Davidoff | Half Ashed

Half Ashed Episode 129: Unbanded 025

November 1, 2015 By Kip Fisher

Unbanded 025, from Dan C.

Kip’s preliminary observations: Unbanded #025 is a pretty straightforward 5” x 50ish (5”x52 for Craig) robusto. Construction appears spot-on for both examples; wrapper has a slight sheen and moderate-heavy veining. Somewhat sweet aroma at the foot, akin to a hay stall but with a bit of molasses if I focus enough. Milder aroma on the wrapper. Absolutely perfect cap build and, subsequently, draw. The draw has a very slight earthy nature, but overall is sweet and grainy. Tune in to find out how it went….and thanks, DC!

Cigar News

Robert Caldwell, of Caldwell Cigars, has publicly confirmed a planned maduro version of the Eastern Standard. The line will feature four vitolas (Corona (5 3/4 x 44), Piramide (6 x 49), Rothchilde (4 3/4 x 49) and Toro Gordo (6 x 50), and run somewhere near the price of the existing line, but possibly with a slight increase. The Eastern Standard can be found in the real world between $8-12 depending on size.

Omar de Frias has announced via social media and press release that Fratello will be releasing a limited edition sampler, the Boxer Series. The sampler will include the Boxer, a 6 1/4 x 52 belicoso, the Boxeador (6 x 54), Boxero (5 1/2 x 50), Boxista (5 x 48) and Boxerito (4 3/4 x 46). The blend will be the same as the original line (Nica Habano over Ec. Sumatra and Nica/Peru filler), but will be box pressed. Three thousand of the samplers will be produced, and should retail around $45…and the packaging itself is noteworthy. The box looks like a small cigar mold. I personally thought it was pretty creative and nicely done. I like it….

The game is afoot, legislatively. Since our last episode, we have learned that a.) the FDA has submitted its proposed plan to regulate premium cigars (and other tobacco products) to the Office of Management & Budget (OMB), and b.) eleven Democratic senators have urged the OMB to complete the review as quickly as possible. The OMB measures the feasibility of these types of proposals, and is expected to recommend action on it after review. As an executive agency, congressional approval or vote is not necessary for the FDA to implement new regulation – just OMB approval. What is NOT known are the exact contents of the FDA’s plan. A couple of options were thrown around in their earlier “Deeming document,” but as of yet the finalized, formalized plan has not been revealed outside government circles. As always, the aforementioned urging senators are pushing this expediency that rarely exists elsewhere in US government to prevent tobacco use by our youth. Possibilities are myriad; this is what we’ve been talking, writing letters, emailing, and calling politicians about for the past 3 years+. If you’ve not done any of those things shame. On. You. Senate bill 441, which would call for an exemption for premium cigars, has the support of 18 senators at the moment….

Following similar releases for the Davidoff and AVO segments, Oettinger Davidoff is preparing to release a Griffin’s Nicaragua. It will feature a Nicaraguan habano wrapper over Dominican piloto cubano binder and five filler tobaccos from Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua.

Epicurean Sues H.O.E.: In a move that further exemplifies the turmoil that the House of Emilio distribution giant has been experiencing in 2015, one of its original brand owners is suing the group over alleged lost/withheld income. The sum is a modest one, over 150k, but certainly represents a sizeable amount of cigars when considering the reported purchase price of 27% below wholesale that Halfwheel is reporting. That, if all attributed to purchased cigars, computes to a bit under 50k cigars. Yikes.

What Else We’ve Been Smoking

Craig

Padron Damaso: Don’t listen to the negative press on this cigar. It tastes like a Padron. It tastes like a connecticut leaf. It’s good and it’s worth trying.

Kip

Chogui!

a Fonseca from 1995…

Next Episode

In the next episode (130), we will be smoking the EP Carrillo Short Run 2015. So come by Friday night and hang out with us in the chatroom during the show. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us via the Contact Page or the following emails: [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), find us on iTunes, or subscribe with any podcast app at our RSS Feed. Video, as always, will be available at the Half Ashed YouTube Channel.

