Boutique Blends La Boheme Pittore

Debuting at the 2014 IPCPR Trade Show, La Boheme was also the first cigar to come out of the Boutique Blends portfolio. The name comes from Giacomo Puccini’s illustrious 1895 opera, which also happens to be Rafael Nodal’s favorite work. The cigar comes in four different sizes named after characters in the opera; Pittore, the size you have in your shipment today, represents Marcello the painter. This stunning smoke comes from cigar legend Jose ‘Jochy’ Blanco’s Tabacalera La Palma in the Dominican Republic. The cigar itself boasts a gorgeous Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, a Dominican binder, and well-aged Dominican fillers. Medium in body, expect delicious notes of wood, nuts, coffee, cream, and caramel. Cigar Aficionado gave this sing worthy smoke a 94 rating and the 12th position in their prestigious Top 25 of 2015. So warm up those pipes with your favorite whiskey and start singing your heart out!

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.