We’re proud to announce the arrival of the cigar event of the year, the Oliva Serie V Melanio Edicion Limitada 2021. For the past few years, Oliva has treated smokers to a limited release of a new Serie V Melanio. Each one with a unique size and selling point, its newest release is maybe its best one yet.
The new Oliva Serie V Melanio Limited Edition cigars
This bold new addition to the line of cigars once awarded Cigar of the Year by Cigar Aficionado proves the same Full-bodied, critically acclaimed tastes that smokers know and love, but with the twist of a rounded shape rather than its predecessor’s box-pressed shape. In addition to its new shape, the Edicion Limitada 2021 gets straight to the flavor with a NuB inspired size of four inches and a sixty ring gauge.
Only three thousand boxes worldwide are being produced, with ten cigars per box, so pre-order now before they’re all gone!
Looking where to buy cigars? Mike’s delivers near and far!
Even someone who’s only remotely familiar with cigars has heard the name, Rocky Patel. It has become synonymous with premium cigars and created some of the most renowned smokes to ever grace the public. To commemorate the sixtieth birthday of its illustrious founder, the company has created the equally illustrious Rocky Patel Sixty.
Rakesh “Rocky” Patel’s story with tobacco starts at the peak of the 90’s cigar boom. Already a successful entertainment lawyer, Patel began to notice that many of his A-list clients had become cigar smokers. Curious, Patel started to smoke himself and soon became a full-fledged aficionado. His newfound passion began to dominate his life, and even as he enjoyed cigars, Patel smelled opportunity when he was approached by a manufacturer about starting a new brand. Despite friends and family warning him against changing careers, Patel boldly dove full-speed into the industry. His zeal paid off, as Rocky Patel managed to be one of the few surviving brands to emerge from the cigar boom. Today it’s considered one of the most trusted and innovative brands on the planet.
The Man, the Myth, the Legend. Rakesh Patel.
At sixty years old, Patel is just as much the pioneer and enthusiast he was when smoking his first cigar. As a gift to him and all of us, Rocky Patel has brought us The Sixty. Built from tobacco aged six years before even being rolled, then aged an additional two years to allow its flavor to reach its full potential. Smokers can expect a pleasing, medium to full-bodied experience with the lovingly crafted tastes of caramel, espresso, and coffee bean on the draw. Due to popular demand, Rocky Patel has recently released a one hundred cigar humidor fully stocked with Sixty Toros.
Tried the Rocky Patel Sixty, what’d you think? Let us know in the comments.
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Fall is finally upon us, bringing with it all the splendor the season entails. The leaves are changing color, the temperature reaches a crisp and refreshing level, there’s a charming aurora that simply abounds in the entire season. Despite how lovely the autumn times may feel, like all things in life, they can still be improved with a cigar.
That’s why we’re naming the H Upmann Connecticut Churchill our cigar of the Fall! It was a tough decision, we had to go through a lot of cigars to finally settle on the H Upmann Connecticut. Then we had to smoke all sizes of the H Upmann Connecticut to narrow it down to the Churchill. A noble sacrifice, we know, but that’s our level of commitment to our customers!
What put the H Upmann Connecticut over the top was its unique blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobacco. Whatever mysterious x-factor goes into its creation the results complement everything wonderful about the Fall season. The silky-smooth Connecticut wrapper brings to mind the gorgeous symphony of colors the foliage brings, but unlike most Connecticuts it has enough a bite that it adds to the cool embrace of that autumn breeze.
As for size, we chose the Churchill because the H Upmann Connecticut is the kind of cigar you never want to end. So the answer is to get the most amount of the cigar you can in a single stick!
Do you have a favorite cigar this season? Let us know in the comments!
Looking where to buy cigars? Mike’s delivers near and far!
We all know how a real cigar collection starts. You stock up for a weekend, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll last. You get a little more, but now your humidor is too small to store them all. So you buy a bigger humidor, but doesn’t it look a little empty? Better fill it so you’re not caught off guard. Pretty soon you’ve got yourself a full-fledged collection beyond any smoker’s wildest dream.
