Let me Introduce you to PDR!

Ok, so you may already be well acquainted with this maganificent smoke (and I know many people are based on the 'Likes' on our FB page), but I don’t believe it gets the respect and attention that it deserves.

I came across this PDR (Pinar Del Rio – just so happens to be where my Dad was born in Cuba) 1878 Capa Oscura as I was skipping along in the giant humidor of Cuban Crafters in Miami.  I practically came to a dead stop as if the cigar was staring at me and saying, go ahead, I dare you.

I’m not sure if I’m at the point where I can actually hear cigars speak, but I promise you that this one was talking to me!  I answered, ‘Oh, you think you're big time…you’re gonna get smoked, BIG TIME!’.  And with that I grabbed a couple of these beauties and headed for the register.  We had several more words on the ride home, but that same evening I couldn’t take it any longer.  I gave it my favorite V-cut, and took a torch to it, then POOF, it came to life!

This is an all Dominican cigar, made by Abe Flores of Pinar Del Rio.  The oily 5x52 was looking for trouble and boy did it find it.  It was a smoky and flavorful journey that excited my pallet, but never overwhelmed me.  Despite it’s darker (Oscura) color, it remained mild to medium and just kept delivering solid flavor all the way down to the nub.

The draw was even, the smoke continued to billow out of the cigar after every puff, and ultimately was an extremely enjoyable smoke.  I need to dig around a little more and see what else Abe Flores has to offer, and if it’s anything like this, I guess many more are gonna get ‘smoked!’.

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As close to Cuba as you can get; A trip to Cuban Crafters in Hialeah, FL.

I’m all over the Cuban Crafters cigar company right now having made the pilgrimage to their headquarters in the Hialeah area of Miami this week.  Walking into this store is like taking a trip back in time to when good friends got together over a cigar and just shared a real good time together, for no particular reason except the comradery.

The building is huge, the cigars are everywhere, the walk-in humidor is bigger than most other entire smoke shops.  When you first walk in there is a giant counter/cashier area where a few of the lovely ladies that work there are happily attending customers.

To the left is a large area where master cigar rollers are throwing down!  Leaf after leaf, these craftsmen delicately turn, mold, cut and press this precious cargo into some of the best local smokes in town.  Across from the center counter is the largest walk in humidor I’ve ever been in, with just rows and rows of cigars from floor to ceiling.

To the right of the humidor is, get this, a barber shop!  Where else can you enjoy a premium cigar and get your haircut at the same time?  Just to the right of that is a Cuban coffee counter, where all the espresso coffee you want is FREE!  In front of that is a collection of humidors like you’ve never seen before, every size, color and shape you can imagine.

Walk into the next room and you’ll find a dozen or so rocking chairs, just waiting to gently rock your worries away as you puff on a juicy maduro!  In the same room there are racks of Cuban Guavera shirts, in all colors and sizes, more humidors as well as beautiful artwork depicting scenes from Cuba.

But wait, there’s more! 

The next room is decorated to look like your walking down a street in Old Havana.  Complete with the ‘Bodega Del Medio’ sign from a famous store in Cuba, this section has four domino tables, and at 3pm on a Tuesday afternoon, you had to wait to get a seat to play!

This is some hard-core old school, double nine Cuban domino so you better bring your A game.  In this room there are also beautiful laminate domino tables for sale with authentic artwork mostly based on Cuban landmarks and culture.

The cigar I tried was a J.L. Salazar “Hermanos” maduro.  Man oh man, just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, this cigar seriously blew me away.  From start to finish, it was smooth, strong enough for my tastes and delicious down to the nub!  A must definite buy by the bundle!

To say I felt like a kid in a candy store would be an understatement.  Top it all off with some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and it’s not an exaggeration when I say I wanted to move in.  Thanks to Don Kiki for making me feel right at home, this place really embellishes all that is good about the cigar industry and I can only hope that it remains that way for generations to come!

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Puff, Puff, Keep!

This past Sunday, February the 24th, the temperature in West Palm Beach, Florida reached 85 degrees.  Not hot, but in the middle of 'winter', this is about as good as it gets.

I couldn't resist the call of the soft breeze, and warm afternoon sun any longer, so I headed to the pool (I know you probably hate me by now, but it gets worse!).  Along for the ride was a couple of  Magic Hat #9 cold-ass beers, and a beautiful Alec Bradley 'Connecticut'.

This cigar is dressed in a seamless Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapper and chock full of Honduran and Nicaraguan long-fillers.  Typically a light Connecticut share wrapper is not my tendency.  In fact, I can't recall the last time I bought a natural cigar, favoring heavily the maduro wrappers.  This guy got in my bag of goodies at the latest Great Smoke event sponsored by The Smoke Inn...my favorite day of the whole year!

Well, well, well seems like I've been missing out on a little piece of heaven.  This cigar almost melts in your mouth with a wonderful pallet of flavors, easy draw and long finish.  Nothing overpowering or hot, just a ture pool side companion to soak in the rays.

While I usually do smoke it down to the nub, I was truly looking around for a clip or stick or someway of smoking this puppy down to my fingers!  Not very classy I know, but there was hardly anyone else there! LOL!

Now I love Alec Bradley's amazing and ornate bands, many of which I would like to turn into a custom cigar band ring, but I equally love their smokes.  This is a natural cigar that I will absolutely keep in stock (which to me means it will last in my humidor at least one week).

Enjoy!

John Garcia
Custom Cigar Band Rings

Custom Cigar Band Rings

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Happy Birthday to Me, a gift of CLE Corojo!

On November 28th, I turned 43.  Interestingly enough, I did not start smoking cigars until I was 27, and now enjoy about a cigar a day.

I was very happy to receive a 4-pack of Rocky Patel edge from light to maduro, a RP Vintage, an Illusione but the treat of the gifts came in a little known cigar called CLE Corojo!

This medium brown stick is one of the latest offerings from Christin Eiroa's new company CLE Cigars.  I visited the website and enjoyed some beautiful pics of their cigar farm in Honduras.

This all Honduran cigar may not be the most elegant thing to look at, but right from the first puff, I was thoroughly impressed.  Lots of spice and flavor, that had some sweetness as well to balance it out.  Barely 1/3rd of the way through some nice oak and cedar flavors began to step up, and stay with the smoke the rest of the way.

The draw was easy, the flavor was so good, if I hadn't just had an Italian Sweet Sausage sandwich with peppers, I'd probably be looking for a nice steak to eat.  I enjoyed it while drinking a Fosters premium ale, and felt each sip made both taste better.

Produced in limited quantities, this choice, even on Cigars International will cost you a little more than your average purchase.  A box of 25 Robusto's will cost about $133, and in my opinion, well worth the price.

On a birthday where gifts included well known Bourbon, Cigars and accessories (so glad my people know me so well!) this little CLE won top honors, and should be part of your humidor as well.

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Thank You!