November 20, 2009 by sprenj01
I was browsing my cigar news and I saw some cool news on cigarcyclopedia.com which is great for all of you Kelner fans out there:
Zino Embassy Selection:
[Dominican Republic: available in 1 size]
Announced on November 12, the fourth in the Dominican-made Zino series is offered only in a 6-inch by 53-ring perfecto formally known as the “Zino Embassy Selection Limited Edition Perfecto.”
It has an elegant black-and-gold double band, with a medium-to-full body and a slightly sweet aroma. Deeper in flavor than the energetic Zino Classic blend, the balance of caramel on the tongue and spice on the throat is gently maintained through most of the cigar, but with a preponderance of spice in the second half.
This consistency of balance is engaging and satisfying, and impressive in the perfecto format. Just as nice is the accessible pricing of $9.80 per cigar, not including local taxes. The Embassy Selection is offered only in boxes of 10.
Posted in Cigar News & Notes, New Releases | Tagged Davidoff, Henrik Kelner, Zino, Zino Embassy Selection | 1 Comment »
November 16, 2009 by sprenj01
I got a cool invite from the folks at Partagas (General):
As a fellow cigar lover, we thought you’d like to hear about a bold, limited edition Partagas blend over 160 years in the making: The Benji Menendez Partagas Master Series Majestuoso. The industry is already buzzing with praise for this limited edition Partagas so we’re throwing a party.
We’ve created a small, 5,000 box run of this new cigar, and we’d like you to be among the first to experience it. Join us for a drink as we celebrate Benji Menendez, fine tobacco and a few of your lucky readers on a night that promises to be as provocative as the Majestuoso itself.
The Benji Menendez Social will take place for one night only in each of five cities. You and 50 of your readers can RSVP for each event by entering one of your city-specific passwords at BenjiMenendezSocial.com.
In the spirit of rolling out the red carpet, they will be greeted by a personalized ZenCigar landing page.
City Time Password
Dallas, TX Nov. 17, 2009, from 6-8 pm 660CE44
Los Angeles, CA Dec. 1, 2009, from 6-8 pm 5EEAC15
Las Vegas, NV Dec. 3, 2009, from 6-8 pm CC90420
Chicago, IL Dec. 8, 2009, from 6-8:30 pm 80B28DD
New York, NY Dec. 15, 2009, from 6-8 pm 7C390AB
Photo and video footage will be collected throughout the night, all of which will be available for later use. Our online coverage of the Social is sure to create conversation.
A Partagas event of this caliber is almost as rare as the Majestuoso itself. These passwords ensure that the exclusivity of the event is preserved; share wisely. The secret location will be revealed exactly 36 hours before the event.
Unfortunately I will be unable to attend these events, but I would love if some of you readers did!
Posted in Cigar News & Notes, New Releases | Tagged Partagas, Partagas Benji Menendez, Partagas Master Series Majestuoso | 4 Comments »
November 13, 2009 by sprenj01
Rakesh “Rocky” Patel has been in the business for a short time, but has worked hard to produce one of the most popular cigars on the market, The Edge, and a list of other popular lines.
He initially made his mark in the cigar biz with his Indian Tabac line. It proved to be a difficult road to travel, and with disinterest from the consumer and the royalties required from Indian Motorcycles, Rocky was in trouble. Then he discovered the world or online retail. Rocky began to sell his Indian Tabac lines through big internet giants like Cigars International, and they started to sell.
By this time Rocky was ready to make his own cigar, and with that came the RP Vintage lines. Things really exploded for Rocky Patel who made hit after hit cigar. His biggest success was the RP Edge a then unbanded cigar sold in 500 count boxes recommended for the most experienced smoker. These high octane cigars were inexpensive… and quite good.
Rocky has also remained loyal to his saving grace, the internet. Rocky Patel has made many exclusive lines and brands for quite a handful of online retailers (almost as many as Gurkha).
Recently Rocky’s rep had been tarnished a bit by some sub-par releases and consistency issues with the Edge (they’ve never been the same since the 1st release).
So Rocky has gone back to the drawing board and with the success of “small batch” cigars has made Seasonal Blends and other limited editions like his RP Decade and ITC 10th Anniversary cigars (notice the letters ITC, not Indian Tabac, that way no royalties need be paid to Indian Motorcycles – smart!).
