Tag Archives: TPE

by Craig Vanderslice | January 22, 2020 · 10:32 am

News: Ventura Cigar Releasing Archetype Master & Pupil Cigars at TPE

Here’s another news piece, this falls into the pre-TPE category. Ventura’s parent company owns the Tobacco Plus Expo, so I will be interested to see if they have any preferential treatment. I have to admit to looking at them a bit of a cynical eye since they made changes to their sales force. There’s enough divisiveness already, I don’t want to go down that road.

To Teach and Be Taught

Ventura Cigar Company to Release New Archetype Cigars at TPE 2020: Master & Pupil

Unveiling new insights in the Archetype story, Ventura Cigar Company is pleased to announce Master and Pupil, two new cigars that examine strength and transitions through rich tobacco blends crafted by Juan Martinez and Doctor Cuenca from Joya de Nicaragua. The industry will get a first look at Master and Pupil at the Tobacco Plus Expo 2020, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, 1/29/20 – 1/31/20. Customers can expect to see the cigars at fine tobacconists online and across the country soon after.

Inspired by the studies of both Sigmund Freud and Karl Jung, who identified common threads and themes of storytelling that transcend both time and culture, Archetype cigars outline the familiar tale of a hero’s journey, with cigars punctuating each crucial stage. Master and Pupil incorporates the essence of Freud and Jung, teacher and student, and tensions uncovered with the reversal of roles and transition of student to teacher.

Pupil is mild and relaxed in nature, and features an Ecuadoran Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan filler, and a Nicaraguan binder. It will be available as a 6 x 52 Toro.

The Master is a bold, confident cigar that’s crafted with a Nicaraguan wrapper, filler, and binder. It will also be available as a 6 x 52 Toro.

“No matter where you are in life, you are a master or a pupil. And then, one day, you are both,” says Michael Giannini, General Manager of Ventura Cigar Company. “We are students first, learning from those who came before. And then we find ourselves as the teachers, imparting our knowledge on others just starting their quest. We are never fully done learning, either, so the roles of teacher and student are fluid, always changing. The Archetype Master and Pupil cigars explore these transitions and tensions through blends that offer strength and nuance throughout the smoke. We’ve worked on these for over a year with the masters at Joya de Nicaragua, of whom we are all students. These cigars are solid. If you’re coming to TPE 2020, come by the Ventura Cigar booth to say hi and check them out. And if you’re not at the show, well, keep an eye out.”

Master and Pupil are the latest releases to Archetype, a line marked by highly rated cigars that include Dreamstate, Sage Advice, Strange Passage, Initiation, and Axis Mundi, in addition to the 2018 3-cigar mini-series Crystals, Curses, and Cloaks. Master and Pupil are scheduled to ship immediately after TPE 2020.

For additional information, please visit venturacigarcompany.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^thGeneration 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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Tagged as Archetype, cigar, cigars, Master, Pupil, TPE, Ventura

by Craig Vanderslice | January 17, 2020 · 12:00 pm

News: Southern Draw Cigars to reveal the CEDRUS Lancero at TPE 2020

Here is some pre-TPE news from Southern Draw Cigars. So far Southern Draw is one of the only appointments I have at the show so far, so I encourage people to reach out to me and make appointments before I get booked up 😊. Seriously, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the show, although it’s looking like it’s falling at a time of great personal change for me! More on that as the situation unfolds. I dig the Southern Draw lanceros, looking forward to the Cedrus in this format.

NO price increases for 2020!

The love of lanceros, those long, thin cigars is nothing new for the Southern Draw Cigars family as they are our true favorite smoking experience. The family never likes to show up empty handed to a trade show or event, so it is excited to share something new with TPE 2020 attendees.

“Southern Draw Cigars has been quietly enjoying this size for several years (in fact I am smoking one as I draft this PR) and plans to reveal the CEDRUS Lancero 7.5×40 in celebration of our first ever attendance at the Tobacco Plus Expo in Las Vegas, NV. From January 29th – 31st. The family and the CEDRUS lancero may be found in a quaint little corner of Booth #4059. We have previously offered a lancero size in each of our core blends including the popular Rose of Sharon, Firethorn, Kudzu and Jacobs Ladder and this new addition will complement the CEDRUS line nicely. Although lanceros reportedly do not make up a large portion of sales for most brands, Southern Draw Cigars has been blessed with solid sales over the previous five years, sales that are on par with our more traditional robusto and toro sizes. We will have a limited number of samples on hand and will be taking pre-orders for April and July 2020 deliveries,” per Robert Holt.

