Featured Cigars

June 2008

Featured Cigar	Shape	Size	Strength	Country	Panel Rating
Angel 100 1961	Corona	6.0 x 45	7.0	Nicaragua	89
Graycliff 1666 Presidente	Churchill	7.0 x 48	7.0	Honduras	92
La Flor de Cano Selectos	Robusto	5.0 x 54	7.5	Honduras	88
Sol Cubano Cuban Cabinet No. 2	Torpedo	6.0 x 52	7.5	Nicaragua	89
Victor Sinclair Connecticut Yankee	Toro	6.0 x 52	5.5	Dominican	90

Angel 100 1961 Corona

Angel 100 was created to celebrate the life's work of Angel Oliva. Angel Oliva –no relation to the Oliva family that makes the Serie 'O'—is one of the biggest names in the cigar industry. One of the largest tobacco growers in the world, this Oliva family is a tobacco empire unto its own. Born into the industry in 1907, Angel and his family provide the entire cigar industry with premium tobacco leaf. An overwhelming majority of today's top cigar makers use Oliva leaves.

Like the man himself, Angel's flavorful Nicaraguan namesake is rich, bold and brimming with character. Not having met him, we're not sure whether Angel is handsome but his stick, with its slight box-press, sure is. It's beautifully constructed, smooth and oily and has a slightly toothy wrapper. The prelight aroma is almost coffee bean like. The draw is easy and the stogie produces lots of thick smoke. As the cigar burns, the flavor becomes stronger and more complex, picking up a nice sweetness on the aftertaste. Pair this medium-bodied smoke with a good Doppel Bock beer, like Paulaner's Salvator or Ayinger's Celebrator, two remarkable examples of the style that will accentuate the sweeter notes in this cigar. If you're not familiar with the beers and would like to be, please consider joining our Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club at www.beermonthclub.com.

Graycliff 1666 Presidente Churchill

Founded by Graycliff Resort owner, Enrico Garzaroli, the Graycliff Cigar Company has achieved fame worldwide for high-end, handcrafted cigars produced in the lush tropical setting of the prestigious Bahamian resort by the same name. The site of the Graycliff Resort was originally a church built in 1666, one of Nassau's first structures and certainly most prominent. Known as the "Pride of the Bahamas," this historic site later served as a fort before becoming home to the 5-star resort it is today. Winston Churchill, Aristotle Onassis, Paul Newman, King Constantine and the Beatles are among the many who have visited over the years.

An enthusiastic cigar aficionado, Garzaroli dreamed of producing truly top-shelf cigars to complement the fine wine and cuisine in his first class restaurants. He partnered with Cuban cigar legend Avelino Lara to create Graycliff Cigar Company. Lara was responsible for Castro's personal smokes and then the Cohiba line. Grayhills—initially offered as an amenity for guests at the hotel—are handmade in a small area behind the renowned Nassau resort. With an unyielding devotion to superior quality and consistency, Lara oversees the production of each cigar. Only a few hundred are rolled each day, and they're known for exceptional body and flavor without being overly harsh. Because of their focus on quality, they have thrived in spite of entering the premium cigar business in 1998 at the end of the cigar boom.

Graycliff '1666' was crafted to celebrate the resort's nearly 450-year history. This rich, redolent beauty sports a dark, toothy Jaltepec maduro wrapper. The filler consists of extensively-aged Peruvian, Columbian, Brazilian, and Mexican long-fillers—a multi-country mixture secured by an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder. The result is a perfectly balanced cigar with a smorgasbord of unique flavors and mouthwatering aromas. Look for deep, smooth, notes of earth, nuts, and coffee with the faintest hint of sweet spices. The 1966 is a luxurious and memorable medium-bodied experience. Enjoy it with a smoky single malt scotch—Laphroaig and Lagavulin, for instance.

La Flor de Cano Selectos Robusto

La Flor de Cano, manufactured in Danli, Honduras, is the reincarnation of a renowned Cuban brand introduced in 1884 by the Cano brothers, Tomas and Jose. Today, the original is one of the hardest Cubans to find, due to a relatively small annual production—not that we can find Cubans in this country, anyway. Fortunately, we have wonderful alternatives, and La Flor de Cano Selectos is a stellar example.

Its extra-dark, toothy Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper leaf cloaks a long-filler mixture that includes Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Mexican tobaccos. The construction is flawless. Panelists note the draw is easy and there's plenty of smoke. Medium-bodied, the blend has a rich, earthy core. After each first puff there's a subtle woodiness and some spice through the nose which, by the final third of the cigar, begins to smack the palate as the strength grows into the full-bodied range. The finish is long and robust, with a toasty sweetness and strong peppery notes at the end. While not often mentioned as a traditional alcohol accompaniment, a 100% blue agave, peppery tequila works beautifully with the complex flavors of this cigar.

Sol Cubano Cuban Cabinet No. 2 Torpedo

Sol Cubano blends are the workhorses of cigars. They're priced right and offer exceptional quality, day after day. But the new Cuban Cabinet blend definitely takes things up a notch. The latte colored vitola is perhaps the most visually impressive of this month's offerings. Its choice Ecuadorian Habano wrapper glistens with oil. Leathery and supple to the touch, the Sol Cubano Cuban Cabinet is heavy in the hand, making it a pleasure to hold as well as gaze at. Manufactured in Esteli, Nicaragua, each is generously filled with a masterly blended Nicaraguan and Honduran Cuban-seed filler combo. The result is a complex smoke that's medium to full-bodied. Panel members noted a spicy earthiness up front but found it tempered by a long, leathery finish. Midway through, the flavor of the cigar became notably more robust and the spicy flavor more intense. This beauty is so rich it's almost decadent. Match with an oaken XO cognac.

Victor Sinclair Connecticut Yankee Toro

With its wide gold ring and the equally wide band at its foot, the attractive packaging of Victor Sinclair's Connecticut Yankee speaks to the pride Victor Sinclair takes in this stick. Four years ago he purchased a small, experimental cache of a rare wrapper tobacco—Connecticut-grown, Havana-seed leaf. Neither broadleaf or shade-grown, the wrapper delivers a distinctively smooth, rich flavor that begins with light chocolate and nutty tones and transitions to a light leathery taste. This mild to medium-bodied cigar burns evenly throughout the smoke and is so mellow you're going to want to enjoy it right down to the nub!

Easygoing, this is a great smoke to fire up in the early hours of the day. Sit down with the Sunday paper, a cup of coffee and this Connecticut Yankee and you'll be reminded of the value of life's simple pleasures.