Category Archives: TPE

TPE 2020 Day 3: The Vape/Alternative Side Walk-Around and Contest Time!

I spent this morning cleaning up a malware/phishing situation on my site for which my host suspended my account. If you happened to visit and got a screen saying the account was suspended, that’s why. I only have opt-in email alerts, so don’t say yes to any other prompts for notifications if you get any!  I’m working on getting it figured out. I don’t know if I picked up more than a head cold in Vegas or what.  Anyway, I wanted to share with you the video walk through of the Vape/ alternative portion of the Tobacco Plus Expo.  I’ll be honest, the first few times I ventured onto the blue carpet, I freaked out a little and made a hasty retreat to the safety of the red area. I supposed it validated my old-fuddyduddyness a little.  I noticed a great many disposable vape products, which was a surprise to me. The first reason it was a surprise was that I thought the target market for this sort of product was supposed to be more socially conscious and recycling minded. In a world where we have people carrying stainless steel drinking straws, using a disposable vape with a battery seems counterintuitive. That being said, I was approached by a young man who offered me samples, and as I explained my cigar passion and how it doesn’t involve getting a quick fix, I did accept one for my cousin who is a cigarette smoker, and I had observed smoking about half a cigarette at a time. The product was from a company called Hitt, and I mention it here as a courtesy to them as they were kind enough to provide me with samples when I tried to talk them out of it. My cousin, a long time Marlboro Red, and formerly Winston smoker, found that he liked the flavor, and liked that he could just take a few hits and put it down. He was going to experiment with it and see if it could wean if off cigarettes. I hope it works for him as he’s recently lost weight through diet and exercise and quitting cigarettes would be one more thing to help him lead a healthier life (he’s ten years my senior). Anyway, not cigar related, but I wanted to mention that since they were nice enough to force samples on me 🙂 .  Enjoy the walk through.  If there’s an interest, I’ll put the 20 minute real-time version up on YouTube.

 

 

Contest!

I’ve been threatening this for a while.  As you well know, I’ve become a huge fan of Danli Honduras Tobacco’s cigars.  It’s come to my attention that one of my local shops, Cigar Mojo in King of Prussia, PA, has started carrying the line. I have a feeling that Trae might have gotten the idea to bring them in from me, but I haven’t confirmed that. I need everyone to call or e-mail Trae (610-564-2471 or@CIGAR-MOJO TRAE.COMand order some Don Juan Calavera or Flor Maya cigars from him! You don’t even have to tell him I sent ya.  Anyway, to celebrate another place to buy these great cigars in the US, I’m going to give some of mine away. I’ve assembled a sampler. I have everything in the line except the Flor Maya Maduro and the Clown, the latter of which I haven’t even smoked yet. There’s Don Juan Calavera Connecticut, Maduro and Sumarta, Flor Maya Habano and Connecticut, and Marchitti. If I can get my hands on the other ones they will be included. The prize with include two of each cigar pictured, and there will be other swag included at my whim! That’s a minimum of a dozen cigars, and some other goodies. Usual rules apply. one entry per person, must be over twenty one to win, and I’ll pick a winner next Wednesday, February 12, 2020. Only comments on this site will count as entries. Good luck! The winner will enjoy these cigars!

 

It’s already been a long day, I hope nonsense is behind me!  Anyway, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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TPE 2020 Day 3: The Tobacco Side Walk-Around

On the last day of the Tobacco Plus Expo I took a few walks around the show floor. I don’t have any fancy stabilizing gimble gizmos or anything, so I was just holding my iPhone and walking though the show floor.  This video was in the hour before the show opened, so some booths were unmanned. It gives an idea of the layout and size of the booths. If you’ve seen pictures from the IPCPR shows, you’ll understand how scaled down this show was. I loved the intimacy and ease of getting around. Oddly, it wasn’t until I was shooting this on the third day that I actually found the General Cigar booth. I was a little surprised that they has such a small presence there, even smaller than Altadis, which had a small space as well. I doubled the speed, but I’ll put the raw video on my YouTube Channel for anyone interested in seeing the realtime video.

 

 

I’m working on the Vape/Alternative walk-through video, which is significantly longer. I’m also working on a contest for you. As usually happens when one travels, I brought a cold home with me which has had me feeling miserable for the last few days. I need to make room in the humidors, and I haven’t been able to do it myself, so I’ll have to have you guys help me out! More to come!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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Tobacco Plus Expo 2020 Experience and Some Cigar Highlights

I’m back from Las Vegas and the Tobacco Plus Expo, and I had a very positive experience.  This was a large expo, probably the size of the IPCPR ( now PCA) show, with tobacco only taking up 30%ish of the floor space. The nice thing about the way they had it set up was that they had it segregated, with red carpet surrounding the Tobacco part, and blue carpet around the Vape/Alternative part, which was larger. I’m working on a video walk through of both, but on the first couple exploratory forays into “the blue”, I found myself running back to the safety of the red carpet both times. I kept hearing Sean Connery’s voice from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade saying “we’re pilgrims in an unholy land”. It wasn’t that unholy, but it was weird seeing all the hemp, CBD and “glassware”. From a cigar purist standpoint, it was strange. Disposable e-cigs seemed to be a trend I didn’t know about, I’m not sure I like the environmental impact of them though, I’ll have to see how to dispose of them. Tossing in the trash doesn’t seem right. The Vape/Alt side was where all the flashy booths, models handing out literature and hype and excitement was. I felt like a fish out of water.

