The Original November 16th, 2017 Steve R 92 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 … Read More
Diesel Heart of Darkness August 8th, 2016 Steve R 95 Long overdue, but hashtag-ohsoworthit. Boss-man has been telling me to write a review for a year. It’s been on my back burner for equally as long. Then we received lovely news from the FDA about 88 days ago. Priorities changed, but boss-man has still been riding me. Over the past 88 days, we’ve worked like mad, creating new products with everybody under the sun. From AJ … Read More
Relic by AJ Fernandez May 11th, 2015 Steve R 94 Don’t ask how the sausage is made, son, just feast. Relic hit us by surprise. As strong as our relationship is with AJ Fernandez, he somehow kept this beauty out from under our nosey noses. Probably a good thing, otherwise we surely would have bought every Relic cigar produced on the spot. It’s just that good. So yes, I will be giving this cigar a very strong rating. And yes, this … Read More
CAO Extreme April 21st, 2014 Steve R 93 Welcome back, CAO If you know me, you know I’ve always been fond of CAO. Brazilia, Sopranos, Black, Italia....hell, I’m man enough to admit I’ve even burned through a fair share of Moontrance and Bella Vanilla over the years. Bottom line is, CAO makes a damn fine cigar, but more importantly, CAO cigars are among the most consistent and reliable in the boutique realm. … Read More
Davidoff Maduro Series March 28th, 2014 Steve R 88 So you may have noticed an increased number of staff reviews lately. You guys love’em, we enjoy talking shop, and our marketing guru Scott tells us that content is good for the site. It’s a win-win-win! Scott, the marketing whiz I just mentioned 5 seconds ago, stresses SEO. That’s marketing speak for marketing stuff. Apparently our reviews help you find our site when searching The Google, … Read More