New releases continued to hit retailers’ shelves in November 2011 – including a couple of highly anticipated releases.  From a personal standpoint, it probably was one of the better months for smokes I have had in sometime.  Let’s take a look at what happened this month.

New Releases

• Alec Bradley Fine and Rare – I did not get to sample it, but had some info on it following IPCPR.  1,111 boxes hit the retailer shelves on 11/11/11 and many retailers already sold out.
• Crowned Heads Four Kicks -A lot of hype surrounded this cigar.  Here were my thoughts on this particular smoke.
• Viaje WLP Stuffed Turkey – This hit the Viaje authorized retailers prior to thanksgiving.  Here were my thoughts on this one.
• Torano Vault – By early November, Torano retailers had this on the shelves.  Here were my thoughts on this one
• La Flor Dominicana Factory Press IV – made its way to retailers prior to December 1st.  I smoked it shortly after the month was over.
• Montecristo New York Connoisseur Edition:  This was launched November 30th at the Big Smoke in New York City.  Here is a preview.
• East India Trading Company Wicked Indie. A press release went out in early November on this new offering from Gurkha’s parent company Beach Cigar Corp.  Here were my thoughts on the actual smoke.

Assessments Conducted

As mentioned there were a lot of smokes this month.  Here are the highlights of some of the more well known ones:

• Gurkha Seduction
• Gurkha Cellar Reserve
• Elogio Excepionales
• H.Upmann 1844 Reserve Reblend
• Pedro Martin Gold
• Illusione mj12 Maduro
• Rocky Patel Fifty
• Lou Rodriguez Edicion Reserva Maduro
• Lou Rodriguez Habano Rosado
• Viaje C-4
• Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Limited Edition 2011 – Connecticut Shade

Other Announcements

Our friends at Cigar Brief got word that Rocky Patel has relaunched the Winter Collection.  It is arriving on retailers shelves in December.

Legislation

H.R. 1639 / S. 1461 continues to be the focus around the battle against the Pleasure Police.   This month saw S 1461 start to gain some momentum as Senator Louisiana Mary Landrieu sign on a co-sponsor.  This was followed in early December by Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander signing on.  As for the House bill, HR 1639 – the number of legislators as co-sponsors is now at 126