My journey to the Protocol Cyber Crimes Unit goes back, way back. I was still living in Miami when the concept branding for Protocol Cigars was created. Shortly after I moved to New Hampshire and if you’re familiar with that podcast I was on, every year around this time of year the host of the show would go on a tirade about a cigar with a wick at the end. I think the one thing […]
The Black Label Trading Company Orthodox is an exclusive cigar that was made available only to retailers who attending the PCA 2024 trade show that occurred in March in Las Vegas. Available in three sizes; Short Robusto (4.5 x 52 / $12.50), Corona Gorda (5 x 46 / $12.50) and Toro (5 3/4 x 50 / $13.00). Each size is limited to 900 boxes. According to James Brown, creator of Black Label Trading Co./Black Works […]
La Aurora USA announces the Best Sellers 2024 Sampler Pack. The 2024 Sampler Pack offers aficionados a curated selection of ten top-rated cigars, showcasing the best-selling blends from La Aurora. From mellow to bold, this collection of fan-favorites highlights our best-selling cigars and features two Toro cigars from each of the following blends: 120th Anniversary 107 Nicaragua ADN Dominicano Cameroon 1903 Time Capsules Series Connecticut 1987 Time Capsules Series The La Aurora 2024 Best Sellers […]
The Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 3 is the latest release of a brand that was almost dead. In July 2019, Rafael Nodal and his team at Altadis USA resurrected a brand that was barely alive with the release of the Trinidad Espiritu No. 1. The history of the brand dates back to 1905 in Cuba. In 1920, Diego Trinidad Jr. took over the family business, incorporated it in 1958 and renamed it TTT Trinidad. Then […]
Heaven’s Door Ascension was the inaugural Kentucky Straight Bourbon for the Tennessee based company released in July, 2023 The bourbon is a blended bourbon of two non-chill filtered blends that are made in batches of 10 barrels or less. The company is set to open their own distillery in the fall of 2024. Quietly under development since 2017, the distillery has been producing small batches of exceptional bourbon on its custom Vendome still since 2018. […]
The Wise Man Maduro like the Wise Man Corojo was re-branded and re-blended for 2024. Foundation Cigars the company that makes these lines took the production of one of their signature cigars from Aganorsa Leaf and moved production down the road to My Father Cigars S.A. No official reason for the change was given but Foundation has ceased all production with the former. Whenever a company makes a totally new cigar of an existing brand […]
Buffalo Trace Distillery is thrilled to announce Weller Millennium, a first-of-its-kind, ultra-aged whiskey from the Original Wheated Bourbon brand. This category-redefining innovation is comprised of a blend of vintage straight wheated bourbon and wheat whiskeys that were distilled near the turn of the millennium and matured at Buffalo Trace Distillery for various lengths of time. As the third oldest operating distillery in the world, with roots dating back to 1773, Buffalo Trace Distillery (as it’s […]
Born in 1903, the La Aurora 120th Anniversary celebrates the birth of the first Dominic Republic cigar factory. For La Aurora it has been a roller coaster of a ride. For me the cigar factory was first on my radar at the first cigar blog I ran called acigarsmoker.com when I was invited down to the Dominican Republic for a factory tour. I went down with a lot of cigar smokers who were bloggers and […]
The La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Reserva was released 12 years ago and it features a San Andres wrapper before San Andres was the darling of the industry. Back around 2018 the cigar underwent the first design change and somewhere over the last year or so the cigar had a third change adapting blue as the primary color versus the red that adorns the cigar we are reviewing today. For whatever reason my local […]
After wandering around the liquor store for 20 minutes and disgusted with the offerings I decided to look to a co-worker for inspiration. Earlier today he sent me a picture of Penelope Rio which is finished in Amburana barrels. If you know anything about this website I despise weird finished whiskey. I do however have a soft spot for toasted barrels so we grabbed a bottle of Penelope Toasted Barrel Finish. According to the website, […]