In my First Impressions Review of the Casa Gomez Maduro, I made mention that Brian, Jerry, and I paid a visit to Loren Gomez, Benny Gomez, and Brad Mayo during IPCPR. While there we collected the Jameson Cigar Company contribution to the Twitter Brothers of the Leaf Cocktail Hour Press Kit. Having smoked the Declaration […]
Satori (First Impressions)
Before the IPCPR Trade Show officially opened, Jerry and I were fortunate enough to get inside and take a look around before things got busy. One of the stops we made was at the Viaje Booth to see what was new and exciting. Behind a glass display counter rested the Satori line. Later, after the […]
Cortez (First Impressions)
During the Twitter Brothers of the Leaf Cocktail Hour, I had the opportunity to talk to some friends and meet a variety of new people. While making the rounds to distribute product, I was handed two cigars and a business card. While I don’t recall who handed me the sticks, which I apologize for, I […]
Viaje Fifty Fifty Red Label
Released at the 2010 IPCPR in New Orleans the Viaje Fifty Fifty Red Label is the sophomore release by Andre Farkas and his Fifty Fifty series. During the 2009 IPCPR Andre released the first edition of the Fifty Fifty with the Black Label. The Fifty Fifty concept is in a nut shell two blends within […]
Casa Gomez Maduro (First Impressions)
During my first IPCPR Convention, 2008 in Las Vegas, I had the pleasure of meeting Benny Gomez, Loren Gomez, and Brad Mayo. That year, and each year after, the guys have all shared a booth at the trade show and we make a point to stop in and say hello. This year we took a […]
Velvet Cigars: The Bowery – robusto
Origin : Nicaragua Wrapper : Ecuadorian Habano Binder : Nicaraguan Filler : Nicaraguan and Honduran Source : gifted from Velvet Cigars for this review Welcome back for another installment of Mike’s Cigars. Today I have for you, The Bowery from Velvet Cigar. I am smoking the robusto size which I was sent directly by Velvet […]
Brian’s The Week in Smoke
Due to some positive response to my recent coverage of the new cigars at IPCPR 2010, and some encouragement to smoke through the rest of them, I bringing you something I’m calling “The Week in Smoke.” Like the preceding article, this covers many (though not necessarily all) of the cigars I’ve smoked in the past […]
Toraño Single Region (First Impressions)
Back in July we got word that Torano was taking back control of its distribution. In addition to the in-house sales staff and rebranding, Torano came out swinging with the announcement of three new lines to be introduced at IPCPR. Of those new lines, the most interesting to me was the Single Region – Serie […]
Nording by Rocky Patel
Where does the time go? Have we really be reviewing cigars that long? Way back in March 2007 I originally reviewed the Nording by Rocky Patel. Lets face it, things have changed since 2007. Presidents, SCHIP, smoking bans, the band on the Nording and of course my palate. I gave the Nording a glowing review […]
AVO Heritage (First Impressions)
Back in July, Mike got his hands on a Pre-Release AVO Heritage for review. Shortly after that review I started hearing a little buzz about the upcoming release. During IPCPR I spoke to several people that were head-over-heals in love with this latest creation from AVO. It wasn’t until after I arrived back home that […]