By Kip & Craig
Cigars and Community. Repeat.
Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure 2 A cuban classic. Thought of to be a “beginner” Cuban cigar by some, I always smoked them and wondered how amazing the other cigars were if this was for a beginner. Industry News Only a few news items...
Note: After no shortage of technological fiascos and forays into new territory, we’re about to get all caught up. The next few episodes to publish are very late, but finally are arriving…and we’re working out the broadcast troubles we’ve experienced the...
Pipe Night Part 4 After no shortage of technological fiascos and forays into new territory, we’re about to get all caught up. The next few episodes to publish are very late, but finally are arriving…and we’re working out the broadcast troubles...
Hirochi Robaina mixed bag Kip – I’m smoking the HR Claro, which features an Ecuadoran Habano Claro wrapper. This particular example was given to me at the 2016 IPCPR, and is the ‘109’ vitola at 7.25” x 50….although I see in...
Unbanded 039 NOTE: Image is a sample image only; not this week’s cigar…my apologies, but the original image was lost in the shuffle. Description: Roughly a 5”x44rg heavily box pressed cigar with a beautiful even colorado wrapper. Possibly even a half shade...
Host’s Choice Craig – 2015 Davidoff Nicaragua Diadema – I had been taking this cigar with me to Colorado for the past three summers and finally decided that I wasn’t going to wait around for the 4th failed attempt to smoke...
Tatuaje Black Petit Lancero Craig – A great (and quite lucky) acquisition from the liquidation sale over at halfashed .com, this box of Petit Lanceros is a sight to see. All standing at attention on their foot, the 6-⅛” x 38...
Unbanded from Dan C. March 2019 Craig – 4-⅜”x50 by direct measurement. “Washed out”, matte brown wrapper. Very little cap. A completely different “tobacco” aroma; I can tell it’s tobacco but it doesn’t smell like cigar. Almost aromatic or cured despite...
Ramon Bueso Olancho Vintage Forum member AKPreacher supplied this episode’s featured cigar. Frankly, neither Craig nor I knew enough about it previously to give a great deal of detail. Of course we could offer preliminary inspection and description of its physical...
Unbanded MF2 Precious little pre-smoke detail as always on our Unbandeds. This one is roughly 4-¾”x(34/47; somewhat pressed ) and has a true to life pig tail. Let’s see how it goes…. Cigar News The CRA added a tool to its approach, or...
El Titan de Bronze Tonight we’re smoking the Sungrown version of the Redemption line out of El Titan de Bronze in Miami. We have the 6” x 52 toro, which features a Sungrown Ecuadoran Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler....
My Father LE 2010 Craig – In late 2009 I was preparing to take my second trip to Nicaragua. I had visited a few years before in 2006 when I took a day trip to Jalapa from a home base in...
Asylum Ogre 7″ x 70 Oof. The Asylum Ogre 7” x 70. What a behemoth of a cigar. It features a Habano/Candela (Nicaragua) barber pole wrap over Nicaraguan internal components. JLedou sent these in long ago, and we’ve been a bit...
Unbanded 036 from zedman This week we’re smoking Unbanded 036 submitted by zedman. I have to apologize for the fact that my audio was atrocious due to some unforeseen technical troubles. Hopefully that will not persist, nor be too annoying for...
Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust Mi Querida From the DT&T; website: Mi Querida literally translates as “my dearest”, however it is a rather provocative word within Nicaragua used to expressly describe your secret mistress. While this may sound like an oxymoron, it is...
Tatuaje Brown Label (Selección de Cazadores) Regios We all know the Tatuaje Brown label as a cornerstone of the industry post 2003. These cigars are one of the best examples of “New School” Nicaraguan blending style. Bold and citrusy, this New...
Pipe Night Part Tres Tonight, we revisit the pipe again, in Part 3 of our Pipe Night Series. Join us as we talk pipes, tobacco, and a few useful tips and tricks to getting full enjoyment from your pipe. Craig is...
