Global Premium Cigars, maker of the 1502 brand of cigars, is celebrating its eleventh anniversary. For as long as I have been covering Global Premium Cigars and 1502, they have been the staple of the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. It’s also great connecting with Enrique Sánchez Icaza, the dynamic CEO and creative force […]
After Espinosa Cigars made a monstrous splash by bringing Guy Fieri and his Knuckle Sandwich line to the 2022 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, everybody wonder what Espinosa Cigars would for an encore. The answer would be to pick right off where they left off. Once again, Fieri was at the Trade Show this […]
Hooten Young attended its first Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show in July 2023. The company was founded by Special Mission Unit Master Sergeant Norm Hooten & Tim Young. Norm Hooten served in the military for over 20 years. He was part of the elite Delta Force during the Battle of Mogadishu (that story was […]
The tenth anniversary for Black Label Trading Company is this year. Black Label Trading Company is the brand that started it all for James Brown and today remains the cornerstone of Oveja Negra Brands. Just prior to the 2023 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, Black Label Trading Company would release its tenth-anniversary cigar, La […]
Ever since Partagas was spun off into Forged Cigar Company, some new life has been injected into this legacy brand. In 2021, the Partagas Cortado was launched, and that would introduce the first Connecticut Shade offering into the lineup. Just prior to the PCA Trade Show, Forged would launch the Partagas Valle Verde. This would […]
Serafin de Cuba might be a newcomer to the 2023 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, but the company has a long history in the tobacco business. The company is run by Arnold Serafin, along with his son Brandon. Arnold’s great-grandfather Don Antonio Serafin arrived in Cuba as a soldier in the Spanish Army and […]
AJ Fernandez Cigar Company exhibited at the 2023 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show after a one-year absence. While much has been made about the return of Altadis U.S.A. and Forged Cigar Company, it was equally good news to see AJ Fernandez’s own brands back at the 2023 PCA Trade Show. Last year, AJ Fernandez […]
One of the most exciting things about Altadis U.S.A. returning to the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show is that the Montecristo brand was also back at the show. Montecristo can be considered the most premium brand in the Altadis U.S.A. portfolio, which is exactly how Altadis U.S.A. positioned it. The focus for Montecristo was […]
Don Pepin Garcia set up shop at the El Rey de los Habanos factory in Little Havana in 2003. That year, he created a cigar for a newcomer named Pete Johnson and released his own brand called Don Pepin Garcia. That first Don Pepin Garcia (aka the Don Pepin Garcia Original or Don Pepin Garcia […]
Cigar Coop presents a full “Post-Game Report” assessing the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Convention and Trade Show for the eighth consecutive time. In this report, I analyze this year’s Trade Show. This year I again published five daily post–game recaps during the Trade Show. These were intended to be short daily recaps of the Trade […]
