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Brooks Whittington

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About the author

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.

La Palina Bill’s Blend TAA 2016

In March, the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA) held its annual meeting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, an while cigar exclusives for the group are nothing new,…

Viaje Zombie Biohazard Green

Less than two months after releasing four new cigars in its Zombie lineup, Viaje Cigars shipped two additional releases that had never been seen before: the…

Portraits: Kyle Gellis

In 2014, a blast from the past returned to the cigar industry. It wasn’t that long since Kyle Gellis had been selling cigars under the…

Toraño Vault TM-027 Robusto

Almost two years after General Cigar Co. purchased the Toraño portfolio, the company announced the details of four new blends under the Vault name in…

Hoyo de Monterrey Hermosos No.4 Añejados

Last year, Habanos S.A. released the first two cigars in a new series named Añejados, the Romeo y Julieta Píramides Añejados and the Montecristo Churchills Añejados. According…

Perfdog

Founded in January 2015, Cigar Perforator is a relatively new company that produces the Perfdog, a tool that essentially combines small spikes in a easily…

Buenaventura NACS 5

Earlier this year, Curivari shipped the third exclusive release in its Buenaventura blend, which was released at an event on May 21. Named the Buenaventura NACS 5,…

Gurkha Sniper

In 2011, Gurkha Cigars released the Spec Ops No. 1, a 7 1/2 x 52 toro extra made with a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and Nicaraguan and Dominican…

Yellow Rose

Between October 2014 and March 2015, Crowned Heads = released three different cigars made exclusively for a singular state, each sans a traditional band and each with the…

HVC Pan Caliente

On April 22, HVC Cigars debuted a new release during an event that took place at Plainfield, Ill.-based Burning Leaf Cigars. Named Pan Caliente, the…

La Flor Dominicana Texas Cigar Festival 2016

In 2013, La Flor Dominicana announced the first in what would become an annual release made exclusively for the Texas Cigar Festival at Serious Cigars…