For as long as I have been assessing cigars, it seems there has been an ongoing trend to bring the world of cigars and spirits together. In 2021, Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) released a trio of cigars meant to complement several bourbon products produced by Sazerac Company at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. These products included: […]
General Cigar has announced a new limited edition cigar under its CAO brand known as CAO Pilón Añejo. It’s a cigar that follows the original CAO Pilón in that it uses tobaccos fermented in circular-shaped pilóns. Fermenting in circular pilóns is an old Cuban technique. Most tobacco is fermented by arranging tobacco in large rectangular […]
Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) has announced that Rick Rodriguez, blender/ambassador of CAO, will be retiring from the company on April 29, 2022. Rodriguez joined General Cigar in January 2000 as a sales representative in Florida. In 2005, he was selected by the late Edgar Cullman, Sr., to participate in a rigorous cigar master training program […]
General Cigar Company has announced the Cohiba Serie M, the first Cohiba to be produced in the United States will be making a return in April. This year, the Cohiba Serie M will be released in a limited edition Corona Gorda. The Cohiba Serie M is a collaboration between General Cigar Company and the El […]
Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) has announced an expansion and restructuring of its marketing department. This has been triggered by growth in the brand’s portfolio, which STG said grew more than 20%. The brands under STG include Macanudo, Cohiba, CAO, Punch, Partagas, La Gloria Cubana, Hoyo de Monterrey, Diesel, Punch, and others. Distribution for the brands […]
General Cigar Company has announced it is adding the Punch Knuckle Buster Maduro, a maduro counterpart to the original Punch Knuckle Buster Habano released in February 2020. The Punch Knuckle Buster line is a value-priced offering under the Punch brand. The Knuckle Buster Maduro consists of a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Indonesian binder, and all Nicaraguan […]
This month, General Cigar Company will have its annual launch of the Punch Rare Corojo. For 2022, a special 6 1/8 x 40/54 figurado size will be a part of the collection known as the Aristocrat. The Aristocrat is a size that goes back to a size produced by Punch Cigar founder Frank Llaneza at […]
With the upcoming Chinese New Year, General Cigar Company has released its fourth annual limited edition cigar to commemorate the occasion, the Punch Fu Manchu. “Punch is keeping its Chinese New Year tradition alive. For the 2022 release, we went old school, replicating a maniacal kung fu master’s white hair and long goatee with a […]
General Cigar Company has announced the second installment of its limited-edition CAO Arcana Series, the CAO Arcana Firewalker. The CAO Arcana Series highlights old-world processing methods The Firewalker was inspired by an aging method known as Chincagre. In this case, this aging method was applied to the Nicaraguan-grown filler tobacco. General Cigar describes this method […]
General Cigar will launch a fourth frontmark in its Macanudo Inspirado Green line in the form of a 6 x 60 vitola known as Gigante. This new size is scheduled to ship to retailers on February 15th. The Macanudo Inspirado Green was first introduced in 2020. The cigar is highlighted by a Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper. […]
