Free Cigars, New Cigars and Smoke in NYC by Frank Seltzer
Free box
Let’s get to the free stuff first. General Cigar is launching a new website for Hoyo de Monterrey.
To mark the occasion, the company is giving away one box a day! The cigars are the Hoyo de Monterrey Reposados en Cedro. These cigars are really cedar bombs. After being rolled at General’s HATSA factory in Honduras, each cigar goes through the company’s proprietary process called Inmersión. From the press release:
“With this technique, each cigar is enveloped in fragrant cedar and left to rest for an extended period of time. The cigar matures to a complex, medium-bodied smoke that has won the brand stellar ratings and praise from the premium cigar category’s most discerning experts.
According to Kendall Rountree, brand manager for Hoyo de Monterrey cigars, “Since its debut, Hoyo de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros cigars has developed a cult following among serious cigar smokers who are drawn to its uniquely spicy taste. We’re utilizing the launch of the Hoyo de Monterrey website as an opportunity to increase the brand’s legion of fans through the ‘Box a Day Giveaway’ and are confident that cigar lovers will enjoy the brand’s uniquely spicy taste.”
Winners of the box of cigars will be announced every Monday on the brand’s website, Facebook page and Twitter. The giveaway is now through July 31st.
Cuenca & Blanco
Cuenca y Blanco
As we first reported back in November , Jose Blanco and Dr. Alejandro Martinez Cuenca are coming out wih a new cigar for Joya de Nicaragua. We didn’t know the name of it exactly at the time, but now we do. It will be Cuenca y Blanco. The cigar uses fillers from Nicaragua’s Esteli Valley and the volcanic island of Ometepe along with aromatic viso from Peru. The binder is Piloto Cubano from the Dominican Republic and the wrapper is Ecuadoran Habano.
Joya senior vice president Blanco says, “As many know, I have always been deeply fond of Nicaraguan tobaccos, but I am also very pleased to bring more origins, including my own Dominican heritage, to Joya de Nicaragua.”
Joya president Dr Martinez Cuenca says he sees the Cuenca y Blanco as the future of their blending adding, “This cigar is the quintessential expression of how two minds, two experiences and two origins worked together, each venturing off our traditional paths of only making puros to instead creating a cigar of diverse tobaccos.”
Joya de nicaragua will introduce the cigar at the industry trade show in August. The cigar will come in 5 sizes: Corona (5.5 x 46), Robusto (5.25 x 50), Toro (6 x 54), Torpedo (6.25 x 52) and Lonsdale (6.5 x 44).
New Nestor
You cannot say Miami Cigar & Company is not getting busy. After last week’s riotous Merlion, the company is announcing another more traditional cigar…the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2012. The 6.125 x 52 box pressed maduro cigar comes in a box of 10 and the run is limited to 1500 boxes. This year’s edition will be a bit stronger than last as the cigar has a bit more Nicaraguan ligero. The cigar will retail for $12 plus any applicable taxes.
New Undercrown
Steve Saka—president of Drew Estate—let fans know about a new Undercrown that should be showing up on shelves any day via Facebook last week. The company is coming out with a corona gorda (5.625 x 46).
What he wrote was:
“Long Live Undercrown Corona ¡Viva! – that is it, no picture, no fuss, no muss, I am too damn busy… just wanted to let those who are interested know it is hitting the streets this week. It is IMO one of our finest blends to date and I am really proud of our factory for their continued ability to handcraft such excellent smokes. Go Nica!”
The cigar is a bit stronger than the usual Undercrowns in that they turned up the strength a bit. The suggested price for the cigar is $7.25 less any applicable state taxes.
Smokem in New York City
Free the Smokers
As almost everyone knows, smoking is banned pretty much everywhere in New York City. But there can be exceptions and there will be one tomorrow Wednesday 23. This is the second annual legal outdoor smoking event. It is the brainchild of Bill Paley – owner of La Palina Cigars –who got tired of the nannies in NYC. Bill is the son of CBS founder William S. Paley. The senior Paley set up a privately owned park in New York City to honor his father Samuel Paley—the founder of La Palina cigars. Bill felt the private park should not go to waste so last year he held a legal smoke in at the park. It has been a year, so Bill is doing it again.
The deal is if you want to smoke a cigar outside legally in a New York park and give Bloomberg the bird..just bring a receipt (and your cigar) from a New York City tobacconist dated between May 20 and 23 to Samuel Paley Park –3 East 53rd Street (between Fifth and Madison Avenues) between 5 and 7pm. It should be fun.
