Tag Archives: RoMaCraft

by | May 1, 2016 · 10:53 am

Fausto, CroMagnon and Sobremesa Cigars

Fausto_FT127 RobustoA few weeks back when we were in Philly for the Pops concert, I made a stop at Holt’s on the way to the train station and picked up a couple Fausto Robustos in my continuing effort to familiarize myself with the Tatuaje range of cigars.  Technically, I believe, this is called the FT127 Robusto, measures 5″ x 54, comes in a 25 count box (I wish everyone would go back to the 25 count over the 20 count), and has a dark Habano Ecuador wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and filers.  I took one of these along Thursday night when we went to Harrah’s TomKeiferRacetrack and Casino in Chester, PA to see Tom Keifer (of Cinderella fame) play in their “The Block” showroom.  So 33 years or so ago I went to community college with Tom and hung out with him, obviously pre-Cinderella. A few years later when I was working in a record store, I opened a box of new releases to find a record from a band I had never heard of, Cinderella’s Night TomKeifer-CraigSongs, and recognized the guy on the jacket as my old friend Tom. I never was able to re-connect with Tom over the years, so after missing him at the pre-show meet and greet, we hung around afterwards by the tour bus, like fricken teenagers, only we weren’t the oldest ones there…and got to finally say hello and congratulate him on putting that community college music theory class (that we were both in) to good use.  Prior to the show, after getting a bite to eat, while feeding slot machines, I really enjoyed that Fausto FT 127 Robusto. It was a hearty smoke, nice dark flavors right up my alley. what a perfect smoke with a great burn and draw, and loads of deep, rich flavors of espresso and cocoa (my favorites). It was a great night, the show rocked, I was glad to reconnect with an old friend after so long, and I am just getting caught up on the sleep I lost…defiantly getting too old for hard rock shows…but I really enjoyed it, and the cigar.

 

CroMagnon_AtlatlI had a very busy and frustrating Friday at the day job, so I wanted to smoked something memorable on my evening walk and unwind time.  I had bought (not weaseled) a few CroMagnon Atlatl lanceros when we were at SMoKE Manayunk for the RoMaCraft event, and I only had room for one of them in the lancero section of the humidor, so that made my decision easy. An Atlatl is an Aztec spear throwing device, basically giving the spear thrower a mechanical advantage over just throwing the spear by hand, it’s a lever of sorts. These cigars are store exclusive/event only cigars, I felt compelled to add some to my lancero selection. On a side note, SMoKE has an unparalleled lancero selection, Kosta, the owner is a lancero fan and puts every one he can find in his generously appointed humidor. Anyway, the Atlatl has all the great flavor of the CroMagnon line, I sound like a broken record (for the younger readers, that’s a record with a scratch that skips and repeats itself over and over), but it has those coffee cocoa flavors I love, but in a sharper, more focused way due to the 38 ring gauge. I dig lanceros from time to time, but in most cases I enjoy the more rounded flavors from larger rings, so it’s often hard to compare the flavor of a lancero to it’s larger siblings, so I can only recommend smoking them all, in the case of CroMagnon, they are all good!

 

Sobremesa_EleganteenCedrosWrapping up the week yesterday, I felt like I had a couple great cigars that were going to be a tough act to follow. I had spent the day cutting my lawn, spreading some mulch, taking Macha to a nearby town’s flea market kind of thing where my wife and daughter had a booth selling some stuff, and celebrating my granddaughter’s 5th birthday. It was a crazy day, and when I finally got home I went big. Several weeks ago we went to Famous Smoke Shop’s Leaf Cigar Bar in Easton, PA to hang out with Steve and Cindy Saka, and Cindy laid a couple of the new Sobremesa Elegantes en Cedros cigars on me, with the caveat to let the rest because they were “not ready”. I figured a month in the humidor would suffice. This line extension is supposed to be released at the July IPCPR show, is a 7″ x 50 cedar sleeved parajo. The blend is tweaked for each vitola in the line, so each size is designed to be a little different, but the addition of the cedar sleeve makes a very distinct change from, say, the El Americano toro, which is similar in size. The cedar flavor is quite dominant, and tasty! I really couldn’t imagine this cigar being any more “ready” as it’s burn was perfect, there were no construction issues at all, and I spent a wonderful two hours with this cigar just enjoying the crap out of it. It was the perfect end to a very good day.

