Smoke on the
Water p. 33
SPEAKEASY
Sushi p. 62
NICARAGUAN & DOMINICAN
Cigar Festivals p. 92
RENAISSANCE
MAN
From the Connecticut River to the Mekong and Back Again p. 65
Luxe
GEAR GUIDE p. 26
MARCH// APRIL 2024
editorials MARCH / APRIL 2024
26 GEAR GUIDE Spring is sprung and we have some of the good stuff to celebrate. Loafers inspired by cigar design, a fashion-conscious watch that can stay waterproof at almost 1,000 feet below, and a backyard, woodfired pizza oven are among our gift suggestions.
30 SPLURGE
CANDELA C-8 100% ELECTRIC HYDROFOIL BOAT Silently skimming the water at a maxed out 31 mph, this futuristic watercraft was magic. Maybe the electric cars aren’t your thing, but here is – finally – a reason to celebrate an electric vehicle.
33 SWISS ADVENTURE We hit the Lake Geneva shoreline and more on a trek through Switzerland, a cigar-forward territory if there ever was one. We take in the country via its stellar train system. Along the way, there were whiteouts in the Alps, walks through Charlie Chaplin’s old place, and a walk through the United Nations Office at Geneva.
62 SUSHI BAR A rapidly-expanding sushi operation lands in South Florida and turns into one of the area’s hottest tables in the cuisine-crazy Miami area.
65 RENAISSANCE MAN Nick Melillo dog-eared a couple of passports in his trek to launching Foundation Cigar Co., one of the cigar sector’s top brands. Growing up in a family of cigar smokers, the leaf was his destiny. We talk with the well-traveled Melillo about his journeys, his life in cigars, and conspiracy theories.
86 FIRST CIGAR
ORLANDO MENDEZ The Cuban Cowboy grew up in Miami and learned as a teenager that he loved country music. When he played on The Voice a couple of years ago, he hit big, and Mendez moved to Nashville, where he now records. We talk with Mendez about his life in music and cigars.
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features MARCH / APRIL 2024
14 LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
16 FEEDBACK
18 WHAT’S BURNIN’
46 SMOKING HOT CIGAR SNOB RELAX AND INDULGE
FEATURING ESPINOSA LARANJA AZULEJO AND ZAFRA RUM
73 RATINGS
88 X SCOREBOARD
90 INSTAGRAM SCOREBOARD
92 EVENTS 92 PURO SABOR FESTIVAL 98 PROCIGAR FESTIVAL 104 THE GREAT SMOKE 106 NESTOR MIRANDA’S 81ST BIRTHDAY DINNER AT CITY CIGAR LOUNGE 108 SOTL GLOBAL MOVEMENT AT CITY CIGAR LOUNGE 110 31ST ANNUAL CONINE GOLF TOURNAMENT
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ERIK ESPINOSA ESPINOSA CIGARS
T RY B OV E DA .CO M @bovedainc
@bovedainc
@bovedausa
SMOKE ON THE WATER BY STEVE MILLER
Photo: Sanga/stock.adobe.com
CIGARS, HOLLYWOOD, ROCK LEGENDS AND TRAINS IN THE PLAYGROUND OF EUROPE
FEATURING
ESPINOSA LARANJA AZULEJO AND ZAFRA 21 YEAR MASTER RESERVE RUM
FIRE X US.ST-DUPONT.COM
NICK
MELILLO
RENAISSANCE MAN The founder of Foundation Cigar Co. has traveled the world, plumbed the notions of mystics, toured with Ziggy Marley, and become cigar buddies with Joe Rogan. Here's the world according to Nick.
