Origin : Honduras Format : “Texas” Lancero Size : 7 x 70 Wrapper : Nicaragua Filler : Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras Binder : Indonesia Hand-Made Price : ~$8 each
“Everything’s bigger in Texas.” So goes the saying, and it’s certainly what inspired Alec Bradley to name this massive 7 x 70 monster of a cigar the “Texas Lancero.” Why create such a huge cigar to begin with? According to sales representative Phil Kanaby, it’s what buyers were demanding. Let’s see what it’s like to smoke such a massive cigar.
Room 101 Cigars, the well-known luxury brand maker based in Los Angeles has recently come out with a new cigar line that is named Ichiban. With this series of cigars they will be awarding exclusivity of each vitola to only one retailer. A high honor to say the least. This third addition to the line is called the Ranfla, resembling a bit of a cross between a perfecto and a salamon, and has been awarded to Doc James Tobacconist located in Shrub Oak, NY and Mamaroneck, NY.
In addition to its exclusivity, this line is also a limited run, so if your interest is peaked after reading this it is time for you to stock up your humidors. Now on to the review…
Origin : Honduras Format : Robusto Size : 5 x 50 Wrapper : Brazilian Mata Fina Filler : “4-nation longfiller” Binder : Unknown Hand-Made Price : $5 each
Today we are bringing you a short guest review by El Cigar Newbie, who recently launched his blog at 4madur0.wordpress.com. Enjoy!
My much awaited 10Pk of The Judge by J Fuego Blind Justice Maduro, was delivered today from famous-smoke.com @ $39.99.
Right out of the bubble wrap I took one out of the cellophane wrapper and lit up. I will take a moment to provide a little background, for those of us who are new to J. Fuego cigars, like me!
“The Fuego family has been in the business of growing, blending, and making cigars for five generations. Established in 1876, J Fuego was founded as a leaf growing company in “El Corojo” farm, Cuba. In 1995, the family moved to Central America and in 2006, after years growing, blending and producing cigars for other companies, Jesus Fuego launched “Tobacos S.A.” with the release of the “J Fuego brand…” (jfuego.com).
The Judge cigars are brand new exclusives you can only find at Famous-Smoke Shop. The blend was crafted by no other than Jesus Fuego.
The Mata Fina is named after where it is grown, is a reference to one of the four major growing zones in Brazil.
This cigar is GOOD! Such a smooth draw, even burn and stayed that way to the end, consistent full tobacco flavor with a medium body of taste and aroma. The Judge Blind Justice is not finished with me yet! That’s just a sample of what this cigar will smoke like after some time in my humidor! My first J. Fuego cigar and it was a purchase well worth making.
Origin : Nicaragua Format : Toro & Gordo Size : 6 x 50 & 6 x 60 Wrapper : Honduran Colorado Habano Filler : Nicaraguan and Honduran Binder : Honduran Sumatra Hand-Made Price : N/A
I recently had the fortune of being sent a couple of sample cigars by the new Canadian cigar brand Dominion Cigar. Dominion is based in New Westminster, British Columbia, which makes them an incredibly unique company in the cigar world. Here’s what Steve, their owner, has to say about the challenges of starting up a cigar brand in Canada:
“There are a number of cigar distributors that distribute other cigar brands in Canada, Cuban mostly; Dominion Cigar is the only company tackling launching its own developed brand Canada wide. It’s been one major battle every step of the way, jumping through red tape hoops the Canadian Federal and Provincial Governments put in our way. I truly understand why there isn’t any other Canadian companies at this point, well and of course the absolute crazy tax structure the government has in place on tobacco products.”
My hat is off to you, sir! It seems like cigar companies always have interesting stories behind them, and Dominion is no exception. Dominion seems like it’s off to a great start with the Dominion Black Lotus. The Black Lotus is blended out of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacco, and manufactured in Danli, Honduras. Ralph Montero of Alec Bradley had a hand in putting together this blend.
I was sent a couple of different sizes, the Toro and the Gordo, as well as a very nice complimentary ashtray. For this review I smoked the Toro since I’m more comfortable with this format than the 60-ring gauge Gordo.
Steve generously provided a beautiful Dominion ashtray along with two cigars to give away to one of our readers. Just leave a comment on this post to enter the competition. That’s it! We’ll announce the winner in one week.
Contest open internationally, you must be of legal age to smoke cigars in order to enter. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss the winner announcement and other contests (there are more giveaways coming up in the next weeks!).
Origin : Honduras Format : Robusto Size : 5” x 54’ Wrapper : Ecuador Filler : Dom. Rep./Honduras Binder : Honduras Hand-Made Price : $4.25 each
Believe it or not I had some trouble finding current information about the non-Cuban version of the El Rey del Mundo cigar brand. El Rey del Mundo, meaning “King of the World,” used to be made by Villazon & Co. (owned by General Cigar) in Honduras, but it seems like in the end of 2009 operations in Honduras were stopped. Are these now being produced in Nicaragua?
The packaging of this cigar is impressive. The cigars are individually wrapped in tissue paper with the band on the outside.
Origin : Honduras Format : Corona Size : 5.5 x 44 Wrapper : Honduran Criollo Filler : Honduran Criollo and Dominican Piloto Cubano Binder : Honduran Hand-Made Price : ~$5 each
Just before the IPCPR trade show in 2013, Camacho Cigars launched an aggressive makeover of their line in a campaign they called the “bold standard.” While a complete re-branding has been part of this campaign, the changes in Camacho’s lines are more than band-deep. The blends have also been consolidated and transformed, with Camacho choosing to focus on just seven different cigar lines (excluding special & limited editions). Camacho Criollo is one of those regular lines, available in seven different sizes: Robusto, Corona, Toro, Figurado, Gigante, Churchill, and Robusto Tubos. I had the chance to try the Camacho Criollo Corona.
Origin : Honduras Format : Robusto Size : 5 ½ x 50 Wrapper : Ecuadorian Sungrown Sumatra Filler : Dom. Rep. & Nicaraguan Binder : Nicaraguan Hand-Made Price : $6-7 each
This week I decided to go with a cigar I haven’t smoked for about 4 years. For some reason the Rocky Patel Sungrown Robusto really caught my eye in the shop the other day, so I decided to pick a few up.
Rocky Patel has truly made his mark in the cigar world. Through hard work and hours of travel/promotion his name is one of the most sought after in the premium cigar market. With over 30 different blends to his name, Rocky Patel hits the cigar industry at every level for all aficionados. Everything from a $4.00 Nicarao to his $12.00 RP Decade there are possibilities for all budgets and palates.
Origin : Honduras Format : Toro Size : 6 x 52 Wrapper : Ecuadorian Habano Ligero Filler : Nicaraguan & Honduran Ligero Binder : Nicaraguan Strength : Full Hand-Made Price : ~$9 each
Construction
CAO has long been known for its unique blends featuring small batch and specialty tobaccos to create new and interesting smoking experiences. Extreme, the newest line from CAO, features ligero fillers grown in Estelí and La Entrada. The wrapper is a deep brown Ecuadorian Habano ligero leaf. Concealing the majority of the wrapper leaf is a large black and orange band. Underneath the large band, the Ecuadorian Habano Ligero wrapper is dark and oily and smooth with a slightly mottled appearance. The length of the six-inch stick is plump and nicely rolled. There are no noticeable soft spots. The thick cap cuts cleanly using my Colibri V Cutter.
