Spring Edition
GUY FIERI
THE MAYOR OF FLAVORTOWN
Life After HURRICANE IAN
OSCAR VALLADARES Success Story
MARCH / APRIL 2023
editorials MARCH / APRIL 2023
22 FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE You need the goods for the father on your list. If he’s a reader, we’ve got you. A fitness buff? Sure thing. A golfer? Always. Cigar smoker? Do you need to ask? A lover of fine cutlery? Believe it.
27 5 TO TRY - AGED RUMS Imagine a perfect lazy afternoon, you’re lying in a hammock with a glass of aged rum in one hand and your favorite smoke in the other. Rum and cigars have always been an ideal marriage and we’ve curated a selection of aged sipping rums that will make you want to spend all your free time in that hammock of yours. The honey-do list can wait.
28 RON MATUSALEM GRAN RESERVA 23 / LIGA PRIVADA H99
29 GOSLING’S FAMILY RESERVE OLD RUM/ AGING ROOM QUATTRO NICARAGUA
30 LA MARIELITA RUM AGED 18 YEARS /
ROCKY PATEL AGED, LIMITED, & RARE
32 KANICHE PERFECCIÓN RUM /
JOYA DE NICARAGUA NUMERO UNO
34 BACARDI RESERVA 8 RYE CASK FINISH / FRATELLO NAVETTA INVERSO
37 THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD OF OSCAR VALLADARES & CO. The story of how Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co came to be is truly a long and winding road with more than its fair share of fortunate run-ins, serendipitous connections, and trying times. But you’d never know it from its current lofty perch as a vertically integrated manufacturer and global distributor of sought-after smokes.
63 GUY FIERI – FULL THROTTLE Diners, Drive-Ins and…cigars? America’s favorite foodie personality talks about tobacco and how his Knuckle Sandwich cigar was conceived amidst his stable of booze and ‘raunts and a hectic travel schedule.
88 HURRICANE IAN – PICKING UP THE PIECES Ian was a monster, the deadliest since 1935 to sweep Florida. The storm didn’t spare some of the cigar industry’s prolific players in the southwest part of the state, and we get the lowdown on how things are shaping up six months later. The good news: the cigar world didn’t turn their back on the afflicted.
8 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2023
MAR / APR 2023 | CIGAR SNOB | 9
features MARCH / APRIL 2023
14 LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
16 FEEDBACK
18 WHAT’S BURNIN’
50 SMOKING HOT CIGAR SNOB LA RUBIA
63 PURO SABOR NICARAGUA The 10th Puro Sabor Festival, in Nicaragua, was one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, as it’s the birthplace of some of the world’s finest cigars. This year’s festival was a sensory feast of aromas and flavors, with attendees savoring their way through an impressive array of premium cigars while indulging in delectable local cuisine and lively parties. The festival was a celebration of all things cigars and an unforgettable adventure for all who attended.
69 RATINGS
84 TWITTER SCOREBOARD
86 INSTAGRAM SCOREBOARD
90 EVENTS 90 LA FLOR DOMINICANA AT FIOLA 92 JC NEWMAN’S THE AMERICAN TOUR 94 NESTOR MIRANDA 80TH BIRTHDAY 96 GALENTINE’S DAY PARTY WITH
PLASENCIA AND TATIANA CIGARS
10 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2023
MAR / APR 2023 | CIGAR SNOB | 11
RUM RUM IS THE STUFF SPRING VACATIONS ARE MADE OF, BUT ALSO REVOLUTIONS AND FORTUNES, THANKS TO CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS’S DROPPING OFF A FEW PLANTS FROM MADEIRA ON HIS SECOND VOYAGE TO THE WEST INDIES ABOUT 530 YEARS AGO. A VAST SUGAR-PRODUCING CULTURE EMERGED, ALONG WITH SUGAR’S GOOEY REMAINDERS, DISTILLED INTO AN ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE THAT MIRACULOUSLY GOT BETTER AS IT AGED IN BARRELS LEFT IN THE HEAT AND HUMIDITY OF THE CARIBBEAN. BUT NOW, THE STEEL
DRUM MUSIC IS BEING QUIETED, OR AT LEAST KEPT TO THE OTHER END OF THE LIQUOR STORE AISLE, AS DISTILLERS AND BOTTLERS MOVE THEIR RUM UP TOWARD THE PROPER AFTER-DINNER DRINKS, CONSUMED BY SIPPING NEAT OR ON A SINGLE CUBE IN A ROCKS GLASS WHILE SEATED IN A LEATHER CHAIR, ENJOYING A CIGAR AND LIFE’S FINER THINGS. YO, HO, HO.
by Gavin Maliska & Erik Calviño
36 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2023
The Long Winding Road Of and
By Erik Calviño Photography by Tete Aleman MAR / APR 2023 | CIGAR SNOB | 37
Festival 2023 by Jamilet Calviño he Puro Sabor Festival, a celebration of Nicaraguan cigars, returned for its 10th year after a two-year hiatus as a result of the pandemic. The party started at the airport, as attendees were welcomed with ice-cold Toña beer or rum. They were then transported to Granada, where they received goodie bags, including a box of 20 cigars from various manufacturers, and attended a dinner hosted by Drew Estate Cigars with live entertainment by a local band, the Mad Heavier Band. Day 2 The first full day of events was focused on cultural tourism, as participants explored the beautiful city of Granada with tour guides lecturing on the city's rich and diverse history. For lunch, they traveled to a privately owned home on Lake Nicaragua followed by cigars and optional boat rides to see Las Isletas. Some chose to return to Casa Favilli for a factory tour after lunch. In the evening, the Welcome Dinner was held at Hacienda Los Altos, followed by more cigars and dancing. Day 3 The festival made its way north to the cigar capital, Estelí. Along the way the group stopped to have lunch and a tour of Victor Calvo’s tobacco plantation, followed by a visit to the venerable Joya de Nicaragua factory. There, they were welcomed with a presentation, coffee, cookies, and cigars, and given a tour of the factory. They ended the tour with a rum tasting from Flor de Caña Rum and a cigar blending exercise, where they had the opportunity to create their own blend. They received a bundle of ten cigars of that blend at the conclusion of the visit.
José Miguel Salvador, Héctor Chavira and Eduardo Lahsen Juan Ignacio Martínez
That evening, the festival’s Inauguration Dinner took place at STG (Scandinavian Tobacco Group), where the folks from Flor de Caña poured rum samples straight from barrels. Pedro Gómez and Orlando Darty Mendoza
A view of the Granada Cathedral
56 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2023
Jared Ingrisano, Indiana Ortez, José Luis and Dana Sofía Plasencia
Joya de Nicaragua Factory
Reinier Lorenzo and Luis Baez
MAR / APR 2023 | CIGAR SNOB | 57
62 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2023
CULINARY ACE BURSTS ONTO CIGAR SCENE WITH HUGE PERSONALITY AND FLAVORFUL BLENDS. BY STEVE MILLER MAR / APR 2023 | CIGAR SNOB | 63
54 CIGARS CIGAR CUTTER: Benchmade 1500-191 Cigar Cutter