Torano Single Region Serie Jalapa robusto
This year at IPCPR, Torano Family Cigars showed off their new branding and two new cigars. One of those new cigars is the Single Region which will be a series of cigar showcasing certain tobacco growing regions. The first in the series is Jalapa in which the binder and filler are composed of tobaccos only from Jalapa grown on the El Estero farm. Jalapa is one of Nicaragua’s premier tobacco growing area and a natural selection to be on of the first regions in the series. This is cigar is available in 3 sizes:
robusto – 5 x 50
toro grande – 6 x 54
churchill – 7Â x 48
MSRP:Â ~$6.25
I’ve been a huge Torano cigar fan since my cigar infacy, so how does this new cigar from the new Torano hold up to it predecessors? Watch the video and find out.
Gran Habanos Cigars releases the Gran Reserva #3
Miami, Fl., October 18, 2010 – Time has finally come for the limited production Gran Reserva #3 cigar by Gran Habano to be released into the public. Medium to full bodied in strength the Gran Reserva #3 was blended by George A. Rico using aged Nicaraguan and Columbian tobaccos from the Gran Habano farms.
Composition of the Gran Reserva #3 consists of an 8 year old wrapper and a 7 year old binder from our Nicaraguan farm “La Santa Cruzâ€. The filler is a mixture of 7 year old Nicaraguan from “La Santa Cruz†and 8 year old Columbian from our “La Joya del Valle†farm. The cigars were rolled in early 2008 and have been aging for the previous two years making the overall components about a decade old.
George A. Rico explains that “Being able to age the leaf and rolled cigars for such a long period of time has created a very rich, smooth, yet complex smoke.â€
Gran Habano will release the new Gran Reserva #3 with a Churchill(7×50), Pyramid (6 1/8×52) and a Gran Robusto (6×54). Due to the long aging process and special tobaccos used only 1,200 boxes of each size will be released across the country. New packaging will also accompany the Gran Reserva #3 to help distinguish it from our original #3 release.
Pricing will remain affordable at $6.80 (Churchill), $6.90 (Gran Robusto), and $7.10 (Pyramid) – not including local taxes. Shipments are scheduled to reach retailers during the first week in November.
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
La Aroma De Cuba Mi Amor
This week, I have two of my friends, Tom and Shawn, help me review the newest La Aroma De Cuba cigar, Mi Amor. This was released this year at IPCPR and is the focus of a cigar shop tour put on my Ashton Cigars. The tour feature a cigar pairing with coconut, dark chocolate, almonds and Zaya rum. Its said that these cigars feature these notes and the pairings help bring out those flavors in the cigar by exposing your palette to them beforehand. We are recording this review at The Cigar Shop in Biloxi, MS who just hosted this La Aroma De Cuba event. I would like to thank them for the hospitality and hopefully you will see more reviews from the shop in the future. So, is this cigar a boom or a bust? Watch the video and find out.
Liga Privada Unico Serie Dirty Rat
The Liga Privada line from Drew Estates has been one of the most successful cigar lines in what I’m calling the new cigar boom. It all started with the No. 9 and then followed by the amazing T52 stalk cured cigar. Steve Saka, the creator of the Liga Privada line, decided to come out with another line extention to the Liga Privada called the Unicos line. I recorded a great interview with Steve at IPCPR this year that you can watch where he gives us the full back ground to this new line and this cigar. The Dirty Rat is the first in this new line. This cigar, a 5 x 44 corona, almost didn’t make it past the prototyping stage because it was cost prohibitive. Luckily, Drew Estates figure out a way to get it to market. So, how does this cigar stack up to its big brothers? Watch the video and find out.
Tatuaje Seleccion de Cazador Petite Cazadores
This is a review I’ve been looking forward to doing since I smoked my first sample. Without saying “like or dislike” I’ll simply state that my reaction to this cigar was not what I expected.
