Saturday, June 29, 2019
Crowned Heads The Angel’s Anvil 2019 Cigar Review
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| Marcel Duchamp, who quit art to devote more time to chess and cigars. |
(Cigar Authority) For the past 6 years Crowned Heads has offered a cigar for the Tobacconist Association of America that shares the same TAA initials. Like years past The Angel’s Anvil is made at Tabacalera a Alianza S.A. under the supervision of Ernest Perez-Carrillo. This year the cigar is limited to 1,000 boxes and it serves as today’s review on The Cigar Authority. Continued
Overhauling an Austrian Meerschaum Straight Egg
Friday, June 28, 2019
Bar And Books: One Of NYC’s Last Bastions Of Cigar Culture
Thursday, June 27, 2019
The DadsPipes Shedquarters Project Part IV -From Shed to Shedquarters!
As you may recall, at the end of Part III of this series the electricians had finished up and I was busily hanging boards on walls and ceilings. Continued
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Celebratory Bolivars For Germany’s 5th Avenue
They call it a jar, but it’s more like a porcelain box, with its squarish shape and contoured edges. Only 3,000 were created, each holding 25 standard Bolivar Belicoso Finos (5 1/2 inches by 52 ring gauge). The package was produced by German porcelain manufacturer Seltmann Weiden. Continued
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Quesada Cigars Celebrates 45th Anniversary
By 1876, the bakery was prospering but not to a level that would comfortably support the growing family. When a customer proposed paying his bill with tobacco, the family recognized a new opportunity for one of its youngest members, Antero Gonzalez, who used the tobacco to start his own leaf brokerage.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Antero owned one of the world’s largest tobacco brokerage firms. Continued
Agile Cigar Review: Crux Guild Short Salomone
Foundation Turns Event-Only Menelik Cigar Into Limited Edition
Menelik is a soft-pressed petit robusto with a pigtail that measures 4 1/2 inches by 52 ring gauge. It’s rolled with a Corojo ’99 binder from Jalapa, Nicaragua, along with a filler mix of Nicaraguan tobaccos grown in Estelí, Condega and Jalapa. The bunch is covered in a dark, oily wrapper from San Andrés, Mexico. Continued
Monday, June 24, 2019
G4 TACT Spearmint (All White) Super Slim Review
Don Pepin Garcia Original TAA Exclusive Limited Edition 2019
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| I can honestly say that I have never taken a draw on a cigar and thought "chickpeas." But what do I know? I'm just a dumb blogger. - Firecured |
Extending the Heritage: Genod Pipes
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| The Brierwood Pipe by Winslow Homer |
The briar revolution in pipemaking began in the middle of the 19th century in Saint-Claude, France—a town nestled in the Jura Mountains near the Swiss border that had become a famous center for producing wooden articles. Continued
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Cigar Review: Espinosa Laranja Reserva Escuro Corona Gorda
While the original Espinosa Laranja Reserva line comes out of the La Zona factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, the Laranja Escuro comes out of AJ Fernandez’s San Lotano factory in Ocotel, Nicaragua. This is a factory where Espinosa is doing production for most of its 601 line as well as Murcielago. Continued
Re-Discovering Brigham’s Canuck Line of Pipes and Rehabilitating Two Prototypes – Part III
As I wrote about in Part I, the Canuck line was produced until the 1960s. Production pipes were fitted with a non-filtered Vulcanite stem with either a black anodized aluminum tenon or a screw tenon fitment similar to that used by Dr Grabow, Kaywoodie and others. The pipes were marked “Canuck” instead of “Brigham” to differentiate them from pipes fitted with the then-new Brigham System. Continued
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Friday, June 21, 2019
A Curious Collection of Cult Cigars
… Even if you don’t enjoy cult movies like Samuel Fuller’s Shock Corridor or David Lynch’s Eraserhead (or never heard of them for that matter), we’re sure you’ll be intrigued by such cigars as the Fuente Fuente OpusX Chili Pepper, Tatuaje Pork Tenderloin, OneOff+53 or Liga Privada Dirty Rat. Continued
The Fantastic Four: The Men Behind Davidoff’s Cigars, Part 1
While the company’s geographical position certainly aided its ascension, Tabadom’s talented and dedicated workforce played a much larger role in its long-term success. At Tabadom, the employees are as important an ingredient to success as the tobacco and rolling techniques the company uses to make its cigars. The pursuit of cigar perfection is the daily mission for the factory team, which makes no compromises in any of the processes that go into making cigars. Continued
"Cigars are not a safe alternative to cigarettes"
It should however say that cigars ARE a safe alternative to crack cocaine, serious food poisoning, and fundamental Christianity, and have the additional benefit of chasing away most vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-phobic hysterics.
