Hello cigar smokers of the internet! For whatever reason, I have been in such a good mood lately, quite the departure from my normal state of being the last few months. I will say, that one thing that has put me in such a good mood is a plethora of great cigars in my humidor. One of the cigars I pulled out of the bowels of the singles humidor was a cigar from CRA. The Cigar Rights of America, for those of you who don't know. Check out the link on the left hand side of this page. The CRA is now including two cigars when you sign up for a new membership. These exclusive cigars offset your membership price, and if you think about it, for the price of membership, you would pay for a few cigars anyways, so this is a great deal! If you are not apart of the CRA, YOU NEED TO JOIN! Plus, if you want to smoke the cigar I am about to talk about, you will have to sign up anyways.
The cigar I pulled out was a Vegas Cubanas, blended by Don Pepin Garcia. I asked Brian Berman of the CRA his thoughts on this cigar and why the CRA chose to work with Don Pepin. Brian says, "When CRA selected the cigars to feature exclusively to CRA members, the decision was not only based on finding GREAT cigars, but GREAT cigar companies. Our vision was to partner with legendary cigar makers, such as Don Pepin Garcia, to create a unique cigar that CRA members would enjoy—and remember. El Rey De Los Habanos (commonly called Don Pepin Cigars), has been a CRA partner since day one. From the top, down, Pepin Garcia has built into his associates that we need to fight for our freedom and that CRA is the outlet to do so."
Brian goes on to say, "The Vegas Cubanas Don Pepin Garcia cigar that is offered exclusively to CRA members has been specially blended and sized and is not available anywhere else. It is a complex, but smooth cigar that has an amazing flavor. It is truly a jewel from the El Rey De Los Habanos Cigar Factory!"
I am waiting on an email to let you know the size of this cigar, but if I had to guess, I would say it is about a 6x52 ring gauge. The wrapper is milk chocolate in color, and nice and oily.
Pre-Light:
Smelling the wrapper, I get scents of chocolate and a sweet horse barn. The dry draw was perfect for me, as I enjoy a slightly loose draw, and the tastes tickled my tong with bourbon and sweet vanilla.
Light:
The first few draws on this cigar produced a very creamy smoke laden with a spicy black pepper and an underlying floral cedar note. As I smoked through this, the smoke transformed into a mellow white pepper and saddle leather taste. The spiciness of this cigar makes you salivate and drool on yourself (at least I did...).
After taste:
The Vegas Cubanas leaves your mouth feeling refreshed with that spice coming through well after you are done smoking this cigar. One thing I loved about this smoke, is the copious amounts of smoke that this cigar produced. It never left me wanting more, yet was not over powering in any way. This cigar is proof the Don Pepin Garcia is one of the world's best cigar blenders, and the CRA should be proud to have this smoke.
I also wanted to let you know that I will be starting to do a segment for Doc at www.stogiefresh.com Doc has taken me under his wing, and has provided me with many opportunities to write for him. I will be doing a (hopefully) regular segment called "Tools of the Trade" which will be a review on cigar accessories and tools. Look for this week's podcast and listen for me! Also, Doc has posted a review I did on a Xikar lighter. You can find it here: http://www.stogiefresh.
Next week I will be interviewing Kurt Van Keppel, President of Xikar. So stay tuned for that interview!
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