 

That’s all I have for now, it’s a rainy Sunday here in PA, I may put a new lamp in the smoking patio and clean it up a bit, and catch up on some relaxing. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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by | April 17, 2016 · 7:40 am

Avo Syncro, RoMaCraft Cigars at SMoKE Manayunk and a Tatuaje

Avo_SyncroNicaraguan_RobustoThere are so many cigars out there, it’s really hard to smoke them all, yet I keep trying!  I’ve smoked the Avo Syncro Nicaraguan in the Short Robusto and Toro size and, like many Avo cigars, I found them enjoyable, but isn’t really get what the hype was. Perfectly good cigars, but nothing particularly special to me (I really liked the XO though). A couple of weeks ago my friends at Famous Smoke Shop send me some of the Avo Syncro Nicaraguan and I was excited as I really want to like these and appreciate the opportunity to try them in another size. The robusto is a box pressed 5″x 50, with a milk chocolate-brown wrapper, which is actually Ecuador Connecticut,  and it has some Nicaraguan Ometepe, Dominican and Peruvian fillers. It’s a solid smoke, medium bodied with some balanced and interesting flavors. So far, this might be my favorite in the bunch, it’s got a little sweet, and a little spice, quite entertaining. I may try to sneak another one of these in today, the Short Robusto might fit my walk today from the Philadelphia Art Museum to the Kimmel Center for the Philly Pops concert. Thanks, once again, to Cory at Famous Smoke Shop for sharing the Avo Syncro Robusto with me.

 

Friday evening we went down to SMoKE Manayunk to visit with Skip and Mike of RoMaCraft Tobac as they have been on a tour of Philadelphia cheesesteak purveyors and have been taking breaks to have cigar events. First, a little about SMoKE and Manayunk. Manayunk is a very hip main street area in Philadelphia, with loads of bars and restaurants, so there were a ton of younger 20-SMoKE Manayunksomething folks around, and it was pretty impressive how many came in to hang out and smoke cigars. SMoKE is BYOB, so many people brought in their own beer, wine or liquor and they have refrigerators behind the bar. Kosta is the owner, and has a very good staff headed up by Spencer McGuire, who recently left his post as brand manager of Emilio Cigars.  The staff is attentive, constantly emptying ashtrays and seeing to the customer’s needs, as well as helping people in the large and well stocked humidor. The lounge is 3000 square feet, has a very industrial, distressed feel to the decor, and is welcoming and comfortable. The only downside is the parking. I found out the hard way that on street parking can cost $26 if you exceed the 1 hour limit, which I guess I was supposed to know without signing close by (oddly, the “Parking Enforcement” vehicle was parked a car ahead of me and was there longer than I was…I hate double standards!). So the $10 lot nearby would have been a better deal it turns out. It was starting to get crowded when we left, which is pretty cool for a cigar lounge.

 

