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by | August 30, 2010 · 7:13 pm

Weekend Cigars: Oliva, Padron, Partagas and Punch – Monday August 30, 2010

I started the weekend out with an Oliva Serie V Belicoso which was given to me by the Oliva rep who was handing them out on my friend Mitchell‘s New York City dinner cruise we attended back in June.  It was a very nice cigar, a short torpedo more than a belicoso with a very pointy head.  It was pretty full flavored and satisfying.  Nice cigar, I really haven’t been disappointed with anything in this line, especially the Serie V.

Saturday afternoon I enjoyed a Padron 1964 Anniversary Superior in a natural wrapper that was given to me for my birthday last year.  Another very good cigar that burned well and was lush and flavorful, just as it should be.  I can’t recall ever really being let down by a Padron, whether the regular line or the Anniversary.  I can’t say I’ve smoked the higher end Padrons, just a smattering of 1964s and the odd 1926. Later in the evening I sat down with another Partagas Petit Coronas Especiale which has become a favorite of mine lately.

Sunday I celebrated completing yet another journey around the sun, and. after my wife and children took me out to a nice breakfast, I dug deep into the humidor and selected a Havana Punch Tubed Churchill.  This cigar came into my possession sometime in 2000.  It was part of

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a prize pack that came from a gentleman named John Chunko who started a thread on the alt.smokers.cigars newsgroup and awarded random prizes to contributors.  John was a generous sou

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l who, though various events, was responsible for introducing me to some wonderful cigars that I wouldn’t have otherwise had the occasion to

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sample.  I’ve forgotten what other cigars were included in this package, except for a Romeo y Julieta Celestiales finos from 1977, which I still have.  I had decided that it would be appropriate to celebrate my 47th trip around the sun with a 47 ring gauge cigar.  This Churchill was really very pretty once it emerged from it’s aluminum tube and lit easily.  I was surprised by the firmness of the draw for such a well aged cigar but the flavors…..oh the flavors!  It was a delicate and subtle cigar, not the full flavored powerhouse one would expect.  I was often amazed by some of the fascinating flavors that danced around my mouth.  Truly a sublime experience.  I smoked this at my local cigar store, JM Cigars in Exton, PA, in their lounge while catching up with an old friend Bruce who recent;y moved into the area.  Often times I felt like I was being rude as I got lost momentarily in the cigar.  I selected this cigar over a Romeo y Julieta Tubed Churchill because I’ve had a few RyJ Churchills (non-tubed) that didn’t really “wow” me.  This one must also be approaching 10 years old, so I have high hopes for it.  It was a nice way to celebrate the day.

That’s about it for now.  Please remember to enter the current contest which will end this week sometime.  You could win a Drew Estate hat, Liga Privada cutter and a Liga Privada T52 Belicoso.  Click here to leave a comment for a chance to win!

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | July 21, 2010 · 5:12 pm

Mid-week Cigar Post: Cohiba, Punch, Maria Mancini – Wednesday July 21, 2010

Saturday, after posting about the recent Cohiba judgment in favor of General Cigar, I pulled a Cohiba Puro Dominicana out of the box of goodies my friend Jason sent me some time ago. Cohibas, Dominican or Cuban, have never been in my regular rotation. I’ve always enjoyed them, but they just don’t really have the “bang for the buck” that falls into my comfort zone. I smoked this particular cigar, which measured about 5½ x 50 and it was OK…good cigar, but not mind-blowing. With about 2 inches or so left it didn’t want to stay lit. I was a little bored with it anyway so I let it go out. Since I couldn’t find this listed in my 2008 Perelman’s Guide, I assumed that it was a sample from last years IPCPR show. I looked on line and was stunned to find that these retail for between $13 and $16 each! Well, there are a lot of cigars that cost a lot less that I enjoy a lot more, heck, one can get very nice Cuban cigars for half that or better (not that I advocate any illegal activities such as purchasing contraband cigars). I would almost be more inclined to pay that much for a Havana Cohiba…almost. I would like to try the Lancero one of these days, but I’m not going to go out of my way to get one.

Sunday after grilling some very interesting seafood sausages we found at Trader Joes, I lit up a Punch Gran Puro Rancho. The sausages were interesting, a casing stuffed with shrimp, scallops and white fish which I grilled until they were nice and hot with grill marks. We ate them on some Amorosos rolls, but we just weren’t sure how to condimentize them. I suppose tartar sauce would have worked. Anyway, this isn’t a grilling blog, it’s about cigars. The Gran Puro was a nice cigar, not overpowering and it worked well after the seafood sausage. It had the consistency I expect from a Punch. Burned and drew nicely. A very pleasant hour or so spent smoking while I walked to the convenience store to collect my lottery winnings ($7 in the Powerball! Woohoo!).

