Tag Archives: El Mago

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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Filed under Review

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

July 20, 2025 · 9:28 am

El Mago, LOFB, Deisel Cigars and a Lighter

Do yourself a favor and keep an eye out for Smoke Inn‘s (not a sponsor) weekly deals. I get them in email, but it doesn’t really work into my posting schedule to share them, but if you follow CigarProp (also not a sponsor) on Facebook, he generally passes them on. I sometimes find them difficult to pass up. For instance, a couple weeks back they offered three El Mago Miami Maduro and three League of Fat Bastards Serie L in toro size that I hadn’t smoked before for something stupid like $20 delivered. It’s stupid not to buy these, right? I had a good experience with the El Mago in the past, and, as much as I dislike the name, the LOFB cigars sound interesting and support a worthwhile cause. I’m also always on the lookout for new to me things to type about on Sundays! El Mago is an interesting brand, based in Miami and created as an homage to the brand owner’s grandparents who died in the condo collapse in Miami a few years ago. The Mami Maduro has a San Andrés wrapper, Sumatra binder and Nicaraguan fillers, made in a factory in Esteli. Like the Disco I smoked previously, this was a terrific cigar. It burned perfectly, and had a pepper spice and cocoa thing going on. I like that a lot, it’s a trait that some of my favorite cigars possess. I will definitely continue to explore this brand!

The LOFB, or League of Fat Bastards, is a new brand that commits something like 40% of each cigars proceeds to men’s mental health charities. This is certainly a noble cause, and one that’s likely underserved. I know as a man, it’s hard to admit to anything that would leave you vulnerable. I know I’ve never admitted to anxiety, until recently when my mother’s health was failing and I asked my doctor to get me something to take the edge off. The whole parent passing away, and the subsequent managing of the estate carries a lot of pressure. Anyway, I wasn’t going to go out of my way to try the LOFB cigars because somehow I don’t feel like I identify with the name, although I have my share of fat, but I don’t think I’m a bastard! Since these were with the El Mago deal I didn’t have much choice! Turns out this is a really good cigar. This 6″ x 54 toro has an Ecuador wrapper of some sort, and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. This was another perfectly made cigar that was a joy to smoke. It had a spice cake sort of flavor, very enjoyable. My opinion has changes on this brand, but I still don’t like the name!

I have a problem. Whenever I check out at Walmart and I see a torch lighter in the checkout line, I have to buy it. Last time it was a Djeep torch, which has turned out to be a really nice single torch lighter, this time it was a colorful display of MK lighter that caught my eye. I have an absolute shitload of torch lighters, there are three on my smoking table right now, so I didn’t need another, but I don’t have a blue one, so onto the checkout belt it went. I don’t find this one to be as ergonomic as the Djeep, which was a lot more expensive than this one ($5 vs the $4 MK). I also feel like aesthetically it looks a little top heavy, but it’s light weight. I can say that it has a large fuel tank, produces as good a torch flame as anything, and works well. It has a lock to lock it off, but not on like the Blazer PB207, which is good I guess. If you’re travelling and want a cheap reliable torch, or one to keep in the glovebox, this is a great choice.

Finally, I smoked the new Diesel Founder’s Collection Raceking. This is offered in a 6″ x 52 toro and has an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. Apparently some of the tobaccos are aged in Rabbit Hole’s Raceking bourbon barrels. I don’t know anything about bourbon, but I do know that I really like the Deisel sherry cask cigar in the Rabbit Hole series. I also know that I wasn’t overly fond of the original Rabbit Hole blend, but many people loved it. While I enjoyed this Raceking, I thought it reminded me more of the original. I thought it had a bready component. I have smoke many many cigars that I didn’t enjoy as much, it was a perfectly good smoke. Maybe I need to revisit the first Rabbit Hole cigar. Out of all the Deisel cigars I’ve smoked, and I’ve enjoyed more than I haven’t, this was in the upper half. Good cigar.

