Tag Archives: Miami Cigar and Co

by CigarCraig | December 24, 2014 · 7:00 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2014 Day 14!: Miami Cigar and Co

Since it’s Christmas Eve, and the last day of Hanukkah let’s push it on another day! I know what you’re thinking: 13 days was enough already…but a Day 14? You’re crazy! I think next year if I do this it might have to be CigarCraig’s Fortnight of Festivities or something. Believe me, I wanted to scale it back to CigarCraig’s Eight Crazy Nights or something like that. And no, I’m not going to do CigarCraig’s 25 Days of Cigar ADVENTures, or anything like that! So, yes, it’s Day 14, unprecedented and difficult to fathom. Day 13’s lucky winner of the Cohiba Nicaragua N60 is Matthew Denico. Please send me your address so I can send this beautiful box your way!

Nestor Miranda/Miami Cigar and Co.

Photo courtesy of Halfwheel.com

It’s Day 14 (of 12….never was very good at math!) and we have some very special goodies from our friends at Miami Cigar and Company. In today’s very special Christmas Eve present we have some neat stuff from the Nestor Miranda line of cigars. There is a Nestor Miranda T-Shirt (XL), a very cool Nestor Miranda ashtray, and a box of the Nestor Miranda Collection Habano in the 46×6 size (box of 20). You can put all of that in a nifty Nestor Miranda “One Life” backpack! The cigars are spectacular, and the SWAG is top notch! Thank you to Jason Wood at Miami Cigar and Co. and especially Gabriel Piñeres of Creativas Group for making Day 14 possible! I will not be posting the winner tomorrow, so you will have an extra day to enter!

Rules

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on that day’s post and if you like, in one sentence tell us what comes to mind when you think of Nestor Miranda Cigars. It’s not a condition to win, but I’d like for the folks who make this all possible to come away with some consumer feedback. Also, be sure to visit the links for each item. Comments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else will not count, but feel free to spread the word!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

121 Comments

Filed under Contest

Tagged as 12 days, cigar, cigars, Contest, Miami Cigar and Co, Nestor Miranda

by CigarCraig | December 20, 2013 · 6:47 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2013 Day 9: Miami Cigar and Co.

The 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways train keeps a’rollin today, it’s day 9 and there’s light at the end of the tunnel. You all know that these contests run just about 24 hours, so there’s just about no “too late”. I close the comments right before I write the next day’s post, around 6:30am. And Ted, as much as I’d love to see everyone win, just handling 12 Days is plenty. We’re getting well over 100 entries a day, four months of contests would leave me dead, divorced, jobless and insane, in that order. I’ll have to ask that you be happy with 12 days right now! On with the show! The random number generator spit out the number 107, which is ironic I guess. It would have been awkward if that number had come up a day earlier. I arrived at the name Mike McDonald as the 107th comment. Congrats and send me your address so I can get this shipped to you. Thank you Courtney and Bill at La Palina Cigars for providing this wonderful box. They promise a load of new projects next year, so stay tuned! The fun continues with another spectacular offering from our friends at Miami Cigar and Co.:

Day 9

Under the tree today is a box of Casa Miranda Chapter Two Toros from Miami Cigar and Co. These cigars are made at the My Father Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua under the watchful supervision of Don Pepin Garcia. The blend consists of filler tobaccos from Brazil, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua wrapped in dark Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper. These Toros are 5½ x 54 and come 15 to a box. These look really good, I’m looking forward to smoking one one of these days (these ship direct from Miami Cigar and Co., so I won’t be able to pilfer any!)

Thanks again to Barry Stein at Miami Cigar and Company once again for providing this fine gift, and for his support over the years. Good luck! Let the comments begin!

Rules

Here’s how you enter: leave a comment. That’s it, plain and simple. Tweets don’t count, but feel free to spread the word, only comments on this page count as an entry. Each day there will be a different prize and the winner will be drawn from that day’s comments. The winner will be announced on the next day’s post. The contest is open to everyone, even if you’ve won one of my contests in the past six months, but once you’ve won, you are ineligible to win again in this series of contests. All prizes will be mailed as soon as I get a chance to go to the post office, or whenever the sponsor decides to ship, whichever is the case, so don’t make me chase down your address! If you won, please e-mail your contact information to craig@cigarcraig.com as soon as possible! That’s it, leave a comment to enter and good luck. Check back tomorrow to see if you won and enter tomorrow’s contest!

