The third installment in this series on the best cigars made in the USA brings us back to Florida. It also showcases two very different cigar lines.

One is very close to Cuba and has recently been called one of the best cigars made in the United States.

The second is closer to Cuba than the first, and it too has a claim on the title of best U.S.-made cigar.

If that makes sense to you, then you will have a good idea of where we are headed. If it doesn’t, just sit back and relax. It will all be explained in the cigar reviews below the fold.

The order in which cigars are presented in this series does not indicate relative quality or rating. It is not a top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top list. All cigars in this list are quite good, all are quite different, and each one is a #1 cigar in its own way.

(more…)

Do you like Maduro cigars?

Do you like Corojo cigar wrappers?

Ever wished that you could have the best of both in one cigar?

If so, then you are going to love the latest news from Camacho Cigars. Thanks to an exceptional harvest of cuban-seed Corojo tobacco, all of their popular Camacho Corojo cigars will now be available in Corojo Maduro.

That’s right. Corojo Maduro.

The Eiroa family, owners of the Camacho brand as well as Baccarat and La Fontana, are also major growers of Honduran cigar tobacco. Their tobacco is grown in Honduras in the Jamastran Valley, near that country’s border with Nicaragua.

Corojo tobacco takes its name from the Santa Ines del Corojo Vega, a plantation near the town of San Luis y Martinez in Pinar del Rio in the heart of Cuba’s famed Vuelta Abajo tobacco-growing region. Diego Rodriguez began renting the farm from its owner in Spain in the 1920’s, and worked for years to select and develop a superior wrapper tobacco for Cuban cigars.

Between 1930 and the late 1990’s, all cigars from Cuba — regardless of brand or factory — used Rodriguez’s Vuelta Abajo grown Corojo tobacco leaves for their wrappers. The spicy quality and peppery smoothness gave the leaf that unique Cuban “punch” that connoisseurs came to associate with authentic Cuban cigars.

The only problem is that true Corojo tobacco is also delicate and hard to grow. It requires just the right soil, rainfall and weather conditions. It is extremely susceptible to blue mold and black shank disease.

Cuba stopped growing it for that reason.

(more…)

Today is Independence Day in the United States, and as part of a commemoration of that holiday I am doing a week-long series of the top ten “Made in the USA” cigars. The series continues today as we look at two cigars made outside of Florida.

One line is made in a city that in symbolizes in many way an America of times gone past. It has a unique culture produced by a unique coming-together of people from many countries and many different ethnic groups. It has produced a unique cigar.

The other is made in a city that has no past. Or at least, not a past that stretches back very far. Calling the culture of this second U.S. city “unique” really would not do justice to it.

But enough preamble. Today’s entries in these reviews of the best premium cigars made in the United States start below the fold.

The order in which cigars are presented in this series does not indicate relative quality or rating. It is not a top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top list. All cigars in this list are quite good, all are quite different, and each one is a #1 cigar in its own way.

(more…)

CAO International makes some of the finest premium cigars in the world. Seven of their cigar lines have all been rated 90 (“Outstanding”) or above by Cigar Aficionado and Cigar Insider. Two of their cigars were awarded perfect “10″ scores by the European trade publication Cigar Buyer Magazine in Autumn of 2005 issue. It is not an exaggeration to say that CAO cigars are modern works of art.

Now, while enjoying those cigars, connoisseurs will have a place to rest them that is an innovative work of modern art in itself.

CAO Cubist cigar ashtray nspired by the avant-garde art movement to debut next month

The choice of a Cubist motiff for their design could not be more appropriate.

Why?

Because Cubism owes its existence in large measure to a puff of cigar smoke. The rest of the story follows below the fold.

(more…)

Let’s be honest. When most people think of premium cigars, they do not think of “made in the USA.”

Everyone knows that the best cigars in the world come from Cuba.

…or from the Dominican Republic.

…or from Nicaragua, or from Honduras, or from the Bahamas, or…

Well, you get the idea. Best is always a matter of taste and opinion, and it varies from person to person even though we can usually agree on some general guidelines. What is best for one person may be last on the list for another. The best cigars in the world, however, are usually not thought of as being made in the United States.

In fact, a lot of people assume that the only cigars made in the USA are ones that you buy at gas stations and convenience stores.

If that is what you believe, then prepare to be enlightened. You might have been missing out on some world-class smokes.

Tomorrow, we celebrate Independence Day in the United States. I couldn’t think of a better time to highlight some of these special cigars made in America cigars than during this U.S. holiday season. So, I have come up with a list of ten top cigars that are home-made even if they are not completely home-grown and will focus on two each day over the next week.

Some of the cigars chosen for the top ten list will be familiar to you. Some of them you may not know about. All of them are worthy of your consideration for a place in your humidor.

The order in which they are presented is not a top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top list. These cigars are all quite good, all quite different, and each one is a #1 cigar in its own way.

Also, since this site is international in scope, with readers on every continent except Antarctica, some of you may find these American gems hard to get. Now you know how we in the States feel when we hear you wax eloquent about Cuban cigars.

And on that somewhat ironic note, let me share some U.S. treasures with you.

(more…)

When you think of July 4th in the United States, the number 13 might come to mind.

The 13 original colonies and the War for Independence?

Thirteen stars in a circle on the legendary first U.S. flag Betsy Ross sewed?

Liberty?

Freedom?

Well, this year you can also think of the 13 state-wide bans against smoking in public places, including restaurants, bars, clubs and some casinos, in the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” Colorado’s legislation, which went into effect just four days before Independence Day, brings us to that not-so-magical number.

The bad news continues below the fold…

(more…)