Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars

HELLO HENRY!

Plus: Steals and Deals from AtlanticCigar.com and Cigars International

Los Angeles, May 24 – Altadis U.S.A. vice president Janelle Rosenfeld is a stickler for accuracy, so when our May 10 column stated that the Dominican-made Henry Clay line was being “de-emphasized” for a new Henry Clay blend to be made in Honduras, she got her e-mail program in gear.

“We’ve gotten several calls asking if the Dominican Henry Clay is being discontinued,” she wrote. “It is NOT being discontinued. . . .

“[T]he beloved Connecticut Broadleaf Henry Clay that has been a popular staple for years CONTINUES to be manufactured in the Dominican Republic under the watchful . . . tutelage of Jose Seijas.”

So now you know!

It’s as good as reason as any to go out and try these unique, slightly rough-looking cigars, especially the flavorful and balanced Brevas Fina (6 1/2 inches by 48), a wonderful afternoon or golf-course smoke, reasonably priced at $4 or less before local tobacco taxes.

Some Steals, Some Deals:
There are new cigars, discounted old cigars and some special packings to note:

AtlanticCigar.com:
Something new, something old:

• A new size of Rocky Patel’s “The Edge,” called “The Missile,” a five-inch by 48-ring perfecto, but in boxes of 25 instead of the 100s for the Toro and Torpedo sizes. AtlanticCigar.com is offering this new shape at the lowest price we have seen: $73.13.

• The new La Fontana Consigliere line we wrote about a couple of weeks ago is now available in all three sizes:

> Part 1 (5 x 50 perfecto), the box of 20 is only $51.35, or a sample of pack of five is available for $16.79;

> Part 2 (6 x 50 perfecto), offered in the box of 20 for $64.35, or five for $21.04;

> Part 3 (7 x 50 perfecto), in 20s for $77.35, or five for $25.29.

• Finally, there’s an old friend, the Dominican-made, Connecticut-wrapped Por Larrañaga, now being phased out and well-priced to move:

> Fabulosos (7 x 50), offered in boxes of 20 for $97.50;

> Robustos (5 x 50), in 20s for $82.50, and

> Toros (6 x 50), 20 for $87.50.

Cigars International:
Keith Meier has a good and close relationship with Rocky Patel of Indian Tabac fame and consequently gets hold of some special products not otherwise available.

He’s done it with a spectacular “Rocky Patel Limited Edition ‘05 Treasure Chest.” This a great gift item, with 15 cigars offered in individual coffins inside a larger, outer chest. All 15 of the cigars are specially-made 7 1/2-inch by 54-ring double coronas, with five each of three different blends:

> The Edge, all the rage today with its full-bodied, unrestrained flavor;

> Rocky Patel Sun Grown, a full-bodied blend of which Patel is perhaps most proud of, due to its complexity, and

> Rocky Patel Vintage 1990, well-respected for its flavor, balance and even temper, ranked on our list of the best full-bodied cigars offered on the U.S. market.

Cigars International had 1,000 of these chests made and is offering them at a reasonable price of $115 each.

Trilogy now well-rounded:
Alec Bradley’s Trilogy brand has undergone some surgery and is now rounding into a new shape: round.

Unique since its introduction in 2002, the Trilogy line offers three tastes in the same brand, featuring Cameroon, Brazilian maduro and Nicaraguan-grown Corojo wrappers around a varying set of binders and fillers to create a flavorful and sometimes spicy taste. Naturally, there are three sizes in the line: Churchill, Robusto and Torpedo and the cigar was designed to sell for $3 or so at retail, before local tobacco taxes.

The brand’s signature was the triangular shape of the cigars, which could be a little off-putting if you’re not thinking about it while smoking. More than one smokers has felt his teeth descend into the cigar when steadying the cigar in his mouth. Not any more.

The line has gone to a more traditional round shape, with the same blends and flavor, and changed the box packing from the two-rows-of-10, flat box to a more compact box with four rows of five cigars.

“Trilogy had a competitive edge, being America’s first triangular-press cigar,” noted Alex Bradley president Alan Rubin. Explaining that the triangular shape itself kept some smokers from trying it, “we felt we would not lose smokers by giving Trilogy a round body, and would attract many new, traditional, smokers.”

The new boxes are easy to spot with their color-coding scheme of orange for the Exotic Maduro group, red for Native Cameroon and green for Authentic Corojo.
~ Rich Perelman

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