Procigar Festival 2012 - <Day1> - La Romana, Casa De Campo in Dominican Republic on February 19, 2012.
Video for Trip and 1st Day at Procigar Festival 2012.

This video was shot by Sony HDR-CX580V & Nikon D7000, Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 Super Wide Lens.

URL:

Procigar.org
cigarexplorer.com

It is finally here! Early this Sunday, Mario and I will head south from Columbus to the Dominican Republic for the 2012 ProCigar Festival. Combined, this will be our third trip to the island, but a first for both of us in attending this fest. From all I've seen and read online, this looks like it's going to be a whirlwind of a trip with lots of dinners/parties/factory tours, and cigar smoking of course. I'm not sure how much access we will have to a strong internet connection, but I hope to update this post with news and photos while I am down there. I know Mario plans to make one of his signature videos of the entire experience, but that will probably be posted a few weeks after the trip. For the quickest updates from the festival, make sure you follow me (Dan) on twitter @reeve11 and Mario on twitter @cigarexplorer . Both of us use twitter a lot and I hope to grab a international data plan to be able to tweet from the festival.

Wish us luck and see you guys from the Dominican.

Dan & Mario

Today's review is on the first release from Eddie Ortega's new company, Ortega Cigars. At the end of January, Eddie publicly announced that he was leaving his partnership and previously successful company EO Brands to venture out on his own.

A quote from the official press release: “I’ve wanted to do this for quite some time and now is the right time,” said Eddie, who also said “Ortega will focus on developing long lasting brands at affordable prices. I have no interest in the so called limited release market, plenty of those are around. I’d much rather build solid brands that consumers enjoy and will be around for years to come,”

I am very happy for Eddie as a businessman and as a friend, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with in his new venture. I'm also very happy to hear that he will continue to work with the My Father factory to have his cigars made.  It's kind of sad to see that the O of EO brands will no longer be promoting the 601 line (a cigar I've smoked a ton of throughout the years), but I am sure they will continue on to make great cigars, also.

(Due to the size of this cigar, this review is only in two parts instead of the traditional thirds.)

Vitola: Corona-ish
Length:  4.5
Ring Gauge: 48
Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $5.99
Smoking Location: New Havana Cigars
Beverage: Water

Tonight's review is a cigar that traveled a long distance to get to me. The J. Fuego 777 Corojo “Paka” is a special size of the 777 blend produced specifically for Tamura's Fine Wine and Liquors B&M in Hawaii. 

A quote from Tamura's Fine Wine and Liquors website: At our last smoker event with Jesus Fuego back in April, Jesus decided to create an "Exclusive" smoke for us at Tamura's. The "Paka" is based off the 777 Corojo blend, but was kicked up a little to add some more spice. It has a pig tail cap and a "closed" foot. The purpose of the closed foot is so the smoker can get a little more taste from the wrapper leaf when they first light the cigar. A limited batch was made to test it out, so if you're curious, get your stick today!

A regular patron of Tamura's confirmed that there were only 200 boxes of these made. My friend Jon (Fia on the BOLT message board) sent me this stick and I want to give him a very grateful thanks because I don't think I would have managed to get my hands on one any other way. On to the review.

Vitola: Robusto
Length:  4.5
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan Corojo
Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo
Price: $5.99
Smoking Location: New Havana Cigars
Beverage: Water

Last Friday, Governors Smoke Shop (@GovernorsSmokes on twitter), a relatively new shop in the Columbus area, hosted a large Drew Estate event. Our local sales rep Sam Smerkol was there holding down the fort, as well as special guest David Lafferty Regional Manager East Coast for Drew Estate. If you have met David before, you will know that fun and craziness follows this guy around.

Here is a video we shot of the event:
Video - Event: Drew Estate Mega Event - Governor Smoke Shop, Westerville Ohio - Cigar Explorer from Cigar Explorer on Vimeo.

Sometime during the event, David handed me a new size of the Undercrown by Drew Estate called the "Corona ¡Viva!" to be released this spring.

A quick Google search found this quote from Steve Saka President of Drew Estate regarding this new size: Corona ¡Viva! - 5 5/8 x 46 - slightly tweaked blend to increase the octane just a wee bit... did this figuring the guys most likely to desire this format are those with more experience and would desire a slightly stronger cigar (ME... lol) Keep in mind though the tweak keeps the UC blend intact, we didn't want to overshadow the natural sweetness or the creaminess of the core UC, so this is minor adjustment that I suspect many may not even notice. We probably won't even tell people... at least formally. (Source BOTL Website)

Undercrown has done very well and received much praise from the cigar blog world (if you want the whole story on how this cigar came about visit Tony's site here. It's got all the info you need and I won't need to repost it.) I've smoked well over a handful of Undercrowns, from samples at the tradeshow, to sticks from my B&M. Some I have liked, others I have not. Let's see how this new size held up.