Tuesday brought the first really disappointing cigar I’ve had in a while. I was in the mood for a Maria Mancini, and grabbed a Robusto Larga. These are stored in the same humidor as the rest of the cigars I have been smoking, but this cigar seemed like it was over-humidified. It tasted fine, but the smoke took some effort to get to and just felt damp. It wasn’t plugged, nor did it have any wrapper flaws, it just seemed too wet. I stuck with it for a while, but did put it down sooner than I would normally. I shouldn’t be to upset that a $2 cigar wasn’t great, but I’ve had a lot of luck with thi

s line. I have so little time in my day to enjoy a cigar that when I get a dud it hurts a little.

Blowing Off Steam

It seems that rants have become fashionable in the cigar blogosphere, so here’s mine:   Foot bands.  I don’t like ’em.  They make the first part of the cigar taste funny….ok, kidding here, I do take them off before I light ’em, but that’s a

pain as far as I’m concerned.  If I have a cigar with a normal band I leave it on until I get to the point where it’s going to be in the way, unless it’s coming off by itself. Foot bands have to be removed, no ifs, ands or buts.  Sorry Rocky, Sam, whoever else uses foot bands, if I’m cigar shopping I’ll probably pass unless it’s a single I really want to try.  I wouldn’t buy a box of foot banded cigars as that would just drive me insane.  Since I have to take the band off to light it, besides possibly damaging the foot of the cigar, I sometimes forget what it is I’m smoking!   And how are my pretentious friends supposed to know that I’m smoking?  Where’s the fun in that? So if you are coming out with a new cigar, skip the foot band, stick with the traditional placement. While your at it, don’t pattern the band after the Cuban Cohiba either, that’s just cliche and hokey.

That’s all I got for now,Time to go smoke a cigar.

CigarCraig

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by | July 11, 2010 · 10:54 am

Weekend Cigars: Camacho, Punch, JdN, Ashton and Wooden Indian Grand Opening – July 11, 2010

Thursday evening I grabbed the Camacho SLR Maduro Rothschild I mentioned had been teasing me in my last post.  What a nice cigar, rich maduro flavor and and even burn.  I’ve been a fan of Camacho cigars since way before the Corojo hit the market. My only complaint was that it was too short, but that’s not the cigar’s fault.  Very enjoyable cigar for a walk around the block followed by sitting on the front porch.

Friday I went with a Punch Magnum.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy the regular Punch line.  This had been included with the Punch Smoker Box along with 3 other cigars.  I was in the mood for something that I wouldn’t have to think too hard about.  With all of the boutique cigars on the market, most of which are very good, but on the pricey side, it’s nice to know the old school standards still deliver on taste and construction.

Saturday I took a ride toward Philadelphia to Havertown, PA where The Wooden Indian Tobacco Shop was having their grand opening.  They moved from a fairly small shop tucked in the corner of a large shopping center to a much larger store just down the street.   The Drew Estate crew (consisting of David Lafferty, Mike Staiber and Kevin McCormack) were on hand to celebrate the opening of one of two Liga Privada lounges (the other being at Leaning House Cigars out near Pittsburgh). The store also has a very roomy walk-in humidor whch was reasonably well stocked, although there were a lot of empty boxes on the shelves, a trend I’ve noticed in most shops I’ve visited in the last year or so.  It was a rainy day, which may have accounted for the huge crowd in the store.  I picked up a couple of Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Serie as they are priced reasonably and are nice cigars.  I smoked a Toro while I was there and noted the same thing as when I previously smoked this:  the maduro wrapper is just a mouthpiece, looks terrific, but doesn’t burn worth a damn.  The cigar just stops burning when it gets to this point.  Back to the event.  I spent some time with my butt parked in one of about 6 leather couches in the lounge, talking with an old friend of mine, Eric, whom I knew from the old cigar newsgroup days.  We enjoyed our cigars in the lounge while he told me about his “humanitarian” trip to Cuba.  It was nice seeing some acquaintances I hadn’t seen in a while, and meeting David and Kevin face to face.  They had the grill going with dogs and sausages outside under a tent, the hot dog I had was delicious. Our local Cigar Rights of America ambassador, Alan Price, was on hand pitching the CRA and signing up new members. I unfortunately forgot my camera, so I didn’t get any photos of the place.

