Sosa Underground Delphic
The Sosa Underground is a new cigar that is part of the new wave of edgy/urban cigar lines that seem to be so popular as of late. Overseen by Arby Sosa, Sosa’s Sales Manager, at the Sosa cigar factory in Little Havana, FL, this cigar has many difference that set it apart from the other brands. The Sosa family reached out to a famous Miami tattoo artist, Jay Barranco, to come up with the Undergrown logo.
This cigar comes in three very different sizes:
Arcane (perfecto) 4 ¾ x 41
Delphic (perfecto) 5 ½ x 41
Dar (robusto) 5 x 50
Using a Habano wrapper from Nicaragua with a binder and filler also from Nicaragua, the cigar did have a nice spice note. That wasn’t all. The cigar show a nice balance of woodiness, nuttiness (is that a word?) with a nice sweetness through out the cigar. The cigar also had a nice buttery mouth feel with the smoke as well make the cigar a joy to smoke. You really can’t beat this cigar for the price.
General Cigar Kicks off Super Bowl Weekend in Indy
General Cigar will be the toast of Indianapolis this weekend, with sampling events that are on par with the Big Game itself. In fact, two of the three events that General Cigar is participating in have been named to BleacherReport.com’s highly-publicized ranking of the “10 Best Parties of Super Bowl Week.”
According to Alan Willner, General Cigar’s vice president of marketing said, “General Cigar has long been known for associating our brands with high profile events that elevate the cigar smoking occasion. This year, we’ll once again be at the best parties leading up to the ‘Big Game’ to bring the ultimate cigar smoking experience to A-list athletes, celebrities and football enthusiasts.”
Last night’s Jaws Cigar Party was hosted by none other than Ron Jaworski at Nicky Blaine’s cigar bar in downtown Indy. This fundraiser benefitted Ron’s pet charities — Jaws Youth Playbook Foundation and Gleaners Food Bank’s BackSack program.
An array of General Cigar favorites, including La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale, CAO OSA Sol and Macanudo Cru Royale, as well as Macanudo Vintage 1997 Maduro were available for Ron’s guests which included his ESPN boothmates. We’ll provide more details on the event, including photos, next week.
Tonight (Friday, Feb. 3) is the SPP Sports Poker Tournament to be held at the Indianapolis Zoo. General Cigar will be on hand to sample Punch, Grand Puro and Grand Cru cigars to event hosts Devin Hester, LeSean McCoy. Other noteworthy names expected to attend are Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagement) and Quinton Aaron (The Blind Side) and a slew of NFL greats. Stay tuned for more info.
Saturday night is the big Rolling Stone party at the Crane Bay event center. To celebrate Bacardi’s 150th anniversary, General Cigar has teamed up with the premier rum brand and will serve La Gloria Cubana and CAO La Traviata to a roster of A-list guests. Jeff Gordon, Joe Jonas, Marc Anthony, Nikki Reed and Andy Roddick are all expected to attend.
Outside of Indy, General Cigar is once again participating in Franco Harris’ annual Immaculate Reception. This year’s event will be held in Sin City and will benefit Soldier’s Angels. Franco’s beloved Punch Grand Cru cigars will be on hand for guests to smoke and savor.
** Event recaps and photos will be available following the Big Game.
CAO Debuts New La Traviata Frontmark
CAO La Traviata will introduce the popular “Luminoso” frontmark in a new Maduro version, making its retail debut later this week.
Following in the footsteps of the highly successful Ecuadoran-wrapped CAO La Traviata Luminoso, the new Maduro version features a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper to lend a touch of sweetness to the critically-acclaimed blend.
At 4.5” x 50, the new Rothschild will be available for an SRP of $5.10 per cigar, or $153 for a 30-count box.
“CAO La Traviata ‘Luminoso’ is one of our top sellers, so it was only natural that we gave CAO fans a new take on one of their favorite cigars,” said Ed McKenna, CAO’s senior brand manager. “Rick Rodriguez and I are looking forward to receiving some great feedback about CAO La Traviata Maduro Luminoso on our website, caocigars.com.”