Half Ashed Episode 113: Davidoff Nicaragua

May 20, 2015 By Kip Fisher

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Davidoff Nicaragua Short Corona

I’m joined this week by longtime friend of the show and former Dogwatch Cigar Radio cohost Dale Roush. A huge thanks to Dale for sitting in with me and catching up. We’re smoking the Davidoff Nicaragua Short Corona, a 3.75″ x 46 beauty featuring a 10 year old Habano seed Rosado wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder/fillers. This line debuted in summer of 2013, and retails for about $9.90 depending on local tax situation. Tune in to get our thoughts on the cigar, as well as a chance to see what Dale has been up to and a bit of cigar news!

News

In a topic we talked briefly about last week as an outlying possibility for a developing trend, Camacho has announced their contribution to the world of barrel-aged cigars. The Camacho American Barrel Aged will feature bourbon barrel-aged corojo as a core component. It will also come with a 5-year old American broadleaf wrapper. In fact, it almost exclusively utilizes American grown tobacco, including the broadleaf wrapper, binder and filler – including a maduro filler tobacco from Pennsylvania. A single leaf of six year old bourbon barrel aged Corojo was added to the recipe. They are promoting a national event tour to launch the line, beginning in Orlando June 8th and ending up at Tampa Humidor December 19th. It will be shipping June 15th and retail for $10-12 per cigar. I posted a story about it on the website with full tour schedule.

United Cigar, who we’ve spoken of several times in the past 2 months, is partnering with Selected Tobacco to extend the Byron line by two vitolas. Both cigars are the largest Byron vitolas to date, and as a result each blend is tweaked a bit with a higher priming to maintain the strength and flavor required to match the larger ring gauge format. The packaging has also been revamped and will include individual humitubes with the cigars. MSRP has been set at a whopping $33 a stick. Here are the details on the cigars. See full story posted earlier.

The Serie Siglo XIX, was blended by Nelson Alfonso with a goal of best representing Cuban Cigars of the 19th Century is now available in a 6 x 56, known as the Grand Poemas.

The Serie Siglo XX – also blended by Nelson Alfonso – aims at representing Cuban Cigars of the 20th Century, and is also available in a 6 x 56 format known as Habanero.

A few weeks ago we reported on an upcoming event-only offering from Crowned Heads…just as an update, the name has changed from “Snake Oil” to “Blood Medicine.” Turns out, Kendall Culbertson of Outlaw Cigar Co. owns the trademark for Snake Oil. So, to maintain the peace, the Crowned Heads folks opted to just change the name. Other details remain the same: it’s a 5.5” x 48 “super corona”; Ecuador Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. It will not be available for stand-alone purchase, and will come through event special purchases.

The still-recovering Skip Martin is closing in on shipping the much-anticipated release of RoMa Craft’s Neanderthal this upcoming week. The line carries a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Connecticut broadleaf binder and fillers that include tobacco from Condega, Estelí, Jalapa and Pueblo Nuevo from Nicaragua; Dominican olor ligero and Pennsylvania “Green River Sucker One” double ligero. The line will be distributed initially in a single 5” x 52/58 vitola, but will also include extensions soon. A shop exclusive/event 4.25” x 52 vitola will also be available soon for Riverside Cigar Shop in Indiana and Serious Cigars in TX. These two sizes will retail for $12 and $9 respectively.

While cruising the social media nether regions today, I noticed an article halfwheel posted up that they’d found in the Cañon City Daily Record from Dale’s home state of Colorado. It appears some folks in Cañon City CO are shooting for a ban on outdoor smoking in the Central Business District of the city. The claim is that smokers spilling out of buildings (due to an indoor ban) are giving the area an inconvenient image. Councilman James Characky, Jr. said. “I want to create an image of healthy, vibrant people, not an image of cigarette smoking, beer drinkers.” The mayor has proposed limiting the ban to Main Street alone, rather than the entire district.

