Santiago — Wins
One of my sad realities is that I have too many cigars. Yeah, I know, poor me! What actually is the case is that I receive so many different cigars I hardly remember them all. So it with the cigar I write about now. I was looking for a smaller cigar the other night and I took this gem from the humidor. My first thought was that it was a beautiful cigar. And, looking at the band, I...
Pride of Jamaica – House of Barrington
We receive hundreds of cigars a year to review. Today’s selection comes from the manufacturer, who we met at last summers industry trade show. An unassuming man with a passion for his country and cigar making. As a small boy in Jamaica, young Barrington Adams found authentic gold doubloons on his parents’ property, an exciting occurrence, foreshadowing what was to come. These...
Ex NASA Employee Launches a Burning Rocket
What do you do when your Dominican Republic pro-basketball career is terminated by injuries, the MBA degree you earned has no pull into any particular direction and your position at NASA is no longer interesting enough? Why not jump into an old love/new career and try to make money at the same time. Do what Omar de Frias did – quit the office grind and start your own cigar company! And he...
Azan by Roberto Duran
Most people recognize the name. But, usually not for producing cigars. Different Roberto, different product. However, Roberto Pelayo Duran has experience making cigars like his more famous namesake has in the ring. Azan is a little known old time Cuban brand of cigars that has been in Robertos family for many years and now it is made Nicaragua. The result is a typical hand rolled cigar....
Your Brother’s Cigar – Fratello
Fratello is the name of a new cigar brand launched recently by former pro basketball player Omar de Frias. de Frias has been nicknamed ‘Fratello’ which means my brother in Italian grew up next to a cigar shop in the Dominican Republic. This cigar, which we found at the recent IPCPR show is available in four sizes. Many new brands debut at the show and we try to review them as we...
Monte Pascoal Interest in Brazil
We have been smoking Brazilian tobacco for some time. And it has been grown almost since Brazil was discovered. The primary growing regions are in the northern part of the country. Mata Fina, Mata Norte, and Mata Sul are all growing regions with tobacco of different properties. The Mata Fina is the best and is used for wrappers for many different cigars. It is silky and ages to a nice...
