Back in 2017, Foundation Cigar Company quietly added an event-only cigar known as the Menelik. After two years, owner Nicholas Melillo made a decision to bring Menelik in as a limited production line, and the cigar was showcased at the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show. Production for the cigar comes out of the Tabacos Valle de […]
Cigar Review: AVO Improvisation LE20
William Cooper Reviews No Comments 85-87, AVO, Davidoff, Review, Try a Sample
Earlier this year, AVO Cigars announced its plans for 2020. Included in those plans was the brand’s signature limited edition cigar, the AVO Improvisation LE20. The year 2020 is a significant milestone for the AVO Cigars brand. It marks 20 consecutive years, dating back to 2001, that AVO has released a limited edition cigar – […]
Cigar Review: Fratello The Texan
William Cooper Reviews 1 Comment 85-87, Fratello Cigars, Review, Try a Sample
In 2019, Fratello Cigars announced a release known as “The Texan.” As indicated by the name, The Texan is a regional release that was done for the State of Texas – a region that has been successful for Fratello Cigars. This was not the first regional release for Fratello Cigars as late in 2018, Fratello […]
Cigar Review: Punch Chop Suey
William Cooper Reviews No Comments 85-87, General, Punch, Review, Try a Sample
In terms of limited edition cigars, one trend that has become quite popular is one themed around the Chinese New Year. Over the years companies such as Davidoff, Drew Estate, Maya Selva, and Tabacalera SLU (VegaFina) have all released cigars with a theme. In 2019, General Cigar Company came out with its version. The cigar […]
Cigar Review: Davidoff Exclusive Macau (2018 Vault Release)
William Cooper Reviews 1 Comment 88-90, Davidoff, Review, Try a Sample
In 2018, Davidoff introduced a program known as the Davidoff Vault Series. The idea behind this series was to rerelease rare and collectible cigars form the company’s history. These cigars include re-releases of limited editions, regional releases, and private blends. The Vault Series cigars have been released in small batches with allocations split between […]
Cigar Review: Timeless 2019 Limited Edition
William Cooper Reviews No Comments 88-90, Nat Sherman, Review, Try a Sample
In 2019, Nat Sherman International would bring three limited edition cigars to market. One cigar was an offering made available to the Tobacconist Association of America (TAA) under the Timeless brand. There also were two other limited edition cigars that were introduced to the national market – one under the Epoca brand and the other […]
Cigar Review: H. Upmann Herman’s Batch Toro
William Cooper Reviews No Comments 88-90, Altadis, H. Upmann, Review, Tabacalera USA, Try a Sample
If one looks at the most active brands in the Altadis U.S.A. portfolio, it’s the H. Upmann brand that stands out. The brand was founded in 1844 by Hermann Upmann and in 2019, the brand commemorated its 175th anniversary. Since a 175th anniversary doesn’t come around all that often, there were several releases that hit […]
Cigar Review: La Unica No. 400 Natural by J.C. Newman Cigar Company
William Cooper Reviews No Comments 85-87, JC Newman, La Unica, Review, Try a Sample
La Unica is a value-priced brand in the J.C. Newman Cigar Company portfolio produced at Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia. Over the years, the Fuente and Newman families have forged a strong partnership. The Fuentes handle production for many of the J.C Newman brands while J.C. Newman handles the U.S. distribution for the Arturo Fuente […]
Cigar Review: Tatuaje – The Tiff
William Cooper Reviews No Comments 85-87, Review, Tatuaje, Try a Sample
When Tatuaje – The Bride was released in 2018, it became the 13th blend released in the Monsters Series. At that time Pete Johnson pretty much had said 13 blends would be the limit. Of the 13 blends, 11 of the 13 had been released in the full-sized Monster format for Halloween. The two […]
Agile Cigar Review: CAO Amazon Anaconda
William Cooper Agile Cigar Reviews, Reviews 1 Comment 85-87, Agile Cigar Review, Assessment Update, CAO, General, Try a Sample
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 re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we […]