Back at the 2010 IPCPR, one of my most exciting visits was to the Torano Family Cigar booth. During that visit, I saw a lot of energy and excitement around the recent re-branding of the company and the new releases that were due for 2010. I recently was very satisfied with one of these new […]
Many people come to me asking me what is the best cigar to buy for a Christmas, Hanukkah, or New Year’s gift. Unfortunately, the first response I give them is what I term the “Standard Consulting Answer” which is “It Depends”… It depends on a few factors. Below I’ve put a table to help […]
One of the revelations of the 2010 cigar year has been Bill Paley’s La Palina line. When I first tried the La Palina Alison at the Commonwealth Cigar Club in Roanoke Virginia, I was blown away. My words were: “The race for Cigar of the Year just got that much tighter.” Well I now I […]
One of the biggest buzzes of the 2009 IPCPR was the debut of celebrity jeweler Matt Booth’s line of Room 101 Cigars. Many people (including myself) were excited about Booth joining the ranks of cigar-ebrities. When the Room 101 was released, I was disappointed at first as I was hoping for a stronger cigar with […]
Photo from Yelp.com New York City – the Big Apple. The place where the Commissioner of the Pleasure Police – Mayor Mike Bloomberg resides. Well, one place that I’m sure we won’t see Mayor Bloomberg welcome is a Cigar Lounge. Despite Bloomberg’s efforts, there are still plenty of good ones. I’ve been to many in […]
I’m a little late with this info, but the dream collaboration between Illusione’s Dion Giolito and Drew Estate’s Jonathan Drew is history. It has been announced that the Illusione Nosotros Cigar is being discontinued. Going into 2010, this collaboration was the buzz throughout the Cigar industry -namely as a result of these two cigar-ebrities teaming […]
I recently posted some information about the Pleasure Police posturing in Minneapolis, Minnesota to ban sampling in Tobacco stores. My information was slightly incorrect, but nonetheless even more urgent than I originally stated. My words were “The City of Minneapolis has a proposed bill to ban tobacco sampling at retail tobacco shops. ” I […]
The Beauty of the La Gloria Cubana Serie N I’ve mentioned this several times – during the 2010 IPCPR, it was my opinion that General Cigars had the best year in terms of new product releases. The key thing I’ve seen from General is investing in building their existing brands – namely Macanudo and La […]
This past Tuesday, I posted some information in regards to Tim Ozgener’s departure from CAO Cigars. In this post, I posted a reference to a press release by General Cigars to announce that Ozgener was leaving CAO. In that press release, there was some ambiguity in that release with whether or not Ozgener was leaving […]
Not the best picture, but this is the Warlock I had I am a fan of Omar Ortez blended sticks. I particularly love the Omar Ortez Puro Maduro. This is a good value-priced stick that really packs a punch. So when I found out Ortez was working on another creation for Altadis, I was particularly […]
