Archive for March, 2012

Ashton Heritage Puro Sol

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Slacker… Yes, I am describing myself. Reviews have lacked recently due to life. Nothing bad, nothing good. Just some home projects and goofing off. So it’s time to get to it…

The Ashton Heritage Puro sol sports tobacco that is all sungrown. Yes, it’s grown in the sunlight instead of underneath cloth cover. This can increase flavor, strength, and body of the tobacco, especially towards the top of the plant (Ligero). Enough of this rambling… Go to Ashton’s website for the details. I picked up the Heritage simply because I have never reviewed it before, and it looked good. As always, I paired this cigar with filtered fine Florida tap water. Mmm…

 

Wrapper: Cameroon

Binder: Dominican

Filler: Dominican

Size: Belicoso 4.875 x 49

Price: $9.95

 

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The shiny chocolaty brown wrapper looked appealing, and only had minimal flaws not worth getting in to. The smell of the wrapper was sweet and earthy, and the foot had a slight spice. The cigar was pretty well packed, with minor inconsistencies. The pre-light draw has some resistance, but fell within my tolerance. As for the pre-light flavor, it was a simple earthiness and maybe a touch of wood.

The burn required no corrections, and the ash held for just over an inch.

 

1 Ashton_Heritage_Puro_Sol cigars

Flavor:

The first third started with a simple earthiness. An easy spice developed quickly. It was easy to pass through the sinus and swish around the mouth. It left a mild, tingly spicy sweet aftertaste. A rich bitter sweetness joined in with what I can only describe as leathery and earthy.

2 Ashton_Heritage_Puro_Sol cigars

The second third had an earthy, woody, spicy flavor with a tinge of bitter sweetness. I think the leathery flavor I got before was earthiness. My palate often get’s the two confused. The aftertaste was earthy and spicy. It really clung to the mouth for quite some time.

3 Ashton_Heritage_Puro_Sol cigars

The last third fell into the upper medium to lower full bodied range. I bring it up because that was the biggest change in the last third. Another change was the sweet spice. It increased in strength but didn’t punch me in the face. It stayed easy to smoke and swish around the mouth and sinus. It just left a nice tingly aftertaste.

4 Ashton_Heritage_Puro_Sol cigars

Conclusion:

This was a solid medium to lower full bodied cigar. The good… Construction and burn was flawless. The flavors were fairly complex and all good. Basically there is nothing bad to say. But… I can always find something. The price of almost ten dollars for such a small cigar is a bit much. Perhaps if there was more of a WOW factor, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. Price aside, this was a good cigar. If it were cheaper, sure I’d smoke more. It is worth trying at least.

Posted in Ashton_Heritage_Puro_Sol, Cigar Reviews, Cigars, fuente | No Comments »

Feel the Warmth From My Cigar by Tommy Zman

Friday, March 9th, 2012

Okay, every one of you guys know by now what an incessant whiner I am when it comes to the weather – especially the miserable winter months where smoking outside is a great discomfort and my weekly cigar intake drops dramatically. But this winter here in the north east has definitely been on the milder side with almost no snow to even speak of. And while that pretty much sucks for ski resorts, guys who plow, and the hardware store that is stuck with fifty full pallets of ice melting pellets, it sure as hell is a relief from shoveling that white crap, and worse yet, driving in it. And with a daughter on the roads and a son who gets his license in 10 days, trust me when I say that I don’t miss that stuff for a second.

Picture 4But as I sit here on my patio perfecting the hunt & peck typing method to a tee, it is 68 degrees here in early March, probably about twenty degrees warmer than the norm, and again, I am not minding it one damned bit! And just who is keeping me company while I write this weekly missive, but a thoroughly delicious Alec Bradley Tempus, a stick that resides on the fuller bodied side, and is enjoying being in the great outdoors every bit as much as I am.

