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Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Coming in at #6 is the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Maduro Robusto. Last year when Perdomo Cigars announced they were discontinuing the Champagne Noir and Champagne Sun Grown cigars, it surprised a lot of people - including this author. However, it was clear that Nick Perdomo and his team knew they had something special with the new 10th Anniversary Maduro and Sun Grown lines. The 10th Anniversary Sun Grown landed a #23 on this year's Countdown and now the Maduro lands at number six.
The blend for the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro features 100% Nicaraguan tobaccos. According to Perdomo Cigars, the 10th Anniversary Maduro uses a six-year-aged Cuban-seed wrapper, binder, and fillers from its farms in Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa. The wrapper itself also has an additional 14 months of aging on it inside bourbon barrels. Production is handled out of the Tabacalera Perdomo S.A. facility in Estelí, Nicaragua. The Robusto measures 5 x 54.
The Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box Pressed Maduro Robusto delivers notes of mocha (coffee, and chocolate fusion), citrus, oak, cedar, mineral, and pepper. The flavors start out medium-bodied before progressing to medium to full in the second half. This is countered by medium strength. On top of an excellent flavor profile, this cigar delivers a stellar performance in terms of burn and draw.
One can argue the combination of the 10th Anniversary Champagne, Sun Grown, and Maduro is one of the strongest blend trifectas ever.
This is the second year in a row Perdomo Cigars has placed two cigars on the Cigar of the Year Countdown. Of the 25 cigars unveiled thus far on the 2021 Countdown, this is the 18th one from Nicaragua.
For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria: https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html
Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lMJ
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
It’s bracketology meets the cigar industry. Tonight on Special Edition 113, it’s one of our most popular annual shows we do as we do our unofficial preview what to expect on the Cigar Aficionado Top 25 this year.
This year, Bear and I will be joined by Ben Lee, Erron Nielsen, and Hector Alfonso Sr. of Espinosa. Cigars.
Whether you love or hate this list, it’s the most polarizing one and we will break it down – Prime Time style.
Born on a live stream five years ago before there was a Prime Time Show, this has now evolved into an annual tradition. On this show, we bring to you a comprehensive preview on what to expect on the CA Top 25. We will not only be making predictions, but we will look at dark horses, who is on the bubble, and who could miss the list.
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
It’s bracketology meets the cigar industry. Tonight on Special Edition 113, it’s one of our most popular annual shows we do as we do our unofficial preview what to expect on the Cigar Aficionado Top 25 this year.
This year, Bear and I will be joined by Ben Lee, Erron Nielsen, and Hector Alfonso Sr. of Espinosa. Cigars.
Whether you love or hate this list, it’s the most polarizing one and we will break it down – Prime Time style.
Born on a live stream five years ago before there was a Prime Time Show, this has now evolved into an annual tradition. On this show, we bring to you a comprehensive preview on what to expect on the CA Top 25. We will not only be making predictions, but we will look at dark horses, who is on the bubble, and who could miss the list.
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
Coming in at #7 is the 601 La Bomba Warhead VI by Espinosa Cigars. The story of the Warhead line is well-documented. This was a cigar that was an off-shoot of Espinosa's powerful 601 La Bomba line. The Warhead would replace La Bomba's Nicaraguan Habano wrapper with a Broadleaf wrapper. The idea was to keep to La Bomba's strength and produce an entirely new flavor experience. The Warhead was first released in 2013 and has been a near-annual release since then with each version coming in a different size.
For the first five installments of the Warhead, the cigars were box-pressed. The Warhead VI would mark a major change in that this was a short, chunky figurado that was a rounded vitola. The vitola measures 5 x 58. As for the blend, in addition to the Broadleaf wrapper, Warhead VI uses all -Nicaraguan tobaccos. Production comes from AJ Fernandez's San Lotano factory which Espinosa partners with for production on several lines.
Warhead VI delivers notes of mocha, earth, wood, cherry, and red pepper. This is a powerful cigar that is full strength and in fact, might be the strongest Warhead to date. The flavors produced start out medium to full before progressing to full-bodied in the second half.
It was in 2013 when the first Warhead landed on the Countdown and that was the first year Espinosa landed on a Countdown. Since then Espinosa has not missed a Countdown and this marks the ninth consecutive year they have landed on the Countdown - a Cigar Coop record for consecutive years. This is the fifth time a Warhead has landed on the Countdown. It's also the 5th cigar made at an AJ Fernandez facility, and third cigar overall to come from AJ's San Lotano factory. Of the 24 cigars unveiled thus far on the 2021 Countdown, this is the 17th from Nicaragua.
For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria: https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html
Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lLF
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
Coming in at #7 is the 601 La Bomba Warhead VI by Espinosa Cigars. The story of the Warhead line is well-documented. This was a cigar that was an off-shoot of Espinosa's powerful 601 La Bomba line. The Warhead would replace La Bomba's Nicaraguan Habano wrapper with a Broadleaf wrapper. The idea was to keep to La Bomba's strength and produce an entirely new flavor experience. The Warhead was first released in 2013 and has been a near-annual release since then with each version coming in a different size.
