Casa Cuevas is a cigar brand that I haven’t really had a chance to explore yet, but they have been highly spoken of by some of my cigar media counterparts. I was excited when Casa Cuevas sent me a three pack of the La Mandarria to sample and review for the site. La Mandarris means, […]
Joya de Nicaragua introduces Cinco Décadas El Doctor
Two years ago, when Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua reached its 50th anniversary, it released its most emblematic blend to date: Cinco Décadas, a commemorative cigar conceived as a tribute to all of those that have shaped the company and thus the Nicaraguan cigar industry. Every Cinco Décadas vitola has been named after historic […]
Espinosa Laranja Escuro Lancero
The Espinosa Laranja has been one of my favorite lines from Espinosa Cigars. In April. Espinosa released the Laranja line in Escuro with 3 vitolas, robusto grande, corona gorda and toro, which was well received. For IPCPR 2019, they decided to release a 4th vitola to the line in a lancero. The lancero is being […]
Southern Draw Cedrus Toro
Southern Draw has been exploding on the cigar scene for a while now and has been releasing from very interesting cigar lines. One of their more popular blends in the Cedrus released initially in 2018 at IPCPR. The Cedrus pay homage to the Lebanese Cedar tree that has been used for a few millennia in […]
Balmoral Anejo XO Nicaragua Toro
This year at IPCPR, Balmoral Cigars introduced a new line extension to their Anejo XO line called Nicaragua. This new line uses select tobaccos from Nicaragua for the wrapper and filler. They use a Nicaraguan Habano tobacco for the wrapper and an unknown Nicaraguan tobacco in the filler. You can watch our interviews with President […]
H. Upmann Nicaragua by AJ Fernandez Finca La Lilia 2009
Altadis released the H. Upmann Nicaragua by AJ Fernandez Finca La Lilia 2009 in September of this year as a limited edition extension to the popular H. Upmann Nicaragua by AJ Fernandez line. The tobaccos used are from the first tobacco crop from AJ Fernandez farm, La Lilia, in 2009. The cigar is only available […]
Road Show Interview with Jon Huber of Crowned Heads
In September, I was lucky enough to meet up with our friend, Jon Huber of Crowned Head Cigars, during one of their Roadshow events that happened to be at one of my local shops, Harbor Cigars, in Destin, FL. The event was standing room only with great cigars, great deals, and great food and drinks. […]
Nat Sherman Epoca 2019 Limited Edition
Nat Sherman release two limited editions to their regular line up this year at IPCPR 2019 in Las Vegas. The first one was a Timeless Limited Edition and the Epoca Limited Edition which we are reviewing here. Both cigars were well received at IPCPR and I was able to smoke a few of each one […]
Black Label Trading Company Last Rites Viaticum
Black Label Trading Company is known for their special release cigars that come out annually during different times of the year. One of the most anticipated cigars is the Last Rites. This year, the Last Rites is a little different from the normal yearly Last Rites release. This year, James Brown, owner of Black Label […]
Brian’s The Week In Smoke, Issue 119
It’s time once again for another issue of Brian’s The Week In Smoke. In case this is your first Week in Smoke, be advised that it covers many (though not necessarily all) of the cigars I’ve smoked in the past week (or the past month, or however long it has been since the last issue), […]