Micro-boutique cigars

[kansashat]

So far, my journey in the cigar world has been a very pleasurable, sometimes bumpy, ride. I have smoked a lot of very fine cigars & a lot of bad cigars . I have had the pleasure of smoking some fine Cuban cigars, but am not ready to slide down that slippery slope quite yet. Maybe some day.

I must, however, admit to a growing curiosity about some of the micro manufacturers of fine hand rolled cigars. There are quite a few out there I'm sure. I know a guy who will smoke nothing but Don Pablo. I have had the pleasure of smoking several Garo Habanos, which are quite tasty after a couple of months of setup time. I have begun exploring the net, to a small degree, in search of little known & small cigar rollers & manufacturers. An example is Bobalu, which I explored yesterday. I haven't ordered anything as of yet, but will probably work up the courage to try fairly soon.

A friend brought me a gift of a couple of Mursuli cigars about a year ago. I thought they were quite nice.

I understand that some smokers may experience a bit of reticence about sharing this type of information, but does anyone have anything to share about little known 'micro' cigars that may be of interest?

[cwaddell_1]

kansashat,
I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for or not, but i have had some Cuban Crafters Cigars and they are pretty good. They are a medium body smoke and to be honest I'm not sure of the origin of the tobacco(I am guessing DR). The company is based out of Miami. They have a website that also includes other boutique brands.

www.cubancrafters.com

Hope this helps.

[kansashat]

Thanks cw. That looked like Kiki Berger to me. I will be very interested to try the JL Salazar. Have heard good things about them.
I must admit that I'm a bit surprised that you are the only one that has responded of the 90 or so views of this thread. Obviously, this is a subject that has induced little curiosity, or the ones who smoke them aren't on here, or ain't telling.
My curiosity is unabated, however, & I will be exploring some options in this direction.
I spoke with a couple of these companies at lunch today by phone. I called Barrington House of Jamaica & wasn't impressed. I think of mild when I think Jamaican anyway. Bobalu, however, may be worth exploring as the gentleman told me that I could try a sampler or 2 at 1st to minimize my risk.
I will be reporting my findings back to you folks & will be writing reviews. I feel compelled to sacrifice myself, for the greater good of cigar smokers everywhere, by exploring heretofore rarely charted waters by CS members.

Wish me luck! Churchlady, blow me a kiss. Someone feed my dog.

[galaga]

Originally Posted by kansashat

Thanks cw.
I will be reporting my findings back to you folks & will be writing reviews. I feel compelled to sacrifice myself, for the greater good of cigar smokers everywhere, by exploring heretofore rarely charted waters by CS members.

Wish me luck! Churchlady, blow me a kiss. Someone feed my dog.

Thanks for undertaking the ultimate sacrifice that a CS member can make. PDS will be glad to put the brands in the database for you so you can make your reviews available to all ---- WAM(what a man)

BTW, I really do enjoy your database entries, we seem to have similar tastes in cigars ( at least right now)

[God]

Hat... how do you define a "micro" cigar? I like Cupidos which are supposedly a boutique cigar (now no longer made I understand). I also tend to look for small, unknown brands when I travel to add variety to my smoking experiences. By the way you are just down the road from me... Hutchinson here.

[kansashat]

WOW! I'm a neighbor to God!

G.
Am kind of playing it loosely. I suppose that I would consider them rare, or almost impossible to find at the large internet sites most of us shop. Kind of like a micro-brewery. Small, with probably few rollers (possibly just one roller).
I exchanged e-mails with a guy representing a Brazilian company today. I also spoke to a customer service rep at a small tabacalera in the DR today.

I am excited about this, but reticent about sinking lots of money into the endeavor. I will be looking for companies that will sell me samplers (direct).

[ricmac25]

Have you tried searching for the cigar shops in Little Havana. There are a few that might fall under your criteria. One that I really like is "El Titan de Bronze", a liittle shop on Calle Ocho. I guess La Luna would be a little too big to fall under that category, but a fantastic cigar nonetheless.

[God]

Hat...
Good luck with your quest! Here is one that I came accross. Don't know anything about them... never ordered, never tried them.

http://www.neptunecigar.com/Neptunec...neproducts.asp

[Pablo]

I used to really enjoy the Moore and Bode cigars. Haven't seen them for awhile though.