For you BOTL’s in the south and all year warm weather places, you are most envied by us four honeybadger1season dwellers, and please know that it does get a bit tiring hearing you guys tell us, “why don’t you just move” – like hey, why didn’t I think of that – wow, guess I don’t really need this big red Staples EASY button. But right now most of us in the upper US regions are enjoying the hell out of this unusual weather, and enjoying a good cigar outside goes right along with the territory. Normally, right about now I’m going stir crazy, bound inside the house, jonesing like a mutha for a hand rolled happy stick. But thankfully Mother Nature has put the jonesing on hold, and for that I seriously want to take a brief moment to thank the old gal. And I say “brief” moment because anyone who has spent their life in the north knows that three-feet of the frozen white stuff can drop from the sky a couple of days from now, giving us that, “and you thought it was almost springtime” blizzard from hell. Much like the famed Honey Badger, Mother Nature don’t give a shit.

SanCristobalOkay, I think I’ve pretty much got all I can out of this AB Tempus, and good thing I thought ahead and brought along this dark-ass San Cristobal to help me finish out this bloggy. Man, another seriously impressive flavor bomb from the JR collection of finely aged premium tobacco products. I may have never been a boy scout, but when it comes to cigar smoking, this paunchy Polack is ALWAYS prepared! You know, I really do have a rough life writing this cigar love-fest, day in and day out. It’s hard work being a cigar blogger and I want you to know that I give my all for you guys, continually smoking the best stogies all for the purpose of your much needed entertainment. Pretty soon the wife and boy will be home and I’ll toss some charred carcass on the Weber, probably sneaking in a short robusto, all while planning on what cigar to smoke with my single malt night-cap. Damn people, I am friggin exhausted just typing those thoughts!

It’s this unusual warmth that has me in such a good mood while the neighbors drive by and wonder things like, “when is that moron going to get himself a “real” job (much like my loving wife thinks on a daily basis.) But I know that YOU guys appreciate the blood and sweat I’m spilling onto my laptop as this Pepin made Nicaraguan encourages me to keep on giving all that I’ve got. I know my purpose, and I’m proud to serve you all.

Well, I just looked and it’ll be 35 degrees here tomorrow morning. I knew that little tease Momma Nature couldn’t keep this up for more than a couple of days. But right now, I’m gonna get all metaphysical and stay in the present while I thank the Big Guy above for giving me the strength and courage to continue on doing what I do for YOU people.

You know… I think there’s a couple of icy cold bottles of Stout in the fridge. I give and I give…

Stay Smoky My friends,

TZ.Sig.2

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

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A New President, New Cigars and a bad idea by Frank Seltzer

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Villiger Stokkebye – the U-S subsidiary of the 124 year old Swiss cigar company—is undergoing some changes.

Erik Stokkebye, the company president resigned last week and Roy MacLaren has been named as his replacement.  Villiger Stokkebye also is losing its namesake pipe tobacco.  Peter Stokkebye pipe tobacco will no longer be distributed by the company starting in April.  ST-Group, which owns General Cigar and the worldwide rights to Stokkebye, bought another distributor in the U-S and is moving the pipe tobacco to them.  MacLaren says Villiger is working with other pipe tobacco companies to bring in  replacements for the Stokkebye.

MacLaren takes over Villiger with 30 years in the industry.  Roy most recently was VP of sales for Beach Cigar Group,  makers of Gurkha.  Asked about what is in store for the company, MacLaren said first the company name will be changing, as Villiger drops the Stokkebye to become Villiger North America.

Roy’s experience is in line with premium cigars not only with Gurkha but also with Davidoff.  He says his goal is to expand Villiger’s footprint in the premium arena.  Villiger has several premium cigars in the market today but is primarily known for its little cigars.  The company sells 1.2 billion little cigars a year.

MacLaren says he intends to be able to introduce a new Villiger premium cigar at the industry trade show in August, and then add to existing lines. “My focus here is to bring the best quality premium hand rolled product to Villiger North America that I can find.”  Roy will be involved with the blending and other factories as he gets Villiger on the map in the premium cigar segment.

Rare Cigars back

General Cigar has announced its Punch Rare Corojo is back on the market.  Every year, the company releases a limited batch of the cigars…making them rare.   The Punch Rare Corojo uses Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan filler bound with a Connecticut Broadleaf binder.  The wrapper is a dark Sumatran seed grown in Ecuador.

