<?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>Tue, 03 Nov 2026 02:49:18 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[Padrón 1926 Serie No. 90 Natural]]></title><description><![CDATA[The No. 90 was created to mark Jos&#233; Orlando Padr&#243;n&#8217;s 90th birthday and released in 2016, and it breaks with the rest of the 1926 Serie in two ways. Every other vitola in the line is box-pressed, while the No. 90 is fully round and is the first Padr&#243;n sold in an aluminum tube. The Natural wears a cream-colored tube, with burgundy used for the Maduro. Because it isn&#8217;t pressed, the sun-grown Nicaraguan natural wrapper shows more veining than a typical Padr&#243;n. The blend is a Nicaraguan puro: wrapper, binder, and filler are all Nicaraguan, aged a minimum of five years, and the cigars are rolled at Tabacos Cubanica S.A. in Estel&#237;.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/padron-1926-serie-no-90-natural</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/padron-1926-serie-no-90-natural</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2026 16:21:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3720c78e-2aa4-4a6d-8acb-668f7d7f271e_5712x4284.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:76891}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Mi Amor is one of the more consequential cigars of the last two decades, and the story behind it is a reinvention. La Aroma de Cuba originated in 2002 as an Ashton Distributors line built on Honduran tobacco, and when Ashton brought Pep&#237;n Garc&#237;a into the project, rolling at My Father Cigars S.A. in Estel&#237;, the blend moved to Nicaraguan binder and filler, with binder and filler grown by the Garc&#237;a family. It was also the first time Ashton Distributors had used a Mexican wrapper on one of its cigars.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/la-aroma-de-cuba-mi-amor</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/la-aroma-de-cuba-mi-amor</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2026 18:01:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c75ed4db-0244-4b7b-b2dd-51d638602539_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:76642}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Rocky Patel America’s 250th]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rocky Patel is among the most vocal advocates for cigar smokers&#8217; rights in the industry, a position he has held publicly for years and that makes a Semiquincentennial release fitting for more reasons than just the anniversary. The America&#8217;s 250th is a limited release in a single 6 x 52 Toro vitola, presented in a commemorative red, white, and blue box with an eagle and shield design, built around a dark, oily Mexican San Andr&#233;s wrapper over aged Nicaraguan binder and filler.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/rocky-patel-americas-250th</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/rocky-patel-americas-250th</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2026 21:33:11 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7fa033ba-6c55-403c-b901-c291161de4d4_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:76395}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Rocky Patel Emerald]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Emerald is Rocky Patel&#8217;s own characterization of it as a departure: the first box-pressed cigar in the TAVICUSA factory&#8217;s output that he specifically positioned on the lighter side of medium, a deliberate contrast with the heavier Gold Label, Sixty, and 1990 that preceded it. Whether the profile fully delivers on that promise is a matter of debate among reviewers, with some finding it closer to medium-full than advertised, but Cigar Aficionado settled the argument at the highest level, scoring it 95 points and naming it the sixth best cigar of 2025.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/rocky-patel-emerald</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/rocky-patel-emerald</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2026 21:30:30 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9b05b94a-3b82-4e31-8d68-37bc18d85316_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:76394}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cavalier Genève Inner Circle Domaine Rouge]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Domaine Rouge is a personal tribute: S&#233;bastien Decoppet, the Swiss-born founder of Cavalier Gen&#232;ve, dedicated the blend to his late father Pascal Decoppet, and the name, French for &#8220;red domain,&#8221; carries the warmth of that dedication across the packaging and into the cigar&#8217;s character. The Inner Circle line was established as Cavalier&#8217;s platform for experimental tobaccos and constructions outside their standard portfolio, and the Domaine Rouge earns that designation primarily through the Paraguayan component in the filler, a growing region almost entirely absent from premium production outside of a handful of boutique releases. The blend was debuted at the 2023 PCA Trade Show and produced in regular-production quantities at F&#225;brica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A. in Honduras.