Tag Archives: Oz Family Cigars

February 22, 2026 · 9:20 am

La Sirena, Punch and Oz Family Cigars and a New CigarProp

I write this as I await yet another snowstorm, which I don’t look forward to at all. Sure, it’s pretty, for a minute, but the aftermath is really bothersome. I’ll be happy when this winter has passed us by! I’ll take sweat over snow any day of the week. Anyway, It’s been a while since I’ve featured one of my favorite lines over the last dozen or so years, La Sirena. Those who follow on Instagram or Facebook will frequently see me lighting up a La Sirena, whether it’s the Original, Mexican Mermaid, or the LT, I’m a big fan of the line. Here’s a video from way back in 2012 from the trade show:

This is number three on my most watched videos on my Youtube channel, by the way. Anyway, a lot has changed with La Sirena over the years. Arielle has stepped back and is raising a bunch of children, and her father, Danny is steering the ship now. Merlion and Oceano are discontinued, and the classic La Sirena line is on it’s third factory. It started out being made at My Father, then at La Zona for a long time. Recently production has shifted to Tabacalera La Isla, which is the same factory that makes the Mexican Mermaid (the LT is still made by Plasencia). I’ve smoked loads of the La Sirena Original, and I was very interested in sampling the new iteration. I believe my favorite size, the Trident (Churchill) has been replaced by a Toro, so, obviously I went with the 6″ x 60 King Poseidon size first. I have no reason to believe the blend has changed, Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper, Nicaraguan Criollo binder and Nicaraguan Jalapa & Condega fillers. I was concerned that my favorite cigar had changed, but it hadn’t! It still has the sourdough flavor that I really like in this cigar. It’s perfectly constructed and delicious! I’m very happy that Hostos at La Isla was able to maintain the signature flavor that I like in that cigar! If you have an opportunity to smoke any of the line, take it, you won’t be disappointed. I noticed that the latest version no longer has the thn band under the large band. If you come across La Sirenas where you can see the thin band under the large band, grab them, they are the original My Father version.

I probably should have smoked this next cigar earlier in the week, as the 17th was the lunar new year and the start of the Year of the Horse. While not technically a “Year of” cigar, Punch generally releases their line of Chinese food themed cigars about this time. This yeor it is the Egg Roll XL. The original Egg Roll was 4½” x 50, with the same unfinished foot that the 6″ x 60 XL has. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and Columbian, Dominican, Mexican and US fillers. That’s a heck of a blend for an $8 cigar. I have historically liked this line of cigars, even though I think the branding is a little cheesy. What does Chinese food have to do with cigars? I guess it makes as much sense as anything else. I’ve smoked Chinese cigars, and just about anything is better than they are. This XL starts out with a leathery flavor, mind you, the first ¾” of the cigar is just binder, once the burn reaches the wrapper things round out a little and some sweetness comes in. Burn was good, I think it only need a slight correction once. This is another winner in this series, however was satisfied with this one, I didn’t crave another a half hour later. I like it, thank you to the folks at STG for sending samples.

I’ve mentioned before that Smoke Inn has been putting some ridiculous offers out there every week. I picked up a five pack of the new(ish) Oz Family Cigars Karatoba Robustos. Before I talk about the cigar, I want to highlight something new from my friend CigarProp, a set of four 3-D printed props. These are reminiscent of the plastic model kits we assembled as kids. I like these, maybe Kevin will make a mop bucket ashtray to go with them! CigarProp usually posts the Smoke Inn weekly specials, watch for them on his feed. The Karatoba is made at NACSA, which wasn’t a surprise to me when I looked up the specs after smoking it. It has a Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder an Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The Robusto sells for $12, and I got the five pack for $20 delivered. I’m going to be sorry I bought all these five packs from them when they go bankrupt! I feel like I’m stealing. The Karatoba has a very strong flavor, but it’s not a really strong cigar. It’s pungent, almost cloying, and I loved it. I’m interested in trying it in a larger size. I had an hour to kill and this 5″ x 52 square pressed cigar fit the bill perfectly. One down, four to go. I’ve smoked a bunch of cigars from NACSA, and this is definitely one of them!

