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Page 1 of 2  New blends and sizes from the two biggest brands in the U.S.A.!Los Angeles, September 12 – The two biggest brands on the American premium cigar market are General Cigar’s Macanudo and Altadis U.S.A.’s Romeo y Julieta. Neither brand is resting on its laurels. At the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association convention this summer, both companies had new versions of their best-selling brands on display. General Cigar introduced a completely new style of Macanudo for the U.S., the Macanudo 1968, with a dark wrapper and more powerful taste, plus a special Macanudo for the European market, the Macanudo Reserva Anual. Altadis promoted its rich-tasting Honduran-made version of Romeo, the Romeo y Julieta Habana Reserve, now in its second year, and has added sizes to its Dominican-made Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real series, notably a gorgeous perfecto called a “Figurado.” We just had to try them all: Macanudo 1968: [Dominican Republic: available in 4 sizes] The Macanudo 1968 is completely unlike every other Macanudo in history, and it was designed that way. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of General Cigar’s purchase of the Temple Hall factory in Jamaica – who owned a then little-known brand called Macanudo – the 1968 blend doesn’t even use the brand’s signature Connecticut wrapper. Instead, it’s an ultra-dark Honduran-grown leaf from the San Agustin Valley, combined with a Connecticut-grown Habano binder and filler leaves from the Dominican Republic and the Nicaraguan island of Ometepe. The result is a cigar with a medium-to-full body and a spicy aroma. There is a richness to this cigar which is not found in other Macanudos, with a mix of tangy sweetness and a spiced undertone on the finish. The balance is quite nice, but even as the strongest of all Macanudos, the boldness that might be expected with such a darkly-wrapped cigar is missing. It’s a new taste for Macanudo, however, and one that’s worth exploring. The 1968 is offered in four sizes, all in boxes of 20, at attractive retail prices of $8.50 to $11.00 each, not including local sales and tobacco taxes. Overall grade: A-: Excellent. Macanudo Reserva Anual 2008: [Dominican Republic: available in 3 sizes] General Cigar created new interest in the Macanudo line in Great Britain when it began issuing limited-edition blends called the Macanudo Reserva Anual in 2004. This is the fifth in the series and is only available (thus far) in Europe. |
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Did you know?
“"A woman is only a woman, but a cigar is a smoke" ~ Rudyard Kipling