FomarianSo I perused the selection of RoMaCraft cigars they had, and settled on a couple of the Candela Fomorians (I spelled that wrong elswhere), a Neanderthal  Shallow Gene Pool, and a couple of CroMagnon Atlatl lanceros, since I like lanceros and Kosta has probably the best selection of that vitola in the area, so when in Rome…anyway, I lit up a Fomorian (along with Mike and Skip) and proceeded to hang out. I’ve known these guys since 2011, which is about when they launched the CroMagnon line, and they make some outstanding cigars. The Fomorian is the CroMagnon blend of Cameroon binder and Nicaraguan fillers, with the Broadleaf wrapper replaced with a fragile Candela wrapper in the 5″ x 56 EMH size.  The combination is really quite amazing, there’s the sweetness of the Cameroon, the depth of the Nicaraguan, with that refreshing flavor of the Candela. Along with the long ago discontinued Camacho Candela, this is the best representation of a Candela cigar I’ve had the SGPpleasure of tasting. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed a few, but this one has some giddyup to it, great cigar.  I followed that with a little Neanderthal Shallow Gene Pool, the smaller (4½ x 52) sibling of the Neanderthal HN, which I absolutely loved. This cigar has a San Andrés wrapper and a Pennsylvania Double Ligero, which is unusually high in nicotine. You wouldn’t know it, the cigar is very smooth with a great flavor.  If these weren’t in the $11+ range, I would smoke these all the time, so good. Interesting to note, lots of nicotine before bedtime makes for a restless night with crazy dreams, at least that was my experience. It could be that, as Skip pointed out, I’m the oldest young guy he knows, which I took as a compliment since I’m pretty old…anyway, it was a great night, smoking great cigars and hanging out at a great place with great folks.

 

Tatuaje_Reserva_J21Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, and after getting some things done around the yard, I relaxed on the porch with a Tatuaje Reserva J21. These are made in Miami with a Habano Ecuador wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filer. This is a 5″ x 50 robusto and is quite an attractive cigar, listed as a full strength offering. This was exactly what I needed after working in the yard and running errands. It started out with some spice and moved to espresso, which we all know I like. It was refined and elegant, and I really liked it. I smoke fewer Tatuajes than I really should, because whenever I smoke one it’s a treat. For some reason, in my mind, it’s a cigar that’s special, in much the same way an Opus or Padron Anniversary is. I don’t why I feel that way, but it’s in my head for some reason, and I don’t end up picking them up as often as I should. I’ll work on changing that.

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 5, 2015 · 10:02 am

Psyko 7 Maduro, Fuente, CroMagnon, Gran Habano and Punch Cigars

Here we are on July 5th already. It seems like the summer is flying by and it’s barely started.  In two weeks I’ll be in New Orleans at the IPCPR show, doing my best to collect information about the newest and greatest products.  I don’t think I’ll do too many of the video interviews this time around, but I do have a little something special planned. We’ll see how that all turns out. I managed to smoke a few cigars this week, let’s have a look.

 

Ventura_Psyko7Maduro_RobustoI received some Ventura Cigar Co. Psyko 7 Maduro Robusto samples a couple of weeks ago, and was really looking forward to trying them out. I had first smoked the natural wrapper Psyko 7 back when I was a guest on The Cigar Authority show back in November of 2013 and was really quite impressed.  This is another impressive cigar, right up my alley.  It’s got a San Andrés wrapper, an Ecuador binder, and an interesting blend of fillers including ligero from Nicaragua and Pennsylvania, some Honduran and Dominican and Pelo de Oro from Peru!  How can I not like this cigar!  The samples I smoked burned perfectly and had great, complex flavors of espresso, cacao with a nice sweetness. I appreciate the extra half-inch on this 5½” x 50 robusto. This is right up there with the Fratello Bianco as one of my newbies of the year so far.  Very nice smoke.

 

Fuente_DoubleChateau_SungrownAfter I had some more dental work done Monday I celebrated after with an Arturo Fuente Double Chateau Sungrown.  Boy, is this a tasty cigar!  It’s 6¾” x 50 with a cedar sleeve (which I removed before lighting, of course) and a black foot band.  The standard Cheateau series is more common in the Connecticut Shade wrapper, and I’ve enjoyed my share of those over the years, but this Ecuador Sungrown wrapper is quite special. It was solidly medium, but it had loads of great savor flavors.  I would definitely say that in the Fuente line, save for the Hemingway, Don Carlos, Opus, etc, the sungrown wrapper is my choice.

