The original BOTL cigar was a collaboration between the online cigar community, BOTL.org, and Drew Estate. The original release sold out very quickly and was highly sought after on the secondary markets. I can’t remember which year that was, but I was able to get some of the original release as I was a member […]
Padron Black Label No. 89 Natural TAA Exclusive
The Padron Black Label No. 89 TAA is one of the most anticipated releases in recent years for Tobacco Association of America (TAA) and was released in both natural and maduro wrappers. The Padron Black was originally released in very limited quantities for Jose Orlando Padron’s 89th birthday in 2016. They were a huge hit […]
IPCPR 2017: Ashton
We made our way back to the Ashton booth on the third day of IPCPR to talk to Mark Goldacker about the latest in the world of Ashton. The first thing we cover is the new size of the San Cristobal Quintessence, the Corona Gorda. (The original line of four sizes was introduced last year.) […]
IPCPR 2016: Davidoff
In this video Ben Lee talks to Jeff Stone, Davidoff’s brand ambassador about the latest developments in the world of Davidoff as they walk through the booth. They start off with the new Escurio Gran Perfecto, a Robb Report award winning line extension. There is also a new Corona Gorda in the Escurio line. Stone […]
Espinosa Laranja Reserva Corona Gorda
The Laranja Reserva is fairly new cigar from Espinosa Cigars by Erik Espinosa out of his La Zona cigar factory based in Esteli, Nicaragua. The Laranja Reserva uses a special wrapper from the Bahia region of Brazil that has an orange-brown hue which is where the name Laranja comes from as laranja is “orange” in […]
Ben’s Top 10 Cigars of the Year
Every year I try to get my top 10 cigars of the year out before Christmas and every year I never seem to make it. Better late than never I guess. This year, I was thinking how easy it would be to come up with 10 cigars because I was thinking there wasn’t much that came […]
Cabal Corona Gorda
Chris Arolfo founded Cabal Cigars in 2013 after managing the successful The Smoke Ring cigar lounge located in Webster, TX for many years. Chris teamed up with Hendrik Kelner Jr. to come up with the Cabal cigar. After 2 years of development, Chris and Hendrik finally found their perfect blend and released it out of […]
Week In Smoke – Bayou Edition No. 10
Drew Estate Dirty Rat I was looking through a section of my humidor that I haven’t really dug much around in lately and stumbled upon this Dirty Rat. This one was quite “ratty” looking. As you can see in the picture, the wrapper was many shades of brown. Not sure how that happened, but the looks […]
The Box-Worthies: Brian’s Top 10 Cigars of 2014
Now that we’re all safe from 2014, but not completely comfortable writing (or typing) 2015, it’s time for my annual top ten list. As I’ve said numerous times over the past year, it isn’t good enough for a cigar to just be good anymore, it has be to excellent to really make a go of […]
Senorial Corona Gorda No. 5
Jose Blanco, formerly of La Aurora and Joya de Nicaragua, has brought out his own cigar called Senorial. This cigar is the first from his new cigar company, Las Cumbres Tabaco, and was released in June 2014. Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Binder: Esteli, Nicaragua Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano and Dominican Corojo This cigar was extremely well made and the […]