Tag Archives: Best Cigar Prices

by Craig Vanderslice | May 19, 2024 · 10:05 am

The Smoke-onos Event at Best Cigar Prices in Drums PA

Yesterday I made the one and a half hour drive north to Drums, Pennsylvania to attend the inaugural Smoke-onos cigar event put on by Best Cigar Prices/Best Cigar Pub. I remember when New Global Marketing, the predecessor to BCP took up about three quarters of the Fujipub Listserve. This was a weekly e-mail full of specials from a dozen or so retailers back in the days before social media. I haven’t known what the weather is in the Puget Sound area since it’s demise. I’m sure there’s a couple of my long time readers that will get a chuckle out of this, but it won’t mean anything to most of you. The fact that at least of my advertisers appeared on that e-mail regularly says something about their success. Back to 2024, Best Cigar Prices decides to fill a void in cigar events in the region and puts on Smokonos, which is an amalgamation of Smoke and Poconos for those not keeping up. This was a three day event with a dinner Friday night, the main event Saturday, and a brunch on Sunday. If you find

They sold out of these 20″ x 200 cigars…I didn’t buy one.

yourself in the northeast PA area, you have to stop at the Best Cigar Pub for a meal and a cigar, it’s a great place. I attended the main event only, and it was very well done. Despite a steady drizzle, 600 attendees enjoyed themselves. They had tents set up in such a way that it was possible to avoid any rain if you wanted to. I think there were 25 or so cigar companies represented, and most of the principle people were there. I was pleased to catch up with many old friends, and even finally met Justin Andrews, who I probably should have met years ago! In addition to all of the cigar brands offering discounted purchases and deals, there was food, beer and live music on hand throughout the day. The attendees received a backpack and travel humidor with their ticket price, along with a coupon book for a cigar (or cutter in the case of Quality Importers) from each vendor.

The one moment I was turned off was when someone, and I don’t know who it was, took the stage to sing the National Anthem (which had been done already at the start of it on electric guitar), and made some editorial remarks that were political in nature. I didn’t see the need to repeat the National Anthem (for the record, the performance of our National Anthem is a pet peeve of mine, perform it as written, or not at all. It’s not a piece that requires personal interpretation. I’d be happy if anything but performance by a military band were outlawed!). This was a place for cigar lovers to get together and smoke cigars and commune and catch up, not a political rally. I don’t attend those for a reason, and I don’t like it when people feel the need to inject their agenda where it doesn’t belong. I feel the same way about religion, just so you don’t think I’m singling out the political zealots! Apart from that incident, it was a great event. Laura Barlau did a great job organizing it. I will share this with her directly, but I saw a lot of people paging through their coupon books for the coupon they needed, and there’s an easy fix. When they print the coupons, they need to put the company logo on the outside instead of the spine of the booklet. A small thing, but would make things easier for everyone. I skipped out before the bonfire, I hope the rain stopped and they managed to get that going! I ran into the owner of another large retailer who used to put on a festival like this. He mentioned that his big mistake was leaving his retail store open and apparently there was quite a lot of shoplifting. Best Cigar Prices/Pub was closed over the three days of the event so they didn’t have this problem. All in all. it was a well executed event, the attendees seemed happy, the vendors seemed happy, it appeared to be a win! Thanks to the folks at BCP for including me.

That’s all for today, sorry the pictures aren’t better. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Best Cigar Prices, Best Cigar Pub, cigar, cigars, Multi-vendor, Smoke-onos, Smokonos

by Craig Vanderslice | September 1, 2023 · 5:57 pm

News: Best Cigar Prices Announces Dakine Cigars with Hawaiian Tobacco

Here’s some interesting news from my friends at Best Cigar Prices to start off the holiday weekend. I’ve been following BCP since they were doing business as New Global Marketing and advertised on the weekly Fujipub email listserv. It used to be a really long list off specials, usually following the Gig Harbor, Washington weather report. Anyway, this is a pretty cool sounding project and I know Laura has been invested in this for a long time.

Leading online cigar retailer Best Cigar Prices is proud to introduce a new cigar line themed for its inclusion of rare Hawaiian-grown tobaccos.

Taking its name from the all-inclusive Hawaiian colloquial term “Dakine,” the DakineTM cigar line encompasses eight unique premium cigar blends, each featuring Hawaiian tobacco leaves grown especially for the creation of this new brand.

“We are extremely excited to bring this innovative new series to our customers” said Greg Fox, President & CEO of Best Cigar Prices. “Dakine cigars awaken a dimension of the palate that other cigars simply do not. The authentic Hawaiian tobaccos expertly blended into this premium collection create a truly original smoking experience. These eight blends are among the most unanticipated pleasures of my 20 years in premium cigars.”

