Nat Sherman Timeless Collection: picture from”The Good Life Diaries” Nat Sherman is a legendary cigar store in New York that has been open for over 80 years. In addition to the store, the Nat Sherman brand has been well-known in the tobacco industry for many years. Michael Herklots, the executive director, retail and brand development […]
#27 for 2011: Torano Vault This epic encounter takes us to the island of Ometepe – a volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua. This is the place where a missing ingredient was applied to a blend that had been locked away for over a decade. At #27 is the Torano Vault. This refers to the name […]
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 […]
La Flor Dominicana Factory Press IV Ever since the initial release of the Factory Press series by Litto Gomez and La Flor Dominicana a few years ago, the cigars in this series have long been sought after by many cigar enthusiasts. According to Gomez, the genesis for the Factory Press series is as follows: For […]
#28 This epic encounter uses the word “candela” – and yes a candela cigar makes my 2011 Top 30 Cigars of the year. Coming in at #28 is the Viaje WLP (White Label Project – St. Patrick’s Day) Candela. Similar to how manufacturers tried to raise the bar making more fuller blends with Ecuadorian Connecticut, […]
#29 for 2011: Humo Jaguar by Miami Cigars It’s time for a the second Epic Encounter of Cigars of 2011 – the 2011 Cigar of the Year countdown continues. Coming in at #29 is the Humo Jaguar by Miami Cigars. While Ecuadorian Connecticut cigars were a theme of 2011, there was another theme that got […]
Over the past year, Gary Griifith’s brand of Emilio Cigars has been capturing the attention of cigar enthusiasts. Now up on the Emilio website are some details of a new line and the first blend of that line – the Draig-K. Griffith has done a masterful job at “building a mystery” in his line. With […]
#30 for 2011: E.P. Carrillo New Wave Connecticut With 2011 being as good a year for cigars as any, selecting which cigars made the Top 30 was probably as tough as any. With that said, picking #30 was probably the hardest selection I had to make. There were a lot of good cigars that did […]
Avo LE10 – 2010 Cigar of the Year It’s that time of the year. Time to countdown the Top 30 cigars for 2011. It seems like every year I say “this is the best year for cigars ever”. However, in each case it has been true – and 2011 truly takes the cake in my […]
Lou Rodriguez Habano-Rosado Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to sample and assess three blends in the Lou Rodriguez core line. When an Indie cigar company is able to place three different blends in a retailer’s humidor, it becomes what I term a “brand builder”. I’ve now had the opportunity to […]
There is another new release from Altadis hitting the retailers. This cigar is a new limited edition being branded under Atladis’ VegaFina line – this one is called the VegaFina Jose Seijas 2011. The cigar bears the name and signature of Jose Seijas. Seijas presides over the famous Tabacalera de Garcia factory in the Dominican […]
As always, when I smoke a pre-release cigar, I feel it is premature to give it a firm assessment rating – therefore, I do a pre-review to provide some initial feedback. With some follow-on smokes completed, it’s time to assess some more cigars. With this installment of “Assessment Updates”, I look at Joya de Nicaragua’s […]
