J&D Temptation Maduro Last month, I had the opportunity to sample a cigar that I consider to be one of the revelations of 2011 – J&D Cigars’ Temptation Habano Claro. This mild to medium bodied cigar brought something special to the table with its unique flavors and smooth smoke. This time around, I sample the […]
Viaje Holiday Blend 2010 When it comes to limited edition cigars, sometimes I like comparing them to ordering a pay-per-view boxing match – namely sometimes you are going to get a great fight, and sometimes you are not. However, in order to know if you are going to see something special, you need to order […]
JD Temptation Habano Claro One rule of thumb I have consistently said when it comes to Indie Cigars is that it must do two things: 1) Bring something special to the table; 2) Have the ability to push something out of a retailer’s humidor. For the past couple of months, I’ve been hearing a lot […]
The Emilio Grimalkin Last month, I had one of the best revelations of the 2011 year – the AF1 by Emilio Cigars. The experience with the AF1 was phenomenal for me as I really enjoyed the cigar. In fact, I went as far as to give this cigar a “Memorable” in terms of an assessment. […]
When Sam Leccia parted ways with Oliva Cigars back in November, 2010, there was a lot of speculation where Leccia would wind up. Today, a press release was issued announcing the formation of Sam’s own cigar company as well as his first cigar – appropriately titled “The Debut”. For Immediate Release May 24, 2011 […]
The Viaje Exclusivo Short is the latest vitola released under the Viaje Exclusivo line from Viaje Cigars. Viaje has garnered a reputation for not only releasing small micro-batches of cigars (I coin this term for under 500 boxes), but releasing one or two vitolas at a time (such is the case with their popular “Skull […]
While it did take me a while, I am now convinced that Nicaraguan tobacco is the best in the world. In fact a lot of times people ask me “Do you like Cubans?”, I reply that I prefer Nicaraguan cigars. My reason is that I’ve seen the variety with what the tobaccos from this part […]
When it comes to the Indie Cigar market, the line I feel is the strongest is the Esteban Carreras line. Esteban Carreras was created by Craig Cunningham, a cigar retailer in Southern California. I’ve found an incredible amount of depth in the cigars in the Esteban Carreras portfolio. The cigar that I feel stands at […]
One thing I always look for with an Indie cigar is something unique that comes to the table. When I came across the Bad Dog Special Blend, this was a cigar that intrigued me. The distinguishing factor on this cigar is the unique wrapper that it brings to the table – the Rhodesian (Zimbabwe) wrapper. […]
I’ve decided to go ahead and continue the month in review series. This is the second installment. In this series, I will highlight some noteworthy events that happened in the world of cigars. I’ll focus on noteworthy events and smokes that I explored on the Cigar Coop website and throw in a few other tidbits […]
