Straight From Jamaica
Jamaica is not well known for exporting cigars. This wasn’t always the case. During WW II many cigar makers left Cuba for the British colony of Jamaica as the Brits would not expend currency outside of the “Empire”. Jamaican cigar production took off. At the end of the war the Cubans left Jamaica but the quality cigar making infrastructure remained. The US embargo of Cuba invigorated...
The Big “4 0”
I am a fan of larger cigars with the 6 X 60 my favorite size and mild to medium body my favorite strength. I have also tried and liked 7 X 70’s and after I get a neck brace I will try the new 8 X 80’s, perhaps at the 2014 IPCPR. At the 2013 IPCPR I spent time at the CLE booth eying their 6 X 60’s. CLE turns out to be the initials of Christian Luis Eiora, past ownerof the Camacho brands...
This Julius Caesar is from Tampa.
We have all seen those pictures from the late 1800’s – well-dressed men smoking “fine” cigars wherever they were. Cigars and brandy in the drawing room after dinner was a social tradition. Back then Tampa was the cigar capital of the US. Meanwhile in 1895 in Cleveland, Hungarian immigrant JC Newman was rolling his own brand of cigars for the locals. Then in 1954 he moved the operations...
A Crazy Cigar From Ventura
Ventrua Cigars appears to be new on the cigar scene but the truth is that its parent, Kretek International, has been selling to thousands of cigar stores and tobacco outlets for decades. Kretek’s main product is clove cigarettes and Ventura is their official branching into premium label cigars. You may also know Kretek for their Djeep lighters. The Ventura moniker comes from the name of the...
This Prize fighter is Worth a Bet
Gurkha has a number of well-known brands and often releases new products under other recently established trade names. In this instance, Gurkha used its East India Trading Company to launch its Prize Fighter brand of cigars. The Prize Fighter is targeted as a “budget” medium bodied cigar with a blend of Connecticut shade Ecuadorian wrapper, around an Ecuadorian/Indonesian binder and a 3-year...
La Fortaleza ‘s Cinco 5 Exceeds the Limit.
Rodrigo Cigars is a relatively new boutique cigar maker. I previously reviewed a lancero from Rodrigo Cigars Habano Classico line. Rodrigo has an additional line called La Fortaleza (i.e. “the fortress”). The La Fortaleza line uses a Sumatra Ecuador wrapper and Dominican binder and fillers. Rodrigos’ target for this line is to provide quality, handmade full bodied cigars that also...