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/cavalier-geneve-inner-circle-domaine</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/cavalier-geneve-inner-circle-domaine</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2026 21:28:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e4824d62-4bdd-4945-8f5c-15a01512670f_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:76393}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[El Mago The James Avenue Sumatra]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Sumatra is described by Nick Fusco as the most nuanced of the four James Avenue expressions, and the construction choice behind it supports that characterization: a Sumatra-seed wrapper paired with a Corojo binder is an unusual pairing, the Sumatra&#8217;s characteristic earthiness and the Corojo&#8217;s Cuban-seed spice working in counterpoint rather than running in the same direction. All four James Avenue blends share the same 6 x 54 box-pressed Toro format and are rolled at the MGE Cigars Factory in Estel&#237;, Nicaragua, owned by Miguel Pinto, but each carries a genuinely distinct internal construction rather than a cosmetic wrapper swap over a common filler blend. The Sumatra&#8217;s wrapper country is undisclosed, consistent with El Mago&#8217;s approach across the James Avenue line, as is the Corojo binder&#8217;s origin. The Nicaraguan filler is the only fully confirmed sourcing.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/el-mago-the-james-avenue-sumatra</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/el-mago-the-james-avenue-sumatra</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:59:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/cff899b6-7b79-4b13-b5a2-bbdd0287a8ea_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:75715}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Concealed Carry II: The Cuban Embargo - Fidel]]></title><description><![CDATA[A note upfront: this cigar has generated genuine controversy in the premium cigar community, particularly among Cuban exile communities, over the decision to name the release after Fidel Castro. Omar de Frias has published a historical dossier framing the series as an examination of the Cuban embargo&#8217;s historical record rather than a tribute to the figures it names, but the distinction has not satisfied everyone, and it is worth noting for the ledger.

The Concealed Carry line is de Frias&#8217;s ongoing limited-edition project under the Fratello umbrella, built around a deliberate concept of withheld information: factory, wrapper, binder, and filler are all intentionally undisclosed, with the blend left to speak without provenance to lean on. The first Concealed Carry series drew from Cuban Prohibition as its theme; this second edition, themed around the 1962 U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, will unfold across six releases, Fidel being the first. Where the original series came packaged in vintage cans, each Concealed Carry II release arrives in a box, this one in military-green packaging with a red star emblem and vintage-style lettering.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/concealed-carry-ii-the-cuban-embargo</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/concealed-carry-ii-the-cuban-embargo</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:57:06 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6733aae3-83ab-46b2-9c8d-5ee246b94210_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:75713}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Plasencia Alma del Fuego Concepción]]></title><description><![CDATA[&#8220;Alma del Fuego&#8221; means soul of fire, the third installment in Plasencia&#8217;s landmark Alma series following the Alma del Fuerte and Alma del Campo, and the fire in the name refers specifically to the twin volcanoes of Ometepe, the island rising from Lake Nicaragua whose black volcanic soil is the geographic heart of this blend. Nestor Andr&#233;s Plasencia has been explicit about why Ometepe tobacco demands patience: the same volcanic minerality and density that makes the leaf exceptional also requires time to soften into usability. Every Ometepe component in the Alma del Fuego, one of the two binders and half of the filler, was aged seven years before rolling at Plasencia Cigars S.A. The blend is 75% Ometepe Ligero by volume, a concentration of volcanic-soil tobacco that few manufacturers would attempt as anything other than a novelty. A sun-grown Jalapa wrapper, Colorado Maduro in color and naturally sweet in character, was chosen specifically by Nestor Plasencia to counterbalance that volcanic intensity, the sweetness of Jalapa playing against the earthy power of Ometepe.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/plasencia-alma-del-fuego-concepcion</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/plasencia-alma-del-fuego-concepcion</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:54:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d836ae06-5bc9-4f1d-819d-c30dd6fef6cb_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:75712}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust StillWell Star Aromatic Dulce Claro]]></title><description><![CDATA[Steve Saka founded Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust with a stated goal of blending cigars that defy category boundaries, and nothing in his portfolio makes that case more literally than the StillWell Star line. The Aromatic Dulce Claro debuted at PCA 2026 as the newest expression in a series that blends Nicaraguan long-filler cigar tobacco with aromatic pipe tobaccos sourced from Cornell & Diehl, America&#8217;s most respected small-batch pipe tobacco blending house, with Cornell & Diehl&#8217;s head blender Jeremy Reeves selecting the specific leaf for each release. What distinguishes the Claro from the darker expressions is the wrapper: a pale, golden Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed leaf chosen to let the pipe tobacco character lead rather than compete with heavier tobacco. A Mexican San Andr&#233;s Negro Cultivo Tonto binder holds a filler of Nicaraguan cigar leaf blended with Black Cavendish, Golden Virginia, and Burley from Cornell & Diehl. Each cigar features a sweetened cap that opens with honey and a gentle aromatic sweetness, transitioning into cream, light stone fruit, toasted grain, and a soft floral note on the retrohale, with the experience remaining mellow and balanced throughout rather than cloying.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/dunbarton-tobacco-and-trust-stillwell</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/dunbarton-tobacco-and-trust-stillwell</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:51:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1952697f-a748-4aee-9c9f-2b8d6bfef1dd_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:75709}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Perdomo Legacy Father & Son Shade Grown]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Legacy Father & Son is Perdomo&#8217;s first foray into the limited-edition market and the first blend the company has released as a genuine family collaboration, pairing Nick Perdomo Jr. with his son Nicholas Perdomo III, each contributing a blend and the two working together on a third. The thread connecting all three expressions is a proprietary hybrid tobacco that Nick Jr. developed over years, crossing Habano and Cameroon seed varieties on the family&#8217;s Nicaraguan farms, a leaf that supplies the binder across the entire trilogy and the wrapper on the Shade Grown. That Shade Grown wrapper, Nick Jr.&#8217;s personal creation, undergoes an additional ten months of bourbon barrel aging before rolling, echoing the technique that defines the Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne line.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/perdomo-legacy-father-and-son-shade</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/perdomo-legacy-father-and-son-shade</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:47:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/be1e79d1-5711-4f2c-8aa3-af91aa4f071c_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:75706}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Atabey Corona Cigar Co. 25th Anniversary]]></title><description><![CDATA[Corona Cigar Company, the Orlando-area retailer founded by Jeff and Tanya Borysiewicz in 1996, marked its 25th anniversary in 2021 with two custom humidors from Nelson Alfonso&#8217;s Selected Tobacco umbrella, one Atabey and one Byron, both distributed through United Cigars exclusively to Corona Cigar locations. The Atabey humidor is the more remarkable of the two in its timing: Alfonso did not blend a new cigar for the occasion. He reached into his aging room and pulled Misticos vitolas from a 2013 production run, giving the finished cigars over seven years of post-roll age before presenting them to Borysiewicz, the Misticos being Jeff&#8217;s personal favorite Atabey vitola. Only 250 humidors were produced, each individually numbered, each containing 25 cigars. As with every Atabey release, Alfonso declines to disclose the blend specifics beyond the wrapper&#8217;s Ecuadorian origin, a golden shade leaf consistent with the standard Atabey construction. The additional years of aging after rolling have mellowed what would already be a refined profile into something even softer and more integrated, the complexity arriving quietly across a long, slow smoke.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/atabey-corona-cigar-co-25th-anniversary</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/atabey-corona-cigar-co-25th-anniversary</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:43:26 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4a7bfdb6-5182-44b6-aa63-4c8a21f6f228_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:75704}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Don Pepín García E.R.H.]]></title><description><![CDATA[El Rey de los Habanos, &#8220;The King of Havanas,&#8221; was the name of the small chinchalle Don Pep&#237;n Garc&#237;a opened on Calle Ocho in Miami&#8217;s Little Havana in June 2002 after emigrating from Cuba, the same factory where he built the reputation that made his name synonymous with premium Nicaraguan cigars before the family established My Father Cigars&#8217; larger operation in Estel&#237;. The cigar bearing that factory&#8217;s name has now gone through three distinct iterations: the original Nicaraguan puro of the early 2000s, a 2014 remake for a single Pennsylvania retailer using an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, and this current version, returning to general distribution with an entirely new blend. The E.R.H. is now rolled exclusively at My Father Cigars S.A. in Estel&#237;, box-pressed across three vitolas and built around a dark, oily Ecuadorian Sumatra Rosado Oscuro wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and a tri-region filler drawing from Condega, Estel&#237;, and Jalapa, all overseen directly by Pep&#237;n himself.