Simply Stogies

Cigar Review: Year of the Dragon by Plasencia

The Chinese New Year  is one of the cigar industry’s way to incorporate an embrace Chinese history and their culture. The Chinese zodiac releases each year find a way to connect us; which makes sense, considering that cigars are meant to bring us together. The fun part about these Chinese zodiac releases is that it…

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Cigar Lounge Review: Boll Weevil Fine Cigars in Enterprise, Alabama

Back at the end of July ’24, I found myself in LA (lower Alabama) for a launch party for the “Mean Jean” from Lure Cigars. That cigar launch just happened to be at Boll Weevil Fine Cigars in Enterprise, Alabama. When I asked owner Stephen Frank why the shop was named after an insect, he…

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Cigar Review: Fiat Lux Tenebrus Limited Edition from Luciano Cigars

The Fiat Lux Tenebrus gets its name from the Latin “lux ex tenebris” which means “light from darkness.” It’s a great play on the original Fiat Lux, the Latin, “fiat lux,” which means “let there be light.” The Fiat Lux Tenebrus Limited Edition features two wrappers. The first is a Honduran habano Azuacualpa from the…

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Pipe Tobacco Review: Boswell Pipes Railroad Station

Eli Manning got two superbowls rings, both against the dynastic Patriots and the most successful quarterback of all time, before his more famous older brother – but if you hear about the great quarterback Manning, do you not think about Peyton first? Northwoods is the Peyton Manning of Boswell’s English tobaccos. There are nine English…

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Cigar Review: Micallef Red Toro

Micallef Cigars, from Weatherford, Texas, has released the Red in their unofficially named color series. This marks the third release in two years. The Red follows the Blue (released at PCA 2024 earlier this year) and the Black (released June 2023). Produced at Micallef’ Cigars S.A. facility in Estelí, Nicaragua, the Red features a San…

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Cigar Review: AGANORSA Leaf Arsenio Toro

In July of this year, AGANORSA began shipping the AGANORSA Leaf Arsenio. The Arsenio is a  cigar named after Arsenio Ramos. Ramos was a longtime blender for Casa Fernandez, now AGANORSA Leaf. Before that, Arsenio worked 40yrs in Cubatabaco. Terence Reilly, Vice President of Aganorsa Leaf, credits Arsenio for much of  Aganorsa’s signature flavor and…

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Cigar Review: Daughters of the Wind Robusto (Pony) from Casdagli Cigars

The Daughters of the Wind Robusto was originally released in 2018. It was the first sub $10.00 ($9.25 MSRP) in the Casdagli Cigars lineup. Since it’s release the Pony, as the DotW Robusto is affectionately known, has undergone some changes. First, it is no longer a sub $10.00 cigar. The MSRP is now  $11.00. The…

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Cigar Review: La Bomba 601 Warhead X

Espinosa Cigars is the cigar manufacturer that I credit with giving me that “oh, I get it now” moment with cigars. I just have not had the opportunity to smoke a lot of Espinosa in the last few years. The exception to that is the 601 La Bomba Warhead series. This seems to be one…

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Cigar Review: Blue Eyed Jack’s Revenge by Adventura

ADVentura is a cooperation that began in 2016 between Marcel Knobel, a Swiss retailer, tobacconist, marketer, and sommelier and the youngest master blender in the industry, Henderson Ventura. I have has several cigars from ADVentura and I really enjoyed The Queens Pearls and The Conqueror. They both had a good amount of complexity and bold…

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Cigar Lounge Review: FUMA Cigar Social in Tallahassee, Florida

Just a little over three years ago FUMA Cigar Social was under different management. When the original owners wanted to sell, they approached two of their regular customers and asked if they would be interested in taking over the business. Chuck and Marquis said, “Yes.” Three years later and FUMA Cigar Social has made some…

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