Kinky Friedman Kinkycristo
This week, I’m reviewing something a little different. I was gifted a cigar from a friend in Texas made by the unique Kinky Friedman. If you don’t know who Kinky Friedman is, he is a country songwriter, candidate for governor of Texas and a mystery novelist. To those of you that don’t know who Kinky Friedman is, here are some videos from YouTube:
Kinky Friedman Speaks To Ed Schultz
You can also find some of his music on YouTube as well if you search on his name.
A couple years ago, he started producing his own cigars. The cigars are handmade in Honduras with a Habano wrapper, Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers with a binder from Costa Rica. There are several sizes, but one is unique. It’s called the Utopian and it was created to help out Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, a never-kill animal rescue ranch. All the profits go to this ranch to help the animals. I, personally, think that is a damn fine thing to do. These are 6 sizes currently available:
- Governor – Toro Gordo – 5 3/4 in. x 60
- Kinkycristo – Torpedo – 61/4 in. x 54
- The Willie – Twist Head & Shaggy Foot 6 in. x 48
- Texas Jewboy – Torpedo – 6 in. x 56
- Utopian – Torpedo – 6 in. x 56
- Kinky Lady – Lancero – 6 in. x 42
Today, I’m trying the Kinkycristo, the torpedo vitola. Let’s see how it smokes!
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Illusione ~mk~
The Illusione ~mk~ is another creation from Dion Giolito and the Raices Cubanas factory. This corona sized cigar is nicknamed the “Teaching Machine” because Dion believes that this particular vitola is perfect for tasting and appreciating the true beauty of the Nicaraguan tobacco used in the cigar. The ~mk~ is wrapped with a cafe colorado leaf and the other components include first generation Corojo 99 and Criollo 98. You know the deal, I will cut and light this cigar and then let you know what I think.
If you’re interested in finding out what is behind the names of the different vitolas take a look at the Illusione website.
Jesus Fuego Origen
The latest creation from J Fuego, the Origen, is currently a limited production cigar. However, the information I was able to find indicates this cigar will eventually be a full production line. Much of the blend is proprietary, but I can say that the wrapper is Corojo No. 1 and the filler is a secret blend of Nicaraguan, Honduran and Costa Rican tobacco. I’ve had great luck in the past with J Fuego products, so let me set fire to this sample, and we’ll see if the streak continues.
This video runs almost 12 minutes, but I was in a talking mood. I also made mention of our July Mr. Punch Says… contest, while playing show and tell with one of the Grand Prizes.
Camacho SLR Maduro Rothschild
This week, I’ll be reviewing the Camacho SLR Maduro in the Rothschild size. The SLR, Special Limited Reserve, are made with two wrappers: natural corojo and an US Connecticut broadleaf maduro. Camacho use 100% Pinareno tobacco in the cigars from Rancho Jamastran in Honduras famed for their Corojo. The tobacco is aged for 5 years to really bring out the flavor of the corojo. The one I’m sampling today is about 3 or 4 years old which is why it has the old packaging. The cello wrapper around the cigar actually turned yellow. I haven’t had one of these in a long time, too long, so I choice this one for this week’s review. The cigar comes in different sizes in the different wrappers.
Natural – torpedo, gigante, chuchill, toro, Rothschild and corona
Maduro – gigante, figurado, toro, Rothschild, perfecto #2, perfecto #1
Let’s see how it’s smokes!
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Rocky Patel Summer Collection 2008
A year after the release of the 2008 Summer Collection from Rocky Patel, I decided to take another look at this cigar. Since the 2009 Summer Collection was recently released I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the original seasonal collection cigar and find out if it was the cigar I remembered. I also thought it might be interesting to compare this review to reviews of the new 2009 Summer Collection, to see how the blend differs.
I actually picked these cigars up in a local shop, but I did a little searching and found that they can also be found at Leaf & Ale and Corona Cigar. This cigar will set you back about $6 per stick, so it’s not an expensive cigar considering the limited quantities that were produced.
In the beginning of this video I experimented with a new way to relay the facts on this cigar. Please let me know what you think.