 

RoMa_CroMagnon_Mode5When I visited Holt’s a couple weeks ago I picked up some of the CroMagnon Mode 5 perfectos from RoMaCraft as I’d yet to smoke that shape and have heard so many great things about it.  It’s not a huge cigar, 5″ x 50 in a perfecto format, tapering at either end, your old school, 40’s Warner Brothers cartoon shape. It was quite the fun cigar to smoke, and it was loaded with great, meaty flavors that really made me smile.  Burn was perfect, it was well-balanced and not the powerhouse one expects from the name.  I look forward to seeing Skip and Mike at the show this year, it’s been too long and they are really making great smokes.

 

GranHabano_Gran Corojo No5 Maduro 2011_GranRobustoThe folks at Gran Habano send a few samples a couple of weeks back, and the Gran Habano Corojo No.5 Maduro 2011 Gran Robusto caught my eye.  This is a 6″ x 54 toro with a dark Nicaraguan Maduro wrapper, Costa Rican grown Habano binder and fillers from Jalapa and Costa Rica.  This was a great spicy cigar with some bitter dark chocolate that was really to my liking.  It burned well, the draw was good, and it was a cigar I’ll smoke again.  I find the banding to be a little too close to Cuban Limitada bands, that’s probably what they were going for but I think a little originality from a company that definitely has some original products would be better. I’m not going to mistake that beautiful dark wrapper for any Habanos cigars, and I would probably choose this flavor profile over most Havanas as well.

 

Punch_H&F1999_ChurchillYesterday was the 4th of July.  My wife and I celebrate our wedding anniversary that day, as the US celebrates another birthday. I always choose a special cigar to mark the event, and there’s generally an element of civil disobedience involved that I’d like to think the founding fathers would approve of. Yesterday I selected a Havana Punch Churchill that was a gift from a friend a few years ago who serves our country and will remain nameless to protect the guilty!  This particular cigar had the distinction of bearing a “Vintage 1999” secondary band which denotes that it was selected by Hunters and Frankau (the UK importer of Habanos cigars) as an exceptional cigar. I agree with their assessment, it was an exceptional cigar. While the draw was a bit more snug than I like, it smoked very well, needing no corrections, and the smoke had a delicate flavor that was quite delicious. It had a bit of the unique Cuban spice, and was a milder, but very special cigar.  It was the perfect way to celebrate a special day.  I wish I could be as complimentary about the Rocky Patel Freedom I smoked later in the evening, there was a sour component to the savory flavor that didn’t do it for me, and I wished I had chosen better, but the red white and blue band seemed appropriate for the occasion. The Punch Churchill was sublime though, and I’m fortunate to have had the chance to experience it.

 

That’s about it for today.  We’re heading in to Philly again today for tea, then maybe a visit to Smoke in Manyunk after. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | March 22, 2015 · 9:57 am

RomaCrafts, Perdomo and a Contest Winner

It’s been a roller coaster week, and things aren’t any better today than Wednesday. My 80-year-old father drove himself to the hospital last Saturday with tightness in his chest and just not feeling right, and on Wednesday, just when my mom thought she was going to bring him home,  they found a thoracic aortic aneurysm and flew him to another hospital in the area that happened to have one of the few surgeons on the planet who could fix things. When they got him on the operating table the next morning his lung, kidney and liver functions were off and they had to get those things squared away before fixing things. So far, those areas are moving in a positive direction, and we are waiting for the surgeon to return from overseas mid-week. It’s hard on my mother, who won’t drive to the hospital, nor do I want her to, and not knowing what’s going to happen. I know this is more than belongs in a cigar blog, but it’s therapeutic for me to share, and I appreciate your positive thoughts and for indulging me.

