Tag Archives: Stolen Throne

by | October 8, 2023 · 11:00 am

More Stolen Throne Cigars, a New West Tampa Cigar and a Big Sky Mad Minnow

This is going to be a wierd Sunday post.  I started out by getting some more Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet cigars in both the Torpedo and Robusto sizes because I got some flack from last week’s post. If you’ll recall, I wasn’t a huge fan of the Yorktown Fleet, while being a huge fan of Stolen Throne’s three Kingdoms and Crook of the Crown. I like the Three Kingdoms so much that I said it was one of my favorite cigars of 2021. Look, not every cigar is right for everyone, and I certainly do my best to try to like every cigar I smoke, and find the good in everything, and there’s a lot of good things to say about the Yorktown Fleet cigars.  While they don’t have a flavor that appeals to me, they burn perfectly, and I smoked all of the cigars beyond the band, the last two, a robusto and torpedo side by side. That’s right, I smoked two cigars I didn’t particularly like back to back, just to make sure. Just so it’s documented that I tried my best to like these cigars. Buy one and try it for yourself.

 

Friday evening my wife and I took our granddaughters to the Cirque de Soleil show that was in town, so we got home kinda late. It’s fun to experience things through the eyes of children, the Cirque show was good and the Chocolate fondue beforehand was fun as well! This was the perfect opportunity to have the Big Sky Mad Minnow before retiring.  This is a small, 4¾ x 44, salomon (not salmon…Big Sky has a fishing thing going on) or perfecto cigar.  It’s got a Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I’ll be honest, I was a little disappointed at first, because the draw was terrible, but I understand the shape of the cigar, and waited it out and it opened up after it got past the taper. This turned out to be a tasty little smoke, not to be oversmoked, lest it turn bitter. I ended up getting nearly an hour out of this little bugger, with some cocoa and pepper and a little hint of caramel flavors.  This was a nice way to end a nice day. 

 

From time to time knowing people has it’s upside, like when a friend shares something new he’s working on before it hits the market. I believe this is going to be the next release by West Tampa Tobacco Co., and he didn’t tell me I couldn’t talk about it, and he talked about it when he was at the New England Cigar Expo, so I’m going to tell you what I know about Boliche. This was a 6″ x 60 cigar, with a dark wrapper. It’s on the savory side, which makes sense since the name comes from a Cuban style of roast beef.  This is being made by a yet to be named factory, maybe not in Nicaragua, I’m actually thinking it’s in the DR, just a feeling.  From what Ricky says it’s going to be a limited run of 500 boxes of 50 and will be released at the March PCA show.  It was a tasty cigar, once again, I find myself preferring more sweetness lately, something I haven’t been getting this week, but I certainly look forward to hearing more about this new cigar! It would surprise me if anyone else posted anything about this cigar yet!

 

Finally, in the Sunday blog post about cigars I didn’t like (kidding, sort of, it’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that they don’t suit my preference. They are all perfectly fine, high quality cigars, worthy of your time, money and consideration), I smoked a Stolen Throne Call To Arms Corona.  More of a lonsdale, this is 6″ x 46, which is a really nice size, has a Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan fillers and binder. This is similar to the Yorktown, which has a Maduro Sumatra wrapper, although it isn’t all that dark, and I don’t get the sweetness I like in a maduro. I smoked this to test a theory, and I proved myself right. I’m not a big fan of the Call To Arms either.  I generally like Sumatra wrappers, I’m not sure what it is that doesn’t hit me right with these.  It’s OK, I’m not upset, I don’t feel cheated or anything, there’s an ass for every seat, or some such nonsense, and Stolen Throne has two seats for my ass. I think Lee Marsh would rather I love two of his blends and not care for two, than just like all of them, at least that’s the way I’m going to spin it to him when he gives me crap about this…Probably going to smoke a Crook of the Crown today.

