This is more of a tasting note and some quick comments (with price and source information), rather than a full review. Frankly, I do not feel comfortable doing reviews based on only a single cigar, and that’s all I have had of this one.

This came up in response to a question this weekend on the new Cigar Envy Deals and Discussion Yahoogroup. The group is up to over 375 members now in just four days of existence and ranks in the top ten of the 140 cigar-related groups there. Thanks again for the very enthusiastic response.

The factory pressed La Flor Dominicana (officially the LFD Prensado), for those who might not be familiar with it, was just introduced at the RTDA show in New Orleans a few months back. It is a new cigar in Litto Gomez’ Double Ligero series, and is offered in a very limited edition of only 400 boxes.

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There’s an interesting article up at the Cigar Aficionado website on one of the seminars at the Big Smoke Las Vegas event the weekend before last. I makes me wish I’d re-arranged my schedule and gone to this one.

Cigar Aficionado’s European editor, James Suckling, gave a seminar on Saturday morning entitled “Collecting Cuban Cigars.” James was joined by Thomas Bohrer, of Habanos Wine and Cigars in Hong Kong, and Frank Nisenboim, a cigar collector from Chicago, in a panel presentation.

The article has some highlights from things discussed, included guidelines for storing and properly aging classic cigars, background on cigar auctions at Christie’s, and — most important of all — how to know whether or not a cigar will benefit from aging. They also gave guidelines on which cigars are good investments for budding collectors, as well as talking about current prices. Prices of good investments, by the way, range from a low of around U.S. $100.00 per stick up to thousands of dollars for some of the most sought after brands.

Even if you don’t operate in the rarified financial atmosphere of these collectors, there are tips in the article that will benefit your regular cigar collection. I recommend it as a good read as well as a good source of information.

Summary:

The new Cusano 18 Paired Maduro Churchill is medium to medium-full bodied with a quiet power like you’ll find in some Cuban cigars. Creamy and refined, it is an extremely flavorful and balanced smoke. This cigar is very new, but has already won a place in my humidor. While quite good now, I believe that it has the potential to become great after a few months of humidor rest. Highly recommended, and a Best Buy at the price.

Background Information:

At 7 1/2 inches with a 50 ring gauge this cigar is slightly longer than a classic Churchill, slightly shorter than a classic Double Corona, and a little fatter than both. It is a full-flavored cigar with a double-cured Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper over a San Vicente Dominican Olor binder. The filler contains the same 18 year old Dominican Olor aged tobacco as the Cusano 18 Double Connecticut, blended with Dominican Piloto Cubano. In addition, the filler also contains Brazilian Mata Fina Maduro leaf. Manufactured by Tabacos Dominicanos S.A. and blended by master craftsman Hendrik Kelner, creator of Davidoff, AVO, Paul Garmirian and The Griffin’s cigars, at his Tabadom factory in the Dominican Republic for Cusano Cigars.

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If you like the Cusano 18 or the Cusano Corojo cigars as I do, then you have two guys to thank.

Two Guys Smoke Shop in New Hampshire.

The Fall issue of Smoke Magazine has a condensed version of the story. Michael Chiusano, the man who developed the Cusano line and branded it with an easier-to-spell-and-pronounce phonetic version of his family name explains, “I thought I was just going to make 50 boxes and send them to my customers in the investment business as sort of a thank you.” That’s not how it turned out, fortunately.

Michael, prior to creating one of the hottest cigar companies around, worked as a money manager for Shearson Lehman and later started his own investment firm. Cigars were a hobby and diversion for him, not a business. Then, on a trip to the Dominican Republic in 1995 to help set up financing for a sugar cane maufacturer, Chiusano was given a locally made cigar as a gift by a family member of the plantation owner. The tobacco for the cigar had been grown on spent sugar cane land, and processed in their own factory. Michael smoked the cigar a few days later and was amazed at how good the flavor and draw was.

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