 

CroMagnon_KnuckleDraggerIn an attempt to process all that’s going on, and maybe escape a little, I’ve smoked a few cigars this week. most have been just random cigars that I didn’t feel like taking the time to document, but a couple of them are worth mentioning.  a few weeks ago while visiting Cigar Mojo, I picked up some RoMaCraft cigars. I want Skip to know I bought his cigars and am not your run of the mill weasel. I smoked a CroMagnon Knuckle Dragger early in the week which was exceptional. I love the 4″ x 52 size for a satisfying smoke that doesn’t take all day.  The Broadleaf wrapper over the Cameroon binder is a personal favorite flavor combo for me, I think the interplay of the different sweetness between the two leaves is really interesting.  These are worth a try for sure, and are not unweaselably priced. I’ll grab some more the next time.

 

Perdomo_20thAnnivMaduro_CoronaGrandeAfter a particularly trying week, I grabbed a favorite, the Perdomo 20th Anniversary Maduro in the Corona Grande size. This size was Nick III’s creation, is it a mini Churchill? A maxi corona? Maybe it’s an overweight lonsdale or an anorexic toro, I don’t know, but it’s just about a perfect size at 6½ x 48. Now I’m half expecting someone to come out with a line of cigars with a weight disorder theme, remember you heard it here first. Anyway, the Perdomo 20th Anniversary maduro has a Nicaraguan wrapper that’s aged in bourbon barrels an additional 14 months and is rich, smooth and very tasty. This is my favorite Perdomo cigar, bar none, and I needed a favorite to balance out the highs and lows of the week.

 

Aquitaine_CraniumLast night I took a walk with another cigar from the RoMaCraft stable, the Aquitaine Cranium.  This is the same blend as the CroMagnon from the binder on in, the difference being the Ecuador Habano Ligero wrapper. If you ever wonder about the claims about how much the wrapper contributes to the flavor and strength of a cigar, smoke a CroMagnon, then smoke the Aquitaine. The Aquitaine was SO much stronger than the CroMagnon, and I can’t attribute that to the size difference (the Cranium is a 6″ x 54 toro). It had an unbelievable amount of spice through the nose, and almost literally kicked my butt around the block.  It tasted great, burned great, but was pretty darned strong. Skip and Mike and their crew down in Esteli are really making some great cigars. my only real gripe is that the bands, while very attractive and classy in their simplicity, are a pain in the tuckus.  I would think the same effect could be achieved more cost effectively by making them a single band instead of one over top of the white base. As one who saves bands for no good reason, and probably due to the CDO, I like it when a band comes off easily and in once piece. These do not. I’ve now purchased far more than I’ve weaseled, which either means my weasel game is weak, or I have some integrity…not sure which it is…

 

Contest

 

LaSirena ContestI promised to announce a winner of the La Sirena Cigars sampler today and am a man of my word. I can’t say I’ll be as punctual with sending the winnings out with everything going on, but I will do my best.  I  was very pleased with the number of entries, 100 comments in a non-December contest is pretty darned good. Normally I would pick a random number, but this time I think I’m going to give the prize to the 81st comment, because my dad will be 81 in a couple of weeks and I really want him to reach that birthday. Whether that’s fair or not, I really don’t care, I’m going with it anyway! It’s not a plan I had more than 5 minutes ago.  So lucky number 81 is ray jones. If you don’t send me you’re address I’ll eventually get around to harassing you by e-mail, but it will just be easier if you drop me a note.  Again, I appreciate everyone’s positive thoughts and prayers to your respective deities. It’s no small comfort to know so many people care enough to spare a thought in their busy lives. 

 

I had also made a bit of a contest (see the CigarCraig.com Facebook page) out of getting my Twitter followers to 2000, and that threshold has been met. I lack the energy to pick a winner, I want to disqualify the corporate Twitter users and keep it to individuals, so that will have to sit on the back burner for a bit. If someday you get a DM on twitter asking for your address, you’ll be the winner.  I’ll get to it eventually.