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Macanudo, America’s best-selling premium cigar brand, is adding two new large-ring frontmarks to its lineup
Making their retail debut this week are Macanudo Café Gigante and Macanudo Maduro Gigante.
Created in response to consumer demand for large-ring offerings, both the Macanudo Café and Macanudo Maduro Gigante cigars measure 6” x 60. Each will be packed in a 20-count box and sold for an SRP per cigar of $7.99, or $159.80, SRP per box.
“Macanudo fans have told us they get more bang for the buck out of large ring cigars, so we came out with the Gigante frontmark to round out the Café and Maduro lines. With so many cigar smokers reaching for large-rings these days, the new Gigantes are sure to become top-sellers,” said Bill Chilian, director of marketing for Macanudo.
Reinado Habanito
Several months ago, I reviewed the Reinado torpedo and loved it. At the time, it only came in three sizes, but after the popularity of the lines grew, more and more people called for a smaller size. Not everyone had time for one of the large vitolas, due to either weather or time constraints. Antonio Lam listened to his consumers and made two more sizes: a larger 6 x 60 Emperador and the smaller, petit corona at 4 x 38 called the Habanito. Knowing my affinity for smaller ring gauge cigars, Antonio send me some samples to try out. I’m glad he did. The flavors of this cigar are concentrated greater with the smaller ring gauge and the burn was outstanding. This is a perfect office smoke or for when the weather doesn’t permit something larger (ie, snow with you yankees!). Watch the video for the full review.
Rosales and Martin Launch RoMa Craft Tobac
Austin, January 24, 2012: Two familiar names in the cigar industry, Michael Rosales and Skip Martin, announced today the formation of a new premium cigar company, RoMa Craft Tobac. The new entity combines the operations of Rosales’ Costa Rican Imports, LLC and Martin’s Galveston Bay Tobacco, LLC into a more efficient independent company managing the Adrians, CroMagnon, CroMagnon Aquitaine, Intemperance, Thirty and Hava Cigar brands including manufacturing operations in Esteli, Nicaragua and San Jose, Costa Rica.
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Room 101 Announces the Release Date of the Room101 LTD OSOK Edition
This will begin shipping to select retailers on Feb. 15, 2012. Official press release below:
Room101 LTD OSOK Edition
“One Shot, One Kill”
Edgar Hoill (One Shot, One Kill), is the Los Angeles based photographer responsible for all of the Room101 imagery you find floating around in the universe. From product imagery to lifestyle shots and beyond, Edgar’s keen eye and mental frame are what give his photography life beyond just a simple image on paper.
I’ve had the honor of working with OSOK over the past few years. During this time, I have come to know him as an individual whose character matches up to the quality of his work. His magnetic personality draws people towards his genius imagery and towards OSOK, the character.
I am honored to call Mr. Hoill a good friend and a brother in this lifetime. He is an original member of the 101 family and we would not be where we are today without him. As he has also been a long time cigar enthusiast, I am proud to offer this limited series bearing his name.
Each of the Room101 OSOK cigars were rolled, and then hand-shaped by one master roller in our factory. The blend, considered to be a medium plus, is built on a chassis of Authentic Corojo in the binder and filler. The oily Ecuadorian Habano wrapper adds smoothness, while the combination of Corojo and Dominican Piloto Ligero help further the strength as you move through the smoke.
Production
Filero: 10,000 cigars, 1,000 boxes
Trucha: 10,000 cigars, 1,000 boxes
Chingon: 10,000 cigars, 1,000 boxes
Total: 30,000 cigars, 3,000 boxes
Blend
Wrapper: Habano (Ecuador)
Binder: Corojo Seco (Honduras)
Filler: Corojo & Piloto Ligero (Honduras & Dominican Republic)
Strength: Medium to Full Body
| SKU# | Description | Quantity Size | MSRP/Cigar | MSRP | |
| 043159 | Room101 LTD OSOK Edition Filero | 10 52 x 42 x 4 1/2 | $8.00 | $80.00 | |
| 043160 | Room101 LTD OSOK Edition Trucha | 10 30 x 50 x 19 x 6 1/2 | $10.00 | $100.00 | |
| 043161 | Room101 LTD OSOK Edition Chingon | 10 60 x 44 x 8 | $12.00 | $120.00 |
Alec Bradley Black Market
Today I’m firing up the Black Market from Alec Bradely. This cigar was introduced at the 2011 IPCPR and features a four country blend of tobacco. In my opinion the last couple of years have been a great time for Alec Bradley products, so I was anxious to see how the Black Market fit into line-up.