That would be a far more useful warning label. Continued
Blå Lös (Norway) Snus Review
AVO Improvisation Series LE19 Review
Thursday, June 20, 2019
United Cigars Box Press Natural Robusto Cigar Review
The box pressed cigar has the look of another famous box pressed cigar, with a wrapper that will not win any beauty contests. It’s also lighter than many of the Broadleaf cigars on the market choosing to showcase the natural color. In the hand the cigar is firm with no soft spots and a well packed foot. Continued
Heroes of the Bowl: J.R.R. Tolkien
Beau and JD take a look at one of their favorite pipe smoking heroes who bridges the worlds of both history and fiction: J.R.R. Tolkien
G3 Strong (Slim White Dry) Snus Review
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Cigars Await Future Regulation
(CSD) Cigar sales are up a healthy 7% year-over-year at c-stores, but potential flavor and age regulations loom. Continued
Also: San Francisco Set to Pass E-Cig Ban
Crop Report: A Good Start for Most Growers
(Tobacco Farmer Newsletter) Kentucky tobacco looks good early: Topping will probably start on burley by the first of July, says Bob Pearce, Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. "A few may start sooner. There are no issues in the field so far. I would say at least 70 percent is planted, and we are in good shape to get the rest planted soon." He has seen no major shortage of plants, he says.
In Tennessee Continued
20 Top Cigars That You Should Buy Now
Our April tasting comprised reviews from six size categories: Churchill, corona gorda, figurado, miscellaneous, robusto and grande. Nicaragua and Cuba continued to impress the tasting panel, as cigars from either country took the top spot in every category. Continued
CroMagnon EMH Don Bosco Review
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| An early modern human |
Case in point, the CroMagnon EMH—which stands for Early Modern Human—from RoMa Craft Tobac. A 5 x 56 robusto gordo, it’s a regular production size in the company’s line, and a fine cigar on its own. Then in 2013, the company created the CroMagnon Fomorian, using 250 EMHs that had been set aside for aesthetic issues and rewrapping them with a candela wrapper.
From there, it seemed only natural that the two versions should intermingle, and indeed they did. Continued
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Optimo Limited-Edition Berry Cigarillos
Re-Experiencing Acid: A Look at Drew Estate’s Iconic Brand
Premium retailers were intrigued by the launch of Acid, but they were also skeptical, not understanding this new brand of cigar that had a shiny band, a completely different taste than a typical premium cigar and that was being made by a company that was run by a group of people who strived to be different from anyone else in the industry. Continued
Monday, June 17, 2019
KJ Pipes with Kadesh Swanson
This episode of Pipe and Tamper features G.L. Pease's The Virginia Cream in the QTR. The featured interview is with artisan pipe carver Kadesh Swanson of KJ Pipes. The episode then closes with About the Pipe featuring the Hurricane Pipe.
Summer 2019 Snus News
The eternal city on two continents: Istanbul, part 2
Cigar Review: Protocol John Doe Series by Cubariqueño Cigar Company
In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other very nicely. Neither the strength nor the body overshadowed the other. Continued
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Friday, June 14, 2019
Re-Discovering Brigham’s Canuck Line of Pipes and Rehabilitating Two Prototypes – Part II
This Pot shaped pipe, probably made in the 1940’s or early 1950’s, was certainly showing its age when I brought it to the worktable to start cleaning it up. The body of the pipe wasn’t too bad, but the rim was dented nearly all the way around the outside edge and covered with a crust of lava. Continued
Ramón Allones Macedonian (ER Grecia y Chipre 2011) Review
While I won’t make a good/bad judgment here, there was certainly a line drawn in history when it comes to the Edición Regional program, through which distributors are able to commission unique sizes in 17 of Habanos S.A.’s 27 marcas and release them as an exclusive to a specific region of the world. That line was drawn in 2012, when it was decided that distributors were limited to just one Edición Regional per year. Continued
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Cigar Review: AVO Improvisation LE19 (U.S. Box Pressed)
The international version which is slated to be released this month features a 6 x 50 rounded parejo format. Continued
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
RYO Flies Under the Radar
Nationally, RYO finds itself subject to the same federal proposals that look to increase the age to purchase tobacco to 21. But as the FDA seems intently focused on flavor restrictions at present, and as RYO is unflavored, it’s not on the regulatory hot seat for now.
That hasn’t stopped local ordinances and taxes from threatening sales, however. Continued
Herrera Esteli Miami Piramide Fino Review
Four of the five regular production vitolas are packaged in 10 count boxes; the sole outlier is the Lonsdale Deluxe size, which is sold in boxes of 20. Continued
Working around My Body Chemistry
(AHNAH) Yesterday I wrote about tobacco blends that taste great but are so powerful in terms of flavor and nicotine, that I might have to lie down for a spell after smoking even a small bowl. I promised to report on a possible solution.
