Up for review tonight is a brand sold exclusively in Europe. I had never heard of Patoro cigars prior to my recent visit to the new Augusto Reyes factory in the Dominican Republic where they are produced. Patoro is a brand that was created by Patrick J. Martin and is sold at luxury prices in some of the best lounges in Europe. Patrick has a long history in the cigar industry; most notably, he is recognized for his work with early Dominican-made Davidoff products.

A quote from the Patoro website: luxury and good taste. Pure Cuban tobacco seeds, Dominican sun and the soil of Santiago create the valuable basis for each and every Patoro Cigar. The rich, nurturing soil combined with excellent experience in growing tobacco plants, gained over more then six generations, and the skillful hands of our master Torcedores, creates the unique taste of a masterpiece.

When I spoke with Patrick, he stressed to me the importance of the quality he demands of his product. He said he only allows a team of rollers to make 50 cigars a day (30 in the case of the Limited Edition, like in this review), and they must all go in the same cabinet for sale, if approved by quality control. As you can guess, these sticks are pretty hard to find, even in the European market.

Vitola: Belicoso
Length: 6
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Price: $40.90 (yup)
Smoking Location: my back deck
Beverage: water

Free live streaming by Ustream

Tonight Mario and I are broadcasting live from the New York City Grand Havana Room. It's a special night at the Grand Havana Room as we are celebrating the 86th birthday of Avo Uvezian with members from all the Davidoff retail shops NYC, and De La Concha. Enjoy the feed and smoke a Avo if you have one.  

(full production video to follow in the next few weeks)

URL:

http://www.davidoff.com
htttp://www.davidoffmadson.com
http://www.delaconcha.com

  Facebook page:

http://facebook.com/davidoffcigar
http://facebook.com/avocigar

Today's review is a pre-release sample that I picked up on my recent trip to the My Father Factory. La Dueña (translates to The Owner in English) is a cigar line that is blended by Pete Johnson (owner of Tatuaje Cigars) specifically for Janny Garcia, the owner of My Father Cigars. This will be the first line of cigars to be made just for Janny's taste and, I believe, the first cigar Pete has blended for the My Father company.

I got a chance to smoke multiples of this cigar in all the different sizes (except petite lancero), so I think I have a pretty good take on the profile and what Pete and Janny were going for with this release. The sample I used for this review I actually got in Miami at the My Father headquarters, so I am going to guess it had a bit more age on it than all of the sticks I smoked in Nicaragua.

(Due to the size of this cigar, this review is only in two parts instead of the traditional thirds.)

Specifics
Vitola: Petite Robusto 
Length: 4.5
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Connecticut broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $?
Smoking Location: New Havana Cigars
Beverage: water

We have been having spring-like weather here in Columbus, which has been great. The other day was beautiful, so out to the back deck I went to smoke a cigar for review. I really hope winter has come to an end because an after dinner smoke on the deck is really something I enjoy. For review, I pulled out another stick that I picked up on my recent trip to the ProCigar festival. The General Cigars Special Blend #7 was given at the annual "white party" dinner on the second night in Santiago. The dinner parties are where all the manufacturers pass out the latest releases or special blends made just for the festival. I emailed Victoria McKee (Public Relations for General Cigar) to get some more info on this stick, but it seems they are currently being very tight-lipped on this one. 

A quote from Victoria McKee on the Special Blend #7 The cigar we gave out at the white party was actually a new blend that has never been released. We are not going to provide details because it's quite possible that we will release this blend in the near future.

That's all the information I have on this cigar, so I'm moving on to the review.

Vitola: Toro
Length:  6 
Ring Gauge: 50ish
Wrapper: proprietary
Binder: proprietary
Filler: proprietary
Price: $?
Smoking Location: my back deck
Beverage: water

Video - Tour/Event: Procigar Festival 2012 - Day2, Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic - Cigar Explorer from Cigar Explorer on Vimeo.

Procigar Festival 2012 - - La Romana, Casa De Campo in Dominican Republic on February 19, 2012.

Video for Trip and 2nd Day at Procigar Festival 2012.

"Catamaran to Palmilla Sand Bar & Saona Island"

Whole day event packed into 10min. video! Hope you enjoy...

This video was shot by Sony HDR-CX580V & Nikon D7000, Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 Super Wide Lens.

URL:

Procigar.org
Cigarexplorer.com

 To Photo Album

Hope you enjoy!

Mario Takeyama

Yesterday was a unseasonably warm day in Columbus, so I took advantage and sat on my back deck for the first time this year to do a cigar review. The stick was a sample I brought back from the ProCigar Festival - the Quesada Q D’Etat Molotov.These cigars were just recently released to the market and I read over at Tony Casas' site that they were limited to 1,000 boxes. I had the pleasure to watch a skilled roller at the MATASA  (Manufactura de Tabacos S.A.) factory make these cigars and it looked to be no easy task.

A quote from Terence Reilly (One of the what seems like 25 Quesada family members working in the business) about the Quesada Q D’Etat Molotov: "The q d'etat line has a simple straight forward message: fight for your rights. Consequently the cigar is intended to have very Straightforward, distinctive flavors. In the case of the molotov, the shape offers the added bonus of seeing how the blend tastes in 3 distinct wrapper/binder filler ratios, as the cigar's ring gauge starts at 44, goes up to 58, and back down to 38"

The new MATASA factory is a impressive building that the whole Quesada clan is just getting settled into. I'm sure by next year's ProCigar, it will be one of the most stunning factories in the Dominican Republic.

Vitola: "Molotov"
Length:  5
Ring Gauge: 44 - 58 - 38 in that order
Wrapper: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Price: $7.95
Smoking Location: My back deck
Beverage: Water

So as one of my last posts stated, I recently made my way down to Esteli, Nicaragua with Pete Johnson (owner of Tatuaje Cigars), KC Johnson (Pete's brother), Dan Welsh (owner of New Havana Cigars), Casper (Owner/ Managing Partner at GoMerch, who does all of Tatuaje's swag/media), and a few great shop owners from lower Florida. (Smoke on the water, Prime Cigar, Harbor Cigars) It was a fantastic trip and, like every time I visit the country, I learn so much. Below is a break down of what we did and where we went on each day. I'm not including all the details because I'm sure I've forgotten some in the late nights of partaking on the rooftop of hotel Los Arcos. I also took a bit of video that, as soon as Mario has chance to edit it together, I will post up. I think I got some really nice footage of the factory and the farms, but we'll see.

Anyway, on to the trip recap.

I know we just got back from ProCigar last week, but I'm off again on cigar adventure number two for 2012. Next week I am heading down to Nicaragua with my good friends Pete Johnson (owner of the Tatuaje brand of cigars), Dan Welsh (owner of New Havana Cigars) and KC Johnson (Pete's brother who I hung out with a lot last year at the IPCPR tradeshow.) I'm not sure what to expect on this trip because it's my first trip to the country that is not a formal "blogger" tour. I do know that when I asked Pete last week at ProCigar what we would be smoking, he had the best answer. He told me, "When we get up, you tell me what we're smoking that day." I'm sure he saw the big sh*t eating grin appear on my face. So, like the trip last week, the best way to get updates from me on my trip and to find out what we end up smoking, is via twitter (reeve11)(cigarexplorer). Also, you should follow Dan Welsh (NHCDAN) and Pete (tatuajecigars) if you don't already.

While I am gone Mario will continue with the updates from last weeks ProCigar festival. He's working hard on the videos and we've got a ton of footage so check back often. 

I'm very excited for this trip and haven't stopped thinking about it since Pete asked me if I wanted to go. Wish me luck and see you in a week.

Dan