A big thank you to Sam Morales of Drew Estate (you may know him as @drewestatedata on social media) for sending me this event exclusive Kentucky Fire Cured Yard Bird. It made its first appearance at the second annual Kentucky Barn Smoker in the Hopkinsville, KY on October 3rd. It then made its first appearance […]
Balmoral Añejo XO & Westvleteren 12 Pairing
Drew Estate put Ben and I to work after our tour of the Royal Agio facility. Our job? To smoke a Balmoral Añejo XO while at the same time drinking one of the most sought after beers in the world, Trappist Westvleteren 12. It was tough work, but someone had to do it. Find out […]
InterTabac 2015 and Royal Agio Trip Recap
Last Thursday Logan and Seth from Cigar Federation invited Ben and I to join them in a special recap show on Google Hangout. In it we discuss the Royal Agio trip to Europe, covering a tour of La Trappe Trappist brewery, Royal Agio and InterTabac 2015. Light one up, open a chilled drink (I’d recommend […]
72 Minutes with Pete Johnson
Royal Agio Factory Tour
As indicated in last week’s video exploration of InterTabac 2015, Ben and I spent some time Dortmund, Germany. But that was actually the second leg of the journey. The first leg we spent in Belgium, and the highlight of that portion of the trip was our tour of the Royal Agio factory in Westerlo. You’ve […]
Exploring InterTabac 2015
Thanks to the generousity of Royal Agio Cigars and Drew Estate, Ben Lee and I had the opportunity to attend InterTabac 2015 last week. InterTabac posed an interesting challenge for us in terms of coverage for Stogie Review. It’s bigger than IPCPR spread out over five convention center halls. (Yes, five.) It has a greater […]
Quesada Oktoberfest 2015 Bavarian (First Impressions)
I’m back this week with a first impressions video featuring the Quesada Oktoberfest 2015 Bavarian and I paired it with Samuel Adams Oktoberfest. A similar combination served me well in the past and since I’ve been doing a liquid tour of Oktoberfest offerings anyway, it just made sense. Of course, with the passing of time, […]
Camacho American Barrel Aged Toro
This week I decided to check out a cigar I think every bourbon fan will find interesting, the Camacho American Barrel Aged Toro. As the name implies, a portion of the tobacco in the blend (the corojo) spent some time in bourbon barrels- 5 months to be exact. And that’s after it spent 6 previous […]
Heritage by Dunhill Robusto
In this trim, athletic video cigar review, I take a look at Dunhill’s first foray into the full-bodied cigar since they stopped making cigars in Cuba. I haven’t smoked a lot of Dunhills, but have had enough to know that this cigar is a significant departure for them. For the complete story, click the play […]
East India Company Classic Cigar Havana Blend Robusto
It doesn’t matter how often it happens, getting cigars in the mail is always a source of happiness, especially when it’s unexpected. Back in December, the people at Gurkha sent me just such a surprise- the East India Company Classic Cigar Havana Blend Robusto. The name’s quite a mouthful, and the band is equally large, […]