Tag Archives: Red

by | May 28, 2023 · 9:30 am

ATL and Luciano, Macanudo and West Tampa Tobacco Cigars

The highlight of the week for me was my interview with Marvin Samel (see video at the end of the post, or go back to the Friday post).  I really enjoy doing these interviews, hopefully they are enjoyable for you.  I didn’t mention it on the video, but I smoked a Liga Privada No. 9, the cigar I smoked for the first time when I met Marvin in 2009. Marvin was smoking a Havana Cohiba from a box he had bought in the Netherlands ten years ago. I guess we should have talked about the cigars, but I thought the behind the scenes movie stuff was really fascinating!  Anyway, I smoked some other cigars this week, starting with the Foreign Affair Toro Extra from Luciano Cigars.  Luciano debuted this cigar at this year’s TPE show, which I did not attend.  This cigar has a Sumatra Ecuador wrapper, Nicaragua & Ecuador binders, and fillers from Nicaragua, Costa Rica & Dominican Republic. One does not see a lot of cigars with Costa Rican fillers.  This cigar smoked very well, had a really interesting sweet spice, almost a ginger sort of flavor. I love a Sumatra wrapper, and this one was really nice, and probably accounts for the sweetness.  It was very good.  

 

The next cigar shares some traits with the Foreign Affair, in that it’s made in the same factory, since ATL Cigars partnered with Luciano for distribution, and one of ATL’s founders, Peter, has taken on an executive roll with the Luciano company.  I found the ATL Magic to be an exceptional cigar, very special.  I tried the ATL Wise Blood in the Gordito size, 4″ x 60 and was impressed.  This cigar has an Ecuadorian Habano Rosado HVA wrapper, Ecuadorian Connecticut binder, and fillers from three Nicaraguan regions. I happened to take Friday off, and after running some errands and doing some stuff, I smoked this cigar.  It had a hint of sourness, kind of the sourdough bread kind, which was interesting in a good way. I’m one of the odd set who doesn’t mind a 60 ring, I think it’s best in the shorter lengths, it’s certainly ridiculous in anything longer than six inches. Good smoke, looking forward to trying other sizes.

 

Continuing on the short and fat vein, yesterday morning I lit up a new Macanudo Gold size for 2023, the Gold Nugget.  This is a 4½” x 60, with the classic Macanudo Connecticut Shade wrapper, Mexican San Andrés binder and Piloto Cubano and Mexican fillers. The wrapper leaves come from early primings, making them smoother and cleaner looking than higher primings because they get less sun exposure.  I was trying to reupholster the seat on my scooter, and needed a cigar to reduce profanity.  If I can give any advice to someone who wants to try this, it’s to just buy an OEM seat cover and be done with it, it’s worth saving yourself the headache. So, as the scooter waits for it’s seat to come in, I enjoyed this Macanudo Gold. Fun fact, this blend is (or was) the favorite of Victoria Jaworski, the queen of public relations for Scandinavian Tobacco Group.  I smoked it early in the day, and it is a milder, creamy smoke, but it’s not without flavor, and delivered a really nice smoking experience for this guy who isn’t a huge fan of the Connecticut shade genre.  Like the Macanudo Inspirado White, it’s one I’ll go back to happily, whenever that shade mood hits me.  

 

Finally, I’ve been smoking a bunch of the West Tampa Tobacco Co. Red cigars lately after finding them in stock at my local shop.  I grabbed another robusto yesterday afternoon after smoking one earlier in the week. When I talked to Ricky Rodriguez last month (video HERE), we talked about the similarity between the Attic and the Red, they share all the same components, which are Mexican San Andrés Maduro, Condega Nicaragua Binder and Condega Viso, Esteli Viso, Esteli Ligero.  The robusto is a powerhouse compared with the Toro and Gordo, it packs a punch! There’s a lot of cocoa and coffee, which I love, and, especially the Robusto, a healthy amount of pepper spice. I think the Red is slightly less refined than the Attic, there must be some priming difference somewhere in the blend.  This isn’t a knock, by any stretch, it wouldn’t make sense to have the exact same cigar with different bands and prices (although inside sources tell me that the Attic is sold out at WTCC). I love this Red, and it seems like I’ve been smoking a lot of the Reds and Black’s recently! Great cigars from a great family company.