Until Tomorrow,

CigarCraig

132 Comments

Filed under Contest

Tagged as 12 days, Casa Miranda, cigar, cigars, La Palina, Miami Cigar and Co

by CigarCraig | December 19, 2013 · 6:50 am

CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways 2013 Day 8: La Palina Cigars

Good morning and welcome to Day 8. Before I announce the Day 7 winner, let me address a few items. First, Jason O asked in a comment if my daughter was named after the La Aurora brand, and the answer is no. She predates may cigar fascination by a few years, however that first box purchase was definitely influenced by the name. The box may be around somewhere and she may have it. <sarcasm>Second, kudos to Cigar Aficionado for naming a cigar that has been in manufacture for almost 80 years as the cigar of the year<\sarcasm>. Shouldn’t consistency be a criteria? Or availability? Sheesh. Anyway, you want to to know who won the La Aurora 107 Maduro Coronas, and that person is Jeff K! Please send me your address so I can pass it on to Señor Stein. Thanks to Miami Cigar and Co. and La Aurora for everything! Let’s get Thursday rolling!

Day 8

Today’s present comes to us courtesy of La Palina Cigars. La Palina is owned by Bill Paley, and is the resurrection of his grandfather’s brand. Bill’s father, incidentally, is the founder of Columbia Broadcasting System. The point is, Bill has some roots in the cigar business, and is making some darned tasty cigars. The winner of today’s present will receive a box of La Palina Classic Gordo. The Gordo is a 6″ x 60 featuring a Brazilian Habano wrapper, Ecuador binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. These are always welcome in my humidors.

Thanks to Courtney at La Palina for providing today’s present! You know what to do now!

Rules

That’s it, leave a comment to enter and good luck. Check back tomorrow to see if you won and enter tomorrow’s contest!

Until Tomorrow,

CigarCraig

128 Comments

Filed under Contest

Tagged as 12 days, cigar, cigars, Contest, La Aurora, La Palina, Miami Cigar and Co

by CigarCraig | January 20, 2013 · 10:10 am

Cigars and Hockey – Alec Bradley Connecticut and Tempus and a Merlion

The last time I mentioned the cool match holder/striker that was brought to my attention, so this time take a look at this new cigar punch from ScrewPop, who makes a variety of tools that have integrated clips that double as a bottle opener. This is an aluminum body with a stainless steel punch blade and the cover screws on with an o-ring to keep out the crud. Next time I stop by Cigars International I may pick one of these up to see how it works! ScrewPop also has clip-able screwdrivers, knives, flashlights and mini-Bic lighter holders. Pretty nifty stuff. Please note that this is not a paid endorsement, just something that came to my attention that looked pretty cool.

Thursday evening I finally decided to smoke the Alec Bradley Connecticut that Jon Lipson gave me at an event a while back. This is another cigar that bucks the trend of mild Connecticut cigars. While not a particularly powerful smoke, it had loads of flavor and was solidly medium bodied. It had the signature Ecuador Connecticut wrapper flavor, with some real depth and body. I liked this smoke, it was different enough from the similarly wrapped American Classic Blend (which I really like). I almost thought it was kind-of like a Tempus with a shade wrapper, not that that’s a bad thing. Very nice smoke.

Friday evening I went out to dinner with my wife and her father and had a delicious flounder stuffed with crab. I probably would have made another cigar choice afterward if I had chosen steak, but I naturally gravitated to a Merlion Robusto for some reason (aside: did anyone pick up my series of puns in my last post?). I don’t know what I’d have selected if I had eaten duck. Anyway, the Merlion is the sequel to the La Sirena, which is a cigar I really like, but haven’t really smoked enough of. The Merlion is made by La Aurora in the Dominican Republic and is a bit milder than it predecessor with an Ecuador Corojo wrapper and a generous smattering of tobacco from Brazil. I enjoyed this on a post dinner walk and it was a nice cigar to follow an excellent meal. I can’t remember if this is one I bought at the Delaware Cigar Festival or was an IPCPR show sample, but it was missing one of the ornate bands, not a big deal to me as it’s one fewer band to remove, but the double banded presentation is quite nice, much like the impressive bands on the La Sirena line. Another nice job by the folks at Miami Cigar and Co.

