Tag Archives: general cigars

by CigarCraig | June 5, 2016 · 10:17 am

Nomad, Capo de Mundo, El Centurian, Neya and Torano Cigars and a Contest Winner

It’s been a long week for me, we had a holiday weekend, then four days of trying to wrap up a thirteen year career at my day job, and prepare people to take care of all the stuff I did. Now I’m between jobs, I start the new one next week, don’t you know I manage to break a couple molars Thursday?! Who knows what the dentist will say when I get there Tuesday, there might be a smoking hiatus in my future…but I’m hopeful that they can be saved. Anyway, I have a bunch of cigars worth talking about today, so let’s get on with it. Monday I managed an early cigar, so I chose a Nomad Therapy Connecticut. The Therapy line comes in three blends, two sizes each (Toro and Robusto) and goes to retailers in refillable trays. This isn’t a bundle cigar though, it’s a really nice, high quality smoke. This one had an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, San Andrés binder and Nicaraguan filers. I enjoyed this for a milder, very smooth, yet quite flavorful shade cigar. It burned well, drew well, and tasted good. Another very nice cigar from Fred Rewey, and I’m looking forward to trying his new SA-17.

Tuesday I smoked a cigar bought on a visit to a shop in Ridley Park, PA a few months ago. We were in the area for another event and ran across Jacoub’s Cigars, a nice little cigar and hookah shop with a lounge and a well appointed walk-in humidor. I picked a few cigars up that I hadn’t tried yet, including some of Jacoub’s own brand, Capo de Mundo. I bought robustos in the maduro and Corojo, but they also have a Connecticut version. As one would expect, I smoked the maduro first. The Capo de Mundo was a good smoke, it had what one would expect from a maduro cigar, cocoa/coffee and a little bit of sweetness, all things I like. I don’t know that $9 is an appropriate price point though, I get that it’s a small production, that certainly plays in to the price, but I didn’t find that it had enough going for it to warrant the price. This would be a great $5 cigar for me, but there are many other cigars from $5 up to the $9 range that excite me more. I’m afraid this was unremarkable, not a bad cigar at all, just not different from a hundred other maduros. I look forward to seeing what the Corojo brings to the table. This, my friends, is about as close to a negative review you will get from me.

Friday evening my wife wanted to get out, so we went to the King of Prussia Mall, which is probably the largest shopping mall on the east coast. One of the very nice things about this mall is that it has a cigar shop which my wife refers to as “Husband Day Care”, something she borrowed from Dave Garofalo at Two Guys in New Hampshire. Anyway, it’s certainly nice to stop in for a cigar instead of wondering through racks of ladies clothes in various stores. International Tobacco has a nicely stocked walk in humidor (is a Davidoff retailer) and a bar with coffee and soda available. I bought a handful of My Father El Centurian H-2K-CT in the Corona size, which is closer to a robusto at 5½” x 48, not that I’m complaining, that’s a near perfect size as far as I’m concerned. This cigar has a hybrid Habano 2000 wrapper grown in Connecticut, wrapped around components grown and processed by the Garcias in Nicaragua. This was a terrific smoke, with that typical My Father spice in the beginning then some nice sweet, savory flavor throughout. It turns out that this size was perfect for the time it took my wife get tired of shopping, after 30 years I have a good idea how long it takes. I’m glad I bought a few, I love the size and it’s a tasty and interesting cigar. It was nice to be able to relax with a nice cigar, baseball on the TV and pleasant conversation with other patrons and Tom, the owner. If I could afford it, I’d send my wife shopping more often :-).

