Since its initial release in 2005 the Partagas Serie P No.2 has proven immensely popular with Havana cigar smokers the world over. In 2005 Habanos were awarded the DFNI product award for the best new product in the tobacco category with this release. And for good reason.. this 156mm x 52 ring gauge torpedo, or piramide, is made by hand with leaves carefully selected from the best tobacco plantations in the Vuelta Abajo area. Recently this classic cigar has been released as a tubos edition. The new aluminium tube packaging is stunning as its predominantly black and red colouring reflects a new contemporary edge for the Partagas brand.  

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Originally discontinued in 1992 Habanos S.A. have now re-released the Bolivar Gold Medal exclusively to La Casa del Habano stores and licensed distributors. The Bolivar Gold Medal traditionally has been one of the most sought after of all Cuban cigars. With its trade mark gold foil wrapper this Cervante has also been one of the most powerful of all Havanas. Originally made in small quantities its quality was also second to none. With a ring gauge of 42 and a length of 165mm the Bolivar Gold Medal is offered in boxes of tens. When discontinued in 1992 it was reported that it wasn’t possible to source the quantity of gold foil required to wrap and finish the Gold Medals. With its reputation etched in the minds of Havana smokers this well loved cigar made a come back in 2005.

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In 1992 Habanos S.A. launched the Línea 1492 line with the range commemerating the Christopher Columbus voyage to the Americas. The initial launch included the Siglo I, Siglo II, Siglo III, Siglo IV and Siglo V. Each of the five vitolas represents the five centuries that have elapsed since the Columbus voyage with the Siglo VI added later in 2002. Rumour has it the original Línea 1492 was a replacement for the Davidoff line that was officially discontinued in 1991. Each of the initial five Siglo vitolas corresponded to a size in the Cuban Davidoff range. All Línea 1492 cigars are manufactured with tobacco leaves grown in the Vuelta Abajo region. The Línea 1492 tobacco, as with all Cohiba tobacco, is unique as it is subjected to a third fermentation process. Cohiba maintain that this process achieves a substantial reduction in residual ammonia, tar and nicotine; giving all Cohiba cigars a unique aroma and taste.

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Since 1960 Cuban cigar boxes have all been branded with the words “Hecho en Cuba” on the underside of the box. It’s worth noting that these brandings are not ink stamps but are actually burnt in by branding the underside of the boxes. If you run your finger over the branding you can actually feel the indentation caused by this method. In addition since 1994 the underside of the boxes have also been branded with “Habanos S.A.” who of course are the only Cuban Enterprise authorized to export Havana Cigars from Cuba.

Since 1989 boxes of traditional long filler Habanos, or Tripa Larga, have been branded “Totalmente a Mano” which translates to “Totally by Hand”. Boxes of short filler Habanos are also branded with the words “Totalmente a Mano” and since 2002 also ink stamped with the letters TC “Tripa Corta” which translates to ”Short Filler”.

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Cigar Aficionado has consistently rated the Romeo y Julieta No.4 Exhibicion highly and scores in the nineties for this cigar are not uncommon. This hand-made hermoso no.4 is 127 mm long with a ring gauge of 48. This high selling vitola comes with a solid reputation as an aromatic, medium to strong smoke with excellent combustion. The drink partnering this cigar for the review is the new Platinum Blonde low-carb beer. Incidentally this beer has just been launched as a private label by the Woolworths supermarket chain in an effort to capture 10% of the $420 million low carb beer market by the end of the Australian summer. Anyway.. on with the review!

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Winston Churchill’s love of Cuban cigars has been well documented over the years and it has been said he typically smoked between eight and ten per day.

Churchill’s favourite brands included Romeo y Julieta and the now extinct La Aroma de Cuba. Churchill had many supply options and even during the prohibitive war years managed to keep stocks high. At Chartwell Manor, his home in the English countryside, Churchill stocked between three and four thousand cigars, most of which were Cuban, in a room adjoining his private study. In storage the cigars were kept in original boxes on the shelves, all of which were labelled. Churchill categorised his cigars in the following groups: large, small, wrapped and naked. The idea was to differentiate the cigar sizes and if in fact they were wrapped in cellophane. Over the years Churchill spent vast amounts of money on his cigar collection. Roy Howells, one of Churchill’s valets, wrote in his book, Simply Churchill, “It took me a little while to get used to the fact that in two days his cigar consumption was the equivalent of my weekly salary.”

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In the early 1920’s the Italian almanac, Il Tabacco, published an interesting article titled “Sigaromanzia”. The article considered the twelve most common ways of holding a cigar and correlated these to psychological characteristics of the smoker.

It appears the study by Italian psychologists was quite accurate. A similar experiment was conducted by a number of modern psychologists and surprisingly the results were comparable. Next time you’re sitting down, smoking a Cuban cigar with a colleague pay attention to the way they hold their cigar. You may learn a little about their character or psyche. What does the way you hold your Cuban cigar say about you?

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The Romeo y Julieta brand was established in 1875 by Inocencio Alvarez and Mannin Garcia. The brand is named after the famous Shakespeare tragedy which has undoubtedly contributed to its popularity. Between 1885 and 1900 Romeo y Julieta won several awards at different tasting events with the gold medals still displayed on the logo today. The brand really blossomed after it was acquired by Jose “Pepin” Rodriguez Fernandez in 1903. Rodriguez constantly travelled across Europe and the U.S. heavily marketing the brand, this included entering his horse, the suitably named Julieta, in races around the world. Sir Winston Churchill is known as the brand’s most famous aficionado with the flagship vitola of the brand named in his honour; the Churchill.

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Juan Cano Sainz and his wife lived above their warehouse on 39 Bernaza Street in Old Havana, Cuba. Their three children were all born in this house and after a while shifted to a town house on the corner of Teniente Rey and Bernaza Street; the birthplace of La Flor de Cano. In 1932 Juan hired a cigar maker to roll cigars on his kitchen table. Sales increased quickly and a second cigar maker was hired to keep up with growing demand. As his customer base continued to grow Juan established his own company and created a brand under his family’s name; La Flor de Cano. The brand gained its esteemed reputation in the 1980s by offering brilliantly crafted cigars made from the finest tobacco.

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Made exclusively by Habanos SA for the The Pacific Cigar Company, the Por Larranaga Robustos LE 2007 will be exclusive to the Asia Pacific region for the next two years. The robusto size was undoubtedly chosen as the 2007 regional edition due to the current trend of shorter, thicker gauge cigars. Por Larranaga has never released a robusto cigar in its portfolio making this regional release unique. The Por Larranaga Robusto has a length of 124mm with a 50 ring gauge size (19.8mm diameter) and looks majestic with its gold and silver double bands. The impeccable construction and appearance will also impress with its dark and oily wrapper.

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