Tag Archives: Powstanie

May 24, 2026 · 10:17 am

Powstanie Sumatra, West Tampa Barbershop and La Gloria Cubana Intención Cigars

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and it feels more like a rainy Thanksgiving! Last week started with days in the 90s, we’re back in the 50s now. That’s why I’m not enjoying a cigar while I type today! Anyway, tomorrow is the day we remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can do stuff like smoke cigars and live our lives. Thank you to all who’ve paid the price. Anyway, I smoked a few new cigars this week. I am a regular listener to the A Cigar Hustlers podcast, which is hosted by the two Mikes, Palmer and Szczepankiewicz and comes out every weekday. I heard them talk about the new Powstanie Sumatra and that it’s available in a Churchill, which led to an unintentional mooch. All I wanted to know was where I could buy some! Anyway, a couple showed up in my mailbox and I smoked one. This is new core line is pretty much the same blend as the Catastrophic Failure, which was a limited release lin 2024, which I wrote about here. They’ve made this line in four sizes that they haven’t used in their other lines, a petit robusto, gran robusto, gran toro and Churchill. These are all box pressed, have an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Mexican and Pennsylvania binders, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, made at Nica Sueño in Esteli. I expected a little more of the sweetness I usually get with a sumatra, and got with the Catastrophic Failure, perhaps the larger size tempers this a bit. It was still a delicious cigar that I had to smoke slowly so as to not overheat it, the draw was on the open side. Obviously this has well worked tobaccos, given the factory, and is a cigar I will smoke again. I’ll be sampling other sizes, but I always get excited about 7″ x 48 (or 47) Churchills, it’s becoming a forgotten size, and is one of my favorites.

Last weekend I missed seeing Ricky Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco at Smoke-onos, but Dan, who does sales for the company handed me their new offering, the Barbershop. I smoked the “Clipers” size, which is 6″ x 54. This is a new core line cigar, offered in three sizes, with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers from all over Nicaragua. It’s box pressed and I’ve heard comparisons to another broadleaf box pressed cigar that Ricky was involved with, although I did not need to get my large punch cutter out for this one. This one also had an open draw, so I smoked it slow. There’s a savory sweetness, if that makes sense, very tasty. There was some leather and dark chocolate, absolutely no hints of Clubman or talc. I appreciate any cigar with dark chocolate flavors, I love dark chocolate, but lately it’s a migraine trigger for me, so I avoid it. This is another really nice cigar, and I’ll try the other sizes, which include a 6½” x 64 called the Barber Chair, and a 5″ x 52 called the Straight Razor. A lesser brand owner would just have called them toros and robustos, bt Ricky likes clever names.

Lastly, La Gloria Cubana has a new offering called the Intención, made at the STG Esteli factory, and ranging from $6 for the Gran Robusto, which is what I sampled, to $8 for the Gigante (6″ x 60), there’s a toro right in the middle both size and price-wise. I’m reading the info sheet and wondering if I smoked the right cigar, it has the Intención band on it, but it really doesn’t look like a San Andrés wrapper, it looks lighter than I expect. Not all San Andrés wrappers are maduro, so I’ll let that slide. It also has an Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos, with ligeros from both. I found this to be a medium cigar, with some baking spices to start and a heavy citrus tang throughout. The data sheet cites spiced chocolate and leather, neither of which I got at all. The cigar I smoked was excellent, I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it was very different than the literature would suggest, and I think others might agree. Of course, I’ve always been a fan of the La Gloria Cubanas, this one is a winner, I’d gladly add a box to my humidor.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Barbershop, Churchill, cigar, cigars, Powstanie, Sumatra, West Tampa Tobacco Co.

November 16, 2025 · 9:16 am

Camacho, Powstanie and Mi Querida Cigars

It’s funny, Camacho cigars were a staple for me back in the 90s, the Corojo and Havana were favorites. They used to label the boxes “dark” Corojo if I remember correctly, they were the best. I even smoked though a box of Camacho Candelas. This was all before the company was sold to Davidoff. Since they have owned the company, I’ve continued to enjoy the cigars, oddly not as often as I used to. I recently saw them on a local retailers shelves, and decided to pick some up. I grabbed a Camacho Corojo BXP, which is the box pressed toro, a size I haven’t tried before, and it’s been quite some time since I’ve had a Corojo in any size. This is a well-behaved, spicy cigar. Apparently they added some Pennsylvania ligero to this Honduran puro, giving it some more zip than the round versions. I liked it, and I’m going to grab more, along with the round version to compare the two.