That’s all for today, I’m going to watch this morning hockey game with Gold medals on the line. I expect a great game! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

😃+

Aganorsa Signature, The GOAT and Oz Family Cigars

First off I feel the need to point something out. I received the press release for this year’s Punch Father’s Day release, Mr. Punch’s Weiners. I thought the Dad Bod was a terrible concept just about all around, some folks liked it. The band was dumb, packaging them in a can was dumb, overall I thought it sent a bad message: it’s OK to let yourself go. Not that I’m a fitness freak, I have a dad bod, but I don’t embrace it! The Dad’s Home Videos was very good, not a problem. I have a problems with the weiner theme, aside form the obvious, it seems to be a little close to the Fratello Vice-Versa, down to saying it can be smoked from either end. Now, it doesn’t claim to taste different depending on which way one smoked it, but the concept is the same. I know it’s not worth Omar’s time to do anything about it, both are limited editions, and General has deep enough pockets to defend themselves, but it would be a courtesy to look at things in the market and try not to blatantly copy them. At least they put them in packs of 10. I think Kevin (who played a big part in the Vice-Versa, by the way) should get on his 3D printer and make some hot dog roll cigar props and sell them in packs of eight!

That was a long way to get to the punch line, so let’s talk about some new-to-me cigars. In a recent visit to The Wooden Indian I picked up an Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Maduro Toro. This is a Nicaraguan Puro, mostly Nicaraguan Corojo with a touch of Nicaraguan Criollo 98 in the filler. I struggle with the Aganorsa lines, some I like, some not so much and I can’t seem to ever remember which ones fall into which category. I know I like the La Validation Maduro, that’s for sure. Will I remember the next time I’m faces with a choice? Who’s to say? I can say that I’m adding this to the list of Aganorsa cigars I like. It started with a dry cocoa powder kinda thing going on, and got sweeter as it went along. Burn and draw were great and it hit the spot. $13.50 well spent.

Next up from my Wooden Indian foray was an A.J. Fernandez cigar that I’ve heard a lot about, The Goat. This started life as a store exclusive for Nasser’s Lounge in Pétion-Ville, Haiti. I’ve never been there. It’s now in wider distribution, and is pricey for an A.J. Fernandez cigar , around $17. Also pricey for me, but I was interested and looking for new things. This has a San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan Corojo binder and Nicaraguan fillers. What’s not to like, right? Turns out, I liked it a lot. It was a 6″ x 52 toro, It was heavy, earthy and had some sweet espresso notes. It was very good, but outside my comfort zone price-wise. I’m notoriously frugal.

Finally I picked up an Oz Family Cigars Firsat, in the F54 size. This is a 7″ x 54 cigar, with a higher priming Ecuador Connecticut wrapper that I thought was pretty ugly. Many times ugly wrappers are very tasty. The binder is a Ecuador Habano with Nicaraguan fillers. I believe this is made at Casa Carillo in the DR. It’s a big cigar, and I sat down to watch a movie figuring it was going to take a good two hours to smoke. The flavors were nuts and leather, with a bit of creaminess and built up to a solid medium. This was a light (in weight) cigar, and was done in less than 90 minutes, which was a bit of a disappointment. $14 wasn’t a terrible price, it was a tasty cigar and it might work better in another size, or at least the same for less money.

That’s all I have for today. Don’t forget to check out the Flatbed Cigar Co. Daily Deal, there’s always something good (left sidebar). Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as A.J. Fernandez, Aganorsa Leaf, cigar, Cigar Prop, cigars, Firsat, Fratello, Oz Family Cigars, punch, Signature Selection, The Goat

February 19, 2023 · 9:50 am

Protocol, La Gloria Cubana and Oz Family Cigars

I attempted to do something interesting for today’s post, but that didn’t work out, more on that later. My first cigar today is the Tenure by Protocol Cigars. This was made for the Cigar Dojo‘s tenth anniversary last year. Please note that in September of this year CigarCraig.com will celebrate it’s 14th year. There are a couple of independent blog sites that have been

