CA Report: Top New Cigars (Sept. 30, 2024)
The latest cigar releases from CAO, La Gloria Cubana, & Diesel—all now available at Famous Smoke Shop!
Just when I was starting to perfect my backflip (and by backflip I mean belly flop), my better half adds ‘covering the pool’ to my honey-do list. I protested at first until I stepped outside to find a raw, chilly breeze flowing across a joylessly grey sky. Autumn sure didn’t waste time showing up, did it?
The sky might be drab, but that doesn’t mean my time under it needs to be. And that’s when I pulled out my HumiJar filled with new cigar releases from Famous Smoke Shop.
I found three candidates for top honors this week and they hail from CAO, Diesel, and La Gloria Cubana. They helped turn a dreary day into a dreamy one. See their stories, and their flavors reviewed!
Have you smoked something new and noteworthy? Let us know via our social media links below…
CAO Arcana Thunder Smoke
Wrapper: Honduras Olancho San Agustin
Binder: Mexican San Andres Maduro
Filler: Cameroon, South Africa, & Zimbabwe
“Going boldly where no cigar has gone before. These are the voyages of CAO Arcana!” Where’s good ol’ Shatner when you need him?
CAO has embodied an adventurous spirit since its inception. They were the first to push Brazilian tobacco, championed early versions of double wrappers and binders, and now stretch their boundaries further with the Arcana line. The latest Arcana blend is Thunder Smoke, named for the Bantu moniker of Angel Falls in Zimbabwe where it’s referred to as Mosi-Oa-Tunya, meaning, the smoke that thunders.
Expect a toasty, savory mix of nuts, sweet spices, citrus, and potent spices in a cigar that’s truly like no other I’ve smoked before. If you can think of a better way to end your day, lemme know.
Diesel Fool’s Errand Worthy Fool
Wrapper: Ecuador Sumatra
Binder: Nicaragua Habano
Filler: Nicaragua Habano
The final installment in Diesel’s Fool’s Errand Trilogy, Worthy Fool has finally arrived. More than just a cigar, the blend has included an ongoing game. Each box includes a QR code that links you to interactive riddles which can be solved to award entries to a giveaway. This last round of prizes will have their winners announced in January 2025.
Worthy Fool’s blend is similar to Diesel’s previous entry, Simple Fool, and comes in the brand’s signature 5” x 58 Perfecto vitola. We found the flavor to be front loaded with warm peppers, a sweet, tangy undercurrent, and complex array of espresso, almonds, and oak thanks to the skillfull crafting of AJ Fernandez’ factory pros. Don’t miss your final chance to smoke a great cigar and get in on the interactive fun!
La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
It wasn’t so long ago that big ring cigars were purely novelties—the kind of smoke you’d buy your boss for his retirement party. Ernesto Perez-Carrillo changed all of that by pioneering larger format premiums during the Cigar Boom. He’s long since sold the company, but he’d be proud of La Gloria Cubana’s Gran Legado. Its formidable 8” x 63 frame ranks it among the heftiest cigars on the market. And as most of these big-ring beauties prove today, a novelty no longer. If your kind of cigar smokes with an earthy blend of raisins, coffee, pepper, and spice—yet burns smooth and cool—Gran Legado makes a solid case to be included on your shortlist.