What Else We’ve Been Smoking

Dale

Man O” War Armada War Horse
Black Market Vandal Toro
Camacho Triple Maduro Robusto

Kip

A peculiar Tramp Stamp – Wrapper: Habano Ecuador, Binder: Nicaraguan, Filler: Nicaraguan

Next Episode

Next episode (114) we will be featuring the Unbanded #024 from zedman. So come by Half Ashed Friday night at 9:30pm EST and hang out with us in the chatroom during the show. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us via the Contact Page or the following emails:[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), find us on iTunes, or subscribe with any podcast app at our RSS Feed. Video, as always, will be available at the Half Ashed 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 [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in. I will provide an address to send them. Thanks!

Half Ashed Episode 112: Southern Draw Cigars

May 10, 2015 By Kip Fisher

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Southern Draw Cigars – Kudzu Toro

Welcome to episode 112! This week, we have guest Robert Holt of Southern Draw Cigars. Tune in as we chat with Robert about his cigars, the philosophy behind the brand and blending, as well as a few off-topic rabbit trails. We had a fantastic time…all while smoking the Southern Draw Kudzu. Tonight’s stick is the 6″ x 52 toro, featuring Nicaraguan internal components wrapped in a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper leaf. The Kudzu is softly pressed, with moderate tooth and beautiful dark chocolate-brown coloration throughout. It also has an element I increasingly enjoy for lighting purposes – a closed foot, which makes lighting a breeze. Besides the toro, it is also available in a 5.5″ x 54 robusto and 6.5″ x 60 Gordo. Tune in to see how it went!

News

Big news today from House of Emilio. Founder Gary Griffith has left the company, per a statement from them on social media this afternoon:

Today’s post is to inform our friends in the cigar industry about the retirement of Gary Griffith from Emilio Cigars, House of Emilio, and Delaware Cigars. Gary was a visionary and a social media marketing pioneer. His time with us was filled with laughter, caring, and many great cigars. Going forward, his legacy will continue through the brands he’s helped, the distribution company he led, and the cigars that he blended. We wish him all the best in his future adventures!

So…what does this mean? Nate McIntyre left a few months back, and I’m not even sure who is left to take the helm. I know they have several sales folks at this point, but I don’t know who is in a position to continue on.

Yesterday, we learned of that 4 Senators (including Craig’s own Dick Durbin) have proposed a NEW tax on tobacco products, including cigars. The proposal would add $0.94 per pack of cigarettes and an “equivalent amount” on other tobacco products. One of the specified goals is to make the taxation similar on all types of tobacco usage. And…predictably….it’s “for the kids.” Speculation is that the tax would add close to $1 to the retail price of premium cigars, depending on wholesale pricing. While it isn’t expected to make it to law, some day it will likely do so should the environment shift….

Nicholas Melillo – aka Nick R. Agua – has been hinting around for weeks or even months concerning possible future involvement in the cigar industry post-Drew Estate. He finally made it a bit clearer this week, with a post stating that “I don’t think there is any better way for people to understand my experience in Nicaragua than through a cigar and a brand, which i hope to debut this summer/fall. As I did with Drew Estate I am putting heart and soul into these new projects, because that’s the only way I know how to do it.”

In a story we didn’t get to last week, Davidoff will be mixing it up again – they will be introducing a Brazilian themed line. It will be rolled in the Dominican Republic, and feature tobacco from the DR, Ecuador and Brazil. Availability is limited to three vitolas – a 3.25” x 50 short robusto, 4.5” x 54 robusto, and 5.5” x 58 gran toro. Pricing has not been released, but the smallest is expected to come in around the $10 mark. The line should debut at this year’s IPCPR tradeshow.

