Tag Archives: West Tampa Tobacco Co.

August 3, 2025 · 9:36 am

Hoyo de Monterrey, Devil Crab and Tatuaje Corojo Cigars

A few weeks back I mentioned that I was smoking the new Hoyo de Monterrey Shade while writing, and that I’d report back later. Today is the day. This is the third cigar in the revamped line, the first two were the Oscuro and Rojo, which I talked about back in August of last year. Along with La Gloria, Hoyo de Monterrey is one of the brands I got started on early. The Excalibur No 1 was a special occasion cigar for me, when spending $5 on a cigar was really extravagant. This new Hoyo has a Honduran shade grown wrapper, with Honduran binder and fillers, made at the HATSA factory in Danli, Honduras. I may revisit the Oscuro and the Rojo, but I think this Connecticut is my favorite of the three. It was rich and creamy, well balanced and burned perfectly. My initial impression was that this was a cigar that didn’t really need to be made, It seems that adding a shade cigar to a line is a go to move with General Cigars. This one is really nice, and priced well. It’s funny as I sit here smoking a shade cigar I think about how it’s the last wrapper I go to, but I really like them! This Hoyo is a good one. When I first started this journey, General Cigars sent me a box of Hoyos, and I think I still have one left. That was 15 years ago!

I smoked a West Tampa Cigar Co. Devil Crab a few months ago at the Smoke-Onos when Ricky pretty much made me smoke it, and I had some thoughts, but I wanted to smoke one on a clean palate to validate those thoughts. I can use “validate”, Aganorsa hasn’t protected it somehow, right? Anyway, This is a classic size, 4½” x 60 perfecto. I see the term “double perfecto” bandied about, and that seems redundant to me, a perfecto is a figurado that’s closed at both ends. What would a single perfecto be? Anyway, it’s pretty close to the classic Flying Pig vitola, which Steve Saka resurrected from a late 1800s cigar catalog while working at Drew Estate. I like this shape, it’s a fun smoke. This is made at the Garmendia factory where the White, Black and Red lines are made. This is a very interesting cigar, and I had a very similar experience this time. It smokes well, once you get thought the foot, initially it’s tight, but that’s a typical perfecto trait. To my palate, it has a sweetness, but not a sugary sweetness, more of a saccharine sweetness. It’s a little odd, Certainly worth a try and a decent change of pace. There are other West Tampa cigars I like better.

Finally, I was hunting for something new to me, and I came across the Tatuaje 7th Corojo. This is the fifth cigar in the 7th size, which is a 5 5/8″ x 46 classic Corona Gorda shape. They’ve recently release this as a regular production, along with the Tuxtla in this size. It has a Corojo wrapper grown by the Garcia family in Nicaragua, I assume over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. It’s decently priced around $9.50. I remember feeling extremely extravagant paying that for a Liga Privada when they first hit (double that today!). This was a perfect cigar to unwind with after a very busy Saturday. It has an interesting sourness, not off putting, with a floral overtone. It’s different from what I generally expect from a Tatuaje, but if they all tasted the same, what fun would that be? Perfect construction as always. I should have gotten a Tuxtla too, I haven’t had one in a while, but they will be readily available. Great cigar.

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

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 7th, cigar, cigars, Corojo, Devil Crab, hoyo de monterrey, Shade, tatuaje, West Tampa Tobacco Co.

November 24, 2024 · 8:15 am

Villiger, West Tampa and La Flor de Dulzura Cigars, and Some New Accessories

It’s getting into the busy time of year, and I seem to have a bunch of stuff to write about suddenly! Not a complaint, I’m thankful, as s appropriate this time of year. Don’t forget to sign up for the CigarCraig.com Secret Santa. There’s a small, but very high quality, group signed up, it’s been a lot of fun in the past. I smoked some new-to-me cigars this week, a couple of which are new to everyone. First off is the Villiger TAA 2024. Villager likes to make their TAA cigars in a different factory every year, 2020 was made by E.P. Carillo, ’21 at La Palma, ’22 at La Zona and 2023 at Aganorsa (the only one of the bunch I haven’t smoked). This one is made in Honduras at the Maya Selva factory. Maya Selva is a relatively unknown brand in the U.S., but is huge in Europe. It’s a shame too, because they are really good cigars! I spoke with Maya at the 2016 IPCPR show and again at the 2020 TPE. This cigar is a Honduran Puro, is a solid medium in strength, and surprised me with a prominent white sugar flavor. I was impressed to the point where I smoked another one yesterday. I will keep an eye out at my local TAA store for these. Very nice.