Name: Black Market
Company: Alec Bradley
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Sumatra
Filler: Panama & Honduras
Comes in: Box of 22
Price: $7.40/stick
Vitola: Toro (6 x 50)
The Black Market did not let me down. It was a well balanced medium to full-bodied cigar with tons of flavor. I picked up lots of espresso and cocoa and some notes of wood and spice. The Tempus is still my favorite cigar from Alec Bradley, but I think the Black Market is now my second favorite, demoting the Prensado to third.
I strongly suggest giving this cigar a try. It’s box worthy to me, but it’s definitely worth picking up a 5-pack if you’re looking to give it a try.
Gran Habano Cigars Unveils New Cigar Factory in Miami
Miami, Fl., January 23, 2012 – The Gran Habano – G.R. Tabacaleras Co. cigar factory located on “Calle Ocho”, 8th street, in the Little Havana district of Miami is completed and ready to roll. Focusing on the highest standard for the cigar community the factory will employ 10 Cuban rollers who will produce no more than 1,000 cigars per day to ensure quality and consistency. This will be the base of our new cigar line “Gran Habano Miami” which will lead off with the soon-to-be-released Black Corojo, Opium Miami and the continuance of our STK program.
Black Corojo will be an extension of our popular Gran Habano Corojo #5 line. As the name implies, it will feature the industries first black corojo cigar wrapper. Due to the overwhelming success of our Opium release it will become a regular production cigar line known as Opium Miami. Production on both of these cigars will be based on traditional Cuban sizes and the blends will be revised to take the connoisseur to the next level.
A blend lab, called G.A.R. Deli, will also be made available to anyone who has ever dreamt of creating their own cigar. This program will put you in the position of the master blender; allowing the creation of a cigar tailored to your unique palate. Materials on hand will fluctuate every two weeks to affirm that the possibilities are endless.
Our Gran Habano – G.R. Tabacaleras Co. factory also features a luxury lounge and the official Gran Habano humidor. Patrons will be able to choose from our lines – both old and new. We also have products that are not widely available to the public such the Corojo #5 lancero, Cabinet Selection (and a private Cabinet Selection Lancero) and other unique size formats. The exact opening date to the public will shortly be announced – so stay tuned.
About Gran Habano Cigars
Gran Habano Cigars was founded in 1995 by Guillermo Rico and his son George Rico. Using only the best raw materials on earth, Gran Habano begins the growing process with Habano and Corojo seeds which are grown on company-owned farms in Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The process comes to fruition at our boutique factory, which focuses on quality control and high-end productivity making it one of the top cigar companies in the world.
Connect With Gran Habano
http://GHCigars.com
http://twitter.com/GHCigars
http://facebook.com/GranHabanoCigars
La Flor Dominicana to introduce Double Claro in January 2012.
La Flor Dominicana to introduce Double Claro, January 2012.
Coral Gables, FL January 2012 – La Flor Dominicana will introduce its first ever Candela cigar.
The Double Claro is a medium bodied candela with an Ecuadorian wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican filler from our farm in La Canela. The original release will be in 25 count boxes available in three sizes (robusto, corona, chuchill). This item will be regular production.
No. 50 – Size: 50 x 5 Suggested retail per box: $171.50 Suggested retail per cigar: $6.86
No. 42 – Size: 42 x 5 ½ Suggested retail per box: $169.00 Suggested retail per cigar: $6.76
No. 48 – Size: 48 x 6 7/8 Suggested retail per box: $181.50 Suggested retail per cigar: $7.26
La Flor Dominicana is a vertically integrated premium cigar company, where we proudly control the process from the seed to the final grading, inspecting and packing process. Our tobaccos are grown at our farm in La Canella, Dominican Republic. Our factory is located in Tamboril.