Crossfire’s Platinum Gordo Is Still Firing
I first came across Crossfire Cigars at the 2013 IPCPR and I was happy to see them again in 2014. They remain a cigar importer headquartered in Louisville, KY that selects its own blends of filler, binder and wrapper and has everything about the cigars made in the Dominican Republic, right down to the bands and boxes. The intent is to improve the employment and quality of life in the Dominican...
90 Miles From an Infamous Island Country
The Gonzalez family, owners of Flor de Gonzalez Cigars, fled Cuba in 1980 and set up a cigar making operation in Florida. In the late 1990’s they moved the business to Nicaragua and then eventually they bought their own tobacco fields in Ecuador. Presently they have about 8 brands, including “90 Miles” – the distance from Key West Florida to Cuba. I met with Flor de Gonzalez at the 2013...
Gigante is the Correct Name for this Cigar.
The IPCPR is the most important annual event for tobacconists, an ideal time to launch a new product to industry representatives. Corporation Cigar Export (CCE) used the 2013 event to launch their new Dominican Puro, Don Julio Punta Espada (sword point). All of the tobacco used in this brand is grown in the Reyes family’s fields in the Cibao Valley of the Dominican Republic and they named the...
Mighty Mighty’s Little Brother
J.C. Newman Cigars is the only operating cigar manufacturer left in Tampa’s Cigar City and has been there since before the Dodgers left Brooklyn. One of their brands – Brick House – had a 6.25 X 60 maduro released in 2012 that turned out to be quite successful. In fact, I frequently enjoy this large ring gauge cigar. Demand for a smaller Maduro stick lead Newman to issue in 2013 a robusto...
Azan Has Value Again With The Burgundy Robusto
Roberto Pelayo Duran has enjoyed a long career in the cigar industry, partly in production and partly with the distribution organization of Cubatabaco, the Cuban state tobacco company. This distribution organization, Habanos S.A. formed in 1994, controls the promotion, distribution, and export of Cuban cigars and other tobacco products worldwide for Cubatabaco. Roberto’s brand, Azan, has...
A Robusto Gem From The Torano Family Vault
Tobacco blenders spend a tremendous of time testing various blends, only a select few of which ever make it to market, so it makes sense that all of the details and results of the testing are saved (in a vault?) for future consideration. Torano first launched a “Vault” cigar, the A-008, in 2011 and it was fairly successful. The A-008 contained a special ingredient, a legero binder from...