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/don-pepin-garcia-erh</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/don-pepin-garcia-erh</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:39:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5aa0bfd7-cdef-4363-b2a0-82cae81a58a5_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:75703}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[La Herencia Cubana CORE Corojo]]></title><description><![CDATA[The La Herencia Cubana line is AJ Fernandez&#8217;s entry into the boutique market under his own name, and the CORE Corojo is its most straightforward expression: an all-Nicaraguan puro built entirely around Corojo &#8216;99 seed tobacco, box-pressed across all four vitolas and positioned as the natural counterpart to the CORE&#8217;s Ecuadorian Habano construction. Where the original La Herencia Cubana uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper and the CORE leans on Ecuadorian Habano Ligero for its oily darkness, the CORE Corojo steps back to Nicaragua entirely, wrapping a glistening Nicaraguan Corojo leaf over Nicaraguan binder and long-filler at Fernandez&#8217;s Estel&#237; factory.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/la-herencia-cubana-core-corojo</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/la-herencia-cubana-core-corojo</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:36:26 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/61bc1149-6f7c-4da3-92d1-2b9dd10c4aea_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:75700}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[El Titan de Bronze Redemption]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sandy Cobas founded El Titan de Bronze on Calle Ocho in Miami&#8217;s Little Havana in 1995, and for most of the factory&#8217;s history it operated in the quiet way that the best chinchalles do: no national distribution, no trade show booth, just Cuban-trained Level 9 rollers producing handmade cigars in the traditional entubado style with triple caps for a devoted local following. That changed when General Cigar contracted El Titan to produce the Cohiba Serie M in 2021, then signed on as exclusive national distributor for Redemption in 2023, bringing the factory its widest retail reach in nearly three decades of operation. The current Redemption is an entirely new blend, distinct from earlier versions the factory produced under the same name, built around a sun-grown Ecuadorian Habano Claro wrapper over a Nicaraguan Estel&#237; binder and a filler combining Estel&#237; and Jalapa tobaccos.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/el-titan-de-bronze-redemption</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/el-titan-de-bronze-redemption</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 10 Oct 2026 14:31:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b317411b-313f-4ee8-879d-6059be6cd629_3017x4023.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:71409}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Island Jim San Andrés]]></title><description><![CDATA[The #Two is the maduro follow-up to the original Island Jim, the collaboration between Jim Robinson of the Leaf & Bean shop in Pittsburgh and Oscar Valladares, and the concept running through both cigars is the same: the cigar is built to look exactly like a No. 2 pencil. The shaggy, unfinished foot serves as the eraser end, the filler tobacco protruding loosely from the wrapper. The head replicates the sharpened tip through a two-tone layered cap, the dark Mexican San Andr&#233;s leaf playing the pencil wood and a lighter Ecuadorian Connecticut shade leaf forming the exposed lead point. Cut into the cap and you get the San Andr&#233;s profile; leave more cap intact and the Connecticut&#8217;s sweetness shapes the first draw. The San Andr&#233;s #Two swaps the original&#8217;s Nicaraguan Jalapa wrapper for a dark, oily Mexican San Andr&#233;s Maduro leaf over the same Honduran binder and filler core, rolled at Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. in Danl&#237; in the single 6.5 x 52 torpedo figurado format.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/island-jim-san-andres</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/island-jim-san-andres</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 10 Oct 2026 14:26:06 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d8b26c4f-58c6-4d65-9ed4-ecb2c650d90f_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:71406}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Foundation The Wise Man Maduro]]></title><description><![CDATA[Where the Corojo is refined and measured, the Maduro announces itself. Cigar Aficionado scored it 95 points and ranked it the third best cigar of 2018, the highest score the magazine has ever given a Foundation Cigar Co. release, and the blend earned that distinction on pure tobacco merit. Nicholas Melillo paired the same El G&#252;eg&#252;ense concept with a Mexican San Andr&#233;s Maduro wrapper, dark, oily, and carrying a reddish-brown patina under the right light, over a Nicaraguan Corojo &#8216;99 binder from Jalapa and aged Nicaraguan long-fillers from Estel&#237; and Jalapa, the whole blend now rolled at My Father Cigars S.A. in Estel&#237; following Foundation&#8217;s move away from earlier factory arrangements.