Cigar of the Year 2020: E.P. Carrillo Pledge Prequel
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15 Jan
Cigar News

Cigar of the Year 2020: E.P. Carrillo Pledge Prequel

The E.P. Carrillo Pledge Prequel just got the most important rating (arguably) in the cigar community: CIGAR OF THE YEAR for 2020 from Cigar Aficionado!

Congratulations to the E.P. Carillo Pledge line and the amazing people that make up the E.P. Carillo company.

The E.P. Carrillo Pledge Prequel is a 5 x 50 box-pressed robusto beauty that is hand crafted with a Connecticut Havana-seed wrapper, Ecuadoran binder and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s made at the company’s factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic named Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. The entire Pledge cigar line has been slowly trickling into the marketplace after the factory was forced to shut down for a time due to the pandemic.

Birth of the Pledge

This cigar is the follow-up to the Encore release that happened to be named #1 in 2018 by Cigar Aficionado. Interestingly enough the Pledge has roots with Cigar Aficionado magazine. In fact the name was chosen by the 2019 Big Smoke (Las Vegas) attendees who voted between Bequest, Pledge and Prequel.

Lissette Perez-Carrillo, Ernesto’s daughter, said:

“I wanted our cigar fans to join us in naming this very special release”.

Ernesto Perez-Carrillo has marked his 50th year of working in the cigar industry with yet another #1 rating.

If you would like to read the official press release from the Pledge line, you can just click here. Or to read Cigar Aficionado’s top 10 list of 2020 you can locate it here.

Warped Sky Flower Lancero
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12 Jan
Cigar News, Reviews

Warped Sky Flower Lancero

The Warped Sky Flower Lancero (technically the 2020 release) is a limited production cigar that is part of their Flor del Valle line. This years release comes in a 7 x 40 Lancero format that utilizes an all Nicaraguan blend (Aganorsa) but features the medio tiempo leaf in the blend.

Medio tiempo leaf is something that grows on some plants, as it is a “random occurrence offshoot of the ligero priming“, and is very difficult to harvest. More specifically Aganorsa, the grower of tobacco for Warped, further defines it as Medio Tiempo Criollo ’98 that grows at the very top of the plant. This creates additional thickness and oils in the leaf for more body, depth, aroma and richness in the smoke profile.

Smoking The Sky Flower

After letting the cigars rest for a few days we wanted to give you a quick take on this cigar.

First and foremost – let’s start off by saying that we absolutely love the lancero format. Smoking the Sky Flower does bring additional strength, depth and complexity to the Flor del Valle line. There is an additional leathery chewiness in the body of the cigar that finishes with a very bright, clean black pepper spice that makes this a delicious full-body cigar.

If you’re the type of cigar smoker that likes to age things: the Sky Flower is one that will definitely do well.

At the time of this posting you can find the Warped Sky Flower Lancero here.

Tatuaje HUNTER Escasos
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04 Jan
Cigar News

Tatuaje HUNTER Escasos

Tatuaje has released the original six Brown Label (Seleccion de Cazador) sizes under the “Escasos” line. Limited in production, the Escasos cigars are produced at the My Father El Rey de los Habanos factory in Miami. They also feature a secondary band that helps distinguish them from the original Tatuaje creations.

So what makes these cigars (or the line itself) so unique? The wrapper. Escasos features a Havana Rosado Claro leaf that is grown in Ecuador. Cigars that are made in the USA + using this very beautiful wrapper means you will see a slight price increase with this line of cigars (compared to the standard brown label).

The release of the Escasos in the original six sizes is often referred to as the HUNTER Series because of the first letter in the name of the cigar.

HUNTER Series Breaks Down:

  • Tatuaje Escasos HC (6 3/8 x 43)
  • Tatuaje Escasos U (6 1/8 x 52)
  • Tatuaje Escasos N (5 1/8 x 42)
  • Tatuaje Escasos T (7 5/8 x 49)
  • Tatuaje Escasos E (7 1/2 x 38)
  • Tatuaje Escasos R (5 1/2 x 50)

The release quantity and schedule of the Escasos HUNTER series is a bit unknown. Pete Johnson, the owner of Tatuaje, has gone on record to say that these will go into production “occasionally“. True to schedule, Fox Cigar does occasionally have these cigars in stock and you can always check by clicking here.

 

Interesting Fact:

Pete Johnson had a beautiful Rottweiler named Hunter. Coincidence? Not a chance.

Arturo Fuente Rare Pink
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01 Jan
Cigar News

Arturo Fuente Rare Pink

The Arturo Fuente Rare Pinks line of cigars are one of the most, if not the most, anticipated releases in the cigar industry for 2020.

“The newest cigar coming from Arturo Fuente is a passion project with charity at its heart. Arturo Fuente Rare Pink is a line of shaped cigars (including one that’s a hybrid of a lancero and a figurado) made with Ecuadorian wrappers and a hint of Nicaraguan tobacco in the filler. A portion of the sales of each box sold in 2020 will go to the fight against breast cancer.”

Arturo Fuente will be donating $13 from every box sold to The American Cancer Society — Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. This number comes from the combination of birthdays of Liana Fuente (6th) and Fuente Jr.’s mother Anna (7th), 13 was also the favorite number of Carlos Fuente Sr.

Fox Cigar was excited to receive our first two initial sizes of the Rare Pinks in Work of Art and Happy Ending formats. Today we wanted to focus our pictures on the Work of Art release.

This cigar is technically part of the Hemingway series but varies slightly from the standard releases. Instead of the typical (but oh-so-amazing) Cameroon wrapper this one is grown in Ecuador using a special seed from the Oliva Tobacco Co. Rare Pink also features filler tobacco from Nicaragua that comes from the Fuente farm.

The Rare Pink Work of Art Pictures

Additional Note:

Liana Fuente has also created a Strides donation page to help raise additional funds to help fight breast cancer. You can find that page by clicking here.