 

That’s more than enough for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | October 1, 2023 · 10:21 am

Brick House, West Tampa, Big Sky and Stolen Throne Cigars

I got a bit of a late start on Bricktoberfest, thanks to our friends at UPS, and maybe the weather. Every year (at least for the last 6) the folks at J.C. Newman celebrate Oktoberfest (which runs from September 21 through October 6ish I think) with a special release of their Brick House cigar.  This is presented in a toro with a pigtail cap and is in boxes of ten. If you go to a participating retailer and buy five of any Brick House cigar you can get a really nice  Brick House Pilsner Glass.  I really like the 2022 version of this, and I haven’t had a chance yet to smoke the two side by side. The 2023 version has a rosado Ecuador Habano wrapper, and is supposedly blended to pair with an Oktoberfest style lager. I’m far too far removed from beer consumption to know if that’s true, might be.  On it’s own it’s a solid cigar, if the Brick House blend is up your alley, and I like the Brick House line.  I’d love to see this offered with a Broadleaf wrapper one year, beer guys, back me up, would a maduro go well with a dark beer?  The Bricktoberfest is a tasty Nicaraguan cigar with some unsweetened coffee cocoa notes. Very nice.

 

Thursday evening I visited the CigarCigars store in Downingtown, PA, not far from where I lived when I started CigarCraig.com.  Speaking of beer, those familiar with craft beers will know the name Downingtown as the home of Victory Brewery.  I used to work in the adjacent building and would smoke cigars and drink root beer at their bar once in a while. Of course, that was over twenty years ago when such things were allowed!  I stopped in the shop because they were hosting Rick Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco Co. for the evening, and I try not to miss an opportunity to see my friend Rick. I bought a handful of West Tampa Red, Black and White, but I wasn’t allowed to smoked any of those, Rick had a West Tampa Red Lancero for me.  Last December when I saw him in Tampa he gave me the White and Black blends in the Lancero format and you might recall that I thought they were spectacular.  Considering I’m a big fan of the Red in the traditional sizes, I had high expectations. In this case, I’m not going to say that this was a better expression of the Red blend than the Toro or Robusto, it’s different, as the Toro and Robusto are different from one another. It was a spectacular cigar, and if these ever make it into the wild, give them a try.

 

I’m getting to the end of the Big Sky Cigar Co. Samples, I’m down to the small ones now, and I’m smoking the Yellowstone, which is the Ecuador Connecticut wrapped robusto in the portfolio. I’m on my second one this morning, I smoked one yesterday afternoon and was quite happy.  This has the lighter wrapper over some heavier Nicaraguan binder and fillers, so it’s not without flavor. The literature lists it as mild, but I don’t think that’s the case, I find it to be medium.  There’s some spices, pepper especially through the nose, and solid cafe con leche. Oddly, as I’m writing, and smoking the Yellowstone, I’m listening to Frank Zappa’s  Montana, and the Yellowstone River, for which the cigar is named, runs through Montana, though those dental floss plantations, no doubt. I’m happy smoking this cigar on a Sunday morning with coffee.

 

Finally, I happened to be in Havertown, PA yesterday and stopped in to the Wooden Indian because I saw that they had received a restock of the Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet, and I’d been wanting to give that cigar a try.  Something makes me think there’s a tie in to Stolen Throne Cigars and the Yellowstone TV show, someone is going to have to let me know if I’m thinking of something else.  Not that it has anything to do with anything, just popped into my head.  I don’t think it’s a secret that the Crook of the Crown and the Three Kingdoms are personal favorites of mine, and I need to smoke more of the Call to Arms to form an opinion.  I do like a Sumatra, and the Yorktown Fleet is a Maduro Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler, although the wrapper isn’t overly dark. I hate to criticize my friends at the Wooden Indian, but they need to put these back in the humidor as opposed to having them on the counter by the register, as I feel like the couple I bought were on the dry side. I am going to reserve judgement on this for when my remaining examples have some time in my humidor (internal moisture content read a little lower than I’d like, measured after smoking one). I didn’t find the flavors to be what I expected. Construction was perfect, and I look forward to smoking it again when it’s had some time, and I might look for the Robusto in another shop. I know Lee Marsh pretty well and I’m reasonably certain that what I smoked last night wasn’t his intention. Of course, my palate might have been out of whack too.  I’ll come back to this one.