La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Maduro The La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Maduro is a cigar that has tempted me since its release. In early 2011 I visited the Dominican Republic for the first time and toured a farm where the...
Unbanded 035 Unbanded 035, tonight’s Cigar of the Week, is roughly 5″ x 50 and has a moderate but even brown coloring. The cold draw is dusty, and there is very little aroma on either wrapper and foot. It was send...
Caminos TMM Tonight’s cigar, the Caminos TMM comes out of the same small, publicly unnamed “Top Secret Nest” factory in Tamboril, RD that Chogüí comes from….although I’m not sure it’s such a secret any more. C’mon down and I’ll show you...
Pipe Night part dos Tonight is the long overdue 2nd installment of Pipe Night here on Half Ashed. We ended up doing a pretty free-form, rambling, 2-hour show as we’re prone to do. We covered a number of basic topics related...
Unbanded 034 Unbanded 034 (J2) from JLedou. Tonight’s Unbanded is a robusto, coming in at 5”x50 with an evenly colored, dark brown wrapper. The wrapper is actually very oily, although this is disguised by the tooth. The cold draw is sweet,...
Southern Draw Quickdraw PA Tonight we’re smoking the Southern Draw Quickdraw PA with a Pennsylvania wrapper (also available with Ecuadoran Dark Habano or Ecuadoran CT). The binder is Nicaraguan, and filler composed of Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos. We have the Short...
El Rey del Mundo Grandes de España Craig – El Rey del Mundo Grandes de Espana. The cigar that is a Lancero’s more suave brother. 38 x 7-⅝” naturally box pressed. This cigar is 21 years old this month and smokes...
Unbanded 033 from DC Sent in by DC all the way back in 12/2016, tonight’s featured cigar, Unbanded 033, is draped in a dark”ish” wrapper (mid-tone brown with some much darker mottling) and a sweet but cedary aroma from the foot....
Ezra Zion All My Ex’s Maduro Kip – The All My Ex’s maduro made its appearance in April 2016 as a followup to the original released blend. The Ezra Zion guys generously gave us these while I was at IPCPR 2016....
EP Carrillo 2011 Dark Rituals Craig – The EP Carrillo 2011 Dark Rituals Edicion Limitada is a cigar with a special place in my heart. It’s not the best cigar in the world, it’s not my favorite size but it is...
Preliminary Review – La Tradicion Cubana Reserva Familiar Kip – Tonight’s sample of the La Tradicion Cubana Reserva Familiar (Family Reserve) is nigh on 3 years old at this point. We are smoking the toro vitola at around 6” x 48-50...
Preliminary Review – EP Carrillo Edición Inaugural Craig – The EPC Edicion Inaugural was a cigar that was heralded as the reintroduction of a legend amongst casual & serious cigar smokers. Ernie Perez-Carillo was coming back after selling off his fabled...
Crowned Heads Mason Dixon North After its 2014 debut, the Crowned Heads Mason Dixon Project returned with few changes in 2015. As you all may remember, the line has two different blends – the North and the South, with each being...
Unbanded 032 Kip – Mine is a lightly colored CT-ish looking wrapper; very faint smell, containing little more than a general wisp of tobacco aroma on the wrapper; slightly more on the foot, with a darker character (brown sugar/molasses, but still...
La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor “Magnifico” – 6”X52; A cigar we’ve talked about at various times over the years, these run about $7.50 for singles in Tampa, and $6.75/ea by the box. San Andres...
RoMaCraft Aquitaine Anthropology Tonight, we’re revisiting a cigar we’ve smoked, enjoyed, and talked about. A lot. The RoMaCraft Aquitaine line, in the Anthropology (corona gorda) vitola. This line features an Ecuadoran Habano Ligero wrapper over Cameroon binder and Nicaraguan filler blend,...
Unbanded #031 from Dan C. Not much to go on preliminarily for tonight’s Unbanded cigar. It’s a darkly complected robusto with dry-ish wrapper and little aroma…lightweight in the hand, but seemingly well constructed before clipping. Cigar News Quiet times are upon us. There...