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Posted in Cigar Reviews | Tagged Esteban Carreras, Indian Tabac, ITC 10th Anniversary, Nicarao, Nording, Patel Brothers, Rocky Patel, Rocky Patel 1961, Rocky Patel Autumn Selection, Rocky Patel Decade, Rocky Patel Fusion, Rocky Patel Java, Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve, Rocky Patel Renaissance, Rocky patel Spring Selection, Rocky Patel Summer Selection, Rocky Patel Sun Grown, Rocky Patel The Edge, Rocky Patel Vintage 1990, Rocky Patel Vintage 1992, Rocky Patel Vintage 1999, Rocky Petel Winter Selection, Vigilante cigar | 5 Comments »
November 10, 2009 by sprenj01
Size: 5″ x 60
Vitola: Robusto
Wrapper: Maduro
Origin: Honduras
Age: 3 months
The Di Fazio Maduro is a medium bodied chocolatey offering from this small boutique outfit from Miami.
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Posted in Cigar Reviews, Other Brands | Tagged Di Fazio | 3 Comments »
November 4, 2009 by sprenj01
Size: 5″ x 60
Vitola: Robusto
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Origin: Honduras
Age: 3 months
The Di Fazio Connecticut is the mild offering from this small boutique outfit from Miami.
This super big ring gauge cigar took a while to light due to it’s girth, but it gave me time to admire the gorgeous Connecticut shade wrapper. A flawless satiny leaf!
Once lit, this cigar gives off tons of smoke, with a nice woody creaminess, with a little tea on the finish.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Cigar Reviews, Other Brands | Tagged Di Fazio | 2 Comments »
November 2, 2009 by sprenj01
Di Fazio Cigars is a new boutique to the biz. Established in 2008, the Di Fazio family has set a goal to deliver a fine super premium to the cigar aficionado.
Using a combination of tobacco from the DR, Nicaragua and Honduras, the Di Fazio family wants to blend the perfect cigars for every occasion. They currently have three offerings: the mild and creamy Connecticut, the rich and sweet Maduro and the complex Picoso.
Here’s a write-up from Cigar Aficionado:
Carmelo Di Fazio, a 41-year-old Miami television executive with a lifelong love of fine cigars, has entered the cigar business. Born in Venezuela of Italian descent, Di Fazio is a self-described dreamer who loves to smoke cigars. He created his company, Di Fazio Cigars Corp., last year.Di Fazio cigars are rolled at the up-and-coming Fabrica de Tabacos Raices Cubanas S. de R.L. factory in Honduras, the boutique operation that also makes Illusione and Alec Bradley Tempus cigars, among others. They come in three varieties—Connecticut, Maduro and the intriguingly named Picoso.
The Connecticut blend has a Connecticut-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador, with Indonesian binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan filler. The maduro has a Nicaraguan wrapper, Honduran binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan filler. The Picoso, which takes its name from the Spanish for “spicy,” is the boldest blend, and is a Honduran puro.
Di Fazio Connecticut – this smooth, but flavorful cigar is offered in 4 sizes with a flawless Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper.
Di Fazio Maduro – the rustic and flavorful maduro wrapper comes in three sizes.
Di Fazio Picoso – Spanish for “spicy”, this oddly named line is a Honduran puro and comes in 4 sizes with a rosado hued Honduran wrapper.
If you seen one in your local B&M, pick one up and give it a try, the Di Fazio family has assembled a marca for every palate!
Posted in Other | Tagged Di Fazio, Di Fazio Picoso | Leave a Comment »
November 2, 2009 by sprenj01
Size: 7 5/8″ x 49
Vitola: Double Corona
Wrapper: a frighteningly toothy Connecticut Broadleaf
Origin: Nicaragua
Age: just arose from its coffin
The Frank. You may have heard of it. The Frank (short for Frankenstein’s monster of course) is 1st of a hopefully long line of Monster Series cigars released by Pete Johnson of Tatuaje fame for Halloween. Thirteen evil cigars are stuffed into a blood-splattered coffin and were distributed to only 13 ghoulish retailers randomly selected from a drawing, 666 terrifying boxes total. Empire Cigars was lucky enough to be one of the thirteen stores selected to carry the Frank.
The Frank is adorned with an eerie green band that separates it from all of the other Tatuaje lines. The Frank is slightly box-pressed (very Frankenstein-y) and is long and big. Pete has revealed (at Brothers of the Leaf) that the Frank is actually a Tatuaje Taino with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.
