Four Kicks by The Crowned Heads

Its hard to think of a cigar thats created as much buzz as Four Kicks by The Crowned Heads. Ever since Crowned Heads was formed by Huber, Conder, et al its been buzz after buzz. Posters, stickers, hats and samples sent to trusted bloggers. After Crowned Heads was announced further buzz was created when it was released that Crowned Heads would be collaborating with Ernesto Perez Carrillo on their initial line, Four Kicks. Four Kicks features a Ecuadorian grown …

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. …

Tortuga Edicion Limitada 2011

The Tortuga Cigars brand isn’t a household name…to me. Until a couple weeks ago I never heard of it and if it wasn’t for George Brightman of W.Curtis Draper I would’ve ignored it on the shelf of their Bethesda MD location. As typical with my generation of cigar smoker, you walk into your shop and ask “so, whats new?” Needless to say when George said “Tortuga” my facial response was “what the fuck is a Tortuga”. I had a similar …

CroMagnon Knuckle Dragger

For my review this week, I decided to check out the CroMagnon Knuckle Draggers that Jerry so graciously gifted me a couple weeks back when we met up in Bethesda for the Benji Menendez event at W. Curtis Draper. Before I smoked one, I wasn’t sure whether I was going to like it, as it’s billed as a really full-bodied cigar and I tend to stick more to the medium to full range. I actually packed one of these …

La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale (Short Ashes)

This week has been a bit of a mess. The east coast experienced a bit of a freak snow storm in October and it caused a lot of grief to the tune of two fallen trees, several broken branches, and 24 hours of living by candle light.

I’ve spent practically all of last week dealing with the aftermath and wasn’t able to record a cigar review as I would have liked. This weekend I had plans to shoot a pistol …

My Father El Hijo

By now, all the trick-or-treaters have gone home, and I hope none of you got sick on Halloween candy. This week, I’m reviewing the My Father El Hijo, the third installment in the Smoke Inn exclusive Microblend Series.

My Father El Hijo by the numbers:
(Smoke Inn exclusive)
Size: 5.5×52 box-pressed
Wrapper: Select 2009 Harvest Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Strength: Medium-Full
Factory: My Father in Esteli, Nicaragua
No. smoked for review: 2
Duration: 75 minutes
Source: review …

Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2011 (First Impressions)

Last week I received a tweet from @czerbe asking if I was planning on attending a Studio Tobac event in the area. Initially I was on the fence about attending but decided to head out and make an evening out of it. I wound up having a great time and was handed a pre-release sample of the Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2011, courtesy of Dave Wagner.

From what I could gather at the event, the newest release …

1143 Seconds with Pete Johnson

Last week, the night before I left for an overseas business trip, I sat down with Pete Johnson at a Tatuaje Cigars event hosted by Holt’s Cigar Company in Northeast Philadelphia. We talked about a lot of things going on in the Tatuaje universe, including the upcoming Cojonu 2012s, future installments of the Monster series, Pete’s plans for the Saints & Sinners club, and the possibility of expanding the Tatuaje brand to include adult beverages. I had a great time …

EP Carrillo Maduro (Short Ashes)

This week, to put it simply, has been an absolute mess. After dealing with our massive data loss and the stress of getting everything up and operational again, I wasn’t much in the mood for recording a review for today.

Because slacking off wasn’t an option (how could I possibly slack off when all of the others members of Stogie Review came through with content after dealing with the downtime?), I dug through my coolidor looking for something short and …

San Lotano Oval by A.J. Fernandez

Switching things up a little bit this week, I decided to record my first video cigar review. I really appreciate the great feedback you all have given me for my first two written reviews, but several people asked me to try my hand at video reviews as well. So, I figured I’d give it a shot and get in front of the camera for a change. And what better way to start off with my first video review than …