Kremer's Smoke Shoppe

Stopped by Kremer's Smoke Shoppe the other day to check it out. It has been in Louisville forever. I just have not made it downtown to do so. However, this is a great shop with a huge selection. They have been around so long they have some brands you can only get at this store in Louisville. I picked up about 20 cigars that I have not tried yet, so watch for those ratings coming soon. :-) Also, here is what I consider the best part. In the back corner on one of the racks are cigars that have been around so long you have to wipe the dust off of the celephane. So if you have the desire to find some smokes that are not even made anymore, this is the place.

I will be smoking some of those soon. They are located at 401 E. Jefferson(East not West, I drove around for a half hour around 4th street till I realized I was on wrong end of the compass).

Here are some pictures of their walk-in humidor and some of the fine humidors they have for sale also. When you pick up a cigar to purchase, grab one of the price tags they have in every box to take to the register with you, if not you will be walking back in to pull tickets and trying to find out where you got the cigar from. OK they should have told me that first, jeez.

They told me they are getting a facebook account and web page soon.

FREE La Aurora Cigars

Miami Cigar & Company, the exclusive distributor for La Aurora brands in the United States, has just announced the release of the La Aurora Serie 107 Anniversario to mark the company's 107th year of operation in the Dominican Republic. As part of a yearlong campaign to Rediscover La Aurora, 107 retailers across the U.S. will be giving away Serie 107 Robustos on April 30th, with the purchase of at least one cigar of your choice (can be any brand). The list of participating retailers will be available at rediscoverlaaurora.com.
Miami Cigar president Nestor Miranda says, "We have represented La Aurora for over 20 years and feel this is one of the best cigars they have made so far. We believe so much in the 107 that we are giving cigar smokers the chance to try it for free. All anyone has to do is buy a cigar, any cigar, at one of the participating retailers on April 30 and we'll give you a free 107." La Aurora vice president Guillermo Leon adds, "We realize that while our family has been making fine handcrafted cigars for more than a century, some cigar smokers still have not tried our products and others remember when we only made cigars in the mild range. La Aurora has been developing medium to full bodied cigars with full flavor and we want to let people know how we have changed. The Rediscover La Aurora is part of our outreach to those smokers."
The 107, which uses a Sun Grown Ecuador wrapper over 6 year old fillers and binder from Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, will come in boxes of 21 with a suggested retail price between $6 to $8, plus any local taxes. There will be 3 sizes: Robusto (4.5x50); Toro (5.5x54); and a Belicoso (6.25 x 52)

I will be heading to Kremers Smoke Shop in Louisville on Kentucky Oaks day to get mine :-)

A. FUENTE Gran Reserva 80.75

Smoke this for the first time in 2007 and did not have a rating scheme developed at the time.

Even though this cigar had an OK flavor and has been in my humidor for at least a year, it still had a very hard draw and made it hard to enjoy. The cigar was rolled too tight. When you look at the foot after cutting it looks like corkboard it was so tight. Now I know why they try and sell those drawpokers on the net. It is sad, because Fuente has such a good reputation, however I was not impressed with this cigar.

These were both Chateau Medium Bodied Sungrown Wrapper, not the Maduro.

Usually I would put the bottom band also, but was on the ceder wrapping and I forgot to include this. Thanks for the comment.

UPPER CUT OMETEPE - 88.50

I enjoyed this cigar. I could not find any discernable flavors, but it still had a very mild taste and smoked well.

Punch is a venerable brand and is one of a portfolio of well known brands owned by the Cigar General Co., one of the bigger companies in the industry. Their brands include Macanudo, La Gloria Cubano, Partagas and a host of others. The Punch Upper Cut puts the image of Ometepe and its twin volcanoes on its footband. Cigar Aficionado states that the Ometepe region in Nicaragua grows "intriguing" tobacco. General Cigar owns much of the growing fields in this region and the Upper Cut is filled with Ometepe region tobacco.

Here is a review from bullz-eye.com:

Look and feel

The cigar looked more expensive than its retail price point, the banding with the picutured volcano definitely dressed the cigar up, but its nice oily, deep brown wrapper was impressive even without these bands. I saw nothing to complain about in its construction, as it seemed packed nicely. The cigar was wrapped and filled in a quality manner.


Aroma and Taste

When I first lit up, I was struck by a nice, balanced dose of pepper and spice. The pepper subsided somewhat after five minutes of smoking and morphed into a traditional, rich tobacco flavor with some leather flavor as well. The flavor stayed generally the same, with some wood flavor coming and going throughout. I especially thought the draw and burn on the cigar also was good. The aroma was nothing too noteworthy, but it was certainly fine. I do believe that this is probably going to be one of my favorite Punch brand cigars going forward, as it has a medium to full profile. With that said, I must admit that I do not smoke a lot of Punch cigars. I think the brand is positioned very well with a consistent, good value smoke for your money. The cigars themselves are typically not too complex in flavor but the consistency is there and the smoker knows what they are getting. Many smokers value this in a cigar, probably more than I do.

VigilantE 88.08

I first rated this in Nov. 2008, I have been smoking these quite a bit since they have been aging in my humidor. As I expected, they have acquired a much better taste and now rate higher than my original 81.

Origin: Honduras
Size: 6.25 x 50
Wrapper: NicaraguanBinder: Ecuador
Filler: Nicaragua / Honduran Sun Grown
The VigilantE is blended by Rocky Patel and is aged 5 years.

Patel Brothers Nish Patel - 92.255

This is a very hard cigar to find and was a very good smoke. I smoked two of these at least a week apart to make sure I would enjoy them the same. The oily wrapper really had a great taste and these produced voluminous smoke. Easy draw and great flavor. This one is definitely

a keeper. Fireupthatcigar.com had this great review:

Wrapper: Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Made In: Honduras
Size: 5.5×44 – Corona
Price: About $7 per single

A Little Background: For the first time in his company’s history Rocky Patel has collaborated with his brother Nish Patel to create a cigar they are calling, full bodied and a powerhouse. The new cigar has tobacco from the fields of Lancaster County in Pennsylvania; the same region that brought us the Rocky Patel Winter Blend 2008.

Appearance & Construction: The Patel Brother cigar has a nice dark brown colored wrapper with minimal veins running throughout. The wrapper feels a little dry to the touch but it has no soft spots and appears to be constructed well. Not related to aesthetics and something I rarely comment about, but on the prelight draw I get a wet paint flavor; let’s hope the cigar doesn’t taste like that.

Smoking Characteristics: As with all Rocky Patel cigars, the Patel Bros. has a perfect draw that produces a lot of rich smoke. The burn was well within acceptable terms however the ash flowered pretty badly. This cigar is no doubt a full bodied cigar and so is the strength. This little corona beat me up pretty good and that was even after a hearty lunch.

Flavor: The Patel Bros. has a nice sweet earthy woody core with notes of coffee, cocoa, leather and a salty meaty flavor that I can’t quite put my finger on. The flavors are very rich and pronounced in this cigar however the flavors remained generally the same throughout the cigar.

Final Thoughts: Overall I really enjoyed this cigar. I happen to love that salty meaty flavor in cigars so that definitely scored some points in my book. The only negative thing on this cigar was the wet paint flavor on the prelight draw but thank goodness I didn’t get that in the actual cigar. This cigar is not for the beginners. The cigar has some serious kick to it that would turn a newbie green in no time.

Worth a Shot: Yes
Buy Again: Probably
Rating: Good