The Umbagog Bronzeback made its debut at PCA 2024 in Las Vegas. The cigar which uses a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper designated as 2LS comes from a lower part of the stalk than traditional wrapper. The result is a cigar that is less dark and less sweet than the original Umbagog. The original Umbagog was named after Steve Saka’s favorite lake to fish on in New Hampshire. Located in Coos County, New Hampshire the name Umbagog […]
The Timeless Panamericana was originally released by Nat Sherman as an exclusive to the Nat Sherman Townhouse in the fall of 2014. In 2015 the cigar would be made available to TAA Members. When Nat Sherman would be sold, Panamericana would be one of the brand names acquired by Ferio Tego. Who is Ferio Tego? Ferio Tego, LLC launched in 2021 by Michael Herklots and Brendon Scott both whom had ties to Nat Sherman. While […]
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 […]