The past two months have found me completely inundated with college work. My senior thesis, finals, and a stack of topics to write papers on. In that time, I haven’t set up many events, but I have put some serious work into improving the website and expanding FTNYC into more online venues – more on […]
The Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 There is no way around it: this is a controversial cigar. A brief glance around the online cigar community indicate that some people love this cigar (Barry at acigarsmoker gives it a 93), and some people are lost as to what makes it so special (one Puff user called it “a […]
Tonight I finished my review of the Amilcar Perez Castro 12 cigar sampler with the Rocky Patel Vudu. In the past two weeks I’ve been able to review the four cigars featured in the sampler, the Patel Bro’s Next Generation, Rocky Patel Famous Signature, Rocky Patel 1961, and now the Vudu. Overall, it has been an excellent sampler for […]
Tonight I reviewed the Rocky Patel 1961. This blend was created to commemorate the year Rocky Patel was born, and I found it to be a medium bodied smoke. Music tonight consisted mainly of hip-hop and alternative/rock: Kid Cudi (“Day and Night”), Kanye West (“Love Lockdown”), John Mayer (“Neon”), Jay-Z (“Run This Town”), Gym Class […]
The Rocky Patel Famous Signature is a joint venture between Rocky Patel, Amilcar P. Castro, and Famous Smoke Shop. I got this cigar as part of the Amilcar Perez 12 cigar sampler, which I would highly recommend looking at and buying. This cigar is generally described as a medium-full bodied cigar, though I found it to […]
The Cigar Inn, with two locations in Manhattan, manages to have an atmosphere that is incredibly sophisticated and extremely friendly. My first stop today was the 1st Ave. location of Cigar Inn, where I spoke with Bill Sakih, the owner. This smaller store and lounge, which can hold about 15 customers at a time, has […]
Tonight I smoked a Patel Bros Next Generation that I recently purchased in the Rocky Patel & Amilcar Perez 12 cigar sampler for just $20. So far I’ve had two: the Vudu and tonight the Next Generation. I wasn’t planning on reviewing this cigar until I started smoking it and was completely blown away. Here […]
You’ve never met a friendlier bunch of guys than Jose, Mike, Richie and the rest of the crew at Caballeros Cigars, the sight of the most recent FTNYC event, on November 12th. I’d never been to Caballeros, and I’m willing to admit I wasn’t too thrilled about the long train ride into Brooklyn. Long story […]
The main floor at Nat Sherman About two weeks ago I was surprised to open my email account and find an email from Barry (from acigarsmoker.com) inviting me to the La Aurora launch event at Nat Sherman in Manhattan. The event took place from 5:00pm – 9:00pm last Thursday and featured a live jazz band, samples […]
Guy Olivieri loves to smoke cigars in New York’s Stuyvesant Park (located between E. 15th St. and E. 17th St. on both sides of 2nd Avenue).
Velvet Cigar Lounge Nestled on 7th street in Manhattan’s picturesque Lower East Side is Velvet Cigar, an oasis for the new and experienced cigar smoker. On any given night of the week, a visitor to Velvet Cigar is likely to experience what I have on many occasions. Walking in the door, I am met with the familiar aroma of fine tobacco, […]
FTNYC’s “Fall Smoke” at Velvet Cigars Last night, FineTobaccoNYC hosted the first Fall smoke of the season at Velvet Cigars on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. By the day before the event, 17 people from all over New York City had RSVPd for the event, and 14 showed up. So there were plenty of […]