“We sensed the right entry cigar would appeal to smokers who want the perfect complement to a steak dinner, red wine and maybe spirits. The Corojo-wrapped Carnero is strong without apology. Even though it has an all-Dominican filler, which normally means a soft smoke, the binder is an equally powerful Connecticut Broadleaf.”
Mahroukian emphasizes the fact that this is not a strong but flavorless cigar. The filler’s base leaves fit the top-quality Dominican profile…smooth and creamy on the palate, with a rich fragrance and bouquet.
The second offering, the Connecticut-wrapped Carnero, is no less eyebrow-raising. Again, the all-Dominican filler suggests a mild smoke, but it has a medium-full body, due to the Connecticut Broadleaf binder.
The tobacco in both Carnero cigars is aged a full two years, with another six months on the finished cigars. Carnero is now in production in the Dominican Republic. An introductory program of incentives for smokers are in planning, and will be announced in early 2012.
“We only wish we’d done this two years ago,” laughs Mahroukian. His excitement is understandable…”Carnero isn’t the company’s first premium cigar,” he reveals. In 1995, JM emerged on the premium cigar scene, with “Española,” JM’s premiere fine cigar. By 2000, the company retreated from the declining premium cigar market. They retained the tobacco, nonetheless, and obtained strong sales early on, with this cigar, which became “JM’s Dominican.” Like today’s JM’s Dominican, this original hand-rolled, value-priced cigar had an all-medium-length filler of choice Dominican tobaccos. JM Tobacco also included a nice touc…punch-cut heads. JM’s Dominican has not only enjoyed sales success in its eleven year history, it is enjoying very strong sales, in today’s “moving-down” market.
Mahroukian hints at an imminent major event…the fifteenth anniversary of the appearance of their original Española. “It would be a fitting boutique ‘super premium’ cigar,” he predicts, “to mark this JM Tobacco milestone.”
Executive Editor
Gary Korb has been writing and editing content for CigarAdvisor.com since its debut in 2008. An avid cigar smoker for over 30 years, he has worked on the marketing side of the premium cigar business as a Sr. Copywriter, blogger, and Executive Editor of Cigar Advisor. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, prior to his career in the cigar business, Gary worked in the music and video industry as a marketer and a publicist.
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