Padron 1964 Anniversary Torpedo Last month (June 2011), I put up on my monthly “battle of the cigars” (formerly “battle of the stogies). In that matchup, I pitted two Padron cigars that are considered classics in the industry – the Padron 1926 Maduro and the Padron 1964 Maduro. I admit, when the poll came back, […]
J&D Temptation Maduro Last month, I had the opportunity to sample a cigar that I consider to be one of the revelations of 2011 – J&D Cigars’ Temptation Habano Claro. This mild to medium bodied cigar brought something special to the table with its unique flavors and smooth smoke. This time around, I sample the […]
Illusione HL Maduro I’ll make a confession – I am not a lancero vitola fan. I know many serious cigar enthusiasts will say this is the best vitola to smoke, but I just cannot adjust to the small ring gauge. Plus to be honest, I’ve only found a handful of lanceros that I have found […]
Monte Pascoal – Robusto (All Brazilian Puro) I admit, when it comes to cigar blends, I tend to stick to what I am most familiar with – namely my Nicaraguan, Dominican, and Honduran blends (with some Ecuadorian wrappers thrown in as well). However, recently I heard a discussion about how some soils of the Cuban […]
E.P. Carrillo Short Run 2011 (on a Short Run 2010 box) If you have been either following this web-site or the cigar industry in general, you will know that 2011 is intended to be a huge year for the E.P. Carrillo. Plans are for five cigar releases during the calendar year. Earlier in the year, […]
Alec Bradley American Classic Blend – Gordo I have to admit, when I got word of the new Alec Bradley Cigar – the American Classic Blend, I did not know what to make of it. Part of me wondering if this was going to be an all-American puro. It turns out that this was not […]
Casa Magna Domus Magnus – Optimus Vitola In 2008, Cigar Aficionado awarded its Cigar of the Year award to Manuel Quesada’s Casa Magna Colorado cigar. While we can all be critical of Cigar Aficionado, the award does carry a lot of weight – and its always good to be a retailer with a cigar with […]
This past February at the annual ProCigar festival in the Dominican Republic, one of the cigars that made a big splash was the Quesada Seleccion Espana. The Espana as indicated by its name is a cigar that was intended to be made available only available in Spain. Legendary Master Blender Manuel Quesada dropped by Outland […]
Avo Lounge Cigar – Toro One thing I like to do when I visit a cigar store or lounge is to sample something that is exclusive or hard to find. On a recent visit to Corona Cigars in Orlando, Florida, I knew one cigar that falls into that category – the Avo Lounge cigar was […]
Diamond Crown Julius Caeser A lot of times when I mention Diamond Crown cigars, I seem to get mixed reactions: “Super Premium Cigar”, “Too Expensive”, “Not full enough for me”. I’ve always found this line from J.C. Newman to be a very solid line. When last year, Newman announced that the “Julius Caeser” was going […]
