MARCH / APRIL 2021
Into the
Wild p. 25
Party Crashers REGULATIONS LOOM AS CIGARS BOOM p. 45
The
Cove p. 52
with
STEVE
WILKOS p. 50
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editorials MARCH / ARPIL 2021
25 INTO THE WILD You’ve had enough of the beaten path, so take a trip on the weird wilderness express, where we wander amongst fabled creatures, great beasts and gothic landscapes, all set in the gorgeous American outdoors.
35 5 TO TRY: RYE Even George Washington knew it – rye is cool. We drink faithfully of some of the best out there, find the perfect smoke as a companion to the juice, and let the spirit guide us.
36 WHISTLEPIG SMALL BATCH RYE / HVC SAN ISIDRO
37 PEERLESS SINGLE BARREL
KENTUCKY STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY / AJ FERNANDEZ SAN LOTANO THE BULL
38 WILD TURKEY RARE BREED RYE / SIN COMPROMISO
40 REDEMPTION 10 YEAR OLD RYE / UNDERCROWN
42 BARREL RYE /
OLIVA SERIE V
45 CRASHING THE PARTY The cigar industry is basking in good fortune, but the prospect of government overreach casts a shadow over the good times. Hear from insiders about the boom and the forces that threaten it.
50 Q&A: STEVE WILKOS He speaks, we listen to this TV host, former Marine and ex Chicago cop, who waxes about cigars, travel, the great outdoors and how the Marines made him the man he is.
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features MARCH / ARPIL 2021
14 LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
16 FEEDBACK
18 WHAT’S BURNIN’
52 SMOKING HOT CIGAR SNOB THE COVE FEATURING WILD HUNTER BY OSCAR VALLADARES
71 RATINGS
86 TWITTER SCOREBOARD
88 INSTAGRAM SCOREBOARD
90 EVENTS 90 ROCKY PATEL 60TH BIRTHDAY AT BURN
92 ESPINOSA’S # 1 CIGAR
CELEBRATION AT EMPIRE SOCIAL LOUNGE
94 GRAND CATHEDRAL CIGARS GRAND OPENING
96 CIGAR BOX GRAND OPENING 98 CUBA UNDER THE STARS WITH OLIVA CIGARS
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MARCH / APRIL 2021
VO L . 13 IS SU E 2 www.cigarsnob.com PUBLISHER & EDITOR Erik Calviño SENIOR EDITOR Steve Miller 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 MANAGEMENT Gianni D’Alerta Natalia Marie García CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR Florin Safner CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS David Benoliel Andy Astencio Bryant McCain Richard Burgess Angela Altus EVENT PHOTOGRAPHERS Matt Nassif Melvin Silverio/ Main Course Hospitality Jamilet Calviño Cover Photography by David Benoliel www.davidbenolielphotography.com Cover Model - Renee Murden 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.cigarsnob.com
(SUBSCRIBE TODAY) - Only $18 for one year (six issues) of -
- Magazine delivered to you Visit: www.cigarsnob.com or write: subscribe@cigarsnobmag.com
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“As Master Blender of Drew Estate, this selection of cigars reflect on the personal journey I’ve embarked on to craft blends to satisfy my tastes, my curiosities, and above all else – my creative passion for blending cigars that I’m humbled to share with you.” - Willy Herrera. Follow me on Instagram @herreraesteli and learn more about the journey we share together.
from drew estate master blender
willy herrera www.drewestate.com
As I researched the 5 to Try piece for this issue, I delved into the histories of American rye whiskey distillers. I read countless stories about distilleries being put out of business by Prohibition; a battle that claimed banning booze was necessary to protect the public’s health. These measures wiped out honest, family-owned businesses while the consumer continued to find ways to imbibe. At the same time that I was working on that story, I was reviewing Steve Miller’s Party Crashers (p. 45) about the potential for increased regulatory action against premium cigars. I couldn’t help but think of the similarities between the two scenarios. The newly confirmed secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is a longtime proponent for tougher regulation of the tobacco industry and he has specifically expressed his belief that all tobacco products should be treated equally in the regulation. The thought of premium cigars being regulated the same as cigarettes is ludicrous if you take a moment to consider the difference between the two products. That level of regulation on premium cigars would likely eliminate numerous smaller cigar companies from the marketplace. At a time when anxiety and divisiveness are at a high water mark, why would you seek to damage a product that unequivocally alleviates both of those critical social problems? Premium cigars are not the healthiest thing you can consume. That distinction probably goes to kale or some other awful-tasting leafy green. However, eating fast food cheeseburgers is also unhealthy, gobbling up that slice of cake at the office birthday party was a bad idea; and that alcoholic beverage you enjoyed at the end of the day also did some damage. But you know why we do those things; because they give us comfort, sanity, pleasure. Hell, staying indoors for extended periods of time is harmful and there we all were during lockdown, cooped up in our homes, eating everything in sight, and drinking ourselves blind. The point is that there are a lot of things that we do that are harmful, but they are usually balanced out by their positive effect. Sadly that argument is never applied to premium cigars. In addition to some heavy content, there’s plenty of fun in the issue like Steve’s travel story (p. 25) where he shares some of his favorite outdoorsy destinations complete with wacky Bigfoot sightings and hiking trails not designed for overweight people. The photo shoot titled The Cove (p 52) features the lovely Aussie Renee Murden catching fish and smoking Wild Hunter by Oscar Valladares on a secluded beach. If you want more fun than that, go to your nearest liquor store and pick up one or all of the rye whiskies we featured in the aforementioned 5 to Try (p. 35). As a collection, these five ryes give you a solid representation of a category that has been outpacing every other sector of the brown spirits industry for the last ten years. Lastly, I’d like to thank daytime TV celeb and fulltime
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cigar lover Steve Wilkos for taking the time to share his stories and love of cigars with us. I pray that you all are safe and sane. I hope that you’re using common sense and not being one of these lunatics who wear a mask while driving alone in their cars. Above all I hope that you are making the best of every day, being kind and respectful to one another, and smoking the best cigars that your pocket (or your wife) will allow.
Keep ‘em lit,
Erik Calviño ecalvino@cigarsnobmag.com
EVERYONE LOVES A GOOD BACKSTORY Hello, I just read the article in your May/June 2020 issue you wrote about the most memorable misadventures and harrowing close calls that your staff has endured in the course of arranging and executing unique photo shoots. The models are so graceful and the locations so exotic that it is easy to discount how much clever improvisation and quick thinking was necessary to produce such visually enticing content. I hope that you can feature similar articles in the future which take the reader with you on your travels to places which only insiders are able to visit and experience. Ethan K. Via feedback@cigarsnobmag.com
Hi Ethan, if by “clever improvisation” you mean swimming to retrieve our floating camera equipment in the Sea of Cortez, or trying to restrain an angry giant ostrich by placing a tube sock over its head, yeah you could definitely call that improvising. Either way, we appreciate you enjoying the piece and will continue to chronicle our misadventures along the way so we can tell you all about them in our future issues.
EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE RECOGNITION Hello My name is Armando. I am from Tampa Florida. It’s so refreshing when you call Customer Service and you hear a voice of an actual person, in this case, Oscar Calviño, who is courteous and friendly, and makes whatever problem you have disappear. I want to say thank you and send my gratitude to Oscar and Jamilet Calviño for their quick response. I love the magazine and keep up the good work. Armando P. Tampa, FL Via feedback@cigarsnobmag.com
Thanks Armando. At Cigar Snob, we put all of our employees through a rigorous Navy Seal-like training program that focuses on delivering the highest quality customer service and additional specialty voice training that improves the staff ’s pleasantness by reaching the optimal vocal pitch to ensure the best in customer satisfaction. Nah, Oscar and Jamilet are just great people. Glad we could help.
NOT FOR NUTHIN’ BUT Nothing against the models y’all use for your magazine but damn, can you feed them before the shoot? Damn cigars that are in the mag are thicker than they are. Dustin G. Via Instagram
Dustin, of all the feedback we get, yours is probably the most common. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has their own preference as to what the ideal models in the photo shoots should look like. We’ve received this same message in every which way imaginable: “Hey, your girls should be - thicker, shorter, darker, lighter, purpler, fatter, taller, hairier, more cross eyed, bow legged…” you name it, we get it. The fact is, we don’t go out in search of a specific girl. We work with a number of agencies who sign models to contracts and we always choose the BEST girls that the agency presents when we are about to shoot. Simple as that. So if an agency gives us - insert your preference here ________, and she is better than the other models competing for the same job, then guess what - we pick her! We take that job seriously and pride ourselves on picking the best talent; our readers, advertisers, staff, and partners depend on it.
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"Collect them all, limited edition”
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ALTADIS U.S.A. ANNOUNCES SAINT LUIS REY CARENAS
Dos Cientos will be part of Joya de Nicaragua’s Obras Maestras line, which includes Cinco Decadas, Cuatro Cinco and Numero Uno.
Altadis U.S.A.’s Saint Luis Rey brand is bringing the Carenas, a tribute to the Port of Havana, to stores starting in April.
VICTOR CALVO CIGARS OVERHAULS BLENDS AND PACKAGING
The Saint Luis Rey Carenas is created by the Grupo de Maestros of La Flor De Copan and comes in four sizes: Robusto (50 x 5) – $8.25; Toro (52 x 6) – $8.50; Belicoso (54 x 6 1/8) – $8.95; Magnum (60 x 6) – $9.15.
Brothers’ Single Barrel. The Toro Maduro has a dark 8-year aged Maduro wrapper to smoke with the Garrison Brothers twice barreled bourbon whiskey, Balmorhea. Each cigar comes in a sealed glass tube. The Toros retail for $16.50 and the Torpedo Garrison for $19.95. The cigars will be sold online and at the Garrison Brothers Distillery in Hye, Texas.
The 20-count boxes are decorated in traditional gold accents and the inside packaging features an illustration of a 16th century Spanish galleon making port in Puerto Carenas, now known as the Port of Havana. The port was crucial for exports, including the tobacco leaves destined for the world’s first tobacco factory in Seville, Spain.
After two years of developing and tasting blends, Victor Calvo Cigars is nearing the release of a new and consolidated lineup of offerings. Victor Calvo Cigars will be made available to retailers nationwide in four blends: Connecticut, Gold, Habano, and Maduro. The initial releases will be available in a variety of sizes including: Robusto, Toro, Belicoso, and Magnum among others and will feature a unique, folding lid on their 20-count boxes. Prices will range from $6.00 to $8.00. More information can be found on victorcalvocigars.com.
JOYA DE NICARAGUA CELEBRATES CENTRAL AMERICA’S BICENTENNIAL WITH THE LIMITED EDITION DOS CIENTOS
GARRISON BROTHERS DISTILLERY PARTNERS WITH PAYNE-MASON CIGARS TO CREATE BOURBON INFUSED CIGAR
Joya de Nicaragua marks the 200th anniversary of Central American independence from the Spanish empire with the limited release of the Dos Cientos, a 6 x 54 Gran Toro that will be available in retail stores in August.
Garrison Brothers Distillery is partnering with PAYNE-MASON Cigars to create a series of smokes that includes a bourbon infused cigar and three cigars that are blended to pair with some of Garrison’s spirits.
Each of the 2,000 boxes contains 21 cigars, including one cigar encased in a unique paper wrap that’s intended to be smoked during a special virtual celebration on Central American Independence Day, on Sept. 15, 2021.
The Torpedo Garrison is infused with Garrison Brothers’ Small Batch Bourbon, wrapped in a 6-year aged Dominican Corojo with Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos as binder and filler. It completes its aging process in a used white oak Garrison Brothers barrel at the PAYNE-MASON headquarters in California.
Their discovery was part of an overall unearthing of the past in 2019, as workers began preparing for the renovation. They found a secret staircase in the building, leading to a steel door that opened onto a vault where the management could hide from bandits, or the “Tampa Mafia,” which operated in the 1930s.
The new line is rounded out with three 6 x 52 Toros, the Golden, the Barber and the Maduro, which are individually paired with specific Garrison Brothers bourbons.
Also discovered was J.C. Newman’s travel trunk, which he had brought with him from Hungary when he emigrated to the U.S. in the late 1800s.
The Golden has a 5-year aged Connecticut Shade Grown wrapper and is developed to pair with the Garrison Brothers’ HoneyDew bourbon. The Toro Barber features a combined 5-year aged Connecticut Shade Natural wrapper and 6-year aged Dominican Corojo wrapper and is meant to be paired with Garrison
CAO LAUNCHES ARCANA SERIES WITH MORTAL COIL
“We will invite people to smoke it together with us and talk about our history, the value of that history and the significance of who we are, not only for ourselves but for the rest of the world,” Joya de Nicaragua owner Alejandro Martinez-Cuenca said in a press release. Dos Cientos means “200” in Spanish. Central Americans won the right to selfgovernment on September 15, 1821, officially gaining independence from Spain and setting up the formation of the nations of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
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TAA 2021 EXCLUSIVE CIGAR: BRICK HOUSE BEGINNINGS J.C. Newman Cigar Co. took a trip to the basement to find a TAA exclusive; A stash -- around 1,100 boxes -- of 10-year-old Brick House cigars that had been tucked away for a special occasion. The treasure comes in three sizes and was discovered while the company was preparing to restore its El Reloj Cigar Factory in Tampa. The Brick House Beginnings comes in a 6.25 x 60 Mighty Mighty Maduro and Mighty Mighty Natural ($9.80 per/$98 for a 10-count box), and a 7.25 x 50 Churchill Natural ($9.60 per/$96 for a 10-count box). Shipping begins in May. The cigars were rolled at the San Rafael Cigar Factory in Nicaragua, and the Naturals use an Ecuadorian Havana seed wrapper, while the Maduro uses a Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper. Both use Nicaraguan filler and binder.
