
Monday, August 6, 2012
Cigar Preview: The Mi Amor Reserva by La Aroma de Cuba!
Cigar Preview: The Rocky Petal Private Cellar
The Private Cellar cigar is constructed from a Nicaraguan binder, a blend of Nicaraguan filler tobaccos from the most prestigious region of Nicaragua, and it will all be wrapped in a decadent Connecticut Broadleaf hand rolled in Tavicusa Factory in Nicaragua. The overall strength of the cigar is told to be between a medium and full bodied cigar, sure to make this an exquisite addition to the Rocky Patel line!
The Rocky Patel Private Cellar cigar will be available in three vitolas: a 5X50 Robusto, a 6 1/2X52 Toro, and a 6 1/8 Torpedo which will come in boxes of twenty ranging in price between $8.50-$8.85 MSRP. Stick Around as you know the Cigar Czar will definitely get his hands on one of these for review!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Cigar Review: Why You'll Fall In Love With The Mi Amor By La Aroma DeCuba
Things you should concern yourself with:
- Mexican Cuban seed Maduro wrapper
- Nicaraguan binder
- Nicaraguan filler
- 5X50 Robusto
- Gentle box press design
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Cigar Event: Edwards Pipe and Cigar Hosts Ashton Event!
However, great deals were not all that were there. People who attended were welcomed with a three piece jazz band, the Tom Barbour Trio, raffles, scotches and rums, and games. Amid the numerous people there that you could talk to, there was also a representative from Ashton Cigars there named Mike Watman. He was an unassuming man that looked very comfortable with whatever he was doing at the time and very knowledgeable about a vast array of cigar related topics. Favorite conversation with Mike was regarding our love of the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor—also by Ashton—and our appreciation for its flavorful subtleties and the punch that comes from the second third of the cigar!
Patrons were also graced with a bean bag tossing tournament that was bracketed and the winner received some great give-away San Cristobal cigars! The Cigar Czar was, of course, included in the tournament losing only until the last game before the finals. However, there wasn’t a game where it was a close nail-biter! Most games seemed to be going heavily in favor of one team, only to have the opposing team catch up and eventually win the game. It made for very dramatic moments, including the second to last game where the Cigar Czar and his partner Rob, were out, but then we made a striking come back to move on! Mike, the Ashton rep, was also knocked out earlier on in the tournament, however, the Finals came down to Armando, the owner of Edwards (convenient) and Team Viagra, Jerry and Al, regulars of the Bada Bing Lounge in Edwards. What had been a hell of a run getting to the Finals, had been a disappointing fizzle for Team Viagra, who eventually lost decidedly to Armando and his wringer.
Once the tournament was done, the last thing to do was the raffle, which had several prizes for folks attending. The majority of those who first won received cigar bundles of Ashton and San Cristobal labels. There was also a very nice San Cristobal ashtray given away with multiple cigars and other tremendous gifts!
All-in-all, the Edwards Pipe and Cigar Ashton Cigar Event was a big success with lots of people going home freshly supplied with San Cristobal cigars and other prizes! I had a lot of fun with this event and look forward to attending and blogging more about Edwards Pipe and Cigar events! The next one the Cigar Czar will be attending is the Cigar and Scotch pairing dinner at TI in Fort Collins! Until then, keep on smokin’!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Cigar Review: Curivari Reserva Limitada, Salty Peanuts It Is Not.
Thanks to the encouragement of the Edwards staff, I have recently become focused on Curivari’s line of cigars, in part because of their open enjoyment of these cigars, but also because of an odd criticism as well. Whether it was a genuine reaction or a comment made in spite, Pete Johnson’s tweet about the Curivari Reserva Limitada tasting like “salty peanuts” while smoking, intrigued the crap out of me, especially since I was getting great reviews from Randy and Armando of Edwards Pipe and Cigar! So, I gave one a chance last night to see if I would get the ballpark experience from this cigar.
I figured a great time to try this Nicaraguan puro cigar from Esteli was right after work; my brain was still fired up from doing a million things at once, but was really primed for some great downtime. Wasting no time when I get home, I attack my humidor--and my fridge for a Shocktop Wheat--and step right outside to my smoking chair! The weather was on the cusp of getting really bad, which is when I tend to enjoy it the most, and threatened to kill the pleasure of my cigar. Thankfully, it held off long enough for me to enjoy this puppy, and enjoy it I did.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Cigar Review: Does Leccia's Cain Live Up To It's Legendary Name?
The background of Sam Leccia's Cain cigar came out of Leccia's want to create a truly straight ligero cigar that was also flavorful. This name, however, is a bit of a misnomer, as no cigar could be truly comprised of all ligero leaf, the top part of the leaf which receives the most nutrients and sun, as it would have inherent combustion problems according to Leccia. Therefore the Cain incorporates a little bit of other leaf making this not a 100% ligero, but, and 82% ligero. The ligero used is a blend of leaf that is grown in the EstelĂ, Condega, and Jalapa regions of Nicaragua.
