General Cigar Announces New Website
General Cigar Launches New Website
The new General Cigar website, http://www.cigarworld.com/ has just gone live! While the name’s the same, the site has been completely redone. The folks at General Cigar spent almost a whole year developing it.
Think of the new Cigar World as a digital cigar lounge. It’s got cool interactive features like a virtual humidor and a cigar bomb component, and it gives cigar lovers the chance to interact and voice their opinions.
Cigar World also brings General Cigar to life, with detailed information on the company and their portfolio of products. It includes biographies of the artisans who make their cigars.
Other new features of the site include an education section, which will come in handy for those of you who need to brush up on their cigar knowledge.
The site also has a section devoted to lifestyle content. It’s called CW World Magazine and it includes articles on wine and spirits, men’s apparel, sports, electronics and more. CW Magazine is easy to locate on cigarworld.com. Just find CW Magazine on the main navigation, and click to get there.
To celebrate the launch of the site, General Cigar is running a contest called the 30 Days of Giveaways. Cigar World humidors, autographed boxes and other prizes are available. Just create a profile on the site, and you’re entered to win. Visit http://www.cigarworld.com/ to get in on the action.
La Palina Cigars Announces Price Decrease
“Smoked Up” No.6
This year is really moving fast! Here it is, already into the second week of February. There has been crazy weather up north with snow storms and rain and tornadoes here down south. Between it being cold one day and warm the next, I did jot down a few notes on some of the cigars I smoked this past week as well as some cigar news from the week.
Cigars from the Week
Ponce de Leon Torpedo:Â I got this cigar as a gift from a local shop owner. I couldn’t find any information on these cigars, so if you find any, let me know. It was a very woody & nutty cigar. Stayed fairly consistent the whole way through. Not a very complex smoke, but a somewhat enjoyable one. The draw was great & burn was nice. I let it sit while tending the ribs on the smoker & it didn’t need a relight. A medium bodied & flavor strength cigar that would be a good morning or afternoon smoke seeing its not too bold.
Alec Bradley Maxx Brazil Corona
The Alec Bradley Maxx Brazil is a cigar that is only available at Cigar.com or CigarsInternational.com and is the same blend as the original Maxx line. But, instead of the Nicaraguan maduro wrapper and a Costa Rican binder, it has a Brazilian Habano wrapper and a Brazilian Mata Fina binder. I have had my fair share of the “original” Maxx line, but when I saw the Brazil line, I had to try them. Once I did, they started to really grow on me more and more. I was smoking these fairly regularly and figured, why not do an in-depth review of my favorite size, the Corona.
Size: 5.5×42
Vitola: Corona
Wrapper: Brazilian Habano
Binder: Costa Rican
Filler:Â Colombian, Nicaraguan, Mexican, and Honduran
Cost: $6.25
Source: Purchased
Ezra Zion Re-Branded as Jamais Vu
| OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:
Ezra Zion Cigar Company, recipients of multiple Cigar of the Year Awards for 2012, are re-branding their inaugural cigar release, INCEPTION. The name of the blend will be changed to JAMAIS VU. Chris Kelly explains, “After being cleared for use by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, we went into furious production on INCEPTION. Come to find out, the USPTO failed to inform us of another company that was using the same name and ended up awarding them the trademark rights.” Kyle Hoover, co-owner added, “We knew we had a choice: we could engage in a lengthy, nasty legal dispute, or we could keep our focus on making great cigars. We chose the latter.” “It’s the exact award-winning blend as INCEPTION, nothing has changed there, but along with the new branding we will be redesigning the packaging and adding 3 additional sizes as well.” The Don Fonseca noted. “I think our customers will be pleased!” “We chose the name “JAMAIS VU” because it’s the opposite of Deja Vu, and the definition tells the story of the rebranding of INCEPTION. JAMAIS VU is defined as “…a sense of eeriness and the observer’s impression of seeing the situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing that he or she has been in the situation before.” Chris continued, “Those customers with INCEPTION boxes have a very limited edition piece of cigar history! We will begin production on the rebranded JAMAIS VU within the month.” More information on Ezra Zion Cigar Co. can be found at EzraZion.com or @EzraZionCigars |
Visit Cigar Federation at: http://cigarfederation.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network
“Smoked Up” No.5
This week has been really crazy for me. I got one of only two prereleased cigars from Elogio & Cresecent City Cigars and got a review of it up. It was a pretty good smoke! So I was stoked to have been one of two who got to review it first. Then, I had a  loss of a family friend. So I had a lot on my mind this week.
“We don’t know what we got it, until its gone.”
RIP Joesph Hurd Sr. You will be missed.