Cigar collecting isn’t simply about having enough to smoke when the mood strikes you. It’s about appreciation, preservation, the rich history inside every single stogie. Much like art collecting, it’s about appreciating the passion that went into making them and the larger-than-life personas who make them, just as much as the final product itself. But like any widespread activity, competition naturally arises. Someone always has to be the best, and when it comes to cigar collecting, there can only be one.
Alex Wong started collecting cigars after his father introduced him to them, but the Hong Kong resident soon turned it into his passion. Now boasting over five thousand boxes to his name, Alex Wong has the undisputed largest personal cigar collection on Earth. His personal full-scale humidor is described as the size of a large cigar shop, along with a luxury smoking room that sports a matching array of fine art and wine. Wong himself is a longtime aficionado, once saying in his college days he’d go through five or six a day. To this day he still smokes and adds to his already impressive collection.
Every aficionado has had that moment where a character from TV or film sparks up what just happens to be their favorite brand. It’s a moment of odd joy and connection to whatever character happens to be smoking, and we can’t help but project those positive qualities the character possesses onto ourselves. The bravery, the aurora of intelligence, and danger that cigar smokers in the media always seem to have. With so many great cigar moments, we had to whittle things down to perhaps the four best known in the entirety of media, then find out what particular stogies were used.
Independence Day
No one was prepared for the juggernaut of culture that Independence Day would become, or how disappointing its sequel would be twenty years later. But let’s forget about the underwhelming Independence Day: Resurgence, and focus on one of the most iconic scenes in all of history. Captain Steven Hiller takes down an alien ship, goes to investigate the crash, and when the Alien jumps out Smith land a powerful punch while shouting “Welcome to Earth!”. Doing what any red-blooded American does after punching an Alien, he lights up a cigar. Not just any cigar, a Bering Imperial. A creamy, mellow perfect for relaxing after beating up an extra-terrestrial.
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Scarface
The Quintessential crime movie, and one of Al Pacino’s best performances to date, Scarface has stood the test of time. In no small part to its fascinating and well-written protagonist, Tony Montana. Montana’s rise and fall are played with empathy and fire, to the point, we can’t help but admire his chutzpah. We had to do some digging for this one since no cigar Tony smokes has a label on it. The popular fan theory is that Montana, being a former Cuban soldier, exclusively smoked Cohiba brand cigars as they were often given out to soldiers by the Cuban government.
The Sopranos
What list of famous cigar smokers would be complete without Tony Soprano? The boss who defined premium drama for the new millennium, and won over audiences with his ruthless ambition and surprising vulnerability. It was the complex characterization that truly made The Sopranos a hit, and Tony was often seen smoking a premium Churchill cigar, a trait he shared with the actor who portrayed him, the late, great James Gandolfini. Gandolfini has gone on record saying Tony Sopranos enjoyed all manner of CAO cigars. Clearly a man of taste!
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James Bond
As we’ve written before, James Bond is easily the greatest cigar smoker in cinematic history. The first iteration to spark up a stogie was Roger Moore’s Bond, who actually smoked because the actor demanded it. On film, he was often seen with a fine Montecristo. The trend continued with Pierce Brosnan, perhaps keeping in style for the cigar boom of the time. Brosnan’s Bond was seen smoking a crisp Romeo Y Julieta in what was easily one of his most iconic scenes in Die Another Day.
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Do you have any brands in common with a famous tv/movie smoker? Let us know in the comments!
Looking where to buy cigars? Mike’s delivers near and far!
September will soon be upon us, officially ending the summer of 2021. What a summer it has been! After the unending torrent of suffering that was 2020, 2021 finally offered the opportunity to go outside and enjoy the sunshine without fear of disease, murder hornets, or being bombarded with political ads.
As any aficionado knows, summer offers the perfect opportunity to take in the majesty of nature while also taking in the debatably greater majesty of a prime stogie. But which will you smoke? That’s the type of dilemma you want to have. Everyone has their own preferences, but we believe we’ve simplified the process. After sampling a bevy of premium smoke (God I love this job!) were proud to declare the Alec Bradley Gatekeeper as our Cigar of the Summer.
