A Bugatti You Can Afford! The Epicure.
Maserati. Bugatti. Lamborghini. Very high end, sexy sports cars that we wish we could afford. But which one is not Italian? Bugatti – it is a French car company founded in 1909 that sells vehicles with price tags that often reach 7 figures. What does one do while driving a million dollar glove fitting Bugatti automobile? Can’t reach the beautiful model sitting in the tight bucket seat next...
Saga Enters the Golden Age with Its New Launch
Corporation Cigar Export (CCE) used the 2014 IPCPR to launch its new Saga series of blends. CCE is operated by the Reyes family where the current fifth and sixth generations maintain their tradition of making high quality cigars. The new blend I was offered to review is called the Golden Age – a Dominican puro designed to be a full bodied cigar “much like the ones they used to smoke in the...
Pancho Villa Cigar is Truly a Shot in the Dark
The annual IPCPR gathering gives very good exposure to new brands and product introductions. At the 2014 IPCPR in Las Vegas, USA Sales inc. had a booth and introduced several new cigars, one of which is a 6.5 X 52 torpedo called Pancho Villa. This cigar has Dominican filler and binder wrapped by Ecuadorian Connecticut tobacco. I was given the Pancho Villa to review. The Pancho was firm, average...
Valentia Fires a Torpedo!
Cigar making traditionally passed within families from generation to generation, often until the business is acquired by a large corporation. Less traditional entry comes from retailers or cigar lovers plunging into cigar making by having an established manufacturer produce a blend for the new operator to market. Valentia has an unusual pedigree – it was created by a weapons accessories...
The Baron of Kings Cigars
Kings Cigars began in 2010 but appears to have released their first cigars to much success at the 2013 IPCPR. They returned to IPCPR in 2014 to release additional blends and sizes. Kings has a factory in Estelí, Nicaragua and Santiago, Dominican Republic. The theme behind the Company’s name is to provide a “taste of royalty” in the blends it creates. I met with Pete Tyndale, King’s...
The Bloodline Needs a Transfusion
Cigar store owners have a good perspective on what is popular, at least in their territory, and a few brave store owners invest in developing their own cigar brand. Micah Johnson owns Cigars Limited in Fresno and in 2013 he introduced his Bloodline O.P.A. series of cigars. Bloodline refers to 3 famous Cuban tobacco families from which Micah drew the seeds for his blend – hence the name...