CAO’s new series is “Arcana,” which features the secrets and traditions of old-world, multigenerational tobacco processing methods.
The first release in the CAO Arcana series is the “Mortal Coil,” a single cigar that resurrects “Andullo,” the oldest tobacco fermentation method of the Dominican Republic.
has a deep aroma that brings forth pre-light notes of sweetness and spice. The full-flavored, medium-bodied cigar opens to reveal nuttiness and a creamy, earthy sweetness.
Rick Rodriguez, CAO’s blender/ambassador, said, “With the Arcana series, as we did with Amazon Basin and its Bragança leaf, we are once again shining a light on original tobacco fermentation methods to bring excitement to the fans of CAO. When it came to developing our first Arcana blend with Mortal Coil, we had the choice to go big or go home and as we always do, we decided to go big. The Andullo leaf in the blend shows the length the team and I are willing to go to deliver a unique taste experience, and it gives us a chance to show once again that CAO is a brand that stays true to its passion for tobacco.”
Called Mortal Coil Toro, the 6 1/8” x 50 cigar will sell for an SRP of $10.99 per cigar. The singular frontmark will be packaged in 20-count boxes and only 5,000 boxes will be made, reserved solely for the U.S. market.
Wrapped in Connecticut Broadleaf, with a Connecticut Shade binder and a filler made up of Dominican Andullo surrounded by Honduran Jamastran, Nicaraguan Estelí and Dominican Piloto Cubano, CAO Mortal Coil
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CAO Mortal Coil is handcrafted at STG Esteli and shipped to retailers the week of February 1, 2021.
AVO ANNOUNCES NEW INSTALLMENT OF IMPROVISATION SERIES AVO Cigars will deliver the ninth installment of its Improvisation Series based on the life of Armenian jazz musician and cigar entrepreneur Avo Uvezian.
The AVO Improvisation 2021 has an Ecuadorian wrapper and binder with Dominican filler and comes in a 7.5 x 50 Double Corona at $16 a stick. It is packaged in 20-count boxes that sell for $320. “Avo Uvezian broke conventions as one of the first to produce an annual limited edition cigar in the year 2001,” Lana Fraser, director of marketing at Davidoff of Geneva USA, said in a statement. “The AVO Improvisation 2021 packaging is designed to honor the role copper has played in both art and music for centuries.” The new cigar hits the U.S. market on March 22, on what would have been Uvezian’s 95th birthday. Uvezian died in 2017. The cigar will be available in Europe starting in May. “While we honour both the 20th Anniversary of these limited editions and what would have been the 95th anniversary of the composer himself, the Double Corona reflects the length and impact of these milestones,” Fraser’s statement said.
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A wise man once said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” We followed that sage advice and ended up catching up with Bigfoot, paddling around the Atlantic in search of barren beaches, dodging bighorn sheep in a 120-degree desert, battling rabies and mustering up a serious case of bear fear. We also found some fine places to smoke along the way.
By Steve Miller Photo: Fyletto / iStock MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
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SAVANNAH ou’ll stumble on the Savannah city park that was featured in Forrest Gump on any walk through town. The mansion you saw in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil? Also in plain, recognizable sight, a stone’s throw from the Savannah River, which is also the Georgia/South Carolina border. And the setting for the car chase in the original version of The Longest Yard, the one starring Burt Reynolds, was Forsyth Park in the city center.
Fort Pulaski National Monument is the site of a Confederate encampment captured by the Union during the Civil War, and a microcosm of how the war went for the South. The fort was destroyed in battle, and the Confederate soldiers were captured and imprisoned in their own, repaired fort. That’s one sad Southern legacy. The area around it, called Cockspur
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Clockwise from top: Cockspur Island lighthouse; aerial shot of Fort Pulaski; Peaceful Henry's in nearby Bluffton, SC. Island, is a treasure of tropical breezes, bright green grass and some good fishing. You can pull oysters, crab and bluefish out of the waters surrounding the island, and on a weekday, you see more fisherman than tourists. It’s a beautiful setting, and movie buffs will recognize Fort Pulaski from the classic Abraham Lincoln Vs. Zombies, in the scene where legions of zombies attack the fort. Just across the inlet to the south is Little Tybee Island, attainable only by boat or kayak. Or for the more civilized, you can book a formal tour, but that’s cheating. What you get by cruising the mile or so on your own is independence to explore at leisure the 6,700 acres. Get around the main beach and ship into the creeks that wind around the island, in and out of the salt marshes. You can camp out there for free, and most nights you’ll be alone or at least in a spot where you can make yourself alone. One more hop across one more inlet is Ossabaw Island Wildlife Management Area, a 40-square mile island also accessible only via watercraft. You can hit the 13 miles of beach on your own, but beyond that is protected maritime forest, a mix of swamp and highlands and off
Photo: National Park Service
But just 25 miles away from the heart of the city is some of the best wilderness Southeast Georgia has to offer. A series of islands, inlets and refuges makes up the coastal area of the Atlantic, an archipelago of natural resources and historical landmarks. These are better enjoyed without production trucks full of cables or a catering truck.
Photo: visitsavannah.com
Savannah, Georgia, a Southern gothic outpost, has benefitted from generous handouts to Hollywood productions more than most regions in the U.S. over the years.
limits without a state-sanctioned tour guide.
the pathways in parts of the mossdraped interior are timeless.
Ossabaw is one of the few places where heading over with a group is tolerable. Talk nice and you’ll find a private tour, and if you’re flying solo, that means just you and a guide, also known as a rent-a-friend. If you’ve got company, you can also limit the size of the group.
More challenging is the smoking situation. In 2011, the city passed a no smoking law that covered everything, so forget about relaxing and rehashing the fuzzy donkeys in a collegial setting.
Even with a guide, your wandering is limited but with any luck, you’ll see the herd of Sicilian donkeys – those minimules with the fuzzy fur. Sure sights are the wild pigs and the deer, which pop up everywhere. It’s a challenging island for people who tend to take off on their own and poke around, but
We suggest a 30-mile drive to the Hilton Head area, which has a couple of decent places for a smoke. On the island, check into Carolina Cigars, which has a BYO lounge, outdoor space and a sizable humidor. Peaceful Henry's in nearby Bluffton offers a 1,300-square foot lounge with a sufficient alcohol selection and something dear to our hearts – a vinyl record collection to leaf through.
WEST VIRGINIA e dig oddball names for towns, pondering the origins, even making up how places got their names. We’re still working on Duck, West Virginia.
Driving toward Duck from the capital city, highways glide between massive stacks of sandstone that have been carved away for coal mining, the time-tested political hot potato that put the state on the map. While the mining industry has waned, what remains is a largely unpopulated state, 130 miles across, 240 miles long and home to a paltry 1.7 million folks. That leaves a lot of room to maneuver. A trek toward Duck leads to the Elk River Trail in the center of the state, a classic getaway to the wilds that keeps you close to the necessary elements of civilization, i.e., hotel and Gino’s (local pizza tip). The trail is a crushed-stone bed that connects Duck to the town of Ivydale, snaking along the Elk River, a 172-mile tributary that is part of the Mississippi watershed. It’s also the site of the last commercially operated steam-train line in the country, which ended in the 1960s. Start in Ivydale, population 550, and choose your mode of movement, as long as it's walking, running or biking. Keep the ATV at home, as it’s not allowed. You’ll wind your way under a canopy of solid maples, elms and oaks, over newly constructed wooden bridges and around a few blind corners. “We might want to take something along for bears, just in case,” my bike riding partner, Dale, advised. He’s an outdoorsman who has lived in the state his whole life, so he knows about the threat. Let me explain that I have an
Photo: Rick Burgess
For now, it's a dot on the map that marks one end of a remote ten-mile stretch of a trail an hour east of Charleston, West Virginia that is a wilderness treasure.
unreasonable fear of bears. Not sharks, not disease, not adverse weather and not much of anything.
Top to bottom: A stretch of the picturesque Elk River; Squire Tobacconist in Charleston.
Except bears.
bridge that spans Waters Retreat, a tributary flowing off the surrounding hills and into the Elk.
I was on irrational bear alert the whole ride, which made it a little more exciting. Once we left the shotgun houses of Ivydale and headed east toward Duck, the few dwellings we saw were cottages, fishing camps and weekend river getaways, some accessible only by boat. After a couple miles, we stopped at a
The stream trickled in soothing, fresh resonance as a bright yellow kayak poked by on the river. It was otherwise nature quiet, chattering birds the only other noise. We moved down a few more miles, the track never becoming onerous and the terrain, while curvy, remained a pleasingly picturesque patch of path.
Pools filled with bass, rainbow trout and walleye pop up at random, with one side of the trail an ascending mass of foliage that goes from fullgrown trees to saplings and vines as the hill climbs. On the other side, it’s all river. At Duck, there’s a landing for canoes and whatever other small craft you want to float. The pedal back is serene and easy, traversing the same trail but seeing it from a different angle, making it new. We finish and head back to The Squire Charleston and Tobacconist, a medium-sized cigar lounge that is spitting distance from the Kanawha River, which runs through the middle of town. Charlie runs the place and he curates his humidor with a geographically diverse mix of smokes and a sizable BYO lounge. About 30 minutes to the west is Almost Havana in Teays Valley, which boasts what it says is the largest lounge in the state. West Virginia takes a lot of grief, and its punch-line status is undeserved. There’s a lot of outdoors there to enjoy in all seasons. We’ve come up with a new state motto: Give it a chance.
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MAMMOTH CAVE at Man’s Misery. I remember the dark underground trail at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky almost as well as I remember getting bit by a raccoon on my first visit to the park as a little kid.
Top to bottom: One of the entrances leading into Mammoth Cave; a tight fit in Fat Man's Misery.
square along a strip of eateries and drinkeries, across from a small park with a centerpiece fountain. The place offers a small but carefully selected humidor and a generous variety of bourbon and whiskey. This is, after all, Kentucky, home of
the stalactites hang like candle wax. But we’re more at home away from the gaggle. On the roads through the park, every few miles, there’s a trailhead or, better, a small opening in the forest that gives you a place to park and start to walk.
Photo: National Park Service
Mammoth Cave is a naturally created adventure park cloaked as a tourist trap. At 400 miles, it’s the longest known underground cave system in the world and it grows in size every few years as more caves are found. Boat tours, nighttime excursions into the caves and historic group tours are part of the park’s offerings, and they're often crowded and almost always requiring an advance ticket.
Photo: zrfphoto / iStock
The close cropping of Fat Man’s Misery is named for its difficult passage for anyone over a 32 waist or a size 5. And my child’s mind wondered what happened to those who couldn’t make it. This was pre ‘America-the-Obese,’ but it still seemed like a harsh test for the less fortunate.
You’ll need some relaxing before heading out there. The place to stage before heading to the park is Bowling Green, and one place to settle down for a preexplorer smoke is Bowling Green Pipe & Cigar. The closet-sized storefront sits on the town’s main
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some of the finest. Fortified, head north for 25 miles toward the park. There’s so much room in the Mammoth Cave complex that it’s possible to escape the mob and get outside the ropes. Some of the various tours are worthwhile, including sojourns into caves where
We head to Cedar Sink on the south end of the park, an unfettered mile or so walk through a forest of sugar maples and hickory oaks. It’s hohum in terms of exertion but the hilly, rocky terrain leads into a deep ravine, much of which is cordoned off with warnings of dangerous precipices and other looming harm. At the hole, which is an impressive seven acres and makes Florida’s sinkholes look like puddles, there are viewing platforms, a steel stairway and benches. At a slow time, it’s a peaceful pause and a place to ponder. At a busy time, which is frequent, there’s not much room for serenity in a nature setting. Unless. Keep moving, past the signs and
around the hole and up a steep incline. You can walk all the way around the sinkhole to a trail that heads stiffly uphill. Within 10 minutes, you’re alone in the forest on a narrow path that crawls and twists deeper and deeper. It’s an edifying trek into solitude and, away from the carefully tended trails, convenient stairways and loud crowds. Notice the difference when you come back to the sinkhole, and the clamor of the group. The road less traveled is always best. After that, head to the main park area. Fat Man’s Misery is definitely not less traveled, but it’s a spectacle. The crowded guided tour wanders through caverns that narrow to 18 inches wide in places and the ceiling dips to around five feet. Unless you’re claustrophobic or Gheorghe Mureșan, the passage is easy, even by today’s increased size standards. OK, the raccoon. It was in a cage in a campground at Mammoth Cave and it was so furry and pet-like. I couldn’t resist trying to pet it as it fed on some pellets. Shocker: it bit me. The rabies shots weren’t that bad.
