Dissident Bloc is Just OK
Boutique cigar operations sometimes drive change in the industry as their innovations can be successful enough to generate copying by the other industry players. Dissident Cigars is a boutique operation that is a bit beyond the fringe in their marketing so I don’t expect any copycatting there. I sampled their Bloc cigar, a 6 ¼ X 52 toro that wraps a Habano Jalapa leaf around a double Jalapa...
Kings Cigars Has an Improved Baron
Kings Cigars began in 2010 but appears to have released their first cigars to much success at the 2013 IPCPR. In the summer of 2014 I reviewed their Baron 5 X 52 robusto and rated it an overall 3.5 out of 5. In 2015 Kings Cigars indicated to me that they adjusted the blend of the Baron and provided me with another sample. The re-blended Baron has the same Connecticut Ecuador wrapper but the...
El Cuje Rebumbio -An Unknown Cigar
It’s rare when I am stumped. While I may not have smoked every cigar that’s out there, I have heard of most of them. This stick was presented to me at last summers IPCPR trade show. And, when I finally extracted it from the humidor just the other day, it presented itself quite well. And, if you know about this cigar, please contact me or post a comment. Regardless of my...
Total Flame Bobber – a Ride on the Dark Side
In 2011 a pair of Russians riding motorcycles through Texas decided to expand their cigar business into the US and Total Flame was born. They launched a number of blends and we reviewed 2 of their cigars in 2013. At the 2014 IPCPR Total Flame gave us a cigar from their Dark Line, a super robusto called Bobber. To motorcyclists, a bobber is a minimalist bike with no front fender, short rear...
Headlines Cigars – A nice obscure smoke
Every once and a while I sort through my humidor. I go looking for sticks that have been put away for later review. In our review policy, we have a somewhat randomness to the order. Unless we are given something by a forend that we judge to be too good or bad, we generally don’t write immediately. Rather, we let the cigars rest gently in our humidor. From time to time we go...
JC Newman’s Pearl of the Sea
Aside from a pretty woman’s neck, the best place to find pearls of the sea is in a bed of oysters. In 2012 JC Newman introduced their Perla del Mar and had them available for the 2013 IPCPR where they gave me one to sample and review. I recently inspected the bottom of my humidor and found the JC Neman Perla biding its time until I selected it. The Perla I had was the “G” , a 6 ¼ X 54...