What Else We’ve Been Smoking

Craig

isla del sol – What can I say about a sugar tipped cigar from my boss? The gift was a nice gesture while we were working together on site but the reality is not my style. A better quality wrapper would have been appreciated. As would no artificial additives to the wrappers head. The cigar had an enjoyable natural tasting sweetness that I did find palatable but I just can’t get over the sticky coating. My lips ripped the wrapper a quarter of the way in and I progressively had to pick pieces off of my lips. If I wasn’t frustrated continuously I would have enjoyed the experience a bit. It reminds me of something my dad would smoke. I’m sure I’d find myself smiling one day after he’s gone if I happened to light one of these up. Too bad it would be the type of laughter accompanying those frustrating moments in life that are so mundane they’re humorous. I guess there’s something redeeming in everything if you look deep enough.

Kip

Tatuaje “Hassell” from 2013 SNS pack. Incredibly sweet aroma off the foot; The initial puffs were wildly entertaining – dark and chocolatey; lots of early sweetness with dark, cherry flavors. From midpoint on, I got a peculiar and unique flavor – hoarhound candy, or even root beer. One of the best cigars I’ve had this year….wish there were more.

Ortega “Cubao” – A couple years ago, when Eddie re-introduced these, I really enjoyed them. They had lots of bright, approachable spice and just enough of a kick to stay interesting. They seem to have maintained all their strength but lost some flavor. It seemed a bit out of balance; definitely tilted toward strength on the ol’ scale.

Some Fuente prototype from CFC2012. I love Fuente. I truly do…but I was left a bit disappointed by this one. It began with delicious, sweet toasty goodness. But around the midpoint, it became increasingly hard to get smoke from it – and the flavor went a bit more vegetal than I’d typically prefer. At first I wished I knew what it was and how to get more…but by the end I didn’t really care.

Next Episode

Next episode (113) we will be featuring the Davidoff Nicaragua short corona, with special guest Dale Roush. So come by Half Ashed Friday night at 9:30pm EST and hang out with us in the chatroom during the show. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us via the Contact Page or the following emails: [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), find us on iTunes, or subscribe with any podcast app at our RSS Feed. Video, as always, will be available at the Half Ashed 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 [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in. I will provide an address to send them. Thanks!

Half Ashed Episode 104: Tatuaje RC184

March 4, 2015 By Kip Fisher

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Tatuaje RC184

Good day, and welcome to Episode 104 of Half Ashed! This week, we are featuring the Tatuaje RC184 as our Cigar of the Week, generously furnished by Craig. Here’s his description of it:

The RC184 is a Salomon vitola from Tatuaje’s Reserva lineage. Checking in at 184 mm this behemoth is roughly 7-½”x57 and from a 2009 box I purchased shortly after being rolled. The cigar’s prefix stands for “Retro Cuban” and is an effective description of the suave style of flavors I typically attribute to Cuban cigars. Despite falling under the Reserva line of Tats, the blend does not venture far into the coffee and cocoa dominant world that many other Tat Reservas tend to reside in. Lovely orange peel citrus flavors accompany a light espresso core while being accompanied by terrific cherry notes and an occasional caramel sweetness. Despite having a reputation for being a ball buster, I don’t find them to be all too strong. A great, well rounded limited stick from Tatuaje.

News

(Maybe) the final update in Nebraska. Governor Pete Ricketts, on the final day to do so, signed the bill allowing cigar & pipe smoking in cigar bars into law. It was effective immediately, so light up Nebraska! STORY HERE

Oettinger Davidoff announced today that they have acquired additional farmland in Jamastran (Honduras) and Condega (Nicaragua). They have additionally purchased land near their box factory upon which to build a new factory. Once the new factory has been completed, the existing one will be divested. They have added about 150 hectares (~370 acres). The new factory will be larger and help cover the 60% growth in production needs over the past few years. Story via Cigar Journal

Tampa is getting a Davidoff store. A big one. According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Jeff Borysiewicz and wife Tanya will be opening the store late this year. It will cover 5,000 square feet of space and be entirely humidifed. As would be expected in this part of the world, it will feature both indoor and outdoor lounge space, as well as the typical lockers, and a full bar. This is the fourth announced Davidoff store opening this year, along with others in Houston, Atlanta and Manhattan.

