I dropped by the Cigar Inn recently and figured I’d give the La Aroma De Cuba Mi Amor another smoke. I was a big fan of it when it came out, and a big fan of it when the brand took #2 Cigar of the Year for 2011.
Blend Specifics
Size: Magnifico (6 x 52)
Wrapper: Mexican San Andreas
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Construction & Appearance
This cigar features a dark rust- brown wrapper in a box pressed vitola. Construction is well done, though there were consistently some minor imperfections. After clipping the cigar, I can tell the draw is perfect – not too permissive or too tight. The prelight draw gives me a bit of earth and spice.
Flavor & Smoke Characteristics
This cigar is, in my opinion, fairly straightforward. Notes of toasted bread, cinnamon, wood, and cocoa hit the tongue and the nose in very enjoyable fashion. As one would guess, there was a good deal of spice in this stick, though in the second third and onward the spice dies down a bit to reveal the root flavors more clearly. Very few cigars can zero in on dark, rich notes, and remain balanced at the same time. For that reason, this is a stick to pay attention to.
Conclusion
This stick is a must-smoke. It isn’t in my top ten, but it probably makes top twenty, and for good reason. You get a clear, enjoyable profile, good construction, and ultimately a very enjoyable smoking experience.
December 5, 2012 — Ted’s Cigars, a leading manufacturer of premium branded cigars announces the collaboration with famed race car driver and celebrity Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ted’s Cigars has partnered with JR Motorsports on a licensed hand-crafted cigar showcasing Dale Jr.’s facsimile autograph and his iconic #88. As the ten-time consecutive winner of NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver award, race fans admire Earnhardt’s authenticity and common sense approach.
Indeed the Earnhardt name evokes excellence, thanks to his incredible 19 career victories, including the 2004 Daytona 500. Upon winning the 1998 and 1999 NASCAR Nationwide Series titles, Earnhardt became the only third-generation NASCAR champion. Earnhardt’s crossover appeal is unmatched among today’s celebrities and athletes. The officially licensed Dale Jr. “88” cigar is distinctly fashioned to appeal to race fans, cigar enthusiasts, and casual smokers.
With over 15 years as an industry leader, Ted’s Cigars is known for its exceptional cigars, packaging, and branding. The Dale Jr. cigar blend received a rating of 88 (excellent) by Cigar Aficionado, a fitting mark for a cigar branded by NASCAR’s iconic driver. Earnhardt’s winning attitude bridges generations’ young and old. He is refined and raw, charismatic and rebellious, simple and cool, as is the Dale Jr. “88” cigar.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.® 6 x 50 Toro features a mild, creamy smoke with a smooth finish. Individually sealed in a glass tube – no humidor required. The cigar is hand rolled in the Dominican Republic.
Available individually and in boxes of 3, 10, & 25 cigars at www.tedscigars.com/dale-jr-cigars
BALLANTINE’S CHRISTMAS RESERVE IN DEMAND AHEAD OF FESTIVE SEASON
Ballantine’s, the No 1 Scotch whisky in Europe, is rolling out Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve Limited Edition to more markets than ever before this year, due to increased demand from markets looking to capitalize on the lucrative festive season.
The third edition of Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve will now be available in fifteen markets – including France, Germany, Poland and China – following the success of the limited edition seasonal expression since 2010.
To support this year’s release, the brand is launching a new Facebook app that invites users to virtually ‘pass the parcel’ to their friends, with a chance of winning a bottle of Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve. To further engage consumers with the festive blend, the app provides seasonal recipes made with Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve, including mince pies and Clementine Bauble cocktails.
Peter Moore, International Brand Director for Ballantine’s, comments: “The festive period is notoriously competitive for retailers, so we’re delighted to be offering Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve to more of our customers around the world this year. This special edition provides consumers seeking the ideal festive gift with exceptional quality and excellent value.”
He continues, “Our customers rightly expect fresh thinking from Ballantine’s so we hope our new Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve Facebook app will be well received and will help spread some festive spirit this Christmas.”
Available from October to December 2012, Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve is presented in a superior white presentation box, decorated with snowflakes and elements of gold foil. The design adds a premium festive feel and ensures maximum shelf stand-out for Ballantine’s during the busy sales period.
With its luxury seasonal aromas including cinnamon, orange, raisin, candy apple and pear, Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve is ideal served on its own over ice or as the base for seasonal cocktails.
To access the Facebook app, consumers are asked to visit: Ballantines facebook
Notes:
*The facebook app is available to consumer in the UK, Poland, Bulgaria and Germany
About Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve
Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve is available in Switzerland, France, Mexico, Netherlands, Vietnam, Poland, Denmark, Bulgaria, China, Thailand, Germany, Slovenia, Taiwan, Croatia and Hong Kong.