Fans of premium smokes will no doubt remember that the Alec Bradley Gatekeeper was rated #7 on Cigar Aficionado’s top 25 of the year, with the respected publication writing “When Rubin brothers Alec and Bradley decided to follow in their father’s footsteps and start making cigars of their own, we were admittedly a little skeptical. But here we are with the Alec & Bradley Gatekeeper Robusto making an auspicious appearance on our list at No. 7—not too bad for a couple of blending rookies. Then again, they did get a little help from industry veteran Ernesto Perez-Carrillo who makes the cigar in the Dominican Republic. Ultimately, the Gatekeeper is a collaboration between Perez-Carrillo and the young Rubins.
The project gave Alec and Bradley the opportunity to not only learn from Perez-Carrillo but to gain some experience with Dominican tobacco. “We are a part of the next generation of the premium cigar business,” says Bradley, “and Ernesto is a legend.”
The Gatekeeper finds synergy and balance with its backbone of pepper (both red and black), nougat, and caramel that’s spicy in the right places, sweet in the right places, and pops with savory snaps of leather.
The band depicts the mythical head of Medusa, which is part of the famous bronze statue Perseus With the Head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini. We’re not exactly sure how that ties into the cigar or the story behind it, but we know that this collaboration points to an encouraging future in the business for the brothers Rubin.”
What more can be said about this exemplary cigar? The only thing left is to spark it up, take a draw, and let its flavors take you away.
Looking where to buy cigars? Mike’s delivers near and far!
Steak and cigars? Sure. Cigars and whiskey? Yes, please! But cigars and fish? Don’t knock it till you try it! In our continuing effort to find the best possible cigar combos, we did a little experimentation over the past weekend. The results will absolutely surprise you.
Now everyone has their own personal tastes, but for similar results, we do recommend trying to do something similar to our process. First things first, I prefer a salmon fillet. Much easier to cook and find than a whole fish. When picking one at a supermarket, try to give it a small poke to see how the flesh reacts. It should spring back and not leave an indentation, this indicates it’s still fresh. It should have a vibrant orange or reddish hue, with no strong odors.
Image Source: Cooking Illustrated
Once you have your fish, using a chopping block, season with kosher salt, ground pepper, minced garlic, with slight amounts of soy sauce and honey. Pan fry with butter until it reaches your desired level of doneness, careful not to undercook! Enjoy!
Now that you had your savory, sweet and salty salmon. It’s time to light up. But what will complement the unique properties of fish? We thought long and hard on this one but eventually settled on the Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signature. The Signature was the right size to keep the flavors afloat for its duration without overwhelming them. Its medium strength gives it a fighting chance against the honey and garlic from the salmon, which is synergized with the notes of brown sugar and spices from the Signature. The whole experience leaves you full and incredibly content.
image source: Stogie Guys
Do you have a favorite cigar pairing? Let us know in the comments!
Looking where to buy cigars? Mike’s delivers near and far!
If you’ve ever smoked a cigar or taken a twentieth-century history class, you know the name, Churchill. A man of such character and resolve that his stewardship of Great Britain during WW 2 is forever immortalized by having an entire size of cigar named after him. Churchill would likely be pleased since he was said to smoke up to ten cigars a day at a minimum. But how did Winston Churchill acquire his trademark smoking habit?
Churchill came from a wealthy family but struggled in his youth to live up to his parents’ example. After attending a string of boarding schools, Churchill just barely passed the entrance exam for the elite Harrow college. While he was there, he first dabbled in tobacco by smoking cigarettes with his fellow students. But this quickly earned his mother’s displeasure, and in a letter to young Winston she “promised a pistol and a pony if he would abstain from smoking.” Already a negotiator, Churchill was able to get the complete ban on smoking reduced to simply six months. But cigarettes would merely whet his appetite.
Seeking to make his name in the world after he graduated, Churchill quickly enlisted in the armed forces and was deployed to Cuba. There he quickly discovered what would become his lifelong passion: cigars. Churchill reportedly took to the habit instantly, smoking cigars wherever and whenever he could; his favorite brands being Romeo Y Julieta and La Aroma de Cuba. For the rest of his days, Churchill would have crates of cigars shipped to him from Cuba, all the way up to his last days at the ripe old age of ninety. We salute you Churchill, every single time we smoke a cigar bearing your name.
