Featured Cigars - April 2014

Worldwide, AVO sells over three million cigars annually – a big jump from its first year production of 100,000 cigars back in 1988. The brand was created from the passion of fine tobacco possessed by one Avo Uvezian, the son of a family of musicians from Beirut. Avo moved from Beirut to New York to study piano at Julliard and after opening a restaurant and piano bar in Puerto Rico in the early ‘80s, he discovered his love for cigars.

The name 5 Vegas comes from a legendary true story about the brand's origin. Five renowned tobacco farmers in Cuba took leaves from each of their fields and blended them to create the progenitor of this distinctive blend. The simple gold and blue band suits a cigar this classy. This tobacco-packed, dark chocolate gem's construction is near perfect. Smooth and oily to the touch, with its rounded triple cap and prominent veins, 5 Vegas is also pleasing to the eye. Originally made in the El Rey de los Habanos factory in Nicaragua, this handmade stogie recently made the move to the G.R. Tabacaleras factory in Miami, Florida’s cigar center, Calle Ocho. Not to be out done by the original, master blender and owner George Rico utilized an oily and golden brown Habano Ecuador wrapper that sits atop a Nicaguaran binder and a vintage Cuban-seed blend of Nicaraguan long-fillers. Look for a spicy opening, followed by an array of earthy, leathery flavors—and a lot of smoke. Expertly balanced, as the cigar burns, there are pleasant notes of savory spice and pepper. Halfway through, the stogie's strength stretches into the full-bodied realm. Consider pairing it with an English Bitter.

Guillermo Leon Herbert's family has been cultivating tobacco for six generations. His grandfather, Don Eduardo Leon Jimenes, founded La Aurora Cigars, located on the outskirts of Santiago, Dominican Republic with little more than a dream. He selected Santiago de los Caballeros, a region blessed with fertile ground and an ideal climate for tobacco to produce his cigars. The Leon family began farming tobacco in the late 1880s, and in 1903 Don...

Abe Flores of Pinar Del Rio has created a specialty Dominican blend that is a taste of Cuba, and it’s delicious! This handmade has influences of Cuba’s rich history, including a traditional pigtail cap, and packaging that is adorned with Cuba’s first national hero, Hatuey, who led the rebellion against the Conquistadors in 1512. Even though the look of the cigar is Cuban inspired, this handmade hails from a boutique factory in the Dominican Republic. It features a well-aged Criollo ’98 Ecuadorian wrapper, a zesty Dominican Habano binder, and a premium blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican long-fillers. Full to medium-bodied and slow burning, expect flavors of pepper with notes of cedar, sweetness, earth, and spice on the finish. Try it with a Manhattan.

Out of the gates, John Bull has already been called “the working man’s Excalibur.” The cigar is pretty, with a dark, toothy appearance thanks to the silky Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper that cloaks a mellow blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos. Together they deliver a fairly smooth, mild to medium-bodied smoke. Upon first light, note the interesting mix of dark tobacco flavors and crisp, mellower tobacco flavors with notes of cedar and...