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VALLEY OF FIRE
Some folks do the drive straight through the middle of the park with a few stops at key points. In Valley of Fire, even the common spots are well worth it, including the White Domes, which slims to a narrow passage between enormous walls of rock, Pastel Canyon, the name tells it all, and Rainbow Vista, where a half-mile walk off the parking area gives a pretty good look at a chunk of the valley. For anyone keeping score, as a rule, gray rocks means 500 million or so years old and red or pink means 250 million, give or take a few million. The drive-through is fine, but as always with the great wilderness, there’s more if you want it. It was around 120 degrees one June when I headed into the valley, a repeat guest.
Photo: LaserLens / iStock
ou might start the day in the David Rockwell villa at the Nobu Hotel in Las Vegas, but within 45 minutes, you can be a fleck of sand on the windswept banks of bright red sandstone. There are 40,000 acres of brilliant rock sculptures, impeccably designed by Mother Nature, in the dauntingly named Valley of Fire, a Nevada state park north of the city. The ethereal landscape of rock smoothed by ages of wind is a start when you enter the park, but the deeper you go, even on the main road, the more outcroppings pop up in hues of brilliant pinks and reds, dotted with space age greens and grays. It’s like walking onto a scifi movie set, with the spires of rock sitting off the road twirled and etched as if painted.
Clockwise from top: The aptly named Elephant Rock formation just off the Valley of Fire highway; Davidoff of Geneva Cigar Bar overlooking the strip; the Montecristo Cigar Bar at Ceasers; the bar at Casa Fuente. I went directly to the visitor’s center, a worthy time taker, filled with exhibits of desert landscapes, stuffed creatures of the desert, and plenty of reading material devoted to the geography and weather in the area. And to catch the brief movie that outlines the history of the valley. It’s all like the pre-game show. You’re getting ready to deal with the main event.
VEGAS CIGAR LOUNGES Casa Fuente Cigars at the Forum Shops
Henderson
tobaccoleafvegas.com
3500 Las Vegas Blvd S
790 Coronado Center Dr #150
Tobacco Leaf
casafuente.com
enfuegolasvegas.com
Davidoff of Geneva Cigar Bar - Fashion Show Mall
Rhumbar at The Mirage
Helios Cigar Lounge
3400 Las Vegas Blvd S
5752 S Fort Apache Rd #155
3200 S Las Vegas Blvd #1245
mirage.com
helioscigars.com
Vato Cigars
Sugar Daddy's Cigar Lounge
davidoffcigarbarlv.com Davidoff Of Geneva Grand Canal Shops at the Venetian
tobaccoleafvegas.com
479 W Craig Rd
vatocigars.com
sdcigarlounge.com
Lovo Cigars #2
Cigarbox
Container Park, 707 E Fremont St
4046 Dean Martin Dr
3570 Las Vegas Blvd S
lovocigars2.business.site
caesars.com
La Casa
Las Vegas Cigar Outlet
En Fuego Cigars & Lounge
430 S Rampart Blvd
1560 E Sahara Ave
lacasacigars.com
lasvegascigarsonline.com
328 W Sahara Ave
Tobacco Leaf
Cigar Warehouse
3377 S Las Vegas Blvd us.davidoffgeneva.com Montecristo Cigar Bar at Ceasers Palace
enfuegolasvegas.com En Fuego Cigars
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Binion’s Casino, 128 E Fremont St
7175 W Lake Mead Blvd # 120
6870 S Rainbow Blvd UNIT 118
cigarboxlv.com
5012 Arville St #7 cigarwarehouse.vegas
Photo: Davidoff of Geneva
Ask the ranger about hiking any more than a few hundred feet and she shakes her head. The Fire Wave trail has been around for years, but until a few years ago wasn’t noted on the Valley of Fire official map. Hikers communicate on these things, though, on message boards, so this was a not-so-well-kept secret. Around 2015, the park began to include the trail as a destination. Just not when it’s 120 degrees. “I wouldn’t do that in this heat,” she says. Fire Wave is well worth it, as the heat can tamp down the masses, and the 1.5-mile round trip is an easy jaunt on a lunar landscape, with smooth inclines to pursue and challenging rock formations to climb and descend. Darting chuckwallas, zebra-tailed lizards and jackrabbits flee for their holes or rocks that provide shelter.
It’s a rare sighting in the summer, but it indicates a healthy population of sheep in the area. In the Valley of Fire, any little utility road or unmarked pathway can be an adventure to be enjoyed in solitude. Walk back far enough into the canyons and you’ll find unsullied petroglyphs on the walls and the occasional mysterious totem of stacked rocks. Still trying to figure that out. Back to the city, where a treasure trove of lounges awaits (see "Magic Vegas"). Some even have air conditioning. Back to where you started the day, at the Nobu at Caesars, and head down to the Montecristo Cigar Bar, which features a 400-square foot humidor. It may even have air conditioning, if that’s your thing.
Photo: Ceasers Entertaiment
After wrapping up with some time spent just appreciating the place, I drove out and as I crested a hill to the north of the visitor’s center, on the
main road, a bighorn sheep quickly skittered across the road. It wasn’t a large sheep, and its hooves looked tiny compared to its body as it appeared from my right and disappeared into a wash.
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trees with higher branches and sparse lower trunks.
APALACHICOLA NATIONAL FOREST
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
two-lane dirt road in the Apalachicola National Forest in the Florida Panhandle isn’t where you’d expect to see Bigfoot, especially on an unseasonably hot spring day. So it was probably – shudder – a bear. That’s the easy way to explain a stunningly bulky hairy creature that crossed the sandy path in a part of the 573,000-acre park that is more savannah than forest. Heading a little south, the Leon Sinks Geological Area is the logical next stop. We miss the former heavyweight champ, who died in February, and…oh. Sinks, not Spinks. Never mind.
bear and alligator. Our boots were dampened, although getting in there in the early spring generally avoids the wetter summer/fall months, when the monsoon turns the place into ‘Nam.
That’s a strong lineup for a small town, so there’s plenty of reason to dig in. And with so much of the endemic hocus-pocus that rages in any state capital, Bigfoot doesn’t seem like such a stretch.
It was south of Bradwell, on a trail near the Sopchoppy River, that
TALLAHASSEE
The forest is a festival of diverse foliage, jammed with arching oaks and towering pines, with ubiquitous palmetto (means “little palm”) hugging the ground.
CIGAR LOUNGES
Cigars of Tally Lounge and Bar
The forest sits just south of Tallahassee and the first entry point is near Silver Lake, the forest’s largest recreation area. It’s a warm up for the wilder parts of the forest, popular with families, with some white sands that create a makeshift beach. It can get crowded on weekends as a swimming hole that has grown in favor over the years for its ease of access.
disruptions.
A trail circles the 15-acre lake, and even the Forest Service calls the path “gentle.” Pass on that. The biggest excitement at Silver Lake is the threat of alligators, but it’s too sedate even for them to make an appearance very often.
The real deal is deeper into the forest. Move south, down to the Bradwell Bay Wilderness, where you may walk in water sometimes up to your hips. The lowland is flooded much of the time, but it’s also the area richest in wildlife, including fox,
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It was a day for the books. Best to head back to Tallahassee and ponder this one over a smoke, with a happy selection of lounges to choose from. Cigars of Tally, with its roomy porch, Fuma Cigar Social, for the Cuban coffee, Capital Cigar, play some chess with that cigar, and Jerry’s Cigar Shop and Ashton Lounge, big humidor and cigar breakfast socials every Saturday morning from 9-11, with a food truck.
Photo: Bill Lax
The Leon Sinks area offers two trails that dance around several sinkholes, which are noted as wet sink and dry sink. Which would you choose to approach? This area closes periodically due to rains, but it’s a good place to see these little
Clockwise from top: Down in the Apalachicola National Forest; the spacious lounge at Fuma Cigar Social; lighting up at Jerry's Cigar Shop.
The creature wandered slowly at about 50 yards ahead on a straight part of the road. I stopped to watch and have a ‘what the hell?’ moment. It was either walking on all fours or bent over. It was dark brown and husky. It looked straight ahead, as if following something. It crossed from left to right. I halted for a few minutes – let’s give this thing some room – and when I got to where it had crossed, nothing. According to the Bigfoot tracking site, Bfro. net, Florida is third in the nation in reported sightings, behind California and Washington.
926 N Monroe St
Photo: Charlie R. Collins III
Cigars of Tally
the fleecy beast, whatever it was, made its appearance. The trail is the best in the park, diverse in fauna complete with a “Deliverance” vibe. Some trails wander right through the underbrush, which isn’t as dense as it gets to the north but still looks like nothingness, and is pocked with
1401 Market St Fuma Cigar Social 1307 N Monroe St fuma-cigar-social.business.site Capital Cigar & Wine Emporium 3030 S Monroe St #11 thecapitalcigarclub.com Jerry's Cigar Shop & Ashton Lounge 2810 Sharer Rd Ste 2 jerryscigarshop.com
CHANGE THE TEMPO AVO CLASSIC BELICOSO YOU POSSESS AN UNDENIABLE MAGNETISM AND YOUR AVO CL ASSIC BELICOSO CARRIES IT THROUGH THE AIR. PEOPLE SAY YOU THINK DIFFERENT, ACT DIFFERENT. CL ASSIC, YET CONTEMPORARY, JUST LIKE YOUR CIGAR. EFFORTLESSLY ELEVATING EXTRAORDINARY MOMENTS. YOUR CHARACTER IS COMPLEX, YOUR FL AVOUR UNIQUE. IT IS NOT EASY STANDING OUT, IT IS AN ART. FOLLOW US | @AVOCIGARS MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
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RYE WHISKEY RYE WHISKEY WAS AN EXTREMELY POPULAR SPIRIT IN THE EARLY UNITED STATES; EVEN GEORGE WASHINGTON BUILT AND OPERATED A SUCCESSFUL RYE WHISKEY DISTILLING BUSINESS IN MOUNT VERNON. AFTER HIS PASSING IN 1799, WASHINGTON’S DISTILLERY STOPPED PRODUCTION BUT THE POPULARITY OF THE SPIRIT RAGED ON. ACCORDING TO THE 1810 CENSUS, THERE WERE 3,600 DISTILLERIES IN OPERATION IN VIRGINIA ALONE, MOST PRODUCING RYE WHISKEY. PROHIBITION DUMPED COLD WATER ON THE RYE PARTY IN 1920 AND THIS MOST AMERICAN OF SPIRITS WAS MOSTLY FORGOTTEN BY US CONSUMERS WHEN DISTILLING AND DISTRIBUTING BECAME LEGAL AGAIN IN 1933. OVER THE LAST DECADE OR SO, RYE HAS BEEN ON THE RISE, BUOYED IN PART BY THE EVER-EXPANDING POPULARITY OF AMERICAN WHISKEYS,
PARTICULARLY BOURBON. THE CRAFT COCKTAIL MOVEMENT HAS ALSO HAD A HAND IN RYE’S NEWFOUND FAVOR, WITH MIXOLOGISTS SWAPPING IN RYE FOR BOURBON IN THEIR COCKTAILS TO ADD A LITTLE SPICE AND KNOCK DOWN THE SWEETNESS OF THE DRINK. IN THE US, RYE WHISKEY MUST BE MADE UP OF AT LEAST 51% RYE IN THE MASH BILL, MUST BE DISTILLED AT NO MORE THAN 160 US PROOF, BARRELED AT NO MORE THAN 125 US PROOF, AND AGED IN CHARRED, NEW OAK BARRELS. IF THE BOTTLE READS “STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY,” IT MEANS THAT IN ADDITION TO THE ABOVE, IT HAS BEEN AGED AT LEAST 2 YEARS AND NOT BLENDED WITH ANY OTHER SPIRIT BEFORE BOTTLING. FINALLY, WHILE BOURBON MUST BE DISTILLED IN THE US TO EARN ITS NAME, RYE CAN BE DISTILLED ANYWHERE.
WHISTLEPIG SMALL BATCH RYE
Courtesy of WhistlePig
Pickerell is the first rye that opened my eyes to just how good it could be.
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS TIME TRAVEL WhistlePig Whiskey was founded in 2007 in Shoreham, Vermont and sold its first bottle of their renowned straight rye whiskey in 2010. Pickerell sourced top quality aged, 100% rye whiskey from Canada that he felt was being misused in the Great White North and brought it down to Vermont. The whiskey aged an additional two years under Pickerell’s watchful eye and the rest is history. WhistlePig 10 Year Old Straight Rye was an instant commercial success, but that didn’t come without its fair share of criticism. The American whiskey business was in the midst of a deceptive marketing witch-hunt in the wake of high profile lawsuits and numerous stories in the media about the industry’s lack of transparency.
STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY 100 PROOF
THE LEGEND OF DAVE PICKERELL Few modern-day master distillers have had as broad an impact on the American whiskey world as Dave Pickerell, the gregarious and brilliant chemical engineer from Ohio. He made an impact while consulting for over 100 distilleries but is best known for his 14-year stint as vice president and master distiller of Maker’s Mark. He oversaw the distilling during the company’s most aggressive growth period, going from 175,000 cases in annual sales to nearly a million. For me personally, his time at Maker’s coincides with the years I fell in love with bourbon, and specifically Maker’s, so it’s fitting that the rye whiskey developed by
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IT’S WHAT’S IN THE BOTTLE THAT COUNTS Most consumers don’t concern themselves with where the juice is sourced as long as they enjoy the taste, and in that category WhistlePig’s whiskey is world-class. WhistlePig Boss Hog won Best in Class Whiskey at the 2017 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, giving the young company and its legendary master distiller big-time bragging rights. The Boss Hog is a limited edition, which makes it difficult to attain. But newcomers to the rye space should definitely whet their whistle on the 10-year-old WhistlePig Small Batch Rye. Sadly Dave Pickerell died on November 1st, 2018 of hypertensive heart failure.
TASTING NOTES This rye is an ideal crossover for bourbon lovers. The finishing years in charred new oak give
100% RYE
the WhistlePig the bourbon-like characteristics of vanilla and caramel while the 100% rye produces a much drier and spicier delivery than just about any bourbon. To get a good sense of the spice difference between bourbon and rye, think of the difference between cornbread and rye bread. Bourbon is at least 51% corn; cornbread has those sweet, well-rounded flavors on the palate. Rye whiskey is made up of at least 51% rye, and rye bread has that signature pepper and anise character. That difference between the breads plays out identically in spirits. The variation comes from the percentage of rye, the amount of time aging, and the type of barrel and charring. WhistlePig Small Batch Rye is a 100% rye that spends 10 years aging in a proprietary combination of barrels. The result is a beautifully balanced spirit that blends the warm flavors of classic bourbon with the spice and kick of 100% rye.
HVC San Isidro
PAIRING NOTES THE HVC SAN ISIDRO IS AN UNDER THE RADAR GEM MADE AT THE FAMED TABACOS VALLE DE JALAPA FACTORY IN NICARAGUA USING 100% AGANORSA FILLER AND BINDER FINISHED WITH A BEAUTIFUL HABANO WRAPPER FROM ECUADOR. THE BLEND IS NOTHING IF NOT CREAMY AND ULTRA-FLAVORFUL. IT PAIRS WELL WITH THE WHISTLEPIG SMALL BATCH RYE BECAUSE IN A LOT OF WAYS, THEY ARE VERY SIMILAR. THE CIGAR DELIVERS THE TRADITIONAL NICARAGUAN CHARACTERISTICS AT A SUBDUED LEVEL THANKS TO THE CHOICE OF PRIMING AS WELL AS THE AGE OF THE TOBACCO. THE ANISE SPICES OF THE RYE PLAY WELL WITH THE CREAMY FLAVORS OF THE SAN ISIDRO. FROM A FLAVOR AND STRENGTH PERSPECTIVE, THEY KIND OF FINISH EACH OTHER’S SENTENCES.
PEERLESS SINGLE BARREL KENTUCKY STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY By 1917 the distillery was a well-oiled machine producing 200 barrels of Peerless per week, until the nationwide buzzkill of Prohibition struck. After 36 years, Peerless Whiskey stopped flowing for the first time since 1881 and wouldn’t flow again for a century.
61% RYE, 31% CORN, 8% BARLEY
been written up numerous times in national and international publications in their short history. As we know from the premium cigar world, it takes more than patience, hard work, and snazzy packaging to keep this up, and that’s where head distiller Caleb Kilburn comes in. The young, first-time head distiller’s talent and work ethic coupled with the whiskey’s impressive run of success prompted the Taylors to name him master distiller in December of 2018.
TASTING NOTES
TRUE REVIVAL
KENTUCKY STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY 110.4 PROOF ORIGIN STORY Established in the summer of 1881 by business partners Elijah W. Worsham and Capt. J.B. Johnson in Henderson, Kentucky, E.W. Worsham & Co. Distilling began producing Peerless Whiskey soon after. The business struggled, producing at its peak a lowly 400 barrels per year. In 1889, following Elijah Worsham’s death, the distillery and its Peerless brand of whiskey was sold to a young, local businessman named Henry H. Kraver. Kraver was a dynamo, wasting no time in upgrading machinery and adding buildings, and before long business was booming. In 1907 Kraver changed the name to The Kentucky Peerless Distilling Company and expanded Peerless’ wholesale distribution to Chicago and St. Louis.
In 2014 Kraver’s great-grandson, Corky Taylor, had sold his business and was living the life of a retiree in Sarasota, Florida. “I walked the beach for a year and a half, it was the most depressed I’ve been in my life,” Taylor said in a 2019 interview with Bourbon + Magazine. That’s when he and his son Carson, a successful builder, decided to revive his great-grandfather’s brand. Here’s where the story takes a turn from many “revival” stories. The Taylors didn’t want to just bring back the brand, they wanted to do it right. “We decided as a family that we weren’t going to go out to one of the big distilleries, buy a product from them, put it in a bottle, and say ‘Oh by the way this is Peerless.’” They went all in from building a distillery from scratch in downtown Louisville, milling grain, fermenting, and distilling on-site. They also rescued the original distillery’s federal distilled spirits plant license, number DSP-KY-50; for context today’s license numbers are in the 20,000 range. They mashed, fermented, distilled, and barreled their whiskey and patiently waited. Two years later and roughly 100 years after the last bottle of Peerless came off the bottling line in Henderson, the revived Kentucky Peerless Distilling Company unveiled the Peerless Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey to the world.
WINNING It didn’t take long for the awards to start rolling in for Peerless, landing on Whisky Advocate’s Top 20 list in 2017. Not only was it the only craft distiller on the list but it was the only rye whiskey to be recognized. It hasn’t stopped there. They were recognized again as the top rye in 2018 and have
Talking about tasting notes with a product designated “single barrel” can be tricky since there will be differences from one barrel to the next, so keep that in mind. This Peerless Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (Single Barrel Selection for Total Wine & More) has a nose of rich, buttery vanilla, toasted rye bread, oak, and a hint of banana lurking in the background. On the palate, the 110 proof is well integrated by flavors that match the nose and layers on additional waves of tea, black pepper, and rye spice and a long finish. I found that adding a couple of drops of water took away a little bit of the zip that I like about this rye but at 110 proof no one should criticize you if you decide to do so. That’s the beauty of barrel proof whiskey; you can customize it to suit your palate.
AJ Fernandez San Lotano The Bull
PAIRING NOTES THIS SPICY AND INTENSE WHISKEY OVERPOWERED MANY OF THE CIGARS WE TASTED WITH IT BUT MET ITS MATCH WHEN WE LANDED ON AJ FERNANDEZ’S SAN LOTANO THE BULL. THE WHISKEY’S HIGH PROOF AND SPICE HAVE A MOUTHWATERING EFFECT THAT LAID DOWN THE PERFECT BASE FOR THE CIGAR’S EARTH AND PEPPER CORE LEAVING YOU WITH TONS OF LEATHER AND ROASTED ALMOND FROM THE CIGAR WHILE ACCENTING THE BANANAS AND VANILLA IN THE RYE.
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WILD TURKEY RARE BREED RYE pivoted to provide ethanol for the war effort. The one-two punch of Prohibition and the war proved to be too much for most.
his steady hand. Or as Jimmy modestly puts it, “I’m just hard-headed and old-fashioned, I don’t like to change.”
In the years to come, distillers who survived soon noticed that they had another challenge on their hands. In the 1960s the US market started turning to clear spirits like vodka and gin, a trend that continued through the early 90s. Many distillers found themselves in survival mode once again, this time from a sales standpoint. In an effort to meet numbers and maintain their workforce, many followed the market and released white or light whiskies. Wild Turkey did not follow suit. Instead they soldiered on, making the same exact bourbon that their customers loved, no matter how many or few of them there were.
TASTING NOTES
THE HOUSE THAT JIMMY BUILT James “Jimmy” Russell started working at the Wild Turkey Distillery in 1954 in the quality control department. But as he’ll gladly tell you, in addition to analyzing samples for quality, he did everything from sweeping floors to shoveling grain. It didn’t take long for Jimmy to make an impression on his boss. He tells the story in a company-produced documentary about his life in 2014 saying, “Mr. Bill Hughes was the master distiller when I came here [to work at the Wild Turkey Distillery] and for some reason he more or less took me under his wing.” Hughes, who himself had been making bourbon since before Prohibition, must’ve seen something in the energetic and uncommonly driven young man. Whatever it was, he was spot on.
KENTUCKY STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY 112.2 PROOF
DARK TIMES Today Wild Turkey and more broadly the bourbon and rye categories are enjoying a period of unprecedented popularity and prosperity. Bourbon and rye whiskies are sought after everywhere brown spirits are enjoyed. It’s a far cry from the days of Prohibition, when distillers barely stayed afloat by selling their hooch as medicine or during World War II when they
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51% RYE, 37% CORN, 12% BARLEY
Eventually Jimmy took over as master distiller in the 1960s but just like when he was in quality control, there was more to the job than simply making whiskey. In an interview with the University of Kentucky’s Nunn Center for Oral Histories his son, co-master distiller and fellow Bourbon Hall of Famer Eddie Russell, explained his father’s job description in those days as, “Jimmy at that time was plant manager, master distiller, human resources, and the whole bit.” It’s important to note the entirety of his responsibility throughout that time period because had he decided to take Wild Turkey in a different direction, it’s not likely you’d be reading about it on these pages. Some would say that bourbon as a whole wouldn’t be where it’s at today without
The Wild Turkey Rare Breed Rye is a barrel proof, Kentucky straight rye whiskey that is non-chill filtered so expect a wallop of flavor and intensity. I mean this in a good way. While there is no age statement on the bottle, the Rare Breed Rye is reported to be a blend of 4-, 6-, and 8-yearold straight rye whiskies. On the nose you are met with a vibrant and spicy combination of vanilla, cinnamon, citrus, and a good dose of black pepper and rye grain. The flavors are a well-balanced combination of sweetness in the form of caramel and vanilla joined by black pepper, clove, and anise. The finish delivers a longlasting spicy warmth that seems like it plans to settle in for the night. This rye is unapologetically Wild Turkey through and through.
Sin Compromiso
PAIRING NOTES BARREL PROOF RYES ARE AMONG THE MOST DIFFICULT SPIRITS TO PAIR WITH CIGARS BECAUSE IN MANY CASES THEY QUITE LITERALLY MAKE THE CIGAR FLAVORLESS TILL THE WHISKEY DISSIPATES. THE SIN COMPROMISO FROM DUNBARTON TOBACCO & TRUST WAS UP TO THE CHALLENGE, BRINGING A DEEP EARTHINESS THAT CUTS THROUGH THE RYE’S SPICES. INTERESTING WHILE BOTH THE RYE AND THE CIGAR FEATURE PEPPER FLAVORS IN THEIR PROFILES, THE PEPPERS ARE QUITE DIFFERENT AND THE PAIRING ACCENTUATES THEM NICELY. IF YOU USE A RATIO OF ONE SIP FOR EVERY THREE TO FOUR PUFFS, IT’LL SEEM LIKE YOU’RE SMOKING A DIFFERENT CIGAR WITH EVERY PUFF AND IT’LL KEEP YOU UPRIGHT A LITTLE LONGER.
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REDEMPTION 10 YEAR OLD RYE YOU DOWN WITH MGP? Midwest Grain Products or MGP for short is the largest supplier of rye whiskey in the United States. In addition to rye, they are also a leading supplier of bourbons, gins, and vodkas. You may be thinking, “How come I’ve never heard of MGP if they’re the largest supplier?” The overwhelming majority of the spirits they produce are sold to other distillers, bottlers, and wholesalers who either bottle the MGP product as is and sell it under their own brand or barrel age it to give the whiskey their own additional characteristics before bottling.
RYE WHISKEY 116.2 PROOF
SWEET REDEMPTION Redemption Whiskey was originally launched by Bardstown Barrel Selections in 2010 with an explicit purpose: “To bring back rye whiskey to its rightful place.” Industry veterans Dave Schmier and Michael Kanbar created the brand after serendipitously coming across a collection of choice rye whiskey barrels they felt were the ideal representation of the classic American spirit. Schmier explained where they were coming from in a company statement in 2010: “Michael and I both have a passion for Rye, as the inspiration for so many classic cocktails, it is natural that Rye is experiencing a resurgence in interest from the mixology community given today’s cocktail culture. For us, the renewed popularity of rye represents a ‘Redemption’ of sorts, for this segment.” Their initial release was a straight rye with a blend of six- to ten-year-old whiskeys sourced from the Midwest Grain Products distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
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Regardless of how you feel about this practice, it is reality and it isn’t new or exclusive to the spirits world. The only problems that arise are when companies market their product as something that it is not. If you take pleasure in this sort of legal wrangling look up the Templeton Rye class-action lawsuit. That isn’t the case with Redemption who states plainly on their website that, “Redemption Whiskey is carefully hand-crafted in the river town of Lawrenceburg, Indiana at the 172-year-old MGP Distillery – Whisky Advocate’s 2015 Distiller of the Year.”