 

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

 

CigarCraig 

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by | July 20, 2022 · 6:18 pm

PCA 2022: Stolen Throne Cigars

Continuing along with the video interviews I did at the PCA show, here’s a few minutes with Lee Marsh of Stolen Throne Cigars.  This was my first time meeting Lee in person, I’ve talked to him via video chat plenty over the last year, but our paths finally crossed in the physical world.  You may remember that one of my favorite cigars of last year was the Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms, and it remains amongst my favorites. I need to get more!  The Crook of the Crown is tasty too. I sampled the new Phantom Queen at the show (while recording this video), and it was really good. I don’t gravitate toward Connecticuts, but this one had some oomph and was very tasty.  

 

 

Stay tuned for more, I didn’t do many interviews, but I tried to get the best!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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by | January 9, 2022 · 10:35 am

Stolen Throne War Council and Sensei’s Sensational Sarsparilla Cigars

It was implied in my last post that the Stolen Throne Three Kingdoms was among my favorite cigars of the last year, and honestly it was right there at the top. I keep going back for more of this cigar, there’s a sweet flavor that I haven’t been able to put a name to, and it wasn’t until I smoked the War Council yesterday that I think I finally am able to label that flavor. A little bit about the War Council cigar: it’s a 6″ x 46 corona extra, not a skinny toro, or whatever the site that sold them called it. Silliness. They made something like just under 1900 of these, and I was gifted one of these by Kevin and JR of Stolen Throne when I met them a few weeks ago. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, undisclosed binder and Nicaraguan and undisclosed or Honduran (sources vary), fillers. Best I can tell it contains tobacco, that’s a safe bet. It’s very good tobacco. I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that this cigar was the cigar of the year for 2021 at Kaplowitz Media, after smoking it, I don’t find that at all curious. Going back to my tasting notes, I thought it had loads of the same sweet flavor that I love in the Three Kingdoms, which I’m now going to recognize as “sugar cane”. Since my palate is less refined than most, that sweetness carried throughout the cigar for me, and was dominant, and I loved it. I find the Three Kingdoms more balanced for my palate, which is fine, it’s obviously in greater supply, but the War Council was definitely a treat! I love smoking special cigars, but I don’t like falling in love with them!  Thanks guys fr the opportunity, and I learned something from it!  

 

I made a little exception to my own rule with this next cigar, although I suppose it’s not the first time. I generally let other media entities promote their own wares, unless there’s some reciprocity. This particular cigar is now in general distribution, so I’m giving it a pass. as the post title implies, the cigar in question is the Sensei’s Sensational Sarsaparilla, which is part of the Espinosa portfolio. I picked up one of these to sample at an Espinosa event at Son’s a few weeks ago. This originated with the Cigar Dojo, who has done an amazing job with coming out with their own cigars in small batches. This is the maybe the third one that has “made it”, following Drew Estate’s Dogmas in Maduro and Sungrown. It’s pretty impressive, the only other cigar that I can think of that’s similar is DE’s BOTL (RIP TP), which, while is a great cigar, hasn’t seen the success. It’s a 5½” x 52 Belicoso, with a San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Condega and Estelí. Reading the blend, this cigar doesn’t taste anything like it should. I expected dark, cocoa/ coffee, and I got an almost saccharine sweetness. It was more of the sweetness, maybe the Sarsaparilla thing got in my head, but I got the sweet flavor through the cigar. Not that it was a bad thing, it was just not what I expected. It was another good cigar from La Zona, and a lot of my favorite cigars are/were made at La Zona (for other people, ie: La Sirena, the former Cornelius and Anthony and Arandoza). 

