It's time to hit the road again and go on another Cigar Adventure. This time, Mario and I are both traveling to Nicaragua to attend the Drew Estate Cigar Safari. We were lucky enough to do this trip once before in 2011 and I must say that it was a hell of a good time. This trip will be different though because unlike last time, we actually know all of the other guys who are "Safari-ing" with us..

The list of people attending this trip (and their twitter accounts) so you can follow them for updates:

Dan Reeve @reeve11
Mario Takeyama @cigarexplorer
Ben Lee @NTA_Ben
Thor Nielsen @cigarpress
Tony Casas @tonycasas
Brooks Whittington @elbrooksie
Charlie Minato @elninodiablo
Jay Luto @jerseyjay
Jerry Cruz @jcruz
Brian Hewitt @brianhewitt

(sorry if I missed someone)

Since all of these guys (except Thor) are bloggers, I'm sure this trip will be covered at great lengths over the next month or so. I'm really looking forward to getting back to Nicaragua, as it's a country that I have grown to love. It feels like my home away from home.

Catch you all next week.

Dan and Mario

It's a beautiful day today in Columbus, so I took the dog to the park and decided to do a review of the new release in the Exclusivo blend from Viaje. In the past, the Exclusivo line had been my favorite from Viaje and it has never disappointed. This is the third time this line has been released in the robusto format which is a bit more traditional than the other shapes we have seen in the past. For a good picture of all of the different sizes of the Exclusivo, check out the blog Halfwheel's photo here.

Well the dog is off and playing, so it's time to get this stick fired up and see what the 2012 Viaje Exclusivo has in store.

Specifics
Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Criollo
Binder:Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $9.20
Smoking Location: Wheeler Dog Park, Columbus, Ohio
Beverage: water

Last week I made it's way to Washington D.C. for Cigar Rights of America and interviewed 6 times Grammy winning artist, Arturo Sandoval. Personally I am big fan of Arturo since 80's. This video is 1min Trailer, so more to come for full interview! Stay tune!

Interview with Glynn Loope & Arturo Sandoval at the capitol step in Washington D.C. on May 11, 2012.
This video was shot by Sony HDR-CX580V.

URL:
cigarrights.org
arturosandoval.com

Buy Arturo's music at itunes.apple.com/us/artist/arturo-sandoval/id75007

Last week I received a package from Smoke Inn which contained two of the cigars up for review today. I honestly hadn't heard of these cigars until they were on my doorstep. Erik Espinosa was one half of the popular, but now defunct, EO brands. I had been a fan of EO for a long time so I'm happy to see that both Erik with this E Doble and Eddie with his Serie D are still in the  tobacco business. One thing to note is I do not know who is making this cigar, but I do know that it is not where the EO brand cigars were made in the past. I'm sure someone knows who is making it, and if you are reading this, please add a comment with the answer. On to the review.

Specifics
Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano
Binder:Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $2.50
Smoking Location: NHC Office
Beverage: water

My review today is the 2012 release from Padron for the Tobacconists' Association of America, Ltd.  According to their mission statement, the Tobacconists' Association of America (or TAA) is a membership group of select retailers and manufacturers that get together to:

To provide an open forum of ideas, strategies, and problem solving between retail tobacconist and vendors to the trade.

I don't know much about the TAA, as I have not really looked into the group because of its primary focus on retailers, however I do know that some of the manufacturers make a special cigar for each shop in the group and in the past some of them have been very well received.  Let's get this cigar fired up and see what Jorge and the Padron crew have in store for me this time. On to the review.

Specifics
Vitola: Toro
Length: 5 1/2
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder:Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: ?
Smoking Location: My Back Deck
Beverage: water