p. 92
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Texas BBQ
If p. 35
HEMINGWAY Were a Chef...
p. 53
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editorials MARCH / APRIL 2020
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PERFECT PAIRINGS 28 DIPLOMATICO BY MOMBACHO CIGARS / RUM DIPLOMATICO AMBASSADOR 30 PLASENCIA ALMA DE FUEGO / CORLEY STATE LANE VINEYARD CABERNET SAUVIGNON
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BRAND BREAKDOWN
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EATING ALL THE MEATS IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
MI QUERIDA TRIQUI TRACA
The Lone Star State’s might be America’s purest expression of barbecue. Austin and the small towns that surround it are the epicenter of a proud culture that reveres brisket, beef ribs and smoked sausage. We made a pilgrimage to meat Mecca and so should you.
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63 102
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CHEF NORMAN VAN AKEN No South Florida chef has been more consequential than the father of New World cuisine, Norman Van Aken. Learn about his journey from small town Illinois to Key West and how he changed America’s relationship with Caribbean ingredients and Florida cooking.
CIGAR FESTIVALS WHERE TO SMOKE IN CHARLOTTE, NC
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features MARCH / APRIL 2020
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LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
20
FEEDBACK
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WHAT’S BURNIN’
46
SMOKING HOT CIGAR SNOB
77
RATINGS
92
SMOKING HOT CIGAR SNOB
CODE RED
SPRING LOVE
100
TWITTER SCOREBOARD
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EVENT COVERAGE 104 THE GREAT SMOKE 2020 106 DAVIDOFF GRAND OPENING AT HARD ROCK GUITAR HOTEL 107 DIPLOMATICO BY MOMBACHO CIGAR LAUNCH AT CASA DE MONTECRISTO 108 DITKA & JAWS CIGARS WITH THE STARS 110 DAVIDOFF 2020 AVO & CAMACHO INNOVATION EVENT AT HARD ROCK GUITAR HOTEL
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MARCH / APRIL 2020
VO L . 12 IS SU E 2 www.cigarsnobmag.com PUBLISHER & EDITOR Erik Calviño SENIOR EDITOR Nicolás Antonio Jiménez COPY EDITOR Michael LaRocca SALES & OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Oscar M. Calviño PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Ivan Ocampo ART DIRECTOR Andy Astencio ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jamilet Calviño DIGITAL RETOUCHING SPECIALIST Ramón Santana DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER Gianni D’Alerta CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR Florin Safner CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS David Benoliel Andy Astencio Natalia Marie García Natalia Aguilera EVENT PHOTOGRAPHERS Jamilet Calviño Ramon Santana Michy Watchao Natalia Marie García Cover Photography by David Benoliel www.davidbenolielphotography.com Cover Model - Callie Herd Cigar Snob is published bi-monthly by Lockstock Publications, Inc. 1421-1 SW 107th Ave., #253 Miami, FL 33174-2509 Tel: 1 (786) 423-1015 Cigar Snob is a registered trademark of Lockstock Publications, Inc., all rights reserved. Reproduction in part or full without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. Cigar Snob is printed in the U.S. Contents copyright 2006, Lockstock Publications, Inc. To subscribe, visit www.cigarsnobmag.com
(SUBSCRIBE TODAY) - Only $18 for one Year (six issues) of -
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The panic on the streets over coronavirus is way out of hand. I’m not taking this virus lightly, but people are fighting over toilet paper all over the country! Speaking of which, am I missing something or is coronavirus attacking our indoor plumbing and electricity? True story: I was at Home Depot this week buying spackling compound, sandpaper, and touch up paint for a home repair project unrelated to coronavirus and the guy in front of me was buying flashlights, tons of batteries, and a generator. In what was clearly an ill-timed joke, I asked the gentleman, “Have you put your hurricane shutters up yet?” The mix of panic and rage in the man’s eyes made me chuckle nervously and shut my trap. People are going crazy. Just to be clear on my stance here, I do not believe that you need to stock up on toilet paper, paper towels, and baby wipes in preparation for coronavirus. I also don’t think you need to fill your shopping cart with water, flashlights and generators. If your city or town goes on full lockdown in response to a local outbreak, that doesn’t mean that they will cut your power or water. Will you be bored at home? Yes. If anything you should go to Blockbuster and stock up on VHS movies. Yet another ill-timed joke. Jokes aside, as cigar smokers I do think we need to go into what I am calling coronavirus protocol. 1.
Under no circumstances are you to use a community cutter at a cigar store. Always bring your own and don’t share it with anyone.
2.
No handshakes.
3.
Cover all sneezes and coughs.
4.
Wash your hands often.
5.
When holding your cigar, don’t hold it near the area that goes in your mouth.
6.
When shopping for your next cigar, don’t reach into the box willy-nilly touching all the cigars in there. Try to only touch the cigar that you plan to buy.
7.
This one should be unnecessary, but don’t share your cigar with anyone.
In spite of the coronavirus madness, we put together one helluva fun issue. We sent Nicolás Antonio Jiménez and Natalia García to Austin, Texas to get loaded up on Texas BBQ on p. 35. I swear they both came back at least 5 lbs. heavier. Nicolás also wrote an interesting profile on one of the country’s most influential chefs, Norman Van Aken, on p. 53. Coincidentally, my wife and I went to Norman’s in Coral Gables on our first date in 2002 so I have a soft spot for Van Aken. My sister Jamilet and I attended both major cigar festivals this year, Puro Sabor in
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Nicaragua and ProCigar in the Dominican Republic, and our coverage of it starts on p. 63. Finally, we ran two fantastic shoots in this issue, both with the same model, the Texan beauty Callie Herd. The first, titled Code Red, is on p. 46 and in it we help you crack the code on pairing red wine with our Top 5 cigars from last year. The second, titled Spring Love, is just Callie looking outrageous by the pool and smoking cigars. Thank you to our entire crew for working tirelessly on this issue in spite of the aforementioned panic on the street. You guys rock. Stay safe, wash your hands, and relax with the toilet paper.
Keep ‘em lit,
Erik Calviño ecalvino@cigarsnobmag.com
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FIRST-CLASS FEEDBACK To all concerned, I want to thank everyone who makes your magazine possible. If consistency merits an award, Cigar Snob gets the Medal of Honor. Thanks again for another first-class issue. Keep up the great work and “keep ‘em lit.” Respectfully,
Arco Wilmington, NC via feedback@cigarsnobmag.com Thanks for the kind words, Arco! Nobody publishes a cigar magazine looking to win a medal of honor, but we’ll take it! Hope you like this one as much as you did the others.
MAKING THE GRADE Absolutely love Cigar Snob Magazine… A+ to the entire team!
Jeff F. Alamo, Calif. via feedback@cigarsnobmag.com And we love you… Gold star!
MAKING MOVES Hi Erik I moved a few months ago and am slowly getting caught up on my reading. [In reference to your November/December 2019 letter from the publisher], I agree that kindness is needed. I think the world sucks right now. Thank god for music as it keeps me sane. Gov’t Mule, Umphrey’s McGee, and Joe Bonamassa to name three. All the best,
Dan M. Media, Penn. Hope the move went smoothly and glad to hear you’re getting caught up on Cigar Snob. As for your musical selections, you had me at Gov’t Mule. Rock on brother. Erik
NAME THAT FACTORY! Love your magazine, but I think you guys should list the name of the factory and brand on your ratings. Thanks.
@secretocigarbar Ferndale, Mich. via Instagram Thanks for the feedback, guys! We currently name the manufacturers (not just the brands, as they’re not always the same thing) only for cigars that make our annual Top 25 list. Maybe we should start doing it for all cigars rated. Point well taken!
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C I G A R S O F C H A R AC T E R
THROUGH THE DAY
I N TO T H E N I G H T
WHATEVER THE TASK, WHATEVER THE HOUR, WINSTON CHURCHILL KNEW THE RIGHT CIGAR CAN BE A TRUSTED COMPANION. SO THE CIGARS WHICH CARRY HIS NAME ECHO HIS CHARACTER. FROM «THE ORIGINAL COLLECTION» THROUGH TO «THE LATE HOUR» CIGARS, THEIR QUALITY NEVER SLEEPS.
A M A N A N D A C I G A R FO R A L L T I M E S AVAILABLE AT AUTHORIZED DAVIDOFF DEALERS NATIONWIDE & DAVIDOFF OF GENEVA LOCATIONS NEW YORK
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ROCKY PATEL CIGAR SMOKING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ties can only be created in Bahia, Brazil. We look forward to sharing the Villiger do Brasil brand with the United States marketplace.”
The Cigar Smoking World Championship (CSWC) will be taking place in Split, Croatia this year in September. The competition tests smokers in a last-man standing format where the spoils go to the contestant who keeps a cigar lit longest. This year’s official competition cigar was made by Rocky Patel.
DREW ESTATE ANNOUNCES 2020 BARN SMOKER DATES AND TICKET SALES
According to a press release from Rocky Patel Premium Cigars, the Cigar Smoking World Championship cigar will come in three vitolas: Mareva (corona) 5 1/8 x 42, robusto 5 x 50, and toro 6 x 52. The robusto and toro sizes will come in 20-count boxes while the Mareva (the official size for the competition) comes in a 10-count box. “I wanted to blend and produce a special competition cigar that can be enjoyed by everyone across the world for years to come,” said Rocky Patel.
Drew Estate released new details on its 2020 Barn Smoker program and made tickets available for events in Florida, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Louisiana. Barn Smoker events are opportunities for cigar smokers to get up close to the process of growing, processing, and manufacturing American tobacco and premium cigars. Drew Estate has also created an “All-Star” program that allows smokers to buy tickets for all five of the 2020 events at a reduced price. Here’s Drew Estate’s 2020 Barn Smoker schedule. •
Florida Barn Smoker — Clermont, Fla., May 16
•
Pennsylvania Barn Smoker — Strasburg, Penn., July 25
•
Connecticut Barn Smoker — South Windsor, Conn., Aug. 8
VILLIGER DO BRASIL
•
Kentucky Barn Smoker — Hopkinsville, Ky., Sept. 26
Villiger announced its new Villiger do Brasil cigars, created to celebrate Villiger’s history with Brazilian tobacco, at the TPE trade show. Villiger do Brasil comprises two blends — a Claro, which sports a Brazilian Connecticut Shade wrapper; and a Brazilian Arapiraca-wrapped Maduro expression. The brand is named for Villiger’s Brazilian factory.
•
Louisiana Barn Smoker — Convent, La., Oct. 24
Qualifying events will take place in over 30 countries, including 15 initial events in the United States. The winners from those 15 will then compete for the chance to represent the United States in Croatia. For more information, visit cswcworld.com.
Villiger do Brasil Claro and Maduro both come in 5-count boxes in either Robusto (5 x 50) or Toro (6 x 50). They’re priced at $9.00 and $9.50, respectively. “My family saw the value in Brazilian tobacco when they began Villiger Cigars as a very small operation in 1888,” said Villiger board chairman Heinrich Villiger in a press release. “Brazilian tobacco is unique, as its structure is very robust, which leads to strong aromas and flavours. Its distinct quali-
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BLACK LABEL TRADING COMPANY SHIPS DELIVERANCE NOCTURNE Black Label Trading Company announced that it’s begun shipping Deliverance Nocturne, which is made at the company’s Fabrica Oveja Negra in Estelí. The cigar features a Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. It comes in three vitolas: Perfecto (5 x 56), Short Salomon “Snub Nose” (4 ¾ x 40 x 56) and Tall Salomon (6 ¼ x 36 x 56). They retail for $10.50, $10.50 and $12.00, respectively. “This is the 5th release of Deliverance Noc-
turne. The Nocturne highlights everything I love about PA Broadleaf. The rich, complex and bold earthiness of the wrapper highlights the unique blend of this cigar,” said James Brown, creator of BLTC and partner at Fabrica Oveja Negra, in a press release.
MOMBACHO CIGARS NOW AVAILABLE IN SPAIN Mombacho Cigars announced a partnership with La Casa Del Tabaco, a Spanish distributor of tobacco products, that will make Mombacho products available throughout Spain. This makes Spain the 15th country in Mombacho’s distribution network. “Since years ago, I’ve been in constant contact with La Casa del Tabaco executives about distributing Mombacho Cigars in Spain, the largest premium cigar market in Europe and I’m extremely happy to have a partner there. Our goal in 2020 is to keep expanding worldwide; I’m thrilled that Mombacho Cigars are represented by such a serious and renowned company and that we are now available in Spain, the country that historically started the premium cigar business,” said Claudio Sgroi, president and master blender of Mombacho Cigars, in a press release.
PUNCH LAUNCHES KNUCKLE BUSTER Punch announced the launch of a new cigar line named Knuckle Buster. It features Nicaraguan Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and Honduras. The cigar is available in three vitolas: Robusto (4 ½ x 52), Toro (6 x 54), and Gordo (6 ¼ x 60). They’re packaged in 25-count boxes and carry MSRPs of $4.99, $5.49 and $5.99, respectively. “Punch is committed to staying true to what the brand has represented over the last six decades: a consistent, well-made, no-nonsense cigar at a price that’s fair and reasonable,” said Ed Lahmann, senior brand manager for Punch, in a press release. “Punch Knuckle Buster honors this commitment with a solid, enticing blend for the people who work hard to enjoy the good life.”