Yesterday was a two cigar day, after getting some things done around the yard and house, I sat down with a Duran Premium Cigars Neya F8 Big Jack. I really like the flavor of the F8 line, I’ve only smoked this size and the 6 x 60 Yankee, and they come in a bunch of sizes, some of which are quite close to one another (5 x 52 Patriot, 5 x 58 Gringo, 6 x 56 Toro, 6 x 60 Yankee,6½ x 54 Loyalist and 7 x 70 Big Jack). One can assume that this range might be trimmed in the coming years if the FDA requires mega-bucks approvals for each size. Anyway, the line features an Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and smoked really well. It’s sweet and smooth and quite good to my palate. the “Big Jack” is a 7″ x 70, named after the very recently former marketing and sales manager Jack Toraño, who has just left the company to join General Cigars as the face of the Toraño brand, a wonderful move in my opinion. Having an actual Toraño on board for the centennial of the brand is certainly key, and Jack is well known and loved in the industry. Anyway, the Big Jack was a tasty cigar and took me well over two hours to smoke. My only gripe with the cigar (and I’m sure Jack never tires of hearing this), is it’s just too damn big! I’ll happily smoke any size in this line, but 70 ring gauge is ridiculous. Great cigar though, even down to the last inch and a half, and after sitting id down and running an errand. I’m sure Jack’s talents will be missed at Duran Premium Cigars, but I’m glad to see him “home” with his family brand.

After dinner, I dug deep and found a Toraño toro with a Cigar Rights of America band, which came either when I joined CRA in 2009, or renewed the year after. I have no idea what the blend on this toro was, it had the burgundy Toraño band like on the Casa Toraño line along with the CRA secondary band. I have a bunch of the CRA cigars in the humidor from renewing every year, I’ve yet to get a CRA Opus or Liga yet though. This cigar was just fine. Good, savory flavors, and a razor sharp burn with a flat ember. The ash fell off by itself a couple times, no big deal as I was out walking, had it done that on my new patio carpet I might have been annoyed. Certainly you can’t run out and buy these, so my opinion means nothing really, except to go join the CRA if you haven’t already and maybe you’ll get one of these, or some other good cigars. Which is a good segue to the final paragraph of this post!

Contest

Last week I offered a T-shirt (which I purchased from Smoke Inn) and a handful of cigars from my humidor, including a few that I threw in over the course of the week that weren’t pictured. I honestly thought the turnout would be better than it was. Maybe I didn’t include enough great cigars, or maybe it’s a commentary on the over-all apathy among the cigar smoking public, I don’t know. It’s good for the folks who entered, as it increases the odds. Trust me, when these FDA regulations take effect, it’s going to be much harder for me to have giveaways! Anyway, thanks to all that entered, and thanks for Abe dropping by and commenting and for his dedication to the cause. He certainly won’t be able to offer his Micro-Blend series with the regulations as they are. So, the winner of the T-shirt and cigars from CigarCraig’s humidors is…..KOPTim. Tim, please send your contact info so I can get this stuff to you, or, better yet, if I remember correctly, you’re in the area, lets meet up for a smoke and hand-off! Thanks for all who entered and shared, you can still go to https://www.smokeinn.com/FDA/ and buy a shirt or two to support the cause.

That’s more than enough for today! Look for a single cigar focused mid-week post or two as I have a bunch of interesting samples to get to and I’ve been rather selfishly smoking for myself this week! I also want to get a few posts in the bank, so to speak, in case there’s some dental interruption (fingers crossed). Until the next time,

CigarCraig

9 Comments

Filed under Contest, Review, Stores

Tagged as Capo de Mundo, cigar, cigar rights, cigars, Contest, Duran, El Centurian, general cigars, H-2K-CT, Jacoub's, My Father, Naya, Nomad, Therapy, Toraño

by CigarCraig | March 13, 2016 · 10:28 am

Smoking Alec Bradley, CAO, Macanudo and My Father Cigars

Finally it’s here, the day we’e all been waiting for (me at least), it’s Daylight Savings Time! I don’t even really mind losing the hour, it’s a good trade-off for the extra evening daylight hours. It also means spring is coming, which means summer’s coming, which I like. I’ll try to find a good cigar to smoke to celebrate today, but for now, I have a few cigars I smoked this week to discuss. I found myself a bit torn between smoking something “new to me” and smoking an old familiar friend, so I did both. Balance is the key to life. Thursday I lit up an Alec Bradley Post Embargo in the 6½” x 54 Toro size. This one falls into the “new to me” category as I have only smoked one before back in November of last year around the time they were released. I stand by my original thoughts that the wrapper isn’t the most flavorful, but it was a very nice, medium bodied smoke, with some leather and earth, no real sweetness to my palate. I don’t know that 5 months in the humidor did anything to this cigar one way or the other, but I think it’s another solid Alec Bradley cigar, of which they have many. Their Nica Puro still remains my favorite in the brand.

