<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Reformed Ember Lounge: Cigar Ledger]]></title><description><![CDATA[Cigar Ledger is a structured record of cigars smoked at The Reformed Ember Lounge, noting origin, construction, smoking time, and flavor development with care and consistency. It is not a catalogue of indulgence, but a disciplined journal of slow reflection, where smoke, patience, and memory are preserved rather than rushed.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/s/cigar-ledger</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DHGc!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1fbff4ac-d32e-4056-8b37-76d32319fb58_1024x1024.png</url><title>Reformed Ember Lounge: Cigar Ledger</title><link>https://www.reformation.blog/s/cigar-ledger</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:15:33 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.reformation.blog/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[reformation@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[reformation@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[reformation@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[reformation@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Crux Epicure]]></title><description><![CDATA[Crux Cigars founders Jeff Haugen and Joel Rogers built their brand primarily around bold, spice-forward Nicaraguan puros, and the Epicure was their first Connecticut-style release when it debuted at the 2016 IPCPR, a deliberate departure that earned them a new audience. Like virtually every other Crux cigar, it is rolled at Plasencia Cigars S.A. in Estel&#237;. A golden-brown Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, lightly oiled and extensively aged, covers a core of Nicaraguan binder and long-filler that the team aged further before rolling, aiming for a creaminess and depth that standard Connecticut blends rarely achieve.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/crux-epicure</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/crux-epicure</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:50:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/31eff1a0-76d8-44e4-8522-d7c955a066ba_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:65553}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[OZ Family Cigars Pi Synesthesia Red]]></title><description><![CDATA[The concept behind Pi Synesthesia requires a moment to appreciate. Cano Ozgener, the Turkish-born engineer who founded CAO International in Nashville in 1968, was also a mathematician and a visual artist. After selling CAO to the Scandinavian Tobacco Group in 2007, he channeled his lifelong fascination with the number pi into an abstract art series called Pi Synesthesia, in which each digit from zero to nine is assigned a specific color and length, then arranged sequentially to map out the infinite digits of pi as a visual field. That artwork appears in miniature on each cigar's band. Tim Ozgener created the Pi Synesthesia cigar line as a tribute to his father, and the concept extends to the tobacco: each release is designed to taste like a color.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/oz-family-cigars-pi-synesthesia-red</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/oz-family-cigars-pi-synesthesia-red</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:46:02 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d9232a14-fb6e-457d-8920-fd2e30f93c64_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:65552}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Perez-Carrillo Pledge Purple]]></title><description><![CDATA[The original Pledge Prequel earned Cigar Aficionado's 98-point rating and the number one spot on their Top 25 list in 2020, making it the highest-rated non-Cuban cigar in the magazine's history at the time of release, and much of the credit belonged to the wrapper: a dark, inky Havana-seed leaf grown by the Dunn & Foster family on their Connecticut farm. When Ernesto Perez-Carrillo released the Pledge Purple in March 2026 to mark five years since that achievement, he did not reach for new tobacco. He reached into his own aging room at Casa Carrillo in the Dominican Republic and pulled out the wrapper leaf he had set aside from that original 2020 harvest, now carrying nearly a decade of age. That same Connecticut Havana-seed wrapper, drawn from the same Dunn & Foster farm, anchors the Purple, distinguished from the original by a completely revised interior: where the original Pledge used an Ecuadorian binder and Nicaraguan filler, the Purple substitutes a Mexican binder over Nicaraguan long-filler from Estel&#237;, Condega, and Ometepe, producing a darker, richer internal structure that allows the aged wrapper to express itself differently.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/perez-carrillo-pledge-purple</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/perez-carrillo-pledge-purple</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2026 17:12:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/10561a54-069d-4fb4-bdc8-c777e01d5293_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:64721}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Punch Mr. Punch]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Punch brand traces its name to Mr. Punch himself, the hook-nosed protagonist of the centuries-old British Punch-and-Judy puppet tradition, whose likeness has appeared on Punch cigar boxes since the brand's 19th-century origins. Honoring that mascot with his own line is a long-overdue gesture, and General Cigar's brand manager Scott Abney framed it plainly: a classic Punch smoking experience with a profile shaped for modern tastes, priced to be an accessible everyday smoke.