Epicurean
Epicurean Cigars is a boutique cigar brand founded by Steven Ysidron, whose cigar-making background includes work with the Fuente family before developing his own Nicaraguan-focused blends. Epicurean became known for small-production cigars including Gonzo Vintage 2007, Gonzo Santeria, and Carnavale.
Shop Epicurean Cigars at Cigars N Cigars, including Carnavale cigars handmade in Nicaragua with a dark Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper. Compare Lancero and Double Robusto formats in this medium-to-full blend.
Epicurean Cigars by Steven Ysidron
Epicurean Cigars was created by Steven Ysidron, whose cigar-making background predates the Epicurean brand and includes experience with the Fuente family. Ysidron later developed Epicurean around small-production, Nicaraguan-focused blends using different wrapper and binder combinations to distinguish the individual collections.
The Epicurean portfolio has included Gonzo Vintage 2007, Gonzo Santeria, Carnavale, AG and other releases. Rather than following one common tobacco recipe, these collections use different wrappers and internal blends, making the individual cigar line the most useful way to compare Epicurean cigars.
Epicurean Cigar Blends
Epicurean Carnavale
Epicurean Carnavale is a medium-to-full Nicaraguan cigar built around a dark Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper. Current Cigars N Cigars selections include Lancero and Double Robusto formats, providing two substantially different ring gauges within the same Carnavale blend.
Epicurean Carnavale Lancero
The Carnavale Lancero measures 6.5 x 38. Its narrow ring gauge creates a higher proportion of wrapper tobacco relative to the interior blend than the larger Double Robusto, making construction and wrapper influence important differences when comparing the two formats.
Epicurean Carnavale Double Robusto
Carnavale Double Robusto uses the same Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper in a substantially larger-ring format than the Lancero. The increased diameter changes the ratio of wrapper to binder and filler, providing a useful comparison within the Carnavale collection without changing the core blend.
Epicurean Gonzo Vintage 2007
Gonzo Vintage 2007 is one of the established Epicurean blends associated with Steven Ysidron. The cigar uses a Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper over a double binder incorporating Mexican San Andrés and Nicaraguan Jalapa tobaccos, with Nicaraguan fillers from Jalapa and Condega.
Epicurean Gonzo Santeria
Gonzo Santeria was developed as a separate interpretation of the Gonzo concept. It uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper with a double binder of San Andrés and Nicaraguan Jalapa tobacco over Nicaraguan fillers from Jalapa and Condega. The blend was also formulated with additional ligero compared with the earlier Gonzo blend.
Gonzo Vintage 2007 vs. Gonzo Santeria
Wrapper and binder provide the clearest technical distinction between the two Gonzo blends. Gonzo Vintage 2007 uses Pennsylvania Broadleaf with Mexican and Nicaraguan binder tobaccos, while Gonzo Santeria uses Mexican San Andrés as both the wrapper and part of its double-binder construction. Both rely heavily on Nicaraguan Jalapa and Condega tobacco.
Who Is Steven Ysidron?
Steven Ysidron is the cigar maker behind Epicurean Cigars. His cigar-industry background includes experience working with his father and the Fuente family before developing his own cigar projects. Epicurean later became associated with small-production blends built primarily around Nicaraguan tobacco.
Where Are Epicurean Cigars Made?
Epicurean has been closely associated with Nicaraguan cigar production, and Nicaragua plays a central role in many of the brand's blends. Individual collections should still be evaluated separately because wrapper and binder tobaccos may come from other growing regions, including Pennsylvania and Mexico.
Choosing an Epicurean Cigar
Start with the individual blend and wrapper. Carnavale uses Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro, Gonzo Vintage 2007 uses Pennsylvania Broadleaf, and Gonzo Santeria uses Mexican San Andrés. Within Carnavale, the narrow Lancero and larger Double Robusto provide two different constructions for comparing the same medium-to-full blend.