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Review: Viaje Zombie Natural Box (2013)

Back in April of 2011, Viaje brought a cigar blend that had never been seen before to an event at Tobacco Grove in Minnesota. The cigar, which was known as the Zombie, was made to be one of Viaje’s strongest blends and was released in a unique vitola: a Robusto with triple caps at both [...]

Review: Fonseca Signature Series TAA

By now you should be somewhat familiar with the Tobacconist Association of America, a group just under 100 retailers who represent some of the biggest stores across the country and have been releasing limited edition versions of cigars for some time. We’ve reviewed a number of their cigars and they have been in the news more and [...]

Redux: XIKAR HC Series Habano² Robusto

In my original review of the XIKAR HC Series Habano² Robusto, I gave a fair amount of history on the cigar, including the opposition filed by Corporación Habanos S.A. and Empresa Cubano del Tabaco, otherwise known as Cubatabaco, the organization who runs the Cuban cigar industry. In short, on September 22, 2008, they filed an [...]

Review: Viaje White Label Project St. Patrick’s (2013)

Today we’re looking at what has now become a yearly holiday release for Viaje – the White Label Project St. Patrick’s Day Candela. First released in 2011, Viaje rolled this bright green Candela wrapped cigar calling it a test blend and placing it under the experimental Viaje line, the White Label Project. Though it was [...]

Redux: Viaje Zombie (2012)

Fewer cigars in Viaje’s portfolio have been the lightning rod that the Zombie was when it was announced in April of 2011. While rumors of the blend being based off the WMD or MOAB had people talking, what really got the cigar into the spotlight was the controversy about its name. In some forums, Andre [...]

Review: Rocky Patel II-XXVI Robusto

Back in May 2011, I had the chance to talk with Rocky Patel during an event in Phoenix, when his new factory in Nicaragua, Tabacalera Villa Cuba, S.A.—TAVICUSA for short—was still in its relative infancy. He was excited about the cigars that would be coming out of the factory, as they would be the higher-end [...]

Redux: Viaje Exclusivo Tower Cigars 45th (2011)

Back in April of 2011, Viaje released what was then the seventh incarnation of the Exclusivo line to celebrate Tower Pipes & Cigars in Sacramento, CA 45th year in business. The box-pressed Viaje Exclusivo Tower Cigars 45th was released on April 5, 2011 with only 100 boxes of 20 cigars produced. The same vitola with the same blend [...]

Review: Fonseca Cubano Exclusivo Robusto (Prerelease)

Last month we got the news out of SAG Imports that it was releasing a new Fonseca line called the Cubano Exclusivo. The cigar was developed with the idea that they wanted to take the easily recognizable Fonseca branding and develop a cigar that breaks out of the expected smooth and mild Fonseca profile. The cigar [...]

Review: Illusione *R* Rothchildes (Prerelease)

In late 2012, murmurs started that Dion Giolito would have a new Illusione, the Illusione *R* Rothchildes. It was supposed to be a completely separate project from the La Grand Classe release, which at the time had just shipped. But there were a lot of similarities from the initial details: Nicaraguan filler and Mexican San [...]

Redux: Partagás Serie D No.4 Reserva

In 2003, Habanos S.A. released the first in a series of Reserva releases, using tobacco aged at least three years, the Cohiba Reserva Selección. Two years later, in 2005, the second cigar in the series was released, the Partagás Serie D No.4 Reserva. Only 5,000 boxes of cigars were made featuring the normal Serie D No.4 band and [...]