Category Archives: IPCPR

A day or two before leaving for the show I received a curious package in the mail.  In it were a couple of cigars, a t-shirt and a cutter with the name “Kings Cigars” all over them.  I had never heard of these guys, why are they sending me stuff?  So one of my first missions at the IPCPR show was to seek them out and see what they were all about. It turns out Anwar and Pete are a couple entrepreneurs with a passion for cigars and quality who decided to try their hands in the cigar business. They have been working for the better part of 3 years to make a product that is ready to bring to market, and now was the time. I spent a few hours today in the pool with the Conde Churchill, a San Andreas wrapped beauty.  This is one that came in the mail last week, so it had a little bit of humidor time while I was away in Vegas.  The other two that were included were the box pressed, 6″x60 “King of Kings”, which we were told at the show to give them some humidor time before smoking, a month or two.  It’s a shame to see some reviews popping up already for cigars that aren’t quite ready yet.  It may be a few weeks until I dig into the show samples as I like to give them time to adjust from their journeys. The Conde Churchill was an outstanding smoke.  I smoked it in the pool, which was very relaxing on a hot summer day.  It only needed a minor correction and the draw was perfect with a V cut.  I don’t know if I could have enjoyed this cigar more, and I think I saw a couple of robustos floating around which I look forward to.  If the rest of the line is as good as this, I think the Kings guys really have something, and I’m not just saying this because we had such a great time visiting with Anwar, Pete and their crew at the show.  Their booth was an oasis for us, and they were always quite friendly and accommodating (the Cuban coffee wasn’t bad either!).

Here’s the video telling us about Kings Cigars:

Thanks to Anwar and the guys for everything, and we wish you the best. It’s hard to get a new boutique going, but having a solid cigar is a step in the right direction.

In other news:

Saturday my lovely wife and I went to Cape May, NJ to go on a four hour fishing trip off the coast on the Cape May Lady.  Now, you can take my man card away if you want, but I’m not very interested in fishing.  I was afraid of getting my line tangle with someone else, or, worse, actually catching something! I had made certain that cigars were allowed, of course, so the only stick I was interested in holding was a 7½” x 56 Box Pressed Recluse Excepcionales.  This had a year of age on it as the folks at Iconic Leaf had given it to me last year at the trade show.  This, like every cigar I’ve tried in the line, was exceptional! We had planned on getting to Cape May early, having lunch, and getting on the one o’clock trip. Traffic foiled that plan, so we had lunch and wandered around the outdoor mall there for a few hours (where I enjoyed a CAO Concert while Jenn shopped) while we waited for the 7pm night fishing trip.  We got on the boat and I lit up my cigar, which was stellar, and we got under way.  Seas were choppy, and the cigar kept my mind off of the fact that I was queasy.  We stopped near the Cape May lighthouse and dropped lines (I was waiting for the boat to stop pitching!).  A couple guys caught little sand sharks, but about 40 minutes in the deck hand came around to tell us that we had to go in because the generator failed and we didn’t have lights.  They get a hefty fine from the Coast Guard if they are caught without lights!  It was dark by the time we were getting in, an it was a bit eerie.  They gave us tickets to use in the future with their apologies, so we may go try again, although we seem to have a track record with missing boats!  We had a great day, though, it was certainly something to talk about!

That’s it for now, until the next time, 

CigarCraig