This week was a beautiful week, weather wise, which made for a long week in the office, stuck behind a desk while it was sunny and in the 70s outside. As I mentioned in my last post, I was able to take two wheels to work this week, which makes the commute a little more bearable, but by the time 4:30 hit on Friday I was ready for a sure thing to wrap the week. After a delicious diner featuring corned beef, I grabbed my final CAO Flathead 554, which was probably a leftover from samples I received when they were first released. I punched this with my ScrewPop 2.0 punch (the website lists a 3.0 now, I’ll have to find out how they improved this already fine tool) and lit it up. This must have had one vein in a leaf near the foot with a lot of oils left in it, because I got a runner that got nearly an inch ahead of the rest of the burn. This didn’t have any effect on the flavors of dark, black coffee and cocoa, which I love in this Broadleaf wrapped beauty. At some point in the future there’s going to be a box of Flatheads in my humidor, I’m just now sure which one. CAO has just announced the release of two smaller sizes in the Connecticut Habana wrapped Steel Horse line, the Handbrake (4.5” x 50 – SRP per cigar is $6.99) and the Roadkill (5.5 x 54 – SRP per cigar is $7.00) which I’ll need to try before making a decision. I might just have to load up on singles of all the sizes just to have variety.

Saturday afternoon I took a walk with a Macanudo Maduro Vintage 1997. I bought a handful of these a few years back at my local shop, they were reasonably priced, and there were only a few left in the box, which I wanted as I had seen them making these boxes in the factory when I was there in 2011. That box sits on my desk holding things like cords and flash drives and is a pleasant reminder of that trip. I’ve had this cigar floating around the humidor for about four years now, and with the big metal band it has, it’s always been a bit awkward. I worried about it damaging other cigars, or having the 1997 Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper damaged by something else since it’s uncello’d. So I smoked it, and it was good. This has a Honduran binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Brazil and the DR, and is a really nice maduro cigar. Macanudo’s are often dismissed as mild and flavorless, I’ve not found that to be the case with the maduros. This was a refined blend with some sweet and spicy notes, quite entertaining. I think these are still around and worth trying if you like a good maduro. One thing that was very surprising on that trip back in 2011, by the last day my palate was pretty fried after smoking cigars nonstop for several days, so I grabbed a regular old Macanudo Maduro and I could taste it! Now, I just need to figure out what to do with the metal band (and where I stashed my other ones…), it reminds me of my old Boy Scout neckerchief slides, although I hardly think that would be tolerated in this day and age.

Last night I was in an exploratory mood, so I selected a cigar from CDMCigars.com‘s exclusive collection, the My Father Oro de NicaraguaRobusto. Holy crap was this a great cigar! There’s not a lot of information about the blend on the website, as I’ve complained about before, so I can’t tell you what differentiates this from the regular My Father line, but I can tell you it’s very good. It’s smooth, rich, loaded with a bunch of flavors and is interesting right down to the nub. If I’m not craving a sweet, mocha maduro, this is exactly what I want a cigar to be. It wouldn’t be a My Father cigar without a little spice right at the start, and this one had it, although it was far more subtle. I’m going to have to pick up some of the regular My Father line , or rummage through the humidors to see if I have one, which happens more than I’d like to admit…Thanks to Craig at CDMCigars.com for sharing this great smoke. I imagine they have these in the Casa de Monteristo store in Chicago? These also come in a bunch of cool sizes.