When I was in Tampa a couple weeks ago I ran into Ricky Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco at the Tampa Corona Cigars location where he was doing an event. I actually didn’t run into him, I had texted him about meeting up while I was there and he said he was doing an event at the store. He gave me a couple of his new Circle of Life cigars, which I don’t think are in stores yet. This is a cigar made by Ernesto Carillo at his Casa Carillo factory in the D.R. Ricky and Ernesto have a history, as Rick was on “Team La Gloria” before he took over CAO at General Cigars. The blend on this is undisclosed. The wrapper is dark and oily, and not so pretty. I gor a strong, cloying licoricey flavor, it was pungent, and I liked it. I would have enjoyed it more if it had burned better, some more humidor time might help. This was definitely an interesting cigar, unlike anything else in the WTT portfolio, which is good, I’ll smoke more of these when available.

Another cigar I picked up in Tampa was the La Flor de Dulzura Maduro in a toro size. I took a few minutes to walk up and down 7th Street in Ybor and wandered into King Corona, which is one of the more well known shops there. They had a well appointed humidor, and I picked up one of their house brand cigars. I should have gotten a selection, but I was travelling light, and didn’t have much travel humidor space. If I remember correctly, these are made at Tabacos de Costa Rica, the factory that makes Atabey, Byron, Bandelero, LVH, and I think Vegas de Santiago. This was a really well made cigar, and had some of the sweet cocoa and subtle spice I expect from a maduro cigar. It was very nice, worth the $12. If you find yourself in Tampa take a walk through Ybor City and stop in King Corona, I imagine it’s quite the hopping place in the evenings!

I recently corresponded with the folks at Your Elegant Bar about their products. Initially I thought they were just another company selling Prestige Import Group stuff (which is great stuff, I own a cabinet from them, and their retail arm, First Class Humidors was one of my first advertisers), but I was mistaken. They sell a brand called Lubinsky, and sent me a travel humidor, lighter and punch to have a look at. First, there’s the punch they call the Nutzen M1- Cigar Needle And Punch Tool. This handy tool has a 10mm punch which retracts and extends with a twist. It also unscrews to reveal a pair of tines, presumably to skewer your cigar to get the most out of it. I admit to routinely using such a tool, although mine has much shorter tines. These are about 20mm long, which is almost exactly 50 ring gauge, so one must be careful using this on smaller ring cigars. I find that a 10mm punch is large enough for some smaller ring cigars (under 50), but I prefer my 13mm punch for most cigars. Actually, I prefer a V or straight cut, but some cigars need to be punched, and it’s a handy thing to have on the key ring.

The lighter they sent was the Margo 3 flame lighter in copper. This is a nice cylindrical lighter about 4″ long and probably 62 ring gauge. The jets seem to be slightly pointed inwards to make a pointed flame. It has a large fuel window in the back, and an 8mm punch in the bottom. The adjustment wheel is fairly easy to move with a fingernail, although I rather use a Swiss Army knife screwdriver. I have had cheap torch lighters for nearly 20 years, and fairly expensive ones that crap out in a year or two, so we’ll see how this holds up. I religiously purge my lighters whenever I refill them, which I believe extends their life. The one thing I have trouble getting used to on this one is that the ignition button slides up (there’s an arrow!), which is counter to every lighter I’ve ever had. It makes it a little awkward for me.

Finally,The Gator-Effect Travel Humidor, also carrying the Lubinsky brand name. This has two spanish cedar trays, with velcro straps to keep your cigars from rolling around. The bottom accommodates longer cigars (there’s a two slot tray that I removed to accomodate a Boveda and a hygrometer for testing), and the top tray will hold up to about a toro. Total capacity is 18 cigars, eight on the bottom and ten on top. I loaded it up and it’s been holding the right humidity perfectly. I wouldn’t much bother with humidification if I’m travelling, unless I’m going to a very dry location.

This is a fancy looking unit in green alligator, I’ll admit I’m more of a Pelican case kind of guy. It does work well, although the “hinge” is a little tight, it doesn’t stay open by itself, which is only problematic if you’re going for a cigar in the bottom tray. Maybe it’ll break in, I’m afraid to force it too much. I have half a dozen travel humidors, and I use them infrequently, although I am going to store some cigars in this one and keep monitoring it. Not sure if it’s something I’d carry with me though. It works, and if it fits your style, go for it.