Southern Draw Cigars is also pleased to announce that it has NO plan for a price increase for 2020. Sharon Holt a.k.a. The Rose of Sharon shared the company’s thought process, “We wish to avoid spending too much time on price increase (and justification) discussions with our staff and current valued retailer partners. The family believes this is time that should be spent on value increasing discussions instead. Southern Draw has been blessed by the patience and loyalty of our partners and consumers, which more than warrants this important decision.”

The company would like to share some of the reasons that a 2020 price increase on current products wouldn’t be productive:

SDC would like to hold on to our retailers and customers during this time of gloom and uncertainty in the industry by providing quality products at fair prices and an incentive for consumers not to turn to bargain or overall cheaper products.
A price increase would likely increase churn in the essential life blood of brick and mortar shops operating in states with higher than average tobaccos related taxes.
SDC has been blessed with a growth rate of >100% per year over the last 6 years, a 4% – 5% price increase now won’t really matter over the next 5 – 10 years, however the churn and the loss of referrals and consumer support will adversely impact our growth rate.
A price increase on current products and with existing partners will take a lot of time and energy away from family, sales representatives and brokers, if sales are soft or growth declines, the opinion will likely be that it was due to the price increase.
A one-time price increase may solve immediate increased labor, legal and logistical costs but when it is done, it hasn’t fixed any real issues. We need to support the industry more and proactively work together on long term solutions that benefit the industry.

Southern Draw Cigars plans to introduce more expensive product offerings in 2020 and when it has been determined a price increase is necessary, the company will make every effort to telegraph it well in advance and then apply it equally to all products in an attempt to mitigate any issues.

CEDRUS Lancero

Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Factory: AJ Fernandez Cigar Co., Estelí, Nicaragua

Wrapper: Besuki, Indonesia

Binder: Habano 2000- Estelí, Nicaragua

Viso: Piloto Cubano – Dominican Republic, Criollo 98 – Estelí, Nicaragua

Seco: Habana 92 – Quilali, Nicaragua

Ligero: Corojo 99 – Jalapa, Nicaragua

Size:

Lancero 7.5×40 (box pressed)

Number of Cigars – 50,000 per size the be released for 2020

Packaging: 20 count boxes (standard SDC boxes) and a limited number of 20 count refill bundles

Price – $10.20 MSRP (same price as the robusto size of all core bend cigars)

Ship Date – April15 & July 15 & October 15, 2020

Soli Deo Gloria –

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Tagged as Cedrus, cigar, cigars, Southern Draw, TPE

by Craig Vanderslice | January 16, 2020 · 9:23 am

A La Sirena, a Villiger and a Few More Thoughts

I’ve had a lot of thoughts rattling around my head lately. I finally have an interview lined up for a job, with another couple possibilities in the pipeline. Historically, January has been a good hiring month for me, twice in the past I’ve started jobs which have lasted 13 years in January. As long as the companies don’t start with “S” I’m OK (every company I’ve worked for since 1989 has started with “S”, I need a change! Why do you think I haven’t pursued employment with Swisher, Swedish Match, Scandinavian Tobacco, Southern Draw…). It’s been stressful these last few months. Anyway, I’ve been reading and hearing a lot of divisive talk about the PCA and who’s going and not going and all, and I made my position clear in my last post, but I think there’s a big picture that’s being missed. The cigar industry seems to be mirroring what’s going on in the country politically with the divisiveness. There’s a whole us versus them mentality where everyone really needs to be united now more than ever. I hate seeing it, it really sucks, and I don’t know the answer, but it’s clear that whoever is pulling the strings here is achieving the desired effect. Divide and conquer. The cigar industry already is too small to stand up for itself as it is, fractured it has no shot at all. I’m on the fence. I love cigars from the largest manufacturers down to the smallest without regard for their politics (there are a few brands I avoid on general principle). I have been to both kinds of factories and seen that cigars are made the exact same way. I know it’ll never happen in the cigar industry, or in the country, but is it too much to ask to just get along and do the right thing?

