Photo: Oliveros King Havano

Due to rising demand despite turbulent economic times, Habana Cuba Oliveros Cigars significantly increases production.

Miami, FL, June 27, 2010 – Production of the Oliveros Cigars increases close to 350%. Habana Cuba Oliveros Cigars announces the increase in the production of the Oliveros Cigars in order to supply the increased demand for Oliveros Cigars.

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Photo: Freshly hand-rolled cigars

HAVANA, June 21 (Reuters) – Global economic woes and the worldwide spread of smoking bans are taking their toll on Cuba’s famous cigar industry, with the just-completed harvest of the country’s finest tobacco down 14 percent over 2009, local media said on Monday.

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Photo: The Langham Hotel in London

The Terrace is a great place to relax with a cigar and ease your feet after a prolonged sortie into the shopping delights of the west end or a key destination for all major sporting events.

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Photo: USPS mail truck

WASHINGTON — New restrictions on mailing tobacco products are about to take effect. Under a law signed by President Barack Obama in March, limits will be placed on individuals mailing cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco.

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Photo: Springfield cigar shop Schoettker and Gehring, located at the northwest corner of Sixth and Monroe (where Congressman Aaron Schock’s office is now)

Five of the seven Springfield, IL businesses that used child labor were cigar and tobacco manufacturers. The report said the tobacco industry was one of the “more injurious” to children workers since it sometimes left them with “nicotine poisoning.”

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Photo: Proud cigar factory owner Libardo Rivera next to his creation

This 1,000lbs monster cigar is about to send a world record up in smoke.

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Photo: From left to right is Joe, Pedro, Travis, Frank & Ken aka Champ

Hello, my dear Friends! I haven’t had the change to write anything in the past few weeks due to numerous projects. Now that everything is under control, let do it…

We had some exciting events in the months of April and May, most of them happened at Havana ’59 Restaurant in Downtown Richmond, Virginia, the only truly cigar-friendly restaurant in town. The most excited of these gathering was the RVA/WDC Late Spring Cigar Herf on May 21st, the first of many to come. Some of our fellow cigar aficionados from DC joined us for a night full of drinks and fine cigars.

Photos of the event can be found on our Facebook Fan Page.

The night couldn’t be any better temperature wise. The atmosphere at Havana ’59 was great, the Latino music in the background was pleasant and the mojitos were off the hook. Folks from different backgrounds, ages and walk of life were there, cigar smoker or not, enjoying good company.

Aside from the gatherings, I personally have smoked a wild variety of cigars in the past couple of weeks. I have came to appreciate the delicate quality of the lancero size. I’ll share with you my thoughts about the lancero size as well as some of the cigar I’ve smoked on an upcoming post.

That is all for now. I miss you guys, don’t forget to check out the Facebook Fan Page and support your local B&M as long as they provide good service.

If you are interested on awesome online deals on cigars, check out our sponsor CigarsDirect; they have an awesome selection.

Photo: Steve reading CCRVA article on Greater Richmond Grid Mag

Just like any given Friday, Rosemarry @MelRV and I got ready for our cigar night at Havana ’59 Restaurant located in the Farmer’s Market area in Downtown Richmond, Virginia, aka RVA. This time, however, we’ve planned to attend the Foursquare Day’s celebration at Sheba’s Ethiopian Restaurant, organized by Mary Fender, @MaryFramer, before stopping at Havana ’59.

It was a nice day out temperature wise, so we took the scooter and headed for the city; it was a big mistake. I suffer from chronic pollen allergies and didn’t take into account how much pollen still out there. My eyes were red like a tomato, but I managed to hang in there. By the time we parked our scooter in front of Havana ’59, my eyes felt like they had a pound of sand, and that’s on each eye. We walked to Sheba’s and quickly spotted many familiar faces.

The greatest thing I’ve found about Foursquare has been the gain of Friendship Wealth. That means that I’ve been able to know and connect with many awesome people, some of which have become close friends.

I finally met Paul Spicer, a freelance writer and Emerging Media Editor at the Richmond Grid Magazine. He’s an awesome person to have a conversation with, and it was even more interesting to find that he has visited my hometown a few times and constantly travels to the Caribbean.

Paul pointed out to me that he saw an article that I wrote published on the latest Richmond Grid’s magazine. I of course had to see it immediately. He ran next door to get me one issue, but they had ran out of them. I searched the Richmond Grid’s website on my Droid, looking for the list of establishments that carry the magazine and found one just at the corner of Main St & 18th St in the Farmer’s Market.

Did I mention how AWESOME my Motorola Droid is?

There was the article on page 38 of the magazine, titled Spark Me Up! I was so excited to see the article I wrote and a picture of Rosemarry and I in it. You have to realize that English is my second language and I don’t quite dominate it just yet; and after 15 years in the state, I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon either. It also feels me with joy that one of my hobbies and delight for many cigar aficionados in the Richmond area has gotten some attention, especially after the recent smoking ban that went into effect last December, along with constant threads of tax hikes for the tobacco products.

Once we arrived at Havana ’59 with some of the attendees of the Foursquare Day’s celebration, I passed the magazine around for some of them to see it. This is where I snapped the picture above of Steve, @scguthrie, checking the article out.

I would like to thank Dave Smitherman, Publisher of Richmond Grid’s magazine @PublisherRVA for the thoughtful opportunity to give Richmonders a peak to some of the local cigar scene.