Pete Johnson has posted up that his TAA exclusive will make its 5th appearance later this year. According to halfwheel, this year will be another re-release of the 2011 blend (hoowahh!), featuring a CT broadleaf wrapper in a single 5.625 x 54 vitola.

Speaking of halfwheel, they did an interesting piece this week after Habanos S.A. made some (very) bold claims about their expectations for the American market once the embargo lifts. HSA execs claim that they believe they can conservatively capture 25-30% of the American market very quickly, and further stated they would take 70% of the market over time. Considering the fact that Cuba would have to immediately grow production by about 50% of 2013 levels to even get into the 25-30% ballpark, I’m pretty doubtful those numbers would bear out….or if they do, I’d imagine we’d see some other issues with the product.

Guest on our celebratory 100th episode, Colin Ganley, just received a major nomination in the world of cigars, The Habanos Man of the Year. Typically awarded at the Habanos festival closing Gala, the award represents an individual’s contributions to the world of CUban Cigars. Good for Colin. More to come after tonight’s ceremony.

What We’ve Been Smoking

Craig

Blind Man’s Puff #275: 6”x54 box press (smoked for BMP cooperative reviews)

Kip

United Cigar “Garofalo” – this cigar put my review format to the test. Connecticut wrapped cigars are not typically in my wheelhouse – and neither are most Perdomo offerings (the blender, or at least leaf supplier, of this cigar). Trudging ahead, I found it still to be an entertaining cigar. In fact, I would even consider keeping a few around if the opportunity presented itself. For CT fans, it’s definitely worth checking out at its low pricepoint of $6.79.

illusione ECCJ 20th. My last of these before they’re on the show…but I’m digging them.

La Hoja Autentico maduro (original from 2yr ago). This fell a bit flat for me. Extremely flaky ash; “plain” flavors that leaned on ashy at times throughout the smoke. I’m not sure if the blend has changed on their re-launch following the trademark issues with the name Flores, but if it hasn’t these are definitely not appealing to me with a $14.50 price tag…

Wrap Up

Next episode we will be featuring one of Kip’s selections, the La Flor Dominicana 1994. Be sure to tune in Friday night at 9:30pm EST and hang out with us in the chatroom during the show. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us via the “Contact Us!” tab at the side of this page, or at the following emails:[email protected] [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), find us on iTunes, or subscribe with any podcast app at our RSS Feed. Video, as always, will be available at the Half Ashed YouTube Channel.

P.S. – If you have unbanded suggestions or contributions, you can get those to us by sending [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 Episode 099: 2000 Partagas Serie D Robusto

January 21, 2015 By Kip Fisher

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2000 Partagas Serie D Robusto (#4)

Welcome to Episode 099 of Half Ashed, featuring one of Craig’s selections – and quite a treat – the 2000 Partagas Serie D #4 Robusto. Craig’s words about this special cigar:

A traditional robusto which helped popularize the size in the 70’s. This classic cigar from Cuba is the only remaining specimen from a 16 cigar series from A-D & 1-4. Originally the rings escalated by letter and lengths shortened by number. This little trivia tidbit is a lesser known fact about what is now an incredibly popular cigar. Filled with classic “old school” tobacco based flavors, this cigar blossoms with “twang” and displays quite a bit of spice and bold sweetness when young. With a decade and a half of age, these samples are well rounded and smoothed out, while still being powerful enough to hold anyone’s interest.

News

In the news, we covered and explored a few items, including the stories summarized below.

We haven’t talked much in the past about Cabal, but they’ve been busily building a growing following. It’s a partnership between Chris Arolfo and Hendrik Kelner, Jr. as the flagship line for Kelner Boutique Factory in the DR. Chris posted up this week that he will be releasing a new line – the Linda, in honor of his Mom who passed away with a rare brain disorder 2 years ago. It will help support a research/support organization for Frontotemporal Degeneration. No details for the cigar, but I dig the idea already.