 

That’s all for today. It’s Memorial Day Weekend, so take a moment and think of those who perished so that we can relax with a great cigar. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | May 13, 2018 · 9:26 am

Debonaire Habano, EP Carrillo Elite Oscuro and Macanudo Inspirado Red Cigars

Spring, nice weather and unemployment lead to long walks with good cigars.  Besides the constant searching of job postings, and brainstorming on my future path, it’s come to my attention that I’ll be launching a podcast soon, so I’m trying to figure out the logistics of that venture. More to come on that and obviously it will be announced here. Fortunately I have a stockpile of cigars to smoke, but one that recently arrived in the mail from my friends at Drew Estate was a Debonaire Habano Belicoso.  I’m a fan of the Debonaire line, Phil Zanghi, the owner of the brand and chief cigar alchemist, is a cool guy with a ton of energy. Phil founded Indian Tabak cigars, partnered Debonaire_Habano_Belicosowith, and later sold to, Rocky Patel. I’ve bought some of the Debonaire cigars in the past, and enjoyed them quite a bit, for me they are pricey but worth it. The Habano was the first line they released in 2012, and it has a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper, Dominican binder, and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. This belicoso was one of the original sizes released in 2012, and the example I smoked burned perfectly and really had a great taste. These fall into the “savory” category, and this may be one of the few lines where I like the “natural” wrapper over the maduro. The Maduros are great (as are the Connecticut Shade “Daybreak” line), but this Habano wrapper really makes for a great cigar. the Belicoso and Toro both measure 6″ x 54 according to the Debonaire Cigars website, either is a good choice, I’d think.

 

EPCarillo_EliteOscuro_RobustoAbout two months ago I went to an event at Goose’s lounge in Limerick, PA (which is named after Limerick, Ireland, not after the often off-color poetic style) with EP Carrillo‘s José Blanco. It was a guided tasting, which José is known for, and was great. I picked up some EPC cigars while there, some Dusk and some of the Elite Series Seleccion Oscuro in the Small Churchill size. I smoked the Oscuro Friday and was really, really happy with it. This line has a Mexico San Andrés Oscuro wrapper, binder from Ecuador and Nicaraguan fillers and is a sweet, earthy feast of the senses.  I don’t think this was overly complex, and I don’t generally sense a great deal of changes in cigars, but the flavors that it had were very appealing to me and it was just fine that they didn’t change much. I hated putting this one down. I swear I bought more than one, I’ll have to do some humidor rummaging…by the way, I also smoked a Dusk from the Classic Series this week that was spectacular. That Broadleaf wrapper is tasty! 

 

Macanudo_InspiradoRed_ToroI was wow’d by the Macanudo Inspirado Red in the box pressed robusto size initially, and wanted to sample the other sizes in the line. I picked up some Toros and Gigantes (loved the Gigante but leave yourself 2+ hours…), and finally got around to smoking the Toro. I had been told that the Robusto was the best in the bunch, and I think I’m inclined to agree, but the Toro was also quite good. It’s a 6″ x 50 in a round format, not pressed, and shares the high priming Ecuador Habano wrapper, Jalapa binder and fillers from Honduras (Jamastran), Nicaragua (Esteli, Ometepe) as the other sizes.  These are full-bodied on the Macanudo scale, but high medium in the grand scheme of things, I think. I enjoy the crap out of the Inspirado Red, in this case I think the Toro is my least favorite size, which is like me saying a Maduro is my second favorite wrapper in a line! I love Toros, they are almost always my favorite vitola in a line, but this time I go with the robusto. Maybe it’s the box pressing?  I’d love to try a box pressed toro! 

 

That’s all for today, I’ve got to get working on that podcast thing. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | May 6, 2018 · 9:59 am

