Featured Cigars - June 2021

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. This time, Mr. Punch has stepped into the ring ready to rumble. The Knuckle Buster starts with a reddish Nicaraguan Habano wrapper leaf...

As the second-largest grower of tobacco in Nicaragua, the Oliva family's generations of experience in the industry has served them well. They grow some of the finest crops in the world and are known for using the most skilled rollers and blenders in the country to create legendary cigars. With a repertoire of great blends, surprisingly, this is the first Connecticut line for Oliva. The band is very similar to other Olivas but this one stands out by having...

La Gloria Cubana Serie R #5 is a full-bodied smoke of exquisite quality made in Villa Gonzalez, Dominican Republic. Crafted by Ernesto Carillo, the Serie R is a richer, spicier, fuller-bodied version of the regular La Gloria Cubana line. In fact, when it debuted in 1999, it helped kick start the trend towards full-bodied cigars. The cigar offers a delicious balance of Brazilian, Dominican, Mexican, and Nicaraguan fillers cloaked in a...

If you are a fan of Padrón, Oliva, and Rocky Patel, you are going to like this less expensive alternative which has many of the same flavors. Hand-crafted in Nicaragua, the Nica Libre is a box-pressed beauty that’s an amazing everyday value. Inside the thick and toothy, chocolate brown San Andrés Maduro wrapper from Mexico is a select blend of aged, black, Nicaraguan Cuban-seed long-fillers, secured with a Nicaraguan Habano binder...

Padilla Hybrid was released in 2004 to great acclaim, generating impressive ‘90’ and ‘91’ point ratings. The brand disappeared for a while but, happily, it’s back. Draped in a light chestnut Connecticut-seed wrapper, the Hybrid is a mild-to-medium-bodied cigar chock-full of flavorful Nicaraguan tobaccos. The construction is nice, the draw easy, and the ash white and firm. Look for notes of cedar, earth, leather and spices all working together to create...

Hailing from Nicaragua, the ACID 20 was created to celebrate the company’s 20th Anniversary. It starts with a gorgeous, sweet-tipped Mexican San Andrés wrapper that secures an Indonesian binder and an array of Nicaraguan fillers. To finish, this smoke is boxed pressed to perfection. Light it up and your palate will be greeted with medium-bodied notes of earth, mocha, and sweetness that will evolve to tobacco core notes then again evolve...

The Graycliff Profesionale Pirate has made a triumphant return from its original release in 1999 and is better than ever. Hailing from Honduras, this worldly cigar starts with a four-country blend of long-fillers from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua which is secured by an Indonesian Sumatra binder and finished with a golden brown Ecuador Sumatra wrapper. All in all, that is six countries in just this one cigar, which results in premium...

With its glistening mahogany-colored Corojo wrapper (grown in Trojes, Honduras), its slight box-press and its triple cap, Alec Bradley's Prensado is definitely a looker! The blend consists of Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos and the binder is Nicaraguan Jalapa. Alan Rubin, Alec Bradley's founder and president, calls Prensado his strongest blend to date. Look for the medium to full-bodied cigar to start with sheer power and a ton of flavor from the first puff...

For cigar aficionados, the Camacho brand is synonymous with “full”—as in full-bodied, full-flavored, and full of character. Their blends usually promise a powerful well-balanced smoke brimming with aromatic flavor. This is precisely why Camacho makers Christian and Julio Eiroa have developed such a loyal cult-like following. The Camacho Hard Charger Limited Edition 2018 Toro really does live up to its name. Inspired by the US Marines, this bad-boy...