Tag Archives: IPCPR

by | January 12, 2020 · 10:24 am

Protocol Probable Cause, Alec Bradley Gatekeeper, and Some PCA Throughts

There was big news this week regarding the largest four cigar companies deciding not to present at the PCA (formerly IPCPR) show in July. This dominated the news and discussion, so I figured I better add my $.02 for what that’s worth. I’ll start my saying that I bowed out of the IPCPR/PCA a few years ago as I just lost my will to keep getting shaken down for $400 a year to spend triple that out of my own pocket to promote their show when the organization made it clear they didn’t want me there. Argue with me if you want, call me names and say I should support the industry, but I do this as a hobby, I go to the show on my vacation time, out of my own pocket. Everything I do supports the industry, they aren’t going to miss my four bills. The TPE, on the other hand, gave me a press pass, offers early access and a media space, like other major trade shows, ones who value the media (yes, that was snark), and no, the TPE didn’t offer me anything except a press pass, once again, the rest of the trip is out of my own pocket. OK, so the big 4 aren’t going to the show, and Villiger, who isn’t big in “premium cigars, but is still a huge company, pulled out last year. I’m sure everyone gets any show specials from these companies whether they are at the show or not, so that isn’t a big thing. Of course, the Drew booth was always something to see, but How necessary are these huge booths? For that matter, how necessary are any of the huge booths at the show? I think the show is way too big for such a small industry, myself. What do I know. The PCA says that the 4 companies account for 12% of the floor space, which is pretty significant, but do they make up 12% of the dollars? more? Less important, to anyone who has attended the show, who remembers the last time someone other than a major company sponsored the opening gala? They ran out of food in the first 15 minutes and I paid $6 for a bottle of water, that’s what happened! All that rambling, and I’ve said nothing new, but I’m really interested in seeing this TPE show, not only the premium cigar part, but maybe the some of the other exhibits. I need to see if I need an appointment with General Cigars, because their IPCPR booth tours were always a highlight. 

 

One of the several cigars I smoked this week which was notable was another Secret Santa selection from my buddy Adam. I think I have one of these buried in a humidor someplace, but this one was convenient (I prefer smoking cigars FIFO when possible). The cigar was the Protocol Probable Cause Churchill, another great cigar out of La Zona. It seems like I’ve been smoking a few cigars from La Zona lately, or maybe I just smoke a few La Zona cigars frequently. This isn’t really a Churchill, it’s 6½ x 48 (a Churchill should be 7″ x 47, with some latitude on the ring gauge everywhere but Cuba), but it isn’t a Toro or anything else really either. Whatever you want to call it, it’s a nice size for my tastes. I had Saka’s Triqui Traca 648 this week too and it’s a size I really like. The Probable Cause has a San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and is a really great tasting cigar. It’s got some pepper and earth, with good, rich espresso that I like, and I really dug it. It seemed to have a slow spot in the middle, one of those dead spots that didn’t really have any smoke, weird when they do that, but I powered through and it finished great and I loved it! I’m going to have to dig around and see if I have another one, and keep an eye out for more. I know I have some blue banded ones and Themis around. Maybe it’s in the Lancero tray, that would be a treat! I don’t see Juan and Bill on my TPE list, but maybe I’ll see them there. 

 

Yesterday my wife needed to go to the King of Prussia Mall (largest mall in the country, about 10 miles away from home) to shop, so she dropped me off at husband day care, ie. CigarCigars in the mall. CigarCigars shop there has been there for years, it used to be International Tobacco, but the CigarCigars chain bought it . few years ago. The store doesn’t have a mall storefront, it’s accessed down a corridor, but it has an exterior entrance. It’s a nice shop, with a decent selection and a comfortable lounge and a counter/bar to enjoy a cigar while your wife is out shopping. I decided to sample the Alec Bradley Gatekeeper, so I bought a Corona and a Toro, and lit the Corona, naively thinking I’d only have an hour to smoke. This cigar is one that Alec and Bradley Rubin worked on with Ernesto Carillo, and has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and a Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The Corona is 5 1/8″ x 42, but felt thinner to me. The cigar stared out with a funky flavor, it was earthy, leathery, maybe mushroomy…I don’t like mushrooms…I had a bad experience with them in the 80’s, but that’s another story. I was a little worried that, one, I was stuck with a smoke I wasn’t going to like, and two, I had an even bigger smoke I wasn’t going to like in my pocket. Oddly, about an inch in, the funk went away, and it sweetened up to a sweet leatheryness that I liked. It turned out to be a pretty tasty smoke and I had hope for the toro in my pocket! 