95% RYE, 5% BARLEY
bourbon captured double-gold in the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
TASTING NOTES This ten-year-old, barrel proof rye whiskey opens with a rich, buttery nose that shows the extra time in the barrel has imparted tons of bourbon-like notes of caramel, butterscotch, and oak along with the minty rye spice and green apple in the background. The ten years in the barrel go a long way towards softening up the rye spiciness; there are times where it tastes closer to a high-rye bourbon than a straight rye. To me this characteristic makes it an ideal crossover whiskey for bourbon lovers to set off on their journey into rye. On the palate you get much more of the rye spice and heat but it’s coated with green apple and even more caramel. Surprisingly you don’t get a lot of oak flavors but you do feel the tannins from it.
Undercrown Maduro
FROM WINE TO WHISKEY In mid-2015, after five years of impressive growth, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits acquired the Redemption Whiskey portfolio, including Redemption Straight Rye Whiskey, Redemption High Rye Bourbon, Redemption Bourbon, Riverboat Rye, White Whiskey and Limited Edition Barrel Selections. You know Deutsch mostly for their impressive stable of popular wines like Josh Cellars, Joseph Carr, Ramón Bilbao, Yellowtail, and Layer Cake among others. Since the acquisition Deutsch released tenyear, barrel proof expressions of the Rye, High-Rye Bourbon, and a nine-year Bourbon with the help of master blender Dave Carpenter who Deutsch Family brought on board in 2018 after stints at Jim Beam and craft distiller Jeptha Creed. Carpenter’s expertise in aging and batching the whiskeys is what sets Redemption apart from other bottlers and his work has not gone unnoticed. Redemption has hauled in an impressive amount of gold medals and high marks in spirit competitions and challenges. Most recently their barrel proof
PAIRING NOTES FINDING THE RIGHT PAIRING FOR THE REDEMPTION 10 YEAR RYE FELT LIKE TRYING TO OPEN A DOOR WITH A STRANGER’S SET OF KEYS. AFTER FAILING ON ATTEMPT AFTER ATTEMPT I GAVE UP TRYING TO THINK ABOUT IT AND JUST LIT CIGAR AFTER CIGAR UNTIL I CAME TO THE UNDERCROWN. THE CIGAR ON ITS OWN IS LOADED WITH DARK CHOCOLATE, EARTH AND RIPE FRUIT SWEETNESS BUT WITH THE REDEMPTION A SURPRISING AND ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS NOTE OF CHOCOLATE COVERED, BUTTERY POPCORN EMERGES ON THE FINISH. THERE’S NO OTHER WAY I KNOW TO DESCRIBE THAT FLAVOR BUT IT WAS UNIQUE AND MADE ME ALMOST FINISH THE BOTTLE.
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BARREL RYE BATCH 002 distillery was much more than what he could muster. The distillery idea was shelved but the fire had been lit.
RYE, BARLEY
successfully building a brand in the business, Barrell Craft Spirits is now building the distillery Joe had dreamed of all along.
TASTING NOTES There is an intensity on the nose that lets you know this is going to be potent and at 117.5 proof it most certainly is. At cask strength and without adding water the nose has a beautiful combination of maple, black pepper, eucalyptus, and vanilla with a floral note in the background. The palate is bright with caramel, bold rye spice, black pepper, and a hint of licorice. The proof sets your mouth ablaze with every sip making your mouth water while the finish is medium to long and not as warm as you’d expect.
Oliva Serie V Master Distiller Tripp Stimson
RYE WHISKEY 117.5 PROOF
AGAINST THE GRAIN Joe Beatrice had made up his mind. He’d even talked it over with his wife. He was going to leave the Internet marketing business and build a distillery. He’d recently tasted whiskey straight from a barrel for the first time and could not understand why consumers weren’t drinking whiskey this way all the time. If you’ve never been blessed with the opportunity to drink whiskey pulled straight from a barrel, you may not understand what Joe was feeling but trust me it changes your life. Almost immediately though he realized that starting a new
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He started researching and reaching out to old contacts he’d made from his previous life and before long had come up with a concept that just might work. Instead of jumping into distilling off the bat, he’d build a brand through this concept of only selling cask strength spirits in limited batches that would be different from batch to batch and it would all be done as transparently as possible. In other words there would be no attempt to hide the fact that they were sourcing their whiskey from distillery X or Y. Instead they would communicate as clearly as possible what had been done to the sourced whiskey i.e. blending, aging, and finishing. The focus would be on creating one of a kind, barrel proof selections that would blow whiskey-lovers’ socks off but Joe would need someone with the know-how and talent to pull this off.
KINDRED SPIRITS On a 2016 visit to Kentucky Artisan Distillery in search of barrels for his project, Joe met a young, up and coming distiller. The pair got to waxing philosophically about pathways for success for startup distillers and bottlers. Soon they realized they were speaking the same language. Tripp Stimson joined Barrell Craft Spirits in 2017 as the Master Distiller and Director of Distillery Operations. After
PAIRING NOTES TH E M I S S I NG WOOD AN D LEATH E R NOTE S I N TH E BARRE LL RYE GAVE U S A GOOD H EAD START ON TH E S EARC H FOR A PAI RI NG AN D WE H IT TH E MARK WITH TH E OLIVA S E RI E V. TH E OLIVA’S COCOA POWDE R, EARTH, AN D LEATH E R FI LL TH E GAPS LE FT B E H I N D BY TH E BARRE LL RYE PE RFECTLY. AS TH E WH I S KEY’S S I Z Z LE ON TH E PALATE DI S S I PATE S, EVE RY PU FF OF TH E OLIVA B RI NG S A TON OF DE LIC IOU S LY COM PLE M E NTARY FLAVORS.
EDITOR’S NOTE WE PARTNERED WITH TOTAL WINE & MORE (TOTALWINE.COM) TO PUT THIS FEATURE TOGETHER AND PABLO ESTADES WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN MAKING IT HAPPEN. THANKS, PABLO.
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FDA, REGULATIONS LOOM AS CIGARS BOOM BY STEVE MILLER MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
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risco, Texas – After four years in business, it’s time for Industrial Cigar Co. to expand. The family business opened in 2017 in this buzzing suburban Dallas enclave, taking a strip mall spot with plenty of traffic and a parking lot out back to hold substantial outdoor events.
happy with his figures, he’s ready to take advantage of the good fortune of the industry. The PGA announced last year a $520 million development in North Dallas will include two 18-hole championship courses and a nine-hole short course. The project also includes a 500-room
of farmland in Ecuador and Nicaragua. His farms were closed for two weeks in April, but, “I’m selling everything I grow since March [of last year]. I don’t know a soul who has been adversely impacted by this.” The upward swing of the cigar industry
owns the brand. “It’s been very hard to obtain some of the raw materials we need to make the cigars.” Tatuaje Cigars, another boutique brand based in Los Angeles, is still fighting to keep up with demand. “We are constantly struggling to fill back
Industrial, like a lot of retailers around the U.S., enjoyed prolific sales after the initial wave of the COVID pandemic restrictions eased. Sales at Industrial were up 96 percent in 2020 over 2019. “And through the first week in March, we’re up 100 percent over last year,” said Dave Frakes, who runs the dayto-day of the family business with his three sons.
Since the virus hit and corporate America insisted its employees work from home, Frakes has seen workers from area companies – insurance groups, financial advisers and other white-collar types – fill his lounge in the daytime, laptops open and cigars ablaze.
“The virus created a home work force, and some of them went from one cigar after work to four cigars at work,” - Dave Frakes For Frakes and many like him, the virus that has put some industries on welfare and forced closures has launched the strongest cigar market in years. “The virus created a home work force, and some of them went from one cigar after work to four cigars at work,” Frakes said. “Our lounge is packed during the day with people smoking cigars.” While most entrepreneurs would be
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Photo: Bryant McCain
Such rapid expansion would not follow the advice of most MBAs, but then Frakes is on the front lines of the cigar industry, which is blazing on the heels of the pandemic.
hotel and a conference center. That alone will bring big bucks to the region, as well as a sizable demographic that will be looking for some smoking culture. So, understandably holding his cards close and despite Industrial’s relatively short tenure, expansion is in the offing. “Our plans in north Dallas are coming together,” Frakes said. It’s the same everywhere: growers, retailers, suppliers and brand owners utter the same four-letter word – boom. The pandemic shuttered stores, factories and lounges for a brief time. But with a few exceptions, states have gradually opened things back up, with a few kinks in the supply chain. The biggest problem cited across the board in over a dozen interviews with industry figures is supply. “My sales are going through the roof,” said John Oliva, head of Oliva Tobacco, which operates 1,500 acres
Like many cigar lounges across the country, Industrial Cigars in Frisco, TX benefited from corporate work from home orders during the pandemic . was underway when the virus hit. The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau reported cigar use increased by 118 percent between 2000 and 2019. Once the lockdowns began, it barely took a month to see increases, as sales jumped 11.3 percent between March 2020 and April 2020, according to Nielsen data. “Twenty-five percent of my customers doubled orders from the previous year,” said Freddy Molina, factory manager for AJ Fernandez’ farms. With the demand have come tobacco shortages, particularly among the smaller brands. A lot of stores went last year without any 7-20-04 cigars, a New Hampshirebased boutique brand. “Most of our cigars are made in Honduras and Nicaragua with the Plasencias,” said Kurt Kendall, who
orders,” said Pete Johnson, owner of Tatuaje Cigars. He receives product every week but the sell-through is so fast that rather than housing his usual $1 million inventory, he can hold onto only half that amount. “I have a close connection with our consumer base and I get private messages from a lot of people asking me to help them find a cigar,” Johnson said. “It’s a weird quandary we’re in. We have a ton of backorders, but I can’t see how we’re up, based on the inventory.” He was happily surprised to see the brick and mortar stores thrive during the lockdowns. And even though Johnson is starting this year up dramatically, “It’s not going to be like this forever. In the 90s, everything crashed to the floor, so everyone should be cautious and for
now be happy the industry is doing so well.”
political efforts to hamstring premium tobacco. “One thing that concerns me, and it happened during the Obama administration, and the Biden administration is an extension of that, is that there was a lot of money pumped in through stimulus that went to local health departments to tighten up tobacco controls, making it tougher to get a tobacco license or pushing for indoor and outdoor smoking bans. It’s going to get worse.”
The boom versus bubble question has come up in conversations from lounges to backyards to podcasts. The escalating profile of the cigar, the lockdown that gave time to more smoking and the increase in participation from previously less prolific smokers lends itself to the former, a boom of sorts. The Scandinavian Tobacco Group, with holdings that include Macanudo, Cohiba and CAO, opened three superstores last year and plans on opening another later in the year.
State lawmakers have already this year introduced measures on both sides of the cigar regulation issue. Lawmakers in Kansas, Minnesota and Indiana have proposed tax increases on cigars. The various bills are still in committee, and become items in the political horse trading that goes on in the statehouses across the U.S.
And STG knows something. “We are very lucky in that we have the largest online channel so we have a lot of consumer data,” said Régis Broersma, president of General Cigars, part of the Scandinavian Tobacco Group. “So, if I were selling a lot, it could still be a bubble but we see from online platforms that consumption is way up and this [increase in sales] is not inventory movement.” If there is an impediment to the cigar industry’s juggernaut, it would start with a 76-year-old congressman from Illinois who has been in public office since 1982. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has crusaded against tobacco in all forms for decades, starting with a successful campaign in 1988 that banned smoking on domestic flights under two hours. For years, Durbin has introduced bills he says are aimed at keeping tobacco out of the hands of children. In 2019, Durbin claimed that premium cigars are taxed at a problematically low rate “at a time when their use – especially among youth – is trending at comparable rates to cigarettes.” He’s pressured the Food and Drug Administration to heavily regulate and tax tobacco products, and premium cigars dangle precariously in the FDA’s sights. For now, the oversight of cigars is on hold, as the agency researches the specifics of cigars and their impact on health and their allure to underage smokers. “I think unfortunately, the regulatory environment is not going to get any better unless it’s through the courts,” said Jeff Borysiewicz, owner of Corona Cigar Co. in Orlando, Florida.
