If you are a retailer who is not a Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust retailer and wants to become one, you will have to wait. Today owner Steve Saka announced a temporary halt to opening new retail accounts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter, Saka explains: [themify_box ] “As a small family business that […]
The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for cigar companies in 2020 are well known in the industry, but for Gurkha Cigars the company has faced the additional challenge of the aftermath of Chairman Kaizad Hansotia stepping down following racially insensitive comments on his social media accounts. While the company is going through a change […]
In previous years, the “Big Board” has served as a guide to what releases companies have planned for the IPCPR/PCA Trade Show. It was meant to be a written walk of the trade show floor to find out what the companies would be showcasing. This year, we have taken the “Big Board” live for our […]
Tonight we continue our look at the personalities behind General Cigar as we welcome Rick Rodriguez of CAO Cigars. Rick has a dual role at CAO as he is both the blender and ambassador for the brand. Rick’s had a unique story on how he moved into this role at General Cigar and tonight […]
Gran Habano Cigars is no exception to having a monkey wrench thrown into its 2020 releases, but like many the company is adapting and moving forward. This year the company had plans for two releases. First up, the long awaited Gran Habano Persian King La Contra will be hitting the shelves soon. This cigar is […]
Back in 2017, Foundation Cigar Company quietly added an event-only cigar known as the Menelik. After two years, owner Nicholas Melillo made a decision to bring Menelik in as a limited production line, and the cigar was showcased at the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show. Production for the cigar comes out of the Tabacos Valle de […]
On Prime Time Special Edition 82, we are honored to welcome the First Lady of Cigars, the one and only Cynthia Fuente of Arturo Fuente Cigars. We will be talking all about Arturo Fuente Cigars including the company’s history, it’s game-changing cigar lines, the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, and some of the industry challenges. This […]
Like many companies the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Fratello Cigars. For the past seven years, owner Omar De Frias has taken to “Fratello Road” – a grassroots strategy where he has hit the road visiting with retailers. Concurrent with Fratello Road, De Frias has been working on placing his products in the international market. In […]
While much as been made of the “Big Four” pulling out of the 2020 PCA Trade Show (before we knew it would have to be cancelled due to the pandemic), there are some other companies that also decided not to attend. One of those companies was Joya de Nicaragua. Joya de Nicaragua is distributed by […]
For Prime Time Jukebox Episode 16, we go through U2’s landmark album “The Unforgettable Fire” for the third installment of our Album Archaeology series. We’re joined by special guest Hector Alfonso who will help us break down this album. Much like an archaeologist digs and hunts for gems, on Album Archaeology we dig into the […]
When Dave Burck and I launched Prime Time Jukebox this past November, we planned on ten to twelve episodes per year. We are about nine months into this project and we are getting ready to do our 17th show. This has been due to a combination of the great support we have had from our […]
As many know, Drew Estate was not planning to attend the 2020 PCA Trade Show. The company had announced earlier this year that it had pulled out of the Trade Show along with Altadis USA, Davidoff of Geneva, and General Cigar Company. It’s clear from Drew Estate’s 2020 #DESummerTakeover that the company had a strategy […]