Pictured left to right: Eric Newman (third generation) , Drew Newman (fourth generation), & Bobby Newman (third generation)
CELEBRATING 125 YEARS For four generations and 125 years, our family’s cigars have stood the test of time. Please join us in celebrating our 125th anniversary by enjoying a J.C. Newman cigar or visiting our historic El Reloj cigar factory in Tampa, Florida. – Eric, Bobby, and Drew Newman
W W W. J C N E W M A N . C O M
PUNCH CHOP SUEY LIMITED EDITION
It’ll be available in 25-count bundles packaged inside boxes inspired by Chinese restaurant takeout packaging.
To commemorate the Chinese Year of The Rat, Punch is releasing a follow-up to their 2019 Egg Roll cigar. This one’s called Chop Suey, and it’s a 7 x 37 Panatela with a shaggy foot.
GURKHA UNVEILS NEW VALUE CIGARS
Made at General Cigar Dominicana in the Dominican Republic, this limited-edition blend features Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. “We had a lot of fun with Punch Egg Roll last year,” said Ed Lahmann, senior brand manager of Punch and Chop Suey’s creator, “so we decided to come out with a similar release for 2020. With its panatela size, this cigar delivers a great smoking experience in a format that really lets the tobaccos shine through. And with an SRP of less than $6 per cigar, Chop Suey hits that post-holiday sweet spot for cigar lovers.” Punch Chop Suey will carry an MSRP of $5.49.
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Gurkha Cigars revived an old Cuban brand called Castle Hall and introduced it at the TPE trade show. This mild to medium cigar features an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, an Ecuadorian Habano binder, and Nicaragua and Dominican fillers. Packaged in 20-count boxes, the cigar comes in three vitolas — Robusto (5 x 52), Toro (6 x 54), and Magnum (6 x 60) — all with MSRPs under $5 per cigar. Gurkha has also added a maduro option for the Prize Fighter cigar bundle line. It is rolled with a maduro wrapper, a Sumatra binder, and a combination of Dominican long and short fillers. Similar to their Connecticut selection, the three sizes will be a 5 x 52 Robusto, a 6 x 54 Toro, and a 6 x 60 XO. They will come packaged in 20-count bundles, 60-count 3-compartment
trays, and 5-count fresh lock pouches. “These new offerings epitomize what a value cigar should be which is a great cigar for a great price,” said Jim Colucci, president of Gurkha Cigars. “These cigars have the quality and flavor of premium cigars but at an incredibly attractive price point.”
PRESENTING DIESEL DELIRIUM Diesel announced the release of the limitededition Diesel Delirium, whose production will be limited to just 5,000 boxes. Blended by A.J. Fernandez, the cigar comprises Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder and Nicaraguan fillers. This limited-edition cigar will only be available in a 6 x 52 Toro vitola, packaged in 10-count boxes. MSRP is $10 per cigar. A press release announcing the release describes Diesel Delirium as “a peppery smoke that delivers an array of spices, with hints of nuts and an unexpected touch of nougat on the palate.”
Diplomatico by Mombacho Cigars Diplomatico Rum Ambassador Selection We usually have to work a little harder to come up with spirit and cigar pairings. We typically start with a spirit and we go on a sort of quest to find the best possible cigar on the market to complement the flavors and intensity of the drink. Using our experience on the subject, we come up with the initial set of candidate cigars and, as we go through tasting the two products together, we go back and forth eliminating and even adding new cigars until we find what we believe to be the best possible pairing. In this case, the pairing quite literally walked through the door as a finished product when Mombacho Cigars’ Master Blender Claudio Sgroi stopped by Cigar Snob HQ with three boxes of cigars in his left hand and a rather ornate and regal looking bottle of Diplomatico Rum Ambassador Selection in his right. Claudio is a gregarious Italian overflowing with an unbridled passion for cigars that is as undeniable as it is infectious. He’s always smiling when he stops by for a visit, but on this day he was wearing the sheepish grin of someone who was about to give you the type of unexpected and overwhelming gift that he knows will blow you away. We were indeed blown all the way away! Thank you Claudio.
THE PAIRING The Diplomatico by Mombacho Cigars is flawlessly constructed with a flavorful profile of nuts, wood, cream, and spice — and there’s plenty of spice. Not pepper and not a lot of earth, but certainly spice — like a savory spice. It’s an amount of spice that you definitely notice as one of the main flavor components of the cigar but is just balanced enough with the nutty and creamy flavors to be a perfectly enjoyable cigar without the rum. But when you take the first sip of Ron Diplomatico Ambassador Selection (or the more widely available Diplomatico Reserva) the entire picture comes perfectly into focus. The spice is clearly there to counter the rum’s deliciously sweet profile. The rum is big and decadent with a caramel and honey sweetness that is kept in check by hints of dry sherry and citrus. Combined with the cigar’s spice and wood, the rum just soars to a new level. It’s clear that Claudio went through more than a few cases of Diplomatico to fine tune this pairing. Well done, sir. Hit it out of the park. LOCATION: Galiano Cigar Room, Coral Gables, Fla.
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Plasencia Alma de Fuego Corley Family State Lane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 The Corley family has been involved in the Napa wine business since 1969 when Jay Corley turned his master’s degree thesis at Pepperdine University on starting a winery in Napa Valley into a reality. Born and raised in Chicago but with family roots in Virginia, Jay identified profoundly with founding father and fellow wine lover Thomas Jefferson. As such, when he founded his vineyard in the Oak Knoll District of Napa, he named it Monticello. In keeping with Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the architecture of Corley’s Monticello follows the style of Andrea Palladio. Jay’s vision to produce world-class Burgundian-style wine in Oak Knoll led him to plant chardonnay and pinot noir. But when it came time to incorporate cabernet sauvignon, he purchased fruit from other vineyards in the area. In 1982 he began purchasing cabernet sauvignon from a vineyard in Yountville. The vineyard was on State Lane so he referred to it as the “State Lane Vineyard” and when Corley acquired the vineyard outright in the mid-1980s the name just stuck. The cigar in this pairing is the Plasencia Alma de Fuego. It wasn’t chosen for the pairing for any sort of stylistic reason, it was chosen because it paired exceptionally well with the 2015 Corley State Lane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. It is made in Estelí, Nicaragua by the Plasencia family and incorporates tobacco from the volcanic island of Ometepe.
THE PAIRING This is not a wine you just pull the cork from and start drinking. The difference between your first sip right out of the gate and the sip you take after decanting the 2015 Corley State Lane Cab for an hour is astonishingly different. The decanted Corley is silky and rich with tons of ripe blackberry and cassis balanced by oak and well-structured tannins. And when you fire up the Plasencia Alma de Fuego, the cigar’s earth and pepper fill in gaps you didn’t know existed before and introduce dark chocolate to your palate. The combination of the wine’s blackberry and the cigar’s dark chocolate make for a uniquely delicious combination. LOCATION: Galiano Cigar Room, Coral Gables, Fla.
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NO. 648
MI QUERIDA TRIQUI TRACA COUNTRY WRAPPER BINDER FILLER PRICE
Nicaragua USA/Connecticut Nicaragua Nicaragua, Dominican Rep. $ 10.75 - $ 11.75
Steve Saka Owner
What’s the background of Mi Querida Triqui Traca? Where did that brand come from? Well, it kind of came as a result of a little bit of a misunderstanding on my part. I had played around with some variations of Mi Querida before the [FDA] deadline because, you know, you just didn’t know what was gonna happen. And I had made a heavier, denser version of that cigar. In the end I had to choose between the two final blends and I ended up choosing one that ultimately became Mi Querida. And then Dave Garofalo approached me about doing a Mi Querida Firecracker for his annual Firecracker release. It’s called Firecracker. To me that meant stronger, heavier, more robust. So in keeping with that concept, I ended up giving him the alternative Mi Querida blend to use as the Firecracker. Where the confusion comes in is that I didn’t realize people in the past, when they make Firecrackers, just make the same exact blend just in his Firecracker size, which is like 3 ½ x 50 with this really weird long pigtail on it to make it look like a fuse. You’ll have to ask Dave about it. He’ll know better than I will, but I think it was his most successful one ever. The first one sold all 500 boxes out in like a day and then he actually did a whole repeat order for another 500 boxes and those sold out also. And then it became a regular part of your portfolio.
AVAILABLE IN 2 SIZES
Obviously there were a lot of people that really liked
the other blend and I decided, “Well, gee, I should offer it in additional sizes.” Because the thing with the Firecracker size is it’s good but it’s over so quickly. You know what I mean? So that’s where the Triqui Traca came from. Triqui Traca is actually slang for this very particular style of firecrackers that they use in Nicaragua. What they do is they take these large firecrackers and they string them in a line and then they lay them down in the center of a street and then light them. The firecrackers just keep going off as booms cascading down the entire length of the street in a series of explosions. In Nicaragua they use these primarily for celebrations. Sometimes it will be for religious festivals, sometimes it’ll be for an anniversary of an important date or something. But they’re primarily used at a celebratory setting. How would you describe the difference between Triqui Traca and the core Mi Querida? I’ve started referring to them as blue and red because the bands are blue on the original and the Triqui Traca is red. In the red Triqui Traca version, there’s additional ligero. It’s a tobacco grown by Leo Reyes in the Dominican Republic that happens to be incredibly potent. The other difference is that on Mi Querida I use broadleaf mediums, but on Triqui Traca I use number one darks. Otherwise they’re very similar. Triqui Traca is considerably stronger, but it’s not stronger in a biting, peppery way. It’s a heavier, denser kind of sensation. You just feel it more as you’re smoking it, but it isn’t that it’s necessarily more spicy or more peppery. Maybe a touch, but not a crazy amount. It’s not for someone who prefers mild to medium cigars and it’s probably not even for someone who prefers medium. Definitely for the consumer who wants them stronger, more robust. But because it doesn’t have that sharp peppery bite, it’s also a way to smoke a really strong cigar that’s still approachable. It’s not going to make the back of your throat hurt. It doesn’t give you that sharpness.
SWEET
No. 552 5 x 52
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CHOCOLATE
NUT
EARTH
CREAM
WOOD
COFFEE
SPICE
No. 648 6 x 48
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DIGGING INTO BARBECUE IN THE MOST DOGMATIC CORNER OF THE MEAT-SMOKING WORLD
by Nicolás Antonio Jiménez / Photography by Natalia García
here’s no U.S. state that’s prouder of its distinct culture and traditions than Texas. And while there’s a lot to love about the Lone Star State, the easiest part to fall in love with might just be the barbecue. While the rest of the country frets about sauce, Texas barbecue is all about letting the meat shine. There are three main ingredients: salt, pepper, and something dead. If sauce gets involved, its main role is to ensure moisture rather than to add new flavor. For that reason, while there’s room for healthy debate about which region’s barbecue is best (don’t tell a Texan you’re OK with the debate), there’s far less room for a debate on which part of the country practices barbecue in its purest form. To experience that pure, unadulterated meat excellence for ourselves, we hopped a flight to Austin, Texas.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Before we get into our three-day meat marathon, we should go over a few things you should keep in mind if you’re planning some version of this trip on your own. First, you’ll need to rent a car. Yes, Austin is a great place to visit and you can get to know the heart of the city well with a combination of walks, Ubers and electric scooters (these are everywhere in downtown Austin). But if you’re here for the meat, you’ll need to drive yourself because so much of the best stuff is just outside the city. Second, this trip is best taken with a group of four people or more. We learned this the hard way. No matter how voracious your appetite or how confident you are in the stretchiness of 36 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
your waistband, if you’re covering a lot of ground to get to know as many restaurants as possible, there is simply no way you can sample a variety of meats on your own at each meal and feel good about it at the end of the trip. Part of the fun of this experience is sampling as much of what this part of Texas has to offer as possible — you’ll need help. Third, skip the sides. Maybe not all the time. But most of the time. If you’re like me, getting sides is sort of an instinctive thing. But Texas barbecue joints don’t put nearly the same love and care into their mac and cheese as they do their meat. Have a bite or two of the sides here and there and order a bit of something if a local insists it’s great, but know that if you pass on them, you’re generally not missing much. Fourth, know that you will not taste it all. It’s OK to leave some meat on the bone, so to speak, for a future trip to Austin. You’ll be back. Finally, don’t let the Texans shame you out of eating things other than beef. Don’t get me wrong; the beef is great. But, in my opinion, Austinites’ strange hatred for pork and poultry has blinded them to the fact that they actually do that exceptionally well, too.
MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW I was joined on this protein pilgrimage by Natalia García, a new member of the Cigar Snob team. I’d warned her that, like so much of what we do at Cigar Snob, it’s still work and can be draining to do one of these stories, even if it’s fun all the way through. She got her first taste of that on our first stop of the
also emblematic of the way Texas views sauce: if we’re going to douse this meat, let’s chop it up so it looks like scraps. Nothing drenched in sauces deserves to look dignified, even if it’s still delicious. After weighing ourselves down with the first lunch of the trip, it seemed best to give the meat a few moments to settle, so we made our way to the nearby Habana House location (there’s another one north of Austin) for a cigar. The store used to be in a 480-square-foot space inside of a restaurant, but when the opportunity came, Habana House took over the space and now has as its centerpiece a massive humidor with an excellent selection of staple cigars and less-common boutique brands, along with a good-sized lounge area where you can enjoy your cigar. Really, though, you’re here for the selection. “This is what it’s all about here,” said Habana House’s Johnny Elizondo, pointing to the humidor.
