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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.

Cohiba Millennium Reserve Pirámides

In early 1999, Habanos S.A. released three different cigars from three different marcas under the Reserva del Milenio (Millennium Reserve Series) to celebrate the Millennium during the…

Partagás Dunhill Selección Suprema No. 281 (1950s)

About two years ago, a good friend of mine called me up and told me he had purchased a sealed box of Dunhill Selección Supremas…

OpusX Phantom (1994)

In late 1995, the Fuente Fuente OpusX cigars was officially released for the first time in seven different vitolas. They were an instant success and…

Viaje White Label Project Stuffed Turkey White Meat

In November of 2011, Viaje released the WLP Stuffed Turkey, a cigar created based on a conversation with Stogie Review’ Jerry Cruz. The Stuffed Turkey…

Taboada Gran Sublime

The cigar world lost a legend two weeks ago when famed Cuban roller Rodolfo “Taboada” Campa suffered a heart attack and passed away at the age…

Drew Estate BOTL.org 2012

In July of 2010, Pinar Del Río released 4,000 cigars for the  BOTL.org (Brothers of the Leaf) forum. Dubbed the Pinar Del Río BOTL.org Small Batch 2010,…

My Father S Special

Back in May of 2012 I reviewed the My Father S Special, a cigar that is only given out with box purchases at My Father…

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….

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…

Announcement: Holiday Party at Elite Cigar Cafe

On Friday December 21, halfwheel’s editors (Brooks Whittington and Charlie Minato) and writer Brian Burt will be at Elite Cigar Cafe in Addison, TX for…

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…