegas and a chance to win a million bucks.  We had 17 entries, with one being disqualified since he won in the last 6 months.  So I entered  16 into the random number generator and it spit out the number 11 which corresponds to Paul.  Please drop me an e-mail with your address so I can get this out to you!  I hate to have to work too hard to give stuff away, so get your contact info to me with me having to chase you down! 🙂

 

That’s all I have for now, and I think we can all agree that it was enough…so until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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Filed under Accessories, Contest, IPCPR, News, Review, Video

Oja Cigars Mini-Reviews And A Video With Luis Garcia

I’m sure you’re growing tired of me mentioning the Oja cigars, after the contest in which Lloyd won a whole box of them this month, and my occasional mentions of this fairly new brand. I’ve been smoking a bunch of them lately and haven’t really talked about them with any specificity. Oja Cigars are the brainchild of Luis Garcia, an immigration lawyer in Miami, and a very cool guy. The regular line comes in three wrappers, an Ecuador Connecticut, a Habana 2000, or Mestizo, and an Oscuro (Brazilian Arapiraca). They also come in three sizes, a Destacado (6×52 Toro) a Distinguido (6×54 Torpedo) and the Artefacto (a 6×60 Corona Grande). These are made by Kiki Berger at his factory, Tabacalera Esteli, in Esteli, Nicaragua, which is where I first met Luis and Don Kiki while we were visiting Cigar Safari. Luis was staying at the Safari, the poor guy had run out of toothpaste, fortunately I had some to spare and took care of him.

 

I admit to having gotten off to a rocky start with these, as the first samples that I smoked were right out of the container from Nicaragua and, in my haste, I dove in too soon. However, after some resting time in the humidor, I’ve really grown fond of these cigars. I smoked a Connecticut Destacado in the pool last week, 102 degrees and humid, a cold Reed’s Ginger Brew and my wife floating around on a raft made for a very relaxing experience. Not your usual mild Connecticut Shade wrapped cigar, this one has some oomph to it (my son smoked one last night and commented that he wasn’t expecting such power based on it’s appearance).

 

Friday night I decided to smoke one of the big Mestizo Artefactos. I find a sweetness in these that I really like, but am not really used to in a Habano wrapped cigar. This is the only size in this wrapper that I’ve smoked but, for some reason, I’m happy with the large size in this blend. It’s good for an hour and a half or so of catching up with the podcasts I’ve been getting behind on listening to. I’m looking forward to hearing what Lloyd thinks of these when he digs into that massive box. Hopefully he’ll send me some pictures (hint, hint).

 

Last night I figured I’d grab an Oscuro for my walk. The first one of these I smoked just about knocked me on my tuckus, but, once again, this was right off the boat, and I was inpatient. A couple of weeks rest has made this into a very nice cigar that won’t make the room spin! Powerful? Yes. Flavorful? Also yes, but not what I generally associate with the maduro or oscuro wrapper. It is delicious, but without the heavy coffee/chocolate flavors, but more of an unsweetened, bakers chocolate kind of taste, if that makes any sense. Still a really good smoke which burned well, as have all of the Oja Cigars I’ve smoked (barring the first Connecticut torpedo I referenced earlier, which nearly exploded upon lighting, my fault for jumping the gun!, not the fault of the cigar).

 

While at the IPCPR show I was fortunate enough to sample the newest cigar from Oja, the Anniversary. This cigar is wrapped in a Brazilian Samba wrapper and is an extremely smooth and satisfying smoke. It’s box pressed and also comes in three sizes, including a beautiful 6 x 58 perfecto. This celebrates their first anniversary, and is a dynamite smoke. I’m looking forward to smoking more of these in the future.

 

That’s about all the rambling on I can manage today. I think Luis did pretty well at the show, so keep an eye open for these at your local shops for these, I know that at least one of the shops in my general vicinity will be carrying these in the near future.

 

I’ve got a short video for you today of Luis Garcia talking about his Oja Cigars.

 

 

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Events, IPCPR, Review, Take a Cigar For a Walk, Video