Viva Republica’s Rapture Harasha
Rapture Harasha Jason Holly, a cigar enthusiast and store owner in Northeastern Pennsylvania, took the plunge from cigar retailing to also manufacturing cigars and launched his company, Viva Republica Inc. The first cigar offering from Viva is the Rapture series with sizes ranging from a 4.5 X 50 robusto to a 6 X 58 gordo. Viva uses an Ecuadorian Havana wrapper with a Dominican Corojo binder...
The Southern by Rebellious Cigars
Tobacco has a long and economically important history in our original 13 colonies from before our rebellion from England through to today. The original North American natives were cultivating tobacco before the European settlers arrived. The industry continues to innovate from those early beginnings. A relatively new cigar company, Rebellious Cigars from Greenville South Carolina,...
1502 – Black Gold
Made by Global Premium Cigars, the 1502 line comes in three different blends, each representing a different strength profile. Enrique Sanchez says the company is proudly Nicaraguan. And the cigars reflect the Nicaraguan heritage. The Black Gold is the strongest of the three profiles and is indeed a ‘dinner’ cigar. I first tried the Ruby and Emerald lines last year and recently...
1502 Emerald – A Jewel
It seems like a finny name for a cigar brand, 1502. Yet, when you understand that is the year that Columbus discovered Nicaragua, it all makes sense. Even with the attention getting name, the cigar is little known. And, that’s too bad, because it’s a great cigar. I found these sticks at the show last summer and just got around to smoking one. Hopefully, I’ll have...
Erez Maduro Strikes a Chord
What do you do when you retire at age 34? Yaniv Erez smoked cigars. He didn’t always smoke but a five year stint in the Navy left him with a taste for both good cigars and the camaraderie that accompanies them. But, retirement was boring so rather than just smoke cigars, Erez decided to get into the business. He found that many times guys would sit down to smoke and finish at...
King of the Hill
Recently, I was in Las Vegas. And I won, or rather I din’t lose. I actually never gambled, but rather took a sure thing. I was there for the TPE show which is a minor tobacco show that has a few cigar vendors. Mostly, I spent the few hours that I roamed through the hall chatting with old friends, but I also met some new people. Kings Cigars were there in force. And, they were...
