Featured Cigars - March 2020

Box-pressing cigars in pre-embargo Cuba is a bit different that it is today. Previously they would place the cigars in specially sized boxes that apply even pressure to the cigars to create the box-press. This process would also eliminate air pockets to give an excellent draw and was known as the “Spanish Press.” Today, many cigar makers use molds to create the box press before putting them in the box. The La Gloria Cubana Spanish Press...

Nub cigars are very short with huge ring gauges. The smallest of the line is a 54 ring, but the majority of them are 60 and above. The Cameroon we’re featuring this month has a ring gauge of 60. (The largest of the line is a whopping 66 ring gauge.) Each size is supposed to be equivalent to a more traditional-sized cigar. Your 460, for example, contains as much Nicaraguan filler tobacco as a 6.75″ x 50 Churchill, and it burns nearly as long as any Churchill...

Dunhill is a brand that you may have heard of through their full line of luxury gentlemen’s accessories and pipes but not necessarily for their cigars, which have flown way under the radar. The brand has a rich history; Alfred Dunhill opened his first cigar shop in London in 1907, which had numerous marketing and selling rights from various Cuban manufacturers, including several exclusive cigars from top cigar makers...

Fonseca was originally made in Cuba, and still is (so it’s a Cuban brand, no?), but for over 50 years, the family that created them has been making them in Santiago, Dominican Republic, as well. Manolo Quesada's great-great-grandfather started brokering tobacco leaf in Cuba in the 1880s, and, four generations later, Quesada Cigars (formerly known as Manufactura de Tabacos S.A., or MATASA) produces some of the finest cigars in the world...

La Perla Habana is generally regarded among today's top boutique brands, consistently receiving the highest of ratings from Cigar Insider, Cigar Aficionado, and Smoke magazine alike. Sergio Cuevas and Doug Wood, two of the industry's most respected entrepreneurs, took it upon themselves to recreate this well-known Cuban brand in the Dominican Republic, and today La Perla Habana is among the most coveted brands produced...

The Cohiba Connecticut holds up to the unbeatable reputation that Cohiba is known for, and boy is it a winner. Inside is a bevy of Brazilian Mata Fina, Dominican Olor, Dominican Piloto Cubana, and Nicaraguan Jalapa fillers which is secured by a zesty Mexican San Andrés binder. On top is a stunningly golden Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper from the Los Rios province. Perfectly medium in body, expect to find notes of...

The boys at Drew Estate have done it once again. This ultra-premium smoke you have in your shipment today was made in collaboration with Drew Estate and the Van Winkle family. Julian Van Winkle, the President of the coveted Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, recalls how the cigar came to fruition: “I was invited to Cigar Aficionado’s A Night to Remember by Jonathan Drew in 2016 and was presented with a wooden box of cigars with white bands...

The Oliva family first started growing tobacco in 1886 in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba. In the 1960s the Oliva family moved out of Cuba due to the country being overrun by communism, and they settled in the fertile grounds of Nicaragua. Today they are known for growing some of the finest tobacco crops in the world as well as being the second largest grower of Cuban-seed tobacco in the world. They also have some of the most skilled rollers and blenders...

The 601 line comes from the legendary mind of master blender Erik Espinosa, who has created some the best cigars out there. The La Bomba is another addition to his already stunning portfolio and is one of the strongest 601s to be added. This lip smacker is built with a luscious blend of extra fermented, extra feisty Nicaraguan ligero long-fillers, a Nicaraguan binder, and a dark, oily Nicaraguan Habano wrapper that has a ‘fuse’ coming out...