 

When I got home and had some lunch, I decided to see how the Toro compared, kind of and A/B comparison (a double meaning, A/B, Alec Bradley, get it?). It was a rare January day in the 60s, so I took a nice walk with Macha and the Gatekeeper Toro. The Toro is 6″ x 52, a great size for a walk. See above for the blend specifics. The Toro performed, to my tastes, much better than the Corona. It lacked that funk in the beginning which almost put me off. It went straight to the sweet earthy, leather kind of flavors. While this isn’t my most favorite flavor profile in the world, it was pleasing, and a very nice smoke. In the latest round of Alec Bradley releases, my preference is for the Magic Toast, without hesitation, but I’d smoke this Gatekeeper again, and the band is pretty classy. It’s hard for me not to like cigars from EPC, although there have been a few. 

 

That’s all for today. There was another standout cigar I smoked this week, but I’m awaiting more information, and I will smoke more anyway, so I’ll rave about it another time. Until then, 

 

CigarCraig

 

  

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by | August 4, 2019 · 8:59 am

Smoking Some New Southern Draw Cigars This Week

I spent the week smoking some new cigars from Southern Draw Cigars, thanks to a generous care package from Robert and Sharon. They were very busy this year producing some new cigars and sizes, and this was their fifth year in business, which is quite a milestone, and they’e been very successful in a short time. If you follow this site, you saw a lot of press releases about these cigars in the weeks leading up to the IPCPR. This is largely due to their partnership with A.J. Fernandez, who makes all of their cigars, but Robert is very involved in all of the blending. He’s not an absentee brand-owner by any means, I’ve sat with him and had this discussion, and while he is relatively new to the industry, he gets his hands dirty, and spends time in the factory and buys the tobacco and really is involved in the process. I have a lot of respect for him and his family, and I’ve had he pleasure of meeting Sharon and her parents, and they are all super nice folks. SO I had to start the week trying out the Lustrum, with is the brands fifth anniversary cigar.

 

Lustrum is a take on the Kudzu, which was their first release. Makes good sense. I always enjoy a Kudzu, and I really enjoyed the Lustrum. The Lustrup is a 5½ x 52 box pressed Belicoso, with a Nicaraguan Habano Medio Tiempo wrapper, Nicaraguan Ometepe binder and Nicaraguan Proprietary fillers. Media Tiempo refers to a priming above ligero, which doesn’t happen on all tobacco plants, so it’s a small, rare leaf, with a lot of power and flavor. I loved the pepper, wood and coffee notes, and thought it was an amped up version of the Kuzdu. It was a special cigar and a nice celebration of Southern Draw’s five years. I liked this cigar a a lot, might be my second favorite of the new stuff, second to this next cigar.

 

From what appears to be the same mold, the next cigar I smoked was the Rose of Sharon Desert Rose. I know, I usually start with the maduro, I’m getting there. I’m very selective about the Connecticut shade cigars I smoke. Let me rephrase that, I’m not that selective about the ones I smoke, but the ones I really enjoy are on a pretty short list. Rose of Sharon is on that list. So I was excited to try the latest Southern Draw cigar with the pink band, the Desert Rose. They’ve used a heartier wrapper on this, calling it a Ecuadoran “Cloud Grown” Claro, which I suppose allows for it to be box pressed, where box pressing a thinner shade wrapper seems to be more difficult. The binder is Nicaraguan Habano  fillers of  Corojo 99 and Piloto Cubano ligeros from Honduras and the Dominican Republic. What all this ends up producing is a beautiful, medium bodied cigar, with a buttery smooth flavor, with a hint of spice. Pretty yummy.

