Staff Reviews

After writing up my thoughts on Ave Maria, I got an email from a guy who was part of a customer trip to Nicaragua in September. I read his, then scrapped mine. He says it all:"....the surprise highlight (by far): Ave Maria. Arriving in Esteli late I was jet-lagged and dragging the next morning. Come noon I was seven cigars deep and hadn't had lunch yet. So when his factory manager approached us …

Sometimes in life, you have to roll up your sleeves and do the hard job that no one else is willing to do. Today, however, is not that day. Could I have picked an underrated gem, or an obscure boutique to review this fine Monday morning? Almost certainly. Instead, I’m going to review one of the highest-rated and most beloved cigars in the industry: Padrón 1964 Anniversary. You see, the holiday …

I think Drew Estate’s Undercrown is the cigar I’ve burnt the most of, in my life. Seriously. I’d guess that over the last five years or so I’ve gone through maybe… six boxes of these in total. That’s across almost every size – I’ve gone from Gran Toro, to the Gordito, to the Corona Viva, to the Corona Doble, and back to the Gran Toro over the years. Now six boxes might not seem like a lot for …

As a self-appointed ambassador of all things cigars, I spend a lot of time thinking about branding. And if there’s one thing that makes me nervous it’s the words “rebranding” and “new directions.” Normally well-intentioned, many “rebranding” campaigns unfortunately end up as big failures (New Coke, anyone?). So you can understand my initial hesitance around Joya Red. A classic Nicaraguan brand …

Unlike some of the guys around here, I don’t have a cigar lit at all times of the day. A few of the clowns around here burn ‘em like they’re going out of style. But when I light up a cigar, I want to make sure I’ve got the time to savor and enjoy it. Plus, my personal preference is for full-bodied, powerhouse sticks. And they taste so much better when the sun’s down, and there’s a beer in my …