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Review: Herrera Esteli Toro Especial (Prerelease)

At IPCPR 2012 in Orlando, Florida in August, Drew Estate introduced a new brand made by Willy Herrera, formally of El Titan de Bronze fame. Herrera joined the Drew Estate team in June of 2011 and has been working on the blend bearing his name ever since. The press release about his arrival gives all of the [...]

Review: Cain Daytona NUb 460

Today we’re taking a look at the Cain Daytona NUb which was only available in raffles at STUDIO TOBAC events. The NUb size was first introduced back in 2008 and slowly started being introduced as available sizes in the Cain line. First, the Cain Habano and Maduro blends were released in NUb form and the [...]

Review: OpusX Toast Across America Figurado (2012)

Every year for the past 10 years, Fuente has partnered with J.C. Newman to produce the Toast Across America release for the pair’s Cigar Family Charitable Foundation. The cigars, which come in a coffin, including one OpusX and one Newman product, for $50 each with the proceeds from the sales benefit the foundation. Patrick’s review of the Diamond Crown [...]

Review: La Grand Classe

There wasn’t a ton of fanfare for the release of Dion Giolito’s latest cigar, La Grand Classe, when it came out in late November. A Tweet from FUMARE was sent out the morning it became available, and as of this writing it has yet to be mentioned on the Illusione Twitter account since being released on November 27. The [...]

Review: Liga Privada Único Serie Papas Fritas (Prerelease)

If I were to do a Top 10 list simply based off of the amount of a particular cigar I smoked in the past year, finding number one would be easy. Over the course of the last 15 months, I have smoked through bundles of the newest Liga Privada, the Único Serie Papas Fritas. A [...]

Review: Diamond Crown Julius Caeser Toast Across America Figurado (2012)

2012 marks the 10th year of the Toast Across America, Arturo Fuente and the J.C. Newman Cigar Co.’s limited edition two-pack for the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation. The charity, a venture between the two companies and families, aims to provide a significant humanitarian impact to communities in the Dominican Republic resulting in a better quality of [...]

Redux: Tatuaje Black Label Tubo

Back in late 2009, Pete Johnson of Tatuaje released his first tubed cigar in two lines: Verocú and the famed Black Label Private Reserve. At the time, it was the fourth version of the Black Label to be released, although the number at last count now is ten total.  Here is what I said about the [...]

Review: Tatuaje HCS #1 Reserva

In late October, Pete Johnson introduced his newest Broadleaf-wrapped cigar, the Tatuaje HCS #1 Reserva for Holt’s. It is arguably the least-talked about Connecticut Broadleaf release for Havana Cellars this year, although the La Casita Criolla HCR makes a compelling case as well. We covered the details in a mid-October news story: Philadelphia-based Holt’s will [...]

Review: Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2012

In 2011, Miami Cigar & Co. released the first edition of the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve at the IPCPR show in Las Vegas, Nev. While it is the exact same vitola and size, the 2012 version of the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve is said to be Miami Cigar’s strongest release to date, mostly due to the ligero that has [...]

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 [...]