That’s it for now, I have somethings that need doing today that I’m going to try to get out of the way early, then find something good to smoke this afternoon, and maybe something this evening to celebrate the extended daylight! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

8 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as Alec Bradley, CAO, Casa de Montecristo, CDMCigars, cigar, cigars, Flathead, general cigars, macanudo, My Father, Post Embargo

by CigarCraig | August 16, 2015 · 8:54 am

Marrero Cigars, Flor de Gonzalez, Macanudo Estate Reserve and Cigars with Friends

I’ve been working through some more new cigars from the IPCPR show, and I ran across some Marrero cigars that it took me a moment to remember. We ran across the booth late on the last day we were there and got to talking to Joel Vazquez Marrero about his cigars. My memory is hazy on this, but I think these are rolled at the same factory as Vegas de Santiago, MBombay and Atabey, Byron and Bandolero. If this is the case it’s one more bit of proof that this particular factory is producing some excellent cigars. The Marrero Tico Pigtail is 6½ x 56, has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder and what they call Costa Rican/Proprietary Blend as the filler, as well as a long pigtail, as the name would imply. The cigar was solid, firmly packed with a similarly firm draw, although it wasn’t annoyingly so. I found it to be on the milder side of medium, with a nice flavor and burn. It was a nice cigar for my evening walk. I look forward to trying the Tesoro Mio blend in the near future.

On Thursday I had a brief moment of wishful thinking that it was Friday, but reality soon slapped me in the face. So Friday deserved what I hoped would be a special smoke. Another booth we stopped at late in the show was Flor de Gonzalez. We had a brief visit with Yadi, and she shared their 20th Anniversario cigars, which come in either a Ecuador Connecticut or a Connecticu

buy methocarbamol online https://www.dentistwaycrossga.com/slick/fonts/woff/methocarbamol.html no prescription pharmacy

t Broadleaf wrapper. My natural inclination is to go with the Broadleaf, which I did and was very pleased. This was a rich, chocolaty smoke with a great burn and draw. It’s a rubusto, but is 5½” x 50, a little more of a good thing than your traditional 5″ robusto. I can’t wait to try the other one. I’ve always enjoyed the Flor de Gonzalez line, it seems to fly under the radar in a lot of places, at least around here.

We had some friends over last night, so we spent the better part of the day getting ready, and in the hour or so before people arrived, I sat down with a Macanudo Estate Reserve Jamaica 2015. This is a very special Macanudo, here is what the folks at General Cigar have to say about it:

To experience Macanudo Estate Reserve is to savor a tradition that spans nearly half a century, for this exceptional cigar hearkens back to the very roots of the brand.
For the 2015 release of Macanudo Estate Reserve, the artisans of Macanudo blended a 10 year old Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper from the sun-drenched, highest priming, with proprietary Jamaican tobacco cultivated on small, independent farms and aged exclusively for this year’s small batch offering. The dark, well-oiled wrapper adds a new dimension of complexity to the flavor that ignited the passion for one of the world’s most beloved cigars.
Jhonys Diaz, master blender and vice president of operations said, “We selected a broadleaf wrapper for this year’s release to deepen the flavor profile of the cigar. The wrapper delivers bold notes of leather and earth, while complementing the unique attributes of the Jamaican filler. This is a rich and complex smoke, one that will appeal to the true cigar lover.”
The Jamaican tobacco tells a story all its own. The varietal used in Macanudo Estate Reserve is called Silver Tongue, a native seed favored by locals. It is an extremely low-yield tobacco and is the most expensive long-filler leaf in the world.
Due to the scarcity of Silver Tongue, this exquisite cigar will only be available until the limited release of 1,800 boxes per size is depleted.
Macanudo Estate Reserve 2015 will be available in three frontmarks, each protected in 10-count boxes and shipping in October. They are:

No. 7 — 7 x 50; SRP per cigar is $17.00

No. 8 — 6 x 57; SRP per cigar is $18.00

No. 9 — 5 x 50; SRP per cigar is $16.00

The presentation is beautiful and goes back to the Jamaican roots of the brand, which at one time was made in Jamaica. I remember having a box of Macanudo Prince Philip back in the 90s that was still made in Jamaica (won it on the CigarWorld.co

buy trazodone online https://www.dentistwaycrossga.com/slick/fonts/woff/trazodone.html no prescription pharmacy

m website somehow, and that was a very long time ago when there weren’t a lot of cigar websites). Anyway, this Estate Reserve was really very tasty and had about the most perfect construction imaginable. The cigar was perfect in every way, and had a nice flavor of espresso and cocoa. I found it to be medium bodied, and I smoked to a very tiny nub. It’s not a cheap date, but it is one of the most flavorful Macanudos out there.

