Tag Archives: Cigar City

by | December 11, 2022 · 9:49 am

Cigar Heritage Festival and Some West Tampa Black Cigars

Last Sunday I attended the Cigar Heritage Festival in Ybor City. As I may have said in last weeks post, it was my first visit to that area, long overdue.  I spent a disproportionate amount of time at Corona Cigar’s Tampa location, even had a great meet-up with old friends from the alt.smokers.cigars usenet group! I got to hang around a lot with Kevin and Jessica of CigarProp, many thanks to them for driving me around!  But Sunday was the day for the Cigar Heritage Festival, a brisk half a cigar walk from my hotel (2 miles, it was a beautiful day!). I wasn’t sure what to expect, a sentiment shared by several vendors and even the staff!  I somehow ended up with a VIP pass, which allowed me access to some seating areas, none of which I took advantage of. It also included about seven tickets for cigars, more on that in a bit.  The festival covered the Centennial Park and three of the streets surrounding it. There were a bunch of vendors there, many of the people who were principle and prominent “faces” of the brands were there.  I have to think that folks like Steve Saka and Tony Gomez being there meant net to nothing to 90% of the attendees, but I enjoyed catching up with some old friends, Island Jim Robinson among them. One of the highlights for me was meeting Ron Hunt, the host of the All About Wine podcast. You might think it odd that someone who hasn’t had a drink in over 30 years knows someone from the wine industry, but Ron has been a member of a weekly video chat I am involved with, and is fairly new to premium cigars. I introduced him to several people there, and had him collect on my aforementioned VIP cigar tickets. He gave a really nice description of the event on his latest episode. I also ran into my old friend Keith, who I had seen the day before, and interrupted his sleep schedule once again to hang out :-). From what I’m told, sales were brisk, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust was selling boxes, exceeding expectations.  There was a band, food trucks, and all sorts of other lifestyle vendors.  I bought a cool t-shirt and a gift for my wife. I especially enjoyed the chickens and roosters wandering around!  I recommend the event, and a visit to “Cigar City” in general.  

 

While I was there I ran into my old friend Ricky Rodriguez, formerly of CAO, presently of West Tampa Tobacco Co.. It took me a while to find him, I thought he’d have his own booth, but he was set up with a local cigar store, Tobacco Depot.  Ricky was busy taking pictures with people, like the celebrity he is, I had a moment to talk with his daughter, Sara, the Brand Activation & Engagement Manager for the company. I asked her if she had smoked her first cigar yet, having heard that she had never smoked before.  Her answer surprised me, I guess, it was a no.  She said she has no interest, although she was going to spend an extended time in Esteli learning rolling and blending, so maybe she’d be inspired to try there.  I, naturally, recommended trying. I’ve never seen this young lady without a huge smile on here face, she’d certainly be a great cigar ambassador.  Ricky gave me a prototype of the Black and White in lancero size, and I smoked the Black version this week, along with a Black Robusto for comparison.  I need to go out and pick up a White so I can smoke the other one, I like to have a baseline, and I have only smoke a couple Whites.  Something odd about the Black in the lancero format, I was concerned in the first inch, it was a little rough, kind of like the coffee that’s been sitting in the pot half the day, you know, the good stuff! After the first inch though, it went someplace unexpected.  There were distinct notes of spices that I identify with Christmas baking, it really turned into something special. The coffee notes smoothed out, but that delicious spice kept going.  It was good, better than the Robusto I smoked the next day, which is still a tasty cigar!  I’m very much looking forward to the White lancero! 

 

That’s all for today.  Secret Santa names have been picked and distributed!  I’ll be putting a package together today!  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

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by | May 24, 2018 · 10:36 am

News: J.C. Newman Distributes 100,000 FDA Comment Cards to Retailers

I’m getting ready to travel this weekend, so I may or may not be posting anything for a few days. Here’s a news item from the Folks at J.C. Newman.  It’s amazing that the greatest threat to some business is our own government! I doubt that all those who we are supposed to be celebrating this weekend died so that their government could crush family businesses arbitrarily! 

 

This week, J.C. Newman Cigar Company began distributing 100,000 postcards to premium cigar retailers across the country as part of its “Save Cigar City” campaign.  The postcards, which are pre-addressed to the FDA, allow Americans who enjoy fine cigars to submit comments urging that the FDA exempt premium cigars from regulation.  The FDA’s deadline for public comment is June 25, 2018.

“As the FDA reconsiders the regulation of premium cigars, we wanted make it easy as possible for cigar connoisseurs to share their comments with the FDA,” said Eric Newman.  “It is critically important for our leaders in Washington to hear from adults across America who enjoy premium cigars.”

In 2016, the FDA decided to apply the same massive and costly regulations designed for cigarettes to handcrafted, premium cigars.  According to the FDA’s own estimates, regulation is expected to put up to 50% of the cigar industry out of business.  This spring, the FDA announced that it is reviewing the regulation of premium cigars and is accepting public comments through June 25, 2018.

“As a 123-year-old, four-generation, family-owned cigar company, we want to be able to stay in business for another 123 years,” said Bobby Newman.  “Unfortunately, complying with FDA regulations will cost our historic cigar factory in Tampa, Florida approximately $30 million — three times its annual gross sales.  Many other premium cigar businesses will be forced to close as well if the government doesn’t relieve us of the burdens of FDA regulation.”

Earlier this month, J.C. Newman launched “Save Cigar City,” a grassroots campaign to highlight how America’s historic premium cigar industry is seriously threatened by excessive FDA regulation.  A century ago, Tampa was known around the world as “Cigar City.”  At that time, there were 150 large cigar factories in Tampa that rolled more than 500 million cigars per year.  Today, J.C. Newman’s 108-year-old “El Reloj” factory is the last cigar factory left in Tampa.

“We are very grateful to Commissioner Gottlieb and the FDA for their willingness to take a fresh look at regulation of premium cigars and for giving us this new opportunity to submit comments,” said Drew Newman.  “We also greatly appreciate all of the premium cigar retailers across the country who are helping us spread the word about FDA regulation and encouraging their customers to submit comments to the FDA.”

The postcards are pre-printed with a message asking the FDA to exempt premium cigars from regulation and save J.C. Newman’s historic cigar factory in Tampa, Florida.  The message also supports more detailed comments that J.C. Newman, the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association, Cigar Rights of America, and the Cigar Association of America are filing with the FDA that explain the issue in more depth.  As J.C. Newman is paying for the postage, consumers just need to sign their names and drop the postcards in a mailbox to make their voice heard.  Alternatively, consumers can submit their comments to FDA electronically, by going towww.SaveCigarCity.com.

Cigar retailers who would like a set of postcards for their store can contact their J.C. Newman / Arturo Fuente regional sales manager or call 813-248-2124.

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