Archive for the ‘handmade cigars’ Category

Slaughterhouse Bundles Cigars – A Great Everyday Value!

Thursday, June 7th, 2018

Realizing that smoking premium cigars can become an expensive hobby, here at JR, we like to review the everyday affordable cigars as much as higher end offerings to appeal to every segment of the consumer market. That said, today we look at a line of value-priced smokes that may just hold the distinction of having the worst name in all cigar-land…. the abattoir inspired Slaughterhouse Bundles.

Slaughterhouse is offered by the Ventura Company, a boutique cigar brand originating from Southern California that is home to such top-selling brands as Archetype, PSyko Seven, Cuban Rounds, and more.

Slaughterhouse cigars are currently available in three sizes that feature a dark, oily, and rare Dominican Habano wrapper, dual Mexican and Sumatra binders, and undisclosed “multi-country” blend of mixed filler tobaccos. In keeping with its somewhat grizzly theme, Slaughterhouse cigars are packaged in butcher paper-wrapped bundles of 10, with a blood red and black brand logo prominently displayed on each pack.

Now that we’ve critiqued the odd name and packaging, it’s on to the good stuff, simply put Slaughterhouse is a heckuva’ tasty cigar!  Expect a solid medium body smoke with a rich earthy sweetness, accented with nuances of coffee, cedar, and spice, delivered with a such a slow and even burn, you’ll swear you are smoking a long-filler cigar! Hats off to the skilled artisans at Ventura who did a fantastic job of tightly rolling theses cigars to assure that you are not spitting out pieces of tobacco after every puff!

Don’t expect Slaughterhouse Bundles to garner many top-ratings or be named one of CA’s coveted cigars of the year, but at this price point they absolutely slay the competition!

My Father – Crafted By Jaime Garcia

Tuesday, May 8th, 2018

Hello my friends, Nick Libretti here with a special announcement.  If you’ve been paying attention to our Instagram page recently, you may notice I have announced a brand new project coming to JR cigars this month.  This isn’t your typical private label, this cigar has been years in the making.  The JR team has been meeting with the Garcia family for a private label for quite some time, but for one reason or another, it never came to fruition.  Usually, it was a timeline thing, they didn’t have enough of a certain tobacco, or they wanted to wait for some leaves to age a bit longer.  This is what happens when you work with perfectionists, yet the result was more then we could have ever hoped for.

The Crafted by Jaime Garcia is an intensely flavorful medium to full body smoke.  All of the tobacco is grown on the My father farms in the heart of Nicaragua.  Aged Nicaraguan filler and binder tobaccos are accompanied by a special Habano Rosado Oscuro wrapper.  This unique leaf is a combination of the spice of the original My Father with the rich chocolate notes of the My Father Le Bijou.  The construction is as close to perfect as I’ve ever seen, with a tight white ash and amazing smoke output.

The Crafted by Jaime Garcia is available in several great sizes and comes in small wood boxes of 10.  They are exceedingly limited due to the age and limited availability of this particular wrapper.   When they are released in May, make sure you are one of the first ones to pick them up.  One of the finest cigars to ever come out of Nicaragua will now be available right here at JR Cigars.

Zocalo — A Mexican Wrapped Beauty from CAO

Tuesday, May 8th, 2018

CAO is a company known for always thinking outside of the box when it comes to blending and rolling, that’s why in recent years, this brand has become one of the most sought-after names in premium handmade cigars. This massive portfolio of 90+ rated cigars, consists of a wide array of binder and filler leaves from various countries throughout Central America rolled inside a compelling assortment of wrappers in various shades.  Now, for the first time in its history, CAO is using a Mexican wrapper on one of its cigars, and it’s called the CAO Zocalo, a beefy 6 x 60 vitola. Fittingly, this limited-edition selection of only 3,500 cigars were released just in time to coincide with the Famous Cinco de Mayo holiday.

CAO master blender Rick Rodriguez employs a special Morrón wrapper grown in the San Andrés Valley by the “First Family of Mexican Cigars, the Turrents of Te Amo fame. He chose this prized leaf for its deep earthy flavor and aroma.  Resting below this oily wrapper, is a toasty Cameroon binder and a core of aged long fillers from Nicaragua.

Zocalo refers to the name of the main square in Mexico City which was the inspiration for this feisty smoke. In addition, to pay tribute to this legendary Mexican landmark, the boxes and bands are adorned with colorful Zocalo artwork in a striking red, white, and black design. 20 of these stunning cigars come seated in each box.