Clockwise from opposite page: The Texas capitol building; Smokers at Terry Black’s in Austin; The cigar store Indian who greets you outside the Habana House humidor; a sampling of Terry Black’s meats
system than some others might be. Finally, there’s loads of merch. If you like bringing home gifts and mementos from your travels, you can get a lot of that shopping done right here while you’re in line for food. Shirts, caps, baby bibs, sauces, the whole nine yards. trip at Terry Black’s Barbecue. If you’re searching online for barbecue joints in the area, you might be struck by the number of times the name “Black” comes up. The Black family has been smoking meats in nearby Lockhart (more on that later) since the 1930s, and Terry Black’s represents one branch of the family making the move to Austin to bring the family tradition to the city. The restaurant’s namesake, Terry, is the father of the restaurant’s founders, twin brothers Mark and Mike Black. They also have ties to Smitty’s, another legendary Lockhart barbecue joint, on their mom’s side. Even before considering the food, Terry Black’s is a great first stop for a number of reasons. First, it’s centrally located, just south of the Colorado River and Butler Metro Park, which has great views of downtown and is a good place to walk off your meal. Second, it’s got those family ties to Texas barbecue history. Third, it’s one of the most approachable, least rustic of the destination barbecue restaurants in town. Some people care as much about feeling comfortable as they do about the meat, and if you’re with a big group, this place is less of a shock to the
After the cigar, we took the afternoon and early evening to walk around and photograph downtown Austin, not only because we knew we’d be spending much of the rest of the trip outside the city, but also because the weather forecast called for rain and we didn’t want to miss our chance at decent shots of the city. It’s a beautiful city, big on character, walkable, loaded with great food and vibrant with the young energy that comes from having a flagship state university and a state capitol a stone’s throw from each other. In that way, it might remind you of Madison, Wisconsin, which we visited in our May/ June 2017 issue. There are stellar restaurants,
And yes, there’s a line. That’s part of the deal for most of these places. So make sure you have your comfy barbecue shoes on, because it’s worth every minute. When we made it to the ordering area (having finished a cocktail along the way; these people thought of everything), we got overzealous. Brisket, jalapeño cheddar sausage, chopped beef, mac and cheese, green beans. It’s all served on a sheet of butcher paper that’s placed on a tray. The tray is a break from the Lockhart tradition of leaving it at just the butcher paper. I guess this is the city and we need to act a little more civilized. Biting into the first bit of brisket — the juices flowing about your palate and the salty, peppery crust crunching together with the tenderest of tender beef — reminds me a little bit of the late Ralphie May’s standup bit about his first time drinking Cuban coffee in Miami. “I could see into the future,” he says, with his eyes widened all the way as he gazes off at nothing in particular. This is meat nirvana and we’re just getting started. The sausage — maybe the best we had on this trip — has a perfect snap and just the right jalapeño kick. The chopped beef brings a nice change of texture with its saucier profile. It’s MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
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Clockwise from top left: Habana House’s humidor; Ellis Bar on Congress in downtown Austin; Lamberts Downtown Barbecue; the Caldwell County Courthouse in Lockhart
including casual destination barbecue joints like Cooper’s and the more upscale barbecue you’ll find at Lambert’s. We weren’t able to work in visits to either on this trip, but I’ve been on previous visits to Austin and can vouch. There’s also a vibrant bar scene. We made a stop at The Elephant Room on Congress Avenue for a couple of drinks. It’s a jazz bar that serves all the classic cocktails (none of their own signature drinks) and has dollar bills pinned to practically every inch of the walls. Just quirky enough to remind you you’re in Austin since it’s at the basement level and there’s no view of the street outside. For more unique drinks with a view of the city, there’s Ellis, a mostly open-air bar on Congress Avenue. A northbound walk along Congress from the Colorado River is interrupted by the city’s most prominent landmark, the Texas State Capitol. Like so many others, it’s clearly inspired by the Capitol Building in D.C., although this one is, naturally, surrounded by a collection of Texasspecific monuments. If you’re a history buff, you’ll enjoy walking around the grounds and inspecting each of them. On our way back toward the river, we made a stop at Cuba512 (a Cuban restaurant whose 38 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
name is a reference to the city’s area code) for the Cuban coffee that we can’t help but be drawn to in every city we visit. Like so many others, this one hit the spot, but it’s not quite what you’re hoping for if you’re used to Cuban coffee in Miami — the kind that lets you see the future. After settling into our hotel, we headed back out for more barbecue, this time at Salt Lick, a large barbecue restaurant in Round Rock, just north of Austin, with a large dining room and a sprawling patio. We went with a pulled pork sandwich, a bison rib and some brisket. Maybe we got the wrong thing, but this might have been the most underwhelming of the meals we had on this trip. Still, it has its place in the scene, as you might want to get Texas pit barbecue at a place with things like table service and plates. Yet again, we’d ordered too much food. If any one lesson came out of this first day in Texas, it was that we’d need to adjust our ordering habits. That adjustment would prove difficult to make on day two in Texas’ barbecue capital.
MEAT MECCA There’s not much happening in Lockhart, Texas. The small town of about 13,000 people is
centered — at least visually — on the Caldwell County Courthouse. The building went up in 1894 and was built in the Second Empire or Napoleon III architectural style, which was popular at the time, but which is more often associated with European opera houses and cathedrals than small-town Texas courthouses. In Lockhart, it’s both a defining landmark and wildly out of place. In fact, the contrast between this building and the surrounding town — even right across the street — is so stark that it’s become a destination for filmmakers. You might recognize the courthouse from Waiting for Guffman, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and the HBO series The Leftovers. Of course, the architecture isn’t what brings people to Lockhart. The town is the historic capital of Texas barbecue; the canonical restaurants in the state’s beef-smoking history are in this town, just steps away from one another. To put all this in its proper context, let’s run through a super-abridged history of the
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Lockhart barbecue world. In 1875, Jesse Swearingen opened the town’s first “meat market” — a grocery with a butcher. Just 25 years later, in 1900, Charles Kreuz, Sr. bought that market from Jesse for $200. Aside from modernizing the grocery and introducing products like fresh fruits and vegetables, Charles also incorporated smoked meats as a new product. Inspired by his own German heritage, he took Texas beef and pork and smoked it over post oak wood. And just like that, Lockhart’s smoked meat legacy began. When Charles’ sons sold Kreuz Market to Edgar “Smitty” Schmidt in 1948, it was yet another pivotal moment. Smitty, who had been Kreuz’s butcher for more than a decade, shut down the grocery part of the business and transitioned the business to a new chapter in which it operated strictly as a restaurant. He retired in 1984, selling the business to his sons Rick and Don. But he didn’t sell them the building. That was left to his daughter Nina Sells when he died in 1994, which left her to play the role of landlord to her two brothers. As you might imagine, that led to some bitter feuds. Don retired, leaving just Nina and Rick to quarrel with each other over rent hikes and building improvements. In 1999, the brother and sister settled. Rick took the Kreuz name to its current, larger location and Nina reopened the space her father had bought all those years ago, except this time as a restaurant named Smitty’s, after the old man. In a town this size, we’re talking about seismic change. People were so concerned about what this might mean for Kreuz, which had been around just under a century, that the restaurant had to employ some symbolic theatrics to reassure them. As part of the move from one 40 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
Clockwise from top left: Smoked brisket from Kreuz Market in Lockhart; Downtown Austin from the Colorado River; chilaquiles at Las Cazuelas on East Cesar Chavez Street
restaurants, your meats are cut to order and then served to you on sheets of butcher paper, the ends of which are crumpled and twisted into makeshift handles that’ll help you get your food to your table. Side items are a whole other transaction that happens at a counter in either restaurant’s dining room. Putting the two head to head, it was tough to pick a favorite. Both restaurants had outrageous brisket. We also tried the beef shoulder at Kreuz and the sausage at Smitty’s. If I were doing it all over again, I think I’d stick with brisket and double down on that.
location to another, Kreuz pitmaster Roy Perez dragged a bucket of hot coals between the two locations, so committed was the Kreuz side of things to preserving their signature flavor. Needless to say, these two restaurants belong at the top of your Lockhart to-do list. And for all their shared history, they’re actually very different — at least aesthetically. Having that backstory in mind puts the experience of eating at these two places in a whole new light. Smitty’s feels much older. You walk into a dark building, through a hall that leads to a barbecue pit area that feels ancient — with the exception of the modern cash registers. At Kreuz, you’re walking through a more modern, well-lit dining room with fun signage on the walls — jokes about the restaurant’s rejection of barbecue sauces and forks and all that. At both
Finally, we rounded out our visit to Lockhart with a few bites at Black’s, named for the same Black family as Austin’s Terry Black’s. Black’s has been serving smoked meats in Lockhart since 1932. Today, third-generation pitmaster Kent Black is making magic from a pit that his father built in the 1940s. If the reactions we got from some of the locals when we told them about our meal is any indication, nobody had committed quite so grave a sin as we did in the nearly 90 years this place has been in business. Natalia and I ordered turkey. It’s true! This is beef country. People give you crap about ordering pork. And yet here we were getting a slice from a bird. I’ll take the blame. I thought it would be interesting to try something a little unconventional, especially considering how much beef we’d just had and how much more I knew was in our future. And you know what? That was some damned good turkey. It was smokey and tender and juicy and unlike any turkey I’d ever had. I’d order it again. Sue me. What you’re here for is the history. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt like I was
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brought closer to a place’s history than I was while eating at these three restaurants.
WHEN IN RoMa People tell us they think our office is kind of cool. We have cigars and a nice coffee machine and a kegerator. There’s usually a selection of at least a couple dozen spirits to choose from since we typically taste at least that many for research purposes in any given issue of the magazine. But now I understand. I know what a cool office looks like. Because I’ve been to RoMa Craft Tobac’s headquarters in Austin. After wrapping up our visit to Lockhart, we paid a visit to Mike Rosales, Skip Martin and their team at RoMa Craft. From the outside, it’s a nondescript office in an even more unassuming office complex. Once you’re inside, you understand that the rest of us have been doing offices all wrong. Every corner of the RoMa Craft office — with the exception of the small area they use to process shipments and fulfill orders — seems like it was designed to make the team want to stick around. From the custom wood desks in the shared workspace (with an Xbox controller on every desk) to the gorgeous bar, complete with a top-of-the-line espresso machine that Mike Rosales (the Ro in RoMa) insisted they have installed. Even the bathrooms feel like something you’re more likely to find in a boutique hotel than a cigar company’s office. The star of the show here is the bar, where they have an unreasonably awesome collection of beers and spirits. And of course, there’s a walkin humidor to showcase the company’s cigars. My first thought: “This is incredible, but it doesn’t make sense. Who’s all this for?” Turns out these guys do about 20 tours a week of their office for people who call ahead to arrange them.
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Clockwise from top left: Habana House South; the bar at RoMa Craft Tobac headquarters; RoMa Craft’s welcome area
“There’s a huge bourbon community here in Austin,” Mike said. “The idea is to create a cut and light opportunity to expose the brand, show people how to cut a cigar. They want to learn.” While Skip Martin says that there’s not much of a cigar culture in Austin, RoMa Craft benefits from being headquartered in a city of curious consumers who appreciate craft and have a special interest in supporting local businesses. “There are more vegans than there are cigar smokers in Austin,” Skip said. “There’s a lot of liberalism here, but it’s a Texas brand of liberalism. It’s liberal enough where you’re probably not going to walk downtown wearing a MAGA hat, but it’s not like you’re in Portland either.” The limits of Austin’s leftism are illustrated in the city’s resistance to nannies who would have government regulate this city’s favorite kind of smoke. Back in 2015, city officials rejected a proposal that would have required restaurants to keep their barbecue pits a certain distance from residential buildings and install smoke scrubbers. After a couple of cigars and an extensive tasting session of beers, whiskeys and rums in the RoMa Craft collection, we joined Mike, Skip and their team for dinner at Stiles Switch, which is located in a shopping center north of downtown, in the location that once served as the Emporium pool hall from the movie Dazed & Confused. Today, it’s one of the few restaurants in town that keeps the pits running through the night. While most of the other noteworthy barbecue restaurants in town run out of their most popular products during
their lunch rush, Stiles Switch is one place you can be sure you’ll still have options at dinnertime. Skip and Mike took the lead on ordering. We all shared in loads of brisket, sausage, and chopped beef. There was corn casserole in there for good measure, but it was hard to pay it much attention considering how freaking good all that meat was. Pitmaster Lance Kirkpatrick spent nine years working under Bobby Mueller at Taylor, Texas’ legendary Louie Mueller Barbecue (more on that later), and the time there has undoubtedly prepared him to help build another lasting barbecue institution with owner Shane Stiles, who brought Lance in.
THE HOME STRETCH On our final day in Austin, we needed a bit of a palate cleanser from the barbecue, so we started with breakfast at Las Cazuelas, a Mexican restaurant in East Cesar Chavez, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. Just east of the
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Clockwise from top left: Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, Texas; the private lounge at Zodi’x Cigars; Stiles Switch Barbecue portion of the ceiling.