I had to take a road trip for work this week, moving some vehicles around. It was 7+ hours of windshield time, just out and back. I dis go right past Harrisburg Beer and Cigar and it timed out right for a rest stop. Sadly, James wasn’t in the store, I’ll try to plan better next time I get out that way. I picked up some Powstanie San Andrés toros, a cigar I had been looking forward to trying. I like the guys at Powstanie, Mike and Mike (and Greg). If you were to search my archives you’ll find a video I did with them. (here, I made it easy for you!). I lit one up shortly after I got home. This is a Nicaraguan binder and filler with the San Andrés wrapped cigar made at Nica Sueńo in Esteli. It had a nice earthy, spicy sweetness, I liked it a lot. My only complaint was that it burned too fast, I’d like for it to have lasted longer. It was also pricy, but that’s getting harder and harder to complain about, they all are. Another winner from the Powstanie guys.

Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust traditionally sends out media kits around this time of year, strategically to get cigars on people’s year end lists. Over the last bunch of years this has resulted in one of his cigars being at or near the top of the Halfwheel Consensus. I think we can all agree that the timing is strategic, but we can also agree that the cigars are exceptional and deserve whatever accolades they receive. Two of the four cigars included have already graced my pages, as I went out and purchased some, but there were two that I hadn’t yet tried, one of which is the Mi Querida Gorila Gordo, This is a 6″ x 60 with a “109” style bullet head. It’s basically an overweight belicoso. It’s also an excellent cigar. I personally adore the regular old Mi Querida line with the blue bands. It’s rich and chocolatey, with just enough spice to make it interesting, but basically, to me, it’s smoking a dessert. I don’t shy away from 60 ring cigars, there’s a lot I like, it’s cool to have a Mi Querida in this gauge.

Back by popular demand, I’ve launched the 2025 edition of the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa. Go HERE to sign up. We have a really great core group. That’s all for today, until next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as BXP, Camacho, cigar, cigars, Corojo, Gorila Gordo, Mi Querida, Powstanie, San Andrés

December 22, 2024 · 10:50 am

Catastrophic Failure, a Couple of Adventuras and a Patina Cigar

I was passing through the Harrisburg area last week and made a quick stop at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar where I grabbed a couple “new to me” cigars for this week. The primary motivator was the Catastrophic Failure from Powstanie Cigars. I thought this was a terrible name, but I was intrigued by the thought of a Sumatra wrapped cigar made by Nica Sueńo. I also was interested because Kaplowitz gave it an A-, high praise. These are very limited, 500 ten count bundles, and I got the last two that they had. This is a 5½” x 52 box-pressed robusto,with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Mexico and Pennsylvania double binder, and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Lots to look forward to here. I lit this up on Wednesday, when I participate in what I call a support group, several cigar guys on a video call smoking and shooting the shit. This is a really nice cigar, well behaved, which isn’t surprising considering the factory. It has what I think of as a hard candy, but it’s a spiced hard candy, and I haven’t been able to find it in the wild. I really enjoyed it, the PA and San Andrés binder seemed to add quite a bit to the blend, beefed it up, I guess. Definitely not a Catastrophic Failure, but I think the Szczepankiewicz boys like irony. Including their name in a post almost uses up my allotted number of letters.

James happened to be there at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar (because he works there) and gave me a couple of exclusive cigars to HB&C/BL Luxuries which I found interesting. These are variations on the King’s Gold and Queen’s Pearls in ADVentura‘s The Royal Return line (they should offer seconds as the Jester’s Junk, just a thought…), in a barber pole format. Here’s what confuses me: These cigar look identical except for the band. They’ve added a Ecuador Connecticut wrapper to the Broadleaf wrapper on the King’s Gold and vice versa to the Queen’s Pearls. I thought James said the two were the same blend with opposite wrapper but I think I better understand, unless the only difference between the two is the wrapper, in which case I’m still confused. I don’t know a lot about ADVentura, typically the Henderson Ventura blends don’t particularly appeal to me. I warned James about this. These are sold in ten count boxes containing five of each. I smoked these on consecutive evenings, starting with the Queen’s Pearls. This has both Ecuador Connecticut and Broadleaf wrappers, an Ecuador binder and Dominican, Ecuador and Nicaraguan fillers. I got a distinct cinnamon bun flavor on the cold draw, which was weird. This didn’t continue when it was lit. It had some citrus tang and woody/leathery flavors throughout. Maybe a little creaminess. While not my preference, it was a very good cigar.

