halfwheel

Review: Dante Canto I: The Imp (Prerelease)

In 1857—156 years ago—Dante became one of the first brands to use lithographed labels. It is the same brand also credited as being the first to market their product with pictorial labels. Fast forward to 2013 and a new Dante brand is being released next week. Owned and distributed by Mike Huff and Mo Fakhro, who [...]

Redux: La Palina Goldie Laguito No. 2

In the summer of 2012, La Palina released the Goldie Laguito No. 2, a 6 x 38 Petit Lancero rolled by a single person, Maria Sierra, who was one of the first women trained to roll cigars in Cuba. Named after Goldie Drell Paley, who was the wife of the founder Sam Paley. Only 1,000 boxes of 10 [...]

Review: Crémo Classic Maduro Intrepidus (Prerelease)

After releasing their Classic line in 2011, Crémo Cigars made its official IPCPR debut in 2012, at which time Crémo also followed up on its promise to deliver a Maduro version of its Classic line, which was reviewed on halfwheel in November 2011. Crémo remains off the radar for many cigar smokers due to the [...]

Review: El Primer Mundo Clase Reserva

Earlier this year, Sean Williams began shipping his newest cigar, the El Primer Mundo Clase Reserva. It debuted alongside La Hermandad, which was shown off nationally at IPCPR 2012 in July. We covered the basics in May: The cigar is made at El Titan de Bronze in Calle Ocho alongside the Liga Miami, but will [...]

Review: Chinnock Cellars Terroir (2012)

Following up on last year’s introduction of his limited release blend called the Terroir, Brian Chinnock of Chinnock Cellars Cigars unveiled the 2012 edition of the Terroir at the IPCPR convention and trade show in August. News of the cigar came out in late June, and you can read our story about it here. The 2012 edition [...]

Review: Padilla Invictus Toro (Prerelease)

As part of the complete overhaul of his company’s offerings, Ernesto Padilla will be releasing a foursome of new cigars this summer, one of which is the Miami-made Invictus. Made at El Titan de Bronze, the Padilla Invictus will be rb, each with an initial production of 100 ten-count boxes: Robusto (5 x 54) — $12.50 (Boxes [...]

Review: Padilla Miami Maduro Robusto (Prerelease)

A few months ago, Ernesto Padilla announced he was—for lack of a better term—blowing up his portfolio. Gone were the staples such as 1932 and Miami, as well as new lines such as Artemis and Dominus. While the La Terraza and Legacies, both introduced last year, will continue to be made—Padilla is introducing a series [...]

Review: La Palina Goldie Laguito No. 2

In June of this year, La Palina announced a new vitola in its Collection series. Dubbed the “Goldie”, it is a 6 x 38 Petite Lancero which is named after Goldie Drell Paley, who was the wife of the founder of La Palina cigars Sam Paley. Here is a little bit of history about the [...]

Review: Casa de Montecristo B-56

The story of the Casa de Montecristo B-56 goes like this: Sam Khalil, owner of Casa de Montecristo in Chicago, was in Miami in February with one of his sales reps who introduced him to “an old Cuban guy” that was supposedly amongst the first person to roll Cuban Behike BHKs. Fast forward a bit and [...]

Review: Los Hermanos Miami Edition Box-Pressed Robusto (Prerelease)

When reviewing the Los Hermanos Robusto in November of last year, one of the new vitolas that Atlantic Cigar was thinking of producing in 2012 was a limited edition box-pressed Robusto. They did eventually decide to go through with that plan, and produce not only that size, but a Corona Gorda as well. But first, [...]