In 2017, Southern Draw Cigars would release a line known as Jacobs Ladder. The cigar gets its name from Southern Draw owners Robert and Sharon Holt’s son Ethan Jacob. There were two common denominators with the Jacobs Ladder line – they feature dark wrappers and they are positioned as being the boldest smokes in the […]
One thing I am fascinated about when a new company launches is how its portfolio will evolve. Such is the case with Jochy Blanco’s La Galera Cigars. Blanco launched La Galera in 2016 with two blends, Habano and Connecticut. Since then the company has evolved its portfolio adding a box-pressed, San Andres Maduro, and Connecticut […]
The story of La Palina Cigars is one that is well known. In 2010, William C “Bill” Paley announced he was resurrecting a brand started by his grandfather Samuel Paley back in 1896 known as La Palina Cigars. Samuel owned a very successful cigar company called Congress Cigar Company, but when Samuel retired in 1926, […]
In 2021, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust introduced StillWell Star. This is a brand in the Dunbarton portfolio where each of the blends incorporated pipe tobacco into the filler. For over 30 years, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust owner Steve Saka has also been a pipe smoker. He has admitted that, for over 20 years, he has […]
At Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) 2022, La Aurora Cigars would introduce a new offering known as the La Aurora Especiales. This was the culmination of what La Aurora Cigars has described as a six-year project working with some of its key retail partners. During this project, La Aurora solicited input from about 100 retailers who […]
For its installment into the 2021 Tobacconists Association of America (TAA) Exclusive Series, CLE Cigar Company decided to drop an 11/18 version of its CLE Signature Series THT-EKE 03/17. The THT-EKE 03/17 made its debut at the 2021 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show and its the latest blend to be installed under Christian Eiroa’s […]
In 2017, Tabacalera SLU launched a limited edition cigar called the VegaFina Year of the Dog to pay homage to the Chinese New Year of 2018 (which was the Year of the Dog). Since then this has become an annual limited edition series under the VegaFina brand. Fast forward to late 2021 and VegaFina would […]
Back in 2008, Manuel Quesada teamed up with Nestor Plasencia to release a cigar to be sold under the Quesada Cigars portfolio known as the Casa Magna Colorado. The cigar was met with critical acclaim and commercial success and is widely considered to be one of the most successful collaborations in history. Over the years, […]
If you go back a little over a decade ago, La Gloria Cubana was a brand that was given considerable attention by Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG). During the “Team La Gloria” days, the brand had a lot of innovation. There was a two-segment wrapped cigar, cigars with smokeable bands, and even one meant to resemble […]
In 2018, Fratello Cigars would release its fifth regular production cigar, the Fratello Navetta Inverso. A year earlier, Fratello released its fourth regular production cigar, the Fratello Navetta. The Navetta would incorporate a blend featuring a Ecuadorian wrapper, Dominican binder, and Nicaraguan fillers. For the Navetta Inverso, it would basically incorporate the same tobaccos, but […]