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/punch-mr-punch</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/punch-mr-punch</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2026 17:09:11 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5b532907-8482-4c4b-b507-5c2ed46e44b5_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:64720}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Esteban Carreras Soga de Oro Sumatra]]></title><description><![CDATA["Soga de Oro" means rope of gold, and the name is earned by the presentation: where most premium cigars carry a printed paper band, the Soga de Oro substitutes a hand-twisted rope of golden tobacco leaf wrapped around the cigar in place of a traditional paper band, giving the cigar its name. The Sumatra line debuted at the 2024 PCA Convention as the second entry in the Soga de Oro series, following the Maduro released earlier that year, and the production constraints are deliberate: only a single pair of rollers at Tabacalera Carreras in Estel&#237; are authorized to produce it, limiting supply to fifty boxes per vitola per month. The Ecuadorian Sumatra-seed wrapper is aged three years before rolling, and each finished cigar ages an additional year in its box before release, giving the tobacco time to settle that most regular-production cigars never receive.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/esteban-carreras-soga-de-oro-sumatra</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/esteban-carreras-soga-de-oro-sumatra</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2026 17:06:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3360fd7f-0d62-48d2-a530-e3f312912429_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:64717}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Perez-Carrillo La Historia Silk]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Silk is the first cigar in the Casa Carrillo portfolio blended entirely by Lissette Perez-Carrillo, and its origin is unusual in the premium market: the final blend was selected not by the blender alone but through a collaborative process involving a select group of female retailers and women cigar enthusiasts across the country, who sampled three wrapper options before choosing the Ecuadorian Habano. Lissette conceived Silk as a tribute to the grace, resilience, and influence of women, though she is quick to note it was designed for anyone, not only female smokers. It departs from the core La Historia line in two visible ways: it is round rather than box-pressed, the first round-format Perez-Carrillo cigar sold in the United States, and it rolls out of Casa Carrillo's Dominican Republic factory rather than Nicaragua.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/perez-carrillo-la-historia-silk</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/perez-carrillo-la-historia-silk</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2026 17:02:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/774e9395-8062-4aec-9d69-e51d9c048e55_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:64714}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Sencillo Black Edición Limitada 2024]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sencillo is the brainchild of Keith K. Park and the Black line is a collaboration with the Plasencia family, rolled at Plasencia Cigars S.A. in Estel&#237;. The Edici&#243;n Limitada 2024 is the largest vitola in the Sencillo Black series, a Gigante format that Park reserves for special annual releases. The blend is a Nicaraguan-dominant construction with a dual binder, a configuration rare enough to merit mention: a Viso Habano Jalapa wrapper of deep Colorado brown covers two binder leaves, one Honduran Habano Viso and one Estel&#237; Habano Viso, working together to shape a filler of Condega Viso, Estel&#237; Ligero, and Jalapa Ligero, with Mexican San Andr&#233;s Viso rounding out the interior.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/sencillo-black-edicion-limitada-2024</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/sencillo-black-edicion-limitada-2024</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:58:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/376b8d5e-2202-46e9-9255-296d1c60fc4d_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:64711}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne]]></title><description><![CDATA[Nick Perdomo Sr. gave this wrapper its name, calling it the "Champagne" of wrappers after the family developed their bourbon barrel-aging process for Ecuadorian Connecticut shade leaf, a technique that was a closely held Perdomo family secret for years before the line debuted. The Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne was where that process first went public, and it remains the signature expression of the method. The Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper is triple-fermented and then aged in spent bourbon barrels before rolling, producing a butterscotch-golden color and an almost confectionary sweetness that is unlike any other Connecticut on the market. Underneath sits a Cuban-seed Nicaraguan binder and long-filler drawn from Estel&#237;, Condega, and Jalapa, all aged a minimum of six years at Tabacalera Perdomo's own facility in Estel&#237;.