The Royal Return King’s Gold Barber Pole is also a 6″ x 54 toro with a Broadleaf and Ecuador Connecticut striped wrapper, San Andrés binder, and fillers from DR, USA and Nicaragua. I should like this one more, right? I remember smoking the “normal” King’s Gold and was neither repulsed nor impressed, it was just a decent cigar. Like an idiot, I forgot to look for that Cinnabon flavor on the cold draw, I just dug with in. I think this is a little more cocoa/coffee forward than the Pearls, with the same wood/leather undercurrent, of which I’m not a fan. Great burn and draw, enjoyable flavor, these are very nice. I imagine smoking these two at the same time they would be hard to tell apart, at least for me. I could definitely tell they were closely related. I appreciated being allowed to smoke these, thanks to Nick and James at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar/BL Luxuries.

I spied a freshpack of Patina Robustos on the rack and picked one up because I like Patina cigars, and Mo the owner, and I don’t see them around much. James brought out a Patina LE 2024 robusto that has recently come in. I think this is one of the reasons my bill was so high, I didn’t ask questions, I just bought. This is a 5″ x 54 Robusto with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, San Andrés binder, and fillers from the U.S. and Nicaragua. It’s made at NACSA, which is where the Broadleaf Dunbarton cigars and several other brands, are made. NACSA is an older factory, owned by the Oliva tobacco company and perhaps Lew Rothman still has a stake. For many years this factory pumped out tons of JR Cigars bundles. It’s become a major player in premium cigars largely due to Saka going in to make Mi Querida and teaching them how to make excellent cigars. I wouldn’t normally spent close to $20 on a robusto, or any cigar for that matter, but this was an excellent cigar, right up my alley. Rich, meaty, espresso/cocoa, al the things I love in a cigar. To be honest, if I smoked this blind I might have guessed it was one of Saka’s broadleaf blends. I’m sure Mo will be pleased that I say that. It’s a great cigar, my favorite of the week.

That’s all for today, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and happy holidays to everyone. Until the next time (when I should have a holiday giveaway, I guess!),

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Adventura, BL Luxuries, Catastrophic Failure, cigar, cigars, Harrisburg Beer & Cigar, Kings Gold, LE 2024, Patina, Powstanie, Queen's Pearls

March 17, 2024 · 10:33 am

Knuckle Sandwich, Julius Caeser, Postanie and Aganorsa Cigars

I smoked a good variety of cigars this week, the next couple weeks will probably be featuring some retailer exclusive cigars, so I figured I’d mix it up. I had picked up the Knuckle Sandwich 56 Maduro on a recent visit to the Wooden Indian, it was on the high side of what I like to spend, but I wanted to try it. This cigar is made by Espinosa, at the A.J.Fernandez’ San Lotano factory, for Guy Fieri’s 56th birthday. Obviously, it has a 56 ring gauge, and looks to be made using the San Lotano Oval molds. I like a 6″ x 56, and I liked the Oval shape. It has a San Andrés wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. Can anyone tell me why the word “Sandwich” sounds like “Sangwich” when persons of Cuban descent say it? I went through a phase of smoking cigars with the ring gauge of my age for a while, now that I’m 60 I’m over that. I loved this cigar, which is a shame because it’s limited and expensive. It started with a nice spice over cocoa, and mellowed into a chocolaty treat, with a hint of the spice. I dug it, even though when I met Guy at the PCA show a few years ago he really could have cared less and my request for Erik Espinosa to get in the picture with us was ignored. I don’t get starstruck and fawn over celebs, some of them don’t like that. Anyway, I don’t regret the purchase at all, it wa sa really good smoke, probably the best I had all week. It was my Pi Day treat.