This might be the most comfortable place to spend the day smoking, especially if you’re a business traveler who needs a comfortable place to hang out with a laptop. At lunch, it was back to another pit, and we were going out on a high for our last Texas barbecue stop. We met Mike at Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, about 40 minutes north of downtown Austin. center of the city, this part of town is primarily single family homes, with about three-quarters of the residents being Hispanic (mainly Mexican). The heart of the neighborhood is the section of East Cesar Chavez Street that runs from Comal Street to Pedernales Street. If you’re looking for Mexican and Tex Mex, this is a good place to start your search. Las Cazuelas is everything you want from a neighborhood taquería. It’s an unpretentious diner with an extensive menu that includes Tex Mex staples and some more traditional Mexican dishes. I went with a breakfast burrito, Natalia did the chilaquiles. After breakfast we explored this neighborhood, and South Congress, where there’s loads of dining and shopping. On our way to lunch we made a stop at Zodi’x Cigars in Georgetown (north of Austin) for a smoke. The humidor is well stocked, but the draw here is the huge lounge that sits behind a hidden door disguised as a bookshelf. It’s a private lounge, but day passes are affordable. 44 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
When Wayne Mueller took this restaurant over from his father Bobby — who had taken over from his own father, Louie — he knew his job was to simply not mess things up. That was, after all the year after the James Beard Foundation awarded Louie Mueller Barbecue its America’s Classics Award, one of the highest honors in American food. The pressure was on, and Wayne has managed to not only keep the family tradition of excellence alive, but also adopt a role as a barbecue evangelist, touring the country teaching people about barbecue, hosting countless TV crews and web series at his restaurant, and generally taking on a role of ambassador for Taylor’s beef-smoking heritage. When Mike heard we hadn’t had any beef rib on this trip, he made it a point to fix that. Beef ribs look like something out of a Flintstones episode. They’re massive, with bones that look like they’re in there as a practical joke. Because the rib is so large, there’s a lot of stuff happening on each of these ribs — lots of variety of muscle and fattiness. But throughout, it’s perhaps the best
expression of that complex flavor that comes out of a simple recipe: 9 parts pepper, 1 part salt, plus smoke and time. We headed back to RoMa Craft HQ for some more cigars. Even after all the eating we did, there’s a ton left on my Texas barbecue bucket list. For instance, we never did make it out to Franklin’s, a newer restaurant — run by Louie Mueller alumnus Aaron Franklin — that’s become a favorite. We couldn’t find time (or room in our guts) to squeeze in a visit to Snow’s BBQ, a Lexington destination that’s been voted the best barbecue joint in Texas by Texas Monthly. And we missed our shot at trying Valentina’s, which serves a fusion of Mexican and Texas barbecue that we were excited to check out. The list goes on and on — and I’ll probably never come close to visiting all the barbecue joints in my to-do list. And yet it seems like I know them already, on some level. There aren’t many dishes that play this role for a community. Maybe it’s the fact that Texas style, in particular, is so pure. Salt, pepper, meat. The rest is heresy. Regardless of whether you’re a religious person, it’s clear that this kind of rigid dogma can be unifying. Locals, transplants and immigrants all assimilate at least enough to have this one thing tie them together. The most beautiful thing about making this pilgrimage is that all it takes to join the club is an appetite. And maybe a spare notch in your belt.
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No 1 PADRÓN 1964 ANNIVERSARY SERIES The Padrón’s flexible flavor profile makes it a good partner for just about any of the classic red wine regions but we find that left-bank Bordeaux from Margaux, St. Julien, Pauillac, and St. Estephe bring that beautiful balance of silky tannins and delicate fruit to the pairing. Recommended vintages: 2018, 2016, 2015, 2010, 2009
Super-hot Callie Herd helps us crack the code to pairing the Top 5 cigars from our 2019 Top 25 rankings with the some of the world’s best red wine growing regions.
By Erik CalviĂąo
No 2 ROCKY PATEL AGED, LIMITED, AND RARE 2ND EDITION Rich, fruit forward Cabernet Sauvignon wine from Napa Valley is the play for the Rocky Patel ALR 2nd Edition. The ALR is loaded with chocolate, earth, and pepper notes that beg for the oaked black currant, plum, and raspberry flavors of Napa’s best Cabernets. Look for top quality wines from the Stag’s Leap, Oakville, and St. Helena regions of Napa. Pro tip: If the word Beckstoffer appears anywhere on the label, buy it. Recommended vintages: 2016 thru 2012
TOP ZARA HOT PANT HELO ROCHA FISHNET LEGGING AMAZON
No 3 ESPINOSA LAS 6 PROVINCIAS MTZ The MTZ, the latest installment in Espinosa’s Las 6 Provincias series, delivers a beautiful balance between powerful pepper and earth flavors and the more delicate cedar and citrus notes. In wine, you’ll find a similar balance in Italy’s Brunello di Montalcino between the wine’s strong tannins and bold fruit flavors. Pro tip: Don’t opt for the Rosso di Montalcino for this pairing. Spend a little more for the big boy, Brunello di Montalcino. Recommended vintages: 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010
BABYDOLL SET LULU’S SHOES GIANVITTO ROSSI
No 4 RAMON ALLONES BY AJ FERNANDEZ AJ Fernandez has been consistently producing some of the best and most exciting cigars in the game for the last decade. In the Ramon Allones by AJ Fernandez he managed to layer tons of chocolate, almond, and cinnamon flavors over a pepper core that requires a wine that can stand up to all of that. Enter Argentina’s Malbec grape grown in the Mendoza region. These wines are hearty and jammy with tons of ripe plums, black cherry, and blackberry with enough acidity to keep the fruit in check. When you combine the Ramon Allones by AJ Fernandez with a well-executed Malbec, the wine makes your mouth water between sips and puffs. Recommended vintages: 2017, 2013, 2011, and 2010
TRENCH COAT MANGO BODYSUIT LINGERIE LULU’S
No 5 OLIVA SERIE V MADURO ESPECIAL The Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial is a flexible cigar when it comes to pairing with red wine, but the connection with Spain’s Ribera del Duero region is undeniable. The cigar delivers tons of dark chocolate and espresso over a sweet, earthy base that combines perfectly with Ribera del Duero’s classic integration of dark fruit, oak, and savory notes with silky smooth tannins. Pro tip: If you want to do it right, reach for more aged Reserva, or better yet Gran Reserva. In Spain, this classification is essentially an age statement for the time spent in the barrel. Recommended vintages: 2015, 2014, 2011, 2010, 2009
TOP LULU’S BLACK LINGERIE VICTORIA SECRET
MODEL CALLIE HERD THE INDUSTRY MODEL MGMT PHOTOGRAPHY LIMITED EDITION www.limitededitionmanagement.com PRODUCTION IVAN OCAMPO iocampo@cigarsnobmag.com PRODUCTION ASSISTANT JAMILET CALVIÑO jcalvino@cigarsnobmag.com WARDROBE STYLIST BARBARA BIANCHINI www.limitededitionmanagement.com MAKEUP ARTIST LUCIA ABUIN www.limitededitionmanagement.com
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Norman Van Aken is widely known as the father of New World Cuisine. The midwestern chef found his voice in a Key West Kitchen and went on to bring the flavors and sensibilities of the Caribbean to diners and cooks all over America. Now he’s focused on cementing his legacy and making sure the knowledge he’s gained is available to the next generation. LOCATION: Books & Books in Coral Gables, Fla.
by Nicolás Antonio Jiménez / Photography by Natalia Aguilera MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
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etween the cable networks and the blogs, the Instagram accounts and the YouTube channels, the cookbooks and the magazines, food is everywhere, and there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of opportunity to become a food celebrity. All it takes is a bit of personality, a cell phone camera, access to melty cheese and a willingness to say that anything that looks melty or gooey or meaty or bready is “amazing.” Hell, look at that Food God guy on Instagram. Somehow he’s made a career of posing with foods and acting (poorly) like he’s thrilled just to be looking at them. With that oversaturation of food media that’s in our faces no matter where we turn, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that being a chef is about real craft, real skill, and real creativity. The good ones can run a kitchen. The great ones can tell stories with their food. And then there’s an elite class of chefs who shift the culture by making special contributions to the language of food itself. When it comes to telling the story of South Florida through cuisine, no chef has made a deeper contribution to the area’s
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food vocabulary than Norman Van Aken. “My journey, when it comes to food, was unexpected,” said Norman. The 68 year old and I were sitting in the patio behind Ariete, a Coconut Grove restaurant owned by one of his young protege chefs. “I’m of a generation where being a chef was not something that everyone spoke about. It wasn’t on television except for things like The Galloping Gourmet and Julia Child, which were not in my orbit.” Norman didn’t have the romantic view of life in professional kitchens that so many young people today do. In fact, his mother had worked in restaurants and then returned to the industry when she and Norman’s father split. The restaurant business was, to him, just that. A business. Where mom went to work. “I was a reader as a child,” said Norman, who grew up in Illinois. “It was my escape and I loved nothing more than to climb up a tree in my neighborhood, bring a book with me and just hang up there above the rolling grass and lawns
and daydream and read a book. Or wherever else that might have been — reading a book on the bus, in my bedroom, on the floor of the living room. I was a reader.” Norman worked all kinds of jobs before he ever earned a paycheck in a restaurant. He was a carnie, he was a roofer, he sold flowers on the street in Honolulu, and he did a lot of factory work. For instance, there was the job at the Ball Brothers plant, where he was in charge of taking all the Ball jars that had fallen (and shattered) on the factory floor and moving them to a conveyor belt that would take the shards of glass to be melted again. “So essentially I was breathing glass dust for eight hours,” he said. “It was not exactly what my plans had been as far as a vocation.” When he was fired from his roofing job for, in his words, “enjoying a rain storm that ended our work on top of a high school,” he picked up his local paper’s classifieds and found a want ad for a short order cook job. “I tied my long hair
behind my neck and underneath my sweater and applied for a job at a restaurant that was in the next town over.” That next town over —LIbertyville, Illinois, about 15 miles south of the Wisconsin-Illinois border — was also Norman’s birthplace, since it was home to the nearest hospital. And the restaurant was one that Norman and his family ate at frequently. Until then, the restaurant hadn’t been any more significant than that. But it soon became the place where Norman found that vocation he’d been missing. “I suddenly was like, “Wow. I don’t hate work. I like work. I like the smell of the food. I like the jargon,” he said. Norman had always dreamt of writing. Plays, maybe music or novels. And the more you speak to him, the more sense that makes. Norman carries himself a bit like an artist. When he speaks, his eyes wander, as he lets each thought breathe — not for the sake of the delivery, but for his own benefit as he carefully considers the story he’s telling and how best to tell it. His cadence, his posture, even the way he gestures with his hands while he talks, is deliberate careful without feeling strained or rehearsed. “I think I was just too afraid of the rejection. I’d read about writers who had died ignominiously and so I kind of kept it a dream and didn’t pursue that as directly as I should have, maybe,” he said. “I worked as a cook for years before I said to [my wife] Janet, ‘I think I’m really doing this. You know, it’s not just a short-term thing. I’m becoming a chef.’” Norman learned by doing, and part of what kept him from finding (or committing to) his calling was the fact that his on-the-job education happened — at first — in places that didn’t look to him like pictures of the future he wanted for himself. In his twenties, for example, he worked at a restaurant where the men he worked for lived in a bunkhouse in the back. Regardless of when he found that calling, one event stands out as the crucial turning point that led Norman down the road (literally) to his current position in food culture. It was a spur of the moment drive from Illinois to Florida. There were two brothers Norman used to hang out with in Illinois. While at a party with friends, he realized that one of the brothers was missing and asked where he was. It turned out that the missing brother had gone to Key West “to do another kind of work,” as Norman put it, with a knowing look on his face that said, “...if you get my drift…” but with a subtlety that said, “those
days are behind me.” “I said, ‘Does anybody want to go to Key West?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, we’ll go.’ I said, ‘Let’s go tonight.’ And so we got some stimulating beverages, jumped in their van and 36 hours later pulled into the island of Key West. And I’ll tell you, Nick, it was love. That first day I was in love with that island. I felt like I’d gone to a utopian place. A place of extraordinary beauty. It just really hit me like a love affair,” Norman said.