A RoMEo San Andrés, Macanudo Inspirado Red and Cigar Podcasts

A bunch of cigars I smoked this week have already been covered here, so I’ll concentrate on ones that haven’t been. Notable among them were a Camacho Ecuador, a Guardian of the Farm and a Flor de Gonzalez that were all really tasty.  Now that I think about it, maybe I didn’t write about the Guardian of the Farm the first time around, I suppose I’ll have to get my hands on more and feature it, it was a really tasty cigar that was refined, complex and had some subtleties. A cigar that was a bit of a polar opposite of that was the new RoMEo San Andrés Toro, which RoMEo_SanAndres_Torois another collaboration between Altadis and AJ Fernandez. I’ve long struggled to find cigars in Altadis’ range that I like to smoke, with a few exceptions, the cigars they’ve made with AJ Fernandez have fallen into the “like to smoke” category.  There have been plenty that I’ve wanted to like, some that I tolerate, but the cigars that have really excited me were those made by AJ (H. Upmann, Montecristo, Gispert and now the RoMEo SA). I do like the Placencia made RoMEo 505 quite a bit, so there are exceptions. The RoMEo San Andrés comes in four sizes, Robusto at 5″ x 50, Toro at 6″x 54, Pirámides at 6-1/8″ x 52 and the Short Magnum at 5½ x 60. Of course the wrapper is Mexican, the binder is Nicaraguan and the fillers are Nicaraguan and Dominican. I’ve been pretty much leaning toward Toros lately, so that’s the size I smoked. I really liked this cigar a lot. It’s got the bold, earthy Mexican tobacco flavors I like, that take me back to when I started on Te-Amo Maduros, and while my tastes have expanded over the years, I still like that “dirty” profile. Next to the H. Upmann by AJ, this might be my favorite Altadis cigar now.  Worth a try if you like San Andrés tobacco.  Odd side note: one year ago today I smoked an H. Upmann by AJ, and three years ago today I smoked a RoMEo by Romeo y Julieta.

 

Yesterday I intentionally avoided being cliché and smoking something with Mexican tobacco. The new CAO Zócalo would have been an obvious choice, and I really like that cigar. I decided to take a different journey. As previously reported, I am a big fan of the new Macanudo Inspirado Red, made in Nicaragua at the Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s factory in Esteli (I’ve been past it twice, never visited!). I really liked the Robusto, so I figured I’d try out the Toro and Gigante too. Interestingly, the Robusto is the only box pressed cigar in the line, the Toro and Gigante are round. I have no clue why that is. I smoked the 6″ x 60 Gigante yesterday. This is the blurb from the website about the blend:

This bold, full-bodied offering represents the marriage of rich volcanic soil and profound aging techniques to achieve unmatched strength and refinement. Dressed in Ecuadoran Habano ligero and blended with rare tobaccos including twelve-year aged Nicaraguan Ometepe, ten-year aged Honduran Jamastran and five-year-aged Nicaraguan Esteli, Macanudo Inspirado Red is bound with hearty Nicaraguan Jalapa. Enticing notes of pepper and spice reign, transcending the experience of Central American tobaccos to the point of sublime.

Macanudo_InspiradoRed_GiganteFor starters, make sure you set aside a couple of hours to smoke the Gigante, while it’s only 6″ x 60, it burned so slow. I was almost a mile into my walk and hadn’t gotten to the one inch mark, and I think the total smoking time approached two and a half hours. It was ridiculous, making it a very good value, because these aren’t expensive cigars. It was a very enjoyable smoke, it had the richness and great flavors of the Robusto in a little less focused way. I wouldn’t use the term “washed out”, but the cooler burn of the larger ring gauge certainly smoothed out the flavors. I thoroughly enjoyed the smoke and look forward to the Toro.  The Inspriado Red is a great cigar to celebrate 50 years of Macanudo.

 

I’ve been listening to a few new-to-me podcasts lately. I’ve really enjoyed the Boveda Box Pressed and Cigar Snob Magazine‘s podcasts, very informative. A few months ago when I was in New Hampshire for The Cigar Authority‘s 400th show, I met Dave who launched the Cigar Hacks Podcast, in the last few months. The Cigar Hacks features a revolving panel and they do a blind tasting and run down events in the New Hampshire and Massachusetts areas. There is much spontaneous discussion and it can be quite hilarious. I’ve been invited on the show, and I need to make that happen, as there are some areas I can help them out with (like pronouncing words like Aganorsa). It was through this show that I was introduced to The Retrohale Podcast. This show is done by a couple of guys in Colorado, and what I like about it is their tagline: “We don’t review cigars, we smoke cigars and talk about them.” , which pretty much aligns with my own MO here at CigarCraig.com. This one is more entertainment than informative, but it’s akin to hanging out in a cigar shop and talking.  There are a lot of cigar podcasts out there, I have my rotation, but try new ones out all the time.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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by | March 25, 2018 · 10:21 am