 

Next up I made my selection based upon the time I had and I was in the mood for a double corona. Fortunately, one of this years Ignite cigars was a double corona, 7½ x 50, and is called Private Blend no. 3. There are two others, Private No.1, and Private No.4. I didn’t ask about Private No.2. Anyway, this year’s Ignite program includes a charitable donation to the Navy SEAL Foundation, and the band features the SEAL seal. This cigar has an Ecuador (presumably Habano) wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and proprietary Nicaraguan & Brazilian fillers. To me, this cigar had a totally different flavor profile than any Southern Draw cigar I’ve ever smoked, and I really enjoyed that. It was loaded with flavor, medium, smooth and rich, with some nuttyness, perhaps. This would be a great cigar for a long Sunday morning with a pot of coffee. a terrific cigar all the way to the end, and it took a good two hours to get to that end.

 

Ok, here’s the cigar you’d think I would have started this whole mess off with. If you know me, you know I love the Jacob’s Ladder. One time I was smoking my last one on a frigid winter night on a walk, and I noticed at one point that the cigar was no longer in my gloved hand and I panicked. I had to double back and luckily I found the cigar on the street, which, fortunately, was dry, as there was snow on the ground at the time. No damage, and I was able to finish the cigar, five second rule be damned. Anyway, I was excited to give the new iteration of the Jacob’s Ladder a try. This one is called Brimstone, and, as if it were possible, is another amped up version of the regular line. This guy is a 6″ x 56 perfecto, has a PA broadleaf wrapper, another US (PA?) maduro broadleaf binder and Ligero fillers from Nicaragua and the DR. This was a strong cigar. It’s a beautiful specimen, perfectly constructed, of course, and loaded with espresso and bitter dark chocolate and lots of pepper. It might have overpowered me a little, and maybe I like the regular Jacob’s Ladder more, but time will tell. Maybe this will be a better fall or winter cigar than a hot summer day cigar, who knows. This flies in the face of my usual tastes.

 

I wrapped up the week with the new size in the Cedrus line, the Toro. I have previously smoked the original size, the Belicoso, and I enjoyed it, but I’ve never been a great fan of the Indonesian wrapper. That being said, I like Sumatra wrappers, and that could be Indonesian, so maybe there’s some Indonesian wrappers I do like. Maybe I don’t know what I like. Either way, the 6″ x 52 toro is my favorite size, so that’s a plus. It has a Nicaraguan Habano 2000 binder and Nicaraguan fillers. I found this to be an interesting cigar. It started off rather spicy, with a tinglyness on the tongue. it smoothed out after a while, and continued with various spices throughout, and was a very entertaining ninety minutes of smoking enjoyment.

 

I didn’t get to the 300 Hands Connecticut, maybe tonight. Many thanks to Robert and Sharon for sharing their bounty with me.  There’s only so much time in the week. I have to work today, it’s been work, work, work the week! You can do me a favor though. I have an event coming up that that will require cigars with a “white” theme, so please suggest “white” themed cigars. For instance, in years past for this event I’ve smoked Montecristo White, Macanudo Inspirado White, Leccia White, and Fratello Bianco. See where I’m going with this?  Also, don’t forget to enter the contest that’s underway! That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 30, 2019 · 7:10 am

CigarCraig Contest! Don Juan Calavera Cigars, Cigar Prop and Cigar Tape, and a Rant

Since IPCPR is in full swing (scroll down for the rant), and I have a full physical inventory at work tonight that has been taking up a lot of my time this week, I figure it would be a great time to have a contest. I also was anxious to share some of these Don Juan Calaveras cigars, and I always like sharing my buddy Kevin’s Cigar Props and Lighter Bleed Tools. Now, the Cigar Prop and Lighter Bleed Tool are Cigar Prop’s legacy products!  Kevin has been expanding his product offerings with some really unique and different materials lately, but I’m old school and love the traditional materials. Read on for the contest details:

