cigar-reviews
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The E.P. Carrillo Endure Toro is the first in a new line called the Perez-Carrillo Premier Collection from EPC. This cigar is a tribute to the Meerapfel family and their work with Cameroon tobacco, which is known for being difficult to grow due to the many challenges of working in the remote areas of the
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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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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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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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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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The Tatuaje La Riqueza SE 2024 comes in two different wrappers: a Connecticut Broadleaf and a Mexican San Andres. This review focuses on the Connecticut Broadleaf version, which is limited to 1500 boxes of 10, much fewer than the 4500 box run of the SE 2022. The mottled medium brown Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper has a
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When Pete Johnson released the La Riqueza SE in 2022, it was listed as one of the best cigars of the year on NJBS. Only 4,500 boxes of 10 were produced. In this review, I wanted to see how it performed after more than two years of aging in the humidor. The cigar features a
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The Casa Fuente brand by Arturo Fuente is primarily crafted for their Casa Fuente store in Las Vegas. However, it is occasionally available in limited quantities to select Fuente accounts across the US. Fortunately, Twins Smoke Shop is one of those accounts. The medium brown wrapper is slightly toothy, and the cold draw offers notes
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The “LG” references LFD’s co-founder Litto Gomez. The cigar is limited to members of the TAA which recently celebrated its “emerald” anniversary (55th), in 2023, hence the French “Emeraude” in the name. As with all cigars released in the Litto Gomez line, the LG Emeraude is made entirely of Dominican tobacco grown at the company’s
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Since 2019, when Not Just Blowing Smoke began, I have shared my thoughts on the best new cigars and tobaccos of the year. On the one hand, the last thing the cigar/pipe world needs is another list of the best of 2024. But I am not just blowing smoke when I confess that some of
Not Just Blowing Smoke with Pastor Padron 