Later in the evening we went to our next door neighbors who were having a graduation party for their daughter.  Several of the neighbor guys were in a corner of the deck smoking cigars so I, naturally, went to say hello.  Robert, our former next door neighbor, had actually been to the Wooden Indian after I had left and had distributed some Ashton Cabinets to the other guys.  I joined in with an Ashton VSG Belicoso from my humidor.  The odd thing about Robert and I crossing paths at the Wooden Indian is that Havertown is about 40 minutes from my home, and Robert and his family moved about 30 minutes in the opposite direction, and it has been several years since we saw one another.  Small world.  I enjoyed the heck out of the aged VSG and since I was a little late to the party I handed out a couple cigars to keep things going. I finished off the evening with a little Montecristo Purito.

All in all it was a pretty good cigar weekend.  Lots of cigar related fraternizing.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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by | May 19, 2010 · 7:31 pm

Mid-Week Cigars: Punch Rare Corojo and Partagas Cifuentes Julio – Wednesday May 19, 2010

I started out the week grilling some pork chops and felt compelled to smoke one of the cigars out of the Punch Grill box.  I selected the Punch Rare Corojo, since I’ve had these in the past and enjoyed them.  This example was no different.  This one was the 5¼” x 54 Magnum.  The pork chops were good, and the cigar capped off a busy day very nicely.  The Ecuador Sumatra wrapper was nice and tasty and the cigar burned quite well.

I’ve been “theme smoking” lately, so I grabbed a Partagas Cifuentes Julio (also from General Cigars) out of the humidor and went for a nice long walk.  These are apparently seasonal blends, and I jumped the gun a little smoking a July cigar in May.  Sorry about that.  It still was a nice cigar.  It was medium bodied with a long finish, tongue coating in a not unpleasant way.  I had to correct the burn a few times and it wanted to tunnel a little, but both are forgivable considering how much I enjoyed the flavor.  These are fairly beefy cigars in a 6″ x 54 format.  This was a single that was amongst the goodies sent by my buddy Jason at Rock’s Smoke Shop.  Thanks!  Another winner from that collection.

I received a very nice delivery today from Vegas de Santiago.  You may recall one of my loyal readers, DJ, kindly sent me a couple of these to smoke and I enjoyed them quite a bit.  Rudy and Lani in Costa Rica are making some very nice cigars in beautiful presentations.  One of these weeks real soon will be Vegas de Santiago week and I’ll smoke and review (and I use that term loosely, I’m a crappy reviewer!) some of them.  I have a cigar from an event that they sponsored back in 2004 that I will finally smoke to compare and contrast. The wooden tubes are really cool and almost too cool to open.

Here’s another site for the blog junkies:  Cigar TopSite.  This is a simple listing of some of the more popular sites.  CigarCraig.com has been listed there since the beginning.  I’d LOVE to see it climb up the rankings, so if you wouldn’t mind spreading the word, I’d appreciate it.  I’m almost as bad at self-promotion as I am at cigar reviews.  I know what you’re thinking: “if more people follow the CigarCraig.com blog then there will be less chances for me to win some of the great stuff Craig gives away!”  I understand, but the more readers I have, the better my chances of mooching quality goodies to give to you, my loyal readers (there will be a new contest soon!).

Well, that’s about enough from me, until the next time,

CigarCraig

Oh yeah…..GO FLYERS!

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by | April 26, 2010 · 6:49 pm

CigarCraig Contest Winners! Please Send Snailies! – Monday April 26, 2010

It sure is hard to give stuff away these days!  I’m still wait

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ing to hear from the winner of the Drew Estate Cap and Liga Privada Cutter contest.  “Wallaper” please send me your address so I can mail your prizes!  I love giving stuff awa

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y, but it’s so much easier to do when I have a mailing address!

I received a package in the mail today with the Punch smoker box that I mentioned in my last post.  Thi

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s is a real nice presentation, the box itself must weigh two pounds and it’s very well made.  It has a instructions for use and a guide to choosing what wood produces certain flavors.  The four cigars look tasty and were certainly well protected by the stainless steel box.  I’ll try this out on the grill one of these days, although I’m not sure how much hamburgers and hot dogs will benefit!  These are in stores now.   I love Punch cigars, and have been

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looking forward to trying the Uppercut.

I did throw out a quick contest in my last post, didn’t I?   A 5 pack of Hoyo de Tradicion Toros will be finding it’s way to Chris  McCann, provided he will send me his address!   Don’t make

me hunt you down!!  A big thanks to General Cigar for making this possible.

That’s about enough shilling for now!  Next month will feature another excellent cigar give-away, so stay tuned.  Also, I have a bunch of nice cigars I’m looking forward to smoking and talking about here.

Until the next cigar,

CigarCraig

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