This week J.C. Newman announced the release of the Cuesta-Rey No. 95 Cameroon to celebrate the 127th anniversary of the company. It’s going to be a factory exclusive, so one will have to visit the El Reloj factory 
to get them. The cigar is a 6½” x 42 lonsdale with an African Cameroon wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder and Dominican fillers. They’ve put a $15 per cigar price on this and will sell them in 5-packs. Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that Cuesta Rey No 95 used to be sold in three or five packs in most pharmacies that sold cigars. There were bundles of Craftsman’s Bench in several varieties, Berings, a bunch of cigars in tins, Macanudo Ascots, and Cuesta Reys. I’m quite sure I’m remembering this right. I don’t think I ever bought any cigars at the drugstores, they weren’t in humidors, and, at the time when the drugstores still sold tobacco, I had plenty of good options to get properly stored and curated selections of cigars. It was nice to know these were available in an emergency! I do understand why pharmacies got away from selling tobacco products, but they sell a whole lot of other unhealthy stuff there, so it’s a little hypocritical. Anyway, here’s a little excerpt from the J.C. Newman press release:
“After the Cuban Embargo was imposed in 1962, my grandfather, Stanford J. Newman, scoured the world for new types of tobacco. He discovered exquisite African Cameroon Wrapper (ACW) and was the first premium cigar maker to use it in the United States. Stanford wrapped ACW with a Connecticut Broadleaf binder and long filler tobaccos grown in the Dominican Republic to create the Cuesta-Rey No. 95. It was smooth, elegant, and flavorful, and became the top-selling premium cigar in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. Sixty years later, we are proud to have recreated the original blend of my grandfather’s most famous cigar, the Cuesta-Rey No. 95.” – Drew Newman
Cuesta-Rey No. 95 Cameroon is handmade in J.C. Newman’s historic El Reloj cigar factory in the “Cigar City” of Tampa, Florida. It’s a 6.25 x 42 cigar that retails for $15 each. Beginning today, J.C. Newman is selling this special cigar in limited edition packs of 5 cigars as a factory exclusive. Cigar enthusiasts who visit J.C. Newman’s cigar museum, take a factory tour, or attend a special event at its El Reloj factory will be able to enjoy this very special cigar.
It’s impressive that the cigar is made in the Tampa factory, which accounts for the price being what it is. I had the good fortune to smoke a couple of these this week. It’s been a long time since I smoked a 95, a long, long time. I want to say the standard No. 95 is made by Fuente in the DR, and doesn’t have the Broadleaf binder, but I could be mistaken. Had I taken the time and thought about it, I would done a comparison, but I’ve been lazy lately. I’ve found myself smoking a lot of cigars that I like lately and not smoking new stuff. Selfish, I know. Anyway, this was a really good tasting cigar. Actually, the first one annoyed me a little as the first half failed to burn very well and didn’t really get going until the second half, but the second one was perfect. It had the nutty “Camerooniness” that I expect, with some sweetness from the broadleaf. It was unique enough to be special, and worth trying. Visiting El Reloj is on my list of things I want to do in the near future, it’s just a matter of making my way south sometime soon.
Since I spent the week smoking some cigars I know I liked, I really don’t have much else to talk about today. I was impressed with the mentions of cigars on NBC’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby yesterday. I know cigars are a tradition there, but they could easily have censored them. There was probably something stupid that someone did or said that I thought about talking about, but I can’t think of it now. I did hear that the Smokin’ Tabacco CFCF Charity Raffle has been extended, so check out https://go.rallyup.com/smokintabacco/Campaign/Details and get in on that. Also, don’t forget the Red Meat Lovers Club Battleship, Beef and Bourbon for the Ship event in June. Tickets are available here. That’s all for today, until the next time,
CigarCraig
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