“My journey, when it comes to food, was unexpected.” - Norman Van Aken That was back around 1970, before Margaritaville. Key West was an even purer version of the bohemian lifestyle that it’s come to represent to tourists. Norman visited once more in ‘72 and then moved down there in ‘73. Newcomers like Norman were treated, as he tells it, with equal parts suspicion and welcoming. It didn’t take long for Norman to get acclimated, though. He wasn’t after all, a yuppie trying to assimilate to island life. He identified with the long-haired, anti-Vietnam, counterculture and Key West was a place that welcomed you to let your freak flag fly, whatever color it might be. Norman’s first restaurant job in Key West was at a 24-hour barbecue joint called The Midget Bar and Grill. It was an open-air establishment with a corrugated tin roof and a banyan tree in the middle. “It wouldn’t make sense in a lot of other parts of the world,” Norman said, remembering that first gig on the island. In this new chapter in the Keys, Norman’s practical education in cuisine came courtesy of a guy known on the island as Bicycle Sammy. Originally from South Carolina, Bicycle Sammy had been a cook in the Navy. His nickname was a reference to the bicycle he used to get around Key West, which he’d decked out with a big basket, a horn and American flags. Bicycle Sammy gets a shout-out in one of Norman’s books, No Experience Necessary, with a recipe for “Bicycle Sammy’s Potato Salad.” Norman had arrived in Key West within a year or two of Jimmy Buffet’s first busking trip on the island. Buffet played at The Midget from time to time, as he did at another Key West restau-
rant that played an important role in Norman’s journey. The kitchen at the Pier House (now the Pier House Resort & Spa) gave Norman his first real exposure to graduates of schools like the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). “I went to apply for the job and I’d happened to arrive just at that point in time when they were having a pre-service meeting. The chef was a woman named Annie and she turned out to be incredibly knowledgeable, incredibly helpful. She was tasting the pastry chef’s dessert, a cake. And I remember nobody acknowledged me. I was a fly on the wall just, you know, holding my application rolled up in my nervous hands. She took a French knife, cut that cake open, slapped a piece on a plate, took a bite of it, and then threw the whole cake in the garbage can. And I was like, ‘What just happened?’ And she said to the pastry chef, pulling the cake out of her mouth ‘It’s dry. It’s dry as hell. Why would you serve me something like that?’ There was passion and anger and a sense of commitment that startled me,” said Norman. “I’d seen people mess with each other in restaurants before, but not over the food so much as maybe over the tickets or how they screwed up an order. But as far as the quality of the food, in that very intense sense, it was an eye opener.” And then Norman recalls the moment that he says he can remember like it was yesterday. A sous chef mentioned the idea of making a veal velouté for the next day’s lunch special. Norman didn’t recognize the term, so he asked about it. How did this guy even know what that was? The sous chef told him he’d gone to the CIA, Norman remarked that he couldn’t afford to go there. “He goes, ‘Well, why don’t you read?’ And I was like, ’Why don’t you go fuck yourself?’ Under my breath because he was the sous chef and I was a line cook.” Norman’s skepticism of the idea, it turned out, was off base. That sous chef recommended Norman read James Beard, and Norman was buying James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking at a bookstore later that same day. “It was rather shocking to me to hear these people who were my age and younger speak about food in such a committed, informed way. I prided myself on my ability to learn. Yet they were using terms that were over my head. I think that kind of goaded me into getting an education,” Norman said. “Most books are organized more by appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts,” Norman said. “This particular book was organized by the methodology of cooking. So it broke it down in
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a quite structurally clear way, grilling, poaching, steaming, broiling — and then I began to understand the mechanics of cooking in ways that I hadn’t before, but I’d been cooking six, seven years. I had this backlog of practical experience, but now the semblance of order was coming into play.” Norman’s first executive chef position is one he doesn’t really count. An executive chef had ended up in jail somehow and Norman took advantage of the opening and managed to become the replacement. For him, the first executive chef job was one he took in Illinois not long after the birth of his son Justin. Norman’s wife Janet got homesick and the family headed back to the midwest. Norman was hired by Gordon Sinclair to be the executive chef at a restaurant called Sinclair’s, which surprised Norman. He had assumed he might be the second in command in that kitchen, but it turned out to be the leadership role he needed to really find his voice.
Finding his voice
Though he might not have realized it at the time, that thing he suddenly saw — that his voice as a chef had been so shaped by his time in the Keys — was also the thing that would define his career and his place in the history of American food. It was about that time that the American regional cuisine movement was picking up steam. Alice Water opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1971. Wolfgang Puck opened Spago in 1982. Both chefs and their respective restaurants were at the forefront of defining California cuisine. About that same time, chefs like Dean Fearing, Stephan Pyles and Robert Del Grande were helping to shape the food identity of the American Southwest. And so Norman found his inner Hemingway at just the right time to make his name with another regional cuisine. “What they were doing,” said Norman, referring to those other chefs in the regional cuisine movement, “was distilling the American experience through the lens of where they lived. I liked that idea because I had been through the
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Credit: Photo provided by Norman Van Aken
“I had been in Key West for a number of years. The first review of [Sinclair’s] said something like ‘If Hemingway were a chef, he might be cooking like this.’ I began to realize that I was being thought of and characterized by my Key West experience. Because it was what I knew, it’s what I did. Like music in many ways, you know? If you grow up in the hollers of West Virginia, it’s certainly going to be the music you’re going to play, no matter if you move to Chicago. This is where the lights switched on. This time I was at the helm and not one of the line people.”
Norman called his time running his namesake Coral Gables restaurant, Norman’s , the equivalent of a PhD program in cuisine. Above, Norman poses in the dining room at Norman’s in 1998
eurocentric school of learning to cook and the brigade system that has come down since the time of [Auguste] Escoffier. And it was a great value to me, but being American and having an American spirit it really illuminated that sense of, ‘Yes, let’s talk about American food.’” That Floridian character manifested itself in some of the dishes that helped define Norman’s career, like his Bahamian conch chowder and his black bean soup. There were plenty of other things on that menu in Illinois. Norman was still “becoming something.” Still, his style and skill got enough attention to earn him good press. And then, several cold winters after their move
to Illinois, he said, Janet let him know she was over the homesickness and they moved back to Florida. Norman took a job at a hotel restaurant in Jupiter and then, in 1985, the family made its way back to Key West, where Norman would work at Louie’s Backyard, which is still in business today. “That was where my identity as a chef that as other people understand me, that’s where it was born, was working at Louie’s and becoming much more clear as far as wishing to represent Florida in my cuisine,” Norman said.”The thing about Key West was that it was so small that you could pay attention to the true bloodstream
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of immigration that was going on. In Miami, you were either specifically part of, let’s say, a Cuban family doing a Cuban restaurant, or maybe you were in a hotel doing continental cuisine, but people had not yet begun to fuse cuisine here. When I wanted to understand the flavors of a Haitian dish, I could go to a Haitian restaurant or a Bahamian dish, Bahamian restaurant, Cuban dish, a Cuban restaurant. It gave me a clearer view into what could happen.” It was also during his time at Louie’s Backyard that Norman was given the opportunity to publish his first cookbook, Feast of Sunlight. One of the dishes that he was becoming known for was his Pork Havana with black bean and sweet corn salsa and plantain crema and Sherry wine reduction sauce. “I marinated the pork like you would — but they were pork tenderloins — overnight and then spice dusted them in an escabeche spice rub. And so it was like five sauces that were on this dish.” There was also his Key West Yellowtail with citrus butter sauce and mashed potatoes, Key West shrimp and housemade chorizo sausage, a variety of Key lime desserts, and a hot fried chicken salad with honey mustard dressing. The book brought a wave of new attention. Suddenly, Norman was on Good Morning America and Good Morning Boston and Good… well, all the Good Mornings. He was being written up in national publications and the front pages of newspapers. And he was being invited to food symposiums all over the country. That brought its own set of challenges, but ultimately gave Norman a widespread public credibility that made it easier to sell investors on opening a new restaurant of his own. Which he did when he parted ways with a Miami Beach hotel in a fist fight with the hotel’s “coked out” owner. The “referee,” for some reason, was drunk Mickey Rourke, Norman said. Yes, that Mickey Rourke. It started with Norman defending his friend and general manager, who the hotel owner was going to fire. It ended with Norman punching the hotel’s owner on the beach, after which point the hotel owner pretended to surrender long enough to throw sand in Norman’s face when his guard was down. “Somehow [Mickey Rourke] didn’t see that as an illegal move,” Norman said. Soon after, he was recognized by a fan at a Miami Beach restaurant. That fan handed him a business card and said he’d want to invest if Norman ever set off on his own. And it turned out to be the real deal. That chance meeting would turn into the eponymous restaurant Norman’s.
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“I’d say Louie’s was like my high school, but Norman’s was like the doctoral program compared to all that. It was an immense part of our lives,” Norman said. “Our lives were intersected with it. Our personal lives were our professional lives, like many people in the business. You know, to keep a restaurant together it’s not like you go home on the weekends and you don’t talk about work.” Norman would go on to take the helm of a slew of restaurants. For instance, there was that first Norman’s in Coral Gables – which earned Norman his first James Beard Award — another Norman’s in Orlando, another in Los Angeles, 1921 Mount Dora just outside of Orlando, Three in Miami Wynwood Art District, and Tuyo, the restaurant owned by the culinary program at Miami Dade College.
Along the way, Norman inspired droves of chefs with his fusion cuisine “a term that Norman coined.” The midwesterner succeeded in bringing Caribbean ingredients and sensibilities to a country that had never been able to connect with this corner of America in that way. As any chef of his caliber does, he also touched the lives of young chefs who worked under him over the years. “The opportunity to work with Norman was a benchmark in my career that I wanted to reach. It was a goal,” said Michael Beltran. The Miamiborn chef worked under Norman at both Norman’s 180 in Coral Gables and Tuyo in Miami. He was named a 2020 semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South (and, at the time that I’m writing this, is still in the running
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for the award). “The food that he did over the course of his career was game changing for South Florida and the country. The idea of fusing Caribbean flavors with French technique wasn’t common. Early in my life, I didn’t know where I wanted to go with food, but I know that base of working with him and that outside-the-box thinking was something I needed to do.” The best illustration of that fusion thinking and how it influenced him, Mike says, comes in the form of two foie gras dishes. Mike worked on a kitchen station that was responsible for making Norman’s Down Island French Toast. It’s triangle-cut french toast and a seared foie gras that’s been marinated in Grand Marnier and vanilla. It’s got pineapple, papaya, candied lime zest and a passion fruit caramel. There’s a lot of break with the tradition of foie gras in that one dish, and it’s all done with the deliberate care of a world-class chef and all the irreverent love of fun that makes Key West. It was very against the grain. It was very interesting. and that’s why that dish holds so strong now. It’s still head-and-shoulders above so many other foie gras dishes. Mike’s signature foie gras dish — which he conceived while working under Norman and now serves at his own Miami restaurant, Ariete — also leans on its creator’s perspective and life experience to bring a new context to foie gras. It’s served with an old-school Cuban sauce called temptation caramel, a sour orange and vinegar reduction, sweetbreads and ripe plantains. It’s finished with chocolate, salt and chives. “Norman broke down walls of food,” said Mike, who has more Norman Van Aken alumni on his staff today. “You don’t have to think about it in a one-dimensional way. You can look at a certain dish and take it wherever your whimsy would take you. The impact he had on South Florida is incredible. I hope that people look at what we’re doing as a continuation of that tradition.” Norman’s outside-the-box thinking is also being proliferated through his writing. Since Feast of Sunlight, the godfather of New World Cuisine (which is what he termed is a specific brand of fusion cooking) has been a prolific author. Books like New World Cuisine, New World Kitchen, My Key West Kitchen, and Norman Van Aken’s Florida Kitchen are volumes that should be in the collection of any cook in American cuisine. And his memoir, No Experience Necessary, tracks his journey from those pre-restaurant days as a carnie to his current place in American food, highlighting relevant recipes
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along the way. He also writes a weekly radio broadcast for WLRN, the South Florida NPR affiliate, called A Word on Food. To date, he’s written close to 400 of those radio essays. You can find links to all those books and broadcasts at normanvanaken.com. He has plenty of cooking ahead of him. Norman is working on re-opening Norman’s in Orlando, operates two spaces at the Time Out Market in Miami Beach (one focused on his New World Cuisine, the other on pizza) and has other projects in the works for other parts of Florida. But like a future hall-of-fame athlete in the later years of his career (although Norman’s already been named to the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who” list) Norman sounds almost as concerned with legacy as anything else. He loves the game and wants to see the next generation move it forward. That means more books, more talks, more lessons from veterans like him, especially when there are so many unrealistic portrayals of professional kitchen life in media and pop culture.
“The food that he did over
the course of his career was game changing for South Florida and the country.” - Michael Beltran “At my restaurant, I put together a spreadsheet of my age and what I had done and I hadn’t been in a magazine and I hadn’t made a beurre blanc and I hadn’t been on television and I didn’t have an agent. And I show [young cooks] all the ages I was before those things happened. You’ve got to take your time to learn how to cook. Just cook. The rest of it will come later if it’s going to come. Don’t worry about the fact that you’ve been cooking for three years and you don’t have a book contract yet.” That drive to educate future generations is also why Norman is working with the University of Miami to archive some of his writings, sketches and notes for posterity. Before, as he put it, he goes to that big kitchen in the sky. “I wasn’t motivated by the notion that I wanted people to come see my chef coat hanging in a glass case at UM or something. I just really wanted it to be simple for other people to have a look at the transitions that occurred in cook-
ing in Florida and my role during that period of time. It was at a time of significant and dynamic change that moved cooking here to where what we now consider fine dining to include African, Caribbean and Latin cooking in ways that really weren’t a part of the dialogue in the 1940s, ‘50s and 60s,” Norman said. Throughout his career, the South Florida lifestyle that Norman has adopted, enjoyed and been an ambassador for has included cigars. He remembers fishing trips with his friends Emiril Lagasse and the late Charlie Trotter, who made trips to Key West to fish with Norman. “The fishing was more about smoking cigars than fishing,” he said. When he started working in Miami Beach, he became a regular at Mike’s cigars, where he’d get the stogies he smoked on his commute — paired with tea — to and from the kitchen. And even that aspect as Caribbean culture has, in a sense, emboldened at least one young chef. Mike Beltran’s Ariete is a toptier passion project that isn’t afraid to offer a cigar menu. Even if that specifically wasn’t the impact Norman expected to have, it’s part of his broader, deeper legacy of teaching South Florida — especially the area’s immigrant populations — that their cuisine and their culture could occupy an elite space even in the minds of other American diners to whom the flavors were foreign. “Like good food, a great cigar can cause you to slow down and be contemplative and appreciative,” said Norman, who says he tries all sorts of cigars, but has probably bought more La Gloria Cubana than any other brand. “A cigar takes a while to experience. If I’m going to take the time to have a cigar, I’m going to take the time to have a cigar. And at the same thing is true for a fine meal. I like the kind of restaurant where there aren’t televisions and not everybody’s on the phone. It’s a chance to engage across the table with people. Sometimes you’re talking about the food that’s on your plates and sometimes you’re talking about your lives and your personal relationships and your aspirations and your dreams and you get to dig deep with people.” Norman’s been engaging with and celebrating the diversity of culinary culture in South Florida for decades. Sometimes in places and parts of that culture that those of us who were born into it hadn’t even begun to explore. And it’s thanks in large part to this guy from Illinois who became a chef out of necessity and drove to Key West that the region’s flavors have been embraced by the rest of the country and become part of the mainstream. Decades from now, we’ll still be looking back at Norman’s career thankful that he made that drive, grateful that he dug so deep.
