Tag Archives: general cigars

News: Cohiba Blue to Launch 7 X 70

I have a couple questions about this story. I hate to be the guy to criticize, but is this cigar really necessary? Cohiba should stick to being a luxury brand and not try to dabble in the value market, which the Blue, and 7x70s targets. Now I’m going to have to smoke a Blue tonight and reacquaint myself with it. I guess I’d have to say I’m curious about this one. 

 

COHIBA TAKES A BOLD STEP WITH BLUE

New Frontmark is Cohiba’s Largest to Date

 

Cohiba will debut its largest frontmark to date with the release of Cohiba Blue 7 X 70, an eye-catching cigar named after its sizeable dimensions.

 

Cohiba Blue 7 X 70 marks the sixth vitola in the Dominican-made collection. Shipping this week with an SRP of $14.99 per cigar, Cohiba Blue 7 X 70 will be presented in the bright blue, handpainted wooden Cohiba Blue boxes, each containing 15 cigars.

 

Handcrafted at General Cigar Dominicana in Santiago, DR, Cohiba Blue is a velvety, medium-bodied cigar with a three-country blend that represents the world’s most revered tobacco growing regions. The experience is sophisticated and memorable with an enticing aroma. 

 

The Cohiba Blue blend starts with a silky, rosado-hued Honduran Olancho San Agustin (OSA) wrapper that sits atop a Honduran OSA binder, with the layered wrapper-binder imparting subtle, earthy notes. The blend consists of Honduran Jamastran, Nicaraguan Ometepe and Dominican Piloto Cubano that lend hints of cocoa and caramel, with a light touch of sweetness. 

 

Cohiba Blue debuted in 2017 as an expression created to appeal to all who seek the indulgence of a fine cigar.

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News: Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas 2020 Announced

Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas is another cigar that I’ve really enjoyed over the years. I can remember smoking these years ago with the green band and loving them. This is one of the cigars that makes good use of the Cameroon wrapper over the years, and is underrated in that category.

PARTAGAS LIMITED RESERVE DECADAS 2020

 

The finest tobaccos of the past decade come to life with Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas 2020, an artistically-blended, limited edition release.

 

A spectacular example of tobacco mastery, this rarefied offering features deeply-aged tobaccos that deliver an exquisite and refined smoking experience.

 

Matt Wilson, senior brand manager of Partagas said, “Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas 2020 brings our venerable Cameroon tobacco to life in an intriguing way through an exclusive blend developed solely for this release. For cigar smokers who appreciate the depth of aged Cameroon wrapper and who seek extraordinary smoking experiences, Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas 2020 is the ultimate super-premium indulgence.”  

 

As with previous releases of Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas, this distinguished offering features Cameroon wrapper leaves from the exceptional 2008-2009 growing season.  Only an average of three per thousand leaves from that very crop were hand selected to adorn Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas 2020. More than a decade later, this spectacular wrapper returns, this time surrounded by a unique blend of aged tobaccos.

 

The limited edition, super-premium offering boasts a blend of proprietary tobaccos from the Dominican Republic (Piloto Cubano from the 2009 crop) and a Mexican San Andreas leaf cultivated in 1997-1998. A Mexican San Andres binder from the 1997-1998 growing season completes the blend.  

The experience of Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas is one of complexity, as the aged tobaccos come together to deliver notes of cedar, earth and wild honey.

 

Developed to optimize the tobaccos that comprise Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas 2020, the blend will be released in a single size called “Dalia.” Meticulously handcrafted according to the exacting standards set forth by Ramón Cifuentes, the legendary Cuban cigar maker who developed the Partagas brand, the 6.75” x 43 Dalia will sell for $17.99 per cigar, until the limited supply of 2,500 boxes is depleted.

 

Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas 2020 will be sold exclusively through brick and mortar retailers.

 

Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas 2020 is presented in crystal tubes with a hand-applied wax closure. Each box contains ten cigars. Handcrafted by artisans at General Cigar Dominicana in Santiago, D.R., Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas ships to retailers on November 2, 2020.

 

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News: Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask Released For Holiday 2020

In lieu of my regular Wednesday post I’m going to catch up on a few news items from the last few days in a barrage of posts. Lazy, I know, but it’s been a hectic few days. As the Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask is a favorite of mine, I find this one to be particularly exciting.

 

DIESEL RELEASES EXCLUSIVE WHISKEY ROW SHERRY CASK BLEND FOR HOLIDAY 2020

 

Diesel is ringing in the 2020 holiday season with a new twist on its wildly-popular Whiskey Row Sherry Cask blend. Created exclusively for the 2020 holiday season, the barber-pole wrapped cigar comes in just one size, packed in a branded and bonded tabletop whiskey barrel. 

 

The 5” x 56 Gordo bears the blend’s original Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and is intermixed with a Connecticut Shade wrapper to deliver interludes of unexpected creaminess. The blend was developed by Justin Andrews, blended by AJ Fernandez and is handcrafted at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez in Estelí.