Name: Tatuaje Seleccion de Cazador
Company: Havana Cellars
Wrapper: Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $4.50
Comes in: Box of 50
Vitola: Petite Cazadores (4″ x 40)
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Guillermo Leon Gran Corona
Miami Cigars Company introduced 3 much anticipated cigars this year at IPCPR in New Orleans. The Nestor Miranda Art Deco, La Aurora Corojo and the Guillermo Leon. These cigars were well received by the community and each fit its own niche. This week I review the Guillermo Leon in one of my favorite sizes, gran corona. I smoked several samples at the show, but after the show ended, MCC send reviewers a five pack sampler to try out and give their impressions. The cigar is of normal La Aurora high quality which translates into a great looking cigar that burns really well. The flavors are really great too and the cigar, to me, seemed to be mild-medium in body. I enjoyed the cigar, but I prefer cigar with this similar flavor profile to be stronger. That is a personal preference. Check out the video for more.
Graycliff Hotel 2010 Halloween Package
GRAYCLIFF’S GHOSTLY PIRATE PATROLS THE RAMPARTS!
An 18th century buccaneer still searches for the Captain who took him prisoner
Nassau, Bahamas (September 30, 2010) — Every old estate and castle has a story of intrigue and mayhem, and Graycliff, the 18th-century mansion which is the centerpiece of the fabled 5-Star Graycliff Hotel and Restaurant, is no exception. By all accounts, the Graycliff wraith is focused on finding his tormentor and bringing him to justice, pirate-style. It is supposed to be the spirit of a seaman, captured by Captain Graysmith, the notorious pirate who retired with his riches and built the mansion on a hill. Graysmith needed the hilltop site to afford him a full view of the harbor so that he could inspect his fleet from the comfort of his opulent surroundings. Retired though he was, the pirate in him would brook no confrontation and he ruled his fleet with an iron hand.
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Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S is now the world’s second largest cigar company
After having received the necessary approvals from the relevant competition author-ities, Skandinavisk Holding A/S and Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S on 1 October 2010 closed the transaction with Swedish Match AB which creates the world’s second largest cigar company and an even stronger world leader in pipe tobacco.
On 26 April 2010 it was announced that the parties had signed an agreement to form a new company by combining all the tobacco business of Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S (STG) with the cigars and pipe tobacco business of Swedish Match AB (SM) (with the ex-ception of its US mass market cigars). After having obtained the required approvals from a number of national competition authorities, the transaction has now been completed with effect from 1 October 2010.
The new company carries the name Scandinavian Tobacco Group and has an annual turn-over of approximately MEUR 690 and an EBITDA of approximately MEUR 140 (based on 2009 results). Annually more than 2.5 billion cigars and 1,650 tons of pipe tobacco will leave the Group’s factories in Europe, Asia and Central America. The joint company has approximately 9,700 employees. The new company, which has sales companies in 15 countries, is market leader in a num-ber of countries in Europe within cigars and pipe tobacco and holds more than 30% of the US premium cigar market. The company’s leading cigar brands include Café Crème, La Paz, Henri Wintermans, Colts, Mercator, Macanudo, CAO, Partagas (US), Cohiba (US) and Punch (US). Leading pipe tobacco brands are Erinmore, Borkum Riff, Clan, Half&Half, and W.Ø. Larsen.
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CAO La Traviata Maduro
The La Traviata Maduro was introduced at the 2010 IPCPR Trade Show as a line extension of the highly acclaimed La Traviata. CAO retained the same filler and binder blend, only changing the wrapper from an Ecuadorian Habano to a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro. For more information on the story behind La Traviata I highly suggest you take a look at the CAO website.
Name: La Traviata Maduro
Company: CAO
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Pueblo Nuevo, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic
Price: ~$6.00
Comes in: Box of 24
Vitola: Radiante (6×52 Toro)
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Avo Heritage Short Robusto
At this year’s IPCPR, Avo Cigars introduced a new cigar to their line. It was somewhat of a departure from the other Avo cigars in that it would be stronger and less expensive than the rest of of the lines. That cigar is the Avo Heritage. I was given a sample of this cigar at the show by Edward Simon and immediately sparked it up. It was so enjoyable that I took a break in the Avo Lounge the had set up until the cigar was down to the nub. Needless to say, this was one of the best cigars of the show for me and I wasn’t alone thinking this. If you haven’t seen it yet, Edward was gracious enough to take some time out to give me a video interview which he talks about the cigar in detail which I posted on the site several weeks ago. Finally, I was able to get a full review up. How does this cigar stack up to the other Avo cigars? Watch the video and find out.
