Christian Eiroa, Tom Lazuka, and the entire C.L.E. cigar family had a big year in 2022. It would mark the tenth anniversary of C.L.E. Cigars and the tenth anniversary of Asylum Cigars (it also would mark the 50th birthday of C.L.E. President Christian Eiroa). Milestones usually call for a special celebratory cigar, but in Asylum’s […]
In 2022, Plasencia Cigars quietly started telling retailers of an ultra-premium limited edition offering known as the Plasencia Ehtëfal. The release of the Plasencia Ehtëfal was meant to coincide with the 2022 FIFA World Cup that was taking place in Qatar in November 2022. Plasencia Cigars made it clear that this was not a commemorative […]
Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we […]
In May 2023, South Florida retailer Smoke Inn announced that Aganorsa Leaf would deliver the 19th installment of its exclusive MicroBlend Series. The cigar would be dubbed the Aganorsa Leaf Rare Fusion, the first installment of the series from Aganorsa Leaf, and the cigar would have three signature tobaccos that Aganorsa Leaf grows: Corojo ’99, […]
Celebrity Restauranteur turned cigar-brand owner Guy Fieri wanted a special cigar to commemorate his 55th birthday and turned to Espinosa Cigars, who handles both his production and distribution for his Knuckle Sandwich brand, to make such a cigar. The result was a cigar known as the Knuckle Sandwich 55. Fieri was initially given 55 ten-count […]
If there is one cigar company that has made the best use of its Ambassador group, it would have to be Micallef Cigars. Micallef used input from its Ambassador group to develop its previous new release, the Micallef A and continues to rely on feedback from its Ambassadors. One thing that Micallef heard over and […]
Back in 2017, Boutique Blends Cigars entered into a strategic agreement with Altadis U.S.A. where Altadis would handle the company’s distribution and co-owner Rafael Nodal would become the Director (now Vice President) of Product Capability at Altadis U.S.A. One could easily say this has been one of the most successful strategic partnerships in the cigar […]
Back at the 2022 Trade Show, Luciano Cigars, then known as ACE Prime, would introduce an exclusive cigar to retailers attending the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) known as Maria Lucia. The cigar is named and pays homage to company co-founder and blender Luciano Meirelles’ late mother. In blending Maria Lucia, Meirelles drew inspiration from his […]
In 2022, Illusione Cigars would quietly unveil its version of the Allegria brand. It was back in 2017 when Dion Giolito acquired two cigar brands, OneOff and Allegria. These are brands created by Andrea Molinar – and achieved a cult status in the marketplace. However, the brand fell dormant and pretty much disappeared from retail […]
On November 16, 2021, legendary blender Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. turned 70 years young. The company celebrated this milestone birthday by releasing a special limited edition cigar. The idea was to go into the blend archives of Ernesto Perez-Carrillo and find an unreleased blend that was not released for various reasons (such as limited tobacco). Ernesto […]