 

That’s it for now, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | October 14, 2012 · 2:18 pm

Weekend Cigars: An Undercrown, an Arandoza and a CroMagnon

As I was rummaging through the humidor Thursday evening I came across a Drew Estate Undercrown Robusto that I didn’t realize I had. Finding cigars is a special treat, and this event must be celebrated by smoking the new-found treasure, and an Undercrown is  a treasure. If you don’t know the story behind cigar yet, it was basically blended by the Liga Privada rollers to replace the No. 9 cigars they were not allowed to smoke due to the scarcity of the wrapper leaf. The replaced the components with similar, but less used leaf and replaced the wrapper with a rich and oily San Andreas capa.  Quick tangent: it cracks me up a hen I read descriptions on websites that specifically identify a (insert varietal here) capote binder. Of course, this is redundant, as “capote” is the Spanish term for binder. It would be like saying this cigar had a San Andreas Capa wrapper.  Back to the Undercrown. The robusto is a 5″ x 54 cigar that’s stunning in appearance  it burns perfectly and is loaded with the deep, rich flavors I love. Those dark chocolate and black coffee flavors.  While this still isn’t an inexpensive cigar, it’s more affordable than it’s Liga Privada siblings and a worthy substitute.

 

I don’t normally try new things on Fridays but the Arandoza samples I received a few weeks ago from Robert Arango intrigued me, so I had to smoke one.   I hadn’t heard of this company, so Robert gave me a little information:

We are a new company, family owned and operated, established in April 2011. I’ve been an avid cigar smoker all of my adult life. Everyone at my house smokes cigars, from my two sons, to my beautiful daughter all the way up to my wife. We enjoy sitting outside after a long day, just chatting and smoking…seems to be a great bonding factor in my family. I always dreamt of starting my own line and I decided to do it last year. My children have become very involved and knowledgeable in the business. I am very proud and extremely happy that I decided to begin my own line. It has brought my family even closer than it already was and we believe that tradition begins with family so this has become a tradition that my family wants to share.

Our blue label is our newest creation consisting of a Nicaraguan binder and filler with a Habano Nicaraguan wrapper. This cigar is hand crafted in Esteli Nicaragua at “La Zona” factory, owned by Erik Espinosa, the owner of “601” and “La Bomba”. The cigar is a medium to full bodied smoke and is available in four sizes – Robusto 52 x 5, Toro 52 x 6, Torpedo 52 x 6 and a 60 x 6.

Price point for the Blue Label is between $6.00 – $7.00 for each of the four sizes.

 

This cigar performed admirably, the construction was top notch. I don’t know that I’ve smoked anything from Eric Espinosa’s factory yet, unless the Smoke Inn exclusive E-Doble was made there, which is an excellent smoke.  I found this to be a well balanced cigar with the flavors I would expect to find in a Habano wrapped cigar. If you can pick up a couple of these to sample I think you will be pleased. It’s a nice, satisfying smoke.  I appreciate the opportunity to try this new cigar from Arandoza Cigars!

 

Saturday evening I felt a cold coming on so I made a selection that I thought would power through the symptoms. The CroMagnon EMH from RoMaCraft Tabac is a beauty. The broadleaf wrapper is dark and oily.  I picked this up at Total Tobacco a few weeks ago at their grand opening (I still believe this is the only place in my area that carry this line), just so you know I didn’t weasel this cigar from Skip Martin :-).  First, I love broadleaf wrappers, almost as much as I love the San Andreas wrapers.  This one was such a treat to smoke, it burned perfectly, and I really wish I had smoked this in daylight so I could appreciate the aesthetics of the cigar while it burned.  One of my great joys is watching a cigar burn, one of the many reasons I hate Autumn in the northeast, the days get too short too fast!  Anyway, great, solid smoke, satisfying in every way, and I’ll buy more of them the next time I get out to Newtown Square, PA.

On the subject of the CroMagnon and RoMaCraft Tabac, here is a video from the IPCPR show where Skip Martin draws parallels between the boutique cigar and craft beer beer businesses.

http://youtu.be/YIeJAtrsLno

 

That’s about it for now, I just returned from a nice lunch out with my wife, where I had steak and shrimp and am thinking about taking a fist full of cold meds and picking out a nice cigar…or not, I might just take a nap!

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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