My journey to the Protocol Cyber Crimes Unit goes back, way back. I was still living in Miami when the concept branding for Protocol Cigars was created. Shortly after I moved to New Hampshire and if you’re familiar with that podcast I was on, every year around this time of year the host of the show would go on a tirade about a cigar with a wick at the end. I think the one thing […]
The Black Label Trading Company Orthodox is an exclusive cigar that was made available only to retailers who attending the PCA 2024 trade show that occurred in March in Las Vegas. Available in three sizes; Short Robusto (4.5 x 52 / $12.50), Corona Gorda (5 x 46 / $12.50) and Toro (5 3/4 x 50 / $13.00). Each size is limited to 900 boxes. According to James Brown, creator of Black Label Trading Co./Black Works […]
The Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 3 is the latest release of a brand that was almost dead. In July 2019, Rafael Nodal and his team at Altadis USA resurrected a brand that was barely alive with the release of the Trinidad Espiritu No. 1. The history of the brand dates back to 1905 in Cuba. In 1920, Diego Trinidad Jr. took over the family business, incorporated it in 1958 and renamed it TTT Trinidad. Then […]
The Wise Man Maduro like the Wise Man Corojo was re-branded and re-blended for 2024. Foundation Cigars the company that makes these lines took the production of one of their signature cigars from Aganorsa Leaf and moved production down the road to My Father Cigars S.A. No official reason for the change was given but Foundation has ceased all production with the former. Whenever a company makes a totally new cigar of an existing brand […]
Born in 1903, the La Aurora 120th Anniversary celebrates the birth of the first Dominic Republic cigar factory. For La Aurora it has been a roller coaster of a ride. For me the cigar factory was first on my radar at the first cigar blog I ran called acigarsmoker.com when I was invited down to the Dominican Republic for a factory tour. I went down with a lot of cigar smokers who were bloggers and […]
The La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Reserva was released 12 years ago and it features a San Andres wrapper before San Andres was the darling of the industry. Back around 2018 the cigar underwent the first design change and somewhere over the last year or so the cigar had a third change adapting blue as the primary color versus the red that adorns the cigar we are reviewing today. For whatever reason my local […]
El Pulpo comes from Artesano del Tobacco a company that also makes Viva la Viva. While the company doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, who am I to judge the Fakih brothers and their 25 years of experience including running one the most premier cigar shops in the country, Cigar Inn. From around 2005 until I moved to Miami in 2012 I could be found at Cigar Inn where I was a regular that was […]
The Wise Man Corojo is a new cigar with a tie in to an old cigar and a lesson in poor marketing. El Güegüense will go down has one of the worst names in the history of cigars. The cigar which was named after a satirical play written in the 16th Century was difficult to pronounce and spell making it a very hard name for the typical cigar smoker to grasp. It wasn’t until the […]
AVO Expressions returns, this time partnering up with hip-hop pioneer DJ D-Nice. Now while I get AVO has always has music ties because of the history of Avo Uvezian this one seems to be a stretch and desperate attempt to make the brand seem relevant again. Sadly, since the passing of AVO the brand is best known for creative packaging and rebranding existing cigars with a different name under the disguise of a limited edition. […]
Ask your cigar store customer what TAA is they would be hard pressed to guess anything but Tits & Ass. Ask a cigar geek and they would tell you TAA is a limited edition release that comes out each year. Some might know there is more then Tatuaje that do these releases, but many would have a hard time naming the others after The Angels Anvil. Right or wrong, this is the perceptions for many […]