Featured Cigar	Shape	Size	Strength	Country	Panel Rating
El Mejor Espresso	Torpedo	6.5 x 54	5.0	Nicaragua	90
La Bieja Habana "Fumas" Toro Tubos	Toro	6 x 50	6.5	Nicaragua	89
Macanudo Robust Series Hyde Park	Toro	5.5 x 50	7.0	Dominican	91
Mayorga Maduro	Robusto	4.75 x 50	7.0	Nicaragua	90
Persomo Reserve Cuban Cafe X	Torpedo	7 x 54	7.5	Nicaragua	93

El Mejor Espresso Torpedo

El Mejor Espresso is a distinctively dark Nicaraguan that melds the smooth subtleties of delicate aging with the kick of hearty Nicaraguan & Mexican tobaccos. The Mexican maduro wrapper is velvety smooth to the touch, with ample oil. Our panel is always torn between smoking these types and eating them up like candy bars (hey—it’s easy to confuse the two—it’s dark, you have to unwrap it, and is box-pressed to boot!) The term Espresso is not intended to describe any sort of flavor infusion, but rather, the deep dark color and subtle notes of black coffee & cocoa that you can expect in the flavor profile. Much like well-made microbrewed beer, tobacco and malted barley, when treated and cured in the proper fashion, will impart in the finished product a range of robust flavors. Like an authentic stout, there’s no chocolate or coffee involved in the making of this product; the full range of flavors come naturally from the way the tobaccos have been grown and cured. Our panel found this cigar to be exceptionally easy to smoke, providing a gentle draw throughout. The aroma is sweet and carries through to the sweet and spicy finish. A mild-to-medium-bodied smoke, this cigar has the power to hold up to a steak dinner, but alternatively will work mid-day with lunch—Nestor Plasencia has put his genius to work once again to make this versatile, flavorful cigar. Enjoy with a dry Irish stout like Guinness or an Imperial Stout like Old Rasputin by North Coast Brewing Company.

La Vieja Habana “Fumas” Toro Tubos

The cigar fiends at Drew Estate have done their part to reinvigorate the cigar industry. With the release of several unique brands of cigars, including Acid and Subculture lines, they’re renowned for creating high quality, premium smokes that come with shapes and names as unusual and creative as the blends themselves. We have them to thank for bringing back this brand, which has appeared and disappeared from the market a few times before being delivered from inconsistency and lackluster. First on the market in 1994, the cigar was made in New York, and later (’96-98) made in Miami. For 4 years it vanished from the scene until 2002 when our friends brought it back with a vengeance. Now handmade in Esteli, Nicaragua, the La Vieja Habana "Fumas" series offers an Ecuadorian-grown Cuban Corojo wrapper and a filler blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos grown in the nutrient-rich soils of the Esteli and Jalapa Valleys of Nicaragua. Slow-burning and cool-smoking, these rich and flavorful smokes reveal gentle notes of spice and earthy flavors throughout. An enhanced variety, the individually sealed tubos (featured here), were released in 2004 and offer a lighter, creamier smoke with an abundance of smooth, tasty flavors. Expect swirls of billowing light grey smoke to fill the air as you enjoy this stogie with morning coffee or a mild cabernet.

Macanudo Robust Series Hyde Park Toro

Macanudo cigars are produced by the General Cigar Company, and are the top-selling cigar brand in the US. Produced in the company of other greats such as Bolivar, Cifuentas, Cohiba, Partagas, and Punch, among others, the company has been delivering high-quality cigars since 1848. Introduced in 1999, the all maduro Macanudo Robust Series line presents a specially blended combination of tobaccos that provide smooth, yet full-bodied taste. Macanudo has produced maduro shapes before, but this line is the cream of the crop of Macanudo maduros. While Macanudos have always been known as consistently well-made, mild cigars, they often go overlooked by those seeking a fuller bodied smoke. The blend we’re featuring here, over four years in the making, was designed to satisfy those palates. Now featuring a complex blend of Dominican, Mexican and Honduran tobaccos wrapped in dark Connecticut Shade wrappers, you'll notice a more flavorful, medium-to-full-bodied Macanudo that may surprise you. The robustness comes from a blend of the richest Dominican Piloto Cubano tobaccos and a unique Havana seed binder grown especially for this cigar in the Connecticut River Valley. The smooth taste comes from the darkest and most thoroughly aged of all Connecticut shade wrappers. Great balance in the hand and in flavor, expect robust, earthy notes, with a mild woody spiciness in the finish. Enjoy this Macanudo Robust with a robust porter.

