Roma Craft Intemperance EC XVIII Faith
Intemperance is the new and first line of the Roma Craft Tobac company. Roma Craft is the brainchild of Skip Martin and Michael Rosales. The Intemperance line is produced in Esteli, Nicaragua at the Fabrica de Tobacco NicaSueno factory. They come in two wrappers, a Ecuadorian Connecticut (EC XVIII) and a Brazilian Arapiraca (BA XXI) with four vitolas in each line.
The Intemperance name is from the history of prohibition. The logo is inspired from a propaganda/political print from 1855 by A.D. Fillmore.
“In the last sixty years, this anti-smoking movement has grown in influence and power much in the same way the temperance movement before it grew. We believe that it is well past time to initiate our own modern intemperance movement.”
For more information on the whole Intemperance lines click here.
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Rocky Patel Vintage 2003 Cameroon
At last year’s IPCPR, Rocky Patel introduced his latest extension of the Vintage line. The Vintage 2003 uses a select Cameroon wrapper over binder and filler that have been aged for over 8 years. As a Cameroon fan, I was eager to try it. The cigar had a great burn and was a very smooth smoke. Mild to medium in body, the cigar had great sweet, creamy and spicy flavors. It pair amazingly well with coffee and is one of the best Cameroon cigars I’ve smoked on the market. Watch the video for the full review.
Rocky Patel announces the re-release of the Decade Edicion Limitada 2012
Camacho: Bold Honduran Smokes, New Convenient 4-Packs
PINELLAS PARK, FL, APRIL 16, 2012 — Camacho, the world’s best-known producer of bold Honduran smokes, has announced the release of new 4-pack assortments for its popular Corojo and Connecticut lines. Camacho Corojo, released in 2000, is the highest rated product in the Camacho portfolio and has been in Cigar Aficionado’s “Top 25†both in 2010 and 2011. Comprised of 100% Authentic Corojo tobaccos, the Corojo is Camacho’s crown jewel and has been a staple amongst full-body cigar lovers for more than a decade.
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DAVIDOFF TO HOST INAUGURAL GOLDEN BAND AWARDS
PINELLAS PARK, FL, APRIL 12, 2012 — Davidoff, the leading luxury tobacco brand has announced the inaugural Davidoff Golden Band Awards Show, honoring those Appointed Merchants who best embody the Davidoff standard of excellence. The first annual awards show will be part of an exclusive Davidoff event on August 4th at IPCPR in Orlando, Florida. The Davidoff Golden Band Awards materialized from the brand’s success, rooted in decades of long-standing partnerships with trusted merchants. Davidoff has a long history of working with its family of retailers to help them expand their businesses, discuss best practices and grow the Davidoff brand, hand in hand. “The awards are an opportunity to officially recognize these retailers for their commitment and passion for Davidoff,†said Jim Young, President, Davidoff North America. Richard Krutick, Davidoff Marketing Director, adds that, “This annual event will stimulate improved standards in the industry and help drive superior performance and growth.â€
Appointed Merchant nominations will be announced in July across six categories:
• Best Davidoff Merchandising
• Best Davidoff Performance
• Davidoff Growth Award
• Davidoff Appointed Merchant of the Year
• Davidoff Industry Service Award
The final award category is the Zino Davidoff Legacy Award, which will be presented to the Appointed Merchant who has stood out over the years as the champion of what premium cigars and premium cigar retailing are all about.
Davidoff, founded in Geneva in 1911, is dedicated to bring pleasure to a discerning global community of Good Life aficionados. The brand unites growing, ageing, blending and crafting artistry to bring cigar connaiseurs pleasurable cigar experiences. For additional information, visit www.davidoff.com.
ROCKY PATEL PREMIUM CIGARS ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF THE EDGE CANDELA
April 10, 2012 (Bonita Springs, Florida)
The Rocky Patel Premium Cigar
Company announced today the release of The Edge Candela.
The Edge Candela is a medium bodied cigar and the latest addition to
The Edge line. The candela wrapper gives the blend a truly unique flavor,
consisting of sweet spice and floral tea, ultimately lending a creamy finish.
The wrapper is a Habano Seed Candela, and the binder and fillers are a secret.
Says Rocky Patel of the new Edge Candela, “I blended the Limited Edition Edge
Candela for The Edge fans – it still holds the flavor profile that is so beloved by
Edge lovers every where, and the wrapper just gives it a distinctively spicy and
creamy twistâ€.
The Edge Candela is available in Toro size (6 x 52) and is sold in boxes of 20.