 

That’s all for today. The new e-mail alert system should work on this post! I’ve been working on it for a week and hopefully I’ve just about got things ironed out. When it works like I think it will I’ll kill the Feedburner e-mails so everyone doesn’t get two! Fingers crossed again, thanks for your patience, and there’s two of you who may have gotten both e-mails last week! until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

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by | December 5, 2021 · 10:05 am

Crook of the Crown, Triqui Traca, and Room 101 Cigars

As the holidays and year end gets closer things seem to get busier. As I mentioned in last Sunday’s post, I went to Son’s Cigars and hung out with the crew from Stolen Throne Cigars, less brand-owner Lee Marsh, who’s wife has been expecting their son to be born any day and felt that being five hours from home would be less than prudent. What a wuss. 😀. I got past the initial disappointment, and hung out and smoked cigars with them, and my friend Greg, whom I’ve known since high school. I smoked another Three Kingdoms Toro, and a Crook of the Crown Robusto while there, and during the week I smoked a Crook of the Crown Toro. These are some outstanding cigars. The Crook of the Crown has a San Andrés wrapper, and is exactly my kind of cigar, it’s down and dirty, reich and earthy, but I think I like the Three Kingdoms a little more! I love the sweetness it has. They both have a place, and I think I smoked more of those two cigars last week than I’ve smoked any one brand of cigars in a week in a long time. I just got hooked on them. Great stuff from the Rojas factory in Esteli. I’m still looking forward to meeting Lee, I’m told there will be another event in the Spring at Son’s, hopefully he doesn’t have another lame excuse! Meeting Kevin, JR, and Josh made up for his absence. 

 

I know a lot of seasoned cigar smokers like smaller cigars, and I do consider myself a seasoned cigar smoker. Heck, I’ve been smoking cigars for 25 years, that should count, right? I actually prefer larger cigars, smaller cigars don’t satisfy me. There are times, however, when time doesn’t allow for a larger cigar. If I don’t have 45 minutes, Im just not even going to have a cigar, if I have 45 minutes to an hour, I figure I can squeeze in a petite corona or a short robusto or one of the smaller formats. Such an occasion presented itself Friday. My youngest son (27), graduated from Nursing school Thursday evening, so we celebrated Friday evening with a family dinner. I snuck in a Montecristo No. 5 which I had purchased at the Duty Free in the Rome airport back in 2018 when one could do such things, before dinner (which was a very nice little cigar) and then when everyone had gone, I sat down with the new Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca 448. Steve (who still hasn’t shared my Stillwell posts, while sharing everyone else’s!) had given this one to me when we saw him in South Carolina a few weeks ago, it’s basically his regular production version of the Firecracker, which was the genesis of the Triqui Traca blend. This is a bold little smoke, and there’s really nothing unsatisfying about it. It’s got some pepper to it, along with the espresso that I love. It’s definitely the Mi Querida on steroids, and I love it. I was afraid that smoking it as late as I did would give me problems, as sometimes happens (trouble falling asleep, weird dreams, etc), but I was OK. If you loved the Firecrackers and can’t get any more, this is a reasonable alternative. If you never had the Firecracker, and like small, delicious cigars, you’ll like this one.

 

I like listening to podcasts, and one of the ones in my rotation is the A Cigar Hustlers Podcast. Ironically, there’s a cigar store called Cigar Hustler, and the guys on the Podcast are also involved in the store, one of them even is one of the owners! I suppose this helps to avoid trademark infringement. It was on this show where I heard about the Room 101 Who Shot Ya, which is an exclusive for Pospiech, which is, ironically again, owned by Mike Szczepankiewicz of the aforementioned Cigar Hustler. I saw these on the counter at Son’s and had to give one a try, or a shot, I guess. Like the Bangarang, which is the other non-Powstanie cigar in their portfolio, it’s also a pretty strong cigar, and starts with a heavy pepper flavor. It’s a well behaved torpedo, it burns well and was a nice smoking experience throughout the 5″ x 52 of the cigar. The components of the cigar are not disclosed, but it tastes good, definitely worth a “shot”. The podcast is fun too, I recommend it, and Mike and Mike are nice guys, I’ve met them, and they’ve met me!

 

Wednesday I posted the link for the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa, so get in on that if you would like to!  I need  to get a few giveaways together for the holidays I suppose, I have a few goodies laying around! That’ll do it for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

 

 

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