Padron 1964 Superior Maduro
The Padron 1964 Anniversary series was release in 1994 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Padron cigars. All the tobacco is aged for 4 years and all cigars have a traditional Cuban box press. They also did a first by adding serial numbers to their cigars by a second band to stop counterfeiting. All cigars are made with Nicaraguan tobaccos and have either a sun grown or maduro wrapper. Today, I’m smoking the Superior Maduro version.
The cigar comes in 10 vitolas:
-
Diplomatico 7 x50
- Piramide 6 7/8 x 52
- Exclusivo 5 ½ x 50
- Monarca 6 ½ x 46
- Superior 6 ½ x 42
- Corona 6 x 42
- Principe 4 ½ x 46
- Imperial 6 x 54
- Torpedo 6 x 52
- A 8 ¼ x 40
Let’s see how it smokes!
Tatuaje Cojonu 2006
The Tatuaje Cojonu 2006 is wrapped in a gorgeous Nicaraguan grown Corojo 99 leaf. The wrapper is dark brown with just the slightest shade of red. This cigar is produced by El Rey de los Habanos for Pete Johnson, creator of the Tatuaje brand. If any of the other Tatuaje creations are any indicator on this cigars performance, then we are all in for a big treat.
Just a reminder about our July contest, “Nice Tight Ash and Mr. Punch Say…” Remember the saying doesn’t have to be about Punch, it just has to make us laugh. Keep posting the great comments!
Part III: Black Band Project C
The C banded cigar is the final cigar in the Black Band Project Sampler. The dark and slightly oily wrapper nearly gave the cigar away, but an unexpected issue confused me. I cut the video in two portions. If you received a sampler from Camacho and want to smoke these cigars blind, do not watch the second video.
In this portion of the video I reveal what three cigars are included in the Black Band Project sampler. I also provided my final opinions on the C banded cigar.
July Contest: Nice Tight Ash and Mr. Punch Say…
For our July contest, we’ve got one hell of a contest. General Cigar Company is proud to sponsor our Nice Tight Ash and Mr. Punch Say… contest.
What You Have To Do
Simple. Just think of the best line for Mr. Punch to say. For example, “I use my cigar smoke as idiot repellent” or “Nothing beats a nice tight ash!” The Nice Tight Ash crew will pick the top 5 submissions. Submit your line via the comment form below. You can enter once per day for the entire month of July. That’s 31 chances for you to win…
What You Can Win
Grand Prize: A box of Punch cigars and a framed Mr. Punch poster with your winning saying, just like the one above.
Second Prize: 21 Punch Cigars
Third Prize: 15 Punch Cigars
Fourth Prize: 9 Punch Cigars
Fifth Prize: 5 Punch Cigars
The Rules
Just a few basic rules. You may only enter once per day. If you enter two in one day, both will be removed from consideration. Second, you must be 18 years of age or older. Third, the one liner must be appropriate, legal, etc. Last, you must be a U.S. resident to win.
Good luck, and let’s see some good ones!
Padilla 1932 Corona Gorda – Original Blend
Ernesto Padilla and Don Pepin Garcia joined together to make some of the best cigars ever released by Padilla Cigars: Miami 8/11, 1948 and 1932. Today I will be reviewing the 1932 which is named to celebrate the birth year of Ernesto Padilla’s father, famed Cuban poet, Herberto Padilla. There are two versions of this cigar now, one designed by Pepin and the other blended by Padilla. Pepin no longer blends for Padilla so Pepin could concentrate on his other blends. The way to tell these apart is the words PADILLA on the band. The bold, block lettering is the old Pepin blend and the script PADILLA is the new blend. Also, the vitolas offered changed. I’m smoking the corona gorda, my favorite size for ANY cigar, which was only offered by Cigars International. This vitola is no longer offered.The cigar features a Nicaraguan corojo wrapper, Cuban seed Nicaraguan criollo binder and filler. It was available in 5 sizes:
- La Perla 4.5 x 40
- Corona Gorda 5.625 x 46
- Toro 6.0 x 50
- Lancero 6.125 x 42
- Torpedo 6.25 x 52
- Churchill 7.0 x 48
Let’s see how it smokes!
