The major menswear shows -- Collective, Project, Blue -- were in full effect in New York this past week. For some men's store buyers, it's an excuse to enjoy much of what New York has to offer: world-class steakhouses, bars that stay open till morning, Broadway shows, and all the honking you can handle. One thing that many visitors probably overlook are the great tobacconists. Among them are Barclay Rex, De La Concha, Nat Sherman, and a couple of Davidoff stores.

Any time I find myself in a new cigar store, the first question I ask is: Is there anything here that I absolutely can't find elsewhere? I ask this question for the members of our Occasion Cigar-of-the-Month Club. At two different stores, I received answers worthy of selections for that special club. 

At Barclay Rex's downtown location, I was directed to a special cigar from La Aurora called the Excepcionales. Only 100 boxes of 50 were produced (that's 5,000 cigars for the liberal arts majors out there). So, with such a limited quantity, La Aurora decided to distribute the cigars only in Manhattan! It's a Robusto with a ring gauge of 48 and comes in at just under 6 inches long.

The photo above, taken from my new iPhone, is from about 15 minutes in. The smoke was very smooth, full-bodied, with a nice, white ash. The photo below, also taken from my new iPhone, is a shot of the box with the words: Hecho especialmente para La Isla Manhattan. We'll let you know when we get that translated.