In 2022, Drew Estate announced a three-way collaboration project that was done between Metallica’s James Hetfield, Distiller Rob Dietrich of Sweet Amber Distilling, and Jonathan Drew known as Blackened M81. Blackened is the name of a whiskey collaboration of Metallica and Dietrich and Dietrich and Drew have been friends for a while. It was Dietrich […]
In 2023, HVC Cigars made a bold move. After over a decade of producing some highly acclaimed cigars at the Aganorsa Leaf factory, HVC Cigars’ owner Reinier Lorenzo made the decision to open his own factory, Fabrica de Tabaco, and start shifting production to come from there. While Lorenzo still maintains some production at Aganorsa […]
There are several wrappers that are associated with Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars. But I think the wrapper Johnson is best known for is Connecticut Broadleaf. Some of Pete Johnson’s most iconic releases have featured this wrapper. In 2008, Pete Johnson released a medium-bodied Connecticut Broadleaf line known as La Riqueza. The name La Riqueza […]
United Cigars is a company that is richly steeped in U.S. tobacco history. It began as a U.S.-based cigar store chain in 1901 and would go to 3,000 shops. United Cigar eventually became part of the corporation that bought Marvel Comics in 1968. Several years ago David Garofalo acquired United Cigars. Since then, the company […]
Over the past few years, subscription clubs have gained a lot of popularity in the cigar market. Each has offered different value propositions along the way. There are subscription clubs that give cigar enthusiasts an opportunity to try different cigars that exist in the market, and there are also subscription clubs that provide the opportunity […]
Last year marked a milestone year for Espinosa Cigars. It would mark the ten-year-anniversary of both the company and its factory, La Zona. In 2012, following the dissolution of EO brands with his partner Eddie Ortega, Erik Espinosa would launch his own premium cigar company, Espinosa Premium Cigars. That same year, Espinosa would open the […]
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 […]
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 rescoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we […]
In 2022, J.C. Newman Cigar Company would release a revamped version of its Diamond Crown Black Diamond line. The revamped Black Diamond would include new packaging and a modified blend. The Black Diamond is one of three brands J.C. Newman has revamped packaging and blends for – the others being Perla Del Mar and El […]
On April 10th 2022, Quesada Cigars Founder and President Manuel “Manolo” Quesada turned 75 years old. To commemorate the occasion, Quesada Cigars would release a special limited edition cigar. This cigar was dubbed the Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary. In recent years, Manolo’s daughter Raquel has been playing an increasing role in the operations of Quesada […]