Macanudo Inspirado Black and Red Cigars

I’ve smoked a million Macanudo cigars in my lifetime, so it seems. My first premium cigar was a Macanudo Duke of Devon. In the mid-nineties a buddy and I would have a cigar at lunch every Friday at work. Up until the Macanudos the favorites were Backwoods and Garcia Vega English Coronas if we were feeling fancy.  We decided to see what all the hubbub was with premium cigars, which were enjoying a Macanudo_Inspirado_final_blkrenaissance at the time. I smoked cigarettes at the time, which I think is an important think to know in my evolution as a cigar smoker, because it ruined me for mild cigars for a long time.  That fist experience with the Duke of Devon was kind of blah, I really didn’t “get it”, I suppose it’s a wonder I kept going with the hobby, but I moved to stronger cigars, which satisfied my palate and the rest is history. A couple of years later I would find my self winning a couple of boxes (big ones! Prince of Whales and Prince Philip) from a very young CigarWorld.com somehow, that had to be 1998ish. Actually, the Prince Philips were still made in Jamaica, I wish I’d had the presence of mind to save a couple. Thorough a combination of my palate and tastes developing, and Macanudo coming out with stronger cigars, I’ve had some really memorable cigars over the years. I remember a Macanudo Maduro on the last day of my tour of General Cigars operations in the DR after smoking 20 or so cigars over the previous few days and being able to taste it!  I wrote about the Estate Reserve in a Prime Living Magazine article back in 2015. People scoff at Macanudo as a mild, flavorless cigar, but they have a lot of great cigars in their portfolio, something for everyone, I think, and you can’t argue that they aren’t always well made and universally available.

 

A few years back General Cigars launched the Macanudo Inspirado line in Europe. It had an orange band and was famous for being used in the Cigar Smoking World Championship. When I was in Iceland I bought a few because Thulin, who owns what seems to be the only cigar shop in the country, said it was his best seller. By the way, my Cigars in Reykjavik Iceland post gets daily visits, Google “cigars in Iceland” and see what comes up first in the results!  Pretty cool!  Anyway, the Orange was the first Inspirado Macanudo_InspiradoBlack_Robustoreleased in the US in 2016, then the Black and White (the black with a Connecticut Broadleaf and the White with Ecuador Connecticut Shade, as one would expect) came out in 2017, and in 2018, to celebrate 50 years of Macanudo, they released the Red with a dark Ecuador Habano Ligero wrapper. I revisited the Macanudo Black this week, and was really happy with the experience. This was a medium bodied cigar, a hesitate to say, but it was kind of a Partagas Black lite…and I only make the comparison because the wrapper is of similar provenance.  It was sweet and rich like a Broadleaf cigar should be, I thoroughly enjoyed the crap out of the robusto, and look forward to smoking he other sizes. Originally, the Black was sold by catalog retailers, and the white was for brick and mortar, but they totally changed that last year, along with the blends, I believe. The White is good too, I intended to smoke one this week too, as well as an Orange, but didn’t get to it.

 

Macanudo_InspiradoRed_RobustoI received samples of the Inspirado Red last week, and couldn’t wait ro smoke one, so after just a couple of days in the humidor I dug in. They are saying it’s full-bodied, to me it was on the high side of medium, but what do I know. It has a Ecuador Habano Ligero wrapper, 12 year aged Nicaraguan Ometepe, 10 year aged Honduran Jamastran, and 5 year aged Nicaraguan Esteli, with a Jalapa binder. It’s made in their Esteli factory where they make many of the CAO line.  Had I had the time, and lacked self-restraint, I would have smoked more of these, for sure, because DAMN, it was a great smoke!  I smoked the box pressed robusto, and plan to look for other sizes ASAP (a local shop I visited yesterday sold out of them already). It was like smoking delicious candy bar, It has a nice mix of sweet and savory with some dried fruit and cocoa. It was so darned good I was taken aback. If you looked in my ashtray, it would likely be the smallest butt in there. This new Macanudo Inspirado Red is a home run, to my palate, at least. It must have MSG in the blend, because it really excited my palate (FDA: I’m kidding! it’s just tobacco, water and some pectin!). This would be a no-brainer at $10, for $6.49-$7.49 MSRP, it;s stupid not to at least try one.

 

Last night I paid a visit to CigarCigars in Downingtown, PA to have a smoke with Kevin, the manager, and the renovations are going well. This is one of a chain of twelve stores in the area, and it’s only a couple of miles from my old house, so it’s in my rotation of shops I visit now. Hopefully the lounge renovations improve the acoustics a bit, because it’s a little noisy.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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