It is a limited edition product with only 1,000 boxes made by the El Paraiso
factory in Honduras. The cigar retails for $6.40. Just released, it is now available
at all fine retailers.
Located in Bonita Springs, Florida, the Rocky Patel Premium Cigar Company
began producing high quality premium cigars in 1995, based on Rocky’s passion
for cigars, and his desire to share his unique cigar blends with cigar connoisseurs
around the world. Rocky is also very active in raising money for underprivileged
children in Honduras, with his RP Foundation. Current Rocky Patel cigar brands
include: Decade, Olde World Reserve, Edge, 15th Anniversary, the Vintage
Series, Thunder, Xen and “50â€. For more information visit their Website at
www.RockyPatel.com.
Montecristo New York Connoisseur Edition
Montecristo released a special cigar last year just for the New York market. It is a specially blended large 6 x 60 boxed pressed toro that is as big as the New York City skyline itself. Available only in the state of New York, this cigar features a rich Ecaudorian Habano wrapper with the binder from Nicaragua and filler from the Dominican Republic. I don’t enjoy smoking large ring gauge cigars, but the box press on this cigar did make it more enjoyable. Its billed as a full bodied cigar, but I thought the cigar had a medium body at best. The cigar had very linear flavors and never seemed to change thoughout the cigar. With a price tag of $14, I was expecting more, but I know in NYC, that is cheap. Still, I felt the smoking experience from this cigar was lacking. For more detail, watch my video review.
Rocky Patel announces the Edge Candela
This new Edge is shipping immedately so be on the look out. Price point is supposed to be less than $7.00 an available in toro only.
CAO La Traviata Maduro Luminoso
For today’s review I smoked the La Traviata Maduro Luminoso from CAO. The Luminoso was originally released as a new vitola in the La Traviata line. Now it’s being released in the Maduro line. The Luminoso is a petit robusto measuring 4.5†x 50 and features a Connecticut Maduro wrapper.
I’ve been a fan of the La Traviata line since it’s a debut a couple of years ago. To me this cigar always delivered great flavor at a reasonable price. So when General Cigar sent me three samples to smoke I’d have to say I was a little excited to try the cigar in one of my favorite sizes.
Name: La Traviata Maduro
Company: CAO
Wrapper: Connecticut Maduro
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Nicaraguan and Dominican
Comes in: Box of 30
Price: $5.10/stick
Vitola: Luminoso (4 1/2″ x 50)
Pre-Light
This cigar comes wrapped in cellophane. Once the cellophane was removed a robust barnyard aroma, full of earth and manure, greeted my nose. The wrapper aroma was far stronger than the foot, which had more of a wood and hay aroma. The oily looking wrapper was a dark shade of brown and had a maze of veins. Surprisingly the wrapper felt drier than what the appearance lead me to believe.
Flavor & Burn
Once I fired up the La Traviata Maduro Luminoso I quickly noticed a strong taste of black pepper. The Spice was quickly accompanied by a strong tobacco flavor with hints of espresso. After smoking about a quarter of the cigar I began to notice a lingering nutty finish. Around the midway point the Luminoso developed a slight bitterness and increased spice through the retrohale. The cigar finished much they way it began. Overall I’d categorize this cigar and medium-bodied with low to moderate strength.
The Luminoso started off with a draw that was slightly tighter than a milkshake. After the first few puffs the draw loosened up to something slightly less resistant than a milkshake. The cigar burned slowly (well over an hour) and evenly beginning to end.
Final Thoughts
In short I think the La Traviata Maduro Luminoso is a good cigar that could benefit from 6-12 months of age. To me there was a lack of balance, mostly because of the bitterness, that limited my enjoyment of the cigar. Right now this cigar is something I’d fire up on the golf course. It’s good enough to smoke, but not so good that I feel like I have to give it all of my attention.
Macanudo Maduro Gigante
Everybody, wether new or seasoned cigar smoker have heard of Macanudo cigars. Probably many non-smokers have heard of them as well due to the many advertisements in Men’s magazines and so forth. I can remember seeing then in various magazines even before I started enjoying cigars. So, its easily to say that Macanudo Cigars (by General Cigars) have been around for a while.
Keeping up with the new larger 56 and above ring gauges, General has released the new Gigante (6×60) line in the Macanudo cigars; Natural and Maduro. This week I am going to review the maduro and in a few days, Ben will have a review up of the natural in a “dual review” with a fairly new cigar smoker, Joe. So be on the look out for that towards the end of this week.
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