New World | CigarCraig's Blog

Tag Archives: New World

October 26, 2025 · 10:16 am

Crowned Heads Broadway, Tatuaje Corojo T110 and AJ Fernandez Decenio Cigars

I had occasion on Wednesday to hang out at the Wooden Indian in Havertown, so, of course, I bought some more cigars to smoke. I don’t smoke a lot of Crowned Heads cigars, I like Miguel there a lot, and do actually like a lot of their cigars. Jon has always been cordial to me, but one time he blew me off at a trade show left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t think I ever made that public. Anyway, the Broadway line intrigued me, so I picked one up and smoked it there in the Wooden Indian’s Liga Privada Lounge. Of course, I smoked the toro, which is 6½” x 54. This cigar has a beautiful, oily broadleaf wrapper, over a Jalapa binder and fillers from Estelí, Jalapa and Ometepe, Nicaragua. It’s made at NACSA, which is where Saka makes Mi Querida, Umbagog, and the Red Meat Lovers Club cigars. This factory has a steady supply of Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. My expectations were exceeded, as this cigar was absolutely delicious. I may like this more that the Mi Querida Blue, which I like a great deal. Construction was perfect, the flavors were smooth, rich cocoa and coffee, right up my alley. my only regret is that I only bought one, and I considered picking up a few more before the shop closed. I want to thank Dave at the Wooden Indian for letting me hang out in the members lounge after the shop closed, I very much appreciate it! By the way, the Crowned Heads website is in dire need of updating.

The Tatuaje T110 Corojo is a 4 3/8″ x 52 short robusto with a Corojo wrapper. I smoked the Cohete (4″ x 50) back in August and really liked it, so I was very much looking forward to this one. I have smoked the T110 in the Broadleaf and Tuxtla wrappers and enjoyed them. This one I didn’t care for, and there aren’t many Tatuaje cigars I don’t like. It started out with a sourness, and skirted the line between sweet and sour through out the whole smoke. It was disappointing, but I always look at situations like this as a learning experience, what do I like in a cigar and what don’t I like, and how can I avoid it in the future? It’s money well spent, as long as I remember what I don’t like and don’t spend money on it again? This one had been in the humidor for a a couple months.

Another cigar I selected from the vast humidor of the Wooden Indian was the A.J. Fernandez New World Decenio in the toro size. This cigar commemorates a decade of the New World line, and made in the San Lotano factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua. I was hoping to pick one of these up a week or so ago when I saw Laurel at another nearby shop, but I either didn’t see them, or they didn’t have them. They had a really expensive 20th anniversary cigar, which may have distracted me (I didn’t bite). I adore the New World Dorado, and the rest of the New World line are really very good. This cigar is 6½” x 54 with a box press that makes it seem thinner. It has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos from Honduras and Nicaragua. I expected a good smoke, and I got a good smoke. This started out spicy, no surprise there, really. It moved to sweet, dark coffee, which is a combination I really like. I also really like that bonus half inch on a toro, more of a good thing. This was a really good smoke, and, dare I say, worth the $14 I paid. This is another anniversary cigar for a budget brand that is higher in price, like the Rocky Patel Edge and the Foundation Charter Oak.

My name was mentioned on yesterday’s Cigar Authority show which was about the cigar inventors. I’ve been on the show a couple times and I’ve known these guys for a long time. It’s humbling to be mentioned, and it gives me some credibility, I guess, to be recognized by them, but I want to set a couple things straight. I, in no way, created anything or was the first of anything. When I started this there were a lot of cigar blogs, I just happened to have outlasted a lot of them. Certainly Stogie Review (which is making a comeback with the Smoke & Steel podcast) was one of the first, and Casas Fumando has stood the test of time. I take some pride in being mentioned by my peers (I got a nice mention by Kevin on a recent El Oso Fumar show too, TY). I’m still just a guy who writes stuff about cigars.