“Laura Barlau (Purchasing Director at Best Cigar Prices) and I have been friends for a few years and share an affinity for good cigars and innovation,” said Chris Weber, Owner of Tabacalera Nuevo Nica and blender of Dakine. “When she told me she’d always wanted to blend a cigar with Hawaiian tobacco, I told her of some leaves I’d been growing as an experiment at home inHawai’i. Fast forward to now, and the outcome is nothing short of amazing. Mahalo Nui Loa to Laura, Greg and the BCP team for the confidence in us to bring this project to light for them.”

Each of the eight different blends in the Dakine cigar line is themed for a different Hawaiian island and uses its own distinct blend recipe to offer a unique tasting profile. Each island is also represented individually by its art and packaging design, name, culture, and personality. The blends are as follows:

The Big Island

The Big Island spins a burly Broadleaf wrapper around a balanced mix of Ecuadorian, Nicaraguan, and Hawaiian tobaccos to deliver an earthy and spicy smoke representing the island’s famous black sand beaches and volcanic soils.

The Target Isle

Wrapped in hearty Habano, The Target Isle completes its tasty kick with an Ecuadorian binder and a bold mix of Hawaiian and Nicaraguan filler leaves.

The Valley Isle

An earthy smoke with layered flavors, The Valley Isle cigar nestles its smooth blend of Nicaraguan and Hawaiian fillers within the confines of a sturdy Ecuadorian binder and dense Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.

Lānaʻi

A unique and subtly-sweet smoke, the Lānaʻi employs a special candela wrapper leaf grown by the Plasencia family in Honduras to cover its lively mix of Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Hawaiian fillers.

The Friendly Isle

The Friendly Isle cigar gets its mellow and welcoming vibes from a smooth and silky blend of aConnecticut wrapper over Nicaraguan and Hawaiian interior tobaccos.

The Gathering Place

The Gathering Place cigar’s warm and inviting tones come courtesy of a Habano wrapper leaf over a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Hawaiian filler tobaccos.

The Garden Isle

Cloaked in mouth-watering Mexican San Andrés, the Garden Isle’s lush, vibrant, and relaxingcharacter is derived from its exhilarating blend of a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over an Ecuadorian binder and Nicaraguan and Hawaiian filler leaves.

The Forbidden Isle

The Forbidden Isle cigar piques your curiosity – what wonders will be revealed through its exotic blend recipe of a Cameroon wrapper leaf over Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Hawaiian filler tobaccos?

Cigar lovers are sure to be impressed with the striking flavors and aromas of this unprecedented collection. To further quote Fox, “Dakine cigars are like a Hawaiian vacation for your taste buds!”

Each Dakine blend is available in Robusto (5 x 50) and Toro (6 x 50) sizes in boxes of 20 cigars with MSRPs ranging from $185.99 to $222.99.

Dakine Cigars are blended and handmade in Nicaragua at Tabacalera Nuevo Nica.

About Tabacalera Nuevo Nica:

“We specialize in quality over quantity as quantity will grow with time. We focus on sourcing the best materials from our favored suppliers. We are small, but we are focused. We are unique, but we stand by our product. In the end, as we say, we make Ferraris.” – Chris Weber, Owner.

About Best Cigar Prices:

Best Cigar Prices is the premier online retailer of premium cigars and cigar accessories, offering a wide selection of handmade cigars, machine-made cigars, cigar humidors, lighters, cutters, and more at discount prices. Best Cigar Prices also offers weekly email deals, free monthly catalogs showcasing their latest products, cigar samplers, and specials, and customer support seven days a week.

About Cigar Hub:

Cigar Hub is the wholesale sister company of Best Cigar Prices, providing retailers with a full spectrum of cigar products from the world’s top brands at the greatest value possible. Stocking over 900+ brands and 9,000+ products in our state-of-the-art humidified warehouse, Cigar Hub is a one-stop wholesale shop that requires no minimum order and offers same day shipping on in- stock items.

