Record-setting cigar roller Jose Castelar is working on a new champion stogie in Havana, Cuba. Castelar is in the process of rolling a more than 65-foot cigar by Wednesday which could bring him his fourth world record from the Guinness Book. His previous record is 66.9 feet. He has been working on this project eight hours a day since Sunday and plans to finish on Wednesday. This event is timed to coincide with the 28th International Tourism Fairground and the cigar will be displayed there once it is finished.
UPDATE: The IHT reports that Castelar is still working on the cigar which will likely be 98 feet, not long enough to beat the current record. Guinness says Puerto Rican cigar-maker Patricio Pena made a 135 foot cigar last year.
For your December cigar gift-giving needs, Davidoff has come out with something new and pricey. The Davidoff Royal Salomones have a 21-centimeter, extralong Salomones format with a 57 ring gauge. It has a slightly bulbous shape at the cigar's lower end. Only the four best Davidoff cigar rollers are put to work creating the cigar in the factory at Villa Gonzalez, in the Dominican Republic. The cigars use a blend of seven tobaccos which are fermented and matured for at least seven years. The binder leaf and filler tobaccos originate from the Dominican Republic and are grown in the Cibao Valley. The cigar is a medium strength smoke with a full rich flavor. The cigars come in a box of 50 which is made of mahogany wood with cedar wood trays. The cigar is available in a limited edition starting this month. I haven't heard any word on official pricing but rumors earlier this year put the price at around $2,000 a box.
Cigars are often a symbol of special occasions and holidays, and so is generosity and giving to charity, so it seems perfect that Fuente has combined the two during the Christmas season. Their OpusX cigars have been packaged up in 500 boxes of 22 cigars and called Opus 22. Full of "wild new sizes," each set includes cigars that aren't typically available retail -- like the BBMF shown in this picture. It's a large figurado with a bulbous foot, a moptop, and a tip of maduro wrapper. Each Opus 22 box sells for $750, with proceeds going to underprivileged children through the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation.
CAO cigars is opening up their vault. They have announced that they are releasing 200 CAO Humidors each containing 105 CAO Gold Maduro cigars obtained from the CAO Escaparate, a giant walk-in humidor at their Nashville headquarters. The CAO Escaparate holds over 400,000 prototype cigars and the CAO Gold Maduro was one of 11 original 'Concept Series' cigar blends housed within the Escaparate. Each of the 200 CAO Humidors will contain 105 of the original Gold Maduro cigars that have been aging within the CAO Escaparate since 2004. The cigars will be available in the following shapes: Corona, Robusto, Corona Gorda, Churchill, Torpedo, and Double Corona and will be shipped to retail tobacconists in November.
Gurkha is famous for their strong cigars but their latest, the G5 avenger looks particularly powerful. The new cigar is a full-bodied Nicaraguan puro. it is available as a 6 x 50 Toro and 6 x 52 Torpedo which is sold in a rather villainous-looking box of 20 for $186 and $190 respectively. The company has also introduced the Gurhkha Status, a medium-bodied cigar that is a Dominican blend with a Connecticut shade wrapper. These cigars are available in a 7" x 50 Churchill and a 6.5" x 52 Torpedo and come in cool frosted glass tubes. They sell for $380 and $390.
Want to get your nicotine fix but don't want to annoy others with your smoke? You could chew the nicotine gum like some of my friends do but perhaps a more elegant option is the Crown7 electric cigarette. The cigarette includes lithium batteries and cartridges that contain water, propylene glycol, nicotine, and a tobacco flavor. Doesn't sound too appetizing compared to a fine cigar but it is a smokeless way to get your nic fix. The cigarette starter kit costs $99.95 and there are also pipe and cigar options available.
Author, songwriter and former candidate for Texas governor Kinky Friedman is famous for his cowboy hat, his sense of humor and his cigars. He is now turning his love of cigars into a business with Kinky Friedman Cigars. The Honduran cigars are available in five styles with witty names: the Kinkycristo, the Governor, Willie, Utopian and Texas Jewboy. They are working on more lines including one called the Clinton. Friedman is a serious cigar smoker, an article in the San Antonio Express-News has him quoted as saying he smokes seven to 10 cigars a day. Profits from the Utopian cigar, which sell for $130 a box benefit Kinky's Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch. Kinky's priciest cigar is The Governor, a Toro Gordo, 5 3/4 in. x 60 ring gauge which is a medium bodied cigar and sells for $200 a box.