As intended, this limited edition south of the border indulgence is bold, full flavored, and earthy at its core, with nuances of white pepper, chocolate, and hickory wood, adding layers of complexity. Thick billowy clouds of musky, sweet- smelling smoke reminds you that you are smoking a classic Mexican-style cigar, and, in true CAO fashion, the construction is top-notch, the burn is razor-sharp, and the draw is effortless.

Zocalo is an exceptional example of how the artisans at CAO have applied their generations of cigar knowledge and expert blending skills to create an iconic cigar that truly displays the spirit of Mexico.

EP Carrillo Encore – A Fantastic New Smoke from Ernesto!

Thursday, May 3rd, 2018

Originally slated for release in 2016, but postponed until 2018, the Encore cigar line of premium cigars from industry legend Ernesto Carrillo has finally arrived, and you can get them now, right here at JR Cigar!  This much anticipated release is the first and only blend in the popular Family Series that is made with 100% aged Nicaraguan tobaccos. The filler tobaccos are from the country’s three primary growing regions—Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa—while the binder is from Estelí, where the dark volcanic soils are known for producing Nicaragua’s most powerful tobaccos. The wrapper is a deep-brown, slightly mottled Jalapa varietal, that adds a spicy sweetness to the flavor profile.

Distinguishing Encore from other brands that use standard fermentation procedures, is its unique Cuban“Tercios” method of curing and aging. In making these ultra-premium cigars, palm tree bark is wrapped around the tobacco to create tight bales. This process allows a natural two-way humidification system that brings out the utmost in flavors and aromas from the leaves. After 1-year bound in these bails, this normally strong blend of all Nicaraguan tobaccos takes on a smoother medium body character.

After toasting and lighting these gems, the cigar aficionado will experience a slow burning smoke that provides copious amounts of sweet smelling smoke and a mouthwatering combo of rich earth and a distinct tobacco sweetness, accented with hints of cocoa powder and spice. The EP Carrillo Encore is suitably named, because this is a smoke you’ll come back to time and time again!

Presented in five popular vitolas, only the finest trained Cuban torcedors in this famous Dominican factory get to roll every Encore cigar, including the great Ernesto Carrillo himself!

The EP Carrillo Encore is suitably named, because this is a luxury smoke you’ll come back to time and time again!

La Hoja Cigar Co. 1962 Cigars – The Rebirth of a Cuban-Style Classic

Tuesday, May 1st, 2018

La Hoja Cigar Co. 1962 is a beautifully rolled line of premium handmade cigars made in small-batch fashion. This s a contemporary rebirth of an old Cuban brand produced by a three-generation tobacco growing family that escaped Castro’s persecution to become one of the best-selling boutique cigars on the market today.  Founded by brothers Willie Flores and Carlos Gomez, the brand was first introduced in 1990 when the two men set up shop in Hoboken, New Jersey. Flor de Florez cigars became so popular with the locals that word of mouth had New Jersey smokers gravitating to their shop in droves. In 1992, when Cigar Aficionado came out, these cigars acquired national fame and remained a hot commodity until 1998 when a lawsuit over naming rights brought the brand to a sudden halt, with production ceasing to exist

This lawsuit was finally settled in 2011, and fast forwarding to 2018, the La Hoja Cigar Co.1962 cigars are bigger and better than ever with three popular lines currently available in the company portfolio: La Hoja Edición Clásica 1962, La Hoja Edición Maduro 1962 and La Hoja Reserva Limitada.

All medium to full body in strength, the three-blend line starts with the Reserva Limitada 1962 that boasts a refined recipe of six- years aged Dominican and Nicaraguan binders and fillers covered with an oily, medium brown colored Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. By using vintage tobaccos, this complex blend of coffee, earth, cinnamon, and nuts, are delivered with a buttery smoothness on the palate.

To appeal to the smoker’s dark side, La Hoja’s sophomore release, Edicion Maduro 1962 presents aged Dominican Piloto Cubano, and Nicaraguan long-fillers rolled inside a tantalizing licorice black San Andres wrapper from Mexico. Savory flavors of nuts, spice, dark chocolate, maple, and sweet caramel make this offering a real Maduro lover’s dream!

The latest installment to the highly rated La Hoja portfolio is the Edicion Clasica 1962.  This luxury – selection of two big ring vitolas are rolled in a classic box-pressed format with a core of aged Dominican and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos capped with an oily Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper. These beauties truly capture the taste of the original Cuban namesake with a zesty peppery base that harmoniously intermingles with more subtle notes of coffee, sweet spices, wood, and cedar.

Revamped, revitalized, and still growing, La Hoja Cigar Co. 1962 promises more exciting premium blends in the future, and if these three selections are any indication of what lies ahead, this company will be a force to be reckoned with for generations to come!