The newly appointed secretary of the federal Deptartment of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, has in the past been keen to regulate premium cigars the same as other tobacco products. “When the FDA gets its new marching orders, the Biden administration is not going to be friendly. They are going to be listening to health groups rather than the business groups.” Biden has selected California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to head the federal Department of Health and Human Services, which has authority over the FDA. Becerra in 2018, along with State Attorneys General from New Mexico, Connecticut and Washington, pressed the FDA to keep premium cigars under regulation the same as
Rubio has championed the cigar industry since he was elected in 2010, signing on as a co-sponsor of Nelson’s bill. “Children are not smoking handrolled, premium cigars and those manufacturers are not marketing premium cigars to kids,” Rubio wrote in a 2019 editorial in the Tampa newspaper. Allowing the FDA to regulate the cigar sector “will be devastating for the premium cigar industry — small businesses making and selling high-quality, handmade
“Children are not smoking hand-rolled, premium cigars and those manufacturers are not marketing premium cigars to kids,” - Marco Rubio other tobacco products. In a letter to the agency, Becerra and his colleagues said, “public health is best served by regulating all cigars under the same regime as other tobacco products.” More hopefully, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in February reintroduced a bill aimed at exempting cigar makers from FDA oversight. The origins of the bill date back to 2011, when Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida) introduced a similar measure.
products — that will have to spend millions of dollars to comply with the same regulations as large companies mass producing low-quality, machinemade tobacco products.” In addition to federal oversight, municipalities also wield a heavy hand on the cigar. “Any retailer, no matter where they are, has always got to be watching city councils, county commissioners, and states,” said Borysiewicz, who is frequently vocal about the
In North Dakota, a state with some of the most restrictive smoking laws in the U.S., a bill allowing the state’s first cigar lounges has drawn dozens of critics to testify before House and Senate committees, urging the panel to vote down the proposal. Despite the vocal pressure and testimony from the anti-tobacco lobby, the measure passed the House by three votes. Maryland lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow local jurisdictions to develop their own policies on regulating tobacco products, including cigars. In Florida, the only state in the U.S. without a cigar tax, a lawmaker wants to give municipalities the ability to ban outdoor smoking in their parks and on their beaches. The bill sailed through its first committee in January. Then there’s Michigan, where cigar bars for a month became just bars, after the state declared 10 months into the pandemic that Michigan's indoor smoking ban applies to cigar lounges. “They clarified their epidemic order to say that you cannot remove your mask for smoking because that’s not in the rules, so no more smoking,” said Alex Engelman, owner of Ernesto’s Cigar Lounge and Bar in Petoskey, Michigan. After negotiations between the state's cigar lobby and the state, the edict was removed. But with the potential to shut down the state’s 300 lounges, the seemingly capricious move shows how quickly a state can affect the livelihood of cigar vendors.
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“What they did with this is bundle all tobacco people together,” said Engelman.
16,000 and there is a nine-page list of requirements from the state of Nevada that organizers have to address.
Despite the looming federal press to put cigars in the same category as other tobacco products, some tobacco executives downplay the possibility of regulation in the foreseeable future.
Among them: Everyone wears a mask and keeps away from each other. To make sure it happens, a team of “safety ambassadors” and security staffers will be the enforcers.
In a March investor call, Scandinavian Tobacco Group CEO Niels Frederiksen told an analyst inquiring about potential regulation, “in the U.S… no real changes.”
“The TPE in May is a go, and we talked
making them likely as the pandemic fades. Cigar International’s CIGARfest in Pennsylvania and the Cigar Heritage Festival in Tampa have both moved their dates. It’s too early to tell how restrictions will play out or if they will deter attendance. “It’s hard to plan on trade shows and we really need that to meet with
“There's a change in administration,” Frederiksen said. “But for now, no signals of any significance on the table.”
Unlike so many of his retail peers, he didn’t enjoy robust sales in the past year, as the state of Maine discouraged out-of-state visitors during the pandemic, in the process robbing Bernier of some of his summer regulars who keep homes in the area.
As the pandemic prevailed and governments responded by closing dining and drinking establishments, Tom Sullivan noticed one day a group of guys sitting in New York’s summer sun, relaxing in lawn chairs in an empty parking lot, eating lunch, and finally, pulling out some cigars. Most places in the state were closed by executive order yet…
Everyone is also itchy to get back to the social convening of the industry events that help everyone make the connections they need to flourish. Right now, it looks like 2021 will herald the return of the convention. But with the rules in place, they don’t sound like a lot of fun. The Tobacco Plus Expo, where distributors, tobacconists and importers meet with retailers at all levels, is a go for May 12-14 in Las Vegas. Attendance is limited to 5,000 in space with a capacity of
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Today, there is no smoking in restaurants, nor are there many newspapers worth reading. But Bernier, now 76 years old, still thrives since opening in December 1995, his 25-foot by 10-foot humidor wellstocked and his customers still faithful. “I’m not sure I can even remember that story,” he said. “But I remember the time.”
The struggle to keep cigars as a viable industry in the U.S., though, is “an ongoing challenge,” said Drew Newman, of J.C. Newman Cigar in Tampa.
“Every day, these guys come out with a sandwich and a cigar and some coffee,” said Sullivan, who owns Alliance Cigar Wholesalers, a major distributor of cigars to retail outlets. “I’m sure they used to get together at a restaurant or tavern. But they found a place that was convenient and enjoyed each other’s company. Cigar smokers are the most social people, and all of a sudden, you break that chain and they all get itchy.”
It was a time that stories on the popularity of the cigar were appearing in every newspaper – when there were newspapers – and the word ‘boom’ was in every one of them. It was a time when upscale steakhouses embraced cigar smokers and The Palm had a dedicated cigar space.
But he was able to keep his doors open the entire time. “They never closed me, so there’s that,” he said. Still, “No boom here, I’m down a little bit.” Bernier is the exception, though, and today’s vigorous cigar industry is barely mentioned in a news search and trend stories are no longer the fodder of news meetings.
Corona Cigar's Jeff Borysiewicz has been outspoken in the fight to curtail excessive regulation on the premium cigar industry. with the [Premium Cigar Association] and they are sending out room lists, “ said Nish Patel of Rocky Patel Premium Cigars. The virtual conventions that have taken place in the last year are fine, “but they’re never the same as a face-toface,” Patel said. The PCA Trade Show is scheduled for July, and it is finding the same dictates as the TPE. Also being discussed is an extra requirement for entry: proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test. Still other shows, after cancelling last year, are moving to later in the year,
customers, build relationships, show off products,” said Kendall of 7-2004 Cigars, who also owns two retail shops in New Hampshire. ”If we go into another year without shows, it’s going to be tough. Retailers are very anxious about this.” A 1996 story in the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram reported on a trend, something it felt its readers would find newsworthy: A local cigar shop, Jenney Station, had recently opened and was doing some brisk business, noting that owner Jerry Bernier “wants to tap into a cigar smoking boom sweeping the country.”
Perhaps what is more important than headlines and economic projections is that the pandemic and the reaction by governments cemented, once again, the notion that cigars represent community as well as a need to connect and to celebrate something in an age of device devotion at the expense of interaction. The lifting of onerous government restrictions will ignite a frenzy of social interaction, even deepening the role of the cigar, predicts Tom Sullivan, the owner of Alliance Cigar Wholesalers. “When people are free to move about the cabin, as they say on an airplane, it will be like sensory overload. And people will go running back to social opportunities. And because as cigar people, we love being together, we’ll all go running back to those social opportunities, and it will be some real positive momentum in our industry.”
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Steve Wilkos INTERVIEW BY STEVE MILLER teve Wilkos has for 15 years been a staple of prime-time afternoons as the gruff but lovable host of the aptly named “The Steve Wilkos Show,” a television production in which he plays emcee, mediator and referee in fraught relationships between spouses, lovers, sons, daughters, dads and moms tackling issues such as prostitution, drug addiction and spousal abuse. This is often carried out with some yelling and crying, with Wilkos handling the former and the guests the latter. Wilkos stands 6-foot-4 and has been known to toss a chair or two during the heat of the show, an intimidating and entertaining show of force. Yet he’s appropriately sensitive. As a Marine veteran and former Chicago police officer, he knows both sides of an argument. Wilkos fell into the entertainment world by moonlighting, first working as security on the set of the Jerry Springer Show which was based in Chicago in the 90s, using his vacation and comp time from his police officer job. Pretty soon, he became Springer’s private security guard, traveling the world in high style. The streets of Chicago took a hit when Wilkos retired from the department in 2001 to do television full-time. He landed his own show in 2007 and is now a legend of daytime car-crash TV. (Sample episode title: “Did He Cheat Because I Transitioned?”) Wilkos, his wife Rachelle, who is the executive producer of the show, and their two kids 16 and 18 years old, are living the dream in Connecticut, not far from where the show tapes two days a week. Other than that obligation, he’s got plenty of free time to smoke cigars, play poker, and take care of the family. Oh, and he has summers off, more time for golf and riding his beloved motorcycles. “Not a bad gig,” he says. The man is a typically understated Midwestern boydone-good. Pre TV Career: When I was growing up my dad was in the army, a paratrooper in Korea. He was this superhero to me. Back then, the guys in my neighborhood didn’t go to college after high school. I was a screwup in high school, like a lot of kids, and my dad says, ‘get in the military, see the world, meet people.’ It was the best decision I ever made. That self-discipline carried forward the rest of my life. It set me up for everything, to never accept failure, always hustle, never quit. I got out of the Marines in 1989 and got on the [Chicago] police force in 1990. Again, I was following my dad; he was also a Chicago cop. I took the test and scored number three out of 30,000, so for a guy who didn’t do all that well in high school, I did pretty well. The reason was the reading comprehension. I’ve always been a good reader. My first call was to go get a guy who was wanted for pouring boiling oil over his girlfriend’s head. Someone saw him in an abandoned building, and it was so unreal to have this as my first call, I was wondering if it was a test call. But we got there and I took out my gun and he was in there and came flying out, I said ‘freeze’ and he complied. I sure didn’t want to shoot someone my first day. Dipping a toe in the television world: I never wanted to be in entertainment. I was a young cop and wasn’t going to get rich doing that, so I worked any security side job I could, nightclubs, Kmart, anything. One day my buddy said ‘hey, there’s a side job tomorrow for the Jerry Springer Show.’ I had no clue who Jerry Springer was, but I went for what was supposed to be one day. I worked that, and a week later they asked me to work again, the guy who ran security liked me. They kept calling me and one day the security guy didn’t show up and I was standing there and the producer asked me if I wanted to run security for the show and I said ‘yeah.’ They liked that I was reliable. They could pick up the phone and I would be there at the drop of a hat. Even before I did things like get on a plane to go find someone, I would be able to sit in a chair at a hotel and babysit a guest. Everything changed in 1997. We were in Daytona Beach for a spring break show and the PHOTO BY: Angela Altus (www.angelaaltus.com)
executive producer said, ‘why don’t we shave your head?’ My hair was already short and receding, so I said okay, and right after that, my popularity on the show exploded. So I got more responsibilities. When the Jerry Springer Show became huge, I started traveling with Jerry as his bodyguard. We went all over the world, London, Amsterdam, Mexico, Jamaica. The travel with Jerry was much better than it was with the Marines, although I was still working for the police department. The show taped in the morning, so I would be done by 3:30 in time for my police shift that started at 4 p.m. One day I came home covered in blood from making an arrest and my wife was shocked. I explained that not everyone puts their hands up and agrees to be arrested. I’d always seen myself as a policeman, not an entertainer, but I decided to stop working at the police department. I was already really invested in the show. On cigars: My grandfather is the first memory, I don’t think I ever saw him without a cigar. I never tried it, maybe a puff off one. Then in the Marines, we would have these nights where the guys would smoke cigars at dinner. I couldn’t afford it then, but I got the idea. When I became a policeman, my partner was a cigar smoker so we’d go get some cigars and smoke them in the car, which probably wasn’t so great for the next guys that got the car. Then when I connected with Jerry, he was a cigar smoker, and this was in the mid-90s, when you could still smoke in restaurants, so we’d go out to dinner in Chicago and smoke after eating. I really started getting into it traveling with Jerry. We’d be able to get Cubans when we were in London and I’d be bringing them back to the states. Plus, I was starting to do well when I signed my first contract with Jerry in 1998, so I could afford nice cigars. More on cigars: Alec Bradley. I just got into those. I was at a Big Smoke in New York, and it was like trick-ortreating, I got my little book and went around the trade show and got all these cigars to try. So I’m at the Alec Bradley exhibit and talking to this guy there and I’m telling him how Alec Bradley is my favorite cigar, and he gets curious. He says, “Really? Well, I’m [Alec Bradley founder] Alan Rubin.” He was so generous, he gave me some cigars and still sends me a box occasionally. More recently, I was on vacation in the Dominican and I picked up a lot, some Romeo y Julietas, some Montecristos, some La Flor Dominicanas. Every year we go to the Caymans and I always get some Cubans, some Hoyo de Monterreys. I smoke a lot more during the summer. During a golf game I smoke two or three every 18 holes. In winter, I smoke on Wednesday nights. My country club has poker night and they allow smoking in the men’s locker room. Steve Wilkos, Outdoorsman: I’m a city guy, but I never spent a minute in our apartment when I was growing up, I was outside, riding bikes and whatever. In the Marines, we were always out in the mountains training, and I liked the element of it. Even now, we have a lake house in Wisconsin and one in Connecticut. My favorite spot in the world is the Cayman Islands. We’ve been going every year since 2007. There’s not a lot to do, so a week or two is all you need. I’ve been to other places for the outdoors, Costa Rica for the wildlife and the water, we went up to Montana and went skeet shooting and fly fishing, it was great seeing elk and bear. The future: My dad retired when he was 56 and moved to Florida and spent 30 more years in retirement. I started thinking about how I want to spend the rest of my time, and the only bad thing about doing this show is being in Connecticut. If I lived in someplace like Miami, I’d do it for as long as they wanted. When we first moved here, I couldn’t wait to be done and retire, but my dad had told me not to rush into retirement. So it’s good here now. I show up to tape, we have a green room, my clothes are laid out for me, there’s food. I’m lucky, and I really do enjoy doing the show. I’m not working 40 hours a week in a factory. We have enough time off for interests. We have another year left [on his current contract], but I’m prepared for them to tell me when I’m done.
