Tag Archives: Sumatra

June 14, 2026 · 10:29 am

Villiger Year of the Horse, HVC and Oscar Valladares Cigars

When I was at the Smoke-Onos a couple weeks back I saw my old friend René Castańeda and he gave me a Villiger Year of the Horse that’s only available in the Asian market.  The Year of the Horse is a 6″ x 52 torpedo with an Ecuadorian Habano oscuro wrapper,  a Mexican San Andrés binder and fillers from Nicaragua. It is made at the Villiger de Nicaragua factory, which is owned by Villiger but run by Joya de Nicaragua. I’m partial to just about anything out of the JdN factory.  Like I said, this will be a pretty worthless “review”, since the cigar is only available overseas, or if you happen to be in good with René!  What sucks is I really enjoyed this cigar!  It was rich and delicious and burned perfectly, with dark chocolate and dried fruit flavors.  The packaging looks incredible, red lacquered box, (there are pictures on Halfwheel, take a look there) but the bands are a little plain, I guess they are beautiful in their simplicity.  I’m sure there’s something similar in the readily available Villiger line up, I guess I need to search it out.

 

I smoked a couple cigars that came in one of Smoke Inn’s crazy deals a few weeks ago, there was a sampler that had a bunch of “new to me” cigars, first up is the HVC Vieja Cosecha No. 2. It seems like this came out in 2015 or 16, so I’m  quite behind.  This is a 6½” x 56 Perfecto.  The barcode label says “doble Figurado”, which in my mind is incorrect, it’s a figurado, a perfecto, but it isn’t doble anything!  It’s a perfecto, and the draw was perfect on this one.  It has a sweet bready start, with some spice that built up, which I expect from this brand.   I’ve been a fan of HVC, a lot of their cigars are very much to my liking.  This one was very enjoyable.  On a side note, HVC needs to get a website put together, they’ve been around over ten years, it’s about time.  

 

I’ve found that I’ve been smoking a lot of great cigars recently, I haven’t had a dud in a while!  Another cigar that was in the same sampler as the HVC was the Oscar Valladares 2012 Sumatra Sixty.  This is a 6″ x 60 box press, with an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Honduran binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers, made in Honduras.  I find myself liking Sumatra cigars more and more lately. There’s a sour/sweet candy flavor I like, it’s almost a desert cigar, which is good because the majority of the cigars I smoke are after a meal.  This was super good, and a good value at around $11.  This brand came out in 2012 when we were all worried about the Mayan calendars prediction that the world would end.  Spoiler: it didn’t.

 

I’ve been having some website issues and am working with my host to geet them straightened out. This shouldn’t pose any danger to the reader, but it’s aggravating the hell out of me. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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May 31, 2026 · 9:42 am

Sobremesa Brulee Tapa Negra and New Partagas and Macanudo Cigars

When I saw Steve Saka a couple weeks ago at the Smoke-Onos he handed me a couple of his new Sobremesa Brûlée Tapa Negra, a shade cigar with a sungrown Nicaraguan Habano leaf covering the last couple inches of the cigar. This is very similar to the Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta, which was based on the old JR Cigars brand,  La Escepcion, I think, although I cannot confirm this memory!  I remember seeing the Cabinettas rolled at the Joya factory in 2011, and smoking the first lanceros there on that trip. I was just talking about that cigar with Selim Hanono (currently with Carrillo, then with Drew Estate), who asked for the Lancero and they made it originally just for him). Steve handed me two Corona Gordas.  I never lose cigars, don’t ya know I lost one of these somewhere.  Craig G, was it in your car?  If it was, smoke it, I tried to give it to you anyway! I swear I didn’t leave it on purpose.  If I dropped it someplace, I hope whoever found it appreciates it!  The Corona Gorda is 5 5/8″ x 48, which is a nice size. It’s also going to be available in a toro. I like the Brûlée and Brûlée Blue well enough, they are exceptional shade cigars.  This takes it to another level.  Besides the Nicaraguan Habano wrapper on the head of the cigar, it has an Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapper, Mexican Matacapan negro de temporal binder, and Nicaraguan fillers from Condega, Pueblo Nuevo criollo, La Joya Estelí C-98 and Estelí hybrid ligero.  This is a really tasty cigar!  It starts out with an unexpected load of pepper!  It smoothes out after a bit and continues with a citrus tang, which I’ve been experiencing a lot lately. Not complaining. I smoked this past the band because I wanted to see if burning the “Negra” part made a difference, and it was really hard to tell as the flavor changes down that far anyway.  I can’t wait to smoke more of these, I wish I hadn’t lost one, and I’ll buy a couple when they hit stores, even though they will be pricey.  Yet another excellent cigar from Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust! 