For more information on these new releases:
Consumers: please visit www.BestCigarPrices.com or call 1-888-412-4427
Retailers: please visit www.CigarHub.com or call 1-888-392-4427

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Tagged as BCP, Best Cigar Prices, cigar, cigars, Dakine

by Craig Vanderslice | July 14, 2021 · 10:06 pm

Contest! A 90+ Rated All-Star Sampler

I’ve been lazy, and haven’t smoked anything new to write about over the last few days. So the obvious solution is to give some cigars away. I recently updated the Best Cigar Prices Ad on the site, and I immediately purchased the deal, which I, for some reason unknown, I almost always do. Like I need more cigars! So I figure I would turn around and give that sampler away! It’s not that I wouldn’t smoke any one of the five cigar, I was eyeing them tonight, but opted for something else instead. You see, I could mooch cigars to give a way, but over the last few years the FDA has made it illegal for cigar companies to give away cigars. There’s nothing that says that I can’t give away my own cigars though! So the deal is really good, if you don’t win mine, go buy them from Best Cigar Prices! Here’s the Sampler:

A Montecristo Platinum Toro, an Oliva Serie G Churchill Cameroon, a Romeo Y Julieta Habana Reserve Toro, a Rocky Patel Sun Grown Robusto, and an Alec Bradley Project 40 Robusto. You also get a Best Cigar Prices Double Blade 80 Ring Gauge Cigar Cutter. Like I said, it’s a nice little sampler, I would have ordered two, but it’s one per household and I couldn’t get away with it! Usual rules apply, leave a comment on this blog post to enter, nowhere else. You must be of legal age in your jurisdiction and able to provide proof, and Mitch Smith isn’t eligible because he just won the last contest! Good Luck and I’ll select a winner next Wednesday, July 21, 2021.

That’s all for tonight, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Best Cigar Prices, cigar, cigars, Contest

by Craig Vanderslice | July 1, 2020 · 9:34 pm

Best Cigar Prices Grand Exhibition Cigar Line

After my recent visit to the Best Cigar Prices shop up in Drums, PA, Jason there sent me a few of their latest exclusive Altadis series, the Grand Exhibition line. I figured I’d give them a smoke this week and see how they were. Here’s what he wrote about them on the BCP site:

Cigars have been showcased at World’s Fair Exhibitions dating back to the 1800s. Commonly featured in the agricultural exhibits of various nations, these displays often gave the public their first look at real tobacco leaves, demonstrated the care and expertise involved in crafting fine cigars, and were even judged and awarded medals based on quality and workmanship. Indeed, the same passion and pride of cigar making that we know today was in full force at these international conventions held hundreds of years ago.

Paying tribute to the historic presence of cigars at the World’s Fair, The Grand Exhibition cigar line presents three opulent Nicaraguan blends from a trio of the most well known and respected brands in the world – all of which were once celebrated at World’s Fairs. The celebration now continues in your humidor with the introduction of the world-class flavor of Grand Exhibition cigars.

I decided to start with the H. Upmann Grand Exhibition Toro. As a general rule, the regular Altadis H. Upmann line is not a flavor profile which aligns well with my own preferences. This is made in Nicaragua, and is listed as a Connecticut wrapper, which is very dark for a Connecticut shade leaf. It’s certainly Connecticut shade and not broadleaf as it has a very clean appearance, and tastes nothing like broadleaf. The Toro is 6” x 50, and was well made, with a free draw and perfect burn. It had the classic H. Upmann flavors of the Upmanns I remember from years ago when I smoked the brand. There was a slightly sour, leatheriness that some folks love, but isn’t among my favorites. It wasn’t totally off putting, and the smoking experience overall made up for the flavors not being totally up my alley. For a cigar in the $6-7 price range, it’s a good buy if you’re an H. Upmann Fan. Anymore, the only Upmann I really enjoy is the newer H. Upmann by A.J. Fernandez.

Next up I smoked the Romeo y Julieta Grand Exhibition Magnum. This is the 6” x 60 Gordo in the line. These are also made in Nicaragua with a Habano wrapper, and are priced in the $7-$8 range. I haven’t smoked Romeo y Julietas in a while, save for the infrequent RoMEo, so nothing really to compare this to. Again, the construction was perfect. I’m one of the odd ones who doesn’t mind a cigar of this size, and it performed very well. It was very flavorful, rich, creamy smoke with nice tobacco flavors. It has some of the spice and sweetness I like and was enjoyable to the end. I was quite pleased with the RyJ.

Tonight I smoked the Montecristo Grand Exhibition, which is the premier offering in the Grand Exhibition line, carrying the highest price tag. They are in the $9-$10 range. The Montecristo also has a Habano wrapper, and is made in Nicaragua. Again, excellent construction, perfect burn and draw, an absolute pleasure to smoke. I smoked the 6″ x 52 toro, and I love toros. I have a feeling that Jason at BCP knew my Toro preference when he chose the cigars to send. It should be noted that all of these are available in Robusto and Churchill as well as the Toro, with the Upmann and Romeo lines having a 6″ x 60 Magnum and the Montecristo substituting a No. 2 Torpedo. The Montecristo had a really nice, well balanced flavor. I nice spice, some sweetness, and on the stronger side of medium. It was certainly my favorite of the three, although all were very good. I followed it up later with an Espada with a few years age on it with was also very nice, and compared favorably.