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VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
N I CA R AG UA Opens with an ultra-flavorful delivery of earth, intense espresso, pepper, and molasses complemented by a touch of raisin. Produces billowing plumes of medium plus strength smoke along an excellent draw and burn.
$ 1 7.99 Dalia 6 3/4 43 Cameroon Mexico Mexico & Dominican Republic
Charter Oak
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C Covered with a dark brown, toothy wrapper with excellent oils. This mild to medium bodied blend produces a smooth, straightforward profile highlighted by earth, wood, and a subtle note of clove. Consistently draws well and produces a good smoke output.
$ 6.00
89 74 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
Covered with a luscious, dark brown wrapper and topped with a neat fantail, this medium to full strength blend delivers an intense core of earth, smooth pepper, charred oak barrel, and bittersweet chocolate. Consistently produces an excellent smoke output.
$ 9.28
Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas 2020
89
N I CA R AG UA
$ 10.50
Herrera Esteli Brazilian Maduro
90
A rich and flavorful blend with a well-balanced profile of milk chocolate, cream, cedar, and nuts joined by background notes of smooth pepper and earth. This well-made Lonsdale consistently produces an excellent output of medium strength smoke.
$ 16.55
Black Label Trading Co. Last Rites
91
N I CA R AG UA
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Lonsdale 6 1/4 46 USA/Connecticut Indonesia Nicaragua
N I CA R AG UA An intensely flavorful blend delivering notes of pepper, oak, molasses, and bittersweet chocolate accompanied by a touch of espresso. Well made and covered with an extremely dark wrapper with a coarse feel.
MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
75
TORPEDO Joya de Nicaragua Antaño CT
92
$ 9.90 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Belicoso 6 54 Ecuador Nicaragua Nicaragua
AJ Fernandez New World Connecticut
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Rich and ultra-creamy with a flavorful profile highlighted by notes of cedar, smooth pepper, vanilla, cashews, and a subtle hint of orange zest on the finish. This medium bodied torpedo is impeccably constructed, leaving behind a near perfect ash.
$ 7.40 Belicoso 6 54 USA/Connecticut Mexico Brazil & Nicaragua
Undercrown Shade
N I CA R AG UA Consistently well-constructed and finished with a golden colored wrapper with only the slightest veins showing. Delivers a medium strength profile with notes of cedar, coffee, smooth pepper, and a touch of cocoa. Draws and burns perfectly, leaving behind a solid ash.
$ 9.08
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Belicoso 6 52 Ecuador Indonesia Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
Perdomo Estate Selección Vintage Connecticut
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Prestigio 6 1/2 54 Ecuador Nicaragua Nicaragua
A. Fuente Chateau Fuente
90
N I CA R AG UA Covered with a beautiful, golden colored wrapper and topped with a rounded, tapered head. This mild to medium strength belicoso is smooth and creamy with notes of vanilla, soft pepper, and tanned leather. Leaves behind a solid, compact ash.
$ 13.00
N I CA R AG UA Impeccably constructed and covered with a supple, light brown wrapper with thin veins. Produces an excellent smoke output with subtle notes of pepper, honey, white pepper, and a hint of cedar. Mild to medium strength.
$ 7.85 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Pyramid 6 52 USA/Connecticut Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
Diamond Crown
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C A consistently well-made torpedo covered with a thin, golden colored wrapper. Delivers soft, subtle flavors of cedar, spice, cinnamon, and a touch of cream while leaving behind a solid, compact ash. Mild strength.
$ 20.70
89 76 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
N I CA R AG UA
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Pyramid No. 7 6 3/4 54 USA/Connecticut Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C A smooth blend with a profile of cedar, subtle spice, and a touch of honey accompanied by notes of leather and floral in the aroma. Slowly builds to a mild to medium strength while delivering an excellent smoke output.
MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
77
TORO Davidoff Limited Edition Year of the Rat
92
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
$ 39.00 Toro 6 52 Ecuador Nicaragua Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
Mombacho Casa Favilli
Beautifully balanced and complex with a rich, flavorful profile of cream, cinnamon, and raw almonds complemented by drier notes of white pepper, wood, and a hint of tea. Consistently draws perfectly while producing an excellent output of thick and highly aromatic smoke.
$ 1 4.25
92
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 52 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
Southern Draw Manzanita
92
N I CA R AG UA Creamy and flavorful with notes of sweet cedar, soft pepper, cinnamon, and a touch of chocolate. This medium strength blend is impeccably constructed, producing an excellent smoke output with rich leather and spice aromas.
$ 1 4.99 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 52 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
Illusione Garagiste
N I CA R AG UA An ultra-flavorful blend with flavors of pepper, oak, and salted nuts balanced by rich notes of sweet cream and cocoa powder. This medium to full strength toro features superb construction and leaves behind a solid, compact ash.
$ 9.85
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 52 Ecuador Nicaragua Nicaragua
La Palina Blue Label
N I CA R AG UA Exceptionally well-balanced and flavorful, this medium plus strength toro has a core of cocoa, pepper, and wood accompanied by cinnamon and roasted nuts. Draws and burns perfectly while leaving behind a darkish gray ash.
$ 9.99
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 1/2 52 Honduras Honduras Honduras & Nicaragua
Oscar Valladares 2012 Corojo
90 78 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C
H O N D UR AS A well-constructed toro covered with an evencolored, reddish brown wrapper. This medium strength blend draws and burns exceptionally while producing an excellent output of thick, creamy smoke with notes of leather, spice, and roasted nuts.
$ 8.50 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 52 Honduras Nicaragua Nicaragua & Honduras
H O N D UR AS Impeccably box-pressed and covered with an attractive, reddish brown wrapper. Delivers a core of earth and pepper accompanied by a rich and creamy combination of caramel, cinnamon, and a hint of toffee. Medium strength.
MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
79
TORO Curivari Ciclope
$ 8.00
92
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
652 6 52 Mexico Nicaragua Nicaragua
Herrera Esteli Norteño
A beautifully made, soft-pressed blend, covered with a dark, reddish brown wrapper with excellent oils. This medium plus strength toro is flavorful and rich with notes of dark chocolate, sweet cedar, and almond cream balanced by a touch of wood and spice.
$ 9.6 8
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro Especial 6 50 Mexico Honduras Nicaragua
Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 2
90 90
N I CA R AG UA Covered with a dark brown wrapper and finished with a soft box-press. This well-balanced toro opens with tons of earth, smooth pepper, and charred oak accompanied by notes of cocoa, dark roast coffee, and a touch of mocha.
$ 10.15 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 54 Brazil Nicaragua Brazil & Nicaragua
K by Karen Berger Maduro
N I CA R AG UA Impeccably constructed and covered with a dark brown wrapper, this medium to full strength toro delivers a core of earth, black pepper, and charred oak joined by notes of dark chocolate and intense espresso on the finish.
$ 11.99 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 52 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
Pio Resurrection
N I CA R AG UA Opens with a core of earth and black pepper joined by more subtle notes of cocoa, tanned leather, and roasted almond. This perfectly box-pressed toro is finished with an evenly colored, dark brown wrapper. Medium plus strength.
$ 11.20
89
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 6 52 Mexico Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
El Rey del Mundo - Oscuro
88 80 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
N I CA R AG UA
N I CA R AG UA A thick, pressed cigar covered with a dark brown wrapper with a velvet feel. This medium strength blend delivers a straightforward core of earth, smooth pepper, and cocoa powder complemented by a hint of espresso in the aroma.
$ 6.45 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto Larga 6 54 Ecuador Honduras Honduras
H O N D UR AS Delivers a consistent, mild to medium strength profile of earth, soft spice, and wood complemented by a subtle note of almond cream on the finish. This dark cigar produces an easy draw and a slightly wavy burn, leaving behind a light gray ash.
MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
81
ROBUSTO Davidoff Yamasa
$ 16.50
93
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 50 Dominican Republic Dominican Republic Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
CLE 25th Anniversary
A complex and beautifully balanced robusto with flavors of oak, earth, and salted nuts complemented by creamy notes of syrup and ripe fruit. This medium plus bodied blend is neatly covered with a nearly flawless wrapper with only the slightest veins showing.
$ 15.56
92
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 50 Honduras Honduras Honduras
Don Lino Africa
H O N D UR AS An impeccably box-pressed robusto covered with a milk chocolate colored wrapper. Draws and burns beautifully while leaving behind a near perfect, compact ash. Delivers a core of earth, smooth pepper, and roasted nuts with a long, creamy finish.
$ 9.00
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Duma 5 50 Ecuador Cameroon Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Nicaragua
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
90
N I CA R AG UA Flavorful and well-balanced with flavors of sweet pepper, earth, and roasted nuts accompanied by notes of oak, coffee, and a touch of tanned leather in the aroma. This beautifully box-pressed robusto delivers an excellent smoke output of medium to full strength.
$ 8.7 7 Robusto 5 50 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
Camacho Nicaraguan Barrel-Aged
N I CA R AG UA Covered with a beautiful medium brown wrapper with a supple feel, this flavorful robusto opens with a smooth profile of pepper, oak, and caramel complemented by notes of wood and dried fruit. Draws and burns exceptionally well.
$ 10.00 VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 50 Ecuador Mexico Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
ADVentura The Navigator
H O N D UR AS Opens with a profile of oak, cinnamon, and pepper complemented by more subtle notes of cashew and earth all held together by a rich, creamy texture. Consistently well-constructed and covered with an oily, reddish brown wrapper.
$ 11.00
90 82 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Pinzon 5 1/2 50 Mexico Indonesia Ecuador, Nicaragua & Dominican Republic
D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C Consistently well-made and covered with a clean wrapper with thin veins. Delivers a core of charred oak, earth, and smooth spice accompanied by subtle notes of sweet cream and a hint of coffee. Medium strength.
ROBUSTO Aganorsa Leaf – Rare Leaf Reserve
$ 10.99
N I CA R AGUA A powerful and flavorful robusto with a complex profile of cedar, roasted coffee, cashew, cocoa, and smooth pepper accompanied by a hint of honey on the finish. This slow burning, thick robusto leaves behind a solid, darkish gray ash.
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 1/4 52 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
AJ Fernandez Bellas Artes Maduro
$ 9.50
N I CA R AGUA Impeccably constructed and covered with a flawless, dark brown wrapper with a coarse feel. This box-pressed blend opens with tons of dark chocolate, espresso, and oak balanced by a deep pepper note and a hint of sugar cane sweetness.
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 1/2 52 Brazil Mexico Nicaragua
A box-pressed robusto with a complex core of oak, smooth black pepper, earth, and bittersweet cocoa balanced by notes of currant and leather along a creamy textured smoke. Consistently well made and finished with a dark brown wrapper with a slightly coarse feel.
92 Tatuaje Mexican Experiment II
$ 10.00
N I CA R AGUA
93
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 54 Mexico Nicaragua Nicaragua
91 Cavalier Geneve Black II
$ 8.50
H O ND U R AS Opens with a straightforward core of earth, mild pepper, and oak, then incorporates more complex notes of sweetened cocoa, cinnamon, and a touch of citrus on the nose. This softpressed cigar is covered with a neatly applied, dark brown wrapper.
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 50 Mexico Nicaragua Nicaragua
90 Crux Epicure Maduro
$ 10.00
N I CA R AGUA A consistently well-constructed robusto delivering a profile of charred oak, molasses, dark chocolate, and pepper balanced by a raisin-like sweetness on the finish. Produces an excellent output of medium plus strength smoke.
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 50 Mexico Nicaragua Nicaragua
Blackbird Crow San Andres
$ 7.52
D OM I NI CAN REPUBLIC Delivers a smooth, medium to full bodied smoke output with notes of earth, dark roast coffee bean, and deep pepper accompanied by a subtle touch of caramel and ripe fruit. This well-made blend is covered with a dark, toothy wrapper with good oils.
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 50 Mexico Dominican Republic Nicaragua & USA
89 MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
83
CORONA Rocky Patel Number 6
$ 8.90
92
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Corona 6 44 Honduras Honduras Nicaragua
El Güegüense
Creamy and rich with a profile of cedar, cinnamon, roasted almonds, and a touch of smooth pepper. Delivers an excellent output of thick, aromatic smoke with a bright, clean finish. Medium strength.
$ 10.10
91
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Corona Gorda 5 5/8 46 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
Warped La Hacienda
N I CA R AG UA Flavorful and balanced with a profile of sweet cedar, cinnamon, and a touch of cocoa complemented by a subtle spice in the background. This medium strength corona is covered with a neatly applied, reddish brown wrapper.