 

Things got a little busy around here, which gave me an opportunity to smoke some robusto size cigars.  General Cigars recently send a bunch of their new releases, most of which were robustos.  First up is the Partagas Y Nada Mas Cibao.  This is the second in the Nada Mas line, last year featured the Santiago made by William Ventura.  This time they went to La Isla, the factory that also make some of my favorite La Sirena cigars. I think it’s interesting that General Cigars, who has an enormous factory in Santiago, is outsourcing so many different brands now days.  I suppose it’s keeping things interesting.  This Y Nada Mas Cibao has an Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper, a Sumatra binder, and Habano Vuelta Abajo (HVA), Criollo, and Pennsylvania Broadleaf fillers. I assume some of these tobaccos are from the Cibao valley in the DR.  I have to say that I found this cigar eerily similar to the new La Gloria Cubana, in that it had, once again, a strong citrus tang. Burn and draw were great, and it was quite satisfying.  It was very good, I liked it a lot, and at $8-$10 it’s a great buy. 

 

I expected to sit down with another cigar yesterday afternoon, but I was asked to take a drive, so I changed plans and grabbed a Macanudo Sumatra robusto. It was only an hour drive, so I picked the robusto over a toro, and I only has one of the toros I planned to smoke, so choosing something I have more than one of makes sense to me when I’m outside of my normal smoking area.  Too many things can go wrong car smoking!  Macanudo has two new lines, an Ecuador Shade and a Sumatra, saying they are getting “back to their roots”.  These two lines really couldn’t be further from the mild Macanudos that were made in Jamaica and the DR, which had US Connecticut wrappers and San Andrés binders.  These new blends are made in Esteli, Nicaragua, they have Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers and a U.S. Broadleaf binder, the only difference between the two cigar is the wrapper.  I selected the Sumatra version, I haven’t tried the Ecuador Shade version yet.  This was a nice cigar, although the ash was a little flakey for a car cigar.  Listen, when your wife asks you to go somewhere with her,  and says you can smoke a cigar on the way, in her car, you know you have a keeper.  This cigar tasted like it had a Sumatra wrapper.  Some call the flavor “yuck”, I think of it as a hard candy sweetness, something your grandmother always had, but I can’t put a name to it.  I like it.  I actually might smoke the two side by side, but I’ll need to smoke the Shade alone to establish a base line.  The Sumatra isn’t your mild Macanudo, it was really very good! 

 

That’s all for today. I’m not sure what next week’s post will be about, I’m going to a wedding in New York State, and the cigar shop I planned to visit has closed.  I’ll attempt to plan ahead.  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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May 24, 2026 · 10:17 am

Powstanie Sumatra, West Tampa Barbershop and La Gloria Cubana Intención Cigars

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and it feels more like a rainy Thanksgiving!  Last week started with days in the 90s, we’re back in the 50s now.  That’s why I’m not enjoying a cigar while I type today!  Anyway, tomorrow is the day we remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can do stuff like smoke cigars and live our lives. Thank you to all who’ve paid the price.  Anyway, I smoked a few new cigars this week.  I am a regular listener to the A Cigar Hustlers podcast, which is hosted by the two Mikes, Palmer and Szczepankiewicz and comes out every weekday.  I heard them talk about the new Powstanie Sumatra and that it’s available in a Churchill, which led to an unintentional mooch.  All I wanted to know was where I could buy some!  Anyway, a couple showed up in my mailbox and I smoked one.  This is new core line is pretty much the same blend as the Catastrophic Failure, which was a limited release lin 2024, which I wrote about here.  They’ve made this line in four sizes that they haven’t used in their other lines, a petit robusto, gran robusto, gran toro and Churchill.  These are all box pressed, have an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Mexican and Pennsylvania binders, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, made at Nica Sueño in Esteli. I expected a little more of the sweetness I usually get with a sumatra, and got with the Catastrophic Failure, perhaps the larger size tempers this a bit.  It was still a delicious cigar that I had to smoke slowly so as to not overheat it, the draw was on the open side.  Obviously this has well worked tobaccos, given the factory, and is a cigar I will smoke again. I’ll be sampling other sizes, but I always get excited about 7″ x 48 (or 47) Churchills, it’s becoming a forgotten size, and is one of my favorites.

