I am sitting on my porch typing this on the first day of summer and Father’s Day, smoking my traditional Father’s Day cigar, an Esperanza Para Los Nińos, which is still smoking well 27. years after it was rolled. If you aren’t familiar with this cigar, I wrote 
about it here. It’s been a crazy busy week for me, but I managed to get a few cigars in. First off, I want to talk about the Zino Honduras. I smoked both the Robusto and the Half Corona this week. These are made in Honduras, with an Ecuadorian wrapper, and fillers from Jamastran and Copán in Honduras. The Robusto came in a freshpack, and it’s pre-cut, meaning it it already punch cut, which can be a convenience. The hole was appropriate to the size of the cigar, 5″ x 54, I’d guess 13mm (I didn’t get my calipers out to check). I found the robusto started out on the harsh/bitter side, maybe these need some humidor time. It really never smoothed out for me, it burned very well and the draw was fine. I did get a little walnut flavor, and I really 
don’t care for walnuts. I’ll bury these and revisit them in a few months. The Half Corona (4″ x 44) also come punched (maybe 9mm? again, I didn’t measure) seemed to be a different story. I went into it expecting the worst, but was pleasantly surprised. I’m to assume that it depends on the packaging which cigars are pre-punched and which are not. It looks like full boxes are not cut. As you can see in the photo, the Half Corona comes in a tin of 5 pre-cut, as well as boxes of 25 (it doesn’t say pre-cut, so I assume it’s not). Similarly, the Robusto is in the 4 cigar freshpack cut, and boxes not. I got off track. I quite enjoyed the Half Corona, which is not a size I generally go to. It fit perfectly into my evening last night. I lack the palate to get the cream, orange and rosewood that the website lists as flavors, it tasted like honduran tobacco to me!
I have been hearing about the Cigar Clowns for a while, a couple of New York guys who started a Facebook Group and turned it into a cigar brand. I bought a sampler from Smoke Inn that had a Cigar Clowns Goldie Grace in it (there were other cigars I wanted to try as well), and I gave it a go this week. I looked at the website and found an impressive amount of information about human trafficking, which proceeds of this cigar go toward preventing. The cigar is a box pressed corona, 5″ x 46, with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. This was an interesting cigar. If I was smoking this blind, I would have sworn it contained some cased pipe tobacco, it had a rather cloying sweetness, not unpleasant at all, but unexpected. I enjoyed this one, there’s a couple other cigars in their range I want to try, notably the Pagliacci Di Sigari. Side note, I’m amazed at how good this 27 year old Esperanza is!
Yesterday I was out and about and stopped in to New Tobacco Village in Whitehall, PA. They were having an Espinosa event celebrating the store’s anniversary and John Remer’s (Johnny Smokes Uncut), 60th Birthday. There were quite a few folks there who I knew. I had a chance to chat with Hector Alphonso and Rami Dakko of Espinosa, and smoke a 601 Blue. I hadn’t smoked one of those in along time and it was excellent, like smoking a chocolate bar! The shop isn’t huge, and it was packed. They have a great selection there, if you find yourself in the Allentown area, stop in and see Lena. I’ve been there on quieter days and it’s a comfortable lounge to hang out in, and the cigar selection in quite impressive.
That’s all for today. until the next time,
CigarCraig
