Southern Draw Evening Primrose, a New Diamond Crown Maximus and Warped Sarto Cigars

Cigar Phoenix, Langhorne, PA

A few weeks back I was driving through Langhorne, PA and happened to see Cigar Phoenix, which is a relatively new chain of two stores in the Philadelphia suburbs. This is owned by Scott Atkinson, who bought out a few of the Cigar Cigars stores, in which he had an ownership stake. You may remember Scott from the wildly popular cable access show "Cigar Time" (available on YouTube). Anyway I needed a break, so I stopped in to check out the shop. It's in an old bank building, and Scott's office is in the vault, I hope he has a really good door stop on that door, we wouldn't want him getting closed in there! The shop is very nice, comfy looking seating and TVs, and the humidor is very well appointed. I picked up a few singles, including the Southern Draw Evening Primrose.

Southern Draw Evening Primrose

Size

6″ x 52 toro

Wrapper

San Andrés Maduro

Binder

7th priming Ecuador Sumatra

Filler

Honduras, Nicaragua and USA

Made by

A.J. Fernandez

I've lost track of Southern Draw in recent years, so this one was new to me. The yellow bands are a nod to pollen, I am guessing, as the Evening Primrose flower is a pollinator, it actually blooms in the evening so that nocturnal bees and moths can cellect it's pollen. Why is pollen spelled with an E, but pollinator is spelled with an I? The cigar has a San Andrés Maduro wrapper, a 7th priming Ecuador Sumatra binder and fillers from Honduras, Nicaragua and USA (Pennsylvania is my guess), made by A.J. Fernandez. The yellow band might make you think this is a mild cigar, but it's anything but. I really enjoyed it, lots of cocoa and some earthiness. Naturally, I smoked the 6″ x 52 toro. This was a really good smoke.

Diamond Crown Maximus No. 2

Size

7″ x 50 (No. 2)

Wrapper

Ecuador El Bajo

Binder and filler

Dominican

Made by

J.C. Newman, Fuente and Oliva Tobacco

While I was in Tampa at El Reloj last week, I got my hands on a few of the new Diamond Crown Maximus cigars, and I smoked a No. 2 which is a 7″ x 50. Maximus has been one of my favorite cigars for many years. J.C. Newman, Fuente and Oliva Tobacco cooperated on this, and they have recently updated the packaging and refined the blend. This beautiful cigar has an Ecuador El Bajo wrapper over Dominican binder and fillers. I actually smoked an older No. 5 yesterday and while that's still one of my favorites, the new one is a more balanced blend. It's still full bodied, with some dark chocolate, espresso and spice. This has been a favorite cigar since the early '00s, and while the price has moved out of my comfort zone, I still will enjoy one from time to time. It's just simply a delicious cigar.

Warped Sarto

Size

Toro

Wrapper

Connecticut Broadleaf

Binder and filler

Nicaraguan

Made

NACSA (Aganorsa) factory

Another cigar I picked up at Cigar Phoenix was the Warped Sarto toro. I haven't smoked many Warped cigars, I had a Corto in 2021 that I enjoyed. The Cane Corso on the band drew me in, it's not the fist cigar I've smoked dedicated to a dog, or even a Cane Corso. Stolen Throne has the Brody, and Tatuaje has the K222, then there's Aganorsa's Guardian of the Farm. I like dogs. The Sarto has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, made in the NACSA (Aganorsa) factory. I found this cigar to be on the woody side, with some cocoa and pepper. Burn and draw were perfect, and it was an enjoyable cigar. I will have to make an effort to try some more of Warped cigars, I hear good things. Are there any other dog themed cigars I should try?

That's about all I have for today, until the next time,
CigarCraig