Press Release: AJ Fernandez Announces New Cigar Brand San Lotano
Miami, FL, 31 July – Cigar Express is pleased to announce the exciting new cigar release San Lotano, a signature blend by A.J. Fernandez. With a rich history, San Lotano dates back to Cuba’s pre-Castro era where the brand was among the most popular with traditional Cuban cigar makers. Retired for decades, the line is being reintroduced by A.J. Fernandez whose grandfather first started the brand in San Luis, Cuba. San Lotano is made entirely by hand in the Fernandez factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, and is available in three enticing variations encompassing Habano, Connecticut and Maduro wrappers.
A.J. Fernandez is no stranger in the cigar industry. As a third generation cigar maker, born in Cuba, Fernandez is well known for being one of the only cigar makers in the industry to still employ many of the oldest traditions and secrets that have earned him an unmatched reputation among cigar aficionados. When asked about the importance of the brand, A.J. says, “San Lotano has been a project many years in the making for me, and it is made to honor the tradition of cigar making that I learned from my father and my father’s father. The blends are extremely rich, flavorful and are the culmination of my family’s knowledge which has been accumulated over the last century.”
The Fernandez factory is one of the largest in Nicaragua, producing 9 million cigars a year. While this is the first nationally distributed release coming from Fernandez himself, he has made cigars for many notable brands in the industry over the past few years including: Padilla, Rocky Patel, Graycliff, Gurkha, Man O War, Diesel and many more.
San Lotano will officially debut at this year’s IPCPR Tradeshow in New Orleans. The brand will be available exclusively through brick and mortar tobacconists nationwide late this summer.
Favorites: Connecticut
Based on a recent comment from Mark, I decided to do something a bit different this week and put up a list of favorites. These lists will be categorized by wrapper type and since the comment started when talking about the Camacho Connecticut, we’ll start there. To preface this list, there are a couple of disclaimers…The first and most obvious is that this list is based solely on my experiences. I have not even come close to smoking every Connecticut wrapped cigar out there and I look forward to continuing to search out new (to me) stuff. Also, everyone’s tastes are different and this is just my opinion of these smokes. Now, although I am mostly a full bodied cigar smoker, I thoroughly enjoy smokes of all flavor and body profiles. The Connecticut to me is a perfect smoke early in the day or on very hot days with a nice cold beverage. So let’s get to it…
Coming up with these lists always proves harder than when the thought first goes through your mind. There are so many good smokes out there that it is very difficult to narrow them down to a list. I started with 5 and decided to go to 10 based on my inability to choose just 5. The easiest choice was #1. After that it was tough.
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Liga Privada No. 9 Flying Pig
The Flying Pig is a limited edition cigar from the Liga Privada line which has a limited production of only about 125 cigars per day. The blend is also different from the Nicaraguan Puro like the other Liga Privada No. 9s.
4 1/8″ x 60
Wrapper: Dark Connecticut Broadleaf ligero
Binder: Plantation grown Brazilian Mata Fina
Filler: Honduran and Nicaraguan Cuban Seed
Wrapper aged for 18+ months
Cigar aged 1 year before release
I received this cigar from from the Drew Estates crew at IPCPR in 2009. I paired this cigar with a new coffee I’m trying out because the flavor profiles seemed to compliment each other. How did it work out? Watch the video and find out.
Famous Smoke Shop: Cigar Expo 2010
A month ago Brian and I attended the Famous Smoke Cigar Expo 2010. This two day event included a VIP dinner, free craft beer, excellent food, great cigars and much more. The video below is our attempt to document the event; hoping to give those that could not attend an idea of how the festivities went down.
Looking back on the event Brian and I are still impressed with just how well it was put together. It just seemed like everything was thought of. We’re not sure on the exact number of attendees, but it was much lower than others which made talking to the manufacturers and reps much easier.
We could probably talk all day about what a great time we had, but the message would be the same. Famous Smoke Shop’s Cigar Expo is a must for cigar enthusiasts. We don’t see any way you could be disappointed by this event.
