Press Release: STUDIO TOBAC COMMISSIONS LIMITED-EDITION CIGAR SAMPLER PRODUCTION TO BEGIN IMMEDIATELY TOTALLY NEW CIGARS WILL NOT BE FOR SALE
MIAMI, FL – January 4th 2011 – Studio Tobac today announced that they are beginning production on a very exclusive cigar sampler. The Studio Tobac Limited-Edition Cigar Sampler will contain six cigars; all of which will not be available as regular production.
The Limited Edition sampler will be available in 2011 as a “gift with purchase†at Studio Tobac World Tour Events. These events will take place across the entire United States and at select European destinations.
“We wanted to do something special for the 2011 Studio Tobac World Tour†states Executive Board Director Jose R. Oliva.
Board Member Ian Hummel continued: “It’s important to offer some unique cigars to the retailers and consumers that come out and support our events. We set sales records with the Nub Tour in ’08, the Cain Tour in ’09, and the Cain-F Tour this past year. The bar is defintely raised for 2011; and part of our response is this sampler.â€
The Executive Board’s Cory Bappert commented: “The current economy dictates that there’s a lot less discretionary income out there. When somebody steps up and buys a box of cigars at a Studio Tobac event, we want to give them something they can’t get anywhere else.â€
The six cigars contained in The Sampler are listed below. Included is a basic description of each blend. However, exact details of each cigar remain the proprietary information of The Oliva Family Of Cigars and Studio Tobac’s Executive Board.
The Studio Tobac Limited Edition Cigar Sampler will contain:
Cain F Lancero: (7×38 parejo) a classic lancero finished with a triple-cap instead of the traditional lancero pig-tail. This is the production Cain F blend tailored to fit the slender lancero format. This cigar will be presented in an aluminum tube, making it one of the only lanceros ever presented “en tubo.â€
Cain FF Torpedo 654: (6×54 torpedo) The Cain FF (“Double Fâ€) is an even stronger version of the already robust Cain F blend.
Cain Daytona Short Robusto: (4.5×50 parejo) Early in 2011 Studio Tobac will release it’s first regular production cigar: The Cain Daytona. Cain Daytona will stay true to it’s Cain roots with a “straight ligero†blend; but the Daytona’s ligeros will be entirely from The Jalapa Valley. This type of ligero is less potent than most. Expect the Cain Daytona to be flavorful, refined, and elegant. The Daytona in the short robusto vitola is exclusive to this sampler and will not be for sale.
Nub Habano Perfecto: (4.5×60 perfecto) This is the Nub Habano blend in a perfecto format. At 4.5â€, this is one-half inch longer than any other Nub.
Nub San Andreas Maduro: (4×64 parejo) This is a completely unique Nub size. It is the Nub maduro blend but with a Mexican, San Andreas wrapper as found on the Cain Maduro. The regular production Nub Maduro has a Brazilian, Arapiraca wrapper.
Prototype Cigar: Designation “ST/DS-001â€: (6×54 parejo) This is a prototype of a future Studio Tobac project. The only detail known is that it will be a full-bodied maduro blend.
Studio Tobac is the research and design group within The Oliva Family Of Cigars. Studio Tobac’s goal is to provide excitement and innovation to premium cigar smokers worldwide.
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
For more information please go to:
Ben’s Top 12 Cigars of the Year
Well, its that time of the year again. You are probably getting overwhelmed with all the Top 10 or whatever list from everyone now including the magazines. I enjoy reading them myself as I like to see what everyone has liked over the year. That’s the great thing about cigars. There is a cigar for everyone. Everyone’s taste is different so its interesting to see what everyone thought was the top cigars for them. This year was harder for me to narrow it down to just 12 cigars. There were so many great releases this year on top of already great lineups from manufactures. So, without further adieu, here is my top 12:
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San Cristobal
Sometimes I find a cigar in my humidor that I’m surprised I haven’t reviewed yet. The San Cristobal from Ashton is one of those cigars. When it was released in 2007 i was immediately drawn to the cigar by it’s beautiful and intricate band. then I realized it was made by Don Pepin Garcia for Ashton which heightened my curiosity.
Name: San Cristobal
Company: Ashton
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: ~$8.00
Comes in: Box of 22
Vitola: Clasico (5″ x 50 Robusto)
Final Thoughts
The San Cristobal is a solid full-bodied and full-flavored cigar. Not only is the flavor profile enjoyable, but it’s also well balanced. The combination of coffee and coccoa provide a rubust flavor with a slight and pleasant bitterness. However, as the smoke lingered in my mouth I began to pick up a sweet hay flavor. The smoke was very smooth and only revealed a black pepper note through the retro-hale. In addition to the flavor the cigar was constructed well, provided a strong sturdy ash and produced tons of smoke. I did give the burn line one minor touch-up but suspect it was not absolutely necessary.
Overall the San Cristobal gets my recommendation. It’s not the best cigar in the $8 price range, but it’s well worth the price.
According to my inputs at Your Cigar Ratings I give the San Cristobal an 81.
Press Release – Gran Habano’s Opium Den
Miami, Fl., December 31, 2010 – As the year comes to a close, we at Gran Habano hope that you and your loved ones had the happiest of holidays and wish everyone a wonderful and fulfilling New Year.
We take great pride in introducing our first true Maduro cigar in 2010 that uses the finest San Andres wrapper, binder and creative mix of Nicaraguan and Panamanian fillers. The Azteca, which is currently being offered in 3 sizes, has been very well received by our great cigar smoking community.
Many of you may already know that we also ended the 2010 year by removing many great cigars from our portfolio such as the 3SLS, Cabinet and various G.A.R. lines. While it was a difficult decision to make, it was one that was made with great anticipation knowing the new cigar lines will raise the bar onn anything we have previously created.
