The Cigar Industry Report is a one stop place to catch up on the activity here at Cigar Coop and Stogie Geeks. It is a combination of our news reports, cigar reviews, and assessment updates we do throughout the week. We will also recap what happened on our Stogie Geeks show. Finally, each week we will look back at Cigar Coop history. Look for this report every Saturday morning at 8am Eastern time.
Note From the Editor: We Have a Logo!
We finally have a Cigar Coop logo. It’s been a long delay in getting this. Part of the reason for this delay was because we were deciding how we wanted to brand things. We talked about taking on the Stogie Geeks name and we talked about possibly a whole new brand. While initially I personally was leaning toward not the Cigar Coop name, ultimately the feedback from many is that the brands should stay.
We wanted a logo that showcased the brand mission – cigar journalism and we wanted it to complement our multimedia brand of Stogie Geeks. The logo will make its debut on the website in the next few weeks, and we will have more to say about that soon.
Feature of the Week: La Aurora Cien Anos Preferidos Heading to Havana Cigar Club in R.I.
Our sponsor the Havana Cigar Club in Warwick, RI is receiving a special cigar. A limited production of the La Auroa Cien Anos Preferidos has arrived at the Havana Cigar Club. The cigar will make its official debut at a May 12th launch event held at the Club. This past week, we recorded a special “Stogie Geeks Short” where we talk about this iconic blend in an iconic size.
Southern Cigar Festival
Cigar Coop and Stogie Geeks are proud to partner with the Southern Cigar Festival. The event is being held on June 6 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta, Georgia. This past week, we took a look at some of the manufacturers making up this great event.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster via the event website, Cutters Cigar Emporium, and the Amphitheatre box office. Those purchasing tickets in person at Cutters Cigars will get a free cigar with their ticket purchase.
News and Previews
- MBombay: The company has announced its new MBombay Habano line.
- Davidoff: The company announced it will open a Davidoff Cigar Bar on the Las Vegas Strip.
- E.P. Carrillo: The company is added a box-pressed torpedo line extension to La Historia called E.P. Carrillo Perez-Carrillo La Historia Regalias d’Celia
- Lost & Found: The company’s new Racks on Racks offering will be a shop exclusive to the Cigar Federation store.
- PDR Cigars: The company has named Robbie Streitz its new National Sales Manager.
- Perdomo Cigars: David Dietrich, a company sales representative in the Texas area has passed away.
- T.L. Johnson Cigars: The company announced it is parting ways with La Tradicion Cubana. installment in the series of shop exclusives.
- Federal: No new sponsors were added to Senate Bill (S. 441) – the total sponsor count remains at 16. Four new sponsors were added to House Bill (HR 662) – Rep. John Mica (R-FL); Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH); Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI); and Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) bringing the total sponsor count remains to 105. Meanwhile H.R. 2058 was filed to change the effective date for cigars subject to FDA regulation from 2007 to 21 months following any proposed regulations are put into effect. Nine co-sponsors have signed on to this bill including: Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK); Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC); Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY); Rep. Thomas Rooney (R-FL); Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA); Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV); Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD); Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-NC); and Renee Ellmers (R-NC).
- Indiana: Gov. Mike Pence signed Senate Bill 463 that ammends the Indiana State Clean Air Act that will allow for the establishment of new cigar bars.
- A.J. Fernandez New World Brute
- Guayacan Sabor de Esteli Maduro Gordo
- Headlines 1st Edition Page 3
- Nat Sherman Panamericana Cervantes (TAA Exclusive)
- RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal HN
Agile Cigar Assessments
This week we continued our “Epic Month of May”. We kicked things off with Josh Krane of Craft Vapery as we look a little about capes and compared and contrasted to the cigar industry. We then had an exclusive interview with Eddie Ortega and Sean Williams as they discussed their new Larceny project which is hitting stores. Brandon Wilson of Wilson Adams Cigars then joined us to talk about his company. Our Debonaire Ideal was on proper ventilation in a cigar room.
Our smokes of the week included:
A.J. Fernandez New World Brute
Camacho Ecuador Toro
CAO Amazon Basin
El Triunfador (Original) Lancero (Vintage)
Fuente Fuente Opus X Petite Lancero
La Aurora Preferido Cameroon No. 1
La Aurora Preferidos Platinum
La Barba Purple Toro
La Colonia Miami Torpedo
Punch Rare Corojo El Diablo 2015
RoMa Craft Tobac Neanderthal HN (Pre-Release)
Tierra Volcan Corto
Viaje Stuffed Turkey Dark Meat (2013)
Viva Republica Rapture Perdition
- May 16th 2011: We assessed the Casa Torano Maduro.
- May 16th 2012: We re-posted a press release on the Hoyo de Monterrey Box a Day Giveaway
- May 16th 2012: We re-posted a press release on Miami Cigar & Company’s Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2012
- May 16th 2013: We re-posted a press release on the Torano Vault D-042.
- May 16th 2014: We recapped our exclusive story on the announcement of the J. Grotto Anniversary.
- May 16th 2014: We did an Assessment Update on the La Palina Collection Mr. Sam (2013)
- May 16th 2014: We reported on the Screwpop Cigar Punch 2.0.