Punch Rare Corojo

The Rare Corojo will be sold through the end of May. In addition, the company is releasing  a special 10th Anniversary Rare Corojo—a 5×50–which will be available until supplies run out.  If you have not had them, the Rare Corojos have a great rich and spicy flavor .  They were started in 2001 as a special limited edition to Punch by legendary cigar blender Frank Llaneza and they come out but once a year.  Get them while you can.

Short Run

Speaking of limited cigars, Ernie Carrillo says the company has begun shipping the new 2012 Short Run.  Ernesto, Ernie’s father, likes to play with limited tobaccos and as a result he offers two limited editions a year, the Short Run that comes out in the Spring and the Edicion Limitada which is in the fall.  This year, the short run is a combination of the New Wave Connecticut wrapper over the filler and binder of the company’s Maduro core line.  They should be showing up soon.

Kalifornia town with bad idea.

Rocklin, California is near Sacramento.  And one moron there had the idea that the town should ban smoking everywhere. You see, one family was upset that their neighbor smoked on his front lawn.  The smoke wafted onto their property and they were upset so they went to city hall and tried to get the offending smoker banned.  City officials were all over this trampling of private property….until they got a little publicity on it then they did what most bullies do, they ran away.

Rocklin City Manager Rick Horst, originally told CBS13 the city was considering the ban.  However after the story ran and was picked up by a prominent website [Drudge] Horst contacted CBS13 and said the city has ‘no intention of considering the matter’.”

This did make for some fun on the Fox show The Five where cigar smoker and former Democratic Presidential campaign manager Bob Beckel sided with Conservative Greg Gutfeld…watch to the end.

Posted in Cigars | No Comments »

Cigar Tobacco Legislation: Chalk One Up for Us by Tommy Zman

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon is a man who knows common sense, and more importantly, knows a propaganda filled, spineless agenda when he sees one.

This past week in a ruling that effects the entire tobacco producing world, Judge Leon told the FDA & the US government that their proposed grotesque graphic labeling of cigarette packaging was indeed: UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

67373892_310335571_Unconstitutional_answer_1_xlarge_xlargeHell, yeah… Here Come Da Judge! (Showing my age with that one right there.)

Several months ago I wrote about Judge Leon’s decision to put a temporary injunction on the FDA’s labeling effort, but now it has come to a head and the gubmint has been given an official smack down – FINALLY – by a guy who understands the Constitution of the United States, and doesn’t take crap when it is doled out in extra-pungent proportions.

In his official 19-page ruling, Leon wrote, “The graphic images here were neither designed to protect the consumer from confusion or deception, nor to increase consumer awareness of smoking risks; rather, they were crafted to evoke a strong emotional response calculated to provoke the viewer to quit or never start smoking.”

Good Lord… someone in Washington actually possesses a brain AND a soul. Somebody get me a JR BRUTO!

It has come down to the fact that the FDA has been found in violation of the First Amendment and even though the ruling was for cigarette packaging, you have to know that if the FDA had won, cigar packaging was to be next in line – desecrating the industry’s ornate boxes and bands while destroying 150 years of tradition in an instant. I think this landmark decision also takes away some of the FDA’s ammo in trying to regulate the cigar industry, showing the public that many of their motives are unscrupulous with an agenda far reaching outside the boundaries of their jurisdiction: meaning the elimination of all tobacco products from the face of the earth (which btw, is my own personal and humble opinion, but you know that I damn-well speak the truth.)

p10b“Although the FDA conveniently refers to these graphic images as ‘graphic warnings,” Leon cited, “characterizing these graphic images as ‘warnings’ is inaccurate and unfair as they are more about shocking and repelling than warning.”

Seriously guys, can you even believe that there’s someone like this even alive in our nation’s Capital? (Hmmmm… maybe a La Gloria Cubana Serie R would be a worthy celebratory smoke…)

Last November, five of the major tobacco manufacturers filed suit against the government, accusing them of violation of their freedom of speech. And, make no mistake about it my Brothers and Sisters of Leafiness, this is indeed a victory in the cigar world’s continual fight against the clueless anti-smoking tyrants who use questionable logic and suspect data to further their “take no prisoners” agenda.

