Posts Tagged ruben’s smoke stack

B&M: Ruben’s Smoke Stack

- click on photographs - 

Ruben’s Smoke Stack is a special place. Not only you will find an excellent selection of boutique cigars but you will also find plenty of camaraderie, peace, relaxation and last but surely not least, plenty of comfortable couches. The Stack is owned and managed by Ruben Abreu, a man with a vision, interest in great cigars and fine palate. There are many cigars shops in New Jersey but I only frequent two of them and Ruben’s place gets most of my attention. On average, there is one event every month with great prices, delicious food, and raffles. Ruben keeps up with trends and chases top boutique manufacturers to satisfy customer’s hunger. The list of brands available at the Ruben’s smoke Stack is too long to list but you will find a wide variety of Tatuaje, Padron, Illusione, Viaje, La Aurora, Miami Cigars, La Flor Dominicana, My Father, Oliva, Alec Bradley, and many, many other. (LIST)


From Ruben’s site: Established in 1997, the Smoke Stack has been providing cigars and relaxation ever since. January 2006 marked a change in the fate and the name of the Smoke Stack. Upon the transfer of ownership, Ruben’s Smoke Stack was born. Ruben’s Smoke Stack retains the same great relaxing environment, while adding a new bit of Ruben’s personality. Add features like the new big screen TV in the front seating area, to the new Members Only Lounge in the back, to the already luxurious humidor and your comfort is assured. At Ruben’s Smoke Stack, we strive to ensure that when you are in our “lounge”, that you are embracing the definition of the word. Amenities include a big screen TV, espresso maker, customer access computer and much more…and, oh yeah, did we forget to mention cigars?!?


Ruben’s Smoke Stack
326 Main Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601
201-498-0332



Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Viaje Exclusivo Shorts

- click on photographs - 

If you are into Limited Editions / Limited Releases, don’t look any further. Viaje goes above and beyond to satisfy that hunger. There are weeks / months were Viaje is releasing a ‘new’ extension, so to stay on top of the game, one has to have a healthy budget as well as be plugged into the social media 24/7. This week we are sacrificing short smoke appropriately called Viaje Exclusivo Shorts. Living in the North East, I’m always looking for relatively short ~30-45min stogie which I can enjoy during cold season. Despite ‘Exclusivo’ identifier and limited count of 100 boxes of 50 cigars, I was able to identify 2-3 shops that were willing to ship. Perhaps not so limited after all.


Construction of the cigar was visually pleasing, including ‘fancy’ pigtail. Couple visible veins with otherwise well blended seams. One of my pet-peeves in the cigar is lack of smoke but in case of Viaje Exclusivo Shorts, this is a non-issue. On the second / third puff, this short stogie was producing an enormous ‘creamy’ cloud. Although the burn line was razor sharp, the ash itself had that ‘alligator’ looking finish. No negative impact on the flavor which started with noticeable amount of spice / pepper. The experience was a roller-coaster with spice in one puff and sweetness / coffee in another. In between, I was able to extract woody / nutty taste which lingered in the background. Overall, excellent stick which I will definitely add to my rotation. However, there is one BUT. Price !!! I don’t mind paying for a good stick which delivers enjoyable and relatively lengthy experience. In case of Viaje Exclusivo Shorts, the former is acceptable, the latter – not. Too pricey for the size.


Viaje Exclusivo Shorts was purchased from Ruben’s Smoke Stack.



Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Length: 4.25″
Ring: 42



Construction > Great
Burn > Great
Enjoy > Yes
Recommend > Yes
Buy > Yes


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

La Aurora Preferidos ‘Ruby’

- click on photographs - 

This weeks we are departing from boutique space and diving into classical cigar realm – La Aurora. In the hopper is one of Aurora’s special edition preferidos – a Brazilian Sun Grown covered ‘Ruby.’ Preferido, the cigar that paved the way for manufacturing in Dominican Republic back in 1903, is a perfecto shape vitola which expands to a thick center in the middle. In addition to visually pleasing shape and sweetness off the wrapper, the Special Edition red-jet metal tube adds another dimension to the product. From photographer’s perspective, I was really looking forward to incorporating the color, shape and finish of the metal tube into the ‘set.’