Before lighting this cigar I notice that it provides me with truly stunning notes of milk chocolate and spice! I toast my cigar, and then once lit, I am immediately greeted with heavy spice and oak flavors with the slightest hint of an undefined sugary sweetness and leather. This flavor holds for most of the first third to half of the cigar.


Saturday, July 21, 2012
Cigar Event: Ashton Cigars and Odell Brewery Pairing Dinner Pt. 4:
Introducing us to dessert, d’Vine’s chef discusses the simple, yet scrumptious, Raspberry Chocolate Mousse! Made with 80 Cacao chocolate, butter, Cruzan Spiced rum, and heavy cream raspberries, this mousse stayed true to the bistro’s name and was absolutely divine! Eating this was like eating a fluffy scoop of chocolaty heaven!
Next up, Nico, who introduces us to another staple beer for Odell: Cutthroat Porter. This ebony beauty is inspired by the traditional London porters of olde. It is a dark, malty, beer that produces a great roasted flavor with hints of chocolate and coffee rolling over your tongue as though it were a fresh mocha!
Last we have Randy of Edwards Pipe and Cigar presenting us with our final smoke of the evening: the San Cristobal Monumento. An cigar crafted by the Garcia family from a blend of aged Nicaraguan leaf and wrapped in an elegant and oily Nicaraguan wrapper.
I light up my cigar almost immediately while the tantalizing Tiffany spares no time in digging into the mousse. I am blessed with a deep, rich, and satisfying flavor of this cigar as it wastes no time presenting me with strong oak flavors with mocha and a hint of almost creamy walnut and black cherry flavored coffee. Taking a sip of the beer, I am shocked at the impressive smooth and light flavor of such a dark beer. I expected a typical porter/stout bitter roasted malts flavor, but it provided me with the full-bodied nature of a porter with a light-as-a-feather character! It is only now, of course, that I take my first sinful spoonful of the mousse and let it just dissolve in my mouth. Again I am surprised me by how incredibly subtle the raspberry flavor is and just taken away by the buttery cocoa of the mousse. This left me with a moment of pause where all I could say afterward was “Oh. My. God!”
The overall experience of the San Cristobal, with the Cutthroat, and the Raspberry mousse was simply too much to describe in words. Every pairing from this evening had something fresh, unique, and startling about how well these flavors intermingled and played with each other. I never quite had so much enjoyment having a cigar, beer, and meal use my tongue as their playground, and I’m more than willing for them to do it again! Until next time and enjoy those cigars!
Friday, July 20, 2012
Cigar Event: Ashton Cigars and Odell Brewery Pairing Dinner Pt. 3:
So, here at The Cigar Bar, we’ve been discussing the Ashton Cigar and Odell Brewery cigar pairing dinner hosted by Edwards Pipe and Cigar at the d’Vine Bistro, and we’ve had some great things to talk about. Today, we continue with part three, which is easily the most exotic in the Czar’s opinion, which provided an exciting combination of flavors!
Starting again, the chef of d’Vine introduces us to a most interesting little finger food: Medjool dates stuffed with Goat cheese and English Stilton, a type of Bleu cheese, wrapped in speck, a smoked and dry cured Spanish ham that resembles a thick cut slice of bacon.
Presenting Odell Brewery’s contribution to this pairing is Nico who educates us on Odell Brewery’s flagship beer 90 Schilling. 90 Schilling is another amber ale, but unlike Levity, it is a bit darker, more medium-bodied, and provides a bit more of a malted flavor.
The last element to be presented is Ashton’s VSG (Virgin Sun Grown) Pegasus 5X54 cigar. The Pegasus is blended specifically for Ashton cigars by renowned Carlos Fuente Jr. Fuente produces this fabulous cigar by crafting Dominican Tobacco leaf aged between four to five years and uses an exclusive wrapper grown only on a private estate in Ecuador owned by the Oliva family. The characteristics of this dark marbled beauty are immediately evident. It is finely crafted with the absolute best roll, firmness, and draw pre-light.
The first thing I do is light up the Ashton VSG and enjoy its immediate coffee and earth-like flavors, that, when combined with the 90 Schilling, creates an almost creamy, bitter-sweet, mocha flavor. Then, I indulge in one of the stuffed dates and I am immediately impacted by the salty, smokiness of the flavors swirling through my mind. I follow up the date with another swig of the 90 Schilling and I’m greeted by a swirling dervish of sweet and salty flavors carried on the back of the now subtle smoky characteristics of the stuffed date. Then the beer seems to dissolve the saltiness all together. This was my queue to take another pull from my cigar. The date still has some of the smokiness remaining in my mouth as the cigars now woody-like mocha flavor smoothes out the smoky flavor while giving me a pleasant savory undertone.