The Cigar Coop Year End of Awards are being re-branded as the Prime Time Awards – voted on by each of the three members of the Prime Time Podcasts. Today, we unveil our choice for 2017 Large Factory of the Year. The Prime Time Award for Large Factory of the Year goes to Plasencia Cigars […]
Happy Birthday Julio R. Eiroa! Today, Julio R. Eiroa, the patriarch of the Eiroa family and tobacco industry icon, celebrates his 80th birthday. Last year, as a part of my visit to the operations of the JRE Tobacco Farm and JRE Tobacco, I also had a chance to meet Julio R. Eiroa. In this final […]
The Cigar Coop Year End of Awards are being re-branded as the Prime Time Awards – voted on by each of the three members of the Prime Time Podcasts Today, we unveil our choice for 2017 Small Factory of the Year. It’s a three-peat for La Zona S.A. as it once again captures the Small […]
This year, the annual Cigar Coop Awards have been re-branded the “Prime Time Awards” and will be unveiled over the next two weeks. The award winners were selected by Prime Time Hosts Aaron Loomis, Bear Duplisea, and Will Cooper. In addition to using a three person panel, there are a few other changes. First, we have […]
For the seventh consecutive year, we bring you our selections and analysis for the Top 12 cigar industry news stories and themes for the year. Unlike how we consider cigars for our Cigar of the Year Countdown, these news story selections are based on the actual calendar year for 2017. These stories are individual stories or […]
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 […]
