El Duque Cognac Tubo

Don’t be intimidated by the heft of this stogie—a Double Corona infused with premium cognac. Take it out of the glass tubo and it lightens up a bit! Nonetheless, you’re in for a soothing two hour medium-bodied cigar-burnin’ experience. A mottled Sumatra wrapper cloaks a robust mix of aged Nicaraguan and Dominican long-fillers. Look for a medium to full flavor that’s rich and unusually smooth. The infusion of cognac adds a hint of sweetness. A slow-burner, the El Duque is the perfect golf course cigar, assuming you’re playing eighteen holes! The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club members should consider pairing it with this month’s Cisco Brewing Company’s Whale Tail Ale, an English-style Pale Ale. Or smoke it with your own favorite brewski.

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.