Cigar Aficionado

TOP TORO OLIVA SERIE V MELANIO TORO Oliva took its Serie V brand to the next level when it released the Melanio, a cigar largely defined by its Ecuadoran wrapper grown from Sumatra seeds. The Toro approaches perfection with its astounding score. $15.75 NICARAGUA 96 TOP FIGURADO LA AROMA DE CUBA MI AMOR BELICOSO Mexican wrapper and Nicaraguan tobacco find beautiful synergy in this Belicoso. While the core La Aroma de Cuba line is made with broadleaf wrapper, the Mexican leaf on Mi Amor brings another dimension. $9.25 NICARAGUA 95 TOP GRANDE PADRÓN FAMILY RESERVE NO. 95 MADURO Originally a brand only available at events where a member of the Padrón family was present, the Family Reserve eventually went commercial. Padrón brings the brand to huge proportions with this fat smoke. $29.50 NICARAGUA 95 TOP CHURCHILL PADRÓN 1964 ANNIVERSARY SERIES DIPLOMATICO MADURO With its impressive streak of high ratings and…

The latest attack on cigars is dramatic and outlandish—but it can’t be ignored. On February 14, a California State Assembly member introduced a bill that aims to eventually make tobacco sales illegal for all Californians. It’s a phased tobacco ban that would prohibit the sale of all tobacco products, including cigars, to anyone born on or after January 1, 2007. It’s a generational attack, a forever attack, that would mean that anyone born after that date would never be old enough to buy cigars in that state. The bill was introduced by newly elected Democrat Damon Connolly, an attorney who represents California’s 12th district. The intent is clear: tobacco prohibition. Cigars, cigarettes and other products made from tobacco would become illegal substances, something future generations of Californians would never be legally…

Dear Marvin, I really enjoyed the story about the comeback of jai alai [“High Hopes For Jai Alai,” Nov./Dec. 2022]. Other than Big Smoke evenings, some of the best times I have had in Las Vegas were at the fronton at the original MGM Grand. Jim Chavez Mesa, Arizona Dear Marvin, My first experience with your magazine was while I was killing time at the local Barnes & Noble. I had just started smoking cigars and found your magazine very helpful. But it was not just the cigar reviews. It was everything else that was in it. The advertisements, articles and especially the letters to the editor. Never a boring page. This is the definitive “cover-to-cover” magazine. When I retrieve your magazine from my mailbox, the biggest challenge is trying to pace myself. I want…

When you hear the word “concrete,” visions of parking garages and drab, brutalist architecture might come to mind. It certainly doesn’t conjure any of the warm images related to cigars. Three companies, however, saw the beauty and potential of this industrial material and have brought concrete into the mix, introducing a new medium and creating an entirely new category of ashtrays. In the wrong hands, a concrete ashtray might end up resembling a cinder block, but in the hands of French company Les Fines Lames, the ashtrays have an expressive, modern flare and are offered in a wide spectrum of colors that pop without being too loud or obtrusive. They’re available in seven colors, from dark, brooding shades of gray to the cheerier green and red Dyad models shown here. Seen…

The F-150 has a reputation as one tough truck, but Ford kicked things up a couple notches when it introduced the Raptor, a pickup designed for serious off-roading. Now, it’s going to extremes with the debut of the ultimate F-150, the Raptor R. It’s designed to handle everything from serious trail crawling to desert racing. The heart of this beast is a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8, a modified version of the powertrain used in the Mustang Shelby GT 500. The first F-150 with a V-8 since 2014, Raptor R punches out 700 hp and 640 pound-feet of torque—and a guttural roar loud enough to shock the devil. To put things into perspective, that’s 250 ponies and 130 pound-feet more than the plain Raptor. You’ll hit 60 in less than four seconds and…

If you follow trends at the bar, you’ve doubtless heard of amaro, the herbal liqueur named for the Italian word for bitter that somehow pulls off sweetness. Even if you haven’t, you may have tasted some in the trendy Negroni and Aperol Spritz cocktails. But those who stick to just two concoctions are missing much of the fun. Amari (the plural) offer endless opportunities for taking familiar mixed drinks in new directions. Start with the king of cocktails: the Manhattan, which joins rye or Bourbon with sweet vermouth. Then punch it up with Fernet Branca, an impossibly rooty liqueur that is the secret handshake of amaro converts. Either use it in place of vermouth or add equal measures of each for a take on the Perfect Manhattan. Some call this a…