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/perdomo-reserve-10th-anniversary-352</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/perdomo-reserve-10th-anniversary-352</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:50:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/baf81ca6-7710-461d-b2d0-cac89c01f525_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:64710}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Rocky Patel White Label]]></title><description><![CDATA[It took Rocky Patel more than a decade to settle on the name and packaging for this blend, and the restraint in both tells the story: a plain white box, minimal gold lettering, and nothing to distract from what is inside. Released in November 2021 at the PCA convention, the White Label pairs a silky, golden Connecticut Shade wrapper grown in the United States with a Nicaraguan binder and a three-component filler from the Jamastran Valley in Honduras, Nicaraguan farms, and one undisclosed tobacco source that Rocky Patel has declined to name publicly, all aged a minimum of ten years before rolling at the Tavicusa factory in Estel&#237;.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/rocky-patel-white-label</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/rocky-patel-white-label</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:46:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fa6b8cdc-36cb-4d6c-b6af-fff7e624af1a_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:64705}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[CAO L'Anniversaire Cameroon]]></title><description><![CDATA[CAO stands for Cano A. Ozgener, the Turkish-born engineer who founded the brand in Nashville in 1968 and built it into one of the most recognized names in premium cigars before his family sold it to the Scandinavian Tobacco Group in 2007. The L'Anniversaire line was released in 1999 to mark CAO's 30th anniversary, and the Cameroon expression, arriving alongside the Maduro, quickly became the more celebrated of the two. Cano's son Tim Ozgener, who later founded OZ Family Cigars, was instrumental in the line's development during that era.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/cao-lanniversaire-cameroon</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/cao-lanniversaire-cameroon</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:36:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2aaf6548-22c1-40af-9e0d-1185ed636c0a_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:61709}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Liga Privada 10 Year Aniversario]]></title><description><![CDATA[Drew Estate introduced Liga Privada in 2007 as Jonathan Drew's personal blend, never intended for commercial release, and when the 10th anniversary arrived the Estel&#237; team treated the occasion with matching seriousness. The 10 Year Aniversario is limited to 1,000 boxes of ten, each cigar hand-selected and rolled by Drew Estate's most skilled torcedores at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate in Estel&#237; under the blending direction of Willy Herrera and Jonathan Drew. The construction departs meaningfully from both the No. 9 and T52 signatures: the wrapper is a Criollo-seed leaf grown exclusively for Drew Estate in the Connecticut River Valley, dark espresso-brown and lightly mottled, with a covered foot and fan tail cap that distinguish it visually from the rest of the portfolio. Underneath sits a Mexican San Andr&#233;s Otapan Negro &#218;ltimo Corte binder, one of the most prized maduro binder leaves in commercial production, over a filler of Nicaraguan and Honduran long-leaf plus Pennsylvania Green River One Sucker ligero, a high-strength American leaf rarely seen in premium production outside Drew Estate.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/liga-privada-10-year-aniversario</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/liga-privada-10-year-aniversario</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:32:51 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ce624c34-f7d0-4123-9baa-099914926e3e_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:61707}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Córdoba & Morales 15th Anniversary]]></title><description><![CDATA[Fifteen years is a meaningful milestone for any boutique brand, and Azar&#237;as "Z" Mustafa built this release to mark it seriously. Limited to 500 boxes of ten, each cigar individually packaged in a paper tube, the 15th Anniversary is among the most scarce releases in the C&#243;rdoba & Morales portfolio to date and stands apart from the brand's standard lineup in construction and intention.