Okay well for starters, I found an article that should help shed a little light on the background of Cigar Federation:
https://cigarnoise.com/ezra-zion-cig...ar-federation/
It would be misleading for me to say much about them before that acquisition though because I've only in recent years begun shopping at Cigar Federation. If I remember correctly, it was Weelock here at this forum that first sent me a cigar from that company and I remember it being so good that I made it a point to check more of their stuff out.
As far as their sourcing of tobacco, I honestly have no idea..I mean, if you read the page for each individual cigar they sell, they usually give a pretty decent back story for most of them, usually listing the types of leaf that goes in to the cigar, and sometimes even where specifically the leaves came from. But then, imho Cigar Federation also has a tendency to...embellish just how good some of their cigars are in their descriptions.
That said - I would say that about 70% of the time, those descriptions are pretty accurate because they have a *lot* of really really tasty cigars. I've really only had a couple cigars from them that I wasn't impressed with, and most of the time that was only because the cigars didn't have a strong enough body for my taste and that I think is just a matter of preference.
One of the good things I've found about them is that they have a lot of cigars that perform well above their price range, the Mexican Hot Chocolate being one that comes to mind.
With all that considered, for me, I'm not as concerned about where the leaves come from (provided it's not stolen or previously used as toilet paper) so long as I truly enjoy the cigar. I'm aware of some companies using unwanted/leftover tobacco and then labeling it as boutique but generally that's why I never buy more than a 5er of an expensive cigar so I can determine for myself whether it's worth the price before buying boxes.
Anyway, that's just been
my experience and I'm sure others are different, but that's a really good question Todd and I'll be curious to see what others have to say in this thread about Cigar Federation!
P.S. their Leche de Mama line is one of my absolute favorite NCs, I always buy up as many as I can when they are in stock and recommend them to everyone that will listen!