 

On the cigar side, it was more subdued. Many of the exhibitors were there for the first time, although there were several that had been there before and knew the ropes. Everyone I talked to had a positive experience, they made sales, opened new accounts, and seemed upbeat about the whole thing. Many had very little to do in the way of set-up they brought their samples and displays in themselves, put them in the displays and were ready to go. From my perspective, those of us in the media were provided with a room off the show floor to work or do interviews (where I interviewed Mr. Garofalo), were allowed early access to the show floor, and had no restrictions. I know the PCA was at this show, and I hope they learn some things from them. One retailer I talked to did his buying at the TPE, and isn’t going to the PCA show, whatever he didn’t get here he can get without going to the other show or he doesn’t need, and the expense was much less, and the timing is a lot better. As I thought might happen, several companies released low cost bundles at this show, where others had premium offerings. I was surprised that General Cigar’s booth was a table on a corner with a banner that it wasn’t until the third day that I actually found (and I was actively looking), with none of the brand ambassadors on hand, and Gurkha was easier to find, but was very un-busy. Altadis has a very small booth, but seemed to have good traffic, and Rafael Nodal was there for the first day (at least that’s the day I saw him). Drew Estate’s “booth” accounted for a large portion of the “red zone”, they had a very large area, and of course, Kretek/P&K/Ventura had a large booth, but they own the show. OF course, Tommy Chong was there. They had a series of parties opening night at the Sahara, I only attended the Villiger party, which had great food, and I spent time catching up with Aaron and Jiunn from DevelopingPalates.com and Will Cooper from Cigar-Coop.com, friends I hadn’t seen in a few years. 

 

Interestingly, all of the cigars I smoked behaved well and tasted good. There’s a big difference between Vegas in January and Vegas in July. I checked cigars with the Humidimeter and they all checked out, with the exception of display cigars, one an exhibitor had me check was bone dry, 30%). I few surprises were the Alec Bradley bundle release, Caribbean Classic, a long filler cigar in the $3 range. Really a very tasty, well made cigar that certainly didn’t  strike me as a cheap cigar! I was introduced to Nova Cigars, and I will be sampling their line over the coming weeks. They are on the opposite end of the spectrum, running from about $12 up into the $30s. I smoked their box pressed torpedo, the Sultan, which was pretty darned good too. Robert Holt presented the Cedrus in a Lancero for the show, and announced that all of his lanceros are moving from 7″ to 7½”.  The Cedrus Lancero was exceptional, I’m just a little sad I didn’t schnorr one to smoke at home, but I’m sure one will find it’s way here eventually! It was a great experience, I met some new folks, I saw some old friends I hadn’t seen in a few years, and had a good time. Of course, what would a trip be without bringing home a souvenir head cold! I’m working on videos of walkthroughs of both sides of the show so you can get an idea of what it looked like. 

 

Now I need to do some humidor rearranging, catch up around the house and work on some video editing!  I need to do a contest too! Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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TPE 2020 Day 2: An Interview with David Garofalo

Day two of the Tobacco Plus Expo started out with me reaching out to Dave Garofalo of Two Guys Smoke Shop in New Hampshire, and The Cigar Authority Podcast, requesting a few minutes for an interview. Thanks to Mr. Jonathan for facilitating the connection in a hurry for me. Dave and I met in the Media Lounge during the hour before the show opens when they allow the media in early. This worked out well, we had a nice, quiet place to chat without too much noise or interruption. Dave is a wealth of information on all things cigar, retail, trade shows, among other things, and I thought it would be really unique to get his views on this show and share them with my readers. As I like to do, I though it might be a little different from what other media outlets present from the show. Check it out.

 

 

Dave makes some great points, and I’m so glad he had the time to sit and chat with me.  Like I told Tommy Chong: Dave IS here, man!  If you’re a podcast/vodcast fan, check out The Cigar Authority on Saturdays at noon. You might even hear me on a few past episodes making a fool of myself! 

 

Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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TPE 2020 Day 1: Martinez Cigars

I visited most of the booths at the show on the first day of the Tobacco Plus Expo, but one that caught my eye was the Martinez Cigars booth. Martinez is a little cigar factory in Manhattan, I’ve written about their cigars before and visited the factory and it’s a really neat place and they make some really good cigars. Forgive the fact that I cut my head off and tripped over my tongue and check out my interview with David and Jesus. 

 

 

If you ever visit Manhattan, I recommend a visit to this factory, and pick up a few of their cigars. It’s well worth the time and the cigars are not disappointing. Stay tuned for more from day two. I don’t know what I’ll be seeing or who I’ll be talking to! 

 

Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

 

 

 

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