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/cordoba-and-morales-15th-anniversary</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/cordoba-and-morales-15th-anniversary</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:02:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/02f7a494-d60e-4b89-b993-2bf7ab06bb2a_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:60991}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Montecristo Espada]]></title><description><![CDATA[The original Espada was a landmark release when it debuted at the 2014 IPCPR, the first Montecristo cigar ever to carry an all-Nicaraguan blend and the first to be produced outside the Dominican Republic, marking a significant shift in how Altadis U.S.A. approached the brand. The Grupo de Maestros collaborated with the Plasencia family at their Estel&#237; factory, and the vintage-specific blend construction reflects how deliberately the tobacco was selected: a Jalapa Habano 2010 vintage wrapper over a Jalapa Habano 2009 vintage binder, with a filler drawing from three distinct primings and two growing regions, Jalapa Seco and Viso from 2008, and Condega Ligero from the same year.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/montecristo-espada</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/montecristo-espada</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2026 22:04:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9e2c6e21-401f-4410-9147-373e4dcb98bb_5712x4284.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:59961}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Montecristo Espada Oscuro Guard]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Espada Oscuro is the bolder, darker sibling of the original Espada line, released in 2019 as the second installment in Altadis U.S.A.'s all-Nicaraguan Montecristo venture. The wrapper is the story: Rafael Nodal, blending alongside Grupo de Maestros member Pedro Ventura and the Plasencia family at their Estel&#237; factory, discovered a cache of extremely rare, well-aged Habano Rosado Oscuro leaf sitting in the Plasencia tobacco library. That discovery drove the entire project. The wrapper is jet-black, deeply oiled, and toothy, presenting an almost tar-like sheen that signals the fermentation it has undergone, and its origin in a Habano Rosado seed means it carries a natural sweetness underneath all that darkness that the Condega and Jalapa leaf profile of the underlying puro does not override.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/montecristo-espada-oscuro-guard</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/montecristo-espada-oscuro-guard</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 19:07:02 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/620ab1f1-30d5-4f86-b02e-e4459f20f769_5712x4284.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:59615}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Byron Reserva 5 Años Londinenses]]></title><description><![CDATA[Byron is the oldest of Nelson Alfonso's three cigar brands under Selected Tobacco S.A., and its provenance is unlike anything else in the premium market: Alfonso's family produced it in mid-19th century Cuba, named for the English Romantic poet Lord Byron, a renowned cigar enthusiast, before financial distress forced the family to sell the brand. Alfonso reclaimed it after nearly a century and relaunched it under his Selected Tobacco umbrella alongside Atabey and Bandolero, all three rolled at Tabacos de Costa Rica in Puriscal, the same factory behind the Kalasho Reserve Natural he distributes through King Corona. The Reserva 5 A&#241;os designation means every leaf in the cigar has been aged a minimum of five years before rolling, after which each finished cigar ages an additional year before release. The entire line is limited to 1,000 ceramic jars annually, each jar its own humidification system. Alfonso discloses nothing about the blend, consistent with every Selected Tobacco release, though speculative sourcing from reviewers and a halfwheel disclosure on a related vitola points toward an Ecuadorian wrapper over Nicaraguan and Peruvian filler.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/byron-reserva-5-anos-londinenses</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/byron-reserva-5-anos-londinenses</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 19:04:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/af0dd2d5-975f-46dd-815c-71323f24b62f_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:59609}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[El Mago The James Avenue Habano]]></title><description><![CDATA[El Mago was founded by Nick Fusco as a tribute to his grandparents, Maria and Gonzalo Torre, and the James Avenue line extends that family thread directly. The James Hotel on James Avenue in Miami Beach was purchased by Fusco's grandfather in 1989 and remained part of the family's story through his childhood. Each of the four James Avenue blends, Connecticut, Habano, Maduro, and Sumatra, is built around the same 6 x 54 box-pressed Toro format but carries a completely distinct internal construction rather than merely swapping wrappers over a shared core, an approach that requires four separate blend development tracks and reflects more ambition than most four-wrapper series attempt.