A few years ago David Blanco from Blanco Cigars met Johan Kelch and his daughter Mariska. Together with wife and mother Wil, they ran the renowned shop Tabakado in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. A relationship developed and two and a half years ago David gave the father daughter team a shot in creating their own blend.

The first blend was something for the novice cigar smoker, mild and easy on the palate, but now there is El Piño Blanco. The El Piño Blanco is blended by Mariska, unfortunately Johan did’t get to be a part of the project since he passed away tragically. These cigars, available in Maduro and Corojo, have more strength and character than the previous blend. The cigars contain Nicaraguan and Honduran filler, a Sumatra binder and a Corojo or a Maduro wrapper from Honduras. Plasencia is responsible for the production of the cigars.

There is a story behind the name El Piño Blanco. Mariska was in Nicaragua when the social uprising started, and on the way to Managua airport her group got caught up in a protest. David Blanco, who was driving the car, had to pull stunts like Jason Statham in The Transporter to get out safe. Driving backwards at full speed, turning the car around and get the hell out of the riots to keep everybody out of trouble. The hashtag #letsgetpino aka let’s get crazy started, and the name El Piño Blanco was born.

Now you might expect that the cigars would be a store exclusive, but no. Other shops in The Netherlands can order and sell the cigars too via Blanco Cigars distributer Cigar Agent. There are currently three vitolas available, Corona, Robusto and Toro which sell for €5,00 €5,50 and €6,00 fixed price. If you are curious but don’t live in The Netherlands, Tabakado has a webshop and they do ship internationally.

From January we will start posting reviews, we plan to smoke both blends and publish our thoughts.