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AVO Classic Natural Robusto – Bury the Leaf There are cigars you buy because you know exactly what you’re getting, and then there are cigars that show up in a sampler pack and start an argument. The AVO Classic Natural Robusto did the latter. I’m not a Connecticut guy. That isn’t breaking news around The…
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Don Pepin Garcia Vegas Cubanas Toro – Bury the Leaf Sometimes the cigar you remember isn’t necessarily the one that beat you over the head with complexity, strength, or some flavor note that requires three adjectives and a thesaurus to explain. Sometimes it’s the cigar that catches you completely off guard. The Don Pepin Garcia…
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Macanudo Emissary Espana Robusto – Bury the Leaf There are brands you overlook because you tried them and decided they weren’t for you. Then there are brands you overlook because somewhere along the way you decided what they were without really giving them a chance. Macanudo was firmly in the second camp for me. Had…
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Romeo y Julieta 1875 Miami Deco Toro – Bury the Leaf There are cigars you hunt down. Cigars you hear about for months, finally find sitting in a humidor, and grab before somebody else has the same idea. Then there are cigars like the Romeo y Julieta 1875 Miami Deco Toro. I would have walked…
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Macanudo Cafe’ Prince Philip Churchill – Bury the Leaf There is something almost admirable about a cigar that knows exactly what it is and refuses to apologize for it. The Macanudo Café Prince Philip isn’t trying to start a bar fight. It isn’t showing up in a leather jacket with a switchblade and a bad…
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J.C. Newman Diamond Crown Julius Caeser Toro – Bury the Leaf There are cigars you smoke. There are cigars you contemplate. And apparently, there are cigars you spend an evening performing minor outpatient surgery on with a Swiss Army knife. The Diamond Crown Julius Caeser Toro was supposed to be the first two. Instead, it…
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West Tampa Tobacco Co. White Label Toro – Bury the Leaf There are controlled environments, and then there is sitting in a hotel parking lot south of Rochester, New York, smoking a cigar because August somehow decided 62 degrees was an acceptable temperature. The West Tampa Tobacco Company White Toro got the latter. No lounge.…
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Rocky Patel 2026 Year of the Horse Churchill – Bury the Leaf There is something inherently funny about building a cigar around the Fire Horse—a symbol supposedly associated with intensity, energy, and a refusal to be restrained—and then handing somebody a seven-inch Churchill. Churchills are supposed to require a little commitment. Clear the calendar. Settle…
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Rocky Patel 2025 Year of the Snake – Bury the Leaf There are cigars that make reviewing easy. They taste good, they burn well, they behave themselves, and by the time they hit the ashtray you pretty much know where everybody stands. Then there are cigars that spend nearly two hours arguing with themselves. The…
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Elite Cigar & Smoke – Rochester, NY There is a difference between walking into a cigar shop looking for something to smoke and walking into one after spending months thinking, writing, talking, and probably overthinking cigars. I’ve worked in the Rochester area for years and have visited Elite Cigar & Smoke before. This wasn’t some…