The Majestic Davidoff Winston Churchill Cigars

Thursday, April 26th, 2018

Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, the late Prime Minister Winston Churchill took charge of a nation on the verge of destruction by the Nazi war machine and through sheer determination, led England through its darkest time in history to emerge victorious. He did this while smoking up to 10 cigars a day and enjoying his favorite libations, namely whiskey and brandy.

Davidoff, one of the most respected names in the cigar industry, in conjunction with the Churchill family, pays tribute to this legendary man with the gorgeous line of Davidoff Winston Churchill premium handmade cigars.  Although a fairly new release, this line of luxury smokes is already considered one of the finest cigars on the market.

The Davidoff team designed these top-notch vitolas to appeal to many styles of smokers. The four original sizes have a blend of 5 unique, hand selected Dominican Cuban-seed filler tobaccos, co-mingled with Nicaraguan leaf, plus a Negro San Andres binder, carefully rolled inside of a beautiful shiny and oily Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper. two other sizes, the Belicoso, (sold in tins of 4) and the Petit Panetela, (sold in tins of 5) feature a beautiful Ecuador Habano wrapper, a Pelo De Oro Visus Peruvian binder, and a blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler tobaccos. There’s even a more affordable 5-pack selection available for your sampling pleasure.

Davidoff Winston Churchill Cigars boast core flavors of almonds, wood, sweet cream, and caramel, with the different wrapper variations adding a host of mouthwatering nuances that include peppery spice, chocolate, and fruit. One thing they all have in common is a medium to full body strength profile— just the way old Winston preferred his cigars!

Whether you are a Davidoff fan or just a true cigar aficionado, when the sun sets, and your work day is done, this is the cigar you should settle down and relax with.

Order your Davidoff Winston Churchill cigars right here at JR Cigars.

Revisiting La Finca Cigars – A genuine JR Classic!

Tuesday, April 24th, 2018

Premium handmade La Finca cigars have been a top-choice with our customers since they made their inaugural debut way back in 1972. Think about it, When these cigars first lined our shelves, Nixon was the president, the Internet was still 20-years away, and your phone was still attached to a wall! And yet, this brand still delights cigar smokers who prefer even their everyday smokes to have outstanding construction and luxury flavors. The cigars get their name from La Finca Vigía in the San Francisco de Paula Ward in Havana, Cuba, this little slice of tropical heaven was one of Fidel Castro’s favorite getaway retreats, as well as being the summer home of Ernest Hemingway. First produced in an era long before “niche” brands and boutique style cigar came to fruition, the fact that La Finca still remains a top-seller is a true testament to its unwavering consistency. This brand also holds the distinction of being one of the least expensive cigars to receive excellent ratings in both “Smoke” and “Cigar Aficionado” magazine. And, speaking of CA, the 5.5 x 44 La Finca Corona was rated a 91 in Cigar Aficionado’s 4th edition buyers guide, making it one of the most highly sought-after smokes in the industry, even surpassing most of the big name high end brands, for a good part of the mid-90s!

La Finca cigars are expertly rolled in Nicaragua with the original recipe that includes both a deep brown and a darker Maduro shade Ecuadorian wrapper over the finest aged Nicaraguan long filler tobaccos. Medium to full in body, the cigars display thick clouds of sweet-smelling smoke and hearty notes of peppery spice, leather, cedar, cocoa, and a healthy dose of roasted nut flavors. The Maduro wrapped variety bring some chocolate, and sweet fruity components to the flavor profile.

The famous La Finca Corona is still alive and kicking along with all the other popular sizes, but the cedar lined boxes have been replaced with 25-count bundles to keep production costs down. Highlighting the lineup is the La Finca Ammo Box that made its debut in 2000 to more than just rave reviews—they sold out in just one day! This ingenious packaging, a first of its kind, features 91 (6.12 x 50) Toro cigars packed in a super-airtight, cedar lined genuine military Ammo box. 18-years later, this one-of-a -kind-offering remains in very high demand.

Today, the industry is thriving with a seemingly endless selection of exciting new brands, but the classic La Finca remains one of the best cigar deals out there. Why not go retro and give these nostalgic smokes a try— we think that you will be pleasantly surprised at how much quality you get for such a budget-friendly price.

 

Debonaire House – A Delicious Line of Luxury Cigars

Tuesday, April 17th, 2018

Debonaire House Cigars are the culmination of 20 years of research and development by Philip S. Zanghi III, founder of Indian Tabac Cigar Company, and Daniel Sinclair founder of Dufort Holdings. Their intention was to create the perfect premium handmade cigars by using the finest aged binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic covered in your choice of Connecticut, Habano, and Maduro wrapper varieties. The company employs an expert team of blenders and rollers with a combined experience of over 150 years who leave nothing to chance. Debonaire House cigars distinguish themselves from other brands on the market by using a special accordion fold, as opposed to the entubado style of bunching, so you can always expect an incredibly slow burn and a cool, effortless draw.

