Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Rothschild
Size : 115 x 20 mm (4 1/2 x 50)
Ring : 50
Wrapper : Cameroon
Binder : Dominican Republic
Filler : Dominican Republic
Hand-Made
Price : ~$15 each in Canada, ~$4 each in the US
More info about purchasing Arturo Fuente Rothschild cigars...

I was sitting at my computer when I realized that the date was February 29th, Leap Day, and I thought that I should have a cigar since my next chance to have one on a leap day would not be for another four years. I looked in my humidor and realized that I wasn’t in the mood for anything I currently have so I quickly ran down to my local tobacconist before closing time to choose out a leap day cigar. The cigar I chose was the Arturo Fuente Rothschild.

Read the full review of Arturo Fuente Rothschild...

Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Brillantes (Robusto)
Size : 5 x 50
Wrapper : Connecticut Shade (Ecuador)
Filler : Nicaraguan & Dominican
Binder : Nicaraguan
Hand-Made
Price : $5 each
More info about purchasing EP Carrillo New Wave Connecticut...

I love cigars. Be it mild Connecticut Shade or spicy Corojo, my taste runs the gamut of cigar flavor profiles. But I am also a very picky cigar smoker. This can lead to exuberant exclamations of praise, or acts of vocal vilification. I’m passionate about cigars and I’m never at a loss of words when asked for my opinion. So, when we talked about reviewing cigars with Denis, I warned him upfront that anything could happen. He was cool with that. Now that the disclaimer of out of the way, I can proceed with my review of the E.P. Carrillo New Wave Connecticut, Brillantes.

Read the full review of EP Carrillo New Wave Connecticut Brillantes...

Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Corona Gorda
Size : 6 x 60
Wrapper : Ecuadorian Habano
Binder : Nicaragua
Filler : Dominican Republic
Hand-Made
Price : ~$14 each

Hello all! It has been a long time since we, The Tollaficionados have set forth our opinions on some of the fine smokes available on the market today. Busy – Busy, and we apologize. But fear not, though the qualities of said smokes (or lack thereof) have not been etched into the walls of time by us as of late, we have in fact kept up on the goings-on of the industry and have made plenty of time to enjoy lots of smokes together.

Our return at this time was spurred on for 2 reasons: 1) It gave Father & Son some more bonding time (and on Super Bowl Sunday to boot!), 2) The cigar that we chose to enjoy is the Montecristo New York Connoisseur Edition, only recently available through brick & mortar shops in the fine state in which we reside.

Read the full review of Montecristo New York Connoisseur Edition...

Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Churchill
Size : 7 x 54
Wrapper : Nicaragua
Filler : Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Binder : Dominican Republic
Hand-Made
Price : ~$11.00 each
More info about purchasing Gurkha Cellar Reserve cigars...

In 1989 Kaizad Hansotia purchased a small cigar company called Gurkha, named after Nepalese warriors whose bravery impressed the British soldiers, for a paltry sum of $143. He intended the cigars to be unique gifts given to customers of his family’s watch business. Twenty-three years later, this growing boutique brand produces over two dozen distinct blends and recently released a new line called the Cellar Reserve.

The name and packaging of the Cellar Reserve Churchill elicits vivid imagery of rolling green hillsides marked with crisp rows of grape vines bursting through the earth and perhaps even gracefully shimmering in a gentle summer breeze. Despite outward appearances the contents of this box did not originate from the gravelly soil of a renowned French chateau. In fact, it is an obscure pairing of tobacco from disparate farms isolated geographically by miles of ocean that gave birth to the Gurkha Cellar Reserve Prisoner Churchill. The oily Criollo wrapper is mottled with a few medium sized veins but rolled nicely with tight seams. A grandiose band holds an overwhelming amount of unnecessary text but is easy to remove.

Read the full review of Gurkha Cellar Reserve Prisoner Churchill...

Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Box-pressed toro
Size : 6 x 54
Wrapper : San Andres Mexico
Binder : ?
Filler : Honduras, Nicaragua
Hand-Made
Price : ~$7.5 each
More info about purchasing Romeo y Julieta Viejo cigars...

Until recently, I was never a huge fan of cigars made by the Dominican Romeo y Julieta. Then I was introduced to the Reserve Real. Ever since I smoked a couple of those, I have made those a cigar that I smoke regularly on the weekends. Then I was introduced to the Viejo. I was told that if I liked the Reserve Reals, I would like these as well. So I had fairly high hopes for this cigar.

Read the full review of Romeo y Julieta Viejo “E”...

Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Toro
Size : 5.8 x 52
Wrapper : Ecuadorian Habano
Filler : Nicaraguan & Dominican
Binder : Nicaraguan
Hand-Made
Price : $6.50 each
More info about purchasing EP Carrillo Club 52 cigars...

After a week of fighting a cold and not being able to enjoy a nice cigar, I had the chance to light up a couple cigars this weekend. Saturday morning I woke nice and early and decided to start the day off with this cigar. E.P. Carrillo cigars are making their way into stores around my area, so these are still rare for the most part.

Read the full review of EP Carrillo Club 52...

Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Club
Size : 5 3/4 x 47
Wrapper : Honduran (Connecticut seed)
Filler : Nicaraguan & Dominican
Binder : Nicaraguan & Mexican
Hand-Made
Price : $7 each
More info about purchasing LGC Artesanos Retro Especiale...

La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale, the newest line from Team La Gloria, spent eight years in the making. This line features a brand new, golden wrapper which was the result of two years of development and cultivation. The line also features a redesigned band, which manages to take a big step away from the Cubanesque band of earlier LGC lines while still remaining true to the same general design. In general, I found the Artesanos Retro Especiale to be a tasty smoke initially, but each sample that I smoked seemed to lose its character about halfway through.

Read the full review of La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale...

Origin : Dominican Republic (Oliveros factory)
Format : Robusto
Size : 5 x 50
Wrapper : Habano (Dominican grown)
Filler : Dominican
Binder : Dominican
Hand-Made
Price : $7 each
More info about purchasing Aging Room cigars...

Cigar ratings… whether we agree with them or not, often guide us in our pursuits of the perfect puro; and when Cigar Insider gives an entire cigar line high marks, my curiosity gets really piqued. Such was the case with the Aging Room Small Batch M356 cigar.

Being a fan of the “old school” robusto size, I chose to sample the Rondo vitola (5×50).[i] I figured the cigar would be strong as ALL Cigar Aficionado ratings are skewed that way, yet I was not prepared for what the M356 had in store. But first the usual review stuff:

The M356 Rondo is a perfectly constructed cigar. No soft spots, nice weight in the hand, and a perfect draw. The cap is tightly wound and keeps its shape long after the guillotine cut. Its burn is as good as it gets, with an ash that just doesn’t want to drop. I’ve never smoked a cigar with a better burn.

Read the full review of Aging Room Small Batch M356...