Jon Huber at The Crowned Heads has again hinted at another upcoming project for the company. He put up a picture captioned: “Dark..bold..& beautiful. An old vitola called “Dukes” (5 1/2 x 54). Coming #2015”. That’s all the info he’s given out thus far, but it did indeed look dark, bold and beautiful….

Longtime general manager of Davidoff’s Dominican operations Hendrik Kelner has handed over the reins. He’s not leaving the organization, but taking on “a more global role within the company.” Longtime employee and current VP of Tabadom’s cigar operations Hamlet Espinal will be taking over. “Some of Kelner’s new global roles will include government relations, corporate affairs, chairing the blending and tasting panel at Tabadom and conducting educational tasting seminars around the world.”(story from Cigar Aficionado)

The CMA, which we are a part of, put out their list of awards today. This inaugural year included three awards:

Cigar of the Year: illusione Fume D’Amour
Company of the Year: The Crowned Heads
Cigar Media of the Year: Cigar Dojo

New Orleans is trying to pass a smoking ban that would prohibit smoking at most businesses and public space throughout the city….the year IPCPR is coming to town….

Back to Nebraska! A bill has been introduced – but no action taken – by State Senator Ty Larson that would restore the ability of cigar bars to allow smoking in their establishments. It has language that differentiates cigars and pipes from other tobacco use and asserts that the exemption does not interfere with the intent behind the existing smoking ban. We’ll keep you updated on this story as it continues…..

Sam Brownback (gov., Kansas) has been busily making cuts to government in his home state…but has just this week proposed making up the near $650 million budget gap in increased taxes on tobacco and alcohol. Liquor would have an increase of about 50% (from 8% up to 12%), while tobacco would see a much bigger jump…especially cigarettes, which have the tax rate nearly tripled.

Finally, Craig had some more insight into the recent changes in U.S. relations with Cuba – and specifically how the requirements for travel are slightly different than originally promoted…

What Have We Been Smoking?

Craig – KBF Smoking Jacket, EPC La Historia, EPC 5-year Anni, Behike 52

Kip – The Crowned Heads Four Kicks, La Flor Dominicana 1994

Listener Email

We talked over one listener email question this week, from Officer Paul:

In November I picked up a pipe and a tin of Dunhill tobacco. I left the tobacco in the tin because it looked like there was a seal on the lid. I opened it last week to find it had dried out. Is there a way to rehydrate it or is it dead and gone?

Tune in for my answer!

Wrap Up

Next week, for our 100th Episode (!) we’ll be featuring the 2005 Opus X Double Corona as our Cigar of the Week. Be sure to tune in Friday night at 9:30pm EST and hang out with us in the chatroom during the show. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us via the “Contact Us!” tab at the side of this page, or at the following emails: [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), find us on iTunes, or subscribe with any podcast app at our RSS Feed. Video, as always, will be available at the Half Ashed 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!

Half Ashed Episode 092: My Father Lancero

November 23, 2014 By Kip Fisher

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This week, we’re smoking the 7.5” x 38 My Father Lancero (aka No. 4). It features an Ecuadoran Habano Rosado wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler leaf and retails around $9.90 per stick. Our cigars this week are recent production from early 2014. These seem to be a notch or two lower on the strength-o-meter for me in comparison to many other My Father offerings within this line, yet retain much of the prototypical “Pepin spice.” Craig would disagree on that strength rating….so take it with a grain of salt. I really dig the aforementioned spice, but love it when these provide a characteristic citrus sweetness to accompany. This sweetness can at times build into tropical spice/cedar kind of mishmash that I truly enjoy. One of my favorite vitolas in this line….strangely enough, my other favorite is about as opposite as you can get: the #1 (Robusto at 5.2”x52)

In the news this week, we dedicated a bit more time to the study that recently made some bold claims about “cigar smokers” without accurately recording, measuring, or reporting any differentiation between 2-pack per day little cigar smokers and one per week premium handmade long filler cigars. The Stogie Guys have posted an insightful article after some communication with the folks behind this study. Additionally, we covered items from El Primer Mundo, Davidoff, and two interesting Drew Estate stories. As always, we also talked about a few things we’ve been smoking this week and a couple minor updates to the Cigarmy/Half Ashed merge.

