SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2025
IRELAND TRAVEL / LEÓN LEGACY / HOLDING PATTERN / PERFECT PAIRING / 42 CIGARS RATED +
editorials SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2025
24 PERFECT PAIRING SANTA TERESA 1796 TRIPLE AGED SOLERA RUM / THE WISE MAN EL GÜEGÜENSE
27 CIGAR LOUNGES ENCOUNTER TURBULENCE Airports are ready made for cigar lounges. Except they aren't. Bureaucracy, panicked anti-smoking zealots and critics await as the Detroit airport considers a new place for cigar smokers.
35 ERIN GO SMOKE The first country in the world to enact a wholesale smoking ban sounds like a lousy place to hit up for smoking. Let us surprise you.
59 LEÓN LEGACY
Background image credit: iStock / Mitz
The oldest brand in the Dominican Republic knows it's never too late to change. La Aurora seeks new smokers and here's how it's going to find them.
8 | CIGAR SNOB | SEPT / OCT 2025
SEPT / OCT 2025 | CIGAR SNOB | 9
features SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2025
14 LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
16 FEEDBACK
18 WHAT’S BURNIN’
43 RATINGS
66 SMOKING HOT CIGAR SNOB CALL OF DUTY
FEATURING VOLITION AMERICA BY GURKHA CIGARS
82 X SCOREBOARD
84 INSTAGRAM SCOREBOARD
86 EVENTS 86 GREAT LAKES CIGAR FESTIVAL 88 2025 TRAVELING ROADSHOW 90 MONTECRISTO 90TH ANNIVERSARY/ CASA DE MONTECRISTO 30TH ANNIVERSARY 92 ROCKY MOUNTAIN CIGAR FESTIVAL 94 DAVIDOFF MADISON GRAND OPENING 96 TABAKOAL MULTI-BRAND FAIR 98 ARA’O CIGARS AT SABOR HAVANA
10 | CIGAR SNOB | SEPT / OCT 2025
SEPT / OCT 2025 | CIGAR SNOB | 11
BY STEVE MILLER
Photo credit: Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport Authority
Detroit’s airport is considering a cigar lounge, bucking a national trend of closures and smoking bans. The proposal sparks debate over smoker amenities, public health panic, and airport executives who hope to give the people what they want.
BY ERIK CALVIÑO
IRELAND MAY BE BEST KNOWN FOR GUINNESS, W.B. YEATS AND U2, BUT FOR THE CIGAR ENTHUSIAST, THE EMERALD ISLE OFFERS A SURPRISINGLY WELCOMING OUTDOOR SMOKING CULTURE, ALONG WITH DRAMATIC COASTLINES, COUNTLESS CASTLES AND WORLDCLASS GOLF COURSES. WHAT BEGAN AS A WEEKLONG JOURNEY THROUGH DUBLIN AND SEVERAL STOPS ALONG THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY TURNED INTO AN ADVENTURE TO FIND THE PERFECT OUTDOOR SPOTS TO ENJOY A FINE SMOKE. WILD ATLANTIC WAY PHOTO BY: ANTHONY CALVIÑO
42 CIGARS
LEON LEGACY All images provided by La Aurora
LA AURORA’S DOMINICAN FACTORY BRIDGES CIGAR HISTORY AND MODERN INNOVATION. SINCE ITS FOUNDING IN 1903, THE LEÓN FAMILY HAS COMMITTED TO CRAFT AND TRADITION TO CREATE A STORIED BAND. NOW, IT'S TAKING IT UP A NOTCH. BY NICOLÁS ANTONIO JIMÉNEZ
Background image credit: iStock / jekaterina Sahmanova