Little Costa Rica Makes a Big Minnesota Fats Puro Cigar
We know Costa Rica as a beautiful country that is nice to visit and a number of Americans retire there each year for the favorable weather and economic conditions. While small in population (4.6 million) and economic size, Costa Rica has a thriving tobacco industry. In 2010 Don’Juan Gross arranged with Tobaccos De La Cordillera to use their tobaccos, grown organically and without pesticides,...
The Conde of Kings Cigars
I missed Kings Cigars at their 2013 IPCPR launching but fortunately I found them at the 2014 show. Kings has a factory in Estelí, Nicaragua and Santiago, Dominican Republic where the goal is to provide a “taste of royalty” in the blends it creates. I met with Pete Tyndale, King’s master blender, at the IPCPR and he convinced me that they are serious about making quality cigars. I...
A Gurkha Rogue Tried To Bamboozle Me
Gurkha’s East India Trading Company has several established brands but I have smoked the Rogue brand before, whose label is a skull with crossed swords. This unsavory image is matched by the brand name as a rogue is a “dishonest man”. And the cigar I am reviewing is the Bamboozle – which means to fool or cheat. This upholds Gurkha’s reputation for catchy styling and marketing –...
Crossfire’s Platinum Gordo Is Still Firing
I first came across Crossfire Cigars at the 2013 IPCPR and I was happy to see them again in 2014. They remain a cigar importer headquartered in Louisville, KY that selects its own blends of filler, binder and wrapper and has everything about the cigars made in the Dominican Republic, right down to the bands and boxes. The intent is to improve the employment and quality of life in the Dominican...
90 Miles From an Infamous Island Country
The Gonzalez family, owners of Flor de Gonzalez Cigars, fled Cuba in 1980 and set up a cigar making operation in Florida. In the late 1990’s they moved the business to Nicaragua and then eventually they bought their own tobacco fields in Ecuador. Presently they have about 8 brands, including “90 Miles” – the distance from Key West Florida to Cuba. I met with Flor de Gonzalez at the 2013...
Gigante is the Correct Name for this Cigar.
The IPCPR is the most important annual event for tobacconists, an ideal time to launch a new product to industry representatives. Corporation Cigar Export (CCE) used the 2013 event to launch their new Dominican Puro, Don Julio Punta Espada (sword point). All of the tobacco used in this brand is grown in the Reyes family’s fields in the Cibao Valley of the Dominican Republic and they named the...