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/foundation-the-wise-man-maduro</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/foundation-the-wise-man-maduro</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 10 Oct 2026 14:21:18 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/265ac379-5e79-451b-8d5e-bac4e21658ef_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:71405}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Foundation The Wise Man Corojo]]></title><description><![CDATA[Originally rolled at Aganorsa Leaf in Nicaragua, Foundation moved the Wise Man production to My Father Cigars S.A. in Estel&#237;, where it has been produced since 2024. The Corojo is a Nicaraguan puro in every component, built around a Corojo '99 wrapper grown in the Jalapa region, a dual Corojo '99 binder from Estel&#237; and Jalapa, and a filler of Corojo '99 and Criollo '98 from Condega, Estel&#237;, and Jalapa.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/foundation-the-wise-man-corojo</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/foundation-the-wise-man-corojo</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2026 19:01:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f17fe46f-32be-4e74-9bdd-43caabf6bc49_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:70420}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Brick House Bricktoberfest 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[The annual Bricktoberfest release is as much a tradition as it is a cigar. J.C. Newman, now in its fourth generation of family ownership and the oldest family-owned premium cigar company in America, ties the campaign directly to its founder: Julius Caesar Newman was born in the only brick house in his small village in Austria-Hungary, where his family lived above a local tavern. That tavern heritage, beer and cigars around a family table, is what the Bricktoberfest promotion has commemorated since 2017, and the limited-edition cigar that now accompanies it each September has become its own annual event.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/brick-house-bricktoberfest-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/brick-house-bricktoberfest-2026</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:22:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4fd420ea-716d-4405-a129-d5979b931aaa_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:67283}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Man O' War]]></title><description><![CDATA[Man O' War is named for the legendary American thoroughbred who won 20 of his 21 races and was widely considered the greatest racehorse of his era, and AJ Fernandez has built the brand into one of the most recognizable value-tier premium lines in the market. Launched in 2006, the original blend was an early showcase for Fernandez's skill with Ecuadorian Habano leaf at a time when he was still building his reputation, and it attracted a devoted following on price-to-performance grounds long before his name carried the weight it does now. The wrapper is an Ecuadorian Habano Viso, drawn from the middle primings of the plant where the leaf is at its oiliest and most aromatic, aged a minimum of three years before rolling at his Estel&#237; factory. That wrapper covers an all-Nicaraguan binder and long-filler core.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/man-o-war</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/man-o-war</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:17:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8db21584-b1e3-4d9c-a326-c241e800f0d2_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:67282}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[H. Upmann Nicaragua by AJ Fernandez Sunrise]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Sunrise is the third installment in the ongoing collaboration between Altadis U.S.A., AJ Fernandez, and Rafael Nodal, joining the 2017 original and the 2021 Heritage as regular-production expressions in the H. Upmann Nicaragua series, and it represents the most deliberate shift in profile of the three. Where the original carried an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper for a medium-to-full Nicaraguan character and the Heritage wrapped a Brazilian Mata Fina for even more intensity, the Sunrise reaches for an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper and a gentler disposition, designed as an approachable morning or early-day smoke without conceding the Nicaraguan identity of the series. The brand manager's framing was precise: "a Connecticut done right," meaning medium in body rather than the mild, creamy flatness Connecticut wrappers often produce. All binder and filler tobacco comes exclusively from AJ Fernandez's own farms in Estel&#237;, grown, fermented, and aged under his supervision before rolling at his main factory.]]></description><link>https://www.reformation.blog/p/h-upmann-nicaragua-by-aj-fernandez</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.reformation.blog/p/h-upmann-nicaragua-by-aj-fernandez</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason L Bradfield]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 21 Sep 2026 16:17:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b130691b-a8c5-4b35-af75-a4647d3ff28e_4032x3024.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="recipe-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;id&quot;:66472}" data-component-name="RecipeToDOM"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>