Caldwell Hit & Run Part Deux Booth's Sursie

Robert Caldwell is known for his award winning portfolio as well as for using the best leaves he can find, while Matt Booth, founder of Room 101, also is known for his 90+ rated cigars. The duo teamed up to create the Caldwell Hit & Run, which was an instant success. Robert Caldwell and Matt Booth decided follow up their success with another limited release, aptly named Hit & Run Part Deux. Produced by the Dominican Republic’s Tabacalera William Ventura, which produced the original Hit & Run as well as many of Caldwell’s other superb releases, this cigar is as excellent as the original. Starting with the inside, this smoke features Dominican, Nicaraguan, and American long-fillers that are blended to perfection before being secured by a Nicaraguan binder and finished with a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper. Medium in body, once lit you’ll find notes of leather, spice, chocolate, and wood. Try pairing it with a Ron Zacapa XO or your favorite rum.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.