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Episode 028: Skip Martin of RoMaCraft Tobac

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RoMaCraftWelcome to Half Ashed Episode 028, everyone.  This week, we had an surprise visit with Skip Martin, of RoMaCraft Tobac – makers of such fine cigar lines as the Cro Magnon, Intemperance, and Aquitaine.  Both Craig and I are huge fans of the RoMaCraft lineup, as well as Skip and his business partner Michael Rosales.  I personally smoke enough of the Intemperance and Aquitaine that I could probably support the investment of shelf space from a local Tampa area retailer (that’s a big hint for all you Tampa area brick & mortar shops).  This week’s show is a wealth of good information from Skip about the heart and soul behind RoMaCraft: the tobacco, the cigars, and the people.  Moreso than with just about any other company today, I am impressed with the dedication and forethought invested by the RoMaCraft team into the assurance that they are releasing a quality product into the marketplace that carries a great deal of value to the consumer.  I hope you all will give the show a listen; you are sure to pick up a heavy dose of what RoMaCraft is all about…and no small amount of fun to boot.  Skip is a wealth of information, wisdom, and wit.  This is one of the most entertaining 2+ hours Craig and I have had in a show to date.

We cover a few bits of industry information as well – some important legislative moves that are going on around the country and with our Canadian neighbors to the North.  Our cigar of the week is the Oliva Masterblends I from 2003, which we discuss a few times throughout the show.  It turns out, this cigar has not lost its potency over the past decade (just ask Craig).

Next week, we’ll be joined by Jeff & Nada Jumper of Nadi Cigars, so be sure to check back in then to learn what they have to offer.  If you aren’t familiar with Nadi, you should be.  If that’s the case, be sure you listen to get the scoop on them.   If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].  Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints.  We love to get your emails!  Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive.  You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes to subscribe.  Video, as always, will be available at the CigFed Half Ashed Video Archive.

P.S. – If you have unbanded suggestions or contributions, you can get those to us by sending an email to [email protected].  This email address goes directly to my wife, so you can simply suggest an unbanded cigar for her to source, or send me an email to [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in.  I will provide an address to send them.  Thanks!

Episode 027: Unbanded Cigar Number 007

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Half Ashed LogoWelcome back to Episode 027 of Half Ashed.  This week, we’re smoking our cigars shaken; not stirred.  We take a look at Unbanded 007, submitted by Dan Crouch (Thanks, DC!).  In another of DC’s experiments with this segment, he submitted two vitolas from the same line – a corona and a robusto.  We found marked differences between the two.  Tune in to the show to get the grand reveal, and our thoughts on both cigars.

A big thanks is due and given to those folks who submitted recommendations and submissions for the Unbanded segment this week (as us how if  you’d like to do the same).  In this week’s cigar news, we talk a bit about this year’s annual release of the Alec Bradley Fine & Rare, Erez Cigars’ “Unsmokeable” cigar, Avo Uvezian’s car accident, the newest vitola released in the Cuenca 5 Anniversary series (hoowahh!), an upcoming release from Steve Ysidron’s Epicurean Cigars, and the announcement of CFC2014.  Kip in particular is excited to be planning another trip to the beautiful Dominican Republic for this latest even.  We also covered what we’ve been smoking, a couple of random thoughts from Kip – which will likely get him into some trouble, and went over the deep end of tobacco chemistry in our listener emails.

 

Episode 026: The ChiGringo

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This week on Half Ashed, we take a look at the INfamous (that means more than famous, you know….) ChiGringo, blended by my illustrious cohost Craig Schneider himself.  Here’s what Craig has to say about the ChiGringo:

In February of 2008 I traveled to Danli Honduras for what was meant to be only a leisurely getaway. After one week, a lot of rum and dozens of cigars I left with a customized blend from the GR Tobacos Unidas factory on order. These cigars are the final product shipped to me in May of that year. The wrapper is a Nicaraguan Rosado Habano leaf grown in Jalapa and filler is Nicaraguan grown Jalapa corojo tobacco with other tobaccos from Columbia & Panama. The exact blend is gone but these seem to stand out in my mind.

After smoking the ChiGringo, I have to say that Craig has been far too critical of his efforts in the past.  I actually enjoyed it, in fact….even with the sudden jolt of the most sneaky, insidious, profuse nicotine dose I’ve experienced in a while.  I never saw it coming…one moment I was smoking along just minding my own business; the next, I was waking up from a nico-nap.  It just….”happened.”  No cold sweats, no dizziness; just the sudden realization that I’d been had.  Nonetheless, I had a pleasant experience with both examples this week.  Tune in to the show to get our collective remarks about the blend specifically.

