Arturo Fuente Between the Lines
Sometimes you keep something in the humidor as a treasure. And, with the passage of time the memory of the first smoke grows fonder. You know what I mean. You had a great meal at a spectacular restaurant and years later the fond memory makes it hard to live up to its billing. This was one of those rare cases where it was even better than I remember. About six years ago, I had lunch with...
La Gloria Cubana Retro Especial Habanero
A very long time ago, I used to smoke La Glorias on a regular basis. We’re talking about 25 years ago, before the cigar boom. The cigars were made in Miami by Ernie Carrillo and his rollers on 8th street in Little Havana. Then something good happened for the cigar industry — the boom. Struggling small businesses all of a sudden couldn’t keep up with the demand for...
The Griffins – An Interesting Surprise
It’s been years since I’ve had a cigar by The Griffins. Usually, I consider them to be to mild for my taste. This particular cigar was given to me at a show, and with an early morning drive, it seemed like a good choice for a ‘breakfast’ cigar. Upon first inspection this cigar really looks nice. It has a great natural Connecticut wrapper and just looks like what a...
Avo Maduro – No Stranger This Night
It’s not often that you write about Frank Sinatra when post a cigar review. But, tonight’s review is of a cigar made by the composer of one of Sinatra’s classics, Stranger in the Night. That song was beautifully composed by jazz musician and cigar maker extraordinaire Avo Uvezian. Playing in the jazz clubs Avo was always smoking a cigar and would often give cigars...
Casa Torano
A few weeks ago I visited Jack Torano at his warehouse in Miami. We shared stories and cigars. While he was talking about being able to smoke in the office, he mentioned that for most of the staff the Casa Torano was their preferred stick to smoke during the day. So I was not surprised to find that originally this cigar was only available at rolling events and was somewhat rare....
Las Ramblas, Toro
Las Ramblas, aside from being the main boulevard in Barcelona and a must visit location for tourists, is a purveyor of cigars from the Ventura Company. This cigar, Habano Coriollo from Las Ramblas, is another toro, a 6 1/2 X 50 cigar with an attractive color, slightly darker than the connecticut wrapper toro and stronger in flavor. The Habano is a firm, well made cigar and the quality...
