This impressive maduro cigar, rated #3 cigar in 2018 by Cigar Aficionado, is a little bit toothy. With a prominent flavoring of pepper, this cigar oscillates between sweet and spicy. Alongside the pepper, one can expect flavors such as espresso, chocolate, and honey.

Tasting Notes:

This hefty cigar is enveloped in an oily Nicaraguan Rosado wrapper, and uses Nicaraguan tobaccos throughout, making this a Nicaraguan puro cigar. The wrapper lends this cigar some spice, while the binder and filler round out the cigar with notes of earth, leather and wood.

The renowned My Father Cigar Factory in Nicaragua blends and rolls the Surrogates for the L'Atelier brand. For those who enjoy full-bodied cigars, the Surrogates mix is designed to provide strength along with a perfect dose of flavor. The filler and binder in this stick are Nicaraguan tobacco, which is wrapped in a dark Connecticut Broadleaf.

Brothers of the Sabre Epicurist is a new mix created to pay tribute to Gen. Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle of France, one of Napoleon’s most fearless and brilliant light cavalry commanders who was often seen smoking a pipe. The new cigar was blended by Hendrik Kelner Jr. and is made up of a Claro Colorado Ecuadorian wrapper covering a Dominican binder grown in Yamasá and Dominican filler tobaccos. Interestingly, the robusto version features filler leaves primed from higher up on the plant for a bolder smoking experience, whereas the figurado receives milder leaves from the center of the stalk.

Tasting Notes – Cedar, Oak, Toast, Cashew Nuts, and Cream

The smoothest maduro blend available is this Bianco III. From beginning to end, this filler mix adds notes of cocoa, earthiness, and smoothness. These cigars have a Mexican San Andres maduro wrapper, which plays a crucial role without being too overpowering. The flavors of the binder and filler are perfectly balanced by this Mexican wrapper, giving the finish a silky smoothness. This cigar has a Dominican binder. Fratello Bianco cigars have a highly complex nose due to the aroma produced by the mixture of the binder and wrapper.

Its flavor is elevated to a new level by the intricacy of the filler tobaccos, which come from three distinct nations. Three distinct flavors contribute to an incredible smoking experience: the robustness of Pennsylvania Broadleaf Ligero, the sweetness of Peruvian, and the spiciness of Nicaraguan.

The second offering in this well-known brand from master cigar maker AJ Fernandez is the Dias de Gloria Brazil. 2019 saw the release of Nicaragua's first Dias de Gloria version, which was made in remembrance of the heyday of Cuban tobacco prior to the Castro catastrophe.

Días de Gloria Brazil celebrates the union of two exceptional worlds of tobacco. Honoring the rich roots of Brazil and the legacy of Nicaragua, AJ Fernandez captures the soul of traditional influences with this distinct and vibrant blend. While adorned with a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper, AJ’s signature Nicaraguan binder and filler remains at the heart of this blend. In crafting this cigar, AJ Fernandez not only pays tribute to the glory days of tobacco but also will create new glory days for every connoisseur.

Tasting Notes:

Originally manufactured in Cuba, SLR brings back this staple in the arsenal, but now manufactured in Honduras. Boasting a 91 rating, this cigar delights with flavors of berries, vanilla and charcoal to finish.

Plasencia Alma del Campo is a complex smoke with a perfect balance delivering notes of coffee and nuts. This is a very creamy cigar with a touch of spice. The finish leaves a lasting impression on the palate.

The Caldwell Lost and Found "Just the Tip" cigar is made in the Dominican Republic at Tabacalera William Ventura factory. Rolled using a zesty Habano wrapper over a Sumatra binder and filled with a balanced mix of Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos, the result is a bold tasty smoke with notes of oak, cocoa, coffee, and graham cracker. 

That Colorado Rosado-colored wrapper you see slapped on the outside of this medium-strength stick is actually an Ecuador-grown habano leaf from the Oliva family. The blend also includes one ligero leaf inside for added kick, and is comprised primarily of viso leaves instead of milder seco for a more vibrant cigar flavor profile.

The result is a superbly made premium cigar blend that is both aesthetically stunning and tasty. With its earthy, woody, and nutty flavors, the 1502 Ruby is a treasure once lit. It is also an outstanding burner, which is no surprise being that Plasencia handles all production of the 1502 line for Global Premium Cigars down in Nicaragua.

Tasting Notes:

This cigar is a unique one from the pigtail cap to the tasty notes throughout. An extension of the Alec Bradley Family Blend line, the lineage boasts a bouquet of flavors comprised of earth, cedar, citrus and leather. A cant miss cigar.

Weltschmerz is the German word for "a feeling of melancholy and world-weariness." This cigar is meant for the darkest moments of life. The sensation of Weltschmerz is best described as being "back in the rolling hills of home." The brand uses fillers from Estelí and Jalapa areas of Nicaragua, a binder from Jalapa too, and an Ecuadorian habano oscuro wrapper. The mix was created in collaboration with Claudio Sgroi and made in Nicaragua by Tabacalera Tambor.

The scents are diverse, the cigar feels calming and dark. You can feel hints of chocolate, raisins, candied orange, green grass, sandy soil, hazelnuts, vanilla, blueberry, cracked coconut, mineral raw oak, and toasted walnuts. 

Tasting Notes:

A century ago, the Cuban cigar communities in Ybor City invented a spicy crab croquette that is still famous today, and this potent perfecto cigar gets its name from that dish. Like the dish it mirrors, this cigar is short, stout, and stuffed with all sorts of special ingredients. 

It's highly likely that West Tampa's master blender, "Chef" Rick Rodriguez, has left the origin of the wrapper, binder, and filler of this devilish treat a secret for a reason. For this is the guy who says that judging a cigar by its tobacco strains will never get you anywhere. So dive in, and take this one for what it is. And that is a rich, dark treat for those looking for loads of flavor and a medium-full smoking session.