Get ‘Em While They’re Hot | Two Cents Tuesday
Caldwell Cigar Co. Gibraltar | Saturday Stogies
Size: Robusto
Wrapper: Dominican Habano
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Price: MSRP ~$6.00
Wrapper is like a rose brown, a little toothily, and a little oily. Foot smells of some kind of nut. The pack has some give and it is wrapped up tight with a pigtail cap.
First third starts off with a tight draw that we hope loosens up as we smoke on. Gibraltar starts off with a mild to medium body and a mild strength. Smoke output is at a minimal with the tight draw that we mentioned before. We are picking up some cedar on the palate and in the aroma straight up. Not much of an underling flavor, all we pick up is a little bit of oak.
Second third continuers with the cedar profile of the first. The retrohale brings through a new black pepper taste that was not in the first third.Draw is still very tight, and the light is going out very often.
Final third is pretty similar to the first two. Draw opened up a little more but still a bit tight. Other than it being tight, the burn was really good. This cigar was very consistent throughout the entire smoke.
Overall the anticipation of large flavor from the name of this cigar was underwhelming in the end. Our palates are more catered for a more full bodied smoke but we smoke a lot of medium bodied stuff. This cigar wasn’t too complex, and a little looser draw, in our opinion, would have brought out some more flavors.
Herrera Esteli Norteno | Saturday Stogies
Photo Credit: Halfwheel.com
Made By:Willy Herrera- Herrera Esteli by Drew Estate
Wrapper:Mexican San Andres
Binder:Honduran
Filler:Nicaraguan
Size: 4 3/4 x 48
A Quiet Drive | Two Cents Tuesdays
Today we want to bring all the hype of the holidays down and float back to reality. We think everyone needs a little quiet time. Our favorite quiet time is getting in the car, toasting a cigar, and taking a long ride.
One of our favorite places to enjoy a cigar is in our cars, preferably if we’re not on our way to work, but if that’s the case, that’s a better way to start your work day! If you don’t have work just try getting in your car and taking a ride with a cigar. Something that is a go-to cigar, something that you already know the taste and you can enjoy. Your cigar does not always have to be a great cigar, there are so many cigars out there at a very low price that are phenomenal.
We enjoy banter here at Ivy League, so normally in our cars we will listen to podcast. Something about different voices going back and forth with enlightening conversation is very calming. It’s very comparable to being at the cigar lounge. (Side note: Our favorite podcast is the Joe Rogen Experince, #ifyoudontknownowyouknow ! Music is good too, some Louis Prima, Jerry Vale, and of course Frank are at the top of our list!)
A few good tools that are a must when enjoying cigars in the car are your usual torch lighter and more importantly is a Xikar ash can. This is very practical, and has many more benifits than just holding your cigar or as an ash tray. When you’re finished your cigar simply drop your nub in the can and put the lid on. The lid is air tight and blocks the cigar smoke smell from lingering and staying in the car. If you can’t empty your ash can right away that’s what the air tight seal is for, no ash smell in here!
There is something about just smoking a cigar and driving with destination in sight. Whatever obstacle on your drive, it doesn’t seem so bad when you’re smoking and driving. Stuck in traffic? Oh well, at least you already have this cigar lit. But man, it’s like a slice of heaven when there is nothing but open road with no chance to turn left or right for miles. Now get out there and get some quiet time with your cigar in your car.
Top 10 of 2014 | Two Cents Tuesday
Size: Robusto (5 ¼ x 52)
Wrapper: Ecuador Connecticut
Binder: Nicaragua Corojo ’99
Filler: Nicaragua (Habano, Criollo)
Distributors: My Father Cigars
Caldwell Cigars Long Live the King the Heater Corona
Size: The Heater (corona) 5.75″ x 46
Wrapper: Dominican Corojo
Binder: Dominican Corojo
Filler: Nicaragua, Dominican, Peru
Size: Boxer (6.25 x 52 / Torpedo)
Wrapper: Nicaragua Habano
Binder: Ecuador Sumatra
Filler: Nicaragua, Peru
Strength: Medium-Plus
Binder: Dominican Corojo
Filler: Corojo, HVA Habano, and a rare varietal known as Carbonell.
Size: 5.75 x 46 “Corona Gorda”
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Wrapper: Brazilian Bahiano
Binder: Dominican / Nicaraguan
Filler: Dominican / Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Full
Mason Dixon Project | Saturday Stogies
The Breakdown:
Brand: The Crowned Heads
Line: Mason Dixon (Northern Edition)
Size: 6×52 toro
MSRP: $9.98
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder and Filler: Nicaraguan
The Mason Dixon project has two cigars: a northern edition with the Connecticut broadleaf wrapper on it and a southern edition with Equadorian Connecticut wrapper. Only 1,250 boxes of 20 we produced so these are a catch to find.
