After a lengthy hiatus the Sunday links have returned. First a little self promotion it’s been a pretty active week and I got my 15 minutes of fame. In the latest issue of Cigar Snob I am mentioned in the story about the 107 Lancero. I was then mentioned by David Savona of Cigar Aficionado in his latest online story on big ring cigars.
Without further adieu, The Sunday Links….
Posted in Sunday Links 
Tags: Art Deco, Barclay Rex, Berger & Argenti, carlos torano, EP Carrillo, Reinaldo, tatuaje 
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By now you have seen the advertisements in many cigar magazine for the Warlock cigar. Well when I first got a sample back at IPCPR my local sales rep and personal acquaintance told me that the cigar was the answer from Altadis to all the boutique cigars. I raised my eyebrow when he told me [...]
Back in August at IPCPR I made my way over to the EP Carrillo booth and I got to sit down with him, his son, his daughter, Ron Melendi the Manager of De La Concha in NYC, as well as the local rep Bob Morrison. Well, being I am friendly with Ron and Bob I decided to sit down on the couches as my feet were killing me from the insane amount of walking I was doing up and down the floor of the convention center.
The story really begins the day before when I walked into a restaurant with the guys from Paradigm, the Three Musketeers from Stogie Review, and Skip aka Chief Hava and his friend. We saw Ernesto and family dining and gave a little wave to them but did not go over to interrupt their family time and meal. Well as we were sitting down and enjoying an alligator appetizer the waiter comes over to inform us “Mr. Carrillo would like to buy you a round of drinks” which was had me blown away because after all I am a fan boy to the extreme.
In my mind there are 3 things that should never be discussed in a cigar shop and those are 1) Religion 2) Politics and 3) Another man’s wife. Well I am about to create what some consider a cardinal sin by mixing politics into a Cigar Blog and mention the CRA again. Don’t cringe to hard.
A few months back the Cigar Rights of America announced the Smoke the Vote campaign and stated…
Nat Sherman hosted an evening of live jazz music, cocktails, cigars and hors d’oeuvres catered by celebrity chef Oliver Cheng. The event celebrated the new Guillermo Leon cigars by La Aurora, which brings a complex and medium-to-full bodied experience. Guests tasted traditional Presidente Beer and Rum Zafra Master Reserve 21 year aged while they enjoyed [...]
Posted in Cigar Reviews Tags: Guillermo Leon, La Aurora Cigars, Nat Sherman, nyc, Oliver Cheng, Rum Zafra 1 Comment »
When my cigar journey began it started in a local shop and while it served it’s purpose you are locked into what that shop feels fit to order and many of times that is the industry standard. I first began learning about the boutique cigar companies when I made my way to the cigar boards. On my favorite board which is now defunct I managed to make a bunch of friends some of which i stay in touch with that are local to me. A perfect example is Jitzy who I got together with at a local jaunt for a cigar. As cigar board customs would have it we traded some sticks and one that he gave me was todays review which I will be basing on one stick.
The Viaje Skull and Bones batch 1 was almost impossible to obtain from what I hear and this is version #2. What is the difference between the 2, I couldn’t tell you but I know this small batch production is heavily sought out by collectors and people with an obsession such as myself.
TORAÑO FAMILY CIGARS SUPPORTS THE ANNUAL GALA FOR HOPE BENEFITTING MISSION OF HOPE HAITI
(Miami, FL) October 18, 2010— Toraño Family Cigars was proud to support the annual Gala for Hope at the fabulous Treetop Ballroom at Jungle Island. The Gala for Hope which benefits the Mission of Hope Haiti hosted over 200 guests. The gala featured cocktails, dinner, dancing, and some of the finest cigars in the market courtesy of Toraño Family Cigars. The entertainment was stellar as the son of legendary Tito Puente; the accomplished Tito Puente Jr. was on hand to provide a magnificent show for event goers. Ms. Haiti 2010 Sarodj Bertin who competed in this years Ms. Universe was also on hand for this special evening.
Posted in Press Releases Tags: Haiti, Ms. Haiti, Sarodj Bertin, Tito Puente, Tito Puente Jr., Torano Family Cigars 3 Comments »
I know I have reviewed the La Aurora 107 in multiple sizes in the past but today’s cigar is something special as it was conceived through twitter. Allow me to explain. When I went to the Dominican Republic we got to smoke many 107 cigars at the La Aurora Factory and we got to smoke the Corona sized 107 before they came out and in passing someone asked if the would be a lancero. Well fast forward a couple of months and the movement began in earnest. A group of people on twitter began to ask @guillermoleon_ for a lancero and after some thought he caved in to the demand of the people.
One of the most approachable owners in the cigar business is Guillermo Leon a man I am happy to call a friend in the truest sense of the word has released the La Aurora 107 Lancero in limited quantity. The first batch is 300 boxes and whether or not this becomes a larger release is still up in the air. As a fan of the lancero I hope it becomes larger, but with the explosion of interest in the larger ring gauges one has to wonder if it make sense for a an extended release in this vitola.
Posted in Cigar Reviews Tags: 107 Anniversario, Guillermo Leon, La Aurora Cigars, lancero, Serie 107, Team 107 Lancero, Twitter Cigar 8 Comments »
La Aurora’s Guillermo León line hits The Big Apple
Reception on Thursday and Tastings on Friday
MIAMI FL – Miami Cigar & Company, the exclusive U-S distributor for La Aurora, announces the wait is over for New York City. The new Guillermo León line, which brings a complex and medium-to-full bodied experience into the La Aurora marque, will debut Thursday, October 21st at the Nat Sherman store, 12 E. 42nd St. The kickoff reception will run from 5pm until 9 pm and will feature the Guillermo León cigars along with Hors D’oeuvres, Presidente Beer, Rum Zafra Master Reserve 21 year aged and a live jazz band. La Aurora vice president Guillermo León will be on hand to talk with attendees about his exciting new cigar.