For the first five installments of the Warhead, the cigars were box-pressed. The Warhead VI would mark a major change in that this was a short, chunky figurado that was a rounded vitola. The vitola measures 5 x 58. As for the blend, in addition to the Broadleaf wrapper, Warhead VI uses all -Nicaraguan tobaccos. Production comes from AJ Fernandez's San Lotano factory which Espinosa partners with for production on several lines.
Warhead VI delivers notes of mocha, earth, wood, cherry, and red pepper. This is a powerful cigar that is full strength and in fact, might be the strongest Warhead to date. The flavors produced start out medium to full before progressing to full-bodied in the second half.
It was in 2013 when the first Warhead landed on the Countdown and that was the first year Espinosa landed on a Countdown. Since then Espinosa has not missed a Countdown and this marks the ninth consecutive year they have landed on the Countdown - a Cigar Coop record for consecutive years. This is the fifth time a Warhead has landed on the Countdown. It's also the 5th cigar made at an AJ Fernandez facility, and third cigar overall to come from AJ's San Lotano factory. Of the 24 cigars unveiled thus far on the 2021 Countdown, this is the 17th from Nicaragua.
For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria: https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html
Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lLF
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
On Episode 60 of Prime Time Jukebox, we continue our recap of the Rolling Stone’s recent refresh of their Top 500 songs of all time. This segment will cover songs 400 to 351 and Dave and Coop will go through some of their favorites that made the list, and assess how fairly these favorites were ranked.
For this show, Dave smokes the Powstanie Wojtek 2001 and Coop smokes the PIVRobusto by Dion Giolito.
As always you can follow along with our Spotify Playlists:
References
- Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs of All Time List (2021)
- Top 50 of 2021 / #45 – 41: Aussie Music Coming Strong, Musicals and California
- Top 50 of 2021 / #40 – 36: African Music Icons, K- Pop and Our First Look at Taylor Swift
- Top 50 of 2021 / #35 – 31: Pre-Teen Punk, A Country Cover and a Cat
- Top 50 of 2021 / #30 – 26: UK Hip Hop Powerhouses, Royal Rock and A Country Opera
- Top 50 of 2021 / #25 – 20: One Beautiful Voice, An up and Coming R&B Artist and an Indie Music Icon
- Top 50 of 2021 / #19 – 15: A Murder Ballad, An Unreleased Track From 20 Years Ago and Long Live the Queen
- Top 50 of 2021 / #14 – 11: Fragile Indie Folk, A New Version of an Old Classic and An Orchestra
- Top 50 of 2021 / #10 – 6: The Sunny Side, An Unlikely Musician / Producer Pairing and a Snail
- Top 50 of 2021 / #5 – 1: The Best Hard Rock Song in History, A Saint and the Best Duet in 2021.
- Prime Time Episode 214: Pete Johnson, Tatuaje Cigars
- 2021 Year in Review: Top 12 Cigar Industry Stories and Themes of 2021
- Developing Palates Team Cigar Review: Warped La Hacienda First Growth
- Developing Palates: Team Cigar Review: Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Gran Reserva GT20
- Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
On Episode 60 of Prime Time Jukebox, we continue our recap of the Rolling Stone’s recent refresh of their Top 500 songs of all time. This segment will cover songs 400 to 351 and Dave and Coop will go through some of their favorites that made the list, and assess how fairly these favorites were ranked.
For this show, Dave smokes the Powstanie Wojtek 2001 and Coop smokes the PIVRobusto by Dion Giolito.
As always you can follow along with our Spotify Playlists:
References
- Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs of All Time List (2021)
- Top 50 of 2021 / #45 – 41: Aussie Music Coming Strong, Musicals and California
- Top 50 of 2021 / #40 – 36: African Music Icons, K- Pop and Our First Look at Taylor Swift
- Top 50 of 2021 / #35 – 31: Pre-Teen Punk, A Country Cover and a Cat
- Top 50 of 2021 / #30 – 26: UK Hip Hop Powerhouses, Royal Rock and A Country Opera
- Top 50 of 2021 / #25 – 20: One Beautiful Voice, An up and Coming R&B Artist and an Indie Music Icon
- Top 50 of 2021 / #19 – 15: A Murder Ballad, An Unreleased Track From 20 Years Ago and Long Live the Queen
- Top 50 of 2021 / #14 – 11: Fragile Indie Folk, A New Version of an Old Classic and An Orchestra
- Top 50 of 2021 / #10 – 6: The Sunny Side, An Unlikely Musician / Producer Pairing and a Snail
- Top 50 of 2021 / #5 – 1: The Best Hard Rock Song in History, A Saint and the Best Duet in 2021.
- Prime Time Episode 214: Pete Johnson, Tatuaje Cigars
- 2021 Year in Review: Top 12 Cigar Industry Stories and Themes of 2021
- Developing Palates Team Cigar Review: Warped La Hacienda First Growth
- Developing Palates: Team Cigar Review: Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Gran Reserva GT20
- Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Monday Jan 03, 2022
Monday Jan 03, 2022
Coming in at #8 is the Lavida Habana LE by LH Premium Cigars. LH Premium Cigars is owned by Nick Syris, who also does his own blending. Since launching in the United States in 2014, LH Premium Cigars has built up a loyal following. Until 2020, LH Cigars did not have a limited edition offering but that changed when Syris released the Lavida Habana LE. (Lavida Habana is the name that “LH” is derived from).