One of our guests, my old friend Bruce, presented me with a very rare cigar, a Padron Millennium, claiming that he came across the humidor (these came out in 2000 in a humidor of 100, of which there were only 1000 made) in his basement. I believe he gifted me one of these nearly 15 years ago, but I smoked it long before I started documenting my daily smokes so religiously. This was a special blend of the 1964 series and had five year old tobacco at the time they were rolled in 1999. He was concerned that they had been neglected, but upon smoking the cigar all was well. If it was blended to be bolder than the 1964 series, the last 15 years might have tempered the original intent, but it was still a spectacular cigar that had a perfect burn, draw and the chocolate bar creamy sweetness that one would expect. Quite a treat, and I can’t thank Bruce enough for sharing that special cigar.

One of our other guests, Victor, brought some Tortuga Cigars, so I smoked one of my favorites from the line, the Cedro No. 5 as my last cigar of the night. Talk about a trifecta of exceptional cigars to go along with a night of great friends, food and stories. It’s a treat when you can get three couples together, many of whom haven’t met, and go late into the evening talking about a myriad of topics. Anyway, the Tortuga line is obviously high on my list, and the No. 5, at 5½” x 48, is just about the perfect size and is a great representation of the blend. After the pair of chocolaty maduros, this spicy Nicaraguan puro it the spot, and never fails to satisfy. We don’t entertain much, but with our big screened in porch it is something we need to do more. Thanks again to Victor and Rebecca and Bruce and Shirley for spending the evening with us.

That’s it for now, lots of food to eat from last night yet, some errands to run and some cigars to smoke. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

5 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Flor de Gonzalez, general cigars, IPCPR, macanudo, Marrero, padron, Tortuga

by CigarCraig | August 12, 2015 · 4:50 pm

Winner of the General Cigar New Releases Contest and the 2015 IPCPR Secret Question

What an excellent turnout we had for this contest. Who can blame the 97 people who entered though, it’s a pretty darned n

buy clomiphene online https://bccrf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/png/clomiphene.html no prescription pharmacy

ice bunch of cigars! I almost had second thoughts about including some of them, but cigars are about sharing, and it’s as much fun to give than receive. Before I announce the winner (or to make you go to the trouble of scrolling down to see who won), A couple of years ago I put together a montage video from the IPCPR show, and I decided to do the same thing this time around, with a new and interesting question. The whole point is to keep things light and not to end up with the same interview videos that everyone else does. As always, I strive to be different. Credit goes to my wife, Jennifer, for the idea, and thanks to the thirty-something manufacturers for going along with it! So if you have twelve minutes or so, give this a watch, maybe have a laugh.

Contest

OK, so I consulted the random number generator at Random.org and it spit out th

buy pregabalin online https://bccrf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/png/pregabalin.html no prescription pharmacy

e number 43. I counted the entries and determined that Matt Wells is the winner! Please send your address so I can ship this load of cigars out to you. Thanks to everyone for entering, I think I’ll have contests on the first Wednesdays of the next couple months, so keep an eye open. If you’re on Twitter, follow @CigarContests for the heads up on my contests, as well as other contests going on. Whoever is running this is doing a nice job of curating cigar giveaways. Thanks again to the folks at General Cigar Co.!

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

CigarCraig

9 Comments

Filed under Contest, IPCPR, Video

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Contest, general cigars, IPCPR, Secret Question

by CigarCraig | August 5, 2015 · 9:38 pm

What’s New at General Cigars and a Contest!

