What was scheduled to be a short day in the Dominican Republic became a bit of a journey for those of us on the 12:20pm flight back home. I was joined by Jerry Cruz, David “Doc” Diaz, and Mario Takeyama for our final breakfast the morning of our journey. For one of us that would not end until the following evening due to flight delays and long lines at customs.
The final full day began like any other, with an early wake up call to enjoy the view of Santiago. As a person who has lived in the City of New York for 42 years, having one of these rare moments to enjoy the some quiet need to be taken advantage of. I took the time to explore the grounds of the hotel with my camera and enjoy a cigar. As I did a sense of sadness came over me, that I was soon going to leave and that the time spent with friends was coming to a close. With split departure times, the first one being at 6am this was the last full day together.
As was with my last trip to Santiago in the Dominican Republic I made sure to get up early each morning and be the first one on the deck. The views were just so incredibly scenic, that it was easy to get lost in the moment and bask in the serenity of the mountaintop resort that we would call home for the next couple of days. I sipped my coffee and looked out into the valley before me, for I feel at home in the Dominican Republic.Despite various levels of wealth and poverty everyone has a smile on their face and it is contagious.
A funny thing happened in the Dominican Republic, you see I may of or may not of gotten married. But more of that on day 3. For now some back story. In 2010, I was lucky enough to be invited with a group of bloggers to visit the La Aurora Cigar factory in the Dominican Republic. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship on both a personal and professional level with some really amazing people. When I was approached by Miami Cigar & Company for some input on the 2011 trip, never did I imagine I would be lucky enough to go back again.
Just before I got sick I was contacted by Abe Flores of Pinar Del Rio asking if I would like to sample his new cigars. Having become a fan last year as the company took a turn for the better I eagerly jumped all over it. In my constant battle with my mailman the first set of samples sent to me never arrived. It seems if the box does not fit in my mailbox the mailman was leaving the box on the floor by the mailboxes instead of bringing them to my door. Well despite this I managed to tip my mailman this year and now the packages are left at my door and nothing has not yet showed up. Thankfully Abe sent out a second shipment and I apologize for the delay in getting these reviewed as having mild pneumonia knocked me down for the count (a saying I do not get, wouldn’t thank make me dead).
My humidor almost always has at least a dozen Davidoff cigars in it at any given time which I guess makes me a cigar snob. I always tell myself I need to visit Michael Herklots at Davidoff in NYC where is he is the General Manager and one of the best cigar peeps around, period. But alas parking around the Madison Avenue location is brutal and 2 hours can cost in excess of $30.00 which on top of cigars makes it an expensive visit. The answer is mass transit, but I am always driving into the city that it never materializes.
Today’s review is a cigar I have smoked over a dozen times but never took the time to review, the Davidoff 2000 Tubos. According to the Davidoff website, “In terms of flavour, the Davidoff 2000 falls between the marked, robust aroma of the cigars in the “Grand Cru” series and the delicate, mild ones of the “Classic” series.” Our thoughts follow…
Posted in Cigar Reviews 
Tags: davidoff, dominican republic, Henke Kelner, Michael Herklots, Mille Series, Series 2000, Tubos 
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When Pinar Del Rio first burst onto the cigar scene a few years ago they weren’t met with a lot of love. The cigars had a cult following but general acceptance among cigar smokers was slow to come, at least in my neck of the woods. Well over the last year or so Abe Flores has slowly taken Pinar Del Rio to the next level. Having run into him at Cigar Expo held by Famous Smoke Shop I remember how happy Abe was about his new products and he gifted me with a few smokes including my first ever culebra.
Fast forward from May to August and again I ran into Abe Flores down in New Orleans in his home shop of Don Leoncio cigars and I fell in love with the 1878 Capa Madura. So a few weeks ago when Abe reached out to me to smoke his new cigars I was all for it. Today is the Natural version and next week we will review the Oscuro.
Posted in Cigar Reviews Tags: Abe Flores, dominican republic, ecuadorian connecticut, New Orleans, Pinar Del Rio, robusto 2 Comments »
The other night I was hanging out at Cigar Inn with some friends when Bas who is one of the store owners broke out a few boxes of the Opus 22 Gift Set. I’ll be honest I was dumbfounded to what this set was so I reached out to my friend Charlie over at The Cigar Feed to get the 411. Well long story short, he filled me in on the Opus 22 Gift set and told me to grab a BBMF Maduro. Sadly someone beat me to that but I did manage to pick up the BBMF Natural.
However, the story doesn’t end there…
Today’s cigar constitutes the final review of 2010. It’s been a great year for cigars and I have been trying to fit about 25 cigars into my Top 15 List which I will publish on December 31st. For my last review of 2010 I picked the La Flor Dominicana Factory Press III. Over the years La Flor Dominicana has fallen on and off the radar for me and with the emergence of the Air Bender into the market LFD has become a staple of my repertoire once again. Also I got to spend some time talking to Litto Gomez and his warmth and charm has made the brand that much more attractive. Perhaps that is a little vein of me, but a person behind the cigar can make or break the company.
I don’t hide the fact that I fell in love with the Dominican Republic thanks to my good friends at Miami Cigar and La Aurora Cigars. The beautiful country side, the warm individuals, good food and fantastic cigars were everything a cigar smoker needed for a vacation.
Well the chance to experience that for everyone is here. Pro Cigar 2011 isn’t until February of next year but registration is here and if you ever wanted to experience a true cigar vacation is here.
So head on over to the Official Pro Cigar Website and join in on the festivities. As of now I plan on being there and I hope to see you in the Dominican Republic!
The other night at our event on the rooftop of Rick’s Cabaret the owner of Fume Cigars gifted me with a few Quesada Tributo cigars for review. The Tributo cigar has been something I have been looking forward to smoking since I heard of its release. A follow up to the Quesada 35th Anniversary the cigar utilizes a special hybrid wrapper which was created using the seeds of the Corojo, Habano 2000, Habano Vuelta Arriba and Sumatra in Ecuador. The cigar itself is a tribute to members of the Quesada family who have passed on. It comes in 4 sizes.
As you can tell from my recaps of day 1, day 2 and day 3 the time spent with La Aurora was a chance of a lifetime that left an impression on me that I will not soon forget. It has taught me that learning about tobacco is a never ending process and while you may all trust my reviews of cigars I still have a lot to learn. I will be taking what I learned to help make this a better website for you to visit. There are certain aspects of the trip that really caught my eye that did not make it into the previous postings so I will leave you with my final thoughts and tomorrow I shall return with a review.
Day 3 started pretty much the same as the day before but thankfully with a later start. Despite a 10:30 meeting point some of us woke up early to take advantage of the breathtaking views at Camp David. I said it before but I shall say it again, the breath taking views and cool morning air were the ideal smoking conditions.
Our plans for the day changed slightly as our original plans of smoking at the beach and ogling the beautiful women of the Dominican Republic had to be altered. With heavy rains predicted Guillermo Leon open up one of his farms to us.
Posted in Trip Review Tags: dominican republic, Guillermo Leon, Jose Blanco, karaoke, La Aurora 1 Comment » The day started for me at 7am despite the late night before. With cigars and breakfast calling it was hard to sleep in with breathtaking views of the Dominican Republic and the cool morning air inviting you to awake from your slumber. As the crew slowly arrived we smoked some cigars and continued some of [...]