 

Last weekend I missed seeing Ricky Rodriguez  of West Tampa Tobacco at Smoke-onos, but Dan, who does sales for the company handed me their new offering, the Barbershop.  I smoked the “Clipers” size, which is 6″ x 54. This is a new core line cigar, offered in three sizes, with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers from all over Nicaragua.  It’s box pressed and I’ve heard comparisons to another broadleaf box pressed cigar that Ricky was involved with, although I did not need to get my large punch cutter out for this one.  This one also had an open draw, so I smoked it slow. There’s a savory sweetness, if that makes sense, very tasty.  There was some leather and dark chocolate, absolutely no hints of Clubman or talc.  I appreciate any cigar with dark chocolate flavors, I love dark chocolate, but lately it’s a migraine trigger for me, so I avoid it.  This is another really nice cigar, and I’ll try the other sizes, which include a 6½” x 64 called the Barber Chair, and a 5″ x 52 called the Straight Razor. A lesser brand owner would just have called them toros and robustos, bt Ricky likes clever names.  

 

Lastly, La Gloria Cubana has a new offering called the Intención, made at the STG Esteli factory, and ranging from $6 for the Gran Robusto, which is what I sampled, to $8 for the Gigante (6″ x 60), there’s a toro right in the middle both size and price-wise.  I’m reading the info sheet and wondering if I smoked the right cigar, it has the Intención band on it, but it really doesn’t look like a San Andrés wrapper, it looks lighter than I expect.  Not all San Andrés wrappers are maduro, so I’ll let that slide.  It also has an Indonesian binder and Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos, with ligeros from both. I found this to be a medium cigar, with some baking spices to start and a heavy citrus tang throughout.  The data sheet cites spiced chocolate and leather, neither of which I got at all. The cigar I smoked was excellent, I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it was very different than the literature would suggest, and I think others might agree.  Of course, I’ve always been a fan of the La Gloria Cubanas, this one is a winner, I’d gladly add a box to my humidor. 

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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February 9, 2025 · 10:08 am

Flor de las Antillas, Espinosa, and a Couple Platinum Nova Cigars

A few weeks ago I picked up a Flor de las Antillas Maduro toro at Cigar Mojo since I didn’t think I had smoked that cigar before.  I know this isn’t a new cigar, it came out in 2016 and was based on an Anniversary cigar for Federal Cigars in New Hampshire, I believe. Nobody ever said I had to write about new cigars, they are new to me. I’m basically making a searchable database here that I can use to find out when I smoked a cigar and what I thought of it. You’d be surprised at how many times I use the search on my own site!  Anyway, I knew I hadn’t tried this cigar, and it looked really good.  It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper,  Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and is a 6″ x 52 Box Pressed Toro. It’s made at the My Father factory in Esteli. This started with a toasty flavor, with some spiced candy sort of flavors, I really enjoyed it. Mojo has a great selection of My Father cigars, I try to find something new to try when I stop in, and If I don’t see something, I grab a favorite. I’ll definitely grab this again. 

 

I came home from the TPE show with a few new-to-me cigars last week, and one of them was the Espinosa Sumatra, again, in a toro size. There are only a few places around me that have Espinosa cigars, I know Wooden Indian has them, but I don’t get there as often as I’d like.  My friend Richie at Espinosa gave me this when I stopped by the booth at the show.  You probably don’t remember, but I met Richie back in 2019 when we were on the same episode of KMA talk radio. He was with PDR Cigars at the time. I was excited to smoke this cigar.  It’s a 6″ x 54 with a Sumatra wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  This has some of the sweetness I associate with a Sumatra wrapper, and some nuttiness and earthiness. I enjoyed it, although I think I’ll stick with the Laranja Azulejo as my favorite in the line.

 

I always enjoy seeing Leo from Platinum Nova cigars at events and shows.  I first met her at the 2020 TPE show, I remember Anne, formerly of Sutliffe, presently of City of Palms Distribution, introduced me to Leo and Ari.  Platinum Nova cigars are made in the Dominican Republic and are very high quality in my experience.  I remember seeing the Nova Champion Football Cigar in their display in 2020, and was lucky enough to get one from Leo last week.  This is a football shaped perfecto, with a Habano 2002 wrapper, and Dominican binder and fillers. It, obviously, is stylized to look like a football.  I hear that the Super Bowl is on tonight, so I figured I’d better smoke it before it was out of season. Wouldn’t make much sense smoking this on a warm summer day on the beach, would it?  Of course, I was concerned that this 5″ x 70 perfecto wouldn’t burn right, or wouldn’t be that exciting, but I knew it had a good pedigree.  It burned perfectly, and had a good draw right from first light. The flavor was sort of a leathery sweetness, lots of flavor, but medium strength. I was pleasantly surprised at how good this was, and I enjoyed it while watching a movie on the porch.  I’m kinda clad nobody makes a cigar shaped like a hockey puck! 

