ry generous with his time and we recorded eleven or twelve minutes of video. It’s chopped up because it wasn’t until we were finished that we realized it went on for that long. In this final segment Dave talks about his Two Guys Smoke Shops in New Hampshire.
As you can see, David Garofalo has his hands in a lot of things. I’m grateful for the time he spent with us. His United Cigar Retailers booth was busy, he had one meeting after another with retailers about joining the group. After stopping back a couple times on the third day of the show we decided to see him at 9 am on the last day. Thanks to Dave and his staff there for accommodating us! Hopefully I’ll get up to New Hampshire one of these days to see the stores and maybe watch a Cigar Authority show.
I know many of my readers also listen to cigar podcasts, and I’m a big fan. Â One of the ones I’ve been listening to for a few years is The Cigar Authority. Â It took some time for me to get used to the funny accents 🙂 , but I’m constantly entertained, and have even managed to get mentioned on the show here and there! Usually it’s when I’ve e-mailed to point out some inaccuracy or something that caught me funny, like the time David had eyelid surgery and his graphic description almost made me pull the car over to evacuate my digestive tract. Â It’s not always that bad, so I listen religiously every week via the podcast version usually while walking the dog or in the car.
In this portion of the video David tells us about the show. Â It’s quite a bit shorter than yesterdays!
If your into the whole podcast thing, give these guys a listen, you can find them at TheCigarAuthority.com or on iTunes.  You can also listen and/or watch live when they broadcast the show on Saturdays from Noon to 2:00 Eastern Time.  One of these days I’ll catch a live show one way or another.
That’s all for now, watch for tomorrow’s dramatic conclusion of the Garofalo Trilogy! Â Until then,
Before we get to the video, which will be shown here in the first of three parts, I’d like to say that getting a few minutes with David Garofalo wasn’t easy. The United Cigar Retailers booth was a flurry of activity, and nailing David down for a few minutes to talk was a miracle. We actually made an appointment at 9:00 am, when the show opened, on Wednesday on the way out the door the previous evening after waiting for a half hour or so. When it was all over, I had about twelve minutes of video to edit, which explains why I’m splitting it into three parts. Too much of a good thing, you know…
David explains the United Cigar Retailers in the video, as well as some of the unique brands that they are distributing.
David wears a lot of hats, so stay tuned over the next few days to see parts two and three and see what else he has his hands in. Thank you to David and his staff at the booth for putting up with our stalking, and I am sorry for not interviewing Mr. Jonathan, but I was very happy to finally meet him face to face after listening to the Cigar Authority Radio show. I felt like I knew him already (yet I wanted to meet him anyway :-)).
In other news
My Father-In-Law received the Prostate Cancer Foundation‘s 2012 Progress Report and pointed out a couple cigar companies names listed in the Donor Roll. I took a closer look and found many more familiar names. I’d like to thank the following people and companies who’ve contributed to this organization, and many are
I’m sure there were more names in the large list of donors from the cigar industry, and I’m sorry if I missed anyone. Thank you all again for supporting this organization. It never surprises me to find cigar companies giving to charities, and there are actually charities who won’t accept donations from tobacco related donors! Imagine that?
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!).
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 s
omeone 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 w
as 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 caughtlittle 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!
On Monday I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Roy MacLaren, the president of Villiger Cigars North America, their premium cigar division. I’ve had a great relationship with the folks at Villiger and they have really been making some terrific premium cigars over the last few years. I smoked the 125th Anniversary robusto while I was at the show and it was quite a delicious smoke. I had run over to the Mirage (run may be an exaggeration between the mass of humanity and the hundred degree temps running wasn’t very possible) to pick up show tickets before my meeting with Roy, so I was ready for my first cigar of the day when I got back. The robusto was a very nice cigar that I smoked for over an hour and enjoyed the experience. It had a nice sweetness. I think I only smoked one cigar a day at the show this year, it gets too hard to juggle cigars and equipment, and I hate walking into a booth with someone elses cigar going. Anyway, if you haven’t yet, give Villiger’s premium lines a try, they are very good. The smaller, dry cured cigars they make are top quality too, I love the Exports when I want something small!
Here’s the video with Roy. Unfortunately this was a “re-do”, as I somehow misplaced the original video we shot on Monday. He was nice enough to make time for me to reshoot the video, and I certainly appreciate it. I was quite upset, ask my wife!
I may have to go out in the pool and smoke another Villiger cigar. Temperatures are near 100 her in PA and we have humidity, so it’s like a cross between Vegas and Florida! Certainly too hot to just sit outside and smoke.