On the nose, Ballantine’s Christmas Reserve is rich, deep and fruity with hints of moist raisin fruitcake and sweet candy apples perfectly balanced out by caramel toffees and soft ripe pears. It tastes sweet with succulent tangy orange and a superb liquorice root and ginger flavour. The finish is very long, round and sweet.
About Ballantine’s
Ballantine’s is the No 1 ultra-premium whisky in Asia Pacific and the No 1 Scotch whisky in Europe, selling more than 70 million bottles a year worldwide. Ballantine’s has won more than 80 trophies and medals at international competitions in the past 10 years for quality, as a result of its unique richness of character and perfect balance. The range, from Ballantine’s Finest to the iconic 30 Year Old, is the most extensive in the world of Scotch and is maintained by the latest in a tradition of Master Blenders that dates back to 1827.
About Chivas Brothers
Chivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard – the world’s co-leader in wine and spirits. Chivas Brothers is the global leader in luxury Scotch whisky and premium gin. Its portfolio includes Chivas Regal, Ballantine’s, Beefeater Gin, The Glenlivet, Royal Salute, Aberlour, Plymouth Gin, Longmorn, Scapa, 100 Pipers, Clan Campbell, Something Special and Passport.
In July 2010 Chivas Brothers launched The Age Matters campaign to help consumers understand the importance of Scotch whisky age statements.
For further information please visit www.chivasbrothers.com
Another gorgeous luxury watch on the market today: the MB&F Legacy Machine N°1. It is a bit out of place when compared to some of its MB&F siblings. Still, it captures an elegance all its own.
Wild, extreme, outrageous, unrestrained: might be used to describe MB&F’s futuristic Horological Machines, but traditional, classical… round? With its monumental central balance; superlatively finished movement; completely independent dual time zones; unique vertical power reserve indicator and elegant annular case, Legacy Machine N°1 (LM1) is a tribute to the great innovators of traditional watchmaking; and above all, an authentic three-dimensional MB&F Machine.
Legacy Machine N°1 was conceived when Maximilian Büsser started fantasising: “What would have happened if I had been born in 1867 instead of 1967? In the early 1900s the first wristwatches appear and I would want to create three-dimensional machines for the wrist, but there are no Grendizers, Star Wars or fighter jets for my inspiration. But I do have pocket watches, the Eiffel Tower and Jules Verne, so what might my 1911 machine look like? It has to be round and it has to be three-dimensional: Legacy Machine N°1 was my answer.”
Gazing down through Legacy Machine N°1’s crystal clear bubble sapphire dome to the micro-mechanical fantasy below, it’s easy to imagine Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo looking upon the mythical underwater city of Atlantis.
Legacy Machine N°1’s transcendental in-house movement bears testimony to the enormous talent of its creators. Jean-François Mojon and his team at Chronode (Best Watchmaker Prize at the 2010 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) met the considerable challenge of developing the calibre for LM1 from a blank sheet, while acclaimed independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen took responsibility for the aesthetic design and for strictly ensuring the utmost respect for tradition and fine-finishing. The movement of Legacy Machine N°1 proudly bears the names of both its creators, and is the first calibre other than Voutilainen’s own to bear his name.
With Legacy Machine N°1, MB&F has majestically reinterpreted traditional 19th century watchmaking excellence to create a contemporary, three-dimensional objet d’art.
December 4, 2012 (Philadelphia, PA) — Atlantic Cigar Company will be releasing the first small batch of a new brand, La Mia, in the next few weeks. Blended along side the old Cuban masters in the Casa Fernandez Family, the La Mia makes use of tobacco from a special field with its namesake. The La Mia comes in four sizes including: Perla (4 x 44), Corona (5 ½ x 52), Robusto (5 ½ x 50), and Toro (6 ½ x 52).
The number of boxes will vary year to year depending on the availability of the tobacco needed to create this unique cigar.
For the 2012 release, 100 boxes of 15 of each size will be released. The La Mia farm is located in the rich, fertile soil of the Jalapa Valley of Nicaragua, and has been tended to lovingly by master grower Chandito and his Cuban “Dream Team”. This Aganorsa farm has a long history going back many years. It was once owned by the Somoza Family, and there has even been rumors of the Cuban government showing interest in this farm, because of its unique, rich, terroir, and the tobacco it produces. Atlantic Cigar is proud to release the first cigar containing tobacco from this field since it was acquired by Eduardo Fernandez.
The blend consists of the La Mia tobacco in conjunction with Criollo ’98 from the Aganorsa farm in Estelí, a double binder, and a Corojo ’99 Rosado wrapper finished with a traditional triple cap and flag head. The cigar is medium to full in body and full of unique flavor, with an excellent balance and clean finish. The La Mia is rolled using the traditional entubado style in Tropical Tobacco’s Miami facilities.