JJ for JJ Day
As most people know, fellow cigar reviewer, Jerry Cruz over at Stogie Review, tragically lost his son 3 years ago to SIDS. As a father myself, I can’t imagine something like that happening and how I would cope. So, today, on JJ’s 3rd birthday, we will celebrate his life by smoking a Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ. This is the third year for this and cigars smokers from all over Twitter and cigar blogs are joining in today to smoke a JJ for JJ. Another cigar reviewer, Barry Stein from A Cigar Smoker’s Journal and gone a step further and has stated that he will donate $20 for every picture he receives today of you smoking a JJ for JJ up to $500 to the American SIDS Institute! GREAT gesture, Barry! So, please join us and celebrating JJ’s life and light up a DPG JJ. Don’t forget to take a pic and send it to Barry!
Carlos Torano Noventa Santiago
Torano released the Noventa in the 2006 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Torano family being tobacco growers. Don Santiago Torano left Spain to grow tobacco in Cuba in 1916. In 1959, the family fled Castro controlled Cuba to the Dominican Republic and brought with them Piloto Cubano tobacco seed. Later, Carlos Torano II moved factory to Nicaragua. The cigar I’m reviewing is the Santiago named after Don Santiago Torano. It’s a robusto shape, one of three vitolas.
- Robusto – Santiago (Carlos Sr. Father’s name) 5 x 50
- Toro – La Esperanza 6 x 52 (Means Hope in Spanish and is the name of the Tobacco farm in Cuba)
- Torpedo – Latin – 6 1/2 x 54
I found this cigar to be medium in body and filled the gap nicely between the Casa Torano and the Exodus 1959. Check out the video for more.
Press Release: GENERAL CIGAR TO CELEBRATE ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY
National Cigar Event Series to Kick Off in July
Richmond, VA—General Cigar will commemorate its golden anniversary with a ten-city tour that will hit chic, cigar-friendly venues across the U.S. beginning on July 27 at Chicago’s swanky Vertigo Lounge in the Dana Hotel, and ending on November 11 at the legendary Foundation Room in Las Vegas. The complete event schedule appears on the General Cigar 50th anniversary website www.cigarcelebration.com.
At each event, General Cigar will welcome tenured cigar enthusiasts and fellow connoisseurs drawn to the lure of handcrafted cigars to celebrate the company’s past 50 years of artistry in cultivating venerable brands such as Macanudo®, Punch®, Partagas®, Hoyo de Monterrey® and La Gloria Cubana®.
Benji Menendez, the legendary cigar master who recently celebrated his 58th year in the premium cigar business will be on hand to regale event attendees with glorious stories spanning five decades of tobacco cultivation across Latin America, South America, the Caribbean and the U.S. Emerging cigar masters Michael Giannini and Rick Rodriguez and other key General Cigar staff will also be present to pair a selection of the company’s new and critically-acclaimed cigars with fine wines, spirits and hors d’oeuvres.
Debo Mukherjee, vice president of marketing for General Cigar comments, “At General Cigar, we take great pride in our heritage and our unparalleled tobacco expertise. We developed this event series to celebrate the people whose passion and mastery have made General Cigar one of the world’s foremost producers of premium cigars. Invited guests will not only have a chance to experience the premium cigar lifestyle in a connoisseur’s setting, but will also have a rare opportunity to learn about tobacco cultivation and blending from Benji Menendez, our cigar sage, and from the emerging cigar masters who will take our company into the next half century.”
General Cigar Co. Inc. manufactures and markets handcrafted cigars for the premium market. Committed to delivering cigars of the finest quality, General Cigar also produces Macanudo, Cohiba®, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterrey, Excalibur®, La Gloria Cubana and several other leading premium brands. In addition, the company grows its own premium Connecticut Shade wrapper tobacco, as well as natural and candela wrapper in the Dominican Republic. General Cigar also operates Club Macanudo®, a cigar bar in New York City. Based in Richmond, VA, General Cigar sells through tobacconists nationwide. For more information, please visit www.cigarworld.com.
® Macanudo, Punch, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterrey, La Gloria Cubana, Cohiba, Excalibur and Club Macanudo are registered trademarks of General Cigar Co. Inc.