Click here to find where to obtain the latest issue of Greater Richmond Grid Magazine.

Photo: CAO LX2 Robusto

It’s Sunday night and I’m watching Mariah Carey’s “The Adventures of Mimi” concert on Palladia channel with Rosemarry (@MelRV) while we wait for the Oscar’s to begin. I’m barely moving in my La-Z-Boy to avoid the pain in parts of my body that I’ve forgotten exist. The pain I’ve brought upon myself came courtesy of this morning’s flag football game with friends. With 65-degree weather, mimosas and Guinness beer in hand, all the action on the field was well worth the pain and suffering. Who can blame me?

As I type this blog, I can still taste and feel the lightly bold wood (not oaky) flavors in my mouth and throat from the CAO LX2 Robusto cigar I’ve smoke 2 hours earlier. This cigar was special even before I’ve smoked it. I’ve traded this CAO magnificent stick last Friday for one of my old times favorite smoke, an El Triunfador lancero by Pete Johnson from Tatuaje Cigars. What makes it extra special is the person with whom I’ve made the trade, Roger. A devoted school sports director that is as passionate about building children’s character and individual development, as he’s interested in sports.

You have to understand that I’m a social cigar aficionado. I love smoking my cigars while I have an intelligent conversation with others. I like to talk about politics, public policy, cultures, religion, the Good Ol’ Days or simply cigars. My conversation with Roger was more valuable that any cigar I could have been smoking at the time.

Roger had told me this cigar is one of the strongest he has had, so I’ve already had a precognition of what I was about to expect from the stoogie. To my surprise, I didn’t feel the cigar as strong as Roger had described it for me. However, within the 1st inch of the cigar, I’ve picked up the quality and texture of flavors.

I haven’t had enough CAO cigars to compare structure or consistency of their sticks, but if they are all as delicate as this smoke, I could predict I have hit the jackpot.

I’m a very heavy coffee drinker. I love coffee and I would consider myself an enthusiast when it comes down to it. To me coffee should be drunk freshly grinded, black and with a little bit of sugar; at least that’s how I like it. I believe because of my coffee exposure, I’ve experienced the CAO LX2 as a medium to full-bodied instead of a strong cigar.

My humidor definitely has space for this work of art, and I’ll smoke them more often.

For some real, in-depth cigar reviews about the CAO LX2 Robusto, check out these:

• Stogie Review
• A Cigar Smoker
• Cigar Jack
• Cigar Advisor
• Puff
• Leafy Times

The day was perfect for a beer and a cigar, so I did just that.

Photo: Heineken 7 CAO LX2 Robusto Fortaleza Tres

As for flag football, I will make an effort to do as much exercise as I can. I might even start running again to be ready for more action on the field, but don’t quote me on that…

Photo: Rocky Patel Puro Cubano Robusto

This weekend is officially the 1st complete good weekend we’ve had in Richmond, VA this year, 2010. It there is a time to try a morning cigar it was today, Saturday. With a wonderful 64° F for highest it’s a no brainer to smoke that stoogie. I’ve just had a Rocky Patel Puro Cubano Robusto with a freshly grinded Rwandan coffee.

When I review cigars, I like to first of all, take wrapper off and try, as much as possible, to avoid searching information about it before hand and keep an open mind. These techniques are critical in order to provide and neutral and fair review of the cigar that’s usually tampered by the marketing identifications of the product such as stickers, ring label or any other publications.

Ring wrapper designs, just as wine bottle labels, influence the experience of the cigar by informally setting guidelines and expectations that can hinder the aficionado’s open-minded approach to enjoying the cigar.

I have to command myself for learning to master the lighting of the cigars. It took me a while to fully understand the importance of lighting the cigar properly. The excessive amount of heat and the exposure of the fire to the tip of the cigar during the lighting process can give the cigar a bitter, burn flavor. It can take away that initial taste of the leafs and sweetness of the wrapper, at times during the first inch of the smoke.

Once my R.P. was lit and I took a couple of puffs, I could quickly indentify that I wasn’t smoking an average cigar. The creamy and mild Maduro flavors were immediately recognizable. For this cigar been considered a Robusto, I was really expecting a little more kick, but that wasn’t the case.

Rocky Patel Puro Cubano Robusto is a great cigar for the newbie that is ready to jump to the second level of tasting. It is a quality cigar that would make the weekly menu and it goes down tremendously well with Rwandan coffee or Café Cubano. This cigar, however, it’s not worth the price. I have had better sticks for the same price. But regardless of what I think, I’d suggest everyone to try them since we all have different taste development levels.

Anyway, I’m really happy for this weekend. Sunny, warm days always put a smile on my face and lift my spirit. As I type this notes, I’m looking at my yard and the lawn mower, and telepathically telling the mower and the yard tools—“Sorry guys, but aint’s doing shit today. I’m going to relax enjoy this beautiful weather.” Did I mention that it’s not even 10 o’clock yet?

I like to remind you, my readers, that I don’t do technical cigar reviews. I like telling a short story or share some of my experiences, briefly. For great in-depth cigar reviews of this cigar, check out:

• Stogie Guys
• Bluenote Cigars

I like to encourage my friends to stop by their local cigar shops, but if you like to do your shopping online, check out my friends at Cigars Direct, the one-way ticket to fine cigars. If you can’t find what you need, they’ll look for it.