 

Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask calls upon a proprietary aging process developed by AJ to deepen the complexity of the blend by barrel-aging the rare Brazilian Alagoas Arapiraca binder leaf in Rabbit Hole’s Pedro Ximénez Sherry barrels. This process brings forth subtle notes of honey, vanilla and molasses. When blended with spicy Nicaraguan Habano leaves and crowned with natural and maduro Connecticut wrappers, the result is a cigar that delivers all the makings of an ideal smoking experience: spice, creaminess, subtle sweetness and complexity. 

The cigars are presented in a keepsake wooden whiskey barrel that holds ten cigars and includes a lid that doubles as an ashtray. This special offer was produced in limited quantities and will sell for a suggested retail price of $124.99 for the cigars and barrel. Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask ship to retailers on October 26, 2020.

The original Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask launched in 2019 and has received critical acclaim, including a 91 rating from Cigar Aficionado, and inclusion in Cigar Snob’s list of the top 25 cigars of 2019.

 

About Diesel

Handcrafted by artisans in Estelí, Nicaragua, Diesel cigars are “bold by design.” The brand challenges the current conventions of the handmade cigar category through the bold, unapologetic style of its Cigar Master, AJ Fernandez. Diesel cigars are unified by their deeply complex flavor which is achieved through AJ’s steadfast adherence to time honored cigar making techniques and his insistence on using the highest quality tobacco. The Diesel portfolio includes Hair of the Dog which was released in 2019; Whiskey Row which launched two expressions, one in 2019 and one in 2018, and Diesel Grind which debuted in 2017. For more information, visit www.dieselcigar.com.

 

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Grimalkin, Macanudo M and Partagas Legend Cigars

Velvet RatI’d like to say it was a busy week, or a good week. I celebrated my 55th birthday this week, and my birthday coming always signals the end of summer which is a downer for me, always has been. I grabbed a Liga Privada, Serie Unico Velvet Rat from the humidor to celebrate, a cigar I seem to have collected several of over the years, I think this was probably the oldest as it didn’t have the Diplomat foot band. Since I have several, it was special, but not too special, ya know? It was a very good cigar, I really enjoyed it, and age had been kind to it as it displayed the smoothness and flavors I expected, which are the rich cocoa notes of the Rat without any rough edges. It was a lovely cigar and nice way to finish the day.  I appreciated all the birthday greetings I received from my friends around the world, it’s always heartwarming!

 

Grimalkin_Toro2018I’ve been negligent in getting to writing something about the new Grimalkin cigars which the folks at Emilio Cigars/Boutiques Unified generously sent me a few weeks back. This is a new imagining of the Grimalkin cigar which was originally produced at the My Father factory, and blended under the direction of Gary Griffith, when he was at the helm of Emilio cigars back in 2011ish. At the time it was a secret that My Father was making the cigar, and I think that had something to do with the Grimalkin name as much as anything, because the cigar was nothing to be embarrassed about, although I, personally, didn’t think the cigar had the hallmarks of a My Father blend. I thought it had a very smooth, complex sophistication. The new Grimalkin is made in Esteli at James Brown’s Oveja Negra factory, home of Black Label Trading Co. and Black Works Studio. The only real similarity I find between the old and new Grimalkins is that they are both exceptional cigars. This new Grimalkin has a delicious and unique sweet flavor throughout that I just couldn’t get enough of. This is a Nicaraguan Puro, no specifics other than that are given, and the Toro I smoked was 6″ x 50, and I believe it’s also offered in a 5″ x 50 Robusto. I’m going to have to dig out the old Grimalkin (they later rebranded it to the Mousa, I think…might have one of those too…) and give it a smoke, but I’m 99% sure that the new Grimalkin is a sweeter, more full-bodied experience, and not because the older ones are aged. This is a great cigar from Emilio Cigars, totally yummy.

 

Partagas_Legend_ToroLeyendaFriday I went with another new cigar, the new Partagas Legend, and Saturday I had another in a different size. First I had the Toro Leyenda, the 6 ¼” x 54 size, which is closest to my go-to size. This cigar has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, a Honduran OSA binder (General must have had a really great crop of Olancho San Augastine tobacco a few years ago because it’s showing up in many of their new blends) and Dominican Piloto Cubano filler. This cigar was delicious, and it reminded me of something, and I couldn’t place the cigar it reminded me of, but as I smoked it I couldn’t get the old Partagas Limited Reserve with the green band out of my head. Does anyone remember that one? Am I nuts?  Probably. Anyway, this Legend is a great cigar, and for the $14.49 price tag it should be. Again, there was an interesting subtle sweet flavor that i enjoyed, it doesn’t have the heaviness one would expect from a broadleaf wrapped cigar, it’s very refined. I dug it, so I had to see what the smaller, Corona Extra Leyenda vitola was all about. I have to say, Partagas_Legend_CoronaGrandeLeyendatrue to my own preferences, I didn’t find the 5 ¼” x 44 to have the same deliciousness as the larger size. as expected, it was sharper in flavor, and I preferred the smoother, rounder flavors the Toro provided, that is, not until the last two inches or so, when I started getting similar flavors, which is weird, right? You can still mark me down as a fan of the Partagas Legend, and there are very few Partagas cigars I won’t welcome into my humidor. If I had to settle on a handful of brands to have in a rotation, Partagas is one of the brands I’d have in the humidor.

