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| STARS OF THE SHOW IV |
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Page 1 of 2  Plus: A re-blend from Camacho and a new cigar from Costa Rica!Los Angeles, August 14 – Everything in the cigar trade somehow seems to refer to Cuba, so when two makers brought out new blends from “Cuban seeds” at the recent International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) convention and trade show, no one got too shook up. Maybe they should have. Philip Wynne’s Felipe Gregorio, Inc. debuted the Petrus Prestige Sublime line, made from leaves grown from recently-obtained seeds from Cuba itself, from the Vuelta Arriba and Vuelta Abajo areas. John Vogel, the mastermind of the unique Tabacos de la Cordillera with its program of growing tobacco from authentic, genetically-pure seeds from Cuba from the 1940s and 1950s, introduced his sixth and seventh blends in a new series on which he placed his own name: Vogel. We decided to try them out for ourselves. Petrus Prestige Sublime [Dominican Republic: available in 4 sizes] Philip Wynne’s Petrus brand has undergone a metamorphosis and the new Petrus Prestige Sublime is one of his flagship blends, along with his well-known Felipe Gregorio and Felipe Power lines. The story of this brand can be traced directly to Cuba, where seeds from tobacco plants of recent vintage from the Vuelta Arriba and Vuelta Abajo areas were planted in the Dominican Republic. Wynne didn’t have the advantage of being able to age the leaves for this first run, but the combination yields a medium-bodied taste and a toasty aroma. Shown for the very first time at the 2008 IPCPR show, it’s very well made and features a light, caramelized taste with just a touch of spice on the finish. The flavor is clean and smooth, with a medium finish that stays reasonably consistent throughout. It will be even better with some aging and future editions that use longer-aged tobaccos will be worth the wait. Three of the four standard sizes are offered in boxes of 20 with the double corona-sized Eminence (7 inches by 50) ring in boxes. The Eminence is uniquely offered in a choice of a Vuelta Arriba-seed wrapper or an Ecuadorian-grown, Connecticut-seed wrapper. Retail pricing on this line is accessible, with the corona-sized Gladius (5 1/3 x 42) at $5.00 before local sales and tobacco taxes, up to $7.00 for the Robusto, but $12.00 for the Eminence. Overall grade: A-: Excellent. Vogel Red – Natural wrapper: [Costa Rica: available in 5 sizes] John Vogel’s 65-acre farm project at the Tabacos de la Cordillera in Costa Rica has already charmed American smokers with his Fundacion Ancestral line using authentic Cuban seeds kept genetically pure since the 1940s and 1950s. Now he’s created two lines that he likes enough to put his own name on. The Vogel Red line uses seeds first planted near Santiago de Cuba in 1951, in the Oriente (eastern) region of the country. Although not as well known as the Vuelta Abajo area in western Cuba, tobacco from Oriente has been used in cigar blends for decades. This is a medium-bodied cigar with a toasty aroma and a very unique taste. It offers a clean and creamy taste that’s light and flavorful with a medium, sweet finish. The delicate nature of the flavor is remarkable and it’s well balanced throughout. After midway, many cigars lose their refinement, but the Vogel Red adds an earthy note before the sweetness to give the cigar extra depth while retaining its smooth character. That’s quite remarkable. The Vogel Red isn’t cheap at $11-$12 each, in boxes of 25, not including local sales or tobacco taxes. But it’s a taste treat that’s well worth trying. Overall grade: A: Exceptional. |
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Did you know?
“"A woman is only a woman, but a cigar is a smoke" ~ Rudyard Kipling
