A “Ruthless” Cigar
The Gurkha brand has been around a long time, often releasing new products under other recently established trade names. In this instance, Gurkha used its East India Trading Company to launch its Rogue brand. Rogues are marketed as medium bodied cigars with Ecuadorian Habano wrappers, an Ecuadorian binder and a filler blend of 3-year aged Ligero’s from Nicaragua, Honduras and Dominican...
La Fortaleza ‘s Cinco 5 Exceeds the Limit.
Rodrigo Cigars is a relatively new boutique cigar maker. I previously reviewed a lancero from Rodrigo Cigars Habano Classico line. Rodrigo has an additional line called La Fortaleza (i.e. “the fortress”). The La Fortaleza line uses a Sumatra Ecuador wrapper and Dominican binder and fillers. Rodrigos’ target for this line is to provide quality, handmade full bodied cigars that also...
Stuck on a Classic Lancero
The lancero vitola is a long and slim cigar measuring 7 x 38. Lancero is Spanish for “lancer”, hence the logic behind the name for this cigar style. Rodrigo Cigars makes a lancero in their Habano Classico line that Rodrigo states follows the best traditions of cigar making. Rodrigo Cigars is known for boutique blends based upon Dominican Republic tobaccos for the binder and filler....
An INCH really is a big deal!
Ernesto Carrillo has a long history with cigars, notably his famous La Gloria Cubano line sold to General Cigars some time ago. In 2009, at the nadir of the great recession Ernesto left General to found EPC Cigar Company along with his son, Ernesto III and daughter, Lissette. During 2012, EPC Cigars launched the INCH series of medium to full bodied cigars with ring sizes of 60, 62 and...
A Quality Gordo Maduro From Erez
Erez Cigars targets their products at the premium segment of the cigar market and uses the internet as its primary sales channel. Their cigars are all hand rolled and sent from the factory direct to the smoker. I met Yaniv Erez at the 2013 IPCPR where he was promoting his brand of Dominican cigars. Yaniv states that the Reyes Family, with over 150 years in the tobacco business, grows the leaf...
Best in Jamaica – Blue Mountain
One of the most sought after products from Jamaica is its Blue Mountain Coffee, world famous for its mild flavor and lack of bitterness. Besides making coffee, these beans are also used as the flavor base for Tia Maria coffee liquor. It is logical then that a Jamaican business man, Marvin Wright, uses the well-known Blue Mountain moniker for his cigars although the sticks are made in Esteli,...