On a positive note, one of the smaller cigar companies which has been a long time favorite of mine is going to me at the TPE show, and I’m looking forward to seeing the folks from La Sirena. I smoked a King Poseidon this week, and my supply is dwindling. This is the 6″ x 60 in the line, made at La Zona (did I recently say I seem to have been smoke a few La Zona made cigars lately?), and is really quite good. Lacking a toro in the line, I am partial to the Churchill (Trident) and this gordo, although the belicoso (Devine) is a great cigar as well. I bet I haven’t had a Robusto since they were making them in the My Father factory! The blend is a Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper, Nicaraguan Criollo binder and fillers from Jalapa and Condega, including something they refer to as Erik Espinosa’s “magic leaf”. The La Sirena brand, much like CigarCraig.com, celebrated it’s 10 year anniversary in 2019! Did I mention that the La Sirena is among my favorite brands? I love the line, and the King Poseidon smoked beautifully, and had a rich, creamy flavor with some punch! It’s a bold smoke, although the larger ring gauge perhaps less so than the thinner. I’m going to dig out one of my remaining My Father era Tridents one of these days, and I still have some Dubloons, which are large salomon shaped cigars. I can’t wait to see the La Sirena crew at the TPE.

One more repeat, this one was another newer cigar from Villiger, their Cuellar Black Forrest. I smoked this back in November and wrote about it, ironically I also included the King Poseidon in that post. Perhaps my selections are more cyclical than I know. To recap, the Black Forrest is not made in the Black Forrest at all, it’s made at Tabacalera Palma in the Dominican Republic, the factory where Jochi Blanco makes a whole bunch of cigars like La Galera, Aging Room, as well as a bunch of other cigars like Señorial, Freyja, Matilde, and probably a ton that none of us realize are made there. This cigar has a San Andrés wrapper, and, as I said before, it doesn’t have the “dirty” taste that that wrapper usually has, but is much more refined and really quite special. There’s a unique spice, and sweetness that’s delicious and wonderful. It has a nice box press and works very well to, so it’s a joy to smoke. It’s a well done cigar.

OK, that’s enough for today, I need to get preparing for interviews, get the suit cleaned up and pick out a tie.

Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, La Sirena, PCA, TPE, Villiger

by Craig Vanderslice | 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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Tagged as Alec Bradley, cigar, CigarCigars, cigars, Gatekeeper, IPCPR, PCA, Probable Cause, Protocol, TPE

by Craig Vanderslice | January 9, 2020 · 7:55 am

News: Fratello Cigars Introduces: Fratello Blu, Fratello Rosso And Fratello Verde

Here’s one of the things I’m curious about seeing at the TPE show: will the “premium” cigar offerings be on the lower end for the mass market appeal? The TPE is an all-encompassing show, lots of convenience store type stuff, so how much of the premium cigar category will be represented? If I’m sounding like a snob, maybe I’m getting to be a little more selective in my old age, I certainly favor quality over quality, although I certainly don’t mind saving a buck! I love Fratello and Omar, and I can’t wait to see him at the show and see what these are all about. It wouldn’t be the first time Omar was a big hit at a trade show!

FRATELLO CIGARS INTRODUCES: FRATELLO BLU, FRATELLO ROSSO AND FRATELLO VERDE

Cigars and Omar de Frias are pleased to announce three new products to debut at the January TPE trade show in Las Vegas, NV.

Fratello Blu, Fratello Rosso and Fratello Verde are bundles that are intended to cater to “Fratello lovers that want a little extra bang for their buck,” says de Frias. “This is an exciting time for us as we’re diving into a new segment of the market, one that we hope will grow our family and our footprint in the industry.”

Produced by La Aurora in Santiago Dominican Republic, the 15-count bundles aim to keep it simple by only offering two sizes in each blend; a 5 x 50 Robusto and a 6 x 50 Toro. The blends are:

Blu: Maduro