CLE Connecticut 550

Introduced at the 2012 IPCPR (International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers), CLE Cigars may be a new company but it came with plenty of cigar making experience. Behind the scenes is mastermind Christian Luis Eiroa who, with his father, owned the highly rated Camacho brand which was acquired by Davidoff in 2008. He stayed as president of Camacho but wanted to branch out on his own, so Christian created CLE Cigars – the CLE being his initials – and hasn’t looked back.

The CLE Connecticut shows the mellower side of Christian Eiroa who is usually known for his bolder and fuller cigars. This beauty features a flawless Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper atop a Honduran binder, and is full of aged long-fillers that are also from Honduras. Smooth, mellow, yet incredibly flavorful, expect notes of roasted nuts, cream, leather, and a pinch of spices. Rated a well-deserved 91 from Cigar Aficionado, accompany it with a Chilean Red Wine.

Honduras has been a tobacco growing and cigar manufacturing area for hundreds of years, but it was the Communist revolution in Cuba that really put Honduras on the map. In the 1960s, many Cuban cigar makers fled their homeland and arrived in Honduras to re-establish their way of life. The immigrants took advantage of the climate, soil, and geography, which were well-suited to tobacco growing, and began producing high quality cigars. The center of the Honduran cigar industry is the city of Danli and the nearby Jamastran Valley. The majority of the world’s pure Corojo tobacco is grown here, now that Cuba has stopped production of this iconic, spicy, and rich variety in favor of Corojo hybrids. Other important areas of Honduran cigar production include the Talanga Valley, Copan, and Trojes.