La Palina El Diario From the times I have listened and talked to La Palina Cigars founder Bill Paley, one thing is clear to me – he has a goal to build the best possible cigars in the market. Last year, Paley launched La Palina Cigars – resurrecting the brand of his grandfather Samuel Paley. […]
Quesada Oktoberfest – Bavarian vitola Last week, I previewed the Quesada Oktoberfest. This was a cigar that was showcased at the 2011 2011 IPCPR being sold under the Quesada line for Manuel Quesada’s SAG Imports. This cigar joins three strong cigars already released by SAG: the Casa Magna Domus Magnus, Quesada Seleccion Espana , and […]
Room 101 Connecticut – unbanded sample From talking to retailers and media, it seems as though a big theme for the 2011 cigar year has been the Connecticut/ Ecuadorian shade wrapper. There have been some very good Connecticut/ Ecuadorian shade wrapper cigars introduced this year including the E.P. Carrillo New Wave Connecticut, J&D Temptation Claro, […]
E.P. Carrillo Core Line Maduro – Club 52 Vitola Back when Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. was with La Gloria Cubana, one of my favorite cigars he blended was the La Gloria Cubana Serie R Maduro. That cigar has become one of my favorite “go to” cigars since I became a cigar enthusiast. Earlier this year, when […]
Joya de Nicaragua My Uzi Weighs a Ton – Pre-Release Sample A few days ago, I posted some preliminary information on the forthcoming release on a new Joya de Nicaragua cigar called “My Uzi Weighs a Ton”. I happened to be at a Drew Estate event at Cordova Cigars in Pensacola, Florida and Jonathan Drew […]
A.Turrent Triple Corojo – Gran Robusto Vitola A. Turrent’s Triple Corojo recently made its world debut at the June 4th Cigar Dave remote broadcast in Charlotte, North Carolina. This follows the “Triple” theme that was set by last year’s triple maduro – the A.Turrent Triple Play. For the case of the A. Turrent Triple […]
PDR 1878 Reserva Dominicana Capa Habana Last year, Abe Flores of owner and master blender of Pinar Del Rio introduced his “PDR 1878” line of cigars. This has proven to be a solid set of value-priced cigars around the $5.00 to $7.00 range that has gotten the attention of consumers. This year, at IPCPR Flores […]
La Bomba (pic in front of an 601 Red box) Every year, there are a few cigars that are some of the most anticipated new releases for the year. In 2011, there is little doubt that EO Brands’ 601 La Bomba falls into that category. For the past few months, I’ve been following this cigar […]
Swag Limitado 99 Pre-Release In my motto – “it’s all about the cigars – the smoke, the craft, and the people”, it really is the people that make the cigar industry the best industry in the world. Over the past few months, I’ve gotten to meet some great people. Fabian Barrantes, Director/VP of Marketing of […]
One reason why I have opted for a “Pre-Review” as opposed to a full review is because there are times I am missing information to do a detailed assessment. My detailed assessments include I liked the cigar or not, but it also includes information about the blend and the vitolas available for the cigar. The […]
