An Afternoon with Pete Johnson (Part One)

Same format as an An Evening with Benji Menendez and An Afternoon with Ernesto Perez Carrillo. This weekend Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars was in Washington DC and Bethesda MD celebrating the start of W.Curtis Draper 125th Anniversary year with the release of the Cabaiguan WCD 120 Redux. Towards the end of the afternoon, Pete and George Brightman (W.Curtis Draper-Bethesda) sat down and talked about Tatuaje Cigars and the cigar industry in general.

The discussion between Pete and …

23 Minutes with Pete Johnson

It’s pretty interesting to note that this celebrates five years of the 20 Minutes with Pete Johnson series of videos here on Stogie Review. So first I want to thank Pete for always being giving with his time. Secondly I want to thank W.Curtis Draper for giving me a home to record for the past five years. This series of videos has turned into a tradition that I hope continues for many more years to come.

In this interview Pete …

Your Questions, My Answers (YQMA) Episode 2.06

This is an old school episode of Your Questions, My Answers. All the other members were too lazy to make it so Walt and I kicked back just like we did when we first started the YQMA Series some years ago. We’ve nicknamed this episode the “my face hurts” episode as Walt and I have a lot of good laughs…usually at other people’s expense. No worries we tackle cigar related questions as well. Without Brian Hewitt to eat up all …

Padilla Black Bear

The Padilla Black Bear seems to be one of those Cigars International and Cigar.com exclusives based on the popular Padilla Series 1968 blend. While I can’t confirm its the same binder and filler as the Series 1968, the Padilla Black Bear does have the popular Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper in the ever popular 6×60 size. Typically not a size I enjoy but lately I’ve been coming across blends where the 6×60 format actually works. At $7 a single you definitely appear …

Humo Jaguar

The story behind the Humo Jaguar is a simple one. The story goes that during the Honduran Cigar Festival this blend by Nestor Placenia was judged by 200 or so judges as the best blend of the Honduran Cigar Festival which I hear bears the same name as the cigar. Fast forward to IPCPR 2011 and the blend makes an appearance at the Miami Cigar booth. The Humo Jaguar is a Honduran puro with all of it’s elements (wrapper, binder …

La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra

One good thing about Cigar Aficionado’s Annual Top 25 List is that it occasionally puts the spot light on a popular cigar that we may have overlooked over the years. The La Reloba Seleccion Sumatra by My Father Cigars is one such cigar we’ve overlooked. Brian reviewed the La Reloba Seleccion Habano when it was released in 2010 and I reviewed the La Reloba Seleccion Mexico when the La Reloba line expanded in 2011. Some how we managed to review …

Your Questions, My Answers (YQMA) Episode 2.05

Charlie makes his YQMA debut complete with umbrella and all. He joins Brian and myself in the fifth episode of Season 2. We count down the Top 25 List from Cigar Aficionado and weigh in on whether we agree or disagree.

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Quesada Oktoberfest (Guest Review)

Tom and Ed Return for another Guest Review

As always, Ed and I have returned to Stogie Review for our guest spot. How long have we been doing this? I’ll have to look into it. Anyway… In this episode we are covering the Quesada Oktoberfest. This is a yearly release that is in celebration of one of the most famous festivals in the world. It is said that this cigar is intended to be paired with your favorite Oktoberfest beer. …

An Evening with Benji Menendez

Last week Benji Menendez was in town visiting both locations of W.Curtis Draper. Since I had to cancel my participation in the blogger trip with General Cigar down to the Dominican Republic I made plans with the folks at General to get time with Benji while he was visiting. I’ll be honest. I wasn’t sure what to say to this icon in the industry. Seriously, I’ve only been smoking since the end of the boom in the late 90′s. …

12th Annual Little Puff – Random Footage

Random video footage is always the best. I had just finished up recording the Little Puff Auctions with my handy FlipVideo when Matt Booth of Room101 Cigars takes out his FlipVideo which was promptly taken by Stephen Boyajian of The Cigar Network. What ensued was a bit of random chaos. We two geeks thought it would be funny to run around with our FlipVideo cameras and see who we could annoy. Hopefully one day I can get the video files …