Press Release: GENERAL CIGARS RECEIVES A FAVORABLE RULING FOR GENERAL CIGAR IN COHIBA TRADEMARK CASE
Richmond, VA—On July 14, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of General Cigar in the latest round of litigation in the Cohiba® trademark case, affirming that General Cigar is the rightful owner of the Cohiba trademark in the U.S.
According to Dan Carr, chief operating officer of General Cigar, “The Second Circuit court’s ruling upholds what we have always believed since we first filed a U.S. application to register the COHIBA trademark in 1978: that General Cigar is the rightful owner of Cohiba in the U.S. We continue to remain confident that our exclusive right to the Cohiba cigar brand in the U.S. will be upheld even if Cubatabaco attempts further legal efforts to challenge these rights.”
The appeals court concluded that Cuban-government-owned Cubatabaco’s argument that a change in a law justified re-opening this case was “without merit” and restored the U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling in 2005 in favor of General Cigar over Cubatabaco.
In various court opinions beginning in late 2008 and into early 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that there were changes to New York State Unfair Competition law that provided Cubatabaco the basis to re-open this case. Yesterday’s Appeals Court decision overturned the lower court’s rulings.
Cubatabaco first filed suit against General Cigar in 1997, claiming rights to the Cohiba name in the United States under U.S. law, although Cubatabaco had failed to take any legal action against General Cigar for nearly 20 years.
About General Cigar
General Cigar Co. Inc. manufactures and markets handcrafted cigars for the premium market. Committed to delivering cigars of the finest quality, General Cigar also produces Macanudo®, Cohiba®, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterrey, Excalibur®, La Gloria Cubana and several other leading premium brands. In addition, the company grows its own premium Connecticut Shade wrapper tobacco, as well as natural and candela wrapper in the Dominican Republic. General Cigar also operates Club Macanudo®, a cigar bar in New York City. Based in Richmond, VA, General Cigar sells through tobacconists nationwide. For more information, please visit www.cigarworld.com.
® Cohiba, Macanudo, Punch, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterrey, La Gloria Cubana, Excalibur and Club Macanudo are registered trademarks of General Cigar Co. Inc.
Press Release: TORAÑO FAMILY, ARMED WITH A NEW LOOK, IS BACK IN CONTROL OF ITS OWN DISTRIBUTION
The Toraño Family, makers of some of the finest cigars in the world, is proud to announce that effective August 1st the family will distribute its own brands. To add to this exciting news, Toraño launches a new company name, a new logo and two retail exclusive cigar brands.
The company name is changing from Toraño Cigars to Toraño Family Cigar Company to truly capture the family legacy and emphasize that this is a family-owned company. The taking over of its distribution is the result of the family’s decision to enhance its personal relationships with the trade and consumers.
“We are energized and excited to be announcing these positive changes,” said Charlie Toraño, the company’s president.
The new logo, which combines a contemporary, yet classic look, is symbolic of the company’s new direction, one which will focus on the introduction of innovative cigar brands, unique blends and building a strong Toraño Family Cigar community.
“We recognize the value of building communication,” Charlie said. “There’s no better way to reach cigar smokers and the trade than through social media, the Internet, the use of viral campaigns and the personal touch and interactions at cigar events that only the family can provide.”
The IPCPR in New Orleans will be the platform for the unveiling of Master by Carlos Toraño and Single Region, two retail exclusive brands. The company is also offering a value priced bundle cigar named Brigade.
“I am looking forward to seeing everyone at our upcoming annual trade show and personally showing all of the changes which are taking place,” Charlie said.
A leader in the cigar industry, Toraño Family Cigar Company is a four-generation company currently based in Miami, Florida. It enjoys a rich heritage and history in tobacco growing and cigar manufacturing.
Torano Family Cigars Facebook Site
Oliva Serie G Natural
Back again for a “Humidor Staple” review with another Oliva product for you. This time it is the Oliva Serie G Natural Toro. This stick comes in at 6″ x 50 and is a great looking specimen. Like the O, the G has Habano seed binder and filler but sports a Cameroon wrapper.
The value and quality of the Oliva lines make these smokes excellent candidates for humidor stuffers. Let’s see how this G compares to the O…