Quote:
Originally Posted by TheTraveler
I spoke to a customer service rep at CI about the 5 Vegas Gold ... he said that the original blender was Kiki Barber. He said the brand was bought 5 to 8 years ago and that, while the blend may have changed slightly over time (tobacco crops being dynamic things, not static) it hasn't actually ever been re-blended. That's his story anyway. 
He also said that CI holds that brand and any you see in B&Ms were purchased from CI then put on the shelves. Has anyone heard that before? I had never heard that before.
Just my two cents.
(Yes, I did call the customer service rep JUST for the purpose of answering this question. I'm a trivia nut and the question intrigued me, plus I'm a little OCD. *shrug* ) 
EDIT:  800 posts! I'm catching up, icehog3!  |
Whomever you talked to was slightly confused and mixing up cigars.
Kiki Berger / World Tobacco originally blended the Classic. Then World Tobacco went bellyup and CI picked up the brand about 8-10 years ago.
Nestor Plasencia now makes the 5 Vegas Classic in Nicaragua for CI.
Nestor Plasencia blended and manufactures the 5 Vegas Gold (SteveR almost got arrested in the Honduras airport taking back a bundle of samples from Nestor). The 5 Vegas Gold didn't come out until about 5 years ago.
Torano makes the 5 Vegas "A" in Honduras.
5 Vegas Miami is Pepin. Manufactured mostly in his Nicaraguan factory, and there is one that is made in Miami.
Limitada '05, '06, '07 & '08 were blended by Jose Blanco of La Aurora and manufactured by La Aurora in the DR.
The original Cask Strength was also Jose Blanco & La Aurora.
Limitada '09, Cask-II, and Relic were blended by Mauel Quesada of MATASA and manufactured by MATASA.
I can't recall offhand who did the 5 Vegas Shorts. I think it might have been Nestor.