I had like 10 samples of today’s cigar all of which were obtained at IPCPR in New Orleans. I smoked 7 of them pretty fast and really liked this cigar but for some reason they got lost in my humidor and I never got around to reviewing these. Well, long story short I rearranged my humidors yesterday and rotated these to the top and that how we got to the review today.
The La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Obelisco is another cigar from General Cigar that will have retailers less then happy due to packaging. The over-sized half moon box of these cigars look good, but many retailers are starved for shelf space especially after the convention due to the influx of new cigars and orders to take advantage of trade show deals. In face I know one retailer who had the option to get these but refused since he did not have the space. General has been good to me and I hate to be critical but they really need to consider retailers when producing some of their packaging.
Pete Johnson was working in the lab late one night, so our eyes can behold an eerie sight, from the rollers table the monsters began to rise, and suddenly to my surprise I was able to score a box from Tobacco Plaza. So from my effin caddy at the beach, I was able to light one up for review. The question remains though, will this be a Monster mash or a graveyard smash??
For the last 3 years Pete Johnson has released in limited numbers the Monster Series. The first was The Frank, the Second was The Drac and this year The Face which is in reference to Leatherface.
Posted in Cigar Reviews Tags: Halloween, Leatherface, Monster Series, pete johnson, tatuaje, The Face 7 Comments »
Over the last few days I have spoken to my good friend Gary J. Artz about the CRA, Cigar Rights, and everything under the sun about cigar smoking, America and our rights in general. We have also spoken about the things that friends normally chat about. I respect his view on the CRA and I look forward to his next article on The Arzt of Cigars where he tackles the anonymous posting about the CRA that appeard on my site the other day.
Despite our differences on the CRA and a friendly debate on various issues concerning the group we both agree that it is the only game in town and they provide a voice for us when we cannot get an audience.
Posted in Events & Recaps, News, Press Releases Tags: Cigar Rights, CRA, Litto Gomez, NYC Cigar Smoking, NYTA 4 Comments »This past weekend I got to watch the Columbus day Parade which took place in the Bronx, NY. My cigar smoking friends and I made sure to let Bloomberg know how we felt about his bullying of smokers by being lit up and smoking as he passed us. As he was waving twice to the [...]
Back at the trade show I was given samples along with Jerry Cruz from Stogie Review as Bruce Lewis took us around the Torano booth. One of those samples that I loved and reviewed a few weeks ago was the Torano Master. The following week I broke out the samples for today’s review and both of them were plugged. I wasn’t going to mention this on the website because the Torano Family was nice enough to send me more samples. Don’t worry about those samples being plugged because storage and weather at IPCPR New Orleans was less then optimal. I only mention this because I saw a few people mention draw issues from the show samples, and I wanted people to know that the second samples I got were perfect.
Posted in Cigar Reviews Tags: IPCPR, Nicaraguan Puro, Series Jalapa, Single Region, Torano Family Cigars 1 Comment »
Hello, my name is Barry and I am a Tatuaje addict. It doesn’t even stop at cigars, because I love girls with tattoos but that is a story for another time. Yes, I am a self admitted Pete Johnson whore. If Pete produces it I will buy it. It is simple as that. The latest venture into a cigar marketed by Pete Johnson is today’s review. You see my good friend Charlie who runs The Cigar Feed contacted me about this great cigar I had to try so he sent me one and I was crazy about it. So we got to talking on Twitter night and with the help of Big Doug we found someone who still had them in stock. After some discussion John who runs Well Capped, Charlie and myself decided to split the bundle. Normally I would of grabbed one myself but with a lot of other cigar commitments this month I had to go for the split.
When people ask me what I thought the best cigar was at IPCPR I usually answer one of two cigars. One of which is today’s review, the La Aurora Corojo. Sadly though I had no idea this cigar was coming out til I got one at the booth of the trade show. My focus was on the Guilermo Leon Signature and I hope this one does not get lost in the shuffle of my fellow smokers.
The La Aurora Corojo comes in 5 different sizes. The Aurora #4 (5.25 x 43), Belicoso (6.25 x 52), Double Corona (7.5 x 50), Gran Corona (6.5 x 50) and the Robusto (5 x 50). MSRP is $5.60 to 6.80 a cigar before any taxes.
Posted in Cigar Reviews Tags: 90+ Rated, corojo, La Aurora Cigars, Miami Cigar Company, robusto 9 Comments »
interested in going to visit Rocky Patel check out this entry over at the Ron Melendi Blog. As of Wednesday there were 7 slots available and It does not matter where you reside to book this trip.
Also in New York City is a scheduled hearing on the outdoor smoking ban that would ban smoking in pedestrian plazas, beaches, and city owned parks. What bothers me the most about this is that once the plan was first announced there has been no sighting of any of the tobacco groups in the mainstream news other then a debate on the local news channel New York 1.
Posted in News Tags: alec bradley, Drew Estate, Illusionie, new york, Nosotros, old school cigars, rocky patel 2 Comments »
My writers block really began just before the the trade show in New Orleans so when I came back there was so much I wanted to write about but I couldn’t really come up with the words to tell the story. There were a lot of manufacturers who really welcomed me down in New Orleans and I needed to give them a shout out but they got pushed to the back burner as I went through the motions.
One of these people are Dave Lafferty from Drew Estate. Every time I see Dave he goes out of his way to say hello and shoot the shit so to speak. It was no different in New Orleans as he approached me at a local cigar bar to give me a handshake and a pat on the back. He also reached into his shirt pocket and gave me a Flying Pig of the T52 variety. This is a review based on one cigar.