Starting off the new year will be our very refined Gran Reserva #3 that is created with prime (and aged) Nicaraguan and Colombian tobaccos. The decade old components come from our Nicaraguan (La Santa Cruz) and Colombian (La Joya del Valle) farms. Smoking the Gran Reserva #3 will give you an immediate sense of the effort and detail that went into this amazing product and truly show you where we plan to take our loyal supporters in 2011. The Gran Reserva #3 has started distribution (a current list of retailers is available on GHCigars.com) and should reach all of our retailers by the second week of January.
In support of the Gran Reserva, and our continued push for a higher standard, Gran Habano will be unveiling a number of surprises for 2011. Perhaps the most notable will be our new factory that opens on “Calle Ocho”, 8th street, in the Little Havana district of Miami. This factory, named La Joya del Valle, will act as our home for the STK program, allowing us to operate in a boutique fashion with rare and limited materials. G.A.R. will also be making a bold statement through a George Rico project that has been in development for years – OPIUM. La Joya del Valle will also give the power back to the cigar smoking community with a program called G.A.R. Deli. In short – this program will allow you, as a master blender, to make your own cigar and utilize our rollers to finish the process for you.
These are just some of the fun and exciting ventures that will go live in 2011. Again, we would like to thank everyone for the great support you have provided us in the years past and we look forward on continuing our great partnership in the years to come.
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
Media Contact
Robert Villalobos
Gran Habano / G.A.R Cigars
Robert@ghcigars.com
Nestor Miranda Special Selection Danno 2010 – Buckhead Cigars Edition
Nestor Miranda released the Danno last year as a special anniversary cigar, but with the overwhelming popularity of the cigar, Nestor Miranda released the Danno again this year. One of Miami Cigars, distributor of Nestor Miranda cigars, largest retailers, Buckhead Cigar wanted to create a special house blend using the Nestor Miranda Special Selection line. Last year, they release the Buckhead Cigars edition of several of the most popular sizes in the Nestor Miranda line with slight changes to the construction to add more body and strength. This year, they went a step further and added the Danno to their offerings. I’ve been very please with the Buckhead Cigars editions and was very please to see the ever popular Danno as an addition to their offerings. Does the Buckhead Cigars edition live up to expectations? How does it compare to the 2010 Danno edition? Watch the video and find out.
Merry Christmas from Nice Tight Ash
Santa was gracious enough to join me again this year for a special Christmas video. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did making it.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Drew Estates Liga Privada T52 Flying Pig
One of the most interesting cigars I’ve ever received at IPCPR was the Liga Privada No. 9 Flying Pig from Drew Estates. It was this short, fat, almost jet black perfecto that was hard as a rock. My friend Tom and I both got samples and I put mine away to try later. Tom lit his up almost immediately and, to be honest, we weren’t expecting much as it was hard as a rock. After a few puffs, Tom almost fell over. Tom raved and raved about how good the cigar was. Later, I tried mine and I totally agree. The burn and flavor were fantastic. You can see my review here. The other Liga Privada line is the T52 ,which uses stalk cut sungrown habano leaf as its wrapper, is actually my preferred Liga. The T52 line just has more of the flavors I enjoy in a cigar, so when I heard that they were releasing a Flying Pig in the T52, I knew I had to have it. I was able to finally acquire some from Buckhead Cigars at a great price. So, how does this Flying Pig compare to the No. 9? It the cigar worth all the commotion? Watch the video and find out.
Illusione HL Maduro
Illusione is easily one of my favorite cigar brands out there in today’s market. Dion Giolito, owner of Illusione cigars, makes some of the best smokes money can buy. Lately, I’ve really been hooked on the 888 (churchill) and any size in the Eperney. When Dion gave me this HL maduro, I was floored. I love the HL and now there is a maduro version? Whoa. Well, I decided I would save it for a special occasion until I was able to get my hand on one more sample at Don Juan’s (which I mistakenly call Dos Jefe’s, a cigar bar in New Orleans, in the video) in Metairie, LA. Finally, the urge was too much and I had to smoke it. Below is an explanation on how Dion came to call his lancero the HL, Holy Lance:
~HL~ The Holy Lance
My Lancero , the lance. Get it? Constantine was the first Christian Emperor to lead Rome. It was fabled that he had possession of the very spear that punctured the side of Jesus while on the cross. He was said to carry this relic into battle and, it was said that it helped him win his many battles. It is an artisan blend and, the mildest of all my cigars.
So, how did it smoke? Did it live up to my own self induced hype? Watch the video and find out.
Casa Fernandez Arsenio
Today I’m reviewing the Arsenio from Casa Fernandez. This cigar is blended by the Master Blender Arsenio Ramos and is cloaked in a Nicaraguan Maduro leaf.
Name: Arsenio
Company: Casa Fernandez
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: ~$7.00/stick
Comes in: Box of 10
Vitola: 5 1/4″ x 54 Robusto Grande
According to my inputs at Your Cigar Ratings I give the Casa Fernandez Arsenio an 85.
2010 Oliva Serie V Maduro Torpedo
This time of year is my favorite for many reason, but one reason is the release of the 2010 Serie V maduros from Oliva. The Serie V is on my all time favorite smokes and a special maduro version just gets my heart racing! I still have samples from each year just sitting and aging for that right time to smoke them. This year, Oliva decided to throw their fans a curve ball and use a San Andres maduro wrapper from Mexico instead of the normal Connecticut Broadleaf maduro. Was this a good idea or a colossal mistake? Watch the video and find out.
