Featured Cigars - October 2016

Born into the cigar industry in Cuba, Abel “AJ” Fernandez worked in Pinar del Rio, Cuba for nearly two decades before moving on to work with some of the best in the industry. He is also the mastermind behind some of the best cigars on the market today including Man O’ War, Ave Maria, and Diesel just to name a few. The Relic Salomon is handmade in his legendary Tabacalera Fernandez factory in Esteli, Nicaragua with the precision and care AJ is...

Neya F8 was created by Roberto Pelayo Duran – not to be confused with boxing legend Roberto “no mas” Duran or any member of the band Duran Duran – an expatriate whose cigar industry lineage can be traced back to 1928. Wanting to start his own brand, Roberto recuited some of the best and most respected Cuban master blenders and farmers to bring Cuban style cigars to the United States market. The Neya F8 in your shipment today is a perfect...

The Graycliff 10 Year Vintage Maduro Pirate is another top-notch cigar to come out of Honduras. This medium to full bodied smoke offers an ultra-refined and fully matured dark and oily Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, a delicious Honduran binder, and extensively aged, exquisite long-fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua. Light it up and find lots of smoke with a razor sharp burn and rich, deep flavors of cedar and cocoa, with a creamy, earthy

The Excalibur Epicure contains only the top ten percent of the premium long leaf tobacco leaves grown in Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, topped off with a beautiful light brown Connecticut shade wrapper. Clip the end and you’ll note a sharp contrast with the dark blend of long-filler tobaccos. The roll is solid from head to toe and, once lit, the draw is perfect. Not surprisingly, the initial flavors are spicy. As the white ash...

Some have said that the La Palina Black Toro is La Palina’s strongest offering to date. Hailing from the Dominican Republic, the La Palina Black Toro starts with Dominican and Nicaraguan long-leaf ligeros that are secured by a feisty Nicaraguan binder and finished with a silky and oily ultra-dark Brazilian wrapper. Together, this powerhouse blend features notes of cocoa, dried fruits, and charred wood that remains balanced throughout this...

Punch is one of the oldest Habano brands, founded in 1840 by Don Manuel Lopez of Juan Valle & Company and intended for the booming British market. The name Punch is drawn from a famous comic book, "Punch & Judy"; the clown, Mr. Punch, is still seen today on every box with his sly smile and cigar. Unlike most medium-bodied Punch cigars, the Bareknuckle has kicked it up a notch and is a smooth full-bodied powerhouse. This baby is jam-packed with...

Known for their incredible flavor profiles and boutique charm, Pinar del Rio cigars are made in one of the best small factories in the Dominican Republic. The Pinar del Rio Oscuro is expertly constructed using a thick and dark Brazilian Oscuro wrapper that hugs a Nicaraguan binder and a rich blend of expertly aged Nicaraguan and Dominican long fillers. This combination leads to complex, smooth, and balanced flavors of coffee, cocoa, and pepper...

The Partagas Aniversario 170 Salomone was released in 2015 and quantities are extremely limited. This super-premium cigar offers the classic Partagas style smoke with a four-country blend starting with a blend of proprietary Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos known as “Nicaraguan Guardian” and premium Dominican long-fillers, which are then hugged by a Habano Connecticut binder. The star, though, is the African Cameroon wrapper which is grown...

Ashton Distributors have owned several cigar brands for more than 25 years. Though there are several other micro-brands out there in the cigar market, there are very few that have been built as well as Ashton’s La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor. The La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Reserva Maximo is the follow up to the wildly successful La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor, and it doesn’t feature a drastic overhaul but instead tweaks the existing blend. Handmade at the...