General Cigar Dominicana

The fourth release of General Cigar Co.’s Weller by Cohiba series features a blend that uses a binder aged in barrels that once held Weller Full Proof Bourbon. It’s offered in a lone 6 x 50 toro size that comes packaged in fancy tubes and boxes.

Like the Macanudo Estate Reserve Flint Knoll No. 2, the cigar is a 7 x 52 Churchill. Some of the tobacco spent time aging in barrels that once held Flint Knoll’s Royal Appointment Cabernet Sauvignon 2021.

The binder gets aged in the barrels that held the elusive 114 proof spirit, which helps impart a bourbon flavor into the profile. The packaging also gets an update to match the color scheme of the Weller Full Proof bottles.

General Cigar Co. says that this is the first premium cigar to use tobaccos from South Africa and Zimbabwe. Thunder Smoke will ship to stores in early September.

The name of the person who made each cigar is printed on a secondary band. This release is limited to less than 20,000 cigars.

This is a sophomore release for the Macanudo Inspirado Brazilian Shade, which debuted in 2021. The blend is based around a Connecticut-seed tobacco that is grown under shade in the Bahia region of Brazil.

For the 2024 release of Macanudo Gold Label, seven sizes return and there’s the new Golden Fig, a 6 x 49 perfecto.

It’s the first time a Sancho Panza release has been made in the Dominican Republic.

The line gets its name for the hybrid-seed binder developed for the blend.

Nearly two years after the original review, it’s time to see how some rest has treated this high-end cigar.

It’s a deeper exploration of the effects of barrel aging on tobacco.