The cigar that was given to me is entitled the Vartan and it shares the namesake of the stores proprietor and legend Vartan Seferian.  As the story goes it is a blend designed by Vartan himself and then produced by the Davidoff family. The Vartan’s exterior is a smooth Connecticut-Habano hybrid wrapper grown in the ever popular Connecticut growing fields of Ecuador.  Both the binder and filler are comprised of Dominican tobaccos, and fill out the cigar nicely without any noticeable soft spots.

Construction:  As mentioned above the cigar has a smooth texture too it, and has a solid construction value, in that it does not have any soft spots.  I do have to mention for full disclosure sake, that mine had some unraveling issues towards the cap and foot of the cigar.  Thankfully, they were not major issues and could be smoked through without too much difficulty.

Draw: The draw was solid and allowed for some slight resistance in the inhalation.  I cut my cap minimally and was able to achieve an excellent draw, which goes to show the fine construction of this cigar.

Burn: The Vartan Blend burns smoothly throughout, and I was pleased to not have to touch it up at all.  Even with the wrapper issue, I was able to let it naturally burn through the unraveled parts without correcting the burn path, which was nice.  The ash was tight striated grey ash and would remain firmly on the end of the cigar until one was ready to doff it off into the ashtray.

Flavor: The Vartan Blend smokes like a Davidoff to me in the fact of its simplicity of flavor.  Most Davidoff’s tend to pick one creamy flavor note and stick to it from start to finish, so does the Vartan blend.  It starts off with a little hint of bitterness and then builds into a strong leather tone for the rest of the smoke.  It is pleasant and creamy from start to finish, but rarely deviates from the leather notes.  At one point I detected an earthy tone, but it was fleeting.

Final Verdict: As of print this cigar is only available at the Ambassador store and their online website. The Vartan blend is a fine consistent cigar that reflects the Ambassador name well.  It is easy to see how this blend was produced by the Davidoff house because it tends to be consistent in both construction and taste.  While the price point for the robusto is around $14 and probably a bit steep for the average consumer, it does serve as a fine example of a premium smoke.  If you are looking for a complex cigar this would probably not be the stick for you, but if you are looking for a creamy mellow luxurious smoke, then the Vartan Blend is a fine cigar to enjoy on a lazy summer afternoon.

Cusano Cigars will act as a pricing extension to the Davidoff portfolio. Cusano cigars typically retail in the $4-$5 range and peak around $12. Davidoff has an average selling price of over $20.

Michael J. Chiusano remains President of Cusano Cigars.

“Our family is honored to have been selected and welcomed into the Oettinger Davidoff Group. In the world of cigars, there is no higher compliment than to become part of the Davidoff family. Belonging now to the Oettinger Davidoff Group means our family name and dedication to our products will be shared and protected around the world. The global presence of the Davidoff group is unparalleled and we are proud to become members of such a respected team,” says Michael Chiusano.

The Oettinger Davidoff Group and the Chiusano Family have already maintained a business relationship for over a decade: Cusano Cigars entrusted the production of its longfiller cigars to Tabadom SA, a subsidiary of the Oettinger Davidoff Group in the Dominican Republic, in 1997.

The terms of the acquisition will remain confidential.

PuffingCigars.com will give you the official answer (this answer is FACT) but allow us to make a few comments and put some questions on the table for the company and the cigar smokers.

Company X has created the viral marketing campaign that the cigar industry has never seen. It is very refreshing to see a big player in the industry break new ground and connect with all the smokers. Especially connecting, and attracting, the cigar smokers who may be put off by magazines displaying the cigar information next to a review of a $100,000 watch.

Additionally you must be applauded for providing cigar connoisseurs (both new and seasoned) with the correct message. Cigars must be judged based on ones own merits.

Many cigar smokers put too much weight on one magazines reviews and numbers (the rating) that appear next to the pictures. I have seen people purchase a stick because it received a 90 and never try another because it was only given an 89.

Attempting to dispel the “Cuban myth” deserves another applause. While Cuban tobacco is something we (USA) have not have the privilege of tasting legally, you can be assured that product coming out of other States is just as good if not better.

Calling out “The Showoff” or the person who buys cigars based on price will yield you yet another applause. The $50 cigar will not always taste better than the $5 smoke. Too many variables come into play that I would not even scratch the surface of why pricing is set. Everyone should be daring enough to give the lower end (based on price not quality) cigars a shot. You, and your wallet, might just be pleasantly surprised.

However this marketing and campaign still leaves me some questions for the this big industry player.

• Are you admitting your cigars have never been, and might not be, rated very well by the big magazine.? I can only remember one cigar that recently received a top 25 rating and that was in 2007.
• Are you telling me to ignore the “luxury” advertisements/image your parent company Davidoff produces and publishes because it’s BS?
• You know your current website/advertisements still try to reference Cuba/Cuban tobacco and the one rating from CA right? Wouldn’t this be leading someone in the opposite direction of Black Band Project message.

Overall I would like to thank Company X for creating such a cool buzz on the internet. I love your marketing, ideas, and stuff you produce. The company is always friendly and it’s a great group of people to have in the industry.

I would also like to tell everyone to sign up for BlackBandProject.com and be safe in knowing that this is a legitimate, established company that will send you a great, perhaps new, product you will fully enjoy.

The company was owned by the Eiroas family who also mainted 9 other cigar brands; Baccarat was one of the more popular brands that Davidoff would acquire.

Davidoff has expressed intrest in keeping the Camacho brand as is – for now. Eiroa will remain as president of the brand, and while the tobacco farms were not part of the deal there was a supply agreement in the terms.

Cigar Consolidation Continues…

It appears as if the online cigar community has come under consoldiation because of an individual named John Caputo.

John Caputo has recently purcahsed CigarLive.com, ClubStogie.com, Cigar-Review.com and Top25cigar.com. The plan is to consolidate these communities under one umbrella that will be known as Puff.com.

In postings (on all the forums) started by John Caputo he states the goal is to create the “largest cigar social site on the planet it will enable us to do things that apart would not be achievable.” Even more interesting was his idea to start a “cigar advocacy group whose voice can be heard and respected“.

While an advocacy group is great and always needed to us, cigar smokers, there is an uneasy bit of tension throughout all the original members of the forums. Not knowing what will truly come about and the feeling of a “family” being broken apart has caused lots of negative comments and concern.