 

Included (for now, you never know what else I might add), are two each of the Don Juan Calavera in Sumatra and Maduro from Danli Handuras Tabacos. You can read my thoughts on these cigars here. They have recently added an English translation to their website, and Their cigars run $175 a box of 20 and can be bought directly from them by contacting them through their website or Facebook page. So you can check to see if they are definitely 6″x52, I’m including a Herics Cigar Tape measuring tape to use to measure cigars. I reviewed this handy item here.  Of course, you’ll want to Give Your Cigars the Props they Deserve© with an original Cigar Prop from CigarProp.com, and you’ll also want to treat your butane lighters right by using the CigarProp Lighter Bleed Tool every time you fill your lighter. I use the Bleed tool all the time, it’s preferable to jamming some foreign object like a screwdriver into the fill valve of your expensive lighter and risking damage to it and ruining your lighter as it’s purpose built to do the job. I can’t fathom not using one of these. I think Kevin would have sent me more stuff to give away if I’d have asked him, maybe for the next giveaway 😉, but I had these here and I don’t like to ask.  So, leave a comment on this post for a chance to win, and I’ll select a winner at random next Sunday, July 7, 2019. Muchos Gracias to Danli Honduras Tabacos, Cigar Prop, and Herics for the goodies in this contest! 

 

A Little Rant

I have to do a little IPCPR rant.  I relinquished my IPCPR Media membership several years ago for a couple of reasons. I was a member in good standing for five years, which means I paid my dues, which were the same as the dues would be if I owned a retail store. A retail store owner received more benefits for that membership, and the trade show admission is always positioned as free with your membership. Given that there are no real benefits of membership to the media other than trade show admission, this translates to me as an expensive trade show ticket. Travel expenses, time off work, I spent a lot of years busting my ass running around for very little return on investment, and quite a bit of frustration from the organization I was spending time, money and effort trying to promote. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed myself to some extent, and love spending time with a great many friends I’ve met in the cigar industry, but it wore me down so I no longer felt the desire to spend my vacations covering the IPCPR show. I still receive e-mails from the IPCPR, and the day before the show started I receive an e-mail addressed to “Our Valued Media Members” asking that we (the media) make appointments and limit interviews and try to do interviews outside of the show hours. Basically they are saying that the retail members are there to do business with the manufacturer/distributor members, so we don’t want the media members getting in the way of that. OK, now, if the IPCPR were issuing press passes to the media for free entry to the show (like many other trade organizations), I wouldn’t have a problem with this request, a day before the show is stupid, we’re supposed to make appointments now?. The time for that was months ago, when, by the way, those of us who have done this before had already made our appointments. They are now asking paying members to not do the only business that they are able to do on the show floor. There is zero chance to do interviews after the show floor closes with any but a few cigar people. After a long day on the show floor, the exhibitors just want to go to their rooms and decompress, clean up and get ready for the long night ahead, and maybe get some rest for the long next day. They aren’t looking forward to a group of camera wielding cigar media people swarming the exits ready to pounce TMZ style because they are discouraged from doing the business that they are paying to do on the show floor. I know a few manufacturers who look forward to the show specifically to connect with the media. It’s just one more blatant slap in the face of media by the IPCPR, who hasn’t wanted them there from the get go, and only tolerated those who ponied up the cash, as long as they toed the line. I was a proud member for several years, and fought with them for a lot of privileges, but none of it was worth the aggravation, it seems. It might be just as valuable for me to go to Vegas while the show is underway and hang out at the Circle Bar in the Venetian after show hours, or go to the Tobacco Plus Expo next year.  I guess that wasn’t that little of a rant…

 

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

 

CigarCraig

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by | June 27, 2019 · 6:25 pm

News: Drew Estate Shows Acid 20 at IPCPR Show

I’m not a big Acid fan, but you have to admit reaching the 20 year milestone in the cigar industry is a big deal. If you figured the Acid thing was a fad that wasn’t going to last, you might have been mistaken. Check out the details on the Acid 20:
Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of ACID Cigars with ACID 20

Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of ACID Cigars with ACID 20

Drew Estate celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the ACID Cigar brand, with the national release of ACID 20, a box pressed, chromed out, double decade masterpiece. The celebratory ACID 20 will be displayed in Drew Estate’s Booth at the IPCPR Convention and Tradeshow, held June 29-July 2, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

From the Wynwood Safehouse, Jonathan Drew President and Founder of Drew Estate exclaims, “The ACID Cigar brand was born under the Manhattan bridge, on the Brooklyn side of course, with a raw & honest vision of boundless freedom. Urban culture and massive style supercharged the ACID brand, shaking the foundation of the traditional cigar empires across the globe. ACID’s impact was much more than just disruptive, as it essentially cracked the mainframe of the sleepy status quo. Over twenty years, we transformed from a scrappy little crew on Jay Street, Brooklyn to an organized, viral network of distinguished Diplomats rocking every street in America. ACID is everywhere, like savoir faire, percolating and reconnoitering.”

Today, ACID has become a vital, must have brand within all facets of the cigar industry. To celebrate this milestone, we proudly bring you the ACID 20, a box pressed robusto and our best ACID release since Kuba Kuba. ACID 20 is wrapped in a lush, toothy Mexican San Andres capa, with ultra-premium Indonesian binder and filler leaves from Nicaragua. Finally, it’s blessed with an infusion that is truly unique, and worthy of the double decade title. The smoking experience will hit every region of your palate and your soul, a true masterpiece.

From Drew Estate Headquarters in Miami, Fabien Ziegler Director of Consumer Engagement adds, “I have had the pleasure of working for Drew Estate for 19 years and watching consumers fall in love with ACID one cigar at a time. With the release of ACID 20, I have to say this is by far our greatest creation. The experiential impact of this cigar is without equal.”

The ACID 20 is a 5 x 52 box pressed robusto, packaged in chrome boxes of 20 with an MSRP of $230.40 and will be shipping in September.

For full coverage of ACID 20 and all of Drew Estate’s IPCPR national releases check out our 2019 #DEIPCPR promotion at www.drewestate.com/IPCPR. If you are attending IPCPR stop by for a smoke at the Drew Estate Booth (Booth #3213), and a crafted ACID cocktail under the Water Tower.

ABOUT DREW ESTATE

Founded in New York City in 1996, Drew Estate has become one of the fastest growing tobacco companies in the world. Under their mantra “The Rebirth of Cigars”, Drew Estate has led the “Boutique Cigar” movement by innovating new elements to the tobacco industry with their unique tobaccos and blending styles that attracting new and traditional cigar enthusiasts. In their Gran Fabrica Drew Estate, the Nicaraguan headquarters, Drew Estate produces a variety of brands such as ACID, Herrera Estelí, Herrera Estelí Norteño, Isla del Sol, Kentucky Fired Cured, Liga Privada, MUWAT, Larutan by Drew Estate, Nica Rustica, Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Cigars, Tabak Especial, Undercrown, Florida Sun Grown, and Java by Drew Estate.

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by | · 7:10 am

News: Ventura Cigars Announces Cuban CigarFactory Blends

Is this one of the last news items before the IPCPR show? I kinda doubt it, but here it is, none the less. This is an interesting project with Ventura and Manuel Quesada and Benji Menendez. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting both of these gentlemen, rue legends in the cigar game. 

 

INSPIRED BY THE OLD WORLD, CREATED FOR THE NEW
VENTURA CIGAR COMPANY TO LAUNCH 2 BLENDS CREATED BY MASTERS FOR CUBAN CIGAR FACTORY BRAND.

“Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?” (Benjamin Franklin)

Benjamin “Benji” Menendez and Manuel “Manolo” Quesada: two of the greatest of all time. Cigar industry pioneers, builders, blenders, visionaries, creators, and friends. True legends of the business, Menendez and Quesada are teaming up for the first time in an exciting new passion project from Michael Giannini and Ventura Cigar Company (VCC). Led by their longtime friend, Giannini, Menendez and Quesada have each collaborated on a namesake blend for Cuban Cigar Factory. A celebration of tradition and talent, this collaboration for Ventura Cigar Company’s Cuban Cigar Factory is bringing the importance of Old-World Cuban expat expertise to the palates of the present and generations to come.

Behind the Blends
Benji Menendez enjoyed an early beginning in the Cuban tobacco business at his father’s factory. Forced to leave his home and livelihood when Castro came to power, Menendez had to start completely over. However, as a seeker of opportunity and a purveyor of fine tobacco, he soon established a new foothold, becoming a mastermind behind cigars and factories in nearly every cigar-making country. His career has been legendary, working in 8 different countries to produce some of the best cigars to hit the
market. “I still think about the cigar factory every day of my life,” says Benji Menendez.

The Benji Menendez for Cuban Cigar Factory: available in a Robusto, Toro, and Belicoso, a rich, silky smooth blend featuring a Dominican binder, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, and a Connecticut Ecuadorian wrapper.

Manolo Quesada is a fourth-generation master from a lineage of tobacco growers, brokers, and blenders that stretch back over a century. His career began in pre-Castro Cuba, where he first developed a taste for the intricacies of tobacco at his father’s company. Also forced to leave Cuba by Castro’s rise to power, Quesada went to the Dominican Republic, where he founded MATASA in 1972, from the humble beginnings of a chair, a phone, three rollers, and $100. Over the decades, MATASA has flourished under Quesada’s intuitive, expert eye for quality and flavor, making his knowledge for the past and present a natural fit for the Cuban Cigar Factory project.

The Manolo Quesada for Cuban Cigar Factory: available in a Robusto, Toro, and Belicoso, a rich and savory blend featuring an Ecuadorian binder, Dominican fillers, and a Habano Ecuador wrapper.

“I feel like I’m a Rick Rubin of the cigar industry,” says Michael Giannini, General Manager at Ventura Cigar. “I’m bringing people together- people who I admire, my great friends who laid the foundation of the cigar industry, and people of the next generation. The creators and the consumers. Everyone has something to offer. We have a duty to engage this talent, not to let these great minds and their priceless knowledge fade away. They’re now our mentors, an inspiration to us all, and they’re still here. They’re still on the court, so let’s play ball. Let’s show everyone what we can do.”

 

Both Cuban Cigar Factory cigars are created at the MATASA factory in the Dominican Republic, in
collaboration with Ventura Cigar Company. They are set to debut at IPCPR 2019, and are planned for a
late summer ship date. The Benji Menendez and Manolo Quesada blends will each be available as
follows:

Robusto: 5″x50, $12.99 each or $259.98 for a box of 20
Toro: 6″x50, $13.99 each or $279.98 for a box of 20
Belicoso: 6.25″x52, $14.49 each, or $289.98 for a box of 20

For more information about Cuban Cigar Factory, or any other cigars in the Ventura Cigar Company
Portfolio, please visit venturacigar.com.

 

 

About Ventura Cigar Company

Ventura Cigar Company (VCC) is a unique cigar brand born in sunny Southern California that is on a
mission to create memorable, complex cigar blends that excite the senses and reward discriminating
palates. Their flagship Archetype, Case Study, Project805, and PSyKo SEVEN brands offer multiple
award-winning blends that earned 90+ ratings in Cigar Aficionado, Cigar & Spirits, and Cigar Snob. And
Archetype’s Axis Mundi won #13 Cigar of the Year for 2017 from Cigar Aficionado. Ventura Cigar

Company also distributes Tommy Bahama Luxury Cigar Accessories and the 4 th Generation Tobacconist
and Comoy’s of London lines of pipe tobacco products, extending its reach and tradition of offering top-
quality tobacconist products. Pipes and blends under these brands are cultivated through generations of
craftsmanship, making them longtime favorites of pipe tobacco enthusiasts.

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