Once again, “Forbidden Johnny” Soyak is back with his creation, Cigar in the Bottle, along with a brand new accolade to add to his cap.
While the liquor and the cigar encased in the bottle remain the same—the latter is a 6 x52 Vartan custom cigar blended by Hendrik Kelner and aged for five years—Cigar in the Bottle picked up a brand new award. Specifically, the Grand Pommier XS VOSP Cognac won a silver medal at the 2021 L.A. Spirits Awards, the second time in a row the company has won that specific award.
Drew Estate is the sponsor of halfwheel's coverage of the 2021 PCA Convention & Trade Show
I have worn many hats in my life up to this point: I started out as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, then transitioned to photographing weddings—both internationally and in the U.S.—for more than a decade. After realizing that there was a need for a cigar website containing better photographs and more in-depth information about each release, I founded my first cigar blog, SmokingStogie, in 2008. 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, and it was one of the predecessors to halfwheel, which I co-founded.