Tag Archives: Quesada

Smoking Some Tobacco Plaza Ltd. 50th Anniversary Cigars

I was talking to Danny Ditkowich of Tobacco Plaza in Great Neck, NY recently and the subject of the store’s 50th Anniversary and the special cigars that accompanied it came up. So I decided to smoke some and highlight them here.  I’ll get it out of the way, the links I put in this post will go to the store’s website, where you could purchase each of these cigars. Danny mentioned that the Tatuaje (along with the Tuxtla series) are 10% off while supplies last, and there’s free shipping fo the month of June.  All that out of the way, let’s talk about these three tasty cigars!  The first one I smoked was the Tatuaje TP DD 50th Exclusive.  If I recall, Danny worked with Pete on a DD for the 40th anniversary, and it was 6″x 58 torpedo, this one is a 6″ x 60 torpedo, with a beautiful Broadleaf wrapper, over Nicaraguan fillers and binder, rolled at the My Father factory. The original was based on the Fausto blend, and I’m not sure if this one is too, but it’s a pretty strong cigar!  It’s loaded with the coffee and spice that I enjoy, and it was a really great cigar. I may smoke another one today!  If you’re a fan of the Tatuaje Broadleaf, or Tatuaje cigars in general, this would be a great one to try.  Not a cheap date, but what is anymore?

 

I took a relatively early walk yesterday after doing a bee inspection with my wife, planting a tree and doing some trimming, all before 10am for some reason.  So I grabbed the Tobacco Plaza 50th Anniversary Quesada Keg.  I don’t think I ever had the original Keg, as I am not immediately drawn to things drink related, so I can’t compare.  This is another 6″ x 60, and if it’s just a size variation, it has a Dominican Corojo seed wrapper, with Dominican binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers.  It’s presented in a 15 count box as opposed to a barrel. This is another cigar that I enjoyed quite a bit.  It had an interesting bready flavor, kind of a dark bread and it was on the medium bodied side. I know Danny has had a great relationship with Quesada as they make the Oceano brand in the La Sirena portfolio, another cigar I really enjoy.

 

The third and final cigar in Tobacco Plaza’s 50th anniversary series is the TP

LFD Magnum Chisel Maduro.  This cigar is listed as 6″ x 58 box pressed, but it’s really 6½”. The chisel shape is cool, and one of the only, if not THE only, shape that’s legally protected by a patent. This is has a maduro wrapper, with the Tobacco Plaza logo applied to the cigar in a lighter leaf.  LFD has made a bit of a name for themselves with these artistic embellishments, I have one from the Ybor festival with a Rooster, and one from a dinner that Tobacco Plaza hosted in 2021 with an Iced Tea glass.  They are quite neat and must take a lot of effort to produce. Someone has to make a “cookie cutter” apparatus to punch the design out of a leaf.  It’s impressive. The cigar is impressive as well, it’s a great tasting smoke. I’ve been enjoying afternoons on my porch watching TV, the last few Saturday’s it’s been an Amazon show called “Clarkson’s Farm”, with Jeremy Clarkson, formerly of the British Top Gear and Amazon’s The Grand Tour (also hysterical).  This Magnum Chisel got me through the last two episodes, set aside 2 hours for this one.  It was rich with cocoa and spice.  Another winner.  I have to get up to Great Neck some time to visit Tobacco Plaza. 

 

That’s all

I got for this week, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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My Father Fonseca Robusto and Some Other Fonseca Cigars

Last week while I was out and about,

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I picked up a couple of the new My Father Fonseca robustos. I’ve been looking forward to trying this cigar for a while. It was a bit of a surprise when Quesada sold the Fonseca brand to My Father, and it took a year of two before My Father came out with their version of this iconic brand.  I’ve personally smoked a bunch of Fonseca cigars over the years. I had a box of Havana Fonseca Cadet KDT many years ago that were really very nice. A few years a

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go I really got into the Fonseca Nicaragua, more on that in a bit. This new My Father Fonseca Robusto is 5½” x 52 and has a shade grown Corojo 99 rosado wrapper, and Garcia grown Nicaraguan fillers. At $9.50, it’s not an inexpensive cigar, but after smoking it, I certainly wasn’t disappointed! This was a really terrific tasting cigar, I think it captured the spirit of Fonseca quite nicely. It’s medium bodied, and has a delicious sweetness. It’s a nice, sophisticated blend, really nice. It’s got that hard candy sweetness I like. The Garcias did a really nice job with the Fonseca brand. 

 

I found a few older Fonseca cigars in the humidor, so I figured I’d see how they compared. I smoked the

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Fonseca Nicaragua toro, which was new a few years ago and was fairly inexpensive. This was Quesada‘s last iteration of the Fonseca I believe.  These were actually made by Placencia for Quesada, and had tobaccos from Jalapa, Esteli and Ometepe. I really liked these and smoked a bunch of them when they came out in 2016. I remember smoking one at the IPCPR show with Terrance Reilly in the Quesada booth and loving it, and seeking more out when they hit the stores. I smoked the 6″ x 50 toro and it had held up well over time. There were similarities to the new version, which is also Nicaraguan. It had that sweetness, it had some earthiness, and was as I remembered, a very good smoke. I enjoyed it and will miss these when I smoke the last of the few I have left! 

