Buying Cigars Online| Atlantic Cigars | Two Cents Tuesday

Buying cigars online can sometimes get a little hairy. From not knowing the reputation of certain companies, to the constant worry of your sticks arriving safe and sound, to ultimately wanting to make sure you’re getting the best price for the products. Well, look no further than www.atlanticcigars.com .

A family owned and operated business, Atlantic Cigars sends premium high quality cigars world wide with service like no other. Started in the in the late 90’s, Atlantic Cigar was one of the first online cigar companies that would ship cigars to your door. The Scipioni family established themselves in the cigar business with their first b&m in Tarrytown, NY 1996. They then soon opened a second b&m in Stamford, CT on–wait for it–Atlantic street! There the company continued to expand until they finally outgrew themselves, forcing them to move their operation to Pennsylvania in 2007.

We have ordered cigars for AC many many times and not once have we had a problem with them. They provide single sticks, 5 packs, and boxes that are guaranteed fresh when they arrive. If you are apart of their VIP club they email you when specialty cigars come in and you are the first to know when they are running killer deals.

It’s super easy to order from these guys. With the quantity of cigars in their inventory there is literally something for every smoker out there. If you haven’t tried Atlantic give them a shot!

Tips to Maintain Your Stash|Two Cents Tuesday

Have you ever gone in your humidor or wherever you hide your cigars, and they feel a bit crunchy.  You then check whatever humidification device you have and notice its bone dry. This weeks #tct is to help remind you to always keep a watchful eye out for you stash!

They’re so many differnt kinds of humidification options out there. You have the classic sponge/foam like bricks. There is a crystal/gel based style of humidification. Finally there is a silica bead method of humidification.

The brick is a classic way to humidify your cigars. Most times when you buy your humidor it will come with one. Weather it is a round puck or a rectangle brick, these are sufficient ways if to humidify your cigars, and are easily hydrated with distilled water. We wouldn’t prefer to use these, reason being is that they are more prone to mold, and need to be rehydrated more often.

Crystal and gels are really convent . These devices start off as crystals and when distilled water is added they become gel like an expand. They come in many shapes and sizes, like jars, bricks, and even tubes that are awsome for saving space. The really great thing about theses are that they won’t grow mold. They pretty much tell you when they need to be refilled. When the gels shrink up and start to return to crystals again then you rehydrate  them babies. They last for a fairly long time and a real plus if you have a bad memory. 

Last but not least is our favorite form of humidification, beads! These silica beads act as a two way humidifier, meaning if there is too much moisture they will suck it up and if there is not enough moisture they will release some. You can normally buy them by the pound. Some companies offer drawstring sacks to put them in, or you can use a woman’s leg stocking….. kind of strange but if works perfectly! Just put them in a sack and set it in some distilled water. After they have absorbed the water, let them dry off on a towl for a while. Find a nice comfy spot in your humidor and they will do all the work.

If your looking for something with virtually no upkeep at all are the famous Boveda Humipaks. They are a thin pack, almost as a small ice pack. There is differnt percentages of humidity to please all cigar smokers. When they are loosing their humidity they will start to get harder, and when completely stiff they can be simply thrown away. These are super clean, super convenient, and super accurate.

There is so much out there to help better your cigar preserving and aging process. Maybe try somthing new or possibly a combination of multiple styles of humidifiers. Whether you smoke a lot and are always reaching in your humidor or you only occasionally grab a stick, make sure you keep an eye on your cigars!!!

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!