Don Lucas Issues a 20th Anniversary Cigar
Twenty years is long enough to establish a track record of success and at the 2014 IPCPR Don Lucas issued a cigar to commemorate its 20th anniversary in the industry. Not surprisingly, it is called the 20th Anniversary, is a limited production cigar and they gave me a 5 ¾ X 54 toro to review. The 20th Anniversary is a Dominican puro with a nice, dark wrapper. It was slightly veiny but not...
A Gold Robusto From Victor Calvo.
I first came across Victor Calvo cigars at the 2014 IPCPR where Victor gave me a 5 X 50 Gold robusto to review. The Gold series uses an Ecuadorian Sun Grown Sumatra Seed wrapper around a United States Connecticut binder and the filler is a blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican ligero, seco and viso. The cigars are made by Tabacalera Tambor de Esteli in Nicaragua. The Gold robusto was an average...
Norteno by Drew Estates
The cigar industry is just like any other industry with companies being bought and sold and executives hopping to different operations. In this case, Willy Herrera had left El Titan de Bronze to become the master blender for Drew Estates. While at Drew, Willy developed and Drew launched the Norteno – at the 2014 IPCPR. Several months after the show, Swisher International purchased Drew...
Joya De Nicaragua’s Antano Dark Corojo is a Real Joy
Joya de Nicaragua started making premium cigars in 1968 and that level of experience is evident in their Antano Dark Corojo Double Fuente. This is one of the few cigars that I believe truly earns the label “oscuro” (blackish or dark). The oscuro wrappers come from the top of the plant where the extra sunlight and time before picking begins to cure the tobacco on the plant. This gives a...
La Aurora Let Out the Untamed Lion.
La Aurora has a large number of successful cigars that were launched with traditional or even conservative labels and marketing. With its 2014 launch of “Untamed”, La Aurora is breaking from its past practices by using a contemporary approach. Untamed is also designed by La Aurora to be the most full bodied cigar they have offered to date. The cigar uses a dark Connecticut broadleaf wrapper...
A Threesome on a Blue Mountain?
Blue Mountian Cigars, Marvin Wright’s Nicaraguan cigar company, sells a stick that looks like 3 different cigars cut into thirds with the cap part of the maduro cigar attached to the middle of a Habano cigar and the foot is from a Connecticut wrapped cigar. Hence the name El Threesome – for 3 wrappers around 3 blends, all separate but in the same cigar. Unusual approach and unusual...