We are in the midst of a string of March holidays, so on Friday I was compelled to smoke a Diamond Crown Julius Caeser Toro. We all know that March 15 marks the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. We know the exact date because he invented the calendar we use. He instituted that just a year before his death. Anyway, he was a heck of an Emperor, but I guess his friends thought he was a dick, so they stabbed him. I may be oversimplifying things a little. A few millennia later some Hungarian folks named their son after him, and US immigration screwed up the spelling on his paperwork and Julius Caeser Newman started a cigar company that makes some great cigars. The Diamond Crown Julius Caeser is made at Tabacalera A. Fuente, has an Ecuador Havana wrapper, Dominican binder and Caribbean and Central American fillers. They could just say Dominican, Nicaraguan and/or Honduran fillers, but they can be vague if they want. I enjoy Diamond Crown cigars, from the mild Diamond Crown, to the bolder Maximus and Black Diamond, and this falls in between. I find the flavor to be largely sweet wood, which is a nice change of pace for me. I like this cigar a lot, I remember smoking one of these a long time ago with a shop owner who has since passed, before a big celebrity cigar launch dinner. It didn’t give me any stabbing back pain either.

Saturday ended up being a Connecticut Shade day, which isn’t normal for me, but I had a couple shade cigars I hadn’t smoked yet, so I figured I’d give them a go. The first one I have smoked, but there’s a new size launching at the PCA show that I had a chance to smoke. It was the Powstanie Connecticut Justice, a 5½ x 46 Corona Gorda which Mike Szczepankiewicz blended nine years ago for the birth of his son. This is made at the Nica Sueño factory like the rest of the Powstanie cigars. I really like the Robusto that Mitch shared with me late last year. This shape seemed different, it didn’t have the character that the larger ring had, although I still found it to be exceptional. This was a really good shade cigar with some body, which I think must come from the PA Broadleaf binder in large part. For someone who doesn’t gravitate to shade wrapped cigars, this is a really good one, and worth a shot, but I don’t even think it’s due to be released until next month, some additional age won’t hurt this one. If you come across any Postanie cigars, try them, they are all really quite good.

Finally, I smoked an Aganorsa La Validacion Connecticut Robusto that I got at the Wooden Indian a few weeks ago when Fabien and Mike King were there doing an event. Aganorsa is a brand I struggle to find a favorite in. There’s a few I like, and some I don’t, and I can’t seem to remember which is what. So I buy them and smoke them and enjoy them or not and start the cycle over again. I don’t care for Criollo ’99 too much, so that probably has something to do with it. I think this series is one I like, and I definitely liked this Connecticut. It was medium bodied, nutty with some wood and spice and really a nice cigar. I’m going to remember that I really like the La Validacion line (I just went back and checked and I did like the Maduro and Corojo!).

Today is Green Cigar Day, or as some call it, St. Patrick’s Day, so pick out a nice Candela and drive the snakes out of your country! Why have none of these companies made a Candela Culebra in honor of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland? Because it would suck and it wouldn’t sell, that’s why. I’ll suggest it to Saka. I mentioned him making a Candela Lancero on my last Podcast episode with him and he poopoo’d it, now he’s making a lancero box featuring the candela. I’d write more today but I used a lot of letters on Mike Szczepankiewicz name. Anyway, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 56, Aganorsa, Aganorsa Leaf, cigar, cigars, Diamond Crown, Espinosa, Guy Fieri, Julius Caeser, Justice, Knuckle Sandwich, La Validacion, La Zona, Powstanie

November 5, 2023 · 12:17 pm

A Powstanie Connecticut and a Few More RoMaCraft Cigars

This week I finished off the cigars that Mitch very generously shared with me (except for one, which is a favorite which may get smoked today!). Before that I’d like to share a little experience I had Tuesday. We went to New York City to see a show, a revival of Spamalot, for which my wife got tickets for the preview for my birthday. When she mentioned finding a cigar spot, the only place I had any interest in visiting was Paley Park, which is a private park on 53rd Street, between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue. It’s owned my the Paley family and is dedicated to Samuel Paley, the father of William Paley, who founded CBS, mostly to promote his father’s cigar business. I had always been under the impression that this was a safe haven for cigar smoking, however, I was to find out that smoking is only allowed there from 4pm to 8pm. Sadly, I was told this, very nicely and politely by the attendant there, by the way, after I lit up a La Palina Mr. Sam. This is a cigar that is also dedicated to the same Samuel Paley as the park. There was a sign, but apparently one has to check the rules on the website now days before doing anything. I’ve officially reached the “get off my lawn” stage of life, I guess. Just put the rules on the sign, don’t make me check a webpage. Anyway, we walked up a few blocks and I finished my Mr. Sam, which was very good, in front of Tiffany’s while my wife went in and got the tour. I BS’d a bit with Tony, the greeter who was a super cool dude. Good dinner at Havana Central, good show, good little trip.

