It's been a while since I've updated folks on all of the new items we have recently received in our warehouse and stores. The coolest thing is that we have most all of our Christmas holiday sets in.  Now, I know it's just a week past Halloween, but I personally think it's never too early to put out the Christmas goods. Especially when those wares include cigar gift sets. I promise that whether it's a cigar set with a lighter, cutter, multi-tool, ashtray, shot glasses, or even wine tools, ABC has you covered.

This year our friends at Altadis created some wonderful sets for their customers who also service the adult beverage consumer. This year you will be able to buy some Romeo y Julietas with wine tools or shot glasses. They've also provided us with a nice set of H Upmann cigars and shot glasses. We also added a set that includes an ashtray. New for 2013 is a nice ceramic Brick Ashtray that is accompanied by three Brick House cigars.

Another new addition is a Nub set from the fine folks at Oliva that comes with four cigars and a high quality cutter. You will also find a couple of great Rocky Patel sets and of course the Gurkha Godzilla pack. I received more comments about the Gurkha set and the great price we offered it at than any other one we sold last year. If you aren't familiar with the Godzilla pack, it comes with over $100 worth of cigars and a nice cigar multi-tool, and all at the cool price of under $40.

Our new items don't end without gift sets. We have a dozen or so new cigars coming into our stores over the next few weeks, including Sam Leccia's Black and White, Nica Rustica and Kentucky Fire Cured from Drew Estate, CAO Flathead, and La Gloria's Trunk Show.

I could spend the next four weeks describing each of these new additions to our humidors, but for today I will focus on erthe La Gloria Trunk Show. To understand these limited release cigars I must first explain the concept and reasoning behind them. I have visited several cigar factories over the years, but I don't think anyone with as much tobacco inventory as the folks at General Cigar. It is General that produces many of the world's biggest power brands. Punch, Macanudo, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterey, and La Gloria are just a few that fall under their giant umbrella. With so many brands, a seemingly endless supply of tobacco, and some of the best tobacco blenders on the planet, it's only natural that they would create some really unique cigars.

This year they released two trunk show cigars for brick and mortar stores only, the YG-23 and the MG-08. Due to the rare nature of the tobaccos used, only 500 boxes of each were made. I was actually concerned that we wouldn't be able to acquire any since we were scheduled to meet with General Cigar late during the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show. But my friend Yuri Guillen, Team La Gloria master blender, made sure he set aside a few for us. We were able to procure 5% of their total production so I would say that he did a good job of looking out.

So what do the names mean? I know that YG-23 and MG-08 sound like Cold War acronyms for Soviet weaponry, but their meanings are quite simple. They are named for their blenders Yuri Guillen and Michael Giannini. Good luck with either one of them ever sharing what the exact tobaccos are in the cigars. You would have better luck swiping the Coke formula or all eleven of the Colonels secret herbs and spices.

All I can tell you is that both are great cigars. The YG-23 is the power stick of the two. If you like a full bodied smoke, then this one is for you. Yuri loves bold cigars and when he discovered that I had similar tastes during my last trip to the Dominican Republic, he spent the remainder of my time there seeing if he could blend one too strong for me. He did come close on one occasion, handing me a cigar that had me a little light-headed...but I prevailed. Dare I say, close, but no cigar? Anyway, the YG-23 is a reflection of the man who made it and I consider it a very special cigar.

The MG-08 is a little milder, and it's blend is 100% top secret as well. Both of these cigars have a smokeable band, which means that the bands are made of tobacco and don't have to be removed no matter how long you smoke the cigar.

I hope everyone gets a chance to try one of these very limited edition cigars. Once this years' supplies are gone then that is it for the 2013 version of the YG-23 and MG-08. Next years' cigars will incorporate a different blend. Make sure you grab a few of these and if you can, save a few to compare to next years'  version.

Long Ashes,

Chris Gwaltney, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits North Florida Regional Manager. Certified Tobacconist and Cicerone Beer Server. Follow me on Twitter @abccigarchris.