Many of today’s owners of “boutique” brands travelled a long and winding road on their journey toward the cigar business. And in the case of Oscar Valladares, that statement is not metaphorical. Oscar’s initial... Read More...
For over a century, the Toraño family made their living in the tobacco fields of various countries. It began in Cuba in 1916 when Santiago Toraño, a young immigrant from Spain, established Toraño & Company—... Read More...
Unless you’re an obsessive boutique cigar junky, searching far and wide daily for new brands and smoking everything in between, you’ve probably never heard of La Barba. So let me give you a history lesson (don’... Read More...
Let us begin, as we sometimes do, with a little bit of history. A little bit of history, which affects anyone who loves dining at white-tablecloth establishments prior to an evening’s enjoyment of fine cigars a... Read More...
For years, U.S. American cigar smokers have been longing for the day that Cuba and the United States re-cultivate their relationship. Although not quite there yet, connoisseurs around the world have been celebr... Read More...
On the crisp, winter evening of Sunday, January 10, 1999, the Home Box Office premium network (HBO) aired the pilot episode of a new television series called The Sopranos. The show’s plot line centered around t... Read More...
Last year, Pete Johnson gave L’Atelier Imports a breath of fresh air with the exquisite release of the L’Atelier Côte d’Or—which was one of my personal favorite maduros of 2015 (seecond only to Rocky’s Special ... Read More...
The Fonseca cigar brand has been one of Quesada’s longest running brands to date. Back in 1963, Fonseca saw its first release with the original Fonseca (now called Fonseca Classic), a mild Dominican cigar that ... Read More...
Near the middle of September 2013, as the South Florida sunlight lapped across the rolling swells of the Atlantic Ocean, Robert Caldwell decided, once again, to reenter the premium cigar business. Caldwell, a f... Read More...
For almost four decades, José Seijas toiled as an employee in the tobacco industry, rising to the position of vice president and general manage of the Tabacalera de Garcia factory in the La Romana area of the D... Read More...
Cornelius & Anthony Premium Cigars, owned by the esteemed Bailey family from Virginia, released the Venganza to the world at this year’s IPCPR show. The cigars are being rolled at Erik Espinosa’s La Zona fa... Read More...
In 2014, A.J. Fernandez Cigar Company introduced the New World brand at the IPCPR show in Las Vegas. This cigar featured a design unlike anything in their lineup at the time, showcasing a classical and ornate, ... Read More...