 

Macanudo_M_CoronaFinally, I had to try the Macanudo M, Macanudo’s first flavor infused cigar.  I went into smoking this cigar with optimism. I’m generally OK with coffee infuse cigars, even though I’m not a big fan of infused cigars in general. This cigar was recommended to me personally by Macanudo’s brand ambassador, Laurel Tilley, at an event a few weeks back at the Wooden Indian, and I purchased a few of the 6″ x 44 corona size which she said was her favorite. If I had read the blend info before I  smoked it I may not have been so open-minded. The wrapper is Indonesian Besuki, with a Philippine binder, with the filler described as “peppered with a blend of Nicaraguan and other fine tobaccos”. Now, I realize that Sumatra is in Indonesia, and I like Sumatra tobacco, but typically I’ve not liked tobacco that’s generically described as “Indonesian”, and there have been some Filipino cigars I’ve enjoyed, but more often than not I’m not a fan, nor am I a fan of such intentional ambiguity, but I trust the folks at General, and they have had success with coffee infused cigars in the past with the Nub line for Oliva. These have a serious coffee aroma pre-light, not bad. Smoking it isn’t terribly overpowering coffee infused flavoring, it’s cocoa/coffee and tobacco, but it’s not cloying or sweet. It’s not what I expected, and it wasn’t a bad cigar, but it lacked the elegance I expected from a Macanudo, I guess. Perhaps it just wasn’t for me, perhaps I’ll give it another try under different circumstances, although not I have pre-conceived notions where I had fewer before I smoked it!

 

That’s all I have for today. I almost forgot, in the news, Villiger is shipping La Flor de Ynclan Lancero and La Vendcedora Gordo, Drew Estate is shipping the Liga Privada No. 9 and T52 new sizes and Undercrown Dogma, and Alec Bradley is Shipping the Alec and Bradley Blind Faith. All three came in as press releases, if you want to know the details, several other sites published articles. It’s  Labor Day weekend, which for most means it’s a long weekend. Enjoy some great cigars! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

 

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News: Punch Launches Diablo

News from General Cigar late on a Friday!  A long time ago they had a brand called “Diablo”, it was short-lived, and now they are using the name on a Punch line extension made at AJ Fernandez.  I happen to know that the folks who actually make the cigars don’t really care for the name, generally. Catholicism tends to be heavily practiced in cigar making countries, and the locals can get a bit squirrelly about invoking the antichrist’s name.  That’s not my problem, however, it looks like a blend that I’d appreciate.  

 

Punch beckons you to the dark side without fear of losing your soul with the release of its newest collection called Diablo.

 

 

Punch Diablo marks the first time that a Punch cigar will be made outside of Honduras, where the brand has been made since the 1960s.

 

Ed Lahmann, senior brand manager for Punch said, “When it came time to select the blend for Diablo, we decided that we wanted to make the fullest-bodied Punch to date. AJ Fernandez is a master when it comes to developing full-bodied cigars, so we asked him to create a blend using aged tobaccos, one that has strength and bold flavor to complement the rest of the cigars under the Punch umbrella.  We’re confident that the blend he delivered will be a great new option for classic Punch smokers and that Diablo will give all full-bodied smokers another reason to experience Punch.”

 

Punch Diablo

 

The unofficial brand spokesman, aka the snarky Mr. Punch character, chimed in to say, “With Diablo, we wanted a powerful smoke. So if you’re a pansie or a snowflake or whatever PC term they use these days, this is not a smoke for you.”

 

The devil is in the details, so Master Blender AJ Fernandez has left nothing to chance with this tempting four-country blend. Befitting of its diabolical name, Punch Diablo is made with a blend of four-year-aged Nicaraguan and Honduran Habano leaves and is wrapped in a deep, oscuro Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper, also aged four years. A bold Connecticut Broadleaf binder that’s been aged for six years seals the deal to deliver a sinfully indulgent smoke that’s spicy, intriguing and destined to leave you spellbound.

 

Notes of wood, earth and leather abound in this medium-plus to full-bodied smoke.

 

Punch Diablo 2Handcrafted at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez, Punch Diablo will make its debut in packaging that features the brand’s new look and feel. These three sizes will be available, beginning in late July:

 

Scamp (6.125 x 50); SRP per cigar $7.19; 25 cigars per box

Diabolus (5.25 x 54); SRP per cigar $7.79; 25 cigars per box

Brute (6.25 x 60); SRP per cigar $8.19; 20 cigars per box

 

 

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