We also cover a few news items, what we’ve been smoking, and almost got to the listener emails.  We were cut about 10 minutes short by a pretty intense lightning storm at my house.  We’ll cover those emails on this week’s episode – which, by the way, will be an official “LIVE” show this Friday night at 9pm EST.  Tune in to that as normal via Cigar Federation, or the means below.  If you make it to the live show, you can participate in the live chat with us and rest of the regular folks Friday night.

Episode 025: Casa Magna Domus Magnus Optimus

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kljhlkj-300x134.pngAfter a week or so hiatus courtesy of my web hosting provider, I believe the site is returning to normal.  I have also posted the first in a series of articles covering some new (and not so new) folks at IPCPR2013 in Las Vegas.  You can find that via the menu across the top of the page, or here.

Casa Magna Domus Magnus

Since I am currently on the road and having to post this with my phone (more on that below), I’ll limit the written description of the most recent episode of Half Ashed.  Our Cigar of the Week was the Casa Magna Domus Magnus Optimus.  We covered a few more items from IPCPR 2013, as well as a number of recent industry news stories, what we’ve been smoking, and several listener emails.  So, tune in to the show to get all that….and be sure to come back next week!

At the moment, I am in Chattanooga, for CHATWEETUP2013.  Three days of cigars, cigar people, and just hanging out.  If any of you happen to be here, come find me….I’ll spot you a good cigar!  We will be attempting to record some sort of show during the Tweetup – if that doesn’t work out, it might be a little later.

If you would like to contact us, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].  Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints.  We love to get your emails!  Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive.  You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes to subscribe.

P.S. – If you have unbanded suggestions or contributions, you can get those to us by sending an email to [email protected].  This email address goes directly to my wife, so you can simply suggest an unbanded cigar for her to source, or send me an email to [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in.  I will provide an address to send them.  Thanks!

Episode 024: IPCPR Wrap Up and Unbanded #006

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ipcprAfter some traveling delays and such, we’re back this week with Episode 024 of Half Ashed.  Thank you for tuning in  to our ramblings once again.  This week, we’re focused on a quick summary of my trip to last week’s IPCPR 2013 tradeshow, as well as an Unbanded – Number 006, provided by Jeff Curtis (thanks, Jeff!).  We also cover just a bit of news and a couple of listener emails, so tune in and enjoy!

I changed horses mid-stream at the show, and took a bit of a different approach than I had anticipated, which we describe during the show – I opted to cover a number of booths that were not even on my radar beforehand.  Some of these are first time exhibitors, some have previously attended but have not yet seen vast growth, and others might simply not have national distribution – all are companies to watch for sure, as I believe many will make a mark in the coming days.  For this show, we discussed those listed below, but there will be a great deal of written content here on The Cigarmy over the next couple of weeks detailing quite a few more.  I managed to visit 50+ exhibitors, and have some really cool stuff to share that’s on the horizon, as well as some favorite picks for upcoming cigars….

Companies we (very quickly) covered on this Episode:

  • Viva Republica
  • Casa Fernandez 
  • Aging Room 
  • Drew Estate 
  • Oliva/Padilla 
  • RomaCraft 
  • J. Fuego 
  • Exactus
  • House of Emilio
  • La Jugada
  • Arandoza 
  • Cordoba y Morales 
  • Flor de Gonzalez 
  • Table 36
  • Jameson 
  • Capadura
  • Hoja de Flores

We covered a good bit more during the show – various topics of interest this week, what we’ve been smoking, etc.  Tune in to get the entire story on those items as well.

Be sure you all come back later this week for Episode 025, when we will be taking a look at the Casa Magna Domus Magnus as our Cigar of the Week.  I will tweet/post the exact time and date once we finalize it.  In the meantime, if you would like to contact us, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].  Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints!  We love to get your emails!  Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive.  You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes to subscribe.

P.S. – If you have unbanded suggestions or contributions, you can get those to us by sending an email to [email protected].  This email address goes directly to my wife, so you can simply suggest an unbanded cigar for her to source, or send me an email to [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in.  I will provide an address to send them.  Thanks!

