Cain FF (First Impressions)

Last week I began smoking through samples I received as a member of the Studio Tobac Advisory Board. I made the Nub San Andreas Maduro my first cigar of the day and followed it up with a Cain FF (Cain Double-F) roughly twelve hours later. My experience with the Nub was less than desirable, which left me with fingers crossed when it was time to smoke the Cain.

Getting started I was a bit concerned about the torpedo shape. …

Ask The Readers: Do you use cigars as a motivational tool?

A few weeks ago I was reading through my cigar subscriptions in Google Reader and stumbled onto a very interesting series. Craig Vanderslice, of CigarCraig.com, posted an article entitled “Take A Cigar For A Walk”. In this article Craig introduces us to a man named Tommy.

Tommy is overweight and gives us a look at his successes and failures with various weight management programs. While reading Craig’s blog, Tommy tells us that he was inspired to take …

20:15 with Pete Johnson

It is that time of year again. Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars visits W.Curtis Draper and we talk about what to look forward to in 2011. I’m sure some of you have heard about some of the new releases he has planned for 2011 and hopefully this video gives you more details and puts some rumors to rest. Nothing like going to the source for the good word. What interview with Pete Johnson would be complete without a status update …

Cigar.com – Purple Label

Wrapper : Connecticut
Binder : unknown but probably Dominican
Filler : who knows – one place says Nic other Dom
Source : cigar.com with my own money

I am starting off another series review for your enjoyment. This time it is going to be the Cigar.com house blends. All of these will be in the robusto size (5 x 50).

Second one is the Purple Label.

Pre-Light

We have a nice looking stick today in this Cigar.com …

Thank You – 5 Year Anniversary

I wanted to take a moment to thank our loyal readership/viewership. Five years ago today, The Stogie Review was born. Two geeks (Walt & I) who played Battlefield 1942 online together discovered we had a similar love for the leaf and on a whim decided to start The Stogie Review to share our thoughts with our friends. Five years, 897 reviews and 603 videos later, I’m happy to say that we have a lot more friends than we ever thought …

Catching up with Ernesto Perez Carrillo

I got word yesterday that our good friend Ernesto Perez Carrillo was going to be in my neck of the woods at the Gaithersburg location of Davidus Cigars. We last spoke to Ernesto back at the 2010 IPCPR in New Orleans so it was a great opportunity to spend a few minutes catching up with him. Ernesto and his family are making some of the best cigars out there. The Short Run made our Top 10 Lists for 2010. What …

Nub San Andreas Maduro (First Impression)

Over the past week you have probably seen a couple of reviews pop up across the cigar blogs which focus on new Studio Tobac Product. Outside of the Cain Daytona, which has hit stores, some of those cigars may not look familiar. The cigar I have for you today is another of those unfamiliar cigars, the Nub San Andreas Maduro. This cigar, along with the Cain F Lancero, Cain FF (Double F), and ST/DS-001 (All maduro …

Alec Bradley Maxx Connecticut The Freak

This week I’m taking a look at the Alec Bradley Maxx Connecticut line’s largest vitola named “The Freak”. According to the press release, it was created to address consumer demand for a Connecticut-wrapped cigars in the larger Maxx formats and started hitting the shops in August of 2010. We saw a lot of manufacturers adding Connecticut-wrapped lines (and line extensions) to their portfolios a few years ago. Alec Bradly was a little behind the curve on this trend, but Alan …