 Cigars of the Week
Viaje 5th Anniversary: Most Viaje LEs I’ve found need to rest a few months to reach their full potential. This one has sat for about two months. The draw started out tight, but eased up some once into it. The burn was fairly good, and only needed one touch-up. Had chalky wood & slight pepper flavors at first with a slight cocoa undertone. Around halfway the pepper died off & left the chalky wood notes. There was a slight taste of a salt aftertaste to it towards the end. For a 5th Anniversary cigar, I had expected a good bit more from Viaje. Maybe it needs more rest in the humidor.
Recluse Cigar Contest
I did a review of the Iconic Leaf Recluse OTG Toro a little bit ago. This month the great people at Iconic Leaf Cigars is sponsoring a contest this month. I would personally like to thank the Iconic Leaf Cigar Company for their sponsorship. Last month’s Twitter contest went well, & I’d like to thank those who all entered it. This month’s contest is going to be based off of comments of this post. Nothing in particular & pretty simple.
Here are some comment thoughts to boost your odds at winning:
- Have you tried a Reluse?
- If so, what did you think of it?
- It not, what makes you want to try them.
- What did you think of my review of the Recluse Toro?
I have 4 5pks of the Recluse Robusto to give away to the best comments. So there will be four winners this month.
Limit one comment per person.
You must be over 18 and live in the continuous United States.
Contest runs through February 28th.
Good Luck to All!!
Elogio Habano Crescent City Cigars Exclusivo
If it wasn’t for Armando Ortiz the owner of Crescent City Cigars in New Orleans, LA, I would have never tried or even heard of Elogio Cigars. I was over at his shop in the spring of 2012 when he told Ben & I ” Guys, you must try these new cigars I picked up!” Now, when Armando tells you that you must try a cigar, you can bet that its going to be a winner! Armando hasn’t ever let us down on suggestions to cigars. He has a great taste in cigars and has similar likes to me. The cigar he got us to try was an Elogio and I was in love with them ever since. After I smoked my first Elogio (Habano Corona Extra), I went back into the humidor and got a hand full more Elogios in different lines & sizes. Armando got a kick out of that and said “See, I told you!!.” I have found out, I like every Elogio I have had, but prefer the Habano just a bit more than the LSV line. But don’t count the LSV out, its a mighty fine smoke!
Fast forward to two weeks ago when Armando posted on his Facebook page “Get ready… It’s coming” and pretty much left it up to the imagination. He let the cat out of the bag to me that I’d have a package on its way of something he wanted me to give him my opinion of it. Well, low and behold Armando and Elogio Cigars came up with an exclusive size just for Crescent City Cigars! The size is a 6×48 and we all know, I like a small ring gauged cigar. So this size should be a winner in size, if not flavors. I prefer the smaller ring gauged Elogio, but the 48rg is not too big or small and should offer a good bit flavor. This cigar was released Feb 2nd and this is my first impression of it, being the first one I’ve smoked.
If you would like to purchase the Elogio Habano Crescent City Cigars Exclusivo or any Elogio cigar, you can give Armando a call at 504-522-4427 and he will gladly ship them right on out to you.
Read the rest of this entry »
Nicaraguan Cigar Co. Condega Maduro Robusto
I did a review of the Nicaraguan Cigar Co. Condega Serie F Petite Robusto a while back and today I am going to be taking a tasting of their Condega Maduro Robusto. From what I remember, the Serie F was fairly pleasant flavor wise, so lets see how the Maduro stacks up to the Serie F.
The Details:
Size: 5×52
Vitola: Robusto
Wrapper: Mexican Maduro
Binder:Â Aganorsa
Filler:Â Aganorsa
Cost: $5.98ea (box price via Cigarstix.com)
Source: Sample from Nica Cigar Company
First Looks: A slightly oily Mexican Maduro wrapper covers the cigar. It has a few veins and has a few soft spots here and there, but nothing too major to cause any alarm. The wrapper has a sweet tobacco aroma. The foot has a nutmeg and slight cinnamon aroma to it. The prelight draw has an easy draw to it with a taste of light tobacco. A simplistic black & gold (Who Dat!) band covers the top portion of the cigar. But we don’t smoke the band, so lets toast it up and see what happens.
Read the rest of this entry »
#NICETIGHTASH Contest Winner Announcement
I had a pretty good turn out for my Cigar of the Year Twitter Contest and I would like to thank each and every one of you who entered it. There were some great #NICETIGHTASHes and it was a tough decision to make. If you didn’t win this contest, be on the look out next month for an even bigger contest with multiple winners!! So, without further ado the winner is….
Matt Ross
@MattSRoss81
Matt, congrats on the win and the feat of hanging on to that Nice Tight Ash “Opus Style”!!!
Thanks to all who played along and entered. Keep an eye out next month for an even bigger contest with multiple winners!!!