 

Last night, while watching hockey, I smoked the Platinum Nova Platinum Batch Torpedo.  This is a 6″ x 54 torpedo with a Habano 2000 wrapper and Dominican binder and fillers.  It’s a really nice looking cigar.  This is an $11 cigar that smokes like a much more expensive cigar.  Burn and draw are perfect, it has bright tobacco flavors, is a little on the leathery side, but with some light floral notes. This is a sophisticated cigar that I would pick over a Davidoff or the like any day of the week, especially at that price.  Nofa has some pricey cigars, but this one, on the low end (which 10 years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of calling an $11 cigar reasonably priced), is one of my favorite Nova cigars. It won’t knock you down, but it will give you a really pleasant flavor and smoking experience. I was delighted by it.

 

I’ve been using this lighter I got on Amazon for $24 and have been really happy with it.  It’s a little big to carry around, but it’s nice for use at home. The V cutter does a nice job too. The link is an affiliate link. That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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June 30, 2024 · 10:31 am

E.P. Carrillo Sumatra, Dias de Gloria Brazil and Reinado Capablanca Cigars

It’s the end of June already, we’ve reached the halfway point of 2024! One of my favorite things about summer is that I can write my Sunday blog post on the porch with a cigar.  This morning it’s a Macanudo Gold Label 2023, which is a 4½” x 60.  I think my friends at Best Cigar Prices would call this a Robolo, they used to have a whole series of them!  Anyway, that’s not what I was planning to talk about today!  Last week I smoked the new E.P. Carrillo Maduro from their new Essence Series, This week I smoked the Sumatra. Lately I’ve been surprised at how many times the Maduro has come in second to another wrapper when I’ve sampled cigars in the same line with different wrappers, so I was half expecting this to happen again.  The Sumatra I smoked is the Toro, a 6″ x 52 with an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, binders from Nicaragua and Honduras, and fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.  This was a really interesting cigar!  It had a heavy, almost cloying, flavors of dark dried fruit, to me. It was mouth coating, like black licorice can be, with a pretty long finish.  Where the Maduro brought back memories of the old La Gloria Cubana maduros, this was something new and different.  I enjoyed it, although not as much as the Maduro, and look forward to seeing what other wrapper combinations they come out with in the future.  This line is priced in the $10 range, so it should be a hit!  

 

I stopped by a local shop on the way home Friday and grabbed a couple of the new A.J. Fernandez Dias de Gloria Brazil in a corona size.  They call it a corona, it’s 6½” x 44, more of a lonsdale, really, which is why I picked a couple up. I’m not overly fond of smaller cigars.  This has a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers.  It’s a nice

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, dark cigar, which started off with a bit if tanginess. It progressed to a savoriness with some sweet notes.  I liked it very much.  The price tag made me recall a few years back when they released the Ramon Allones at around $14 and we all thought that was a pricey A.J. Fernandez cigar.  This Corona was $14.   How times have quickly changed.  Geat smoke though!  Worth the price.

 

I go back about nearly a dozen years with Antonio Lam of Reinado Cigars.  I think we first met at Cigar Emporium in Lyndhurst, NJ back in April of 2013. He sent me his newest project, the Capablanca.  This cigar, like the rest of his recent work, is a tribute to his father. My first thought, looking at the name as a non-spanish speaker, I was expecting a shade wrapped cigar. It’s not, it has a Cameroon wrapper, over undisclosed filler and binder, and it’s made at an also undisclosed factory in the Dominican Republic.  Capablanca refers to the Cuban chess master José Raúl Capablanca, who was the world chess champion in the 1920s.  Antonio’s father would replay Capablanca’s chess games with his brother, and taught Antonio to play chess, often replaying the Capablanca games.  Because of Antonio’s father suffering from dementia, a portion of all sales of Reinado cigars goes to the Dementia Society of America. The cigar is listed at 5½” x 54, but if felt more like 6″, but that might have been the inch of wrapper hangin over the foot.  It also had a pigtail cap.  I’ll admit that. I pulled a bit of the loose wrapper off pre-light because I’ve burned to many shirts, pants, rugs with flying burning debris!  This is a really nice smoke.  It has some nuttiness along with a pit of creaminess.  It was medium bodied and burned well. It wasn’t overwhelmingly Cameroony, but that flavor was still there.  I smoked it to a small nub while enjoying a movie on the porch with me family.  I highly recommend anything from Reinado, this included.

 

I heard someone talking about what cut they prefer, and it got me thinking that I really don’t have a preference.  I have three cutters sitting next to me, a Colibri V cutter, a CigarMedics Baller, and my Screwpop MagPulse straight cutter and I use them all depending on my whim.  I have an Adorini Double Cigar Punch that I use (mostly the large end) when I absolutely need a Punch (flat capped

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cigars).  I really am not that picky about what I use, as long as the cigar draws and doesn’t come apart.  I have a variety of straight cutters which work fine, if I’m out and about it’s usually with a Xikar, due to the pocketability.  Whatever works.  Anyway, that’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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