The Cigar Week Wrap is a one stop place to catch up on the activity here at Cigar Coop. It is a combination of our news reports, cigar reviews, and assessment updates we do throughout the week. We will throw in a few bonus items from time to time as well. Our intent is to publish once a week on Saturday mornings. Note: We have decided to label our posts as “Volume 2” to be consistent with the monthly “Editor’s Corner”.
News and Previews
- A.J. Fernandez: The company is getting ready to announce their next project, the limited edition Raca Taca.
- Asylum Cigars: Posted a picture on Facebook of prototypes of a 7 x 80 and 8 x 80 (along with the 6 x 80 that we reviewed this past week) of the Asylum 13. No word if these are planned releases or not.
- CAO: Blender Rick Rodriguez posted a picture of the long awaited CAO Hurricane and its packaging.
- Drew Estate: We did a feature story in which Drew Estate CEO Steve Saka talks about the Nica Rustica project. It was also announced that there would be a 2013 Drew Estate BOTL.org cigar coming this June.
- Joya de Nicaragua: We did a feature story on some changes at Joya de Nicaragua – including Dr. Alejandro Cuenca Martinez’s son Juan Martinez being named company President.
- Gran Habano: Company owner George Rico announced on the 5/4/13 edition of Kiss My Ash Radio that the George Rico STK Miami line will be launched later this year.
- My Father Cigars: Vice President of Sales Jose Ortega posted a picture on instagram of the DPG 0th Anniversary, but indicated it had a “temporary band”. We previewed this cigar back in December, 2012. Meanwhile DC/Bethesda-based retailer W. Curtis Draper announced on their Facebook page that My Father Cigars will be making the W. Curtis Draper 126th Anniversary cigar.
- Ortega Premium Cigars: Announced the fifth vitola of the Ortega Wild Bunch – Dandy McCoy has begun shipping. We previewed it a few weeks ago.
- PDR Cigars: Announced the PDR BOTL Small Batch 2010 would be returning in 2013 for the BOTL.org forum.
- Rocky Patel Premium Cigars: Has added a 6 x 60 into its Rocky Patel Fifteenth Anniversary line.
- RoMa Craft Tobac: Skip Martin announced that the company’s Nica Sueno factory will be moving into a new facility.
- Viaje: Announced the four retailers for the Viaje Zombie 2013 release. Also, the Viaje Special Sauce event only cigar is coming to Charlotte, NC retailer Outland Cigars on 5/17.
Legislative News
- California: State Senate Bill 768 has been proposed that will raise the cigarette tax by $2 per back. According to Cigar Rights of America, the cigarette and other tobacco product (OTP) excise taxes are connected to cigarette tax increases, thus cigars and pipes will increase at an equivalent rate.
- FDA: Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia became the seventh co-sponsor of S 772. Meanwhile since last week’s report, an additional 8 co-sponsors have signed on to HR 792 – making for a total 77 co-sponsors. (as of 5/16/13)
- Federal: The Internet Sales Tax proposal passed the Senate this past Monday. This is still going to a vote in the House of Representatives. This would require online retailers who do over 1 million dollars in sales to collect sales tax. This would impact large online cigar retailers.
- North Carolina: Mecklenburg County which includes the city of Charlotte is conducting a phone survey to try to gain support of a smoking ban in parks. Parks Director Jim Garges says if he gets 500 responses, he will take the smoking ban to the county manager and commissioners.
Reviews
Additional Feature Story
On this date May 11th..
- May 11th 2012: We did a pre-release review of the Solaris by Arturo Fuente – the fourth release of Smoke Inn’s MicroBlend Series.
- May 11th 2012: In conjunction with Stace Berkland from Leaf and Grape, we did an interview with La Sirena Brand Manager, Arielle Ditkowich.