That’s way more than enough for today. Happy Thanksgiving to the American readers! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Accessories, Review

Tagged as cigar, cigars, Circle of Life, King Corona, La Flor de Dulzura, Lubinsky, TAA, Villiger, West Tampa Tobacco Co., Your Elegant Bar

December 10, 2023 · 11:01 am

Boliche Blvd, Some Classic Fuentes and a 1502 Cigar

This week I found myself out and about more than usual! Monday I met up with my friend Steve Tabak from Tampa at the Cigar Mojo location nearest to me. I stopped into the Cigar Mojo original location on Thursday for their Fuente event, then was back at The Grove location Friday for a 1502 event. That’s enough running around for me for this month! Anyway, Monday I picked up a few of the new Boliche Blvd by West Tampa Tobacco. I had smoked a pre-release sample several months ago before I knew exactly what it was, and was looking forward to trying it again. This is made at the NACSA factory, which is the same factory that makes Dunbarton’s Mi Querida and Red Meat Lovers cigars, among others. This is a 6″ x 60 and is presented in boxes of 50, it’s a big box, and they only made 500 boxes. The blend has not been disclosed, all that is said is that the tobacco is sourced from the Oliva Tobacco Co., who owns part of the NACSA factory, so it could come from anywhere. It’s a medium to full bodied cigar, and I’m standing by my original impression that it’s more on the savory side than sweet. I smoked two this week and enjoyed them, not as much as I enjoy the Attic, Red or even the Black, I’m afraid, but I like that sweetness for the most part. Definitely a high quality cigar and worth a try! I wish I had gotten a chance to catch up with Ricky while he was in the area this weekend, but I hung out with Steve, which is always cool!

I stopped in to the King of Prussia Cigar Mojo location (King of Prussia is the name of the “town” in PA, home of one of the largest shopping malls in the country), because one doesn’t often come across Fuente events, and I wanted to see what was up. By the time I got there, maybe two hours after the event started, a lot of the selection was picked over. They had some nice sampler packs though, but I couldn’t justify the spend this time of year, I have a good many Fuente cigars in the humidor as it is. I did pick up some Hemingway Maduros, Short Story, Best Seller and a Classic, as they are few and far between. In my opinion, Fuente does some great work with Broadleaf, putting it on the Opus bunch to make the Ańejo made a better Opus, in my opinion. I think the Ańejo is about my favorite in the Fuente line. Don Carlos and Hemingways are a close second, and putting the Broadleaf on the Hemingway is a treat. The lounge was full at Mojo Thursday, so instead of sitting on their heated outdoor patio, I opted to go home and enjoy the Classic Maduro in my own heated patio. I love the over-roasted coffee flavor of this cigar, it’s not subtle or complex, it’s just good, and it’s fairly priced. I smoked the Best Seller yesterday and it’s more of the same, or I guess it’s less of the same, because it’s a smaller format! The neat thing about the Best Seller is that it has a really tight draw until it burns past the “nipple”, then it opens up and is perfect. The Classic is basically a Churchill in a perfecto shape, 7″ x 48, while the Best Seller is 5″ x 55. I’ve been smoking the Hemingway line for over 25 years and they never fail to disappoint.

Friday I stopped back into the Cigar Mojo The Grove location, with is close to home, to see an old friend, Enrique Sanchez of Global Premium Cigars. He was there with Ron Melendi, who is brokering the 1502 line in the Northeast. It’s been years since I have hung out with Enrique, it was great to be able to relax and enjoy a 1502 Ruby Toro with him and Ron. The 1502 Ruby Toro is a 6″ x 50 with a box press, and is made by Plasencia in Nicaragua. The wrapper is Ecuador Habano and the fillers are from Esteli and Jalapa in Nicaragua. As much as I love the Black Gold (the Maduro in the 1502 line), this Ruby really does it for me. This isn’t a new cigar, if you searched it on my site you’d find that I mentioned it back in 2012, back when 1502 was part of the House of Emilio distribution group. A lot has changed over the years, but this cigar remains consistent, it’s really good! There’s some spice and some citrus sweetness. I arrived fairly late at the shop, hung with the guys until closing, then went home and finished the cigar. I did, indeed relax and enjoy this cigar. I enjoyed catching up with my old friend, and finally meeting Ron, whom I’ve known of for years, I used to visit his shop in New York City, De La Concha from time to time.

I never said this was a new cigar blog, but a blog about my smoking experiences, although I do try to smoke newer stuff. This week was some oldies, but goodies! There are a lot of classic cigars that are worth smoking. I like to have certain Fuente cigars in my humidor all the time, I just love smoking them, and sometimes I don’t get around to them as much as I’d like. In other news, Secret Santa names have been selected and I’ll be working on putting my SS package together today. Don’t delay! Finally, stay tuned for a giveaway or two in the coming weeks! Tis the season! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Filed under Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as 1502 Cigars, Arturo Fuente, Best Seller, Boliche Blvd, cigar, cigars, Classic, Global Premium Cigars, Hemingway, Ruby, West Tampa Tobacco Co.

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

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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 Sto

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len 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

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

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Tagged as Big Sky Cigar Co., Boliche, Call to Arms, cigar, cigars, Mad Minnow, Stolen Throne, West Tampa Tobacco Co., Yorktown Fleet

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.