Each year, Esteban Carreras has typically used the IPCPR Trade Show to launch its new release for that year. Esteban Carreras is also one of the few companies that doesn’t pre-announce what it will be releasing at the IPCPR Trade Show. This year was no exception as the Esteban Carreras Unforgiven made its debut at […]
IPCPR 2019 Spotlight: Debonaire House
The 2019 IPCPR Trade Show was the eighth one for Phil Zanghi and Debonaire House. After three years as a part of the Drew Estate booth, Debonaire House was back in its own booth after taking control of its own distribution last year. Debonaire House consists of two main brands, Debonaire and Indian Motorcycle Cigars. […]
IPCPR 2019 Spotlight: Quesada Cigars
The year following the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show was one of change at Quesada Cigars. During that period it saw the departures of Terence Reilly and Hostos Quesada. At the same time, a new executive management team came into place and it resulted in many new roles for members of the Quesada family. Many of […]
IPCPR 2019 Spotlight: Caldwell Cigar Company
The 2019 IPCPR Trade Show marked the sixth IPCPR Trade Show for Robert Caldwell and Caldwell Cigar Company. 2019 wasn’t the biggest year for new releases, but Caldwell had a couple of projects to show off. There also was some new packaging – and a couple of Easter eggs at the booth. Several weeks before […]
IPCPR 2019 Spotlight: Joya de Nicaragua Cigars
2018 was a huge year for Joya de Nicaragua. The company was celebrating 50 years in the cigar business and as a result, there was quite a bit of activity into the Joya de Nicaragua brand showcased at the 2018 IPCPR. Led by the highly acclaimed Joya de Nicaragua Cinco Decadas (which was the #1 […]
IPCPR 2019 Spotlight: Miami Cigar & Company
2019 marked the 30th anniversary of Miami Cigar Company, the company founded by Nestor and Mariana Miranda. Over the years, Miami Cigar & Company has brought a combination of their own products along with providing distribution for others. Under the theme of “One Family One Vision”, Miami Cigar & Company and its partners exhibited plenty […]
IPCPR 2019 Spotlight: Viaje Cigars
When it comes to the IPCPR Trade Show, Viaje Cigars is always different from any other company. The company only has one regular production line, Viaje Exclusivo. The rest of the company’s production is small-batch with different batches of different lines produced throughout the year. As a result, Viaje will typically showcase small batch offerings […]
IPCPR 2019 Spotlight: Pospiech Cigars
Part of the RoMa Craft Tobac booth was a company called Pospiech Cigars. This is a distribution company run by Mike and Greg Szczepankiewicz, the owners of Cigar Hustler. They handle distribution for several brands, including the three non-RoMa Craft Tobac brands coming out of Nica Sueno. These brands include the Szczepankiewiczs’ own brand of cigars […]
IPCPR 2019 Spotlight: Bombay Tobak
One of the booths I was most excited to see was Bombay Tobak. Back in April, I had an opportunity to travel with company owner and president Mel Shah to Costa Rica to see the production operations where his brands were made. At the time, Mel was finalizing the details around his IPCPR releases, so […]
IPCPR 2019 Spotlight: General Cigar Company
General Cigar is one of the booths that takes us a long time to cover. There always are plenty of products that are being showcased, but 2019 was particularly challenging. In the past we have had a central marketing contact in Victoria McKee Jaworski. Victoria is no longer with General and this marked our first […]