What’s your favorite Churchill? Let us know in the comments
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There’s a lot of items that complement a cigar and are complimented in return. Whiskey, a good scotch, even the right wine can have its body accentuated by a premium smoke. But man cannot live on drink alone, at some point you’re going to have to eat! One of the finest things mankind ever used fire for, besides lighting cigars, of course, is cooking a steak. Filet mignon, T-bone, flank steak, tenderloin, strip steak, ribeye, whichever you like, however you take it, everyone loves a great steak. It’s only natural to combine it with one of the few things that can rival it in taste, a fine stogie.
As I’d never recommend something I wouldn’t try myself, I set out to find a smoke that would go well with a fine slice of meat. The steak I selected is a personal favorite of mine, a skirt steak my local butcher has served me for years. Skirt steaks are made from the plate section of the belly and while it contains a lot of connective tissue from tougher muscles, if cooked correctly it becomes incredibly juicy and tender. Best cooked medium to medium rare, but I acknowledge there are aficionados who take their steaks well done so feel free to cook however you prefer. My own recipe keeps it simple, use a non seasoned tenderizer to start, then season sem-liberally with pepper and a pinch of garlic salt, lightly dress with soy sauce to finish. Cook until it reaches your desired level. Best paired with Maker’s Mark.
After countless steaks, I found just the right cigar. After a hardy meal like that, you want a smoke that’s light and calming. I kept trying until I found the lightest, most relaxing smoke there is. A Baccarat Petit Corona! The perfect size for a lazy afternoon smoke, and with a mellow sensation from the first draw, the Baccarat feels like you’re being carried off on a cloud. The perfect sensation to counter a full stomach.
Do you have any preferred after dinner smokes? Let us know in the comments!
Looking where to buy cigars? Mike’s delivers near and far!
This past year, my brother was blessed to have his first child; a son named Philip. An occasion that momentous called for a gift, and it’s pretty obvious what gift I got him. Even though we live two thousand miles apart, my brother and I celebrated the newest member of our family over facetime with some Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente King T’s. As we memorialized Philip’s arrival into this world, I couldn’t help but think about our own father. What did he do to honor the appearance of his children?
I had to assume not much. My brother was born into the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, a time when my father was among many who were literally struggling to keep a roof over their head. I asked, and to my surprise, he did celebrate; with a fine Cohiba! It was tough to get a hold of, but he manged. Even as the doors had literally been blown off his home, the world around him tumultuous and the future uncertain, he took the opportunity to light up in recognition of new life. In a way he had too, it wasn’t just to commemorate his new son, it was a statement to himself that there was still a future worth celebrating.
That’s really what you’re toasting when you give a new father cigars, the future. The hope you have for the next generation, that your own struggles will never invade their lives. It’s a tried and true custom, perhaps because it gives the father time to reflect on who he is now, and what his life means with this child in it. Tobacco can be a great tool to focus the mind, and can be just the remedy when a newly minted father is panicking over his identity as a parent. But for a tradition that feels so set in stone, the average father wouldn’t have an answer if asked where it originates.
Tobacco’s storied heritage.
As it turns out, it’s a custom more ancient than cigars themselves. Most scholars agree that the basis for giving cigars to fathers comes from the Nootka and Chinook tribes of the Pacific Northwest. When the tribes had an occasion to celebrate, like a birth, they would gather for a feast called a potlatch. (If you’re wondering the same thing I was, I checked and the potlatch is oddly not how we got the word potluck.) It was tradition to exchange gifts at a potlatch, and one of the most common gifts was tobacco.
The tradition endured even as the nation was colonized, but it spread to American culture because of western tradition. In a time before hospitals, home births were the norm. Since doctors weren’t common and easily accessible, most births were performed by women called midwives. It was considered improper in English society for any men to be present during birth, so expectant fathers simply waited in an adjacent room while the birth happened. A child being born can take hours though, so the fathers needed something to distract them. What better way to while away the hours than with a long cigar? It soon became the go to method to pass time during childbirth, and once the joy of a new baby became associated with smoking a cigar, the custom evolved into what we have today.
If you know any expectant fathers out there, there’s only one gift that’ll cut it. Check out our specialized cigars for the jubilant arrival of a new son or daughter.
Did you get a cigar as a new parent? Did you give one? How was it? Let us know in the comments!
