• G.L. Pease Haddo’s Delight

    Haddo’s Delight is a blend of Virginia, Perique, Burley, and Black Cavendish from Greg Pease. The tin description informs you that it undergoes an “exclusive process [that] darkens and marries the mixture.” I am thinking that refers to the flavor profile, because the tobaccos themselves (other than the Perique) do not look darker that I

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  • How Long Does it Take to Light a Pipe?

    Just how long does it take to light a pipe? Is lighting a pipe a lot of work? It is not as much effort or time as you might think.

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  • Padrón Black PB-97 Maduro

    The Padrón Black PB-97 is the latest release in the Black series, with the numbers referencing the birthday of Padron’s late founder, José Padrón. Initially introduced as the “José O Padrón 89 Birthday Blend” for Smoke Inn in Florida, the cigar was later released to TAA member stores as the Padrón Black 89. The matte

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  • Gawith Hoggarth Rum Twist

    Gawith Hoggarth’s Rum Twist is a rope spun with stoved Virginia and flavored with rum. To properly prepare this tobacco, I recommend slicing shavings from it—as thin as you can make them. The twist was originally intended to be a convenient means of transporting tobacco on long voyages in a compact format that would hold

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  • The Circle of Life Robusto

    The Circle of Life Robusto is a new regular production line produced by Casa Carrillo in Santiago, Dominican Republic. West Tampa’s founder, Rick Rodriguez trained under Ernesto Perez-Carrillo during his time at General Cigar Co. and often cited him as one of his key mentors and teachers. “Reuniting with Ernesto on Circle of Life was

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  • Ashton VSG Robusto

    Ashton VSG Robusto

    The Ashton VSG line is renowned for being one of the strongest blends available on the market after its launch in 1999. As the cigar band suggests, VSG stands for Virgin Sun Grown, indicating that the wrapper leaf of this cigar is grown in the sun without any covering built over the plants to reduce

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  • Dark Star Robusto

    Dark Star Robusto

    The Rocky Patel Dark Star blend was introduced at PCA in 2023 and includes some tobacco grown from seeds from Paraguay at Plasencia’s Honduran farm in the filler. The Rocky Patel Dark Star Robusto presents a smooth, medium-brown wrapper. Upon lighting, the draw is excellent, and I immediately notice notes of nuts, mineral, and leather.

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  • Cigar Cutting 101

    Cigar Cutting 101

    In this video Pastor Padron gives a quick, simple tutorial on cigar cutting using a variety of common cutters.

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  • G.L. Pease Penny Farthing

    G.L. Pease Penny Farthing is a very fine cut shag blend of Bright and Red Virginia, Perique, and Dark Fired Kentucky. The tin note offers aromas of figs, along with the notes and sweetness of stone fruit. Upon lighting, I pick up flavors of fig, cocoa, sweet hay, and lightly smoked nuts. The blend is

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  • How to Pack (and Light) Your Pipe

    “Why can’t I keep my pipe lit?” That is one of the most common questions from new pipe smokers here at Twins Smoke Shop. When I watch how they do it, the problem more often than not, is that they are not packing the tobacco into the bowl hard enough. In this video, I show

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