La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale 2010 was a banner year for Team La Gloria Cubana of General Cigars. Not only did they release three cigars that made my 2010 Top 30 Cigar of the Year countdown, but they broke new ground in the world of cigar engineering. If you take a look at the […]
Esteban Carreras 211 Two years ago, Esteban Carreras was a virtual unknown among cigar enthusiasts. Since then, slowly but surely I’ve seen Esteban Carreras cigars appear in more and more retail shops. This is with good reason – these are some of the most consistent and best made cigars available on the market. In 2010, […]
Liga Privada Unico Serie L40 Lancero While the introduction of Drew Estate’s Undercrown line was a highlight on the 2011 IPCPR, the other cigar was another entry into Liga Privada’s Unico Serie – the long waitied Liga Privada Unico Serie L40 Lancero. The Unico Serie concept was introduced with the Liga Privada Unico Serie Dirty […]
Room 101 Connecticut – unbanded sample From talking to retailers and media, it seems as though a big theme for the 2011 cigar year has been the Connecticut/ Ecuadorian shade wrapper. There have been some very good Connecticut/ Ecuadorian shade wrapper cigars introduced this year including the E.P. Carrillo New Wave Connecticut, J&D Temptation Claro, […]
Perdomo Champagne Noir Earlier this year, Perdomo Cigars unveiled the Perdomo Reserve Champagne Noir. This is a blend variation of the popular 10th Anniversary line. This was definitely a stronger cigar in terms of strength and body than the original Perdomo Champagne. The initial release was released in a personal favorite size vitola – a […]
Elogio Excepcionales When I introduced the 2011 IPCPR Series here, I mentioned I wanted to put a lot of focus on the actual cigars. It was my intention to provide a technical debrief of the cigars being showcased – whether previewing or reviewing them. While much of the focus is around the many new releases, […]
Padron Family Reserve 85th So I will preface this by saying I don’t have too much more to say about this release other than the Maduro was on display at the 2011 IPCPR. The big news essentially is that this cigar – which was being known as the Padron Family Reserve 47th Anniversary has been […]
2011 has been a very exciting year for Oliveros Cigars. The IPCPR featured a release of limited run cigar added to the Swag brand called the Limitado 99 and the launch of another new brand called Aging Room Cigars. With the excitement to the other brands, one cigar that I overlooked was an a cigar […]
CAO OSA Sol Following the acquisition of CAO Cigars into the General Cigar Company family, there were many concerns about the future of this brand. Those concerns would be amplified with the departures of Tim Ozgener and Jon Huber – two of the most creative minds in the industry. However, late last year when it […]
Drew Estate Undercrown A visit to the Drew Estate booth at IPCPR is always exciting. The booth is bustling with tons of activity and there always is an energy present. This year, that energy might have reached an all-time high as a new line was introduced by DE at the 2011 IPCPR show. This one […]
Quesada Oktoberfest 2011 has been a solid year for Manuel Quesada and the team at SAG Imports. The releases of the Casa Magna Domus Magnus, Quesada Seleccion Espana , and the Fonseca CXX Anni have been very strong. At IPCPR 2011, SAG showcased another new cigar into another one of their lines. This cigar was […]
Room 101 Connecticut (615 vitola) One of the highlights of these year’s show was paying a visit to the Room 101 “room” in the Davidoff “booth”. The Room 101 brand was founded by Matt Booth who gained fame for making jewelry, accessories, and clothing for the Hollywood scene. Booth soon extended his “lifestyle” to include […]