Mayorga Maduro Robusto

Handmade in Esteli, Nicaragua, this cigar also impressed Cigar Aficionado with a '90' rating. Rolled with a dark, moist, smooth maduro wrapper and Nicaraguan Ligero & Seca long-filler and Piloto Cubano binder, Mayorga begins with a mild-bodied taste, and builds to a very pleasing medium-bodied flavor. Expertly constructed, it is dense and firm—devoid of soft spots. Not only gorgeous, it’s educational too! This cigar gives us a good opportunity to study wrapper colors; its wrapper color is somewhere between Colorado-maduro (slightly darker than Colorado claro) and maduro. Compare the color with the El Mejor Espresso Torpedo we’ve sent you (if you haven’t reduced it to ash yet)—which is unquestionably maduro in shade (any darker and it would be black, or “oscuro”). Expect unspoiled tobacco flavors that build in complexity and intensity through the smoke, complemented by a slight sweetness on the lips at the start and picking up spicier notes toward the finish. May is the perfect month for Mayorga! As the weather warms, it’s time to get back outdoors. This is a cigar you can enjoy outdoors while golfing or just relaxing in the good ‘ol hammock with a Farmhouse or Saison ale, or perhaps as you’re dusting off the grill for an early -summer picnic (Memorial Day anyone?). Be sure to have the essentials as you kick off the summer, including microbrewed beers to quench your thirst, boutique cheeses for a gourmet-style appetizer, and of course, fresh cut flowers as a table setting. All these and more are available through our various monthly clubs—check out our full range of gourmet and boutique offerings at www.monthlyclubs.com and let the summer begin!

Perdomo Reserve Cuban Café X Torpedo

In our continuing quest to explore the remarkable cigars by master blender Nick Perdomo, we’ve found another favorite to share. The latest addition to his famed La Tradicion Perdomo Reserve series is the Cuban Café line. If you’ve been a cigar club member for at least a few months, you’ve sampled a few cigars from the expansive Perdomo Reserve line. New members may have been inspired to strike out on their own and sample these master works of cigar blending upon reading high praise from Cigar Aficionado and SMOKE magazines. Many, including our cigar panel members, think this, the Cuban Café line, is his ultimate masterpiece. The Cuban Café is marked by a gorgeous wrapper that is a unique Cuban-seed strain grown in the rich soils of the Jalapa Valley. This new wrapper is potent and full-flavored, combining an increased spiciness while retaining the characteristic, much-loved Cuban sweetness. Expect a medium-to-full body, supported by spice that foreshadows its robust finale, which is powered mainly by the dark Nicaraguan tobaccos in the blend. Look for hints of coffee, nuts, and toasted cedar, with the spiciness that is present at the opening mellowing to a rich and creamy complex flavor. Complex and savory, this is a super-premium cigar. Try with XO Cognac or a full-bodied Tawny Port.

Discounted Box Re-Orders!

Members can take advantage of our volume purchasing and re-order their favorite cigars in box quantities at just over our wholesale costs. Re-order any selection featured in the box quantities listed below or order them in convenient 5 paks! Other cigar shapes and sizes not actually featured, but from a featured brand line may also be re-ordered. Call for pricing.

Featured Cigar	Box Quantity	Box Cost	5 Pack Cost
El Mejor Espresso	20	$72.50	$23
La Bieja Habana "Fumas" Toro Tubos	16	$48.50	$20
Macanudo Robust Series Hyde Park	25	$110.50	$27
Mayorga Maduro	20	$68.50	$22
Persomo Reserve Cuban Cafe X	25	$92.50	$24

Please allow 1-2 weeks for delivery and add $7.95 for S&H for your first box and $3.00 for each additional box or grab bag. S&H for 5-packs is $4.95 and $1.50 for each additional 5-pak. All reorders are sent Priority mail unless otherwise requested. CA residents please add 7.75 % Sales Tax. S&H for International re-orders must be calculated on an individual basis. Prices are subject to change.