Press Release: Jameson Cigar Co. Releases SouthBound Series Latitude
We’re excited to finally introduce the SouthBound Series with Latitude being the first release. The SouthBound Series was conceived as a collection of everyday smokes, cigars you can afford to set alight often. With SouthBound conjuring up images reminiscent of travel, a journey to a better place, even, Latitude was the perfect fit for the first series release.
For Latitude we chose a broadleaf wrapper from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to surround a Criollo ’98 binder from the Dominican Republic as well as Criollo fillers. This blend results in a medium-bodied, medium-strength smoke that pairs well with your morning coffee or your drink of choice in the evening. Latitude is initially available in bundles of twenty in two sizes, 5×50 and 6×52, with each size retailing for $62.00 and $64.00 per bundle, respectively. They will only be available on our website, Jameson Cigars, and on Calle Ocho at 1336 SW 8th St., Miami, FL.
Alec Bradley Prensado
Lately I’ve felt like there have been a bunch of cigars that I’d wanted to review, but just hadn’t gotten around to. One of those cigars is the Prensado from Alec Bradley. This cigar made it’s debut in September of 2009, but it’s roots go back to 2006 when the Corojo leaf, that would one day be the wrapper, was harvested. This tobacco was aged and fermented until 2008 when Alan Rubin and his team went to work developing a blend. This process took six months and the result is the cigar I’m smoking today.
Name: Prensado
Company: Alec Bradley
Made In: Danli, Honduras
Wrapper: Corojo 2006 Trojes, Honduras
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua & Trojes, Honduras
Price: $9.25
Comes in: Box of 20
Vitola: Robusto (5″ x 50)
Read the rest of this entry »
La Sirena The Prince
Released this year at IPCPR in New Orleans, La Sirena was relatively unknown before the show. I met Brand Manager, Arielle Ditkowich, at the Miami Cigars booth while talking to Nestor Miranda. There was a buzz at the show about Arielle’s new cigar line so I was eager to try it. Alas, I left there without trying a sample, but luckily, Jason Wood of Miami Cigars sent two of them to me to review. This cigar was blended for Arielle and Miami Cigars by Don Pepin Garcia. So, was the buzz worthy of the cigar? Does it sink or swim? Watch the video and find out.
Guest Review: Flor de Gonzalez 90 Miles Toro “ROTT†Review
Ben – Today we have a guest reviewer filling in for us today that many of you have seen on the sight before. Shawn has done a couple of dual review with me in the past and this is his first, but hopefully not last, written review. Shawn reviews the new 90 Miles cigar from Flor de Gonzalez.
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Habano Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Shape: Toro
Size: 6 X 52
I got this cigar recently and a few friends have told me it was worth a try. So, I figured I’d go out and grab one and give it a try right of the truck (ROTT) and do a review on it.
This cigar is a nicely constructed cigar with a double cap, medium brown wrapper, with few veins; but no major ones. The cigar is not spongy at all with no hard/soft spots in it. The prelight draw is fairly tight, but not too hard. This could be due to the fact its fresh from a B&M that keeps 70% humidity in their humidor. The prelight draw has no flavors that jump out at me and is really faint. The band is uniquely designed, in the fact it has a Cuban coastline on one side of the band and “The Southern Most Point†on the other. With the 90 Miles in between the two, signifying the distance between the USA and Cuba.
Carlos Torano Signature Collection
The Carlos Torano Signature collection was released in 2000 with five different vitolas to choose from. This line of cigars features a blend of tobacco from four countries and is intended to be medium to full-bodied. Over the years I’ve smoked my fair share of these in various sizes, but for this review I sat down with the robusto.
Name: Signature Collection
Company: Carlos Torano
Made In: Danli, Honduras
Wrapper: Sun Grown Brazilian Maduro
Binder: Broadleaf
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano Ligero & Nicaraguan Habano Ligero
Price: $7.25
Comes in: Box of 20
Vitola: Robusto (5″ x 52)
Final Thoughts
If there is one thing that I have learned to expect from the Torano family it’s consistency; and the Signature Collection is no different. The construction of these cigars was always great which lead to a perfect draw, tons of smoke, even burns and long strong ashes. The flavor wasn’t bad either. A combination of cocoa and coffee seemed to be the core flavors and was accompanied by a bitter grassy finish. Generally I’m not a fan of a grassy flavor notes, but in this cigar it was not off-putting.
The Signature Collection is by far not my favorite Torano product, but I think there is space in my humidor for a few. Nothing about the flavor really grabbed my attention and tempted me smoke more, but the smoking experience was still enjoyable. The real high-point to these cigars is the consistency, as every sample in recent memory has smoked just as well as the last.
According to my inputs at Your Cigar Ratings I give the Carlos Torano Signature Collection a 67.
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:
Read the rest of this entry »
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.