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

CigarCraig

Comments Off on Crowned Heads Broadway, Tatuaje Corojo T110 and AJ Fernandez Decenio Cigars

Filed under Review

Tagged as A.J. Fernandez, aj fernandez, Broadway, cigar, cigars, Corojo, Crowned Heads, Desenio, New World, T110, tatuaje, The Cigar Authority, wooden indian

October 4, 2020 · 10:52 am

A Few A.J. Fernandez Cigars, a Pancetta and STFU!!! Thoughts

I smoked a few more of the A.J. Fernandez cigars that I had picked up last week at CigarCigars in Downingtown. I’ve managed to smoke a great many more cigars that are made by AJF for other people than under his own name, but I imagine that’s just a function of scale. The San Lotano was a cigar that I really enjoyed several years ago. The first one was the New World Puro Especiale Robusto. This is a 5½ x 52 “robusto”, not a bad size, right in between a robusto and a toro really. I thought it was a pretty decent cigar, on the leathery side, which generally doesn’t excite me a whole lot. It has Nicaraguan Habano wrapper and binder, with Nicaraguan fillers. One wonders if they go to the trouble of identifying the wrapper and binder varietals, why skimp on naming the fillers? Anyway, it was a very good cigar if that’s your flavor preference, mine tends toward something sweeter.

Next up was the Enclave Broadleaf, a cigar that I had been hoping to pick up, but was disappointed that they didn’t have for sale. How is it that I came to acquire this cigar, you ask? Well. Tom, the new manager at CigarCigars in Downingtown, PA, happened to mention that he was smoking one that the rep, John, had given him to try, and he was going to recommend bringing them in, which I replied that I had hoped to find them there. He then gifted me one, which was mighty nice of him, I think he’s going to do alright there! 😀 Like I said, I had been looking forward to trying this cigar, so I lit up the 5” x 52 Robusto and took a walk. This is a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapped cigar with Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and it’s on the strong side. I actually found it to have a biting sensation, to the flavor. It had the bitter espresso thing going on to a pretty high level, in my opinion. There was nothing subtle or smooth about this cigar. When I come across these in the shop I’ll pick a few up and leave them rest for a while (six months to a year) and see if the rough edges smooth out. For me, this is a cigar to follow a heavy meal, it’s a full frontal assault on the palate.

I posted the news release last week about Drew Estate’s re-release of the Liga Privada Lounge exclusive Liga Privada Serie Unico Pancetta. This is a shop exclusive that is exclusive to only two shops, the Wooden Indian, which is near me, and one of my favorites, and Barristers In New Jersey. Last year Dave, the proprietor of the Wooden Indian, gave me one out of his private stock, long after I had missed out on getting one. Now that they are available again, or maybe they sold out of the latest batch, I’m not sure, I figured I’d smoke it. It’s a smaller cigar, at least for my tastes, a 4 ¾” x 50 belicoso. I got a late start last night, and the size worked well for me. This cigar has the T52 wrapper, around a variation on the Feral Flying Pig blend. The combination resulted in an excellent cigar, although I was hard pressed to make any connection to either the T52 or the FFP. To be fair, the last FFP seemed different from the previous FFP I smoked, so who knows, right? Anyway, it was an outstanding cigar that I savored until I couldn’t savor any more, it certainly is a cigar that Dave at the WI is proud to have representing his wonderful lounge, which I look forward to visiting once it reopens! I’ve actually only been there once since the remodeled, and it was at Christmas. Between lack of employment and pandemic, I haven’t had a chance to get there. Call them and see if they still have some available!

Saka had his big reveal show for his STFU!!! Brûlée Sampler, hosted by Kevin at CigarProp and the I’d Tap That Cigar show. I don’t normally watch live streams, but this one was a must see. Kevin did a great job moderating this one with Steve and Dave Lafferty, although someone should tell Steve that his signature black shirt against the dark background made him look like a disembodied head on my screen, which was a little disturbing. I lit up a Mi Querida Firecracker because it was supposed to be an hour, I should have gone with a Sobremesa Short Churchill, because it went an hour and 20 minutes. It’s Saka, I should know better. Anyway, The announcement was that the S and !!! were regular Brûlée, T was double sweet and F and U were sweetened. My assessment was close, although I struggled with F and U, missing U altogether I think. The way Steve explained the sweetening process, they make all the cigars the same, then wipe the sugar solution on after the fact, and the sugar solution is concentrated differently to achieve the sweetness level. The F and U samples I received must have had the cloth with the sweetener on it waved over them, because they either were ever so slightly sweetened, or I don’t taste sweet very well. I have quite. A sweet tooth, so I don’t think that’s the case. Anyway, I rather enjoyed the T actually, it was an interesting change of pace, and I do enjoy a sweetened cigar once in a while, although the saccharine is a little much, but Steve explained why that is used instead of sugar in a lot of cases to. Go to the CigarProp YouTube channelCigarProp YouTube channel if you missed the show, there’s a lot of good information there.