The Wrapper:
Starting at the foot there is a very sweet smelling tobacco. The wrapper had a small hint of that sweetness. Black pepper is perfect, not a lot, just the right amount. Cold draw was sweet but has no pepper in the draw. Wrapper is a shade lighter than a dark chocolate color and has some small veins. Overall it looks like a nice wrap.
First Third:
First third starts off with a kick of that black pepper that we love. Sweetness is hanging out. The smoke is nice, not too thick but there is a good amount. Draw is perfect, it’s has the right amount of tension…perfect! After about ten minutes the pepper dies down and it starts to get a real nice deep earthy flavor. Burn line headed toward some canoe action and had to touch it up a bit.
Second Third:
Second third sticks to the earth flavor, carrying through from the first. At this point the northern edition is very full body but leaves a very clean pallet. Sweetness gets more pronounced during this stage and the cigar is at a medium strength. Had to touch up again because of another unbalanced burn. Getting a hint of cedar. There is no pepper in regular draw but there are hints in the retrohale, accompanied by more cedar flavors.
Final Third:
During the transition to the end of the second and the final third the burn line started to show a glimps of promise, but it started to go of course again. The flavor is still sticking to that deep earth flavor through the final third. The tail end of the final third had another canoe which is the common theme with this cigar.
Final Thoughts:
Overall we loved the deep earth flavor that was settled in the background throughout the entire smoke, with the sweeteness and the cedar as some interesting over flavors. The Northern Edition was a very complex cigar including the very separate cedar and pepper points. We would recommend this to be a great setup cigar something to start building the pallet rather than a finisher. This was a great full bodied cigar but left us with a super clean pallet in the end. We can’t wait to try out the Southern Edition next!
Crowned Heads|Two Cents Tuesday
With more and more boutique cigar companies out there and more on the way, it’s so hard to keep up. Here at Ivy League we are tring to put a rest to that and bring you some of the coolest, freshest, and innovative companies out on the market. We love large cigar companies, but there is something special about watching a smaller or less well known company grow and become those big contenders. Today we are looking at Crowned Heads one of the coolest boutique brands out there on the market!
“Crowned Heads is a premium cigar company committed to producing cigars of artisanal quality that are defined by a combination of excellent flavor, balance, and consistency.”
Crowned Heads is based out of Nashville Tennessee and founded by Mike Conder,Jon Huber, Michael Trebing, and Nancy Heathman who were formally workin for CAO and General cigars. They decided to break away and create or “carve” their own path. They first started shipping their first product from Crowned Heads in early November 2011 which was Four Kicks. For these cigars they teamed up with the imfamous master blender Ernesto Perez-Carrillo…. you may have heard of him from creating the juggernaut company EP Carrillo. Four Kicks and was the first cigar that Ernesto had made under a freelanced contract in his 40 years of working in the business.
Carrillo currently makes Four Kicks, Headly Grange, and JD Howard for the boys and girls over at Crowned Heads. Some other cigars that are not made by EP Carrillo are the Las Calaveras, Jericho Hill, Tennessee Walts, and the Mason Dixon project. These cigars are made by the wonderful Don Pepin Garcias and the family over at the My Father factory. The Las Calaveras was the first project for My Father, and is a limited edition cigar. Crowned Heads said they plan on bringing this special beauty out once a year for a limited release project. The first regular production cigar that My Father did for CH was the Jericho Hill.
The Jericho Hill comes in 4 sizes, and is probably one of the more interesting products that Crowned heads has. Jericho Hill has a Mexican San Andreas wrapper, all Nicaraguan binder and filler that is grown on the Garcias farms in Esteli Nicaragua. The Jericho Hill comes in the following sizes:
- 44s- 5 1/8″x44
- LBV – 6 1/2″x46
- OBS – 4 3/4″x52
- Willy Lee – 6″x54
This production line is based on Johnny Cash’s song “Cocain Blues”. The names of the sizes also reference the song and the album from which the song was on live “At Folsom Prison”.
What we enjoy about Crowned Heads is their thought process with names, ideas for cigars, and overall brand concept. They have a very rustic deep rooted American feel to them. The cigars themselves are not American made, but being as they are a Tennessee based company gives the brand that gritty apperence.
Crowned Heads represents all of the ideas that Ivy League Cigars looks for in living the Ivy League Way. They have a creative outlook and a brand that appeals to both the aficionado and the beginner cigar smoker. Their southern style and Tennessee passion boasts success in the cigar industry that parallels the whiskey industry that is so popular in their own state. This is another brand on the list of the Ivy League brotherhood and we hope that you check them out! Let us know what you think in the comments or on our social media sites!
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