 

Episode 023: Ezra Zion Eminence

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ipcprGood evening, folks.  Welcome to another episode of Half Ashed.  I apologize in advance for such a late publication.  We actually recorded this show during IPCPR last Sunday, but I have since been traveling without an internet connection; thus, I had an inability to post up the audio.  The video from this show is available on our YouTube channel in its unedited form – about 10-15 minutes of which has no video/only audio.  We experienced some early issues with connectivity and killed the video to save bandwidth on the convention hall’s wifi.   We subsequently turned it back on, so I have left it posted for those who might want to look at our ugly mugs.  We covered a number of news items, as well as some early IPCPR stories – although this was actually recorded in the first 3 hours of the tradeshow (so news was very limited at that time).

Ezra Zion Eminence

Our cigar of the week was the upcoming Ezra Zion Eminence, which we greatly enjoyed and covered our tasting notes near the end of this abbreviated show.  We will be recording Episode 024 this upcoming Tuesday (July 23) once I have returned from a family trip….and I will make every effort to have that posted almost immediately.  As a sidenote, this will be an episode you definitely want to catch.  We’ll be covering a great deal of news from IPCPR 2013, with coverage on quite a few new releases and great cigars I had the chance to try while there.

Episode 024 should be posted in a much more timely fashion than Episode 023.  You can join us live while we record if you’d like as well – Tuesday night July 23rd.  Follow my Twitter feed @The_Cigarmy and I’ll post the exact timing.  In the meantime, if you would like to contact us, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].  Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints!  Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive.  You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes to subscribe.  Video, as always, will be available on our YouTube Channel.

P.S. – If you have unbanded suggestions or contributions, you can get those to us by sending an email to [email protected].  This email address goes directly to my wife, so you can simply suggest an unbanded cigar for her to source, or send me an email to [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in.  I will provide an address to send them.  Thanks!

ezra zion eminence

Episode 022: Ramon Allones Petit Corona

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Ramon Allones petit coronaRamon Allones Petit Corona

Welcome back for another fun-filled, exciting episode of Half Ashed.  This week, we take a look at the 2002 Ramon Allones Petit Corona – one of Craig’s very favorite cigars.  He says,   “Since its discontinuation in 2002 the PC has remained a “special” cigar in my humidor. Its big brother the corona is viewed as one of the most saught after regular production cigars since the mid 90s. Both being made in small numbers, thus always maintaining the quality, both of these cigars are great. The PC is legendary.”  Tune in to the show to get both our full thoughts on this episode’s examples.

Industry News:

  • Oliva is making a machine-made cigar, to be released in various markets during the coming months.
  • As first mentioned last week on Half Ashed when we hosted Terry Johnson of TL Johnson Cigars, the news is out that he is moving some of his operations to Miami – and is partnering with Luis Sanchez of La Tradicion Cubana for a joint venture cigar brand.
  • Dona Flor has announced a special Limited Edition IPCPR release, as well as the fact that the Alonso Menendez line is now available in the US.
  • Yet another 7”X70, this time from Drew Estate.  They’re adding this to the MUWAT line, per Halfwheel.
  • Xikar has divested itself of its HC & Defiance Cigar brands….selling them to CI effective July 1. CI has agreed to current price protections to existing retailers through September 30th.
  • IPCPR starts a week from Saturday.  We’ll be doing….something….during the show, depending on internet connections, travel times, etc.
  • Well wishes and quick healing to Charlie Rutherford of Boveda, who had a terrible motorcycle accident last week.  I know the guys behind Boveda personally, and all are good people.
  • Finally, we held our giveaway for June’s prize packs of Michael Stewart’s home-blended, home-rolled cigars.  Michael Thomas and Steve Dorau were selected by random.org, and will be receiving those prizes.  Congrats, gentlemen!

Wrap:

We covered a good bit more during the show – various topics of interest this week, what we’ve been smoking, etc.  Tune in to get the entire story on those items as well.

Be sure you all come back next week for Episode 023, when we will be attempting to put a show together while Kip is in Vegas for IPCPR.  We will be featuring the upcoming Ezra Zion Eminence as our Cigar of the Week.  That show will likely be recorded outside our normal Friday night timeframe due to travel/show scheduling.  I will tweet/post the exact time and date once we finalize it.  In the meantime, if you would like to contact us, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].  Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints!  Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive.  You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes to subscribe.

P.S. – If you have unbanded suggestions or contributions, you can get those to us by sending an email to [email protected].  This email address goes directly to my wife, so you can simply suggest an unbanded cigar for her to source, or send me an email to [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in.  I will provide an address to send them.  Thanks!