Holding 5/54 La Aurora Preferidos makes me want to see Liga Privada Flying Pig in the same vitola. That would be a pleasure to hold and smoke, wouldn’t it ? The ‘Ruby‘ itself is very well compacted and covered with extremely toothy wrapper. One visible vein with otherwise well blended seams. Initial few puffs produced extreme amount of smoke – thumbs up ! In flavor department, delicious sweetness mixed with wood and characteristics of leather. Throughout the cigar, and especially through retrohale and toward the end, fair amount of spice. Thick and razor sharp burn line, light grey and tight ash scored high in construction department. All around great experience, great cigar and stand up company.


From photographer’s perspective, as stated above, this was nothing but a pleasure. In the spirit of thinking ‘outside of the box‘, I went little extreme and incorporated snow (* yes, we still have snow) into the shoot. Sun rays immediately melted the snow and left spontaneously positioned water drops – bulls-eye.


Once again, got this cigar at my B&M shop – Ruben’s Smoke Stack.


Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Brazilian Sun Grown
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Length: 5″
Ring: 54



Construction > Great
Burn > Great
Enjoy > Yes
Recommend > Yes
Buy > Yes


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nosotros

- click on photographs - 

Nosotros project was a collaboration between two industry giants, Dion Giolito of Illusione and Jonathan Drew of Drew Estate. Nosotros cigars were rolled by Drew Estate in Nicaragua. I was gifted my first Nosotros by Jonathan Drew at one of the cigar events in local B&M cigar shops in New Jersey. When I look back, I shake my head because at that event I was still craving a Nosotros sample after receiving couple pre-release Dirty Rats. We all know where both cigars are now in regard to popularity. I smoked gifted Nosotros sample few days later and due to high expectations, I was far from being impressed. Reading other reviews online, my experience was within the same bracket. I have since purchased few different viotolas and although the overall package has improved, I still wasn’t fully satisfied. I decided to rest the robusto for few more months and see if extra aging can positively impact the experience.


I smoked my last Nosotros this past weekend and I can report that cigar definitely benefited from extra aging. In construction department, cigar had a well applied Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper with few dark running veins. If you enjoy looking at dark oily wrappers, Nosotros is an extreme opposite. I can probably go to Home Depot, buy an ultra fine sandpaper and you wouldn’t know the difference – it is that ‘sandy’ to touch. Burn has improved, drastically. With my very first sample, I recall sitting there for 1.5hr with a cigar in my left hand / a lighter in my right hand and performing a touch-up procedure for equal amount of time – it was annoying. Although the burn was far from being razor sharp, I only touched it up twice. Flavors – I can’t slice this cigar into 3s since there is definitely not enough complexity. Normal puffs and retrohale presented enjoyable spice on the lips, tongue and a small amount in the back of the throat. If you enjoy ‘wood’ in your taste, there is an abundance of it in Nosotros. I was able to pick up small amount of chocolate / coffee / cocoa. The amount of smoke on the 2nd/3rd puff was out of control. Photographing the nub and ensuring that I get sufficient amount of smoke was a piece of ‘cake.’ In conclusion, one would ask “Is Nosotros Worth The Box ?” Probably not. “Few singles ?” Yes. My expectation is extremely high when it comes to Dion’s Illusione brand and Jonathan’s Liga Privada brand. I hope they continue to innovate and continue to meet my expectation. Who knows, maybe some day we will see Nosotros Take 2.


Please be aware that Nosotros project has been discontinued as per Dion Giolito but there are still a lot of local B&M cigar shops that carry the line. If you can’t find them locally, give Ruben’s Smoke Stack a call. To read up more about Nosotros, check out my colleagues: casasfumando, acigarsmoker, stogiereview, nicetightash, mikesstogies.


Specs:
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Connecticut Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan
Length: 5″
Ring: 50



Construction > OK
Burn > OK
Enjoy > Yes
Recommend > Yes
Buy > Yes (* discontinued)


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reinado

- click on photographs - 

REINADO cigars, product from Antonio, are handmade, premium aged puros exclusively blended to perfection from the rich sought-after tobacco fields of Nicaragua. The REINADO blend distinguishes itself from all others on the market via an original and closely guarded secret fermentation process employing several types of select premium tobacco. While from Cuban seed, the wrapper, binder, and filler are all grown in the lush tropics of Nicaragua. See REINADO website for more details HERE

Antonio and I got in touch via mutual friend, Ruben Abreu, from Ruben’s Smoke Stack in Hackensack, NJ. Delicious and nutritious REINADO cigars that Antonio brought in, become the main object of spontaneously scheduled photo session. Antonio was/is a great guy and I wish him all the best with his current and all upcoming projects !

Tags: , , , , , , ,