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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 [...]

Review: Four Kicks Mule Kick

By now the brand Crowned Heads and their Four Kicks line are a well known among boutique cigar lovers. However if you’re unfamiliar with them let’s take a look back at what Brooks had to say about them in his Four Kicks prerelease reviewlast year: In November of 2010, C.A.O. Director of Lifestyle Marketing Jon Huber decided to [...]

Review: Tatuaje Black Label Corona Gorda

One of Tatuaje’s most coveted and talked about blends is the Private Reserve, otherwise known as the Black Label blend. Ever since the original release of the foil wrapped Corona Gordas with covered feet in ceramic jars back in 2008, it has become one of the hottest releases Pete Johnson has produced, and now has ten different cigars in the line. I described the history of [...]

Review: My Father Limited Edition 2012

Back into 2010, My Father Cigars announced an extremely unique release, the My Father Limited Edition 2010. Each cigar came in its own individual coffin and each was rolled by José “Don Pepín” García and bunched by Jaime García. The blend also used the famed Pelo de Oro leaf, a tobacco strain that is notoriously [...]

Redux: AVO Heritage Short Corona

Earlier this year, AVO released the latest size of its popular price-conscious Heritage line, the Short Corona. The 3 x 5/8 x 43 Parejo was just another in the growing portfolio of smaller sizes from Davidoff brands. Despite my overall appreciation for the line, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the Short Corona on its debut. [...]

Review: J. Fuego Edición de Familia Belicoso Fino

Jesus Fuego announced that he would be venturing into the ‘ultra-premium’ cigar market via a post on CigarBrief.com in March 2012, where he released the first details about the cigar. After occasional photos on Facebook and some samples that were stealthily given out during IPCPR provided a bit more detail, they have been released to one [...]

Review: CroMagnon Atlatl

While at the IPCPR show earlier in the year, the folks at RoMa Craft handed us a sample of a new vitola they were playing with, the CroMagnon Atlatl or CroMagnon Lancero. While the Atlatls in both the CroMagnon and Aquitaine blends have been handed out at various events for the last few months, they have [...]