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Redux: Cheveta Habano Toro

In early 2011, Mark Just, owner of Tower Pipes and Cigars purchased the boutique Chaveta cigars, which is produced by Pinar del Rio. While the original blend features a Brazilian Bahia Maduro wrapper over Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, there were 1,000 Toros produced in February of 2012 that replaced the Maduro wrapper with Habano one. [...]

Review: Alec Bradley Filthy Hooligan

In January of 2013, Alec Bradley announced a new release for St. Patrick’s Day, the Dirty Hooligan. Based on the popular Black Market blend, it uses a Candela wrapper from Nicaragua and limited to only 2,000 boxes of 22 cigars. We gave the information in a news story: Alec Bradley has informed retailers of the newest [...]

Review: Oliva Concept Blend OC-001

Concepts, test blends, white labels, pre-production samples – call them what you will, they are often those cigars that smokers hope to get their hands on because they carry an aura of mystery, of something that’s a work in progress. Or in some cases, it shouldn’t even exist – in the days of vinyl records, DJs would [...]

Review: Davidoff Up Down 50th Anniversary

On November 1 and 2, 2012, Up Down Cigar in Chicago, Ill., held events to celebrate the store’s 50th anniversary. On hand to commemorate the milestone was famed Davidoff blender Henke Kelner, who not only attended, but who also ran a blending seminar for those who were present. In addition, the event was the release of [...]

Review: Viva Republica Rapture Maduro Revel (Prerelease)

Back in July, Brooks reviewed a cigar that he came across “tucked inside the La Aurora booth at IPCPR 2012” from a company who had been sending out letters to retailers and media outlets (including halfwheel) announcing Projekt Rapture. The company? Viva Republica. The cigar? The Rapture, which promised “intense flavor with a medium-to-full body.” [...]

Review: Jameson La Resolución Toro (Prerelease)

In July 2012, just a few weeks before the IPCPR Convention and Trade Show, Jameson Cigar Co. announced that they would be adding a new single-vitola line to their portfolio named La Resolución. The cigar’s name comes from a Cuban brand that existed in the mid-1800s but that not much else was known about, other than it used [...]

Review: STUDIO TOBAC Cain Special Release

During the 2012 STUDIO TOBAC Tour, attendees who purchased a box of cigars received a STUDIO TOBAC Limited Edition Sampler 2012, along with a chance to win a box of one of two event only releases: the Cain Special Release or the Cain NUb Daytona 460. Says STUDIO TOBAC Brand Ambassador Bryan Scholle: The Ligero used in this [...]

Review: Viaje Holiday Blend Candy Cane

Several years ago the Viaje Holiday Blend Candy Cane was talked about however multiple delays caused this cigar to be pushed back until this year. We talked about this in a few news stories last month. Patrick had this to say: On Monday afternoon, Andre Farkas of Viaje showed off the new Candy Cane cigar [...]

Review: Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2012

The 2012 release of the Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial is the fifth release of a cigar that has become a must-purchase for many cigar smokers. An annual chance to take the very popular Serie V for a bit of a different spin, the cigar has gone through a fair amount of changes in its brief history. The [...]

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 [...]