Weekly News (Dec. 11, 2023)

As a reminder, voting in our inaugural Reader’s Choice Award for the best cigar of 2023 is open. You can submit a nomination by clicking here.

Montecristo L’Esprit Humidor Being Released This Week

Three hours after I landed in Havana, Cuba to start my coverage of the Festival del Habano XXIII, I was standing on the outside balcony at the Hotel Packard, looking at three humidors holding a new size for Habanos S.A.’s Montecristo line. The Montecristo L’Esprit collection is inspired by Alexandre Dumas’ novel, The Count of Montecristo, while also recognizing the 150th anniversary of S.T. Dupont. It includes three different humidors, priced at CHF 29,000 ($32,920) each—along with lighters, cutters and ashtrays—that are named Le Crépuscule, La Nuit and L’Aurore after the three different stages of night.

Luciano Cigars Releasing Underrated In January

My review of the Aladino Sumatra Toro began by stating that experimentation can be a large part of developing new cigar lines, and the recently-announced Underrated is a great example of that idea. The cigar incorporates a Mexican San Andrés wrapper covering a binder grown in Nicaragua, but the filler is made up of a blend that contains two types of tobacco that are usually used as wrappers—Connecticut broadleaf and Ecuadorian HVA—along with medio tiempo grown in Nicaragua’s Pueblo Nuevo region that had to be harvested earlier than planned due to heavy rains during the 2020-21 crop year.

Rocky Patel Ships Conviction, A $100 Cigar

Fifteen years ago, cigars priced at $100 were virtually unheard of: sure, you had the Gurkha His Majesty’s Reserve and a plethera of Habanos S.A. limited releases, but that was basically where your options ended.

Last week, Rocky Patel joined the short list of manufacturers when it started shipping Conviction, a 6 1/2 x 52 box-pressed toro extra made with a Mexican San Andrés wrapper covering Nicaraguan tobacco in both the binder and filler. Rocky Patel—the man, not the company—also says the wrappers were aged for four years in tercios, a bundle of tobacco wrapped inside of royal palm leaves.

Cigar News

• Black Label Trading Co. Announces Price Increase for 2024
• Casa de Montecristo Closing Webster, Texas Location at the End of December
• Cayman Cigar Co. Turns to TABACALERA LA iSLA for The Caravel
• Christian Eiroa Replacing Mike Conder on PCA’s Executive Committee
• Cigars International Plans Pittsburgh Area Store
• David J. Swinburne Named President and CEO of Sans Pareil
• El Rey del Mundo Royal Series & Por Larrañaga Fénix Debut in Cyprus
• Esteban Carreras Announces Price Increase for 2024
• Freud Cigar Co.’s SuperEgo Line Gets Belicoso
• Gurkha Ships Beauty 25th Anniversary
• Perdomo Informs Retailers of Price Increase for 2024
• Quality Importers Releases Stinky Cigar One-Piece Ashtray
• Viaje Holiday Blend Candy Cane and Farmer Bill Hatchet Holiday Edition Coming This Month

Regulations

Federal

• FDA Appeals Graphic Warning Ban — via Reuters
• House Resolution Introduced to Exempt Premium Cigars from FDA Regulation
• White House Delays FDA’s Flavored Cigar, Menthol Cigarette Bans Until 2024

International

• Slovakia’s Proposed Budget Would Raise Cigar Tax from €89.3/kg to €139/kg as of Feb. 1, 2026

State

• Bill Seeks to Ban Flavored Tobacco & Vaping Sales in Michigan
• New Jersey Casino Smoking Ban Bill Hits Snag in Committee Hearing — via ShoreLocalNews.com

Local

• Hawaii Island’s County Council Considering Flavored Tobacco Products Ban — via KITV.com
• St. Paul, Minn. Considering Ordinance That Would Drastically Reduce the Number of Tobacco Retailer Licenses — via KSTP.com

Reviews

• Aladino Sumatra Toro
• Black Label Trading Co. Bishops Blend Novemdiales Robusto
• Kristoff Tres Compadres Toro
• Sixty by Rocky Patel Bala
• Viaje C-4 (2013)
• Villiger TAA Exclusive 2023

Deals From Our Sponsors

• Atlantic Cigar Co: Crowned Heads Mil Dias Marranitos E648 Edicion Limitada 2023 — While I have not smoked this specific vitola, the Mil Dias is a very good blend, and this box selling for 50 percent of its normal price is a steal.
• Cigar Hustler: Neanderthal C3 — Neanderthal is one of RoMa Craft Tobac’s strongest blends but also one of its most flavorful.
• Cigars Direct: M81 Blackened Corona — The M81 is one of those releases that seems to have been lost in the huge universe of Drew Estate products, but it is a good blend at a good price point.
• Corona Cigar Co.: StillWell Star Holiday Y2023 — Steve Saka says he prefers this year’s release to last year’s blend.
• Famous Smoke Shop: Rocky Patel Edge Habano Toro — I have long contended that Rocky Patel’s The Edge line is one of the better values in the cigar world.
• Gotham Cigars: My Father Selection Sampler — A sampler of five different My Father releases—including the excellent Don Pepin Garcia Original Blue—as well as a My Father-branded cutter and single-flame lighter.
• JR Cigars: Oliva Serie V Exclusive Double Robusto Box-Pressed — The Serie V blend is a classic, and getting five of them for under $30 is a good value.
• LM Cigars: Colibri Chrome Black V-Cutter — Save more than $10 on an extremely good v-cutter. 

Brooks Whittington

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.