Today our sister podcast, The Ashholes is broadcasting live from Two Guys Smoke Shop with Jeremy Soares from My Father Cigars. We affectionately refer to him as beetlejuice because if you say his name three times he is bound to show up. Thankfully today that won’t be the case (I kid, I kid!) as he will be not he show and you never know what will come out of the Portuguese Hammer’s mouth. You can […]
In the words of Steve Saka, “Muestra is the humble, common word for “sample” in Spanish, however it takes on much more important, sometimes reverential, meaning when used in a handmade cigar factory. A muestra is the vision of the ligador and torcedor realized, it is the promise of a new experience and possibly the key to financial success for the fabrica. Muestras are hoarded and coveted by not only their makers, but by the […]
Editors Note: I’m nursing a bit of sore throat today, so I am opting not to light up a cigar until tomorrow. With today being opening day for the Red Sox, I decided to run this review of the Big Papi cigar again. We should return tomorrow with a fresh review. The Big Papi first hit the shelves when I was on my honeymoon and Derek was running the website. At the time he wrote […]
In the cigar industry today, cigar geeks like myself chase limited edition cigars. Much was the same during the cigar boom for a different reason. People chased cigars that were hard to come by even if they were a regular release. One of those cigars was the Short Story from Fuente. It also led to a lot of gouging back in the day, where today’s cigar was often sold at double and triple the suggested […]
One of the most intriguing cigar releases in 2015 was Leaf by Oscar. It was a cigar that wasn’t on our radar when we visited the show, but as our own Mr. Jonathan walked the trade show floor he was intrigued when he met “Island” Jim Robinson by the cigar that looked like one of the ugliest creations ever made. The cigar which is wrapped in a tobacco leaf instead of cello continues to perform […]
One thing Steve Saka enjoys almost as much as cigars is fishing which is how this cigar got its name. It shares the name of a lake on the New Hampshire and Maine border and is consider one of the most pristine lakes in the country. The correct pronounciation puts the stress on the second syllable (um-BAY-gog) and is said to come from an Indian word that means, shallow water. The cigar is the […]
One of my favorite people in the industry isn’t a cigar maker or a brad owner. We first met when he was a cigar rep for another brand. He moved to La Flor Dominicana handling the Northeast before taking on the position of VP of Sales for the company owned by Litto and Ines Gomez. I ran into him a few times this week and had to reach for the winner of the 2014 Blind […]
Back in 2004, the Boston Red Sox made history when they won the World Series after an over eight decade long “curse”. On the roster that year was designated hitter David Ortiz, also known as “Big Papi”. He left his home in the Dominican Republic to pursue a career in baseball, and he made his home in Boston. This year, almost 20 years since the start of his career, he’s released his very own brand […]
Dictator… By definition, it means to have total power over a country. In the world of lighters, the Black Label Dictator gives you total power over your cigars. This is a lighter that will get the job done. Not only does it have a powerful flat flame single jet torch, but it also has a pop out punch cutter on the side for added convenience. First, let’s talk about the flame. The Dictator has one […]
Skip Martin and Mike Rosales are part of the new school wave of boutique cigars. Their company Roma Craft Tobac has brought forth some strong, flavorful cigars in their 5 years of existence. With FDA Regulations in place, I find myself worried about the future for this brand, even if Skip Martin himself is not worried about the future. According to the Roma Craft website, “The Aquitaine contains the same long-filler, full-bodied blend found in […]