The Debonaire Habano cigars are covered in a dark, oily, reddish brown Ecuador Habano wrapper. Medium bodied, yet full in flavor, Debonaire Habano displays a prominent Cuban-style profile with a rich tobacco sweetness, accented with spice, cocoa, and hints of charred wood. These meaty cigars are solidly packed, and slow burning.

Debonaire Maduro cigars are the fullest blend in the lineup, as well as being the only Maduro wrapped offering. These full-bodied beauties feature a classic Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper that imparts a rich chocolaty sweetness and some dried fruit components to the flavor profile. The binder and fillers feature Debonaire’s signature blend of aged Nicaraguan and Dominican binder and fillers that impart layers of cocoa, white pepper, and earth to the mix. When harmonious joined together, these complex flavors combine for a smoke best described as a maduro lover’s dream!

In 2017, Debonaire House introduced the Daybreak brand to their lineup to appeal to the legions of cigar aficionados that are always  looking for a smooth tasting Connecticut style smoke.  A silky, golden brown Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper tones down the strength a notch while imparting a creamy sweetness to the blend. Smokers will enjoy an easygoing medium body smoke that displays layers of sweet and peppery spices, rounded out with nuances of cocoa, cedar, and graham cracker.

Every Debonaire House brand offering is available in a wide array of popular sizes that include a classic-Cuban style Belicoso and Perfecto for fans of old -school figurado shapes.

By offering exceptional quality and luxury taste throughout their portfolio, Debonaire House has established themselves as on one the hottest selling small batch, boutique style cigars on the market today.

Debonaire House – A Delicious Line of Luxury Cigars

Tuesday, April 17th, 2018

Debonaire House Cigars are the culmination of 20 years of research and development by Philip S. Zanghi III, founder of Indian Tabac Cigar Company, and Daniel Sinclair founder of Dufort Holdings. Their intention was to create the perfect premium handmade cigars by using the finest aged binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic covered in your choice of Connecticut, Habano, and Maduro wrapper varieties. The company employs an expert team of blenders and rollers with a combined experience of over 150 years who leave nothing to chance. Debonaire House cigars distinguish themselves from other brands on the market by using a special accordion fold, as opposed to the entubado style of bunching, so you can always expect an incredibly slow burn and a cool, effortless draw.

The Debonaire Habano cigars are covered in a dark, oily, reddish brown Ecuador Habano wrapper. Medium bodied, yet full in flavor, Debonaire Habano displays a prominent Cuban-style profile with a rich tobacco sweetness, accented with spice, cocoa, and hints of charred wood. These meaty cigars are solidly packed, and slow burning.

Debonaire Maduro cigars are the fullest blend in the lineup, as well as being the only Maduro wrapped offering. These full-bodied beauties feature a classic Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper that imparts a rich chocolaty sweetness and some dried fruit components to the flavor profile. The binder and fillers feature Debonaire’s signature blend of aged Nicaraguan and Dominican binder and fillers that impart layers of cocoa, white pepper, and earth to the mix. When harmonious joined together, these complex flavors combine for a smoke best described as a maduro lover’s dream!

In 2017, Debonaire House introduced the Daybreak brand to their lineup to appeal to the legions of cigar aficionados that are always  looking for a smooth tasting Connecticut style smoke.  A silky, golden brown Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper tones down the strength a notch while imparting a creamy sweetness to the blend. Smokers will enjoy an easygoing medium body smoke that displays layers of sweet and peppery spices, rounded out with nuances of cocoa, cedar, and graham cracker.

Every Debonaire House brand offering is available in a wide array of popular sizes that include a classic-Cuban style Belicoso and Perfecto for fans of old -school figurado shapes.

By offering exceptional quality and luxury taste throughout their portfolio, Debonaire House has established themselves as on one the hottest selling small batch, boutique style cigars on the market today.

Let’s Make a Deal by Steve Nathan

Thursday, March 14th, 2013

Fellow cigar smokers: As we all know, our economy is in the proverbial crapper. The value of the US dollar is ranked 96th in world value just below Zimbabwe and Uzbekistan. Yet the value of the Latin American cigar is booming. Let me ’splain.