Vitola: Corona ¡Viva!
Length: 5 5/8
Ring Gauge: 46
Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Negro
Binder: Connecticut Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan & Brazilian
Price: $?
Smoking Location: New Havana Cigars
Beverage: Water

Tonight's cigar is a release to celebrate the 18th Anniversary of business for Bonita Smoke Shop in Bonita Springs, Florida. If you are not familiar with Bonita Smoke Shop, (website: http://www.bonitasmokeshop.com ) they are one of the finest online retailers and when it comes to social media and customer service, they might be at the very top for involvement. Jackie (@Bonitasmokeshop on twitter) has always been lightning fast to answer questions with me and I can't recommend them high enough. With that said, let's find out what this cigar is all about...


Quote and video from the Bonita Smoke shop webpage: Bonita's 18th Anniversary cigars epitomizes all that is desired in a high quality premium hand rolled cigar. Custom blended of the finest tobacco and made expressly for Bonita Smoke Shop. Available in Limited Short Runs at our store and online. Enjoy one soon! Our sincere gratitude to Willie Herrera of ETB Cigars for helping us create a cigar that we are honored to put our name on. Bonita's 18th Anniversary cigar is an extremely well balanced cigar, with a delicious crescendo of flavor, in the medium flavor profile range.



They aren't many names as popular right now as Willie Herrera, so I can't wait to try another one of his custom blends.

Vitola: Robusto
Length: 6
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan & Dominican
Price: $6.95
Smoking Location: New Havana Cigars
Beverage: Water

Up for review today was the newest offering from Kristoff Cigars the Corojo Limitada. I keep a nice supply of Kristoff products in my humidor because I have found that, when I have friends over, it's a brand that normally goes over well from the most experienced smokers to the new guys/gals. 

From what I can find online, and from what Glen Case (owner of Kristoff cigars and all around one of the nicest guys you will meet in the cigar industry), told me the Corojo Limitada is the fullest in strength cigar they have in production at this time. 

A quote from the Kristoff Cigars Official webpage "The new Corojo Limitada is for the fan of Nicaraguan tobacco. Nearly a puros Nicaraguan blend, this medium-full bodied cigar is loaded with spice, nutmeg, toasted nut and a sweet-spicy finish. Made with 100% Habano seed tobacco that is double and triple fermented, the Corojo Limitada maintains the Kristoff tradition of flavor and smoothness. The signature of Kristoff Cigars."

I tend to lean more towards Nicaraguan cigars in my personal taste, so the quote above sounded good. On to the review...

Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5.5
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan & Dominican
Price: $8
Smoking Location: New Havana Cigars
Beverage: Water

Hey everyone. I am not able to attend this event this year (I actually will be in Miami the day after it, hard luck I know). But I wanted to give a plug for it because I went last year and had an absolute blast. In my opinion this is the best event of it's kind and should be attended at least once if you are a serious cigar fan. Cigarfest and Big Smoke have nothing on what the guys from Smoke Inn put on every year. After the jump are details about the event, and some new features for this year.

If you go have a blast and tell them Dan sent you.

Today's cigar for review is the next installment from Drew Estate in the Flying Pig line. The Feral Flying Pig is a departure in size from the previous two pig releases (the Flying Pig #9 and the Flying Pig T52) and is quite a bit bigger. As well as the size being different, Jonathan Drew has posted online that it is a completely different blend than the other releases and that it is significantly stronger. Steve Saka (President of Of Drew Estate) has also been quoted saying this is the best Flying Pig release yet.

In this video that we did back in June of 2011 Jonathan speaks briefly about the stick  (at the 6:58 mark)

Video - Interview: Jonathan Drew, My Uzi Weighs A Ton - Burning Leaf, Chicago Illinois - Cigar Explorer from Cigar Explorer on Vimeo.

I'd heard a lot of hype for this stick for the last few months, so I was excited to finally get my hands on some because, currently, they don't seem to easy to come by. Now, on to the review...

Vitola: Big flying pig :)
Length: 5.375
Ring Gauge: 60 (at it's fattest point)
Wrapper: Connecticut broadleaf
Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina
Filler: Nicaraguan Price: $17 and some change in Columbus
Smoking Location: New Havana Cigars
Beverage: Water

Today's review comes from a brand that I don't smoke all that often, but one of which I have had my fair share.  Although I am a fan of a few of the La Flor Dominicana blends (more specifically the Limitado IV), I  had never had one of their cigars blow me away.

The LFD Factory Press IV was released in Novemeber of 2011. The Factory Press line has been a pretty big hit for La Flor Dominicana and I wasn't surprised that a new version of this stick had hit the shelves.

A quote from Litto Gomez of La Flor Dominicana. (Taken from their Facebook page) "For years I have been fascinated with our cigar box-pressing system. Many times I have thought how great it would be to share the process with our fans. That is why I'm offering a very special cigar shipped in the actual factory press. Because the concept is so special we needed to blend a cigar that will be totally unique to La Flor Dominicana"

Like I said above, for me, La Flor Dominicana has had some winners and some losers. I was eager to find out how this particular stick fares.

Vitola: Box pressed Double Toro 
Length: 6.5
Ring Gauge: 60
Wrapper: Mexican
Binder: Ecuadorian
Filler: Dominican
Price: $15 and up
Smoking Location: Governor's Smoke Shop
Beverage: Water