Episode 021: TL Johnson Tempio and Guest Terry Johnson

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Half Ashed Ep. 021: TL Johnson Tempio

Good day and welcome back for another fun-filled episode of Half Ashed.  This week, we host Terry Johnson of TL Johnson Cigars.  Terry sits in for the first hour of the show, while we smoke his fantastic Tempio and talk cigars, flyfishing (TL Johnson also produces fly rods), and other gentlemanly topics.  We then covered a few news items for this week, and some of the usual suspects in show segments.  Thanks for tuning in, and enjoy!

TL Johnson TempioFeatured Cigar

This week, we take a look at the TL Johnson Tempio, a cigar that I reviewed last year and smoke on a regular basis myself.  I had a suspicion that Craig would enjoy it just as much as I.  I was right.  Produced for Terry by Luis Sanchez at La Tradicion Cubana, the Tempio is chocked full of sweet cedar, mild citrus, and toasty oaken flavors.  As is the case with Luis’ other production, the Tempio never disappoints in terms of construction and consistency.  Definitely worth seeking out a retailer that carries the line – or requesting them from your local shop.  It features a Pennsylvanian wrapper, draped around a Dominican and Nicaraguan binder/filler blend – and is fantastically flavorful.

Industry News

  • Legislatively, the only news we cover this week is the recent development for the FDA in beginning to exercise more power in controlling product introduction into the marketplace with regard to tobacco products – denying 4 of 6 requests for new cigarette products.
  • In cigar news, we go through a small portion of the IPCPR news this week concerning new cigars to be launched in the near future – notably, the Casa Fernandez 35th Anniversary and Reserva Maduro, a special release from Espinosa for CHATWEETUP2013, and other offerings from Royal Gold (produced by Drew Estate), Pinar Del Rio, George Rico (GAR), and House of Emilio.
  • We also cover the departure of a familiar face at My Father Cigars, and recent acquisition of Heavenly Cigars by Drew Estate.

What Else Have We Been Smoking?

Craig: Back to some Cuban roots this week

Kip: Sam Leccia’s Black & White

Miscellany

Family time with Craig, and a 3-day jaunt to South Florida for Kip – as well as a couple of listener emails for the week.

Wrap

Be sure you all come back next week for Episode 022, as we get into highgear leading into IPCPR.  That show will likely be recorded outside our normal Friday night timeframe due to the Independence Day holiday.  I will tweet/post the schedule once we finalize the timing.  In the meantime, if you would like to contact us, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].  Don’t forget to get those emails in this month to be entered in our current giveaway.  Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive.  You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes.

P.S. – If you have unbanded suggestions or contributions, you can get those to us by sending an email to [email protected].  This email address goes directly to my wife, so you can simply suggest an unbanded cigar for her to source, or send me an email to [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in.  I will provide an address to send them.  Thanks!

Episode 019: Monte Pascoal

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Monte PascoalMonte Pascoal

Welcome back to Half Ashed, and happy Fathers’ Day to all the Dads out there.  We’re glad you’ve joined us for another round of fun.  This week, we take a look at an old favorite – Monte Pascoal.  Craig with a corona, and I the belicoso.  So, find your favorite cigar and join us for another couple hours of smokin’ silliness…

News Items

Legislation:  In legislative news, those of you in Pennsylvania NEED to take heed: CRA has issued an action alert detailing some potentially devastating proposals from a couple of your state congressmen.

The IPCPR season is beginning to kick into high gear, with product announcements from Ortega Cigars, TL Johnson Cigars, Barry Stein (Miami Cigar), Guayacan, Crowned Heads, Ashton and newcomer Cordoba y Morales.  Look for an increasing amount of news in the next few weeks leading up to and during the tradeshow.

What Have We Been Smoking?

Craig: La Aurora Fernando Leon, Monte Pascoal

Kip: Ezra Zion TANTRUM, Nestor Miranda DANNO, 2012 Toast Across America Fuente Opus X

Miscellany

We also cover some behavioral patterns Craig has noticed when “talking business” with some brick and mortar shop owners, and the politics of the B&M.  Additionally, we finally get caught up on listener emails – discussing questions from Chad Miller, Swede214, and Bruce Stark.  Keep those emails coming!  We love ’em, and always enjoy hearing from you all.  Just drop us a line via any of the means below.

Wrap

Be sure you all come back next week for Episode 020, which will hopefully feature a special guest, depending on whether or not we can work out the scheduling.  We will be smoking an unbanded – #005, from Dan Crouch.  We also will be bringing Dan on at the unveiling to discuss the cigar.