Syris works with Tabacos de Costa Rica - located in Costa Rica to produce his cigars. The Lavida Habana LE is highlighted by an Ecuadorian Vuelta Abajo seed wrapper, a favorite that Nick Syris likes to work with. Other than that the tobaccos in the blend have undergone an additional period of aging and fermentation, there is no other information above the Lavida Habana LE blend being disclosed. The LE was produced in one size - a classic 6 x 52 Toro. The cigars are adorned with black and gold rings - the original ring used by LH Cigars.
The Lavida Habana LE produced a flavor profile consisting of coffee, chocolate, earth, cedar, baker’s spice, citrus, and pepper. This cigar was a little bolder than most of the LH offerings, but at the same time, it was not overly bold. The flavors produced were medium to full-bodied, and this was countered by medium to full strength.
2021 is the second year LH Premium Cigars lands on the Countdown - and the first since 2016. The Lavida Habana LE is the first cigar from Costa Rica to place on the 2021 Countdown, and it's the first time since 2018 a Costa Rican-made cigar has earned a Countdown slot.
For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria: https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html
Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lLD
Monday Jan 03, 2022
Monday Jan 03, 2022
Coming in at #8 is the Lavida Habana LE by LH Premium Cigars. LH Premium Cigars is owned by Nick Syris, who also does his own blending. Since launching in the United States in 2014, LH Premium Cigars has built up a loyal following. Until 2020, LH Cigars did not have a limited edition offering but that changed when Syris released the Lavida Habana LE. (Lavida Habana is the name that “LH” is derived from).
Syris works with Tabacos de Costa Rica - located in Costa Rica to produce his cigars. The Lavida Habana LE is highlighted by an Ecuadorian Vuelta Abajo seed wrapper, a favorite that Nick Syris likes to work with. Other than that the tobaccos in the blend have undergone an additional period of aging and fermentation, there is no other information above the Lavida Habana LE blend being disclosed. The LE was produced in one size - a classic 6 x 52 Toro. The cigars are adorned with black and gold rings - the original ring used by LH Cigars.
The Lavida Habana LE produced a flavor profile consisting of coffee, chocolate, earth, cedar, baker’s spice, citrus, and pepper. This cigar was a little bolder than most of the LH offerings, but at the same time, it was not overly bold. The flavors produced were medium to full-bodied, and this was countered by medium to full strength.
2021 is the second year LH Premium Cigars lands on the Countdown - and the first since 2016. The Lavida Habana LE is the first cigar from Costa Rica to place on the 2021 Countdown, and it's the first time since 2018 a Costa Rican-made cigar has earned a Countdown slot.
For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria: https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html
Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lLD
Sunday Jan 02, 2022
Sunday Jan 02, 2022
Coming in at #9 is the Vintage Rock-A-Feller Group Art of Magic. The Art of Magic is a limited edition project started by Vintage Rock-A-Feller Cigar Group (VRCG). In 2017, Vintage Rock-A-Feller Cigar Group was acquired by Kevin Schweitzer, who at the time was a Wall Street trader who had been a cigar enthusiast for 25 years. Since that time, Schweitzer has worked on both streamlining and strengthening the current portfolio. Art of Magic is an ultra-premium limited-edition offering. It pays homage to Schweitzer's love of the craft of magic.
The packaging is also quite different than anything that has been seen with the Rock-A-Feller products before. The artwork for the packaging for the Art of Magic was done by Jessi Flores, who used to run Subculture Studios for Drew Estate. As a part of the release, 5% of the proceeds will go to the charity Phuck Cancer. Flores’ daughter Stephanie Nicole is going through a very difficult battle with cancer. The proceeds from the Phuck Cancer campaign will help fund Stephanie’s medical and treatment expenses as well as raise cancer awareness as a whole.
The other thing that is different is that Art of Magic is the first project Vintage Rock-A-Feller Cigar Group has worked on with TABSA. The blend features a San Andres wrapper over Nicaragua binder and filler. This blend comes in one size - a 6 x 52 Toro.
This blend is a throwback to some of the old Casa Fernandez Maduro blends that came out of TABSA. The Art of Magic delivered a medium-strength, medium-bodied profile with notes of coffee, citrus, cedar, red pepper, earth, and natural tobacco.
The Art of Magic lands Vintage Rock-A-Feller Cigar Group on the Countdown for the first time. Meanwhile, the dominance of Nicaragua on this year's Countdown continues. Of the 22 cigars we have unveiled moving up the Countdown, this is the 16th one from Nicaragua.
For details of the 2021 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2021 criteria: https://cigar-coop.com/2021/12/announcement-criteria-for-the-2021-cigar-of-the-year-countdown.html
Cigar Coop Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-lJF