Every knucklehead, even if he’s never smoked a cigar or watched a Marx Brothers movie, will graciously accept one just to feel like Fidel Castro or Winston Churchill if only for just one lousy puff. Even those who feel that a Ziploc bag of two-week-old meatloaf is more appealing than a cigar will take one to appease someone, whether it’s a boss, a father-in-law or the guys coming next Tuesday to deliver the new dishwasher.

So, what’s my point? I don’t know… oh yeah! My point is that a cigar offers one the chance to barter and open doors to lasting favors never dreamed possible. Take me, for example; I always have a stash of genuinely cheap albeit tasty cigars on hand at all times to offer to my irritating neighbors, or to expedite a favor or service. And after reading this painfully boring blog, hopefully you will too.

Now before I begin, remember this fact: Unless it becomes a devout hobby, almost all occasional cigar smokers don’t know squat about them; you can roll up a turd in cabbage and they will believe it was smuggled in from Havana by a congressman if that’s what you tell them Get it? Good!  So (and this is very important), on your next visit to J•R Cigars, add some inexpensive smokes to your order… but you must go to J•R only! Why, you ask?

Because I work here and if you don’t shop here I will lose my job and be forced to collect unemployment because it is hard to find a job when you’re almost 58 years old! Then when the unemployment runs out in three years, I’ll be 61 and living in a trailer park behind the Secaucus, NJ landfill. Then I will quickly realize that I’m totally unemployable and from all the stress, I will most likely lose my bladder control and have no choice but to be a greeter at Wally Mart and wear big-boy diapers. So just shop at J•R so this awful stuff doesn’t happen to me, okay?

Anyway, you have purchased your cheap (excuse me, I mean inexpensive) cigars from J•R only… now what?

Put together a list of all the people you deal with, may deal with or hopefully and sometimes regrettably have to deal with. Then eliminate those who will not accept a cigar under any conditions. A few examples: most nuns, the head of the FDA, the archbishop of Canterbury, the US surgeon general, and the old handicapped lady with six cats who yells at you for parking too close to her driveway.

 

With this knowledge in hand, I have painstakingly spent hours putting together a list of some tasty but very economical cigars that you should stock up on, along with some ideas about how and when to hand them out. (Actually I didn’t spend hours; I did it during a commercial break of the Ice Road Truckers marathon. I have a tendency to lie a lot.)

 

Don Mateo

This old-time bundled Honduran classic has been a favorite of old farts and cheap bastards for more than two decades. Feed these to your next-door neighbor occasionally and you will have and unlimited access to his hedge trimmers!

http://www.jrcigars.com/jr/index.cfm/hurl/evt=itemlist/catid=124/DON-MATEO.html

 

Five Star

This mild, silky smooth bundled handmade is the <i>exact same</i> smoke as some other famous brands that sell for two or three times the price! If offered during routine checkups, these tasty smokes will get you a doctor’s appointment within three hours, even during a flu epidemic.

http://www.jrcigars.com/jr/index.cfm/hurl/evt=itemlist/catid=154/FIVE-STAR.html

 

Red Dot

This mixed-filler baby tastes like those old classic Royal Jamaicans cigars… at a fraction of the cost. Every so often, leave a couple of these in your mailbox with a little sticky note saying, “Thanks for delivering my mail on time. Enjoy!” Do this and, I promise you, your priority package won’t be lying on your neighbor’s front porch during a thunderstorm.

http://www.jrcigars.com/jr/index.cfm/hurl/evt=itemlist/catid=743/RED-DOT.html

 

Riata

These medium-bodied Nicaraguans are for the guy who says, “I don’t need those fancy $12.00 cigars! These are pretty damn good… and were you doing 80 in a 60 mph zone?”

 

License, registration, Riata… no ticket! Just be careful with this one; if it backfires, you may be sitting in a cell next to some nut wearing aluminum foil on his head claiming to be receiving signals from Pluto.

http://www.jrcigars.com/jr/index.cfm/hurl/evt=itemlist/catid=398/RIATA.html

 

Maria Mancini

Okay, boys, I saved the best for last… this cigar is fantastic! It’s a Cuban-style box-pressed beauty that tastes just as good as many cigars costing at least twice the price. Whenever you see that guy across the street with his big house and fancy car, hand him one. I guarantee that, in no time at all, you’ll be sitting in his man-cave basement every Sunday afternoon watching football on his 90-inch flat screen while drinking his imported beer!

http://www.jrcigars.com/jr/index.cfm/hurl/evt=itemlist/catid=302/MARIA-MANCINI.html

 

And there you have it. Good luck, get creative and have fun. There is a world of opportunity awaiting you with a well-stocked humidor of bargain-basement sticks. (By the way, I really hate when someone calls a cigar a stick. In fact, it makes my skin crawl. But you guys like it, so what the hell?)

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