In the meantime, if you would like to contact us, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].  Don’t forget to get those emails in this month to be entered in our current giveaway.  Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive.  You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes.

P.S. – If you have unbanded suggestions or contributions, you can get those to us by sending an email to [email protected].  This email address goes directly to my wife, so you can simply suggest an unbanded cigar for her to source, or send me an email to [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in.  I will provide an address to send them.  Thanks!

Half Ashed Ep 017: Lost in the Cosmos w/Michael Stewart

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Michael Stewart home rolledHalf Ashed Ep 017: Michael Stewart

Good evening, everyone. As many of you already know, we recorded Episode 017 of Half Ashed Friday night, on which we had guest Michael Stewart to talk about his most interesting of hobbies – he buys whole leaf tobacco and blends/rolls his own cigars at home. Unfortunately, we experienced a number of technical difficulties both during and since the show. While recording, two of the three participants were booted from the Hangout a number of times with connectivity issues. While bothersome, we did manage to complete the show. However, due to some as-yet unknown YouTube fiasco, the recording is lost somewhere in the internet cosmos. Craig and I will be recording an abbreviated show during the week to announce the winner of our giveaway, as well as a few other pertinent items you will want to know about. We will be back next week with a full show as normal.  In the meantime, I have a couple of reviews lined up which I will take the opportunity to publish. The first is actually for one of Michael’s cigars that I had the opportunity to smoke recently. I have now been able to sample three of his blends, with the following review being the one I’ve enjoyed the most. So, without further ado, this is for Michael Stewart’s “Nicaragua.”  The vital stats on this cigar are as follows:  Dimensions:  Robusto; roughly 5″X50.  Wrapper: Ecuador Yellow Shade.  Binder: Ecuador Sumatran.  Filler: Nicaraguan seco, viso, & ligero.

Michael Stewart home rolledVisual Once-over:

Aside from being a budding torcedor, Michael is also a jazz trumpeter, and has appropriately named his home-rolled sticks “Casa Trompeta.” The band is a nice touch, featuring a trumpet and apropos nomenclature. From all appearances, this cigar appears to be quite well made. The wrapper on this cigar does seem delicate, and telegraphs everything beneath. In all actuality, the ONLY criticism concerning construction I could even dream up is the extremely flat cap – which made it a bit tough to clip without cutting into the body of the cigar. If I’d had the presence of mind, I would have simply reached for a punch and made it a non-issue. Nonetheless, I did manage to get a good cut without removing too much and unraveling the cigar. Overall, I am quite impressed.

The Smoke:

Before fire is applied, I get a faint aroma of tobacco and sweet hay from both the foot and wrapper. The cold draw provides more sweetness, and goldilocks resistance; not too firm, not too free. The early puffs give a noticeable nasal spice. This spice is very “bright,” with a faintly tannic finish. The flavor behind the spice carries the sweetness well, it “feels” only slightly tannic. Throughout the first inch, the burn is impeccable, remaining razor-straight and not requiring any touchup at all.
Michael Stewart home rolledThe midsection of the “Nicaragua” begins to transition into a more cedary profile, with the sweetness taking a backseat and fading significantly. I do notice that you must mind your cadence. Too aggressive a puff rate will turn it more toward a papery flavor palette. I slowed down et voilà! Back to normal.  Of course, this could be said of any cigar in the marketplace.
Going into the final inch or so of the cigar, the strength picks up a notch – but never becomes what I’d call strong. With less than an inch nub remaining, an ever-so-slight bit of tannic bitterness is the only indicator telling me it was ready to finish up. This was only barely perceptible, and never off-putting; It appeared only at the very end of the smoke, and acted as an early warning system that it was nearing its end.  I have to hand it to Michael, this cigar far exceeded my expectations for something blended and rolled by a layperson. So, kudos to him for a job well done. I don’t know if he has any ambition of ever turning his hobby into a money-making endeavor, but I know there are plenty of lesser cigars on the market selling every day. This was quite an enjoyable smoke, and one I’d be willing to buy off the shelf at my local tobacconist.

Wrap:

Once again, stay tuned for the abbreviated show (Episode 017b) this week, and come back for Episode 018 next week. We’ll be featuring the 2006 Partagas Serie du Connoisseur, one of Craig’s favorites. Also in the coming weeks, we’ll be taking a look at some of the fire-cured tobacco that is showing up in an increasing number of cigars as of late. Thanks for checking in, and we’ll see you next week!