We get started on our 2017 IPCPR tour of General Cigar’s offering with Steve Abbot, Brand Manager for Macanudo. He tells us about the new Macanudo Inspirado Black and Inspirado White, which follow after the Inspirado Orange with was launched in Europe back in 2015, and then last year in the U.S. The Orange is […]
CAO Amazon Fuma Em Corda Robusto
CAO released a cigar called the Amazon Basin in 2014 to much fanfare. I was never able to get my hands on one, though and, to be honest, I thought it was a gimmicky cigar. Fast forward to 2016 and I was able to get my hands on the 2016 release of the cigar at […]
Cohiba Blue Robusto
This week I lit up the latest addition to the Cohiba brand, the more accessibly priced Cohiba Blue. When Ben and I were down in the Dominican Republic touring the General Cigar facilities we got to see the boxes being painted in the factory. The process was fascinating to watch and I’ve been looking forward […]
Partagas Ramon y Ramon Maxim Grande
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Hoyo La Amistad Robusto
This July at IPCPR 2016, Brian and I were taken around the General Cigar Company’s booth by Victoria McKee-Jaworski, director of public relations for General Cigar Company, who showed us their new offerings. Several things caught our eye, but none more than the newest offering by Hoyo de Monterrey, La Amistad, which you can watch […]
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 […]
Foundry Cigars Time Flies
One of the most interesting cigar brand displays at IPCPR this year was the Foundry Cigars display in the General Cigar booth where they were debuting the new Foundry Cigars Time Flies. The Time Flies is a collaboration between Foundry Cigars and AJ Fernandez. There are two different versions of this cigar: Time Flies and […]