One final note for this week: By popular demand, we will be publishing a second video for this show. For those who don’t have the time or desire to watch the entire 1.5-2 hour show, I will be stripping out the portions focused solely on the Cigar of the Week and publishing that on our YouTube channel. It will act as a simplified review for our focal cigar each week. It will generally run 15-20 minutes and cover our thoughts on the cigar at critical stages throughout. A subsequent post will give full details in the next couple of days.

In the next episode we will be featuring the Tatuaje La Verite 2008 as our Cigar of the Week. Be sure to check back in Friday night at 9:30pm EST on our Half Ashed LIVE page, where you can catch the live video feed and join Craig and myself, as well as other listeners, in the chatroom. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following emails: [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), find us on iTunes, or subscribe with any podcast app at our RSS Feed. Video, as always, will be available at the Half Ashed 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!

Half Ashed Episode 091: Tatuaje Belle Encre Reserva

November 19, 2014 By Kip Fisher

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Welcome back for another fun-filled, exciting episode of Half Ashed! This marks the 91st episode of the show, and features the Tatuaje Belle Encre Reserva as our Cigar of the Week. The cigar was one of Kip’s selections, and he described it thusly:

The Tatuaje Belle Encre Reserva was a limited run of the Belle Encre (5 ⅜” x 48 perfecto), featuring a CT Broadleaf wrapper rather than the Ecuadoran Habano found on the standard line. It’s packed with the same internal components as the regular line (Nicaraguan throughout). This was released early this year as part of the 10th Anniversary product lineup from Tatuaje, and features the 10th Anniversary band. The standard Habano-wrapped version will continue, although the Reserva was limited, and may or may not see the light of day once again. These retailed at ~$11/stick, which was about $1 more per cigar than the standard line. Total production was just under 2000 boxes of 22 (just shy of 44k cigars). I did a brief comparison of the two back in May 2014.

In the news, we covered items from Smoke Inn’s Microblend Series, Casa Fernandez, Villiger, and Davidoff. Legislatively, there were stories from Nebraska and Massachusetts. As always, we wrapped up with what we’ve been smoking, talked through the ongoing upgrades to Half Ashed and covered a listener email from Ian Winchester.

In the next episode we will be featuring one of Kip’s favorites, the My Father #4 Lancero. Be sure to check back in Friday night at 9:30pm EST on halfashed.com where you can catch us recording and participate in the new and much improved chatroom. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following emails: [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), find us on iTunes, or subscribe with any podcast app at our RSS Feed. Video, as always, will be available at the Half Ashed 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!

Half Ashed Episode 071: Unbanded 017

June 24, 2014 By Kip Fisher

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Welcome back to another exciting week of Half Ashed! Episode 071 features Unbanded #017, kindly provided by Officer Paul (Thanks, Paul!). I forgot to snap a picture of the cigar, so you get treated to Craig in a sombrero for our featured image this week :). We covered several important cigar news items this week, including stories from Drew Estate, La Flor Dominicana, 7-20-4, Davidoff Nicaragua, IPCPR’s hiring of a new CEO, and the finalized review architecture for The Cigarmy. We also covered what we’ve been smoking, and Craig’s favorite listener email in quite some time…

Next week, our Cigar of the Week will be the recently released Tatuaje Tattoo Caballeros, so be sure to check back in next Friday night at 9:30pm EST at ~~Cigar Federation~~ ****We will temporarily only have chat access on our Show Page on halfashed.com. We have outgrown our previous chat, and it has been overloading the server and causing various and sundry issues with our hosting provider. In fact, they shut down our site this week during the show. I have installed a stopgap chat for the time being, but it will not frame into the Cigar Federation page. We will remedy this as soon as possible.****, where you can catch us recording and participate in the chatroom. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following emails: [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 from 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!