This week I’ve been smoking some of the samples from the General Cigar Co. booth from the IPCPR show, and I found myself with an abundance of samples that I want to share with one of my readers. One of several new offerings from CAO is the Pilon, which I smoked this week in the robusto size. In the Pilon line they are fermenting the tobacco in small, round pilons, as opposed to large rectangular versions that most cigar tobacco is fermented in. They are using a Cuban seed Ecuador wrapper and fillers from Esteli and Ometepe. The cigar smoked well and was woody with some spice and sweetness. I thought it was a very nice smoke and enjoyed it on a beautiful Sunday Afternoon.

After dinner I revisited the new Leccia Luchador El Gringo Frog Splash. I smoked one at the show on the first day and I’m a big fan of the Luchador line, and enjoyed this fat little cigar quite a bit. You may think a 4½” x 70 would be unwieldy, but the box press makes if feel quite a bit smaller than the 70 ring gauge in the round. It’s still got a little bit of a wavy burn, but it’s a flavorful and spicy smoke. It’s got a dark and oily Nicaraguan Oscuro wrapper, Nicaraguan Habano binder and blend of three ligeros from Esteli, Jalapa and Pennsylvania. It’s a funny shape, but a really good smoke that I’m having trouble leaving alone.

Monday evening I wanted something a little more refined, so I selected the new Dunhill Signed Range Selección Suprema, released in just one size, a 6×50 Toro. I wanted something a little larger than a robusto too. This is a smooth smoke, and very delicate and subtle. It’s made with a Nicaraguan Jalapa shade wrapper with three exceptional fillers: full-bodied Nicaraguan Esteli and Jalapa, and rare Brazilian Matafina, and a hearty Connecticut Broadleaf binder. There’s a lot of sweet flavors and it burned exceptionally well. This would be a great early cigar. Dunhill is not c cigar I generally reach for, but this was a pleasant diversion, for sure.

Last night I smoked one of the new CAO Margaritaville cigars. These are licensed under the Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville brand, and are available in two versions, a Piña Colada flavored cigar available in a corona and petit corona with a Cameroon wrapper and a blend of Dominican tobacco, which will fall under the Flavors line, and the one I smoked, the Havana Daydreamin’ line, which is a blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos wrapped with an Ecuadoran Connecticut wrapper. As I smoked this I couldn’t help but think that it’s targeting the occasional smoker, someone who picks up a cigar once in a while on vacation, at a bar or concert, as it was a nice enough cigar, but fairly middle of the road as far as the flavor goes. It burned quickly, but evenly, and left me a bit underwhelmed. Certainly it’s mild enough to smoke several in a row on the beach. I’ll give the flavored version a try one of these days.

Tonight I went with a personal favorite lately, the CAO Flathead in the new Steel Horse size. This was the “Apehanger” size, a 5½” x 58 cigar in a round format. I’ve mentioned this in a recent post, so I won’t spend too much time on the specifics, but it’s a lovely cigar. It’s got a Connecticut Habano wrapper that is dark and oily, with the signature flat head that just about demands a punch cut, which works well (I recommend a larger bore punch if at all possible, the ScrewPop 2.0 worked well). The fillers are Honduran, Nicaraguan and Dominican and the binder is a Brazilian Arapiraca, making it a five country blend. I’m a fan of the whole line, and this shape is a great addition. Very rich and satisfying with lush flavors of espresso and dark cocoa. As I said, I’m a big fan of he Flathead line in all sizes, and this is a very nice addition.

Contest

Here’s your chance to win some of the cigars mentioned above. There are five packs of both the CAO Magaritaville cigars, as well as the CAO Pilon and Flathead Steel Horse, the Dunhill Signed Range Selección Suprema, the new Macanudo Estate Reserve Jamaica, which I haven’t gotten around to smoking yet, but the last Estate Reserve was really good, so I have confidence in this one, and a couple of the Leccia Luchador El Gringo Frog Splash (and a Luchador El Hombre for good measure). It’s hard to say what else might fall into the box while I’m packing it up, it’s happened. 33 cigars in all, not a bad little prize pack! Many thanks to my friends at General Cigar Co. for their generosity this year. Same rules as always, leave a comment on this post to enter, and I’ll select a winner next Wednesday, August 12, 2015. It’s been a while since I had a contest, so everyone is eligible, must be 18 to enter, one entry per person please.