Back in February, I had the opportunity to tour the operations of JRE Tobacco Company. Run by tobacco industry icon Julio R. Eiroa and his son Justo, JRE Tobacco Company is a true vertical integrated crop to shop operation – ranging in everything from growing tobacco, processing tobacco, cigar production, and handling distribution. In this […]
On September 14, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a twelve-bill spending package for the 2018 Fiscal year that included the Agriculture Appropriations Bill that was crafted by a House Subcommittee earlier this summer. This bill includes language that calls for a premium cigar exemption and predicate date change to August 8, 2016. It marks the […]
When it comes to the Garcia family and My Father Cigars, the IPCPR Trade Show usually doesn’t bring a ton of new and/or showcased products. At the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show, the company had two featured products – which was par for the course. This year the company made a decision to expand its core eponymous My […]
Since Swisher International acquired Drew Estate in 2014, this has been a fascinating company to cover from a media standpoint. I expected 2015 would be business as usual and that we would see bigger changes in terms of the structure of Drew Estate. There have certainly been organizational changes, but Drew Estate has remained laser-focused on one thing – innovation. Innovation has been […]
It was a quieter year for Rocky Patel Premium Cigars at the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show when compared to previous years. This year the company introduced three new lines, and brought back one of its classic releases. However, what was most interesting is the company didn’t launch a new brand, as each new line was […]
2017 has been a big year for Altadis U.S.A. The two big stories heading into this year’s trade show were the ever-strengthening partnership with AJ Fernandez and the new distribution agreement with Boutique Blends Cigars that has also added Rafael Nodal to the team. Add to the mix, the ever-expanding footprint of Casa de Montecristo lounges by […]
For the most part, Gurkha Cigars employed a “what’s old is what’s new” strategy at the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show – namely reintroducing several products that were predicate (grandfathered) under the FDA Deeming Regulations. The lack of “new product” didn’t seem to affect foot traffic at the Gurkha’s IPCPR booth. It was as busy a booth […]
At the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show, Davidoff of Geneva USA’s theme continued to be innovation and this would be a very different show for Davidoff in a number of ways. Business-wise, CEO Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard was absent – and the thought did cross my mind this could be a sign of change to come (last week it was announced Hoejsgaard was out […]
In 2018, Joya de Nicaragua will celebrate 50 years in business. While the company was has not announced specific plans around how they will commemorate that milestone, this year Joya still showcased a new product, a new packaging design, and a new sampler. Joya de Nicaraguan’s signature release was the Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Gran Reserva. Keep […]
White Hat Cigars is a distribution company headed up by industry veteran Spencer Drake. The company handles the distribution of the HR line of cigars. When Hiroshi Robaina and the La Corona factory parted way with Cubanacan Cigars, both Robaina and La Corona needed a distribution arm to keep the HR brand going. Drake had built a relationship with […]
