halfwheel

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 Serie V Maduro Diadema

Today’s review is the last in our event-only Oliva sampler series, the Oliva Serie V Maduro Diadema. Last July we announced the sampler that would be offered at some of the upcoming Oliva events. It featured five new cigars – four new sizes for existing lines and one test blend. These samplers have become staples [...]

Review: La Flor Dominicana Mystery

Last month, La Flor Dominicana announced a new cigar called the “Mystery Cigar” that would be given out and sold exclusively at specific events in 2013. Details on the blend are being purposely kept secret, as are total production numbers and even if it will be released again in the future. The press release had [...]

Redux: 262 Manifesto

Introduced as a call to action in protest of governmental regulation of tobacco and smoking bans, the 262 Manifesto was released on February 7, 2012, the 50-year anniversary of the start of the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Only 262 boxes of 10 cigars each were released with 10 stores getting only 26 boxes each to [...]

Review: Illusione *R* Rothchildes (Prerelease)

In late 2012, murmurs started that Dion Giolito would have a new Illusione, the Illusione *R* Rothchildes. It was supposed to be a completely separate project from the La Grand Classe release, which at the time had just shipped. But there were a lot of similarities from the initial details: Nicaraguan filler and Mexican San [...]

Review: Bolívar 681 (ER Bulgaria 2011)

On November 11, 2011, Habanos S.A. officially released the Bolívar 681, the first Edición Regional for the country of Bulgaria, at a formal dinner held at the Kaliman Caribe restaurant.  The press release tells the story:  Bolivar 681, a mild-to-strong taste habano that was around between the 1960s and 1990s within the Partagas portfolio, was picked [...]

Redux: Intemperance BA XXI The Intrigue

A little over a year ago we provided an early look at the second release for Skip Martin and Michael Rosales’ RoMa Craft Tobac. To say the duos freshman and sophomore releases were a stark contrast is an understatement. Whereas CroMagnon is known for its grittiness and power, Intemperance is a line noted for finesse. [...]

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: E.P. Carrillo Smokin’ Joe’s Lounge Exclusive

On February 20, Smokin’ Joe’s in Alcoa, Tenn. announced that it had just received the initial shipment of a new E.P. Carrillo Lounge Exclusive made just for them, the first E.P. Carrillo branded lounge in the world. The store added the E.P. Carrillo lounge in late fall of 2012, outfitting it with leather massage recliners, [...]