A couple of months ago I reviewed the Emilio AF1 cigar and was really impressed. This time around, I review the AF2. Emilio is a new brand from Gary Griffith who owns a few cigar shops in Delaware and they are pretty damn good. In my last interview I referred to the brand as the next boutique cigar to work its way into the mainstream and I still believe that to be true today.
According to the company website…
Posted in Cigar Reviews 
Tags: A.J. Fernandez, AF2, AJ Fernandez, Boutique, Cigar Review, Cigar-ette City, Emilio, Gary Griffith, habano, ligero, nicaragua, oscuro, Pennsylvania, robusto 
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A short while back Charlie Minato of The Cigar Feed posted a wish list of sorts, and one of the items was a request reviewers let a cigar sit in their personal humidor for 30 days before they review it. An excellent idea except for one thing, when a new cigar is released the race is on amongst bloggers to get it reviewed in a timely fashion. For the most part it is a friendly competition, as there is a camaraderie among many of the sites we read on a regular basis. But as pointed out by Brian Hewitt of Stogie Review, “[I] have noticed significant changes in mere weeks of rest, especially with new sticks.” So I figured my plan is this, when a new cigar is released I will review one vitola right out of the box, and a different size in about 30 days. While this might create a little repetitiveness in the website it should be more fair to everyone involved from manufacturer to retail shop owner, and the consumer.
Posted in Cigar Reviews Tags: Cain Daytona, Cigar Review, Corona, Jalapa Valley, ligero, Medium Bodied, Oliva, Studio Tobac 7 Comments »
Esquire magazine and Nat Sherman are teaming up to create an exclusive New York City club where they will showcase the new Esquire Home @ Nat Sherman collection of furniture and accessories. What does that mean? Plenty of cigars, whisky and hors (d’oeuvres, that is) – and testing out their cigar-smoking furniture is definitely in order.
Posted in Events & Recaps, News Tags: cigars, esquire, furniture, jack daniels, ligero, limited edition cigars, Nat Sherman, whisky criollo 1 Comment »
Being I sick for over a week my intention is to make it up this week and post a cigar review 5 days in a row this week. Today’s review comes hot off the heels of the press release for the Cain F Lancero. While available only through a Studio Tobac sampler which will be a gift with purchase at upcoming events the Cain F Lancero has reached cult status. This past football year I was in a Fantasy Football League with some well known brothers of the leaf. The league itself was organized by Oliva Sales Rep, Ian Hummel. Well I managed to win the league and the prize was a load of cigars. We each donated 5 cigars each to start the season and 1st and 2nd place won the sticks. Ian managed to throw in a couple of Cain F Lanceros that I used to review the Cain F Lancero. For those interested my football team was: QB-Drew Brees; RB-Darren McFadden, Ahmad Bradshaw, LeGarrette Blount; WR- Marques Colston, Jacoby Ford, Chad Ochocinco;TE-Antonio Gates (replaced with Rob Gronkowski); K-David Akers; DEF- Pittsburgh Steelers. My Bench was Mike Tolbert, Devone Bess, and the Jets Defense.
Posted in Cigar Reviews Tags: Cain F, Cain F Lancero, Cigar Review, Ian Hummel, ligero, Studio Tobac, Studio Tobac Sampler 8 Comments »
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.
People have asked me over and over what I thought was the best new cigar at IPCPR. I reviewed 2 of the top 3 since I got back, but the one that stood out on the floor of the show was the Avo Heritage. Now there are a lot of factors as to why it stood out. Edward Simon the brand manager for Avo was kind enough to take the time to talk to me about the new cigar. I had been walking around for hours and I decided to sit down and enjoy a cigar in its entirety at the lounge they had set up. I smoked, had a drink (water) and listened to some nice Jazz from the musicians they had at the booth. When you factor in all of this the Avo Heritage was the best in show.
Posted in Cigar Reviews Tags: Avo Cigars, Avo Heritage, Avo Uvezian, Companero, DeLaConcha, Edward Simon, full body, IPCPR 2010, ligero, Peruvian Tobacco 11 Comments »I finally got my hands on the Cain cigars from the mind of Sam Leccia gifted to me by the local Oliva representative who is one of the better guys in the business. The Cain is triple fermented and contains 82% ligero. It comes in two forms, the Cain Habano and the Cain Maduro. There [...]
This past week one of the Oliva reps on Twitter hit me with some Oliva sticks. It’s been a while since I since I smoked an Oliva and I forgot how enjoyable they were so I figured I would review the Series V Torpedo. According to the Oliva website the Series V is a complex [...]
The local sales rep for Exclusive Cigars was at a local cigar shop I was patronizing and with the owners permission he gave out a few samples. Even though I am not a fan of another cigar made by Exclusive, the Kristoff line I agreed to keep an open mind when reviewing this cigar.. According [...]
Posted in Cigar Reviews Tags: Cuban Seed, dominican republic, Exclusive Cigars, ligero, Super Toro, Vengeance 2 Comments »I was informed by someone on twitter who I know via the cigar boards that it seems like all the cigars I review score an ’85′ or better. I stated that I tend to only review cigars that I know I like and avoid those I do not like as if it was the plague. [...]