BY STEVE MILLER / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANE SHAUCK
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48 CIGARS
Festival 2024 by Jamilet Calviño he annual festival celebrating the Nicaraguan tobacco and cigar industry celebrated its 11th year with five days packed with events that guided guests through the heart of the country’s award-winning tobacco farms and cigar factories. The sold-out event drew a diverse audience representing 22 countries, all there to see first-hand how some of the best cigars in the world are made. Puro Sabor participants choose a track made up of a combination of pre-set tours, then all groups meet up for lunch and for the evening’s dinners. Day 1 We left Managua for a two-hour bus ride to Estelí, where the festival kicked off with lunch at AJ Fernandez’s San Ramón farm. The festival’s first cigar moment was with the AJ Fernandez Dias de Gloria while guests enjoyed food and cocktails amidst a backdrop of lush tobacco growing in the surrounding fields. The welcome dinner that evening was held at La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate, where our hosts unveiled a new mural featuring the Deadwood Tobacco ladies. Flor de Caña 18 was poured from the barrel all night. The evening's cigar moment was presented by Pedro Gómez and featured the Liga Privada Selección de Mercado, a Europe-only blend. Guests enjoyed rock and blues from a live band while DE’s Henry Pineda poured Blackened Whiskey and handed out Blackened M81 cigars to finish out the night. Day 2
Candas Carmen and Alejandra Pereira
Walter Saes and Vivaldo García
James and Jeremy Yoder
Manuel Rubio, Henry Pineda and Pedro Gómez Rodríguez
All groups were driven to Condega to visit Oliva's Hacienda d' Ernesto. It's an understatement to call it simply a finca or farm. It's more accurate to call it a tobacco farming and genetics complex. The groups split into two, with one group planting tobacco seedlings in the field and the other, the one we were in, receiving a crash course in tobacco varieties from Ernesto Milanés and tobacco genetics from the legend himself, Vivaldo García. Ernesto is the head of Oliva's tobacco farming operations, and although the operation is called Hacienda d' Ernesto, it isn't named after him. The young son of Oliva’s owner Fred Vandermarliere’s is coincidentally named Ernesto as well; the hacienda is named after him. Vivaldo García wowed participants with his knowledge of tobacco genetics. It's clear why he is widely considered one of the foremost tobacco geneticists in the world and is credited with developing some of the most popular tobacco seed varieties in use today.
before the dinner celebration at Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Before heading out to dinner, guests received the official Puro Sabor Festival cigar box/humidor, made by Cigar Box Factory of Estelí. The boxes were loaded with a selection of cigars from each member factory of the Chamber of Nicaraguan Tobacco.
Afterwards, our group walked up the hill to an impressive curing barn to find a full spread featuring Flor de Caña rum, Toña beer, and samples of Oliva Serie V and Serie V Melanio for all to enjoy. The local Chevrolet dealer showed off the latest models, which is something we haven't seen or perhaps never noticed at previous Puro Sabor Festivals. Lunch was served and there was plenty of smoke in the air, these being the first cigars the group enjoyed all day. All of this was followed by an enthusiastic welcome statement from Fred Vandermarliere. He passed the mic to Flor de Caña Ambassador Alejandra Pereira, who led us through a multi-sensory tasting of the Flor de Caña 18. We made it back to our hotels for some much-needed rest
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Julian Cuevas, Hiram Díaz and Carlos Ahmed Carus
The party at Scandinavian Tobacco Group started with a welcome statement from CNT president and La Gran Fábrica Drew Estate's general manager, Manuel Rubio, as well as one from Estelí's mayor, Francisco Valenzuela. There was food, dancing, endless drinks, and an overflowing number of cigars. As the festivities wound down, some weren’t ready to call it quits and continued to party at nearby Famous Bar. If you don’t know the place, you probably will on your next visit to Estelí. All parties in recent years seem to end up there. Photos by: Carlos Hernández
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Festival 2024 Dominican Republic By Jamilet Calviño he Dominican Republic’s annual ProCigar Festival, now in its 16th year, brings together cigar lovers from all corners of the world to celebrate the country’s tobacco prowess through a series of tours, seminars, and dinners. This year the six-day event hosted over 1,000 guests representing 20 countries. The festival starts in La Romana, where Altadis’s Tabacalera de García is located, then makes its way up to Santiago, where the majority of the ProCigar member companies are based. When registering for the event, guests choose which field or factory tours they want to participate in, and guests spend the final day at a tobacco plantation together. This year we started our coverage in Santiago and selected tours with Quesada Cigars and La Flor Dominicana.
Santiago Day 1 While the La Romana group was riding up after visiting Tabacalera de García, we were flying into Santiago and arrived in time for the Welcome Cocktail at the Hodelpa Garden Court where our ProCigar backpack was waiting for us. The ProCigar branded backpack was full to the brim with a sampler box containing 12 cigars, accessories from Colibri, Les Fines Lames, HumiDif, and others as well as a ProCigar polo and cap. The welcome pack also contained a pack of delicious Jules Destrooper butter crisps! They didn’t make it past my morning coffee the following day.
Leticia and Klaas Kelner
Nirka Reyes, Ben Wills and Jamy Calviño
Once we’d stowed our backpacks, we continued to the pool deck where they’d rolled out the red carpet for us with live music, drinks like Brugal Leyenda rum, hors d'oeuvres, and a three-pack of cigars. Guests rubbed elbows with some of the Dominican Republic's legendary cigar makers as well as some up and comers. As is tradition for our group, we continued the party at Saga Restaurant & Cigar Club where we enjoyed tomahawk steaks and drinks with a background of live music and plenty of cigar smoke in the air. Naeema Finley, Edwin Barrios and Lourdes Sánchez
Luz Holguín, Timothy Forman and Agata Filippova
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Jennifer Thorson and Steve Bartell
Abe Flores and Scott Vines Photos by: MichyWatchao
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