[kansashat]

Originally Posted by pds

I used to really enjoy the Moore and Bode cigars. Haven't seen them for awhile though.

pds,
I think you can find them at 2guyssmokeshop.com.

Guys,
I really appreciate the input. It will be slow going, as I will have to allow setup time after I have recieved them. I am compiling a list of small cigar manufacturers & will probably start at the top with 1 & at the bottom with 1 & slowly work toward the middle.
I will also have to wait a week or so as I have pretty well shot my budget for this month.
hehe
I'm getting excited about this little exploration. Get ready pds. I will be putting in requests for review slots when I order, then will give the amount of setup time suggested by the shipper.
I will probably start with a couple of samplers of Bobalu & something from Vegas De Santiago.
This latter company had a really cool cedar cigar tube w/2 cigars for $7.50 US$ & a wooden 3 finger traveler w/3 cigars for $14.95. They also had a 6 cigar sampler for $14.95, so the monetary risk, so far, is not going to be great.

[Quixote]

I figured this thread was a good place for this...

Anybody heard of or tried Finck's cigars out of San Antonio? They have mostly machine-mades but do have several hand-made lines. A relative in Texas sent me a catalog recently, but I haven't tried any yet.

-Q

[cwaddell_1]

Originally Posted by God

I like Cupidos which are supposedly a boutique cigar (now no longer made I understand).

Dear God,
The website I refered Hat to does have Cupidos if you are still interested. I have tried them and I agree that they are pretty good.

www.cubancrafters.com

[Eichen]

I've had two Salazars so far. First one was so-so. I smoked it right OTT though. Second was damn fine -- dark, rich, chewy flavor. Mmmm, cheeewwwy. Would enjoy posting a review in the near future. Kiki Berger makes these as well as the Cupido cigars. AFAIK, Cupido is still in production. There's been a lot of talk about these at some other boards.

I'd be interested to know more about those Brazilian cigars. Ever since I've had the Torano Sigs and CAO Brazilias (though both don't have a lot of Brazilian tobac. in them), I've had an interest in Brazilian sticks.

A while back I tried my first Philippine cigars (not exactly what I'd call boutique ... just hard to find). They're not nearly as bad as a lot of folks make them out to be. Not great but definitely not dreck either. To each his own, I guess.

BTW, this thread's been nice reading.

Now I've got to get back to that fine cigar I'm savoring...

Oh, and Happy 4th!

-E

[kansashat]

Eichen,
I sent you a message stating that Vegas De Santiago were Brazilian, but that was incorrect. They are a Costa Rican company.
The Caravellos, I believe, is Brazilian.
Bobalu is in Austin Texas. Anyone in Texas have any experience with this line of cigars? They will be among the 1st that I try. I've read a couple of reviews on them, I believe right here, and they were positive.
I found an interesting site about a Honduran company called Columbus, but I don't believe they market in the U.S.
Another called Valdrych, seems to be marketing in European venues.
Another, called La Plata, is in California & has a new Phillipino line.

Heck, maybe I'll spend my entire July budget on micro cigars. I've got quite a few decent smokes in my humidors within reach right now anyway. The act of buying cigars with a bit less risk factor is hard to resist though, & there are so many good cigars I haven't tried yet.

[txmatt]

Originally Posted by kansashat

Eichen,
I sent you a message stating that Vegas De Santiago were Brazilian, but that was incorrect. They are a Costa Rican company.

Vegas De Santiago will send "your wife" a free sampler of their cigars that they are marketing towards women. They are around 5" long x 32 ring I suppose. I forget where I found the link but the cigars arrived very quickly with a cool Costa Rica stamp after "my wife" filled out the form. Unfortunately the nifty little box they shipped the pretty cigars in totally REEKS and imparted the smell (and I fear flavor) to the cigars. I wrapped the 3 little cigars in some thin spanish cedar that was previously around another cigar and put them into my coolidor. I am going to let them sit in the coolidor for at least 6 months before trying one. I am unfamiliar with their entire line, but even the worst dog rocket cigar doesn't deserve to be packaged in a box that smells like that. Hopefully they don't use that wood/glue or whatever makes the box smell across their entire product line.

Matt