Another cigar launch at the upcoming RTDA tobacco trade show is the release of the El Rey del Mundo Olividados. The new line is a full-bodied cigar that is made from aged Nicaraguan ligero, Honduran viso and Dominican seco filler tobaccos. The cigars have a dark Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper and come in five sizes from a 5" x 54 Robusto to 7¼" x 54 Double Corona. The cigars will come in a rosewood box. They will be out in October and will sell for $7.99 to $11.99.
If a supercool villain in a movie is looking for a cigar to smoke, this one is pretty much it. The Griffin Special Edition XXIII comes in sexy black tubos that have a carbon fiber look. The cigars also have an additional black XXIII ring. The wrapper is Connecticut grown in Ecuador, the binder is San Vicente and the filler is Piloto San Vicente Ligero San Vicente Seco Olor tobacco. The cigars are packed in boxes of ten and there are 7,500 boxes worldwide.
The Toraño family is celebrating 90 years in the cigar business with the limited-edition Noventa cigar. The cigars are made from five-year-old Nicaraguan tobacco from their farms in Nicaragua. The cigars are aged in reserve until they reach their peak and have a wrapper and binder of Habano Nicaragua with a filler of Pueblo Nuevo, Esteli, Jalapa and Condega (Nicaraguan Regions).
Cigar Aficionado reports that Toraño had a big incentive for retailers to order the cigars, they offered the first 200 accounts a large, custom-made display humidor. The humidor was made in collaboration with designer Michael Giordano of Quality Importers and has a top glass portion to display three boxes of Noventa. The middle portion has three lockable drawers that hold 25 cigars in individual slats and the bottom portion is a storage cabinet that can hold up to 14 cigar boxes. Prices for the Noventa cigars start at around $10 each.
Is Maduro the new trend in cigars? Yesterday I mentioned a triple Maduro from Camacho cigars and today I got notice of the new CAO Gold Maduro. The CAO Gold Maduro uses the same binder and filler tobaccos from the CAO gold line, aged Nicaraguan binder and fillers which have a mild and spicy flavor. The wrapper is a Brazilian Maduro and the cigars come in wooden boxes of 20 cigars each. The cigar is a former "concept" cigar which is now available to the general public. The CAO Gold Maduro is available in six shapes: Corona (5.5" x 42), Robusto (5" x 50), Corona Gorda (6.5" x 50), Churchill (7" x 48), Torpedo (6.25" 52), and Double Corona (7.5" x 54).
This cigar cutter from Italian company, Saladini cutlery is probably overkill but I love the positively lethal look of this device. One imagines that in a ganger movie it could be used to great effect. The cigar cutter is made in Tuscany and has an olive wood base and two different sizes for cutting (I don't think I've ever seen a cigar as large as that second hole though). It sells for $189 with an olive wood handle or $185 with a horn wood handle. The company also makes a variety of interesting ktichen knives including a charming mezzaluna with a rooster shape.
The Black Dragon from Gurkha is even more expensive than the Cohiba Behike. The Black Dragon cigars hand-crafted by the Gurkha factory in Honduras,with African Cameroon, Dominican, and Connecticut tobaccos. They are extra-aged for 12-15 years. THe 7-1/2" x 52 dark maduro cigars have a strong and spicy flavor. They come in a box made in India from aged carved camel bone and solid brass. The box of Black Dragon Especial cigars sells for $115,000 for 100 cigars and there are only five boxes available.
Grape, dreamsicle, amaretto, cherry, vanilla, no, these aren't lip glosses for teenage girls, they are cigars. Heaven cigars sells 12 flavors for smokers with a sweet tooth including the recently released stawberry banana bliss and midnight mocha creme. The cigars use Dominican fillers and binders with an Indonenian-Sumatra wrapper. The company is the brainchild of Heather Phillips who often travels with a team of beautiful "Angels' to drum up interest in the cigars. The Heavenly Disciples box of 10 different cigars, amaretto, cherry creme, chocolate, dreamsicle, grape, honey-nut, rum, cinnamon spice, vanilla and cognac along with a custom "Heaven" double guillotine cutter and matches for $35.
Two new cigar gift packs have been put together exclusively for the British market by a partnership between Hunters & Frankau and Habanos S.A.. Both of the companies are distributors of Cuban cigars, Hunters & Frankau in Britain and Habanos S.A. internationally. The Cohiba set (£79) comes with four individually packed Siglo IV cigars and the Trinidad set (£69) includes three individually packed Robusto Extra cigars. Each of the two limited edition sets comes in a varnished wooden box, and only 1,000 of each will be made available.