$ 7.65
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Superiores 5 5/8 46 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure Selección
90
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
N I CA R AG UA Opens with rich, creamy flavors of cedar, cinnamon, and toffee that give way to hotter notes of red pepper, bitter cocoa, and a touch of saltiness. Provides an excellent smoke output along a perfect draw leaving behind a slightly flaky ash.
$ 8.7 9 No. 1 5 5/8 46 Honduras Honduras Honduras
Perla del Mar Corojo
H O N D UR AS Delivers a perfect draw and an even burn leaving behind a solid, compact white ash. This medium strength blend has a core of charred oak, roasted nuts, and earth joined by a subtle touch of sweetness.
$ 6.45
89
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Corona Gorda 5 1/2 46 Ecuador Nicaragua Nicaragua
Fratello Classico
N I CA R AG UA A beautifully pressed corona covered with a reddish brown wrapper with thin veins and a supple feel. Draws and burns impeccably while delivering a profile of toast, clove, and red pepper accompanied by more subtle notes of tea and wood. Medium strength.
$ 8.80
89 84 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
H O N D UR AS
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Corona 5 1/2 46 Nicaragua Ecuador Peru & Nicaragua
N I CA R AG UA A bold corona covered with a clean, reddish brown wrapper with excellent oils. Produces a core of pepper and earth complemented by more subtle notes of walnut, leather, and a hint of clove along an easy draw. Medium plus strength.
MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
85
TWITTER SCOREBOARD 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 ORGANIZATIONS
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 .............................................. Ashton Cigars @ashtoncigar .................................................... Camacho Cigars @camachocigars ........................................... Jonathan Drew @JonathanDrewArt .......................................... Pete Johnson @TatuajeCigars .................................................. La Gloria Cubana @lagloriacubana ........................................... Xikar Inc @XIKARinc ............................................................... Nick Perdomo @PerdomoCigars .............................................. Miami Cigar Co @miamicigar ................................................... Davidoff Cigars @Davidoff_Cigars ........................................... Punch Cigars @punchcigars .................................................... Ernesto Padilla @PadillaCigars ................................................ AJ Fernandez @ajfcigars ......................................................... La Palina Cigars @La PalinaCigars ........................................... Avo Cigars @AvoCigars ...........................................................
35409 33682 28218 25989 20529 20452 18690 18263 18220 16204 15151 14796 13428 12913 12901 12687 12586 12376 11486 11253
15714 12829 10763 7674 7424 6329 6233 5056 5014 4175
TOP ONLINE CIGAR TWEEPLES David Voth–Sex, Cigars, & Booze @SexCigarsBooze ................. Cigar News @CigaRSS ............................................................ Cigar Events @CigarEvents ..................................................... Cigar Federation @CigarFederation ......................................... Robusto Cigar Babe @RobustoBabe ........................................ Cigar Dojo @CigarDojo ............................................................ Stogie Boys @StogieBoys ....................................................... Cigar Evaluations @CigarEvaluation ........................................ The Stogie Guys @stogieguys .................................................. Cigar Inspector @CigarInspector .............................................
86 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
TOP CIGAR RADIO Cigar Dave Show @CigarDaveShow ........................................ 10453 KMA Talk Radio @KMATalkRadio ............................................. 2177 Cigars and Scotch @CigarScotch ............................................ 1905
SOME OF OUR FAVORITE TWEETS, MENTIONS, AND RANDOM SOCIAL MEDIA GOODNESS.
@official_mercyeke
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 @MichaelHerklots ......................................... Barry – Two Guys Smoke Shop @Barry2Guys ........................... Lindsay Siddiqi @TheCigarChick .............................................. Cheap Humidors @cheaphumidors .......................................... Buckhead Cigar @BuckheadCigar ............................................
Cigar Rights of America @cigarrights ...................................... 14378 Premium Cigar Association @PCA1933 .................................... 8427 Tobacconist University @tobacconistU ................................... 4414
143406 16623 14594 11662 10793 8262 8200 8005 7636 7233
A star for Star Girl @aireyyscigars
@longridgecigarsandlounge Working from home today @herfaway @ longridgecigarsandlounge @_brandontharvey_ @ mistaforty @dgreenwald0 #herf #aromatherapy #brothersoftheleaf #aficionado #cigars #cigaraficionado #shenandoahvalley #cigarlifestyle #cigarlover #cigarsnob @sotl_nj
HANDMADE IN ESTELI, NICARAGUA W W W. D R E W E S TAT E . C O M MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
87
INSTAGRAM SCOREBOARD Since its launch in October of 2010, the cigar world has become enamored with Instagram. Today the ‘Gram is unquestionably the most popular platform on which to share snaps of what you’re smoking and drinking. This scoreboard is sorted by number of followers and broken into groups: Top 20 Cigar & Cigar Accessory Companies, Top 10 Retailers & Reps, Top 10 Cigar Influencers, Top 3 Cigar Organizations, and Top 3 Cigar Radio accounts. If you have the numbers and belong in one of these groups, stand up and be counted! Set us straight via Instagram @cigarsnobmag. TOP CIGAR & ACCESSORY COMPANIES ( sorted by Instagram followers )
TOP CIGAR ORGANIZATIONS
Padron Cigar @padroncigars ................................................... Drew Estate Cigars @drewestatecigar ..................................... Davidoff Cigars @davidoffcigars ............................................. Rocky Patel @rockypatelcigar ................................................. Arturo Fuente @arturofuentecigars ......................................... Xikar Inc @xikar ..................................................................... Gurkha Cigars @gurkhacigars ................................................. Camacho Cigars @camachocigars ........................................... Boveda @BovedaInc ............................................................... La Flor Dominicana @LFDCigars .............................................. Epic Cigars @epiccigars ......................................................... Ashton Cigars @ashtoncigar ................................................... My Father Cigars @myfathercigars .......................................... AJ Fernandez @ajfcigars ......................................................... Alec Bradley Cigars @alecbradleycigar .................................... Oliva Cigar Co. @olivacigar ..................................................... Joya de Nicaragua @joyacigars ............................................... Nick Perdomo @Perdomocigars .............................................. E. P. Carrillo Cigars @epcarrillo_cigars .................................... CAO International @caocigars .................................................
Premium Cigar Association @PCA1933 .................................... 12201 Operation: Cigar for Warriors @cigarsforwarriors .................... 10657 Cigar Rights of America @cigarrightsofamerica ....................... 3083
136098 115026 108087 95873 82386 71049 70876 66518 66092 60186 57038 56083 53054 52829 49412 47492 44557 43486 42559 39610
TOP CIGAR RETAILERS & REPS Famous Smoke Shop @famoussmokeshop ............................... Privada Cigar Club @privadacigarclub ..................................... Mulberry St. Cigars @mulberrystcigars ................................... Cigar Hustler @cigarhustler .................................................... The Cigar Culture @thecigarculture ......................................... Master Sensei @cigardojo ...................................................... Angela Yue @angela_yue ......................................................... Michael Herklots @michaelherklots ......................................... La Casa Cigars & Lounge Vegas @lacasavegas ........................ Jeff Borysiewicz – Corona Cigar Co @coronacigarco ................
54377 47913 47827 30186 27682 26171 24818 23660 20584 17698
TOP CIGAR RADIO Cigar Dave Show @cigardave ................................................. 3194 KMA Talk Radio @KMATalkRadio ............................................. 1587 Cigars and Scotch @cigar_and_scotch .................................... 818
SOME OF OUR FAVORITE TWEETS, MENTIONS, AND RANDOM SOCIAL MEDIA GOODNESS.
@warriorpoetsociety
@cigarsnobmag took a trip up to the @ warriorpoetsociety HQ to do a piece on the WPS mission and how it all got started. From the basement to the ______. We’ll let you fill in the blank.
TOP ONLINE CIGAR INFLUENCERS ON INSTAGRAM Delicia-Creator-Influencer @cigarvixen ................................... Cigar Lover @cigarlover12 ...................................................... Naked Cigar @nakedcigar ....................................................... Eric Theoneandonly @scotchandtime ...................................... Cigars / Smoke.Laugh.Live @world.of.cigars ............................ Nikki @cigarpassionista .......................................................... Liz Cigar Life Style @remarkable_liz ........................................ Elaine Lilley @elainelilleyhawaii ............................................... Girls With Cigars @girlswithcigars ........................................... Melanie Sisco @lilsiscokidd21 .................................................
88 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
81830 57271 54573 48871 38972 32108 31899 27834 27500 27491
@cigarrouse
Happy international Woman day my dear’s SOTL
MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
89
EVENTS ROCKY PATEL'S 60TH BIRTHDAY Naples, Fla.
Rocky Patel turned 60 and the celebration at BURN by Rocky Patel in Naples, Florida, started with a happy hour that burst into a full blown party, with live music, hors d’oeuvres, special deals on boxes of smokes and giveaways. Rocky was presented with a custom made cake featuring the branding for his awardwinning Number 6 line of cigars.
90 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
PHOTO CREDIT: Melvin Silverio/ Main Course Hospitality
MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
91
EVENTS ESPINOSA CIGAR OF THE YEAR CELEBRATION Miami
The Espinosa Laranja Reserva Escuro, Cigar Snob Magazine’s Cigar of the Year for 2020, was the star of the evening at the Empire Social Cigar Lounge in Brickell, Florida. The entire team at Espinosa Cigars including Erik Espinosa, the man behind the label, were on hand to meet and greet fans and friends, who celebrated with music, drinks and cigar specials. Box buyers received a sampler of Crema de Laranja, an event-only line of barber pole cigars.
Adrian Artidiello and Mike Freire
Oliver and Nathalie Belin
Ibis Lu and Francesca Cruz
92 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
Charlie Lopez, Richie Otero, Erik Calviño, Jack Toraño, Erik Espinosa, Erik Espinosa Jr, Alfredo Cruz and Hector Alfonso
Kim Keeney, Mayerling Villar, Termina Valentina, Ibis Lu and Jesy Rose
Aida Ritney, Erik Espinosa and Mayerling Villar
Natalia Parrales and Arlyn Broche
Leonor Abzaradel and Cecilia Toraño
Santiago Toraño and Anthony Cicchiani
MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
93
EVENTS GRAND CATHEDRAL CIGARS SOFT OPENING Ybor City
Ybor City’s Grand Cathedral Cigars had its long-anticipated soft opening with a bash that included an appearance by Tampa’s mayor, Jane Castor, as well as Ybor City legend Carlos “Carlito” Fuente. Housed in a cathedral built in 1926, Grand Cathedral boasts 7,000 square feet of indoor space as well as a large outdoor patio. There’s a membership-only upstairs VIP area with 24-hour access. The grand opening is scheduled for May 22, tickets available.
Manny García, Meredith Newman, Liana Fuente García and Bobby Newman
Angela Yue, Carlos "Carlito" Fuente Jr. and Nathan
Barbara Mederos, Elizabeth Shlemon and Arlene C. Benton
Christina Suarez Alvarez, Amanda and Derek Dilliger and Zack Alvarez
94 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Nassif
MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
95
EVENTS CIGAR BOX GRAND OPENING Aventura, Fla.
Previously a kiosk inside of Aventura Mall in North Miami, Cigar Box moved to a storefront location and celebrated the grand opening with drinks, fancy snacks and a ribbon cutting ceremony by owner Juan Barboza and his family. The store, a Davidoff Appointed Merchant, offers a broad range of large and boutique cigars in a beautifully appointed space.
Albert Sosa, Jose Ortega, Jill Meyers Rubenstein, Juan Barboza, Carlos Escalona and Erik Calviño
Georgette Coronado and Angelica Barboza
Sindy Lesmes, Jenny Barboza, Alex Zapirain and Isabel Pares
Jose Ortega and Addy Rodriguez
96 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
Alex Zapirain and Frank Diaz
Juan Barboza, Maria Julia Corodva and Sergio Vinograd
Rafael Herrera and Heidy de Nicolo
Jill Meyers Rubenstein and Peter Rubenstein
Alejandro Martínez 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 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
97
EVENTS CUBA UNDER THE STARS Miami
It was another cigar smoker’s night at the outdoor dinner show Cuba Under the Stars, presented by Oliva Cigars and Cigar Snob Magazine. Oliva handed out the smokes, we gave out our popular SNOB lighters and copies of the latest issue of the magazine. The two-hour show was excellent, featuring an 18-piece orchestra and over 25 dancers on stage accompanying the Cuban music legends headlining the show. Celebrity chef (and Real Housewives of Miami TV show cast member) Ana Quincoces provided the food and Bacardi poured the rum.
Luis Bofil and Alex MacNamara
Jackie and Duanys Ramirez with Jophiel Ortiz and Jessica Pintado
Yuli and Lance Benson, Victor and Marielys Vergara and Mariloly and Ariel Alvarez
98 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021
Jeannie Arencibia, Albert Sosa, Peter Regalado and Steve Suarez
Zai and Martin Plasencia
Sabrina Mastrogiacomo
Aquiles Legra and Emilly Andujar
Orlando Orta, Yuli Benson and Lazaro Milian
Aly and Carlos Escalona, Patty and Albert Sosa and Mari and Tommy Sanchez
MAR / APR 2021 | CIGAR SNOB |
99
100 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2021