Lately, I’ve tried cutting these blends with a straight bland burley, and so far I like the results. Continued
Matilde Serena Corona Review
This particular corona sports a kind of lackluster double cap, tight seams, and a bit of oil on the caramel-brown, lightly veined wrapper. The oil is more of a haze than a sheen, as this cigar lacks the glossy gleam commonly featured on many Connecticuts. Continued
Lyft Berry Frost (Mellow) Nicotine Pouches Review
(Snubie) Fiedler and Lundgren have launched a few new Lyft products, and today we're talking about one of them: Lyft Berry Frost. This is a nicotine pouch product, meaning it contains nicotine, but no tobacco! While these products aren't for me, they are good for those who may want to quit tobacco, but not nicotine. Continued
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Swisher Sweets BLK Tip Cigarillos Wine
U-Sample No5 (Original) Slim White Snus Review
A month or so ago, I noticed that No5 Original came back in a slim, chew bag version, but I haven't reviewed that one yet. Last week, I noticed SnusMe.com began selling what I believe is a snus version of that - U-Sample No5 Strong Slim White. Continued
Cigars Reach The Top of Mount Everest
Over the past half century, Everest has become a goal for those seeking to push the boundaries of resilience and perseverance. Approximately 4,000 people have reached the 29,000-foot-high summit, and more than 300 have perished in the attempt. Continued
Monday, June 10, 2019
Peterson Perfect Plug Review
Plugs being what they are, often require preparation and are also quite strong. Sweatshirts and hoodies came back out and so did the lime green tin housing a little brown brick of tobacco goodness. Which, as it turns out, has been made available to us by Peterson again. Continued
Daniel Marshall Signature Series 125-Cigar Humidor
If you want a humidor from either brand there is a good chance you are pretty serious about not just your cigars but how they are stored.
Unlike most of the humidors on the market today, both companies make humidors in their own factories with an amount of hand labor that is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Daniel Marshall’s humidors are made in California in a style that is very much classic: high-end woods in dark brown colors with generous amounts of lacquer.
The company is probably best known for the Treasure Chest humidor which has a slight curve to the lid, but the company also makes humidors in more traditional rectangular shapes. Continued
Cigar Review: Toscano Anno Domini 1492
This is a cigar company that makes some very unique cigars. Long before it became trendy, Toscano was well known for working with Kentucky Tobacco, including incorporating the use of fire-cured leaf in its blends. The company incorporates a unique fermentation process. As a result of this process, Toscano Cigars do not require humidification and can be stored at room temperature conditions for years. Today, we take a look at one of the offerings in the company’s portfolio. Continued
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Shiro (All White) Cool Mint Strong & Sweet Mint Reviews
Re-Discovering Brigham’s Canuck Line of Pipes and Rehabilitating Two Prototypes – Part I
A few months ago, I received an email from a gentleman in Hamilton, Ontario requesting some help in identifying a couple of old Brigham pipes he had acquired. This in itself isn’t that unusual for me – this blog is chock full of posts about Brigham pipes, and I field questions about the brand regularly. This time, however, the pictures attached to the email showed something I don’t usually see – two non-system Brigham pipes – a Bulldog and a Pot. Continued
Psychedelic Turtle Photo Review
(Cigar Dojo) … The project began with the end goal of achieving a flavor-forward experience and a unique profile that could stand apart from former Cigar Dojo collaborations.
This resulted in the use of an atypical Brazliian Ballaño wrapper, which has been paired with a Habano binder and fillers from Nicaragua’s northern growing regions of Jalapa and Condega. Continued
Saturday, June 8, 2019
John Waters - No Smoking
They've been playing this at the Charles Theater in Baltimore forever. I'm still not tired of it.
The Hobo Cigar Connection
(Firecured) Why would a hobo smoke cigars? It never made any sense to me, that a traveling migrant worker, which is what most of them were, would smoke something so ill-suited to such a hard lifestyle, but that's how they are always depicted. Finally, I think I found an answer in Patricia A. Cooper's book, "Once a Cigar Maker: Men, Women, and Work Culture in American Cigar Factories, 1900 - 1919."
"The cigar maker," wrote one lifelong observer of the CMIU, "is a wanderer." The description was simple but accurate. ... Travel also acted as a sort of rite of passage. This was especially true of hoboing. Most traveling was not hoboing, but everyone was expected to try it at least once. "I don't know why we did," remarked Ograin, but you had to take a hobo trip. If you didn't hobo - why they used to say, 'all right. You're through with your apprenticeship. Now go out and learn the trade.'"