I’ve managed to smoke nine cigars since we last talked, and I’ve got to say, they were all pretty darned good! I went about 60/40 for cigars I knew I liked and cigars that were new to me. I’ll throw a couple of comments about the latter at the end, but feel free to follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook if you care to see my daily consumption. A little behind the scenes: if you see me smoking something new on Instagram, and you don’t see it mentioned here, I had some issue with it that didn’t give me a good first impression. Feel free to ask privately about those, I make it a point not to publicly trash cigars unless there’s a very good reason. 
Anyway, last Sunday I started the day off with a La Palina Nicaragua Robusto. I don’t mind taking shots offering constructive criticism of companies websites, and I feel the need to point out that they seem to have the descriptions of the Robusto and Gordo inverted on this product page. Maybe not even the case, but it looks that way to me. This La Palina Nicaragua Connecticut was an amazingly good Connecticut shade cigar, rolled at AJ Fernandez Factory in Esteli with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I smoked this early in the day, while watching an afternoon Flyers game, and it wasn’t nearly as mild as I expected it to be. I put it at medium in strength, a very good smoke in my opinion. I don’t see a broad range of La Palina on my local tobacconist’s shelves, they have a staggering number of products, made in several great factories. Like any brand, there’s some I like and some I can take or leave, but I don’t remember hating anything in the range.
Monday I decided to revisit the Nick & Jim P.B.E. toro. I had really enjoyed the IPCPR sample that Nick Syris gave me when I saw him there, although when I smoked it I wasn’t sure that it was the collaboration with Island Jim Robinson that ended up being the P.B.E. (pre-banded edition, it was supposed to be called La Vida Isla, but there was a trademark issue). Here is a case of a not great name on a great cigar. These are made in the factory in Costa Rica where Nick’s LH Premium Cigars line is produced (check out Nick’s interview on Coop’s Prime Time Show, linked here, for the whole story), the same factory that makes Atabey, Byron, M
Bombay, Vegas de Santiago and probably others. The P.B.E.
comes in one vitola, a 6 x 54 Toro, with an Ecuador Vuelta Abajo seed wrapper and binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and Peru. It’s likely the Peruvian tobacco that give this cigar something a little different and special. It’s a very rich and full tasting cigar, loads of flavor. I bought a fiver of these because I had enjoyed that  trade-show sample so much I wanted to try the regular production, my amigo Rodrigo Cigars had them
available first, so I grabbed some. Good e-tailer to deal with, by the way. The cigar has some wood and leather, but that Peruvian spice really adds something special to the flavor. I love toros, and I especially love the uncut foot. I like the cigar a lot, the original name was much better!
This one was a bit of a surprise. Wednesday was a rare February day with temps in the 70s, so I grabbed a large cigar for the evening walk.Last year some time I bit on one of CIs specials for three different Man O War blends in the Salomon vitola for something stupid like $5 delivered. Maybe there was shipping on top of that, I don’t remember, but the price was so cheap I would have been an idiot not to spring for it. The cigar was a whopping 7″ x 58, with a very nice shape, and the construction was excellent. It had a great, rich flavor that had a nice blend of spice, cocoa and coffee with a creamy mouth feel. This was a really good smoke, not surprising;y made by AJ Fernandez and distributed by Meier and Dutch, Cigars International’s distribution arm. This line is probably most often associated with CI, but it’s a gem, and I’ve had some really good cigars with the Man O’ War name on them.
Finally, early yesterday I grabbed a Gran Habano Connecticut #1 robusto for an early morning walk. This cigar was a 5″ x 50 robusto with an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I don’t generally have a cigar as early as I did, but we had to go to to New Jersey for a memorial service for a recently departed family member and there was a break in the rain. Macha hadn’t been for a 
walk in a while so we headed out. Whether it w
as the time of day, or the lack of a substantial breakfast, I don’t know, but this was stronger than I imagined it would be, and had a definite toasty flavor. Like the other Gran Habano cigars I’ve smoked lately, this one was very enjoyable. The burn and draw were perfect, and I believe thees can be had at a reasonable price. This is a brand that has been around a long time and makes great cigars. This is another line I don’t see in local shops, perhaps the online sales hurts then in the B&M space. Great cigars, and I’m pleased to welcome them as a supporter of CigarCraig.com.
A couple of the other cigars I smoked this week included some cigars I know to satisfy me every time. I had a Dirty Rat, a Mi Querida Ancho Corto, a La Sirena Trident (La Zona made, I still have a few of the old My Father versions) and a Cro-Magnon Cranium. I almost forgot last night’s Fuente Hemingway Best Seller maduro! All great cigars that hit my palate right for one reason or another. I never really plan what I’m going to smoke, some of the fun for me is picking something out of the humidor, sometimes it takes me 15 minutes to decide! One more thing that’s important for
my Pennsylvania readers: It seems that there is still a bill out there that would ban smoking in cigar stores. Go to http://capwiz.com/cigarrights/issues/alert/?alertid=77245626 and let your reps know that this is stupid, anti-small business and that they have better things to worry about! Unless they plan to ban drinking in bars, and eating in restaurants, leave the cigar stores alone! Until the next time,
CigarCraig
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I started off smoking both the Foundation Cigar’s Aksum, in both claro and maduro. This used to be the Menelik, but I think there was some sort of trademark issue, or the descendants of Menelik complained, I’m not sure. So now it’s Aksum, which is the name of the place where Menelik I brought the Ark of the Covenant. Apparently it’s still there, not in a warehouse in Nevada. The blend is Sumatra Ecuador wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder and Estelle and Jalapa fillers. Best I can tell the only difference is the wrapper fermentation. I bought Toros, of course, 6” x 52 with a pigtail cap. These are beautiful cigars with a slight box press if I remember right. I started with the Claro, which burned beautifully. It started with a bit of an acidic hit. Skip Martin says that we shouldn’t describe flavors like food, but that’s like 90% of my flavor references. I would say this is on the leathery side, and that’s in my 10% non-food reference sample. It’s good if you like that flavor profile. I moved on to the Maduro the next evening. This had a dry cocoa profile. It’s not a sweet Maduro, more a dark chocolate kinda thing. Again, very good, I do not regret purchasing these, although I think the Olmec line is more my jam.
another toro, 6” x 56 box pressed. Aging Room is still Rafael Nodal’s brand, although it’s marketed by Altadis, which also employs him as a brand ambassador. He’s basically the face of Altadis now, and he’s very good in that roll. I have been hit or miss with Aging Room cigars, this one wasn’t bad, but had a floral flavor, and a weird mouthfeel. It was almost cloying in a diet soda kind of way. I enjoyed it, just not really a cigar I’ll come back to. Even if I am not a big fan of a cigar, I’m rarely disappointed that I bought and smoked a cigar, it’s all part of the learning process. When I cigar doesn’t burn and or draw right is when I get upset, even if I received it gratis. By the way, this picture is what you get when I’m distracted! 
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