There are a number of reasons to review the Partagas Ramon y Ramon. To begin with, we haven’t yet. That is generally reason enough. Then there’s the whole regenerated vintage tobacco thing. That’s also interesting. But the real reason I’m lighting up the Ramon y Ramon this week is that I won a box on […]
Brian’s The Week In Smoke, Issue 108
Thanks to some poor lifestyle decisions made by a younger Brian and the present day dental consequences, I haven’t been able to enjoy that many cigars over the past week. So how can you post a new Week in Smoke? Asks the reasonable reader. Easy, is my response, these are all smoking visualization exercises, what […]
General Cigar Factory Tour 2017 Part 2
Now that we’ve explored the farm, and gotten an in-depth look at the long, involved process tobacco goes through on it’s way to becoming a cigar, it’s time for photogenic part of the tour. The part everyone thinks about when they hear “cigar factory tour” – the bunching, rolling and packaging of the finished product. […]
General Cigar Factory Tour 2017 Part 1
After a day spent taking in the farm atmosphere, we picked up on the next leg of the journey for tobacco. After it spends time hanging in the curing barn it’s off to the factory. There’s still a lot in store for the leaves before they are rolled into handmade premium cigar. After a short […]
Camacho Check Six
Camacho Cigars introduced the Check Six at the 2016 IPCPR as an extension to the Brotherhood series of cigars. The Brotherhood is a limited edition line of cigars that is released annually and released in only one size. This years release, Check Six, is named after the phrase for a soldier, marine, airman or sailor to […]
A Trip to the Farm with General Cigar 2017
Just over two weeks ago (it seems like so much longer than that now), Ben and I spent several days touring General Cigar’s facilities in the Dominican Republic. Our first stop was the farm. It makes sense, that’s where it all begins. To kick things off, Régis Broersma, the president of General Cigar officially welcomed […]
Brian’s The Week In Smoke, Issue 106
This time of year can be a lot of fun, but it doesn’t always afford me many opportunities to enjoy a fine cigar. Or a lot of time to write about (or video) the cigars I do get to enjoy. But I did my best to shoehorn in as many as I could. The silver […]
Macanudo Mao
In the cigar community, there is a phenomenon known as Macanudo. The Macanudo brand is one of the best sellers in the country, despite the fact that you probably know few people that smoke them. I suspect that the magic lies in name recognition and branding. Think about it, when a non-smoker wants to celebrate […]
Pier 28 by Espinosa Cigars
While at IPCPR, one cigar that was getting a lot of buzz was the new Pier 28 from Espinosa Cigars. I first heard about the cigar from my friend, Mark Just of Tower Cigars in Sacramento, CA. He gave me a sample of it while we were having lunch at IPCPR. He said he […]
El Compartir Belicoso
A couple of weeks ago one of the guys from Sir Stogies sent me a text message. He was letting me know that Edolara from Cigar Noise was in town and planned on stopping by the shop for an impromptu smoke, if I wanted to join them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get away and […]