“The thing that I can say is we believe our club, the customer experience is what we sell. And that’s like every self-help or start a business book you might ever read. But it’s true. It’s the standard that we operate.“ For Chris and Ben of Luxury Cigar Club, whether you are shopping on Luxury Cigar Club or subscribing to one of their five subscription lines, they focus on delivering a fantastic experience. For example, they are not only meticulous about selecting cigars to include in their subscription boxes by visiting factories, connecting with lesser-known makers, and being paying c ..read more

Jorge Padrón, the current head of Padrón Cigars, graduated with his MBA from the University of Miami in 1992. At the time, Padrón sold over 90% of their cigars in Miami. While Padrón dominated the Miami market, Jorge wanted to expand geographically — he feared the niche customer base in Miami wouldn’t support the company forever. The first step was to find retailers nationally to sell to. Jorge and his brother, Orlando, went to the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers trade show 1993. The market at this time favored light, milder cigars — mostly Connecticut-seed and shade-grow ..read more

Early Career and the Retail Years (2001 – 2012) Jeremy McDonald, founder of Wildfire Cigar Co., was born and raised in Orange County, California. He was a normal kid – he liked playing rock music and skating and spent summers with his family in Alabama. He got introduced to cigars at family events, where his uncles would smoke: “They looked so manly, smoking cigars. They would offer to let me take a puff but always said I was too young. So I said to myself when I got old enough I was gonna smoke cigars with them too. On my 18th birthday, I went to 7 Eleven — as someone does who doesn’t know a ..read more

Factory Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. Wrapper USA Connecticut Broadleaf Binder Mexican San Andrés Filler Nicaraguan (La Soledad), Honduran Size 5 x 58 Body Full From the Maker Foundation Cigar Company’s Tabernacle cigar embodies founder Nicholas Melillo’s long-time passion and intimate experience with the Broadleaf varietal – made even deeper by his connection, as a native son, to Connecticut soil.  Out of reverence for the tobacco leaf, and tobacco tradition, the brand is named for the hallowed sanctuary of Hebrew scripture: The Tabernacle –  ..read more

In a previous installment of the Fastest Guide to Storage, we covered the Tupperdor. But what happens when you want to store boxes of cigars that don’t fit in a Tupperware? Enter the Coolidor. It is a solution that is as easy to set up as a Tupperdor, holds humidity just as well, and is widely used by box buyers and agers. The Coolidor is also preferred because its insulation reduces fluctuations in temperature. Step 1: Purchase The Equipment Cooler:  I have the 100 Qt Igloo Marine Ultra Cooler, but you can purchase any cooler. I’ve seen some people buy a Yeti cooler for ..read more

Summary Score 95 Flavor 3.75 out of 4 Burn 4 out of 4 Value 1.75 out of 2 Oliva Serie V 135th Anniversary Edición Limitada is a dynamite stick with a reasonable price. The cigar is a robust flavor bomb that transitions from baking spice chocolate to floral sweetness and finishes with smoky chewiness. It’s gorgeous, and the unique vitola makes lighting it a breeze. This Oliva is a great candidate for aging, and after a few years, it could turn into an incredible chocolate-forward cigar. Factory Tabacalera Oliva de Nicaragua S.A. Wrapper Ecuador Habano Sun Grown Binder Nica ..read more

I recently read “Maduro Education” by Steve Saka and thought it was a fantastic educational piece about one of my favorite wrapper styles, and I wanted to share a summary. He breaks the article down into three discreet parts: What exactly is meant by Maduro? What are some interesting facts that make Maduro challenging to roll with? What natural and artificial ways do you get a Maduro color on the wrapper? What exactly is meant by Maduro? Steve makes a point that Maduro is both a color of wrapper and also a subset of air-cured black tobaccos that can withstand the high heat and fermentation t ..read more

Summary Score 92.5 Flavor 3.8 out of 4 Burn 3.75 out of 4 Value 1.7 out of 2 The Arturo Fuente Añejo No. 888 is an outstanding cigar that debuted in 2014 and is released bi-annually. The cigar utilizes the same Dominican binder and filler as the Opus X but wrapped in a U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro aged for five years in cognac barrels. It’s as delicious as it sounds and has an excellent value at MSRP. Factory Tabacalera Fuente Wrapper U.S.A. Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro Binder Dominican Filler Dominican Below the Fold Flavor: 3.8 out of 4 Excellent Balance.&nb ..read more

Summary Score 89 Flavor 3.65 out of 4 Burn 3.75 out of 4 Value 1.5 out of 2 The Foundation El Güegüense “The Wise Man” is a delightful medium-bodied Corojo-dominant Nicaraguan puro. The cigar is fully priced but is worth finding them on sale. Factory Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A. Wrapper Corojo 99 Jalapa Binder Corojo 99 Jalapa Filler Corojo 99 – Criollo 98 Below the Fold Flavor: 3.65 out of 4 Excellent Balance.  The cigar activated my palate evenly on the front, sides, and back. Primary notes: It starts with reasonably powerful red pepper and spice on th ..read more

This is the next installment of QuickDraw’s series on cigar aging. In his talk “The Impact of Cigar Packaging,” Eddie Sahakan talks about how the configuration and packaging in which your cigars age impacts the flavor and time to age, or their “aging potential.” Eddie covers three different cigar aging configurations: Dress Box Slide Lid Box and Cabinet Tubos or Cellophane Dress Box: Cigars stored in a dress box are what we usually receive if we buy a box of 10 or 12 cigars. The cigars are generally in one or two rows and touch only on one side. This storage configuration provides minim ..read more