 

Finally, I found a Dominican Fonseca, and I  don’t even know how old this one was, where it came from or much about it at all. If I had to guess, I’d say it had a Sumatra wrapper, based on looks and flavor. There was a hint of that same candy sweetness that is in the new version that I love so much. This is another cigar that had aged well. The burn was perfect, it just was a pleasure to smoke. I wish I knew how old this one was, or where it came from! I’m just glad I had the chance to smoke it. I still have one Cuban KDT Cadets from the box that I had maybe in the middle of the 2000s. They were pretty strong little cigars, but I imagine fifteen years might have mellowed it out a bit. 

 

That’s all for today. Remember the CigarCraig.com Readers Poll.  E-mail me at craig@cigarcraig.com with your choice for the 2020 cigar of the year. I’ll c

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ompile the results and post them on December 31. Please be as specific as possible. It’ll be fun! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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News: Ventura Cigars Announces Cuban CigarFactory Blends

Is this one of the last news items before the IPCPR show? I kinda doubt it, but here it is, none the less. This is an interesting project with Ventura and Manuel Quesada and Benji Menendez. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting both of these gentlemen, rue legends in the cigar game. 

 

INSPIRED BY THE OLD WORLD, CREATED FOR THE NEW
VENTURA CIGAR COMPANY TO LAUNCH 2 BLENDS CREATED BY MASTERS FOR CUBAN CIGAR FACTORY BRAND.

“Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?” (Benjamin Franklin)

Benjamin “Benji” Menendez and Manuel “Manolo” Quesada: two of the greatest of all time. Cigar industry pioneers, builders, blenders, visionaries, creators, and friends. True legends of the business, Menendez and Quesada are teaming up for the first time in an exciting new passion project from Michael Giannini and Ventura Cigar Company (VCC). Led by their longtime friend, Giannini, Menendez and Quesada have each collaborated on a namesake blend for Cuban Cigar Factory. A celebration of tradition and talent, this collaboration for Ventura Cigar Company’s Cuban Cigar Factory is bringing the importance of Old-World Cuban expat expertise to the palates of the present and generations to come.

Behind the Blends
Benji Menendez enjoyed an early beginning in the Cuban tobacco business at his father’s factory. Forced to leave his home and livelihood when Castro came to power, Menendez had to start completely over. However, as a seeker of opportunity and a purveyor of fine tobacco, he soon established a new foothold, becoming a mastermind behind cigars and factories in nearly every cigar-making country. His career has been legendary, working in 8 different countries to produce some of the best cigars to hit the
market. “I still think about the cigar factory every day of my life,” says Benji Menendez.

The Benji Menendez for Cuban Cigar Factory: available in a Robusto, Toro, and Belicoso, a rich, silky smooth blend featuring a Dominican binder, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, and a Connecticut Ecuadorian wrapper.

Manolo Quesada is a fourth-generation master from a lineage of tobacco growers, brokers, and blenders that stretch back over a century. His career began in pre-Castro Cuba, where he first developed a taste for the intricacies of tobacco at his father’s company. Also forced to leave Cuba by Castro’s rise to power, Quesada went to the Dominican Republic, where he founded MATASA in 1972, from the humble beginnings of a chair, a phone, three rollers, and $100. Over the decades, MATASA has flourished under Quesada’s intuitive, expert eye for quality and flavor, making his knowledge for the past and present a natural fit for the Cuban Cigar Factory project.

The Manolo Quesada for Cuban Cigar Factory: available in a Robusto, Toro, and Belicoso, a rich and savory blend featuring an Ecuadorian binder, Dominican fillers, and a Habano Ecuador wrapper.

“I feel like I’m a Rick Rubin of the cigar industry,” say

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s Michael Giannini, General Manager at Ventura Cigar. “I’m bringing people together- people who I admire, my great friends who laid the foundation of the cigar industry, and people of the next generation. The creators and the consumers. Everyone has something to offer. We have a duty to engage this talent, not to let these great minds and their priceless knowledge fade away. They’re now our mentors, an inspiration to us all, and they’re still here. They’re still

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on the court, so let’s play ball. Let’s sho

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w everyone what we can do.”

 

Both Cuban Cigar Factory cigars are created at the MATASA factory in the Dominican Republic, in
collaboration with Ventura Cigar Company. They are set to debut at IPCPR 2019, and are planned for a
late summer ship date. The Benji Menendez and Manolo Quesada blends will each be available as
follows:

Robusto: 5″x50, $12.99 each or $259.98 for a box of 20
Toro: 6″x50, $13.99 each or $279.98 for a box of 20
Belicoso: 6.25″x52, $14.49 each, or $289.98 for a box of 20

For more information about Cuban Cigar Factory, or any other cigars in the Ventura Cigar Company
Portfolio, please visit venturacigar.c

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om.

 

 

About Ventura Cigar Company

Ventura Cigar Company (VCC) is a unique cigar brand born in sunny Southern California that is on a
mission to create memorable, complex cigar blends that excite the senses and reward discriminating
palates. Their flagship Archetype, Case Study, Project805, and PSyKo SEVEN brands offer multiple
award-winning blends that earned 90+ ratings in Cigar Aficionado, Cigar & Spirits, and Cigar Snob. And
Archetype’s Axis Mundi won #13 Cigar of the Year for 2017 from Cigar Aficionado. Ventura Cigar

Company also distributes Tommy Bahama Luxury Cigar Accessories and the 4 th Generation Tobacconist
and Comoy’s of London lines of pipe tobacco products, extending its reach and tradition of offering top-
quality tobacconist products. Pipes and blends under these brands are cultivated through generations of
craftsmanship, making them longtime favorites of pipe tobacco enthusiasts.

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