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BALMORALCIGARS.COM
Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic host annual festivals to celebrate their tobacco prowess and flex their cigar-making muscles. These events are the best way for you to immerse yourself in the premium cigar culture. Here are firsthand accounts of some of what we did and saw during this year’s Puro Sabor and ProCigar festivals. MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
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he Association of Dominican Cigar Manufacturers celebrated the thirteenth installment of its annual ProCigar festival in the Dominican Republic. More than 450 guests from 20 countries were on hand to enjoy Dominican culture, music, food, rum, beer, and — of course — cigars. The event has long been the very best way for smokers to immerse themselves in the country’s tobacco industry with tours, tastings and more.
TABACALERA DE GARCÍA EVENTS The first factory tour of ProCigar took place in La Romana at Tabacalera de García, which manufactures cigars distributed by Altadis USA. Guests attending this tour stayed at Casa de Campo where they took advantage of a resortstyle getaway. The tour of Tabacalera de García gave guests an in-depth look at how the world’s largest cigar factory operates, from processing tobacco to aging the finished product. Some of the brands made at Tabacalera de García: Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, and VegaFina.
DINNER AT MINITAS BEACH Tabacalera de García’s Grupo de Maestros conducted their “From the Leaf Grade to the Smoking Experience” cigar seminar for ProCigar guests. But unlike most seminars held in conference rooms, this one was held at the beautiful Minitas Beach Club at Casa de Campo. The seminar was followed by drinks, appetizers and a dinner party all on the same beach. In classic Dominican fashion, a pig was roasted on a spit. After the food, a DJ played music for guests to dance to the rest of the night. Nestor Rodríguez and Lucrecia Valdez
Colleen Murphy and Patrick Kraatz
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Briana Genao and Sara Tío
Dimi Maroudas and John Alexander
Luís Fernando, Isis Lawrence, Adrian Grullon and Salvison Dickson
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LA AURORA FACTORY TOUR La Aurora Cigar Factory is one of the most tourready cigar factories in the world; it has a small museum-like exhibit on the tobacco growing, fermenting, and cigar making process, and a great lounge that overlooks most of the manufacturing areas. Midway through the tour, a Dominican brass and percussion band came out of nowhere and put on a show! Afterwards La Aurora served up a wonderful lunch, a Barcelo rum tasting and cigar pairing led by master blender Manuel Inoa, and talks by Karl Malone and Guillermo León. Some of the brands made at La Aurora: La Aurora Preferidos, La Aurora ADN Dominicano, and Karl Malone Barrel Aged. Otto Flores, Karl Malone, Guillermo León and Manuel Inoa
Guillermo León and Eugenio Polanco
Branlis Infante and Laura Taveras
TRADITIONAL DOMINICAN DINNER PARTY The festival’s welcome dinner party was held at Santiago’s Parque Central (Central Park). Although the festival started in Casa de Campo several days earlier, the majority of guests started the festival here in Santiago. The dinner highlighted Dominican fusion cuisine; today’s Dominican food scene is influenced greatly by international chefs who take Dominican dishes and give them an international twist. Dinner was followed by one of the evenings highlights, a dancing contest — specifically merengue dancing — in which the winner was awarded, you guessed it, more cigars.
Marisol Rojas and Jochy Blanco
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Andre Caruso, Elena Cidade and Andre Milchteim
Jennifer True, Regine Wolfgramm and Gabrielle Winchester
DAVIDOFF FACTORY TOUR Klaas Kelner rode with the group to the Davidoff factory and offered a brief history of Davidoff along the way. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a traditional Dominican folkloric dance and coffee — always a good pairing. Klaas led the group on the tour. It’s always a little mind blowing to think that all of those Davidoff cigars you see all over the world come from the hands of the artisans sitting at these tables. Even more exciting was the fact that we were each given a cigar that had been blended especially for this moment by the one and only Eladio Díaz. Some of the brands made at Davidoff: Davidoff, Winston Churchill, Avo, and Zino Platinum.
Davidoff Master Blender Eladio Díaz
Klaas Kelner
WHITE PARTY AT MONUMENTO A LOS HÉROES DE LA RESTAURACIÓN Is it even allowed to have a cigar festival without a night that has an all-white dress code? This year’s party, like so many others, was hosted at Santiago’s Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración on Thursday, February 20. Attendees enjoyed great food, drinks, music and company in a one-of-a-kind setting with a spectacular view of the city of Santiago de los Caballeros. Guests also took home a unique sampler of cigars featuring products made by various ProCigar member manufacturers.
Diego Castellano, Emely De Los Santos, Enrique Seijas and Gabi Álvarez
Fred Vandermarliere and Dylan Austin
Ciro Cascella and Michael Frey
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PROCIGAR MEMBERS FIELD DAY This event was the first of its kind — a new addition to the ProCigar schedule. Attendees had the opportunity to attend a Procigar Members Field Day, which was specifically designed for one-on-one interactions and elbow-rubbing between cigar industry personalities and the consumers in attendance. The afternoon also included a rum and cigar pairing with Brugal 1888 and a smoking contest put together by the International Association of Cigar Sommeliers (IACS).
Stephanie Peralta, Nicole Volmar and Laura Rodríguez
Belkys Sánchez, Ken Hamlin, José Salvador and Marcelo Carrere
David Llovich, Hostos Quesada, Albert Montserrat and Miguel Pascual
José Vázquez, Adenis Ceballos Martínez and Eric Newman
GALA DINNER AT CENTRO ESPAÑOL Every ProCigar is capped by a gala at Santiago’s Centro Español, a private Spanish Club founded in 1965. Guests were welcomed with a special box of cigars before a great dinner and live music. The night’s main event was a live auction in which Manolo Quesada and Michael Herklots took on the role of auctioneers and sold items to benefit two area charities. Among the items that fetched thousands of dollars were a special Saga humidor and the original painting by Fabian Barrantes that had been reproduced on a previous night’s commemorative cigar box. Laura Taveras and Patrick Díaz
Catherine Llibre, Catherine Kelner, Augusto “Fufi” Reyes and Monika Kelner
Héctor and Vivian Lastre, Ángel Elizalde, Ayglyn and David Pérez
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PURO SABOR 2020
fter a layoff due to political unrest, the annual Nicaraguan festival is back. Smokers visited from all over the world to spend 5 days in Nicaragua, with most of that time spent in the cigar making capital of Estelí. There was also an opportunity for attendees to take a day trip to historic Granada, where Mombacho’s factory is located, as well as Nicaragua’s famous Isletas and Masaya Volcano.
Nicaragua
OPENING LUNCH AT PLASENCIA Plasencia Cigars puts on an incredible lunch at the Puro Sabor festival, and this year was no different. Guests came together to break bread with old friends and make new ones while enjoying great music, food, drinks and cigars. We got our festival goodie bags loaded with cigars, a cutter, a lighter, and a good-looking Nicaraguan shirt. This year’s bag was actually a beautiful and highly functional backpack provided by Ortez Store. After lunch we split into groups and headed to the first factory tours of the festival.
Rafael Nodal and Néstor Plasencia Sr.
Makenzie Ladd and Christopher Gwaltney
Omar Frías, Juan Abraham Mustafa and Diego Castellano
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Oliva Cigar Team
Erik Calviño, Néstor Andrés Plasencia and Skip Martin
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DREW ESTATE FACTORY TOUR We were treated to a nowadays rare Jonathan Drew-led tour of the factory that bears his name in Estelí, La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate. The tour had something for everyone combining DE history, the economics of cigar making, technical demos, and a splash of hip-hop. Afterwards, we were led through Subculture Studios, where artisans create unique swag that sets Drew Estate apart from the rest of the cigar industry. After the tour, the group enjoyed snacks, drinks, and cigars on the terrace. Some of the brands made at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate: Liga Privada, Undercrown, ACID, Herrera Esteli.
Jonathan Drew, Henry Pineda and Pedro Gómez
WELCOME DINNER After taking time to freshen up a bit, we went right back to Drew Estate for the welcome dinner party. There were more cigars, along with Flor de Caña rum being poured straight from the barrel for guests. Once we’d all eaten and gotten the first-day pleasantries out of the way, the crowd got to the very serious business of dancing the rest of the night. Pepín García of My Father Cigars even contributed to the entertainment with some singing of his own. Luís Blandón Sánchez and Anielka Ortez Flores
Juan Martínez, Daniel Barrios, Dr. Cuenca and Alicia Montiel
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Goyo, Pepín and María García
Willy and Giselle Herrera and Jorge and Cruz Juárez
Jaime Köng, Claudio and Laura Sgroi and Victor Calvo
NICA SUEÑO FACTORY TOUR Skip Martin led a tour of Nica Sueño, the small but incredibly efficient factory that produces cigars for RoMa Craft Tobac. The time at the factory included a walkthrough of the facility and a deep dive into some of the finer details of cigar making from Skip’s perspective. We also enjoyed Flor de Caña rum and special cigars that Skip has made to help illustrate the effects that different varietals and primings have on the overall profile of a finished cigar. Some of the brands made at Nica Sueño: CroMagnon, Intemperance, Neanderthal, and Baka. Erik Calviño and Skip Martin
WHITE PARTY This festival’s all-white-dress-code affair was held at J.C. Newman’s PENSA cigar factory, which produces Brick House, El Baton, and Perla del Mar, among other brands. Puro Sabor provided every festival guest with a traditional Nicaraguan shirt (in white, of course), and that’s what most opted to wear on this night. Tables were in a family-style communal setup, which made the dinner feel more social and intimate while also setting the tone for the party and folkloric dance show that followed.
Yader Lazo, José Galeano, Wenceslao Castillo, Elder Grateron and José Javier Pineda
Karen Berger and Jonathan Drew
Leo Rodríguez, Gustavo Plasencia and A.J. Fernández
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CLOSING GALA DINNER Scandinavian Tobacco Group, which manufactures many General Cigar products, hosted the gala dinner that wrapped up this year’s Puro Sabor festival in one of its courtyards. The dinner began with an announcement that Claudio Sgroi of Mombacho Cigars had been named the new president of the Nicaraguan Tobacco Chamber (also known by its Spanish abbreviation CNT). That news preceded a great meal, loads of adult beverages, and dancing that didn’t stop until the party shut down at midnight.
The Plasencias
Indiana Ortez and Jandy García
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Adin Pérez, Néstor Andrés Plasencia and Carlos Sánchez
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CHURCHILL Davidoff Winston Churchill
91
$ 20.20 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Churchill 6 7/8 47 Ecuador Mexico Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
Camacho Connecticut
Covered with a nearly perfect, golden colored wrapper with a beautiful sheen. A flavorful blend with a profile of wood, nuts, spice, and barnyard complemented by a creamy texture to the smoke. Medium bodied.
$ 9.00
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Churchill 7 48 Ecuador Honduras Honduras & Dominican Republic
LFD 25th Anniversary
H O N D UR AS A smooth and consistent Churchill with a combination of wood, earth, and spice balanced by creamy notes of vanilla and cinnamon. Flawlessly constructed and covered with a beautiful, light brown wrapper with a velvet feel.
$ 18.00
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Double Corona 7 52 Ecuador Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
Saga Solaz
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C Opens with a profile of red pepper, dry wood, and earth later joined by more subtle notes of caramel and cinnamon. Provides an easy draw producing a good output of medium to full strength smoke. Finished with a light brown wrapper with sheen.
$ 9.00
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Churchill 7 48 Ecuador Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
Macanudo Inspirado Palladium
89 89
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C Beautifully constructed and covered with a supple, shade grown wrapper topped with a neat triple cap. This mild bodied blend draws perfectly and produces an abundant smoke output with notes of wood, spice, roasted nuts, and a touch of floral.
$ 9.49 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Churchill 7 1/2 49 Ecuador USA/Connecticut Mexico, Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
EP Carrillo New Wave Connecticut
78 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C
H O N D UR AS A mild to medium bodied blend covered with a light brown, supple wrapper with only minimal veins showing. Clean and bright with a profile of cedar, nuts, and a touch of allspice leaving behind a solid, compact ash.