One more very frightening thought to ponder if the Judge had ruled in favor of the vile and offensive labeling is that it would have opened the door for the government to attack other industries in the same manner, such as meat, snack food, desserts, soft drinks, and liquor. And while I applaud the decision of this magistrate, I wonder if he REALLY knows what a profound effect that his ruling has when it comes to Americans rights and freedoms, now and for the future. This is truly HUGE, my friends, and while it is a victory for those who exercise their constitutional right to enjoy a legal adult product, we must all continue to stay vigilant and fight for what we believe to be rightfully ours.

In the closing of U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s ruling, he says with absolute conviction, “The government has failed to carry both its burden of demonstrating a compelling interest and its burden of demonstrating that the rule is narrowly tailored to achieve a constitutionally permissible form of compelled commercial speech.”

TRANSLATION: Up Yours, Dude.

Stay Smoky My Friends,

TZ.Sig.2

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

Posted in anti-politically correct, Big Brother, cigar blog, cigar blogs, cigar expert, cigar interviews, cigar lifestyle, Cigar Reviews, cigar smoking, Cigars, Cuban Cigars, Dominican Cigars, fda, FDA cigars, guy humor, Honduran Cigars, how to cut a cigar, how to light a cigar, how to smoke a cigar, humor blog, humor blogs, JR Bruto, JR Cigars, JR Ultimate, JR Ultimate Bruto, Judge Richard Leon, maduro, man humor, manly, manly humor, manly issues, men's blog, men's blogs, men's humor, men's issues, men's lifestyle, men's lifestyle blog, men's lifestyle magazine online, men's lifestyle online, Nicaraguan Cigars, rant, rant blog, rant blogs, rant humor, rant video, rant videos, rants, Smoke Nazi, Smoke Nazi's, smoking cigars, the Zman, Tommy Z, tommy zman, tommyzman, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, Unconstitutional, Zman | No Comments »

Rocky Patel Sun Grown

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

A faithful visitor to this site recently suggested that I try this cigar again. I did a crude write up of the Sun Grown in 2007, towards my earlier days of smoking cigars. It dawned on me that I’ve been doing this blogging thing for so long, that I should revisit some of those earlier reviewed cigars. Per Vulture’s suggestion, I am starting with the Rocky Patel Sun Grown. This was a go to cigar of mine years ago. As always, I paired with water. Let’s see how it went…

 

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan

Size: Tubo 6 x 50

Price: $7.35

1 Rocky_Patel_Sun_Grown cigars

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The shiny tan wrapper no real flaws, and small to medium veins. The wrapper smell was sort of barnyardish and earthy. The foot had more of a spicy smell. Overall the cigar was solidly packed, with minimal inconsistencies. The pre-light draw had some resistance, but fell within my tolerance. The pre-light flavor was mild, earthy and woody.

The burn required three minor corrections, and the ash held for about one to 1.5 inches.

2 Rocky_Patel_Sun_Grown cigars

Flavor:

The first third was smooth and earthy. There were notes of wood and an easy spice. The spice was basically pepper, and was noticed more when passing smoke through the nose. Simple but not bad at all.

3 Rocky_Patel_Sun_Grown cigars

The second third had an interesting flavor profile. It was earthy, woody, nutty, and spicy. The peppery spice calmed down quite a bit, and was most noticible in the aftertaste.

4 Rocky_Patel_Sun_Grown cigars

The last third saw an increase in pepper. It regained some of it’s zing that was lost in the second third. Earthiness, nuttiness, and wood followed the spice. The aftertaste left a tingly sensation in the mouth and on the lips.

5 Rocky_Patel_Sun_Grown cigars

Conclusion:

This was a good, solid medium to full bodied cigar. It was pretty simple, yet had a fairly complex flavor profile at the same time. Yes I realize that doesn’t make much sense. It shows that my palate hasn’t developed that much over the years. I get the basic flavors and not much more. But no matter… This was a good smoke with good construction, burn, and flavor. I enjoyed revisiting it and can’t say anything bad about the Rocky Patel Sun Grown.

Posted in Cigar Reviews, Cigars, Rocky_Patel, Sun_Grown | No Comments »

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