CW Blind Review 2009 #2

[TommyBB]

A new review, with another to follow in a few days.

Cigar Weekly Blind Review 2009 #2
Vegas de Santiago Don Luis Secretos del Maestro Churchill (natural wrapper)
Published Monday, March 23, 2009
Compiled by Doug McGuire (Mad Dawg)

Since taking on the mantle of Reviews Editor for CW last year, I’ve been surprised more than once by the results of the blind reviews I’ve coordinated. In many respects, this review is a perfect example. Prior to being contacted about a review by Lani Kaub Niehaus, Director of International Sales for Vegas Santiago SA (who graciously supplied the cigars for the review), I had never heard of Vegas de Santiago (“VDS”) cigars, or the Santiago de Puriscal region of Costa Rica where the filler and binder tobaccos used in making many of the cigar lines are grown.

The families who own Vegas Santiago SA have been involved in tobacco cultivation and cigar production in Costa Rica for over 80 years. Mr. Luis Santana Lamas was master of production for VDS for several years before his death. “Don Luis” had mastered the intricacies of cigar production during the 25 years he worked at the H. Upmann factory in Havana. The Don Luis Secretos del Maestro line is named in his honor. According to the promotional flyer I was sent along with the cigars, the line features “Caribbean tobacco [fillers], binder from Indonesian and Central America, and a Connecticut wrapper from Ecuador. In further correspondence we got this response “This cigar was named 'Secretos del Maestro' for a reason!!. We did not want the exact blend to be known.
For your article you may say that the blend is a 3 year old Dominican Ligero with an Ecuadorian ligero and a Costa Rican secco. The wrapper is a Habano2000 from Ecuador and the binder is from Indonesia.