Hoyo de Monterrey Añejado The Hoyo de Monterrey Anejados! The proverbial “Found in a warehouse” aging story come to life! SRP DIC 06 REVISADO is the box code on today’s CotW. If you buy into the marketing, these, along with a...
Psyko 7 Maduro I received these samples from Ventura right around the time that I moved out of the country – so they’re about 2 years old at this point. I had a good go with the original line, although I...
Cohiba Magico Maduro From Craig… LSO JUN 07 Cohiba Magico – These cigars from the original production run of the first non LE post revolution Cuban cigar. In 2002 Cuba started aging the Maduro wrapper leaves for what would eventually become the...
Drew Estate Undercrown Shade Willy Herrera’s first blend for the Drew Estate lineup outside his Herrera Estelí marca, the Drew Estate Undercrown Shade features an Ecuadoran Connecticut wrapper over Sumatran binder and Dominican/Nicaraguan filler mix. Tonight, we’re smoking the 6” x...
Unbanded 030, from Kevin H. Tonight’s example is roughly a corona gorda, with a lovely dark, evenly colored wrapper leaf. There’s one prominent vein but not a great deal of other relief to wrapper, which is almost oil-free to the touch. It...
Jas Sum Kral Red Knight Lancero From Craig – A lovely gift from our listener “ARKCigars”, these 7″ x 38 lanceros make a perfect addition to your art gallery or your humidor. The most beautiful twisted pigtail cap sit atop a...
Asylum Nyctophilia Robusto Tonight, we’re smoking the 5” x 50 Asylum Nyctophilia, although it was also available in 6” x 60 and 7” x 70. It was one of the TAA exclusives in 2015, and in fact I believe was the...
Georgetown Tobacco Caucus The Georgetown Tobacco Caucus is only available at Georgetown Tobacco, and was blended in 2009 when David Berkebile visited Rocky Patel’s factory in Danli, Honduras. The blend was designed to complement the flavor of the Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper...
La Flor Dominicana TAA 47th Last year’s (fabled, per Craig) selection process led to the finished product we have before us – the La Flor Dominicana TAA 47th. It’s a 5.5” x 52 robusto extra that features an Ecuadoran Habano wrapper...
Cuban Travel Episode w/Zedman and Unbanded 029 Tonight, we have an Unbanded from Dan C. and special guest Zedman, who is here to talk about his recent Cuban travel. There’s not a great deal to say about an Unbanded without spoiling...
Tatuaje Face Craig – Monsters! Yes, we’re a couple weeks late to the Halloween Gig but it’s really never a bad time to light up an original Tatuaje Face. This big beast, 6-½”x56 by direct measurement, was the 2010 Monster release,...
2015 Angel’s Anvil from Crowned Heads Tonight we’re smoking the 2015 Angel’s Anvil from Crowned Heads – the second in this series of TAA-limited releases. The 2015 edition came in the form of a 6” x 52 toro (as opposed to...
Cohiba Behike 56 From Craig: In 2010 Cuba did something the cigar industry had never seen before. It figured out how to utilize a segment of the tobacco plant never used for a cigar before. The Medio Tiempo leaf was included in...
2014 Angel’s Anvil by Crowned Heads One of the limited TAA releases for 2014, the Angel’s Anvil from Crowned Heads is a 7-⅛” x 49 churchill that features an Ecuadoran Havana wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. It was made at...
Unbanded 028, from Kevin H. Tonight, we’re smoking another Unbanded from the generous Kevin Hasselwander – thanks, Kevin! The following are Craig’s notes about it before lighting. Tune in for the grand reveal! A 6-½”x44 heavy in the hand, colorado colored cigar....
Montecristo Number 2 From Craig: Created in July of 1935 at the Particulares factory in Cuba by Alonso Menendez (Benji), Montecristos were rolled there until 1937 when production was transferred to the H.Upmann factory, also owned at that point by Menendez. Montecristo...
