In 2020, a change happened at Protocol Cigars where Kevin Keithan, who was serving as the company’s national sales manager, became an owner in the company. At the same time, Protocol Cigars co-founder Bill Ives would depart the company. Both Ives and Juan Cancel, who were the two founders, had built a career in law […]
Cigar Review: 601 Black Toro by Espinosa Cigars (2020)
In 2020, after several years of anticipation, the 601 Black made its return. The 601 Black is a cigar that traces its roots back to EO Brands, the partnership between Espinosa Cigars’ founder Erik Espinosa and Eddie Ortega. 601 Black was one of the original 601 blends released in the EO portfolios. At the time […]
Agile Cigar Review Herrera Estelí Miami Piramide Fino by Drew Estate
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 […]
Cigar Review: Oliveros Gran Retorno Maduro Swing (2020) by Boutique Blends Cigars
The Oliveros Gran Retorno is a line of three blends offered by Boutique Blends Cigars. The name “Gran Retorno” means “Great Return.” When it comes to the Oliveros Gran Retorno, it’s actually a second “Great Return.” To understand this we need to go back into the history of Boutique Blends Cigars. Ten years ago, before there […]
Cigar Review: Crowned Heads La Coalición Siglo
If you have followed the evolution of the first seven years of Crowned Heads Cigars, it was a company that established manufacturing partnerships with two cigar factories: Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr‘s Tabacalera La Alianza and the Garcia Family’s My Father Cigars. The latter part of 2018 would be a very important one for Crowned Heads as […]
Cigar Review: Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Sun Grown Epicure
In 2020, Perdomo Cigars announced two new offerings in its Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary line with the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Sun Grown and Maduro offerings. These two cigars would be placed alongside the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne, the company’s hugely successful Connecticut Shade offering. To make room for the new Perdomo […]
Cigar Review: Diamond Crown Pyramid No. 7 by J.C. Newman Cigar Company
Diamond Crown is a brand in the J.C. Newman portfolio that is positioned as the company’s ultra-premium line. The genesis of this line goes back to the 1990s, when past J.C. Newman Cigar Company President Stanford Newman wanted to create a cigar for the company’s 100th anniversary which would be celebrated in 1995. Newman would […]
Cigar Review: AVO Classic Belicoso (2021)
Over the past three years, Davidoff has focused a considerable amount of attention of bringing many of its iconic releases that were either limited production or discontinued back to the forefront. Earlier this year, Davidoff announced that the AVO Classic Belicoso was returning for a limited production run. The AVO Classic line is one of the […]
Agile Cigar Review: Nestor Miranda Collection Corojo Robusto
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 […]
Cigar Review: HVC Hot Cake Laguito No. 4
During the Summer of ’20, HVC Cigars unveiled a new regular production offering known as Hot Cake. Whether the name is a tribute to the popular breakfast food, or simply because the cigar will “sell like hot cakes” is a bit unclear. What we do know is that this is not the first time HVC […]