While Atlantic Cigar is currently the only outlet available for sale, there are plans on the table for the brand to become available nationally soon.
PipesandCigars.com is a leading online tobacconist specializing in offering the web’s widest selection and lowest prices on cigars, humidors, pipes, pipe tobacco, and all kinds of smoking accessories. In their continuing efforts to provide smokers with the largest number of choices for their tobacco enjoyment, PipesandCigars.com has launched a new section of their website dedicated to featuringboutique cigar brands. The section shows contains a number of cigar brands that are produced in small quantities by small cigar makers, that are not found at other websites or in most local cigar stores.
Boutique cigars are one of the most dominant trends that currently exists in the world of cigars. As smokers become more experienced, they continue to seek new and exciting cigar blends. These small batch cigars deliver the variety these smokers are looking for, since the smaller production numbers allows for the use of tobacco simply not available in quantities large enough to support a large production brand. Boutique cigars are loosely defined, typically being categorized as “boutique” by their production numbers. A typical boutique cigar brand might produce anywhere from 2,000-10,000 cigars annually, where a larger scale brand might produce ten times as many cigars or more. Some of the most popular boutique brands in the cigar industry today are Tatuaje cigars, Four Kicks cigars, Illusione cigars, Viaje cigars, Rodrigo cigars, Emilio cigars, Paul Stulac cigars, and El Primer Mundo cigars.
“This section of our site is something I really think our customers are going to enjoy” stated PipesandCigars.com Marketing Director Travis Lord. “Our list of brands has become so large that it’s a little overwhelming. Customers who are looking to try a new boutique cigar they’ve never heard of before previously didn’t have any way of knowing which brands they were even looking for. Now when smokers are interested in trying something new and unique, they’ll have a smaller list of cigars that are targeted at their taste. They can quickly compare and contrast, easily shopping for prices, special offers, and being able to read detailed descriptions of these unique blends. They’ll also have the confidence of knowing that each brand was personally selected by our experts as a cigar we feel provides high quality and a solid value.”
Finding boutique cigars online is a challenge for many smokers, since the brands are released in small quantities, often selling out quickly or not being carried by many distributors. PipesandCigars.com’s implementation of this new section further establishes the company as the premier online source for boutique cigars.
Customers interested in learning more about boutique cigars and PipesandCigars.com’s new website section can visit the company’s website or call their experienced customer service team at 800-494-9144.
About PipesandCigars.com: PipesandCigars.com is an industry-leading online tobacconist dedicated to bringing customers the widest selection of cigars, pipes, pipe tobacco and tobacco accessories. The company features premium cigars from brands like Ashton cigars, Padron cigars, La Flor Dominicana cigars, Montecristo cigars, Macanudo cigars, CAO cigars, Arturo Fuente cigars, and many more. They are the low-cost leader in pipe tobacco on brands like GL Pease, Sam Gawith, McClelland, Captian Black, Borkum Riff and many more. They feature thousands of pipes, ranging from inexpensive Corn Cobs and Dr. Grabow pipes all the way to the premium brands like Dunhill, Peterson and other fine hand-carved pipes.
New York, December 4th,2012—CONCORD has now reached GOLD, This edition is where the made men and Elite women come out to enjoy Fine spirits of the world coupled with amazing cigars, & divine hors d’oeuvre. A bottle of your best will be there for a “sipping” spirit to share and indulge in conversation, Network while you indulge and delight all your senses. If you enjoy fine spirits coupled with an amazing cigar, this is not to be missed.
A chilled presentation on the rocks done by none other than well-Known David Bailey focused on the appeal and brawn of Whiskey. Also a Seasoned Aficionado Educating you on the Etiquette of cigars and its history.
Also while enjoying the sounds of a Live Band and Chef Serving food Fresh from the grill: Brazilian Steaks Cigar Rolled Chicken bites and Much more
General entry includes: Cigar, 1.5/hr. Whiskey and wine pairing 8:30-10:00pm, host of hors d’oeuvre & more.
Premium entry includes: Unlimited Cigars, 1.5/hr. Whiskey and wine pairing 8:30-10:00pm, host of hors d’oeuvre & more
Dress code: Cocktail Attire, absolutely no exception.
RSVP here: concord.event@gmail.com(This Event is a Smoker & non-smoker friendly event, indoor & HEATED outdoor)
General entry & premium entry Tickets available online at http://concordevents.eventbrite.com/
RSVP here: concord.event@gmail.com1.5/hr. Whiskey and wine pairing 8:30-10:00pm, host of hors d’oeuvre
The Cigar Inn announced today via email that it will be holding its annual Holiday Party on December 20th of this year. See the email below:
Dear Cigar Inn Members, friends and family. On Thursday Dec 20th, Cigar Inn Invites you to an exclusive Holiday party at Cigar Aficionado Lounge. Mediterranean food and drinks will be served. Music by DJ. Tone. Location: Cigar Inn 1016 2nd Ave. (54th and 53rd St.) Telephone: (212) 750-7403 Time: 7:00pm till close. It’s Free 🙂 Please call (212) 750-0809 or (212) 717-7403 for reservations. Happy holidays!
NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — Glenmorangie, Scotland’s favorite single malt Scotch whisky, continues to thrive in the US after being awarded 2012 Distiller of the Year by the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC). Glenmorangie emerged not only with the biggest prize of the night but was also awarded UK Spirits Producer of the Year as well as Best Single Malt over 15 Years Old with Glenmorangie Quarter Century 25 Years Old.
Glenmorangie’s stunning success comes a few weeks after emerging as the Best Awarded Single Malt Scotch Whisky at the IWSC. Following a meticulous judging process that incorporated both technical analysis and professional blind tastings, the brand garnered more Gold Best in Class and Outstanding medals than any other single malt Scotch whisky over the past six years.
Adding to these accolades, Glenmorangie was also recognized as an Impact “Hot Prospects” brand earlier this year. Impact, a source for global news and research for the drinks executive, creates an annual list of “Hot Prospects” brands. Brands must reach depletions of at least 50,000 nine-liter cases but not over 200,000 in 2011, in addition to a minimum of 15% growth in 2011, and have consistent solid growth the two previous years to join this prestigious list. A “Hot Prospects” feature story appeared in the October issue of Market Watch. Glenmorangie joins other promising brands that, while varying in size and scale, share a common goal of expanding on their success to take them to the next level.
“The superior quality of our whisky is due to the great yet unseen lengths that we go to in crafting our precious spirit. It is this commitment to quality that has made Glenmorangie the fastest growing single malt in the US and an Impact ‘Hot Prospects’ brand. To see that standard shine through every year is a tremendous honor,” said Brian Cox, Vice President of Glenmorangie US.
Doctor Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks said, “Glenmorangie is constantly refining the way whisky is made with one goal in mind: perfection. To be recognized as Distiller of the Year speaks of our commitment to pursuing perfection. Our craft has been refined over the ages and only continues to get better and better. I’m elated, again, to see the judges choose Glenmorangie to receive such prestigious awards.”
About Glenmorangie
Scotland’s favorite single malt, Glenmorangie is one of the most famous in the world. It originates from the far north of Scotland in the Highlands where, at the Glenmorangie Distillery, it is distilled in the tallest malt whisky stills, expertly matured in the finest oak casks, and perfected by the Men of Tain. The Distillery was founded in 1843 and is renowned as a pioneer in its field for uniting tradition with innovation. In 2011 Glenmorangie was named Distiller of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
About The Glenmorangie Company
The Company is one of the most renowned and innovative distillers and marketers of Scotch whisky brands worldwide and is part of Moet Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH). Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, The Company produces two main single malt brands – Glenmorangie Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky and Ardbeg Single Islay Malt Whisky.
About Impact
Readers of Impact are top executives who control the distribution and sales of spirits, wine and beer throughout the world, covering both duty-paid and duty-free markets. Read in more than 50 countries, Impact boasts a subscription base of about 15,000 readers. Impact is published 16 times per year and is written for the top decision-makers, who turn to this publication as the number one source for all the information they need to manage their business.
About the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC)
The International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) was founded in 1969 and is the premier competition of its kind in the world. Its aim is to promote the quality and excellence of the world’s best wines, spirits and liqueurs. The IWSC Awards mark out of a possible 100, with Gold medals going to spirits within the top ten percentile. Gold Best in Class is bestowed upon the top whisky within the top ten percentile. Silver medals are given to spirits ranging within 8.0 – 89.9 and bronze medals are appointed to produce between 75 – 79.9 marks.
IWSC 2012 Best in Class Wins
Glenmorangie 25 Years Old — Gold Outstanding
Glenmorangie Signet — Gold Outstanding
Glenmorangie Astar — Silver Outstanding
Glenmorangie Original — Silver Outstanding
Glenmorangie Lasanta — Silver Outstanding
Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban — Silver Outstanding
Glenmorangie Artein — Silver Outstanding
Responsible Drinking
The Glenmorangie Company advocates responsible drinking and suggests that drinkers savor Glenmorangie whiskies in moderation and in line with recommended daily guidelines for alcohol consumption.
To all New York City cigar lovers who ALSO love R&B, Soul, and Jazz music, take a listen to Guy Lockard, a member of NY Grown & Sexy cigar group, and an actor/singer. The event, held on December 7th, will give guy a stage for his music, and bring a great group of people together. I’d also imagine there will be cigars afterwards (Circa Tabac is just around the corner).