Thank you to Jason for sharing these fine cigars with me! If you find yourself in Drums, PA, which is near Wilkes Barre, you need to stop in to Best Cigar Pub for a bite and a cigar. It’s a great place and they have a great selection of cigars. That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Best Cigar Prices, cigar, cigars, Grand Exhibition, H.Upmann, Montecristo, romeo y julieta

by Craig Vanderslice | June 17, 2020 · 10:24 pm

A Visit to Best Cigar Pub and Best Cigar Prices Exclusive Rare Select Cigars

Pic from PCB’s website

Yesterday my wife and I took a drive to Scranton to pick up a cool cigar lamp that she won in an auction, so on the way back we stopped in to Best Cigar Pub in Drums, PA for lunch. I had visited here briefly over the winter and gotten a tour and had a cigar (you can read about it here), today we enjoyed a meal at the pub. They had just re-opened last Thursday, and were observing all of the precautions we need to become accustomed to. Fortunately it was a beautiful spring day, and they had copious outdoor seating, even extending into the parking lot. My first stop was into the retail shop, masks required, with only three patrons allowed in a a time and no handling the product. Charlie was very helpful, recognizing me behind my cigar mask (which coordinated with my shirt, I’m a dork). I picked up some of their exclusive 601 Pennsylvania Toros and joined my wife outside. The Pub has an excellent menu of fresh food, My wife had a Cuban sandwich, and I had a Short Rib with Provolone sandwich and both were delicious served with potato chips made there. I enjoyed one of the 601 Pennsylvanias while we enjoyed the views. Kyle was our server and did an excellent job, everyone there was very friendly and accomodating, although I am having trouble getting used to hearing people speaking through masks. I have enough trouble hearing as it is. I really like the 601 PA Edition, by the way, but it was a bit breezy and I had trouble with the burn, leading to a bit of a tunnel. Best Cigar Pub is a destination, I can imagine when restrictions are lifted it will be a great place for events, or just to hang out and have a nice meal.

Papier-mâché cigar lamp

By the way, here is the cool lamp we picked up. While we were eating, Charlie from the humidor came out and very kindly handed me a bag with one each of their Rare Select series from General Cigar. I selected the CAO Rare Select when I got home for my evening walk. After spending the day in the car I needed to stretch my legs. The CAO Rare Select was a 6″ x 50 toro with a Sun Grown Honduran wrapper, Honduran binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. I’ll preface this by saying there are some CAO cigars I like, and some I don’t, and the ones I don’t are typically the Criollo and Gold series. this cigar performed very well, and was not a bad cigar by any stretch of the imagination. It was a medium bodied cigar, with flavors on the leathery side, not a lot of sweetness. It was a good smoke, and I enjoyed it, and I think if you like cigars that fall more on the floral/leathery side, this is a cigar you’ll like.

Today I selected the Macanudo Rare Select. I was surprised by a Macanudo with a Sumatra wrapper as opposed to a shade wrapper. I wonder about the through process here, I see that green Macanudo band and I expect a Connecticut Shade Wrapper over a Mexican Binder. In this case, we have an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder with fillers from the DR, Nicaragua and Jamaica. I was also expecting a milder cigar than I got, this was a medium bodied cigar with some interesting flavors. Again, the construction was right, the burn and draw were perfect. The Jamaican tobacco adds a little something interesting to the blend. I’ve had a Macanudo in the past couple years with Jamaican tobacco, one of the Estate Reserves I think, but prior to that I have to go back to the 90s when I had a box of Price Philips from Jamaica. Considering those had the Connecticut wrapper, there’s no way to make a comparison, not sure why I mentioned it. This was a pretty good smoke!

Tonight I smoked the Punch Rare Select. Looking at this, I knew I was in for a treat. The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper was dark and oily. It has a Nicaraguan binder, and, get this, fillers from Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic! I didn’t have to light it and the flavor on the lips made me happy. It had a nice, chocolaty taste, and when I lit it those flavors intensified. This is a hearty cigar, loads of flavor and good to the last drop. All those great tobaccos combined to make for a delicious cigar, and the whole Rare Select series is very reasonable priced, making these a great bargain. Punch is another brand that I’ve enjoyed for a long time, almost always in the darker expressions. I can’t tell you how many maduro and double maduro Rothschilds smoked in the 90s. This one competes favorably, and it’s a cigar I’ll smoke again. I smoked it to a finger-burning nub and was sad when it was finished. Thanks to Charlie at Best Cigar Prices shop for sharing these three cigars with me!