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around longer, but not many. Anyway, Dojo has built a community, and has sold a bunch of exclusive cigar brands, and Protocol has been one of their partners on several of them. This sample was generously gifted to me by me Secret Santa, Mitch, who was overly generous and sent all cigar I wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity to try. Remember this when Secret Santa comes around next year, it’s a good time! The Tenure is a 6″ x 52 box pressed toro, it has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan Corojo binder, and Nicaraguan fillers from Estelí and Condega. This was a neat tasting cigar. It had some earth and coffee notes like you’d imagine, along with some tanic sort of flavor. It was quite a good cigar, I liked it, besides yesterday’s Fratello Pennsylvanian, it was the highlight of the week.

I’ve been sampling some new La Gloria Cubana cigars and have made mention of my disappointment with the Serie S, but the La Gloria Cubana Society Cigar was pretty good. This, like the Punch “The People’s Champ” was made with input from the La Gloria Cubana Society, of which I’m a member (no. 631 on my card). I don’t recall being asked for my input, but that’s OK, I admit that I don’t participate in the club. Apparently 2000 members gave input on the cigar, which is a 6¼” x 54 box pressed toro. These are made in the El Credito factory (within the General Cigars factory) in Santiago, DR. Oddly, it’s Honduran puro, with the Olancho San Augustine wrapper, a Jamastran binder and fillers from Jamastran and La Entrada. General must get really good yields on this OSA leaf, because it comes up everywhere. The fist time I saw it was on their first CAO release, the OSA Sol, which was a good cigar (especially in the little torpedo they had), but was a c

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ommercial flop, although it was no CAO Concert! I seem to recall seeing the OSA leaf on Partagas, Cohiba and other La Gloria cigars. I find it generally neutral in flavor, but that’s just me. This La Gloria Cubana Society Cigar had some hard candy sweetness, some coffee and nuts, and was quite enjoyable to smoke. It was far superior to the Serie S, which might be the least San Andrés tasting San Andrés wrapped cigar I’ve ever smoked.

Yesterday I tried to go to Tobaccology in Manassas, VA for the launch event for Fratello‘s Vice Versa cigar. I sampled this cigar last May, or should I say, “these” cigars, because one has to try the cigar both ways to understand it. Kevin from Cigar Prop somehow convinced Omar to make this cigar, and Omar spent the better part of two years working with the La Aurora factory to bring this to fruition. Anyway, I left in plenty of time to make the 2½ hour drive, but less than an hour in I hit traffic on I-95 just into Maryland. It turns out a tractor-trailer overturned and blocked all three lanes, and both shoulders, closing the highway (story here). After about 2+ hours I finally got turned around and aborted my mission. I was disappointed, because I wanted to be among the first to buy some of these, and hanging out with Omar is always a good time. I’ll buy some when they become available, I know TrashPandaCigars.com will have them. I “wasted” a good hour of that time smoking a delicious Fratello Pennsylvanian.

I had come across the Oz Family Cigars Pi Synesthesia in a local shop a few weeks ago and picked one up. This one was a 6″ x 52 toro with an Ecuador Connecticut Shade wrapper, an Ecuadorian Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers, made at the Pichardo factory. I have a few questions. The UPC sticker on the cigar has the Crowned Heads logo on it. I know they have a partnership, but I thought Oz Family cigars was its own thing and not a subsidiary, although Tim Ozgener’s financial involvement in CH has recently been confirmed. The other wildcard here, and one that makes anything I have to say about this particular example moot, is CH’s split from Pichardo. Unless this particular Pi Synesthesia is a one-and-done limited, it will have to find a new factory in which to be made. Whatever, it’s a $15 cigar, but, to me, there wasn’t anything to distinguish it from so many other Ecuador shade wrapped cigars. There are plenty available for less money that are just as good, or better. It was a good smoke, just not too much different or special to me, not that I have a great palate. Standard bread, some nuts, and creamy. I have smoke a lot worse!