Half Ashed Episode 032: A Visit with the Dogwatch Guys!

September 15, 2013 By Kip Fisher

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Episode 032

Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to another week and another episode of Half Ashed, this being Episode 032. Yes, we’ve managed to make it another week without being booed, chased, or otherwise kicked off the internet. Craig was out of town this week, and I had the good fortune of getting Dale Roush & Bob McDuffee on as special guests. Bob & Dale – or the godfathers of cigar podcasting as I like to call them, were the hosts of Dogwatch Cigar Radio for 8 years, ending the show at the end of 2012 with 410 episodes. I owe much to them, including the impetus for Half Ashed, and truly appreciate them taking time out of their schedules to sit in with me to hang out and catch up. It’s always a special treat to visit with the guys, and this week’s show is no exception. Here’s a brief summary of some of the topics we covered…

Cigar of the Week

The Cigar of the Week was an impromptu unbanded stick I sent to the guys just to get their opinions about…not to ruin the surprise, you’ll have to tune in to find out what it was and what they thought of it.

News Items

The Cigar Federation charity raffle a total of $5,680! That’s an amazing turnout, especially for a first run at something of this nature. A big thanks to the guys over there who coordinated the raffle and put in all the work to make it happen.
It’s Padron’s 49th Birthday!
The Factory Fresh from Wynwood Cigars – we talked about the idea behind the Factory Fresh, and some of the pros/cons with such a project.
The Davidoff Nicaraguan…..good? meh? worthwhile? How does their first foray into a Nicaraguan cigar stand up to their typical Dominican offerings?
Some “Nanny news” from an NPR story Bob heard.
The “Royal Monkey Cigar Society.” You’ll have to tune in to get that story!

Other Items

What we’ve been smoking….the guys haven’t let up since ending Dogwatch. They’re still alive and kicking – and smoking plenty of cigars

Listener email – we take a question from Swede214 about tooth in a cigar wrapper….complete with visual aids :).

Wrap

Next week, we’ll return to a normal programming schedule. The Cigar of the Week will be an Unbanded, number 009, from Jacob Pinkas (Thanks Jacob!). 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 010: A Visit from Sam Leccia

April 13, 2013 By Kip Fisher

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Good day, folks and welcome back for another episode of Half Ashed. Craig and I appreciate you stopping by. We were honored to have Sam Leccia, of Leccia Tobacco, as a special guest this week to talk about his upcoming new cigar releases. We talk with Sam about his Black and White lines, which will be released in about a month or so. He was gracious enough to share some information about himself, his blending philosophy, the vision behind the new cigars, and provided a great deal of insight into the Black and White. Thanks to Sam for taking the time to hang out and share with us all.

Tatuaje Mexican Experiment

Our featured cigar this week was the Tatuaje LE Mexican Experiment, which was a limited run of cigars released by Pete Johnson last year. I reviewed the cigar at that time, and it was very interesting to note how it had changed in the past 10 months or so. It was a phenomenal cigar, and one which I would personally love to see in regular production.

In legislative news, we covered the (probably temporary) fail of the Florida outdoor smoking ban, and new tobacco tax proposals at the federal level. We also quickly covered some interesting cigar news concerning new releases and trimming of the old from Davidoff, and a few items in our “What have we been smoking” segment for the week. Finally, we wrapped up with a listener email or two, and some new video reviews posted on Cigar Federation by Michael Stewart for the cigars he won in our previous giveaway. We thank you for stopping by, and I hope you’ll give us a listen or watch the video via the means below. Have a great week!

Upcoming Shows

Next week, we feature the “E” as the Cigar of the Week – an interesting and sure to be enjoyable release from BOTL, LLC. On our next live show (May 10th), we will host the Ezra Zion guys to tell us about their upcoming Limited Edition – the Tantrum. The following week, we’ll have a visit with Will Cooper (Cigar Coop) as well. Again, thanks for tuning in, and be sure to check back in next week. 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 Half Ashed YouTube Channel.