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Posted in Cigar Reviews, Don Pepin, Limited Editions, Tatuaje | Tagged Don Pepin Garcia, Pete Johnson, Tatuaje, Tatuaje Monster Series, Tatuaje The Frank | Leave a Comment »
October 30, 2009 by sprenj01
Size: 6 3/4” x 52
Vitola: one bloody sharp Torpedo
Wrapper: a spooky Habano Maduro
Origin: Transylvania via Nicaragua
Age: Centuries, but pulled right outta the coffin!
The most sought out cigar for the Halloween season has risen from it’s coffin and come to terrorize the neighborhood! The Drac, the second in the Tatuaje Monster Series, is a dangerous looking torpedo with an upside down band at the foot – which when flipped over to read the band, the cigar looks like a fang!
As I mentioned this is another limited cigar, with a few more available than last year’s Frank. There are 1300 coffin’s available of 13 cigars each. But these are really hard to find.
As I hold this cigar, I get an ominous feeling that this cigar is going to have a lot of bite!
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Posted in Cigar Reviews, Don Pepin, Limited Editions, Tatuaje | Tagged Don Pepin Garcia, Pete Johnson, Tatuaje, Tatuaje Monster Series, The Drac | Leave a Comment »
October 27, 2009 by sprenj01
Size: 7” x 49
Vitola: Churchill
Wrapper: Rosado Ecuadorian Sumatra
Origin: Nicaragua
Age: 2 months
This is a pretty popular cigar right now, it’s also pretty hard to find. This is the first of the Monster “Out-of-Costume” Series from marketing mastermind Pete Johnson of Tatuaje cigars (Havana Cellars). The “Out-of-Costume” (OOC) series concept is to take the last year’s Monster Series cigar, put it in new packaging, sans coffin-shaped box, a name it as the actor who famously played the Monster. So, since last year’s Monster was The Frank (after Frankenstein’s Monster), the first OOC will be called Boris – after Boris Karloff. The Boris cigar is slightly shorter than The Frank, and has a different wrapper. The Frank had a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper; the Boris has an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. Of course these are super-duper limited; only 1000 boxes of 10 were made.
As an aside, I’d like to point out what my local owner did with the Monster Series this year. Instead of selling boxes of Boris and Dracs to whom ever showed up first, he broke them up into little samplers, giving many more people an opportunity to try a cool limited cigar. Nice job, Hal!
So due to their limited availability, I could have squirreled it away only to peak at it and giggle with glee, but instead I just smoked it. It is a cigar after all (plus I have a few more).
Continue Reading »
Posted in Cigar Reviews, Don Pepin, Limited Editions, Tatuaje | Tagged Boris cigar, Pete Johnson, Tatuaje, Tatuaje Boris, Tatuaje Monster Out of Costume Series, Tatuaje Monster Series | 4 Comments »
October 23, 2009 by sprenj01
Size: 6” x 52
Vitola: Toro
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Origin: Honduras
This review is for a special cigar and good cause. Cigar Rights of America is a great organization that helps give voice to the cigar smoker in Washington. One of the ways that the CRA has raised money is through a sampler of cigars donated by the industry’s leaders such as General, Ashton, La Flor, Davidoff, Don Pepin, etc. Sign up, become a member and order your sampler here. The cigar that General has donated is a special edition Punch that was made in Honduras and features tobacco from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Here’s more about it from CRA:
Punch cigars continue to enjoy critical acclaim and a devoted following among tenured smokers. As an exclusive offering to the CRA, General Cigar developed a unique blend if this celebrated brand. Featuring spicy blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican tobacco, punctuated by a Nicaraguan binder and enveloped in a brawny Nicaraguan wrapper, Punch CRA cigars are handcrafted in Honduras.Debo Mukherjee, Vice President of Marketing for General Cigar commented, “It is with great pleasure that we have donated 5,000 handcrafted Punch cigars to continue our support of CRA. As a Founding Sponsor, we continue to stand behind the organization and its ongoing effort to protect the rights of premium cigar smokers.”
This was the first cigar I choose to smoke and review from the sampler because I thought it would be the least impressive, and I’ve never been a huge fan of General. Was I wrong?
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Posted in Cigar Reviews, General Cigar Co., Limited Editions | Tagged Cigar Rights of America, CRA, General Cigar Co., Punch | 2 Comments »
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