Island Lifestyle Importers is a cigar lifestyle company in the cigar lifestyle space. The company is best known for being the exclusive manufacturer of Tommy Bahama cigar accessories, but in the past few years has made a footprint in the handmade cigar market. This year saw expansions to both components of Island Lifestyle Importers business. […]
Going into the 2018 IPCPR, it was a big year of change for the brands of Rafael Nodal and Hank Bischoff’s Boutique Blends. The changes saw a massive restructuring of their portfolio, probably the biggest restructuring we’ve seen from any company at this year’s IPCPR. It was one that saw the company restructure its lines […]
Scott Weeks and Recluse Cigar Company returned to the IPCPR after taking one year off, and it picked up where it left off. Two years ago, Recluse unveiled nine new cigar lines into its portfolio in anticipation of the August 8, 2016 deadline where new releases require pre-market approval. