Mighty Mighty’s Little Brother
J.C. Newman Cigars is the only operating cigar manufacturer left in Tampa’s Cigar City and has been there since before the Dodgers left Brooklyn. One of their brands – Brick House – had a 6.25 X 60 maduro released in 2012 that turned out to be quite successful. In fact, I frequently enjoy this large ring gauge cigar. Demand for a smaller Maduro stick lead Newman to issue in 2013 a robusto...
A Robusto Gem From The Torano Family Vault
Tobacco blenders spend a tremendous of time testing various blends, only a select few of which ever make it to market, so it makes sense that all of the details and results of the testing are saved (in a vault?) for future consideration. Torano first launched a “Vault” cigar, the A-008, in 2011 and it was fairly successful. The A-008 contained a special ingredient, a legero binder from...
Oliva Melanio Maduro
The Oliva family is behind the Oliva Cigar Company which has established itself as a cigar maker that consistently wins awards. The modern Oliva brand was launched in 1995 and endured several rocky periods but the family can trace its tobacco roots back into the late 1880’s in Cuba. The descendants of the founder are still active in the company today. The best known series from Oliva is the...
Don Julio’s Paca.
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 cigar after the leader of third generation of the Reyes family, Don Julio. The current generation is the sixth and represents a...
Invite This Torano Exodus In!
The Cuban Revolution in 1959 lead to decades of emigration, primarily into the US, including the Torano family. To commemorate this life changing event Torano created its well-known Exodus 1959 series of boutique cigars and for 2013 the Exodus 1959 was labeled the Finite. The Finites are Nicaraguan puros and to provide for flavor complexity and balance, tobaccos from 4 different regions of...
A Good Cigar Commemorating the 1980 Boatlift
In 1979- 1980 the Cuban economy entered a severe downturn and through a small series of reactionary events, 10,000 Cubans crammed themselves into the Peruvian Embassy grounds in Havana seeking diplomatic asylum. Castro eventually responded by opening the port of Mariel to anyone wishing to leave the country who also could get a ride. 125,000 people left Cuba for Miami in the 6 months the...
