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Welcome to Half Ashed Episode 008, everyone!  Below is a quick summary of this week’s show, but be sure to download or watch/listen through any of the means in the final paragraph of this post!  [NOTE: I apologize for the audio snafu this week. I made some changes that created an echo in Craig’s voice for much of the show.  This was not noticeable while recording, but bothersome in the final cut.  I filtered the recording through a noise gate, but it is still largely present.  Please bear with us while we get these glitches sorted out, and be sure to come back next week when we should be back to normal!]

Half Ashed Cigar of the Week: Unbanded #002

This week’s featured cigar is our second Unbanded (blind) tasting on Half Ashed, and was recommended by Jeff Curtis.  The grand unveiling is detailed below.  If you would like to make a suggestion for future unbanded cigars, send an email to [email protected].  This address is monitored by my wife, who will have one of my local cohorts source the cigars.  If you have cigars you would like to submit, send me an email to: [email protected] and I will provide you with an address to send them.

Industry News this week

1. Legislative Items
   • The Florida Outdoor Smoking Ban bill is still alive. The Florida Senate Regulated Industries Committee, by a unanimous 10-0 vote, advanced SB 258 that will allow Florida local governments to enact their own outdoor smoking restrictions. If you’re in Florida – you NEED to take action here. It only takes about ONE minute, and can be done online while sitting at home with a good cigar.  You can submit messages to your representatives at the CRA page set up for that.  Simply follow the instructions for the automated process.
   • One listener (Dan Crouch) proposed an idea that we have kicked around and will likely feature on a future show.  We will have one of our fellow cigar smokers from a less tobacco-friendly locale come on the show and talk about life on the other side of the prohibitions and stringent legislation we are seeing put forth in the US today.  We all need to take this quite seriously if you value your freedom to enjoy a fine cigar.
2. New Cigar Availability
   • News from KC Johnson about the upcoming L’Atelier LAT44 Maduro release
   • The Crowned Heads Headley Grange has begun shipping in five vitolas.
   • According to EPC’s Facebook page, 2013 Short Runs start shipping next week. Only 5,000 boxes made.
   • The AVO Dominant 13 we talked about a few weeks ago, and featured here on The Cigarmy is landing….if you plan on picking some of these up, they usually go fairly quickly.
   • As reported by Halfwheel and has lit up Twitter, the popular CyB from Joya de Nicaragua will be available in a lancero format to TAA member retailers.
3. General Cigar has once again won a battle for US Trademarks on Cuban cigar marques vs. Cubatabaco
4. Butthead’s Tobacco – where we sourced the Serie V Sampler we’ll be basing our first vertical tasting from – posted a picture of the event-only Nestor Miranda Blue Label.  Craig and I share our thoughts on event-only, retailer-only, and other special edition limited cigars.

What else have we been smoking?

Craig

• La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Reserva – This is a spectacular cigar. Flavors are a bit nuttier & sweeter than the typical Mi Amor. I am a proud Mi Amor lover and this cigar is a terrific addition to the line. I want a box.
• Craig also discusses a rather unique cigar he’s smoked this week, rolled by a listener, Michael Stewart, who sources whole leaf tobacco and has been experimenting and rolling his own cigars…Michael will be on an upcoming show to talk more about his unique hobby.

Kip

• Herrera Esteli from Willy Herrera (NOT to be confused with Frank Herrera’s Biography).  I picked up a couple of these at Corona this past week while waiting for my parents to arrive at the airport. Crazy good construction; uniform color; perfect draw; pleasant, oak and spice flavors w/some nuttiness; lots of nasal spice, but somehow I liked it in this cigar.  Wrapper: Ec Habano, Binder: Honduran, Filler: Nicaraguan. Around $8/stick.
• The full range of Tarazona/Cubanacan Cigars in robusto/rothschild, which I documented in a Cigar Spotlight earlier this week.
• LAT52 from L’Atelier – Ecuadoran wrapper (Sancti spiritus = a hybrid of Criollo and Pelo de Oro); Nicaraguan filler/binder; very unique, sweet cold draw; leather, nuts, slight sweet cedar; citrus on rare occasions throughout. Dig it!  Retail from $7-8
• TLJohnson Tempio – after trading some messages with Terry this week, I went and dug out one of his Tempios, which I reviewed back in December.  Just as good as I remember… Dominican filler/binder; Pennsylvania wrapper; extreme box press; toasty, with healthy, regular doses of cedar intermingled with a sweet, charred oak.  in that review, I likened it to imagining sticking your head into a spent whisky barrel, and still would. Very good sticks in the $8 range, although not widely available yet.

Miscellany

1. My Palio died on me this week.  I still think they are fantastic cutters, but I had some trouble with mine.  Although, come to think of it, I do use it far more than the average bear….
2. Curiosity and idle thought got the best of me and I posted up a poll about peoples’ buying habits on The Cigarmy this past week. I’m very curious….
3. We took some time to discuss one listener email this week:
   1. Steve Dorau asks about some trends he sees in cigars he purchases through online deals versus those same cigars in brick and mortar establishments.

Unbanded Unveiling

• Check out all the details interspersed throughout the show to find out exactly what we thought about this week’s unbanded.  We both enjoyed the cigar, and I even lucked out and was correct about it seeming “Pepin-esque” to me…however, we were both caught offguard by which stick it specifically was – in fact, we talked about this cigar early in the show, not knowing it was exactly what we were smoking in a different vitola.  This week’s Unbanded was the Cabaiguan Guapos Maduro 46, from Tatuaje.  Thanks to Jeff for the recommendation.  It was a very good one!

Next week

Next week we feature the 2002 El Rey del Mundo Tainos as the Cigar of the Week – one of Craig’s favorites.  The following week, April 12th, we will have special guest Michael Stewart on the show to talk about how he sources whole leaf tobacco and rolls his own cigars.

Again, thanks for tuning in everyone.  Be sure to come back next week, when we’ll be taking a look at the ERdM, and hopefully will have all of our audio issues sorted out.  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].  Also, don’t forget to 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.  Video, as always, will be available on our YouTube Channel.