Back to Mitch’s cigars

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! Several of the cigars he sent me were on a list I had of cigars I wanted to smoke. One of them might have been the Powstanie Connecticut, and I don’t often seek out Connecticut wrapped cigars to try. I’ll smoke them if I have to, and there are some that I like, and more often than not I like them when I smoke then, if that makes sense. It probably doesn’t, I just

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have a mental thing about shade wrapper cigars. I gotta tell ya, whatever your taste preference is, you have to try this Powstanie Connecticut. It’s made at Nica Sueño, I smoked the 5″ x 50 robusto, and it was one of the most unique and interesting cigars of any variety I’ve smoked. It started with a lot of spice, and I realized that is seemed to me like a heavy citrus, it was tangy and sweet. It was really a fascinating cigar from start to finish. This is a cigar I want more of, and will be on the hunt for some locally, if I can’t find some, I know of a place to get them!

The number one on my wishlist that Mitch included was the Quinqaungenario, another 5″ x 50 cigar from RoMaCraft. This one is a little different, as Skip Martin worked with Ernesto Carillo to make a special cigar to celebrate his 50th birthday. I felt funny smoking this, as I am no longer a Quinqgangenarian, I moved into Sexagenarian a few months ago (and I find that tern cruelly ironic). I suppose if Skip had come out with the Quinquangenario on time it would I would have smoked it while I was still in my fifties. This cigar is made by Ernesto in his factory in the Dominican Republic, has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over Dominican binder and fillers. This was a really good cigar, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering who’s involved. I personally am a fan of both parties, one for a dozen years, the other for a lot longer. Call me crazy, but I was reminded of really old El Rico Habano a little bit, the ones that were made in Miami probably and were really strong. This had that citrus tang again, and loads of spice. There was a lot going on, but not so much as to overwhelm, it was perfectly balanced. Great, another $15 cigar I need buy! Thanks Mitch! No, I’m serious, thank you Mitch for sharing the cigars with me, They’ve been some of the best I’ve had recently. But wait, there’s more!

There were a couple of RoMaCraft shop exclusives included in Mitch’s selection. First up was the Abaddon. This is an exclusive to Chicago’s Blue Havana. I like the size, 6¼” x 52, and it has a hybrid criollo/corojo wrapper of some sort which is fairly nondescript. This one has a sweet leather kind of flavor, It was a good cigar, I suppose I was a bit spoiled by the previous two being so very interesting. This would have been a good choice thematically to smoke on Thursday, as I tossed around the notion of smoking either something from All Saints, or something with a dia de los muertos theme, as Abaddon has some basis in Hebrew as a pit of the dead or something related to death. I screwed up there. This one wasn’t as “up my alley” as most of the other RoMa cigars, for some reason, but still a good cigar.

Last night I smoked the first cigar in the CRAFT Maquette series, a small batch series that will use some limited quantity tobaccos that aren’t available in large enough quantities to produce sustainable lines. This one called the Il Nonno, is in honor of Skip’s first grandchild, apparently he shares grandparentage with the owner of Riverside Cigars in Kentucky who has exclusive distribution on this cigar. I’ve got a couple granddaughters, it’s a very cool thing. It’s got a simple bronze ribbon on the foot. and was a 5″ x 52 robusto. It has some sort of hybrid wrapper, Brazilian binder and DOminican and Brazilian fillers. This was an interesting cigar. I thought it was more “RoMaCraft” than the Abaddon, but certainly not as heavy as the core lines. It had some subtle cocoas and coffees, and was a very tasty and interesting cigar. It was quite a treat, as was the Abaddon, for someone who doesn’t go chasing a lot of shop exclusives, so a big thanks again to Mitch for sharing. I’ll be rummaging around for some of my favorites to send your way, I know you said it wasn’t necessary, but you also said that the sharing was fun and I agree.