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/el-mago-the-james-avenue-habano</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/el-mago-the-james-avenue-habano</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 19:00:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b2ab60d4-008b-4d1e-84f3-672256df2252_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:59608}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Nestor Miranda Special Selection]]></title><description><![CDATA[Nestor Miranda, president of Miami Cigar & Co., originally released the Special Selection in the mid-2000s, and the line developed a devoted following before quietly fading from production. Miami Cigar & Co. relaunched it in 2019 to celebrate the company's 30th anniversary, returning to the same factory that produced the later runs of the original: My Father Cigars S.A. in Estel&#237;. The blend is a straightforward all-Nicaraguan construction, a Habano Rosado wrapper carrying a Colorado-brown color with a slight rusty tint, over a Criollo '98 binder and long-filler from three growing regions, Condega, Estel&#237;, and Jalapa, a combination that gives the profile both sweetness and backbone.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/nestor-miranda-special-selection-e1b</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/nestor-miranda-special-selection-e1b</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:23:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/79d0ea57-1098-4097-b072-f18e90e8b4be_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:58364}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[My Father Blue]]></title><description><![CDATA[The My Father Blue is the first cigar to roll out of My Father Cigars Honduras, the Garc&#237;a family's new factory in El Paraiso and only their second country of production after Nicaragua, and it marks a genuine milestone for one of the most influential families in premium cigars. Three years before the launch, Don Pep&#237;n and Jaime Garc&#237;a developed Finca La Opulencia, a thousand-acre farm in the Talanga region of Honduras, growing Corojo and Criollo seed tobacco in Honduran soil for the first time under the Garc&#237;a name. The Blue takes its name and its baby-blue packaging from the flag of Honduras, a nod to the country that now anchors the blend from binder to filler. A Connecticut Broadleaf Rosado wrapper, medium-brown and slightly mottled with a sheen of oil, drapes over an all-Honduran Finca La Opulencia core, box-pressed across all four vitolas.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/my-father-blue</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/my-father-blue</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:20:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/75ea851a-2f47-444d-bdf4-0f0f0d6ea58d_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:58363}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Montecristo Espada Conquistador]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Conquistador is the newest addition to Altadis U.S.A.'s Espada line, announced in April 2026 and beginning to ship in July of that year, blended once again by Rafael Nodal in collaboration with the Plasencia family and rolled at Plasencia Cigars S.A. in Estel&#237;. It is deliberately positioned between the original Espada, the first all-Nicaraguan Montecristo when it debuted in 2014, and the bolder Espada Oscuro, giving the portfolio a medium-full option that sits between those two bookends. The blend draws from all four of Nicaragua's major growing regions in a construction that tells a regional story: a Colorado-shade Jalapa wrapper for elegance and natural sweetness, an Ometepe binder grown in the volcanic island's mineral-heavy soil for dark earthy depth, and a filler from Condega and Estel&#237; for Nicaraguan backbone, spice, and strength.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/montecristo-espada-conquistador</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/montecristo-espada-conquistador</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 17:13:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/60f2e963-7b91-477a-8237-1447db5c26cb_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:58113}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Montecristo Espada Signature]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Espada Signature Valiente is a collaboration between three names that rarely share a band: Rafael Nodal of Altadis U.S.A., the Plasencia family, and Altadis's elite rolling team, the Grupo de Maestros, who hand-roll every cigar in the line at Plasencia Cigars S.A. in Nicaragua. The release began with a quiet soft launch to Casa de Montecristo stores in late 2021 before reaching wider retail in February 2022, and it comes in a single vitola, the Valiente at 6 x 55. It is a Nicaraguan puro in every component, but the profile defies the conventional expectation of Jalapa tobacco: the Jalapa Habano Rosado Oscuro wrapper, reddish-brown and silky with a Colorado Claro color, generally produces a sweeter, gentler smoke, but the Estel&#237; binder and filler underneath it push the blend in a spicy, peppery direction that catches most smokers off guard.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/montecristo-espada-signature</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/montecristo-espada-signature</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 17:10:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/afcb6b51-9aa0-4181-9f70-5c2d7fb2f9a4_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:58110}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>