I’m a big Philadelphia Flyers fan, and the last several months has been frustrating without hockey to watch. Hockey is really the only sport I like, to be honest. I had the good fortune to attend the opening game of the season yesterday. Unfortunately they didn’t really start playing until the end of the first period and couldn’t manage a comeback over a pretty defensively solid Penguins team. I really don’t like the Penguins much, and I kinda wish the fans would chant “Penguins Suck” instead of “Crosby Sucks”, because Crosby is a skilled player, he’s just a whiny little bi…..sorry, I’m straying from my point. When I got home I decided I’d smoke an Alec Bradley Tempus to see how far off I was on my thoughts about the Connecticut. I can’t really make a judgement on the similarities between the two except that they are both very nice cigars. The Tempus is a bit fuller bodied and was a very nice smoke. I don’t know if there are any cigars in the Alec Bradley line that I really don’t enjoy. There seems to be something for everyone in their portfolio. Even though the Flyers didn’t win, this Tempus was a winner. The Wells Fargo Center, where the Flyers play, does have a Cigar Bar, and I’m trying to get a tour to feature in a future post. Holt’s used to have the cigar concession in both the private club area and adjacent to one of the bar areas. I have been to a couple games many years ago where we could enjoy cigars before going to our seats. Sadly, the indoor smoking regulations put an end to that.

I’m afraid that’s all I have today. The TV will be on at 12:30 to see if the Flyers look better against the Sabres today, and I’ll find something to smoke afterward no doubt. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

5 Comments

Filed under Accessories, Editorial, Review

Tagged as Alec Bradley, cigar, cigars, connecticut, Flyers, La Sirena, Merlion, Miami Cigar and Co, Tempus

by CigarCraig | October 10, 2012 · 10:46 pm

Seafood and Columbus Day – A Merlion, a Trinidad and a Añoranza

Sunday evening my wife cooked an enormous piece of salmon and it was delicious. I wanted a cigar to follow the fish, and I couldn’t think of anything better than the new Merlion from La Sirena and Miami Cigar and Company. I’ve mentioned this cigar before (here) and it’s a solid cigar, made by La Aurora and featuring a Corojo wrapper around a three country blend. I may have enjoyed this one more than the first, it was perfect after the meal and really hit the spot. It’s a very tasty stick, well balanced and smooth. Another winner from Arielle.

Monday was Columbus Day, the day set aside to celebrate Columbus’ discovery of cigars! So I was digging around looking for a San Cristobal (de la Habana or otherwise) and came across a really old Trinidad corona. Someone correct me if my memory is off here, but back in the late ’90s, the Trinidad brand was released in the US, and it was made by Fuente. At some point the brand and production changed to being under the Altadis group of brands. This corona was from the original release, with really yellow cello. I had to cut the cello off, it was so brittle and sticky and beautiful. This actually took me back many years, it still had loads of flavor, but not a lot of nicotine. It was a really sweet, satisfying smoke which burned perfectly. This was the epitome of a well aged cigar. I think there’s one more floating around the humidor, I wonder what another few years of age will do to it?

On Tuesday I was rummaging around for something to smoke and the Añoranza Robusto lept out at me and demanded to be smoked. This dark beauty from Miami Cigar and Company was a sample from the IPCPR show, and I had been looking forward to smoking it. I will have to get my hands on some more, as it was really right up my alley. It was loaded with deep, rich cocoa and coffee flavors that I really enjoy. The wrapper is listed as Habana Oscuro, and while it didn’t look as dark as many oscuro wrappers, it tasted it, if that makes sense. I savored this cigar to a finger burning nub. Here is a quick video from the IPCPR show with Jason Wood, or Miami Cigar and Co., talking about the new La Aurora Cien Años Maduro, which I don’t think I got a sample of, but I will track one down to smoke because it looked really tasty!

There you go, two really nice smokes from the folks at Miami Cigar and Company, and a well aged cigar that you’ll probably never see again! Sorry about the later, but hunt down the Merlion and Añoranza and give them a try (as well as the new La Aurora offering!). Now…I need to see what kind of trouble I can get into for Sunday’s installment!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

3 Comments

Filed under IPCPR, Review, Video

Tagged as Añoranza, cigar, cigars, IPCPR, La Aurora, La Sirena, Merlion, Miami Cigar and Co, trinidad