As I write I’m smoking a Hoyo de Monterrey Shade, but I’ll get to that one next week. That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Accessories, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, deisel, El Mago, Founder's Collection, League of Fat Bastards, LOFB, Miami Maduro, Rabbit Hole, Raceking, Serie L

March 23, 2025 · 10:18 am

Alec Bradley, El Mago, Bentley, and Plasencia Cigars

I spent some time this week smoking cigars that I got on my two trips to Florida this month. Three of them came from the outstanding Cigar Circus opening party, and one I picked up at Smoke Inn. Some I liked better than others, but they were all pret

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ty good. I’ve been really trying to limit my consumption of sucky cigars. Anyway, I started with the Alec Bradley Post Embargo Blend Code B15. I remember picking up some Post Embargos nine years ago, might still have one somewhere, and them not really being up my alley. I misidentified this as Blend Code 815, upon closer inspection it’s a B. I thought it took them 815 tries to get to this, I would have given up well before 500. They have a large “Post Embargo” band covering the high priming Trojes Honduran wrapper, with a Honduran binder and fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua. This stares with a little hint of Mesquite wood, and it struggled with some minor tunneling. The second half redeemed itself, with some nice, medium milk chocolate and nuts. Not a bad smoke, interesting flavors. I think this came out since the STG purchase of the brand.

A cigar I picked up when I visited the Smoke Inn shop in West Palm a few weeks back was the El Mago Miami Disco. I have been hearing a lot about the brand, great story behind it, and the packaging is pretty spectacular. The Disco reached out to me, maybe it’s one of the brand’s newest offerings, or that the tube was quite nice. I like that the cigars are in cellophane and the tube skips the cedar sheet, that’s an expensive and unnecessary feature and adds nothing for me. This is a 6″ x 60 cigar with a dark Habano Oscuro wrapper, Criollo binder and Nicaraguan fillers. These are made at the MGE Cigars Factory in Esteli, one which I haven’t heard of previously. Upon lighting this I instantly regretted only buying one, and for a moment considered shelling out for a box, even though this is near the upper limit of my price comfort zone. The cigar started with a delicious Cayenne dark chocolate kind of thing, it r

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eally got my attention. This was my star of the week, it was a delicious cigar to the end. The Cayenne dropped off and it was pure dark chocolate til the end. Yummy cigar, and I need to try some of the other cigars in the line. I think Wooden Indian might have some, I owe them a visit anyway!

The Bentley Green toro was my Saturday afternoon watching hockey cigar. This was in the cigars from Cigar Circus, while Jon Carney, who owns the US distribution of the brand, was there with Hooten Young cigars. The Bentley line is owned by the Schusters, who are big cigar distributors in Germany, and made at Joya de Nicaragua. I like a lot of the cigas made at JdN. The 6″ x 52 toro has an Ecuador Rosado wrapper, and fillers from the Jalapa Valley in Nicaragua. Flavorwise, his one gave me the feeling of dry cocoa powder, in a medium bodied package. It was a good cigar, maybe not my favorite if the week, but that bar was set high. I’d give it another go. I was a little surprised that the green was provided instead of the White, I thought the White might have a broader appeal, although I haven’t tried it yet.

Finally, one more cigar that was in the Circus pack was the Plasencia Reserva 1898 robusto. This is a cigar I had never seen before, although it looks like its a line that they have had for a very long time, and may have been for the international market. Is it a reprise? Would they put a discontinued cigar in a retailers swag bag? I’m confused. From what I can put together, this 4¾” x 54 robusto is a Nicaraguan Puro, maybe. Some sources list a Honduran binder. I’m really confused. I see this available at both domestic and international retailers, but it’s not on the Plasencia website. Nothing surprises me with cigar makers websites, El Mago has a search function and “Disco” had no results, yet it’s on the page. I digress. This cigar was pretty darned good

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! It was dark and ri

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ch, and quite strong I think. I noted espresso and cocoa, but a savory as opposed to sweet sensation. I had a sneezing fit in the final third, not sure what that was all about! From what I can gather this is a sub $10 cigar, and was very good.

That’s about all I have for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig