I’m on the road, mooching internet connectivity where I can, so this will be a short one! Here’s a video from the road. Please see the end where the winner of the final Hoyo de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros contests is revealed.
FF184, please send your address, I’ll ship your cigars when I return from Florida! Again, thanks to the folks at General Cigar for sponsoring this contest!
Stay tuned for more to come over the next few days!
CigarCraig
Filed under Contest, IPCPR, Stores, Trip Report, Video
V
ictor Vitale, the man behind Ortsac 1962, Tortuga and others, sent a few pre-release samples my way a few weeks ago. I wanted to smoke them and give him my input before I ran into him at the IPCPR show and he said something along the lines “what about those cigars I sent you, you mooching weasel?” So I started with the sizable 7″ x about 54 box pressed parejo. If I had to guess, I’d say it had a Habano wrapper, and was predominantly Nicaraguan. It really was an attractive cigar, and it burned perfectly. It was solidly medium in strength, but loaded with flavor. It burned a little quicker than I would have thought, and I’ve been smoking much slower in the last few years. I think I got an hour and a half out of this, including a lap around the neighborhood with the dog. All in all, I really liked this smoke. It was well balanced and flavorful. A perfect way to wrap up a Friday.
Saturday I selected the San Andreas Maduro from the same batch of cigars from Victor. I fully expected to smoke this one first, given my affinity for that wrapper. However, the San Andreas is a 5 x 50 (it might have been 5½) and I had more time available Friday evening for the larger smoke. I like to take into account the time I have when I select a cigar, and it’s a rare occasion that I smoke anything longer than six inches. This cigar had an unusual color, and I have to say that it wasn’t a really appealing shade for a maduro. It was almost dark grey, instead of a very rich, deep brown like I’m used to seeing on this wrapper. None the less, it was delicious. It was incredibly smooth and almost creamy. It didn’t have any sharp edges at all and was a delight to my palate. It had a uniqueness that set it apart from other San Andreas Maduro cigars, like Victor’s Tortuga Maduro is unique, but in a different way. I know that sounds redundant, but I can’t figure out another way to say it. I have one more cigar that he sent, another 5 x 50 that’s labeled as a Habano Rosado wrapper, with Nicaraguan filler and binder. It will be interesting to see if this is the same blend as the first cigar in a different size, or the second cigar with a different wrapper. Victor tells me that he doesn’t know what these will be yet, but whatever they end up being, they will be excellent! I appreciate the opportunity to try them!
Today starts the fifth and final week of my Hoyo de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros contest. Hoyo de Monterrey’s Box-a-Day contest runs through Tuesday. As I said before, I can’t promise when I will announce the winner, as I’ll be driving to Orlando on Wednesday and Thursday, and I’ll be dependent upon WIFI connections while I’m on the road. I will announce a winner eventually, so leave me some comments for a chance to win two (2) three-packs of Reposado en Cedros cigars, courtesy of General Cigar Co. Usual rules apply, if you’ve won one of my contests in the last three months you’re ineligible. It’s also important to note that in order to receive the prize, you must get in touch with me with your mailing address!
So that’s it for now, stay tuned for IPCPR coverage starting sometime around the end of the week.
CigarCraig
I’ve been smoking some great cigars this week, but all are cigars I’ve mentioned before here. I enjoyed the heck out of a Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ on Sunday, although I personally wish it was a happier occasion to smoke this cigar (for those who don’t know why, pay a visit to StogieReview.com). I also had a really nice Monte Pascoal robusto, perhaps my favorite in the line, as well as a Room 101 Namakubi Papi Chulo, which was awesome.
So to break things up a little, my research department tracked down some goodies from the New York Times for me. Here is an ad from December 10, 1938. Note that there was a “National Commission for Propaganda and Defense of Havana Tobacco”! How ironic does that sound?
Next we have this ad from December 11, 1939 for Macy’s Havana Humidor. Wouldn’t it be great if you could walk into a Macy’s and buy a fine cigar? Talk about a miracle on 34th Street!
You can click on either of these articles to enlarge them.
Today I’ll select the fourth winner in the month-long Hoyo de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros contest. Sunday I will have the final installment in this series, but when I’ll announce the winner will be anyone’s guess! I’ll be driving toward Orlando and the IPCPR show and updates will be dependent upon Internet availability. Please bear with me, I’ll get a winner announced as soon as possible. This weeks winner of six excellent Hoyo Reposado en Cedros cigars, as selected by the random number generator at Random.org, is 
comment number 7, which corresponds to smoke770. Please send me your coordinates so I can get these in the mail to you! Thanks again to General Cigar Co. and to everyone who entered! There’s still time to enter the Box-a-Day contest at hoyodemonterreycigar.com!
Until the next time,
CigarCraig
This week I was presented with a unique opportunity, to try a new cigar from the guys at Cigar Federation, the Ezra Zion. Kudos to them for dreaming of producing a cigar line and doing it, it’s not nearly as easy as it sounds! There isn’t a lot of information on their site, and the promotional info they sent doesn’t say anything about the blend either, but these are apparently made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras TABSA factory in Esteli Nicaragua (note: I jumped to the conclusion that they were made in the Raices Cubana factory because I was told it was made in the factory that made Illusione, Viaje, Casa Magna and I ASSumed that these were made in Honduras.Mea Culpa) . The cigar was a 6.125″ x 50(?) box pressed toro. It could have been 52 ring gauge, but the box press prevented me from checking, and I was too lazy to get a string out and measure it that way. I honestly don’t believe it really matters! The band was large, black and silver, with some angels flanking an “EZ” in the center. It’s nice looking and, most importantly, comes off cleanly and easily. The foot band, simply says “Inception” and “Primera Edicion” and was also easily removed, a good thing because foot bands make a cigar taste funny when you first light it up (that’s a joke there, I usually take them off before lighting). The bands and the box press looked good. The wrapper was a dark Colorado with maybe a tinge of a reddish hue, slightly veiny, almost rustic in appearance. So it looks good, looks like a cigar I’d like.
My usual routine is to grab a cigar, light it and smoke it. When someone offers me the chance to try their baby before just about anyone else, I take a little more care in my routine. I smelled this cigar pre-light. It smelled of rich, properly processed tobacco. I lit it up, careful to get it properly lit. The draw was perfect, loads of smoke on the easy draw. So far I enjoy the flavor, I get a little Honduran vibe along with the richness of Nicaraguan tobacco. There’s a bite that could be attributed to it’s relative youth. I’m not saying that it isn’t ready to go, just that a few months or a year in a humidor might smooth this part out a little. I’ll have to try to get my hands on a few more at some point and test this theory. The sacrifices I make for science…sheesh. Anyway, the cigar burned perfectly and continued to smoke well. Strength-wise I put it on the fuller end of medium. As I got down to the last inch, I began to feel some of the effects of the nicotine, and decided it was time to let it go, at least an hour and a half after lighting it up. The flavor was savory and rich and it was a satisfying smoke, things I look for in a cigar. It certainly compares favorably with many of my favorites, a Cain F or an Emilio AF2, for example. Not that it tastes like them, particularly, but the experience was equally satisfying. When I can smoke a cigar and think “hey, I look forward to smoking another one of those” it works for me. So many cigars underwhelm me, but this one certainly did not. It was tasty, relaxing and trouble free!
So, bottom line, unless this is a $10+ cigar, and it certainly could be, I’ll try to get my hands on more of these. Keep an eye on Chris, Kyle and the Don from Cigar Federation, I look forward to what else they come up with. With any luck I’ll run into them at the IPCPR show, I’d love to meet these guys.
On a related note, I smoked another Emilio AF Suave corona this week. I found that one of the ones I had picked up last weekend has a crack at the head, probably from me sticking the bag in my pocket and being careless. I can’t abide cracked sticks in my humidor, they aren’t going to heal or anything, so they must be smoked ASAP. Stellar smoke. Helpful factoid: wrapper cracks only effect the draw if the binder is cracked too. They my cause some burn problems, but this one didn’t, it just looked crappy. Of course, looks are important too, so I tried to stay out of the public eye while I smoked this one! Also, I had picked up a few of the Tatuaje La Casita Criolla Short Churchills a couple weeks ago and smoked one of those. Another terrific smoke, loaded with Broadleaf goodness!
Also, a card fell out of my CI catalog advertising a 5 pack of Alec Bradley Tempus for $20 with proceeds going to Cigar Rights of America. This is another good way to put some nice smokes in your humidor and throw a couple bucks toward preserving out ability to smoke premium cigars! Just a public service announcement from me.
It’s time for the fourth installment of the Hoyo de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros giveaway. Hoyo de Monterrey is giving away a box every day on their site, and, once again, I have a pair of three-packs which will be awarded to a randomly selected reader who leaves a comment on this post. Wednesday I asked what you wanted to know from the IPCPR show, so feel free to continue to give suggestions. I’ll select a winner again on Wednesday. Once again, my thanks to the folks at General Cigar for providing the prizes in this series of contests!
That’s about it for now, until Wednesday,
CigarCraig
I think the combination of the outrageously high heat and humidity and the air conditioning being on in the house has wreaked havoc with a couple cigars this week. I’ve been taking the cigar out of the humidor, getting ready to take it outside, sometimes it hangs out unprotected in the dry air conditioning for 10 minutes or so, then I drag it out into the hot and humid out of doors. I fail to see how these short periods of time have any effect, but I’ve had a few cigars that seem to smoke “wet”, as if they dried out a little inside, then 
soaked up a big drink of water upon going outside! I know this is unreasonable, but I can’t think of anything else. Other cigars from the same humidor are fine. Certainly some tobaccos burn differently at various humidities, or maybe I just got a couple duds! The first cigar to give me a little trouble was the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros retro tour edition, the one with the Sumatra and Broadleaf, as opposed to the Connecticut and Sumatra configuration that’s in regular production. I have had a couple of these in the Robusto size and absolutely loved them. It took some work getting the smoke out, having to double and triple draw for the first half to get at that deliciousness. Once it got to the half way point it started working a little better. In my experience, this is a terrific smoke, once you hit the broadleaf wrapper those nice, dark flavors really take off. If you ever get a chance to get to a La Gloria Cubana event and mooch one of these, do it, they are tasty as all get out!
Mondays can sometimes be “experimental” cigar days. I chose a Brun del Re Don Corazza robusto from the couple of cigars left over rom last year’s IPCPR show. I had smoked this cigar in a 4″ x 60 format and was less than impressed, which is one of the reasons I’ve passed over the robusto in my humidor. I figured after a year of age I’d give it another shot. I’m a strong believer in the idea that every cigar is someone’s baby, so this Don Corazza guy must love this cigar. It smoked pretty well, with a little hint of the “smoking wet” feeling I got with the La Gloria. I did enjoy the cigar past the band, it burned evenly and had a pleasing flavor. It may not be something that’s necessarily up my alley, but it’s still a nice smoke. I think I have a Brun del Re Premium Connecticut floating around someplace that I’ll have to try soon.
Tuesday, for some reason, I decided on a La Palina El Diaro Torpedo for my usual walk. This one had been sitting in my Griffin’s humidor for about six months or so, and it was one of those situations where I thought of that cigar for some reason during the day. I felt compelled to smoke it and I don’t know why. I’m glad I did because it was a terrific smoke! This line is one of those that I can’t put a name to any flavors, but I just know I like them and that they are always a high quality smoking experience. The construction is spectacular and they are smooth and rich and tasty. I am so looking forward to the maduro version, you know how much I love the San Andreas maduro wrappers!
It’s time to select a winner for the third week of our Hoyo de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros contests! If you haven’t already, make sure you enter Hoyo’s Box-a-Day contest at HoyodeMonterrey.com. I consulted the random number generator at Random.org once again, and it spit out the number 7. By my figuring, foozer69 left the 7th comment so he’s the winner! Send me your contact info so I can send you cigars. Sunday will be another contest, so you’ll have another chance to win a six-pack of cigars. Many thanks to the fine folks at General Cigar Co. for sponsoring this series of contests!
Finally, as long as you’re leaving comments on Sunday (or on this post), do me a favor and tell me what you’d like me to ask manufacturers and brand owners at the IPCPR show. I’d like to come back with information that you, the readers, want to hear, so I figured it would be easiest to ask! So let me know!
That’s more than enough for today, until Sunday,
CigarCraig
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