Author: petervdgcigars
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How to Properly Age Cigars: The Complete Guide
Most cigar smokers know aging matters. Few know what it actually does — or how to do it correctly. After more than a decade of smoking cigars across four continents, and spending years interviewing the people who grow, ferment, blend, and roll premium tobacco for a living, one thing comes up repeatedly: the gap between…
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Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Connecticut Robusto Review
I lit the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Connecticut Robusto expecting one thing and finished it having smoked another. The golden Connecticut shade wrapper points toward something light, but by the final third I was tasting dark wood, espresso, and a touch of sweet bourbon whisky. That gap between what the cigar looks like and what…
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El Septimo Alexander Toro Review: 100 Minutes of Complexity
The El Septimo Alexander Toro is a cigar that gives you a lot and then keeps going. At 100 minutes with a flavor profile that develops across five distinct stages, this is a cigar that demands your attention and rewards every minute you give it. It is rare to find a cigar that can be…
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Should You Store Cigars With Cellophane On or Off?
Should you store cigars with the cellophane on or take it off? It is one of the most asked questions in the hobby, and the answers floating around the forums contradict each other constantly. Some swear by naked storage. Others never touch the wrapper. Most articles end with a shrug and the words “personal preference,”…
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Are Cuban Cigars Always Best? What Every Cigar Smoker Should Know
By Peter at VDG Cigars | Certified Cigar Sommelier Few questions in the premium cigar world carry as much weight — or as much mythology — as this one. Walk into any well-stocked lounge and bring it up. Within minutes, the conversation will divide the room between those who treat Cuban cigars as the permanent…
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Flor De Oliva Original Cigar Review: A Straightforward Smoke
Not every cigar needs to be complex. The Flor De Oliva Original is a cigar that knows exactly what it is, delivers it consistently, and at three to five dollars does not pretend to be anything else. That kind of honesty is worth something. Construction of the Flor De Oliva Original The Flor De Oliva…
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La Flor de Zaida: A Dream Over 100 Years in the Making
Like the Phoenix rised from its own ashes, flora de Zaida got new life from a long time in the shades of the forgotten. My interview with Antonino Piredda was nothing short of interesting. Instead of putting his name on cigars or buying an existing brand, Antonino chose a path all his own. A path…
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Villa Zamorano Danli robusto review
There are cigars that surprise you quietly. The Villa Zamorano Danlí Robusto is one of them. It does not announce itself with dramatic flourish, but by the time you reach the final third, you realize it has given you considerably more than the price suggested it would. Construction of the Villa Zamorano Danlí Robusto The…
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Interview with Stefano of Compania de Tabacos and Escobar Cigars: The invisible world behind every premium cigar
The cigar in your humidor passed through more hands than you will ever see. Before it reached the shelf, someone imported it. Someone cleared customs on it. Someone negotiated with the producer, paid the duties, stored it correctly, navigated the regulations, set the pricing, and built a market for it in a country it had…
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Tony Barrios on What a Master Blender Actually Does: An Exclusive Interview with Stallone Cigars
By Peter | VDG Cigars | Certified Cigar Sommelier There are blenders, and then there are Master Blenders. The difference, as I discovered during my conversation with Tony Barrios, is not a matter of degree. It is a matter of a lifetime. Tony is the man behind Stallone Cigars, a brand he has carried in…