$ 8.30 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Gran Via 7 49 Ecuador Nicaragua Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C Covered with a clean, shade grown wrapper with excellent sheen, this mild to medium bodied blend delivers a core of wood, earth, soft pepper, nuts, and leather accompanied by a touch of vanilla cream.
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
79
LANCERO AJ Fernandez Bellas Artes Maduro
92
$ 8.99 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Lancero 7 38 Brazil Mexico Nicaragua
Liga Privada Unico L40
Impeccably box-pressed and covered with a nearly flawless, dark brown wrapper with a slightly toothy texture. Presents dark chocolate, espresso, and cinnamon flavors balanced by a smooth background of pepper and earth. Medium plus strength.
$ 16.53
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Lancero 7 40 USA/Connecticut Brazil Honduras & Dominican Republic
Aladino Maduro
N I CA R AG UA Produces an excellent output of thick and highly aromatic smoke with a smooth profile of sweet earth, dark chocolate, and strong coffee complemented by a touch of light pepper. Excellent construction and a medium plus body.
$ 7.50
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Elegante 7 38 Mexico Honduras Honduras
Southern Draw Jacob’s Ladder Top Rung
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
H O N D UR AS Smooth and beautifully balanced with a core of earth and cedar accompanied by notes of soft spice and a rich leather aroma. This medium bodied lancero is consistently well made and covered with a clean wrapper with minimal veins.
$ 9.99 Lancero 6 1/2 40 USA Ecuador Nicaragua
Punch Chop Suey
N I CA R AG UA Covered with a coarse, dark brown wrapper and produced with a tight cropped pigtail and a covered foot. Delivers tons of bitter chocolate from the onset joined by notes of pepper, earth, and molasses.
$ 5.49
88
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Panatela 7 37 Ecuador Nicaragua Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
Epic Corojo
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C A loosely packed lancero covered with a medium brown wrapper that has been cut short leaving a half-inch of exposed foot. Opens with wood and spice joined by a touch of leather and sweetness. Mild to medium bodied.
$ 9.20
88 80 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
N I CA R AG UA
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Lancero 7 40 Ecuador Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C A medium plus strength lancero produced with a slightly rustic appearance and topped with a loose pigtail. Delivers tons of wood from the onset joined by notes of earth and pepper. Consistently provides an excellent draw and burn.
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
81
TORPEDO A. Fuente Añejo
$ 18.45
93
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
No. 77 Shark 5 7/8 64 USA/Connecticut Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
Nat Sherman Timeless Supreme
92
A unique figurado sporting a round torpedo head with a box-pressed body covered with a dark wrapper with excellent oils. This full strength blend is complex and highly aromatic with notes of sweet cedar, cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts balanced by a smooth spice on the finish.
$ 8.80 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
652T 6 52 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
EP Carrillo Elencos
N I CA R AG UA Impeccably box-pressed and covered with an inviting, reddish brown wrapper with only slight veins. Produces an excellent output of medium strength smoke with a smooth core of red pepper, cocoa, wood, and a touch of cinnamon cream.
$ 9.25
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Acto Mayor 6 1/4 52 Brazil Ecuador Nicaragua
Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta
91
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C A medium strength torpedo covered with a dark, toothy wrapper with a sweet, musty aroma. Provides a firm draw and delivers a core of molasses, dark chocolate, and cedar complemented by a touch of soft pepper.
$ 7.94 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Belicoso 6 54 Ecuador & Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
Matilde Quadrata
N I CA R AG UA A well-made belicoso finished with two wrappers; a dark brown, oily wrapper from the head to about one and half inches and a supple, shade grown cover leaf from there to the foot. Delivers a flavorful profile with oak, chicory, and deep pepper joined by vanilla and cream.
$ 9.60
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Torpedo 6 52 Ecuador Dominican Republic Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero
89 82 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C Opens with a blast of cedar and sweet pepper joined by cinnamon, roasted nuts, leather, and a touch of cream. This medium strength, boxpressed torpedo is finished with a nearly flawless reddish brown wrapper. Leaves behind a solid, compact ash.
$ 10.20 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Chisel 6 54 Ecuador Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C A powerhouse blend covered with a dark brown, oily wrapper and topped with a flattened, square head. Produces a ton of full bodied smoke with a profile of black pepper, toast, earth, and charred oak.
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
83
TORO Davidoff Colorado Claro
$ 25.40
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Aniversario No. 3 6 50 Ecuador Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
Perdomo 20th Anniversary Sun Grown
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
An impeccably produced toro covered with a milk chocolate colored wrapper with a supple feel. This medium strength blend delivers a core of toasted almond, cedar, and sugar cane sweetness complemented by a smooth barnyard note in the background.
$ 11.40 Epicure 6 56 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
Gurkha Treinta
N I CA R AG UA Well balanced and flavorful with a medium plus strength profile of earth, smooth pepper, oak, and a touch of cocoa complemented by a rich, creamy texture. This consistently wellconstructed, soft-pressed toro draws well and produces an excellent smoke output.
$ 13.50
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 54 Ecuador Nicaragua Nicaragua
H. Upmann Hispaniola by José Méndez
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
N I CA R AG UA Opens with a profile of nuts, cedar, and black pepper accompanied by more subtle notes of mild coffee and tanned leather. This thick, firmly packed toro burns slow and leaves behind a solid, compact ash. Medium plus strength.
$ 8.95 Toro 6 1/8 52 Ecuador Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
Sindicato Cubico
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C Consistently well-constructed providing an excellent draw and burn while producing an abundant output of aromatic smoke. Delivers a core of cedar, white pepper, floral, and hazelnut accompanied by a bouquet of tanned leather.
$ 8.75
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 54 Ecuador Nicaragua Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
CAO Estelí TAA 2018
N I CA R AG UA Box-pressed and covered with a dark brown wrapper with excellent oils. This medium strength blend has a core of pepper, nuts, and dark roast coffee accompanied by a touch of sweet earth. Consistently produces a good output of highly aromatic smoke.
$ 8.99
89 84 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 54 Nicaragua Honduras Honduras, Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
N I CA R AG UA A densely packed toro finished with an attractive, reddish brown wrapper with excellent oils. Provides a firm draw and delivers a medium bodied profile highlighted by notes of pepper, oak, and cinnamon accompanied by a rich leather aroma.
Alejandro MartĂnez Cuenca Joya De Nicaragua
Dion Giolito Illusione Cigars
Carlos "Carlito" Fuente, Jr. Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia.
Erik Espinosa Espinosa Cigars
Karl Malone Barrel-Aged by Karl Malone
cigarsnobmag.com/podcast
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
85
PERFECTO Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro
93
$ 15.06 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Figurado 6 1/2 52 Mexico Nicaragua Nicaragua
Davidoff Nicaragua
Rich and ultra-flavorful with a balanced combination of dark chocolate, espresso, charred oak, and caramel accompanied by a roasted almond note on the finish. This impeccably made, box-pressed perfecto provides a perfect draw and sharp burn. Medium to full strength.
$ 20.20
92
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Diadema 6 1/2 50 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
Plasencia Alma Fuerte
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C An impeccably balanced blend with a layered and nuanced profile of cedar, nuts, earth, cinnamon, and subtle pepper complemented by a rich creaminess throughout. Consistently wellconstructed producing tons of thick and highly aromatic smoke.
$ 22.00
92
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Generacion V 7 58 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
JFR Lunatic
N I CA R AG UA Flavorful and complex, this medium to full strength Salomon opens with flavors of earth, mocha, and smooth pepper that develop to incorporate roasted almonds and cream. This impeccably constructed blend effortlessly produces a high smoke output.
$ 8.70
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
El Loquito 4 3/4 60 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
AJ Fernandez Enclave
N I CA R AG UA Finished with a dark, reddish brown wrapper and topped with a tight pigtail, this short, thick, and beautifully built perfecto is a powerhouse of flavor and strength. Dark roast coffee, chocolate, and earth are complemented by pepper and cedar.
$ 7.60
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Salomon 6 1/2 52 Ecuador Cameroon Nicaragua
Hoyo de Monterrey El Torcedor
89 86 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
N I CA R AG UA
N I CA R AG UA An expertly constructed perfecto that starts creamy and nutty at the very beginning, then cranks up the intensity and pepper as the burn line hits the shoulder. Produces an excellent smoke output and the strength develops to a medium to full level by the last third.
$ 12.99 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Perfecto 6 1/2 49 Ecuador Nicaragua Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
H O N D UR AS Covered with a thick, reddish brown wrapper with a rich, cedar and leather aroma to it. This somewhat thin perfecto is uniquely topped with a pigtail and produces an abundant output of thick smoke with notes of red pepper, wood, nuts, and earth.
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
87
ROBUSTO Espinosa Warzone
$ 8.49
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 1/2 52 Cameroon Honduras Colombia & Nicaragua
Fernando León Family Reserve
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 50 Dominican Republic Dominican Republic Peru, Brazil & Dominican Republic
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C Delivers a balanced profile of wood, soft spice, and toasted almond complemented by notes of leather and subtle cinnamon. This medium strength robusto is finished with an attractive, reddish brown wrapper with a supple feel.
$ 10.10 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 54 Ecuador Dominican Republic Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
Punch Gran Puro
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C Densely packed and topped with a long pigtail, this medium to full bodied robusto has a profile of sweet wood, earth, and red pepper complemented by a touch of creaminess. The draw is firm and the smoke output is on the thin side.
$ 7.19
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Rancho 5 1/2 54 Honduras Honduras Honduras
Eiroa Salud, Amor, Pesetas
89
H O N D UR AS This consistently well-constructed robusto delivers a clean and balanced profile of wood, soft pepper, mild coffee, and a hint of cinnamon. Finished with a good-looking, light brown wrapper with minimal veins.
$ 11.72 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 50 Honduras Honduras Honduras
Micallef Experiencia
H O N D UR AS Beautifully constructed and covered with a clean, milk chocolate colored wrapper. Delivers a core of wood, earth, and spice accompanied by a metallic note on the finish. Consistently draws and burns perfectly.
$ 11.00
89 88 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
Produces an excellent output of highly aromatic smoke with a profile of baking spices, wood, and deep pepper balanced by cocoa and vanilla cream. This medium to full strength blend is well made and covered with a somewhat coarse, light brown wrapper.
$ 9.35
H. Upmann Herman’s Batch
90
N I CA R AG UA
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Prominente 5 1/2 58 Nicaragua Mexico Panama, Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
N I CA R AG UA Dominant notes of wood, earth, and pepper are complemented by roasted nuts and a rich aroma of tanned leather. This medium bodied blend provides an easy draw and leaves behind a slightly flaky ash.
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
89
90 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
ROBUSTO Tatuaje Mexican Experiment LE
$ 10.00
N I CA R AGUA Impeccably box-pressed and covered with a nearly flawless dark brown wrapper with a velvet feel. This medium to full strength blend is ultra-flavorful with a balanced profile of earth, deep pepper, dark chocolate, and roasted nuts with a touch of sweet cream.
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 54 Mexico Nicaragua Nicaragua
92 Villiger Do Brasil Maduro
$ 9.00
B R A ZI L A flavorful, medium strength blend with a profile of toasted almond, sugar cane, oak, and sweet pepper complemented by a touch of earthy spice. Consistently well constructed and covered with a clean, dark brown wrapper.
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 50 Brazil Brazil Brazil
La Aurora 115th Anniversary
$ 9.50
D OM I NI CAN REPUBLIC Opens with a heavy dose of wood and spice complemented by notes of cinnamon, leather, and a touch of earth. This medium plus strength robusto is covered with a beautiful, oily wrapper showing some veins.
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 50 Dominican Republic Dominican Republic Brazil & Dominican Republic
90 Crowned Heads Juรกrez
$ 5.95
N I CA R AGUA Covered with a clean wrapper with good-looking oils, this well-constructed blend consistently draws and burns well and leaves behind a flaky ash. Delivers a medium to full strength core of earth, cocoa, bitter coffee, and a touch of ripe fruit sweetness.
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
OBS 4 3/4 52 Mexico Ecuador Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
90 Fratello Navetta Inverso
$ 11.25
N I CA R AGUA A complex blend with a core of earth and pepper complemented by notes of sweet cedar, hazelnut, and a touch of coffee. This medium plus strength blend draws well and leaves behind a somewhat flaky ash.
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 1/4 54 Nicaragua Ecuador Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
La Rosa de SanDiego Maduro
$ 8.62
N I CA R AGUA Opens with flavors of charred oak, black coffee, and bittersweet chocolate accompanied by earth and subtle pepper. This medium to full strength robusto is covered with a toothy dark brown wrapper with excellent sheen.
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 52 Mexico Ecuador Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
89 MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
91
BIKINI ADRIANA DEGREAS BANGLES SHOPBOP NECKLACE VINTAGE JEWELRY
SWIMSUIT MRS. MANDOLIN
TOP ZARA BIKINI BOTTON LULU’S SHOES SCHÜTZ JEWELRY BOSSA CONCEPT
MODEL CALLIE HERD THE INDUSTRY MODEL MGMT PHOTOGRAPHY LIMITED EDITION www.limitededitionmanagement.com PRODUCTION IVAN OCAMPO iocampo@cigarsnobmag.com PRODUCTION ASSISTANT JAMILET CALVIÑO jcalvino@cigarsnobmag.com WARDROBE STYLIST BARBARA BIANCHINI www.limitededitionmanagement.com MAKEUP ARTIST LUCIA ABUIN www.limitededitionmanagement.com
SWIMSUIT LENNY SWINWEAR
BIKINI SET LULU’S
The cigar world is on Twitter and we aim to keep track of who’s leading who. The following is a scoreboard of the cigar world’s most relevant Tweeples. The list is sorted by number of followers and broken into groups: Top 20 Twitter Cigar Companies & Reps, Top 10 Twitter Retailers, Top 10 Online Cigar Tweeps, Top 3 Twitter Cigar Organizations, and Top 3 Cigar Radio Twitter accounts. If you have the numbers and belong in one of these groups, stand up and be counted! Set us straight via Twitter @cigarsnobmag.
TOP CIGAR COMPANIES (sorted by Twitter followers) Rocky Patel @RockyPatelCigar......................................... Drew Estate Cigars @DrewEstateCigar............................. Padron Cigar @PadronCigars............................................ CAO International @CAOCigars......................................... Alec Bradley Cigars @AlecBradley.................................... La Flor Dominicana @LFDCigars....................................... Jonathan Drew @JonathanDrewArt.................................. Camacho Cigars @camachocigars.................................... Ashton Cigars @ashtoncigar............................................. Pete Johnson @TatuajeCigars........................................... Xikar Inc @XIKARinc......................................................... La Gloria Cubana @lagloriacubana.................................... Nick Perdomo @PerdomoCigars....................................... Miami Cigar Co @miamicigar............................................. Punch Cigars @punchcigars............................................. Ernesto Padilla @PadillaCigars......................................... Davidoff Cigars @Davidoff_Cigars.................................... AJ Fernandez @ajfcigars.................................................. Avo Cigars @AvoCigars..................................................... La Palina Cigars @La PalinaCigars....................................
34476 32738 27974 25663 21053 20221 19013 18968 18050 16633 14968 14901 13201 13015 12955 12401 12342 12129 11878 11607
TOP CIGAR ORGANIZATIONS CRA @cigarrights............................................................. 14794 Premium Cigar Association @PCA1933............................. 8334 Tobacconist University @tobacconistU............................. 4579
TOP CIGAR RADIO Cigar Dave Show @CigarDaveShow................................. 11477 Smooth Draws @SmoothDraws....................................... 4316 KMA Talk Radio @KMATalkRadio...................................... 2288
SOME OF OUR FAVORITE TWEETS, MENTIONS, AND RANDOM SOCIAL MEDIA GOODNESS.
TOP CIGAR RETAILERS & REPS Famous Smoke Shop @FamousSmokeShop...................... Mulberry St. Cigars @MulberryStCigar............................. Cigar Hustler @cigarhustler.............................................. Cigar Row @CigarRow..................................................... Jeff Borysiewicz – Corona Cigar Co @CoronaCigarCo....... Michael Herklots–Nat Sherman @MichaelHerklots............ Barry – Two Guys Smoke Shop @Barry2Guys................... Cheap Humidors @cheaphumidors................................... Lindsay Siddiqi @TheCigarChick....................................... Palm Desert Tobacco @palmdsrttobacco.........................
14593 13393 11322 8077 7251 6542 6350 5293 5237 4892
@Izambar_cigars via Instagram IZAMBAR CIGARS Lifestyle by izambar Sculpture artiste “Sigismond” Genève #cigarboss #cigarclub #izambarcigars #izambar #cigarporn #cigarofthedayclub #morningcigar #whyareyourcigarsneverburning #cigarsnobmag #cigarworld
TOP ONLINE CIGAR TWEEPLES David Voth–Sex, Cigars, & Booze @SexCigarsBooze......... Cigar News @CigaRSS .................................................... Cigar Events @CigarEvents............................................... Cigar Federation @CigarFederation.................................. Robusto Cigar Babe @RobustoBabe................................. Stogie Boys @StogieBoys ............................................... Cigar Evaluations @CigarEvaluation................................. Cigar Inspector @CigarInspector ..................................... The Stogie Guys @stogieguys........................................... Tom Ufer @cigarsmonkingman..........................................
100 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
147953 15947 14839 12379 10599 8575 8505 8256 8020 6500
@cigarwalk via Instagram Pappy said, start the day with #drewestate #Acid #Kuba #Arte #cigar #breakfast #de4l #acidcigars #sotl #cigarporn #cigarsociety #cigarsmokers #cigarpress #cigarsnoblife #botl #cigars #experienceacid @drewestatecigar @experienceacid @drewdiplomat
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
101
According to research, about 30 million visitors descend on Charlotte, North Carolina each year. If you’re expecting to be one of those 30 million in the foreseeable future, here’s a map to help you find the best cigar shops in the city. There are roughly 11 cigar retailers (that we know of) inside the Charlotte Beltway (I485) and a few more just outside our map area.
CIGAR SHOPS
OUTSIDE THE MAP AREA
POINTS OF INTEREST
Burners Cigar Co
4400 Sharon Rd #226, Charlotte
16620 Cranlyn Rd #130, Huntersville burnerscigars.com
22. Bank of America Stadium
tinderboxcigars.com
City Cigar Co
panthers.com
2. Tinder Box of the Carolinas - Arboretum
9815 Rea Rd, Charlotte www.citycigarco.com
8128 Providence Rd, Charlotte tinderboxcigars.com
The Jailhouse Whiskey & Cigar Bar
3. Tinder Box of the Carolinas - Ballantyne Village
23 S Main St Unit B, Belmont www.thejailhousebelmont.com
14825 Ballantyne Village Way #160, Charlotte tinderboxcigars.com
Neighborhood Cigars
4. Tailored Smoke Cigar Lounge
1941 Hoffman Rd #5, Gastonia www.cigarsnc.com
210 E Trade St, Charlotte
5. Charlotte Cigar Club 105 E Morehead St, Charlotte charlottecigars.com
6. Aromas Cigars Etc. 9007 Monroe Rd, Charlotte
Cigar & Tobacco Shop 2000 SC-160 #103, Fort Mill cigarandtobaccoshop.com
Stogie & Brew 9781 Charlotte Hwy, Indian Land, SC
7. 105 Cigar Co.
FOOD & DRINK
217 N Trade St, Matthews 105cigarco.com
8. The Cigar Shop 14001 E Independence Blvd Suite B, Indian Trail thecigarshop.com
9. Tobacco Trader 8152 S Tryon St, Charlotte tobaccotradercigars.com
10. McCranie’s 4143 Park Rd, Charlotte mccranies.com
23. U.S. National Whitewater Center 5000 Whitewater Center Pkwy, Charlotte usnwc.org
15. The Capital Grille 201 N Tryon St, Charlotte thecapitalgrille.com
16. The Fig Tree Restaurant 1601 E 7th St, Charlotte charlottefigtree.com
17. Halcyon Flavors From the Earth 500 S Tryon St, Charlotte halcyonflavors.com
18. Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse
11. Secret Society Cigar Bar & Lounge
4725 Piedmont Row Dr #170, Charlotte
2415 W Morehead St, Charlotte
delfriscos.com
12. Total Wine & More - Charlotte
19. Midwood Smokehouse
1600 E Woodlawn Rd, Charlotte
540 Brandywine Rd, Charlotte
totalwine.com
midwoodsmokehouse.com
13. Total Wine & More - Promenade on Providence
20. VBGB Beer Hall and Garden/Restaurant
5341 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy Suite 100, Charlotte
920 Hamilton St, Charlotte
totalwine.com
vbgbuptown.com
14. Total Wine & More - Pavilion at King’s Grant
21. Haberdish
8054 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord
3106 N Davidson St, Charlotte
totalwine.com
haberdish.com
102 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
800 S Mint St, Charlotte
Credit: Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America Project in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
1. Tinder Box of the Carolinas - South Park Mall
24. NASCAR Hall of Fame 400 E M.L.K. Jr Blvd, Charlotte nascarhall.com
If your shop did not make our list, hit us up via email at feedback@cigarsnobmag.com and we’ll add it to the online version of this map on cigarsnob.com.
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MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
103
SR
EVENTS THE GREAT SMOKE 2020 West Palm Beach, Fla.
The 70s themed 2020 installment of Smoke Inn’s flagship event was held at the South Florida Fairgrounds. The weekend-long event was packed with parties surrounding Saturday’s main event. VIPs got entry, which gave them a head start on food, drinks, and collecting cigars from 45 brands. Inside there was a massive stage where the band Studio 54 jammed all afternoon. The stage was surrounded by the food vendors as well as breweries like The Tank Brewing and Sam Adams, to name a couple. Spirits were available by Jack Daniel’s, Glenfiddich, and Iron Smoke to pair with cigars.
Abe Dababneh ready to party!
Erik Guttormson and Erik Espinosa
Mauricio Parea, Armando Lapido and Juan López
104 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
Becky Wunch, Rich Ivancic, Susan Georgiou and Mariana Hinestrosa
Josh Zepeda and Carlos Escalona
Dee Jones and Sonny Brown
DJ Miller!
George Lob, Wyatt Ault, Hugo Martin, and Tom Little
Hector Paz and Danny Delgado
Paul Scarpelli and Jim Colucci
Nish Patel doing his thing!
JosĂŠ Ortega and Jeremy Harding
Claudio Robinson and Darren Ault
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
105
EVENTS DAVIDOFF OF GENEVA OPENING AT HARD ROCK HOTEL & CASINO Hollywood, Fla.
The Davidoff of Geneva Since 1911 boutique at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood celebrated its grand opening with a group of invited guests and industry insiders. Each was treated to a glass of Macallan Single Malt Scotch to pair with a Davidoff Winston Churchill cigar. Owner Eric Douglas greeted guests with a welcome speech saying, “Partnering with Davidoff of Geneva was the best decision for this project.” Michael Sheehan, Eddy Guerra, Eric Douglas and Carlos Escalona
Lana Fraser and Sara Tio
Rob Anto and Phile Chen
Ibis Lu and Joseph Decaso
Xiomara and Frank Ortega
106 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
Yvette and Bryan Mathis
Eddy Guerra, Ricardo Padilia and Alberto Rosario
Tony Goon and Steve Wilcos
Ben Richman and Shannon Moses
EVENTS DIPLOMATICO BY MOMBACHO CIGAR LAUNCH AT CASA DE MONTECRISTO Miami
Mombacho Cigars and Diplomatico Rum launched their collaboration at Casa de Montecristo. Guests were invited to experience the Diplomatico by Mombacho cigar along with a pour of Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva. Mombacho’s Master Blender Claudio Sgroi, the brains behind this cigar, guided attendees through the pairing explaining the flavors and even the process he went through to craft this blend.
Raul Guzman - Diplomatico
Alex Fellows, Adrian Acosta, Manuel Diaz, Claudio Sgroi
Shiah Goldberg, Alex Fellows
Valesca and Gustavo Chacon
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
107
EVENTS DITKA & JAWS CIGARS WITH THE STARS Miami
Mike Ditka and Ron Jaworski’s annual Cigars With The Stars event always takes place in the host city for the Super Bowl. This year’s was held at the Paramount Miami World Center and raised funds for Gridiron Greats and the Jaws Youth Playbook Foundation. Guests received premium cigars from brands like Oliva, Rocky Patel, and several others. There were multiple open bars and diverse appetizer offerings. There was also a silent auction of sports memorabilia plus photo opportunities with Mike Ditka, Ron Jaworski, and other football greats. For information on next year’s event, visit ditkajawscigars.com.
Nestor Miranda and the Miami Cigar girls
The Eagles Cheerleaders
Leo Clavel, Rocky Patel, J.P. and Jerome Bettis
Lofa and Rachel Tatupu and Ken Hamlin
108 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
Jose “Hollywood” Morel, Kelvin Roberts and Gary Sheffield
Nick Simon, Annie Woodward, Nick Coutre and Kelly Sheahan
Kurt Warner and J.P.
Mark Coe, Mike Crawford, Kim Kolt and Jeff Sloven
Jon Jiménez, Jonathan Ogden and Jake Metz
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
109
EVENTS AVO AND CAMACHO PRESENT LINE-UP FOR 2020 Hollywood, Fla.
Avo and Camacho hosted an event at the Davidoff of Geneva Since 1911 Boutique located at the Seminole Hard Rock’s Guitar Hotel to showcase the year’s cigar offerings. Each brand is rolling out three new lines. Guests got the opportunity to try Avo Classic Maduro and Camacho Nicaragua. Havana Club cocktails were also available for pairing with the two cigars. Guests and industry regulars were invited to this private event alongside owner Eric Douglas. DJ Melao provided some nice tunes to the dimly lit ambience of the Davidoff lounge.
Gio Gutiérrez
Frank Ortega, Anna Luiza and Peter Sondon
Natalia and Danny Nannun
110 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
George Rami, Dylan Austin, Eric Douglas and Eddy Guerra
Richard Payton, Lana Fraser, Debbie Holden, Corey Johnston and Kevin Holden
Ashley Jade Dalton and Shiah Goldberg
Starky Arias, Pierre Jebian and Elvis Batista
Grace Cabezas and Dylan Austin
MAR / APR 2020 | CIGAR SNOB |
111
112 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR/ APR 2020
www.olivacigar.com