Cigar Coop Prime Time Show

Coming in at #16 Cigar of the Year for 2025 is the Joya de Nicaragua Cinco de Cinco Robusto Gordo. The Cinco de Cinco is a line that was first introduced in 2023. It’s a line that commemorates the 55th anniversary of the company. As the oldest factory in Nicaragua, Joya de Nicaragua connects its history with that of its home country. Over the years, Joya de Nicaragua’s factory has had many visitors who have had an opportunity to create their own blends. Joya de Nicaragua derived the final blend for Cinco de Cinco based on many of the unique blends created by visitors to the factory, thus paying homage to its history again. Cinco de Cinco is part of Joya de Nicaragua's top tier Obras Maestras line. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-ypv

Coming in at #17 Cigar of the Year for 2025 is the Perdomo Legacy Connecticut Robusto. This Connecticut Shade offering is one of three blends under Perdomo’s Legacy line. Legacy is a project spearheaded by Nicholas Perdomo III, the son of Nick Perdomo Jr. Nicholas sought to create a cigar to honor his father’s 60th birthday. In the process, Nicholas would undertake one of the most ambitious projects in Perdomo Cigars’ history. At the core of this project is a shade-grown tobacco that is cultivated from a proprietary hybrid seed. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-yp2

Coming in at #18 Cigar of the Year for 2025 is the La Flor Dominicana 30 Years. The La Flor Dominicana 30 Years commemorates the 30th anniversary of when Litto and Ines Gomez entered the cigar industry and founded a company called Los Libertadores, which eventually became rebranded as La Flor Dominicana. The LFD 30 years is a limited edition cigar that made its debut at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association Trade Show. The cigars were packaged in exquisite humidors that were built at Tony Gomez' box factory. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-yok

Coming in at #19 Cigar of the Year for 2025 is the Fuente Fuente OpusX La Edición De La Sociedad from the OpusX Society. The OpusX Society is a venture started by Manny Iriarte Enterprises. The founder of the company, Manny Iriarte, has long collaborated with Arturo Fuente on packaging, box, and accessory design. Iriarte would launch The OpusX Society as another outlet to cater to OpusX's rabid fan base. This is a separate company from Arturo Fuente, but it nonetheless receives the company’s support. The OpusX Society offers accessories and exclusive products featuring original art inspired by the OpusX brand. In 2023, the first OpusX Society Cigar was announced, OpusX La Edición De La Sociedad. This cigar was released to the market late last year. Today's cigar is the debut cigar, and a follow-up is in the works. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-ynY

Coming in at #20 Cigar of the Year for 2025 is the Viva La Vida Connecticut Toro by Artesano Del Tobacco. The Viva La Vida Connecticut has been on Artesano Del Tobacco’s radar for several years now. One thing the company prides itself on is engaging with customers to find out what they want. One recurring piece of feedback the company received was a request for a Viva La Vida with a Connecticut wrapper. Artesano Del Tobacco then went to work with AJ Fernandez, and the result was Viva La Vida Connecticut. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-ynr

Coming in at #21 Cigar of the Year for 2025 is the Charter Oak Pasquale by Foundation Cigar Company. Charter Oak is one of the core premium brands in the Foundation Cigar portfolio. It's a line that pays homage to owner and founder Nicholas Melillo's Connecticut roots. The Charter Oak CT Shade, CT Broadleaf, and Habano are popular blends have very approachable price points. In 2023, Melillo created a couple of limited production offerings that round out the story. These would be more premium offerings, and each would extend the story of Melillo’s Connecticut heritage even more. Known collectively as Charter Oak Especiales, two blends were created. They are named after Melillo’s grandfathers. There is a Connecticut Shade offering known as Pegnaturo and the Connecticut Broadleaf known as Pasquale. It's Pasquale that lands on this year's Countdown. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-ymT  

Coming in at #22 Cigar of the Year for 2025 is the Fiat Lux Tenebrus Limited Edition by Luciano Cigars. Fiat Lux Tenebrus made its debut in 2024, continuing the story of Luciano Cigars' Fiat Lux line. While Fiat Lux is Latin “let there be light”, with the case Tenebrus, it comes at things from a different angle - exploring the journey of “darkness into light”. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-ymD

Coming in at #23 Cigar of the Year for 2025 is the Fratello Arlequín Connecticut Robusto. Arlequín Connecticut is the second blend in the Arlequín series. In 2019, Fratello Cigars released a sampler known as the Fratello Space Pack. In that sampler were two unreleased blends: Sorella and Arlequín. Following the sampler release and based on the feedback received, Sorella and Arlequín were added to the Fratello portfolio. Sorella would be launched in the international market, while Arlequín would focus on the U.S. market. Although the blend remained the same, the Arlequín would be adjusted into a box-pressed format. That original Arlequín was a San Andres wrapped blend. As the name indicates, the Arlequín Connecticut is a Connecticut wrapper. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-ylF

For Episode 361, it's Media Panel #22. Tonight, we are honored to be joined by Eric Guttormson of Cigar Dojo and Kevin Shahan of Cigar Prop! The topic is the COTY (Cigar of the Year) lists. We will look into the practices and criteria for what should make a good COTY list. Both Eric and Kevin have unique ways to pick a Cigar of the Year, and we will get their inputs tonight. Plus, we will have our FSG Beef Question of the Night, Tabacalera USA Ties That Bind, Alec Bradley Live True, Espinosa Today in Sports History, and the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Deliberation segments.

Coming in at #24 Cigar of the Year for 2025 is the Montecristo M Toro from Altadis U.S.A. The story of this cigar revolves around an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper, which, according to Altadis U.S.A., has been aged for 20 years. The wrapper came from David Perez of A.S.P., and Rafael Nodal, Vice President of Product Capability for Altadis U.S.A. and AJ Fernandez obtained it and went to work developing a limited production line. The result was the Montecristo M. The Montecristo M is a limited-production line because of the availability of the 20-year-aged wrapper. Given the age and availability of this wrapper, it also becomes one of the more premium Montecristo offerings. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-yln  

Coming in at #25 Black Label Trading Company Orthodox Toro.  Black Label Trading Company was the first brand founded by James Brown. During the early days of Black Label Trading Company, James Brown built a reputation for bold, dark wrapper brands. However, over the past decade, we have seen Brown emerge as one of the industry’s top blenders. At the same time, we’ve seen him expand well beyond bold and dark wrappers and master a wide range of tobaccos and blends. With Orthodox, this blend shows that while Brown has expanded his horizons, he can still mix bold and dark elements. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-yhn

Coming in at #26 Cigar of the Year for 2025 is the El Pulpo Octo Ocho by Artesano Del Tobacco. This is a historic placement on the Cigar Coop Countdown because it marks the first time a culebra has landed on a Cigar Coop Countdown. A culebra consists of three panatela cigars intertwined. Often, the cigars that form a culebra are likened to snakes. In fact, culebra is Spanish for snake. In the case of El Pulpo, this is Artesano Del Tobacco's second brand, but it pays homage to the octopus. Octo Ocho is a mashup of Latin (Octo) and Spanish (Ocho) meaning 8 which are the number of tenacles on a octopus. In the case of Octo Ocho, while it fundamentally retains the culebra concept, the the twisted panatelas in Octo Ocho's case symbolize tentacles of an octopus. It’s important to note that this culebra does not have eight tentacles, only three. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-yhg

Coming in at #27 Cigar of the Year is the Don Julio Sang Bleu Robusto by De Los Reyes Cigars. This is a cigar that comes from De Los Reyes Cigars. Many know De Los Reyes for their Saga brand of cigars. Don Julio is De Los Reyes’ more premium brand. Don Julio, pays tribute to Don Julio Samuel Reyes Fermin, a celebrated tobacco grower and a third-generation member of the family.  As for the name “Sang Bleu” it means means “blue blood.” The Sang Bleu marks the first core release by De Los Reyes by Don Julio in over a decade. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-yfb

On Prime Time Jukebox Episode 176, our theme is "Feast or Famine". On this show, Dave and Coop go through artists and their songs where they really is no middle ground. They are either in with artist (feast) or out with the artist (famine). we have our NFL Corner, Pairings, Music News, Cigar News, Developing Palates Review of the Week, and Dave's New Music 45 On this show, Dave smokes the Black Label Trading Company Morphine 2024 Edition Lancero while Coop smokes the Davidoff Maduro Robusto. As always, you can follow along with our Spotify Playlists: Episode 176 Playlist References Miley Cyrus shares update on godmother Dolly Parton amid health issues Cigar Jukebox Top 50 Developing Palates Team Cigar Review: My Father Blue Robusto

Coming in at #28 on the 2025 Cigar of the Year Countdown is the Davidoff Year of the Snake 2025 Lancero. Back in 2012, Davidoff released a cigar called Davidoff Year of the Snake. While not the first Chinese Zodiac cigar by Davidoff, it essentially was the cigar that put Davidoff on the map in terms of Chinese Zodiac releases - and it was Davidoff that could be credited with the craze of Chinese Zodiac cigars. That original Davidoff Year of the Snake is one of the more legendary cigars ever released. On Cigar Coop, this cigar finished as the #2 Cigar of the Year, and #3 Cigar of the Decade 2010-2019. Since that release, Davidoff has gone through a complete Chinese New Year cycle. In late 2024, Davidoff released its second Year of the Snake cigar. This one is an all-new cigar with a new blend. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-yef

Coming in at #29 on the 2025 Cigar of the Year Countdown is the Tatuaje La Riqueza SE 2024 Tuxtla Cazadores. In 2024, Tatuaje Cigars released a pair of cigars under its La Riqueza brand. Dubbed La Riqueza SE 2024, both cigars were released in a Cazadores format. La Riqueza is Connecticut Broadleaf offering that has been a part of the Tatuaje portfolio for over the decade. One of those releases would be a Broadleaf offering, the other would be an extension of Tatuaje's Tuxtla concept. Tuxtla is a series of cigars that Tatuaje has released over the past three years. It involves applying a Mexican San Andrés wrapper to existing Tatuaje offerings. For the La Riqueza SE 2024 Tuxtla, the Broadleaf is replaced by Mexican San Andrés. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-yea

The 2025 #30 Cigar of the Year is the LH Limited Aniversario. This cigar was released to celebrate ten years of LH Cigars in the U.S. market. Since the early 1990s, owner and blender Nick Syris has been inspired by the artistry of Cuban cigars. In particular, Syris has had an affinity for the Cohiba Siglo VI, a 52-ring-gauge x 150 mm vitola. This size has played a pivotal role in how Syris has approached blending. For his tenth anniversary, Syris decided to create the LH Limited Aniversario using this particular size. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-ye2

For Episode 360, we are honored to welcome Carlito Fuente of Arturo Fuente and Les Mann of S.T. Dupont. While both have been our guests before, this is the first time we have had the two on the show together. Arturo Fuente and S.T Dupont have a unique relationship, and Carlito and Les have a longtime friendship. This show will deviate a bit from our usual formula, so you will not want to miss this one. This episode features appearances from Jonathan Drew and grammy-award winner/Kennedy Center honoree Arturo Sandoval.

Prime Time Special Edition 184: The Unofficial & Unauthorized Top 25 CA Pre-The results of the CA Top 25 list will either make some in the cigar industry’s hopes and dreams come true. In the cases, it will shatter the hopes and dreams of the others. We’ve assembled members of the Cigar Coop Coalition team for the show. We are joined by guest panelists John McTavish of Developing Palates and Hector Alfonso of Espinosa Cigars. Our approach is unique, and probably the most accurate any in the industry. It’s also one of our most controversial shows, but as always we will deliver with the utmost respect.`    

For Prime Time Jukebox Episode 175, its our inaugural Christmas Music Draft Show. The Christmas Music show has been a staple of Prime Time Jukebox going back over a decade to the Cigar Jukebox show days. This year things get changed up. With this concept, Dave and Coop each draft a playlist of Christmas songs. They will choose from carols, traditional songs, non-traditional songs, and wildcards. Plus we have music news, cigar news, the NFL corner, the Developing Palates Review of the week, and Dave’s New Music 45! On this show, Dave smokes the Crowned Heads Announces Blood Medicine B-Positive LE 2025 while Coop smokes the Rocky Patel Winter Collection. As always, you can follow along with our Spotify Playlists: Episode 175 Playlist References Jimmy Cliff, reggae icon known for hits like 'I Can See Clearly Now,' dies at 81 Jellybean Johnson, Minneapolis Music Pioneer, 'The Time' Drummer and Prince Collaborator, Dead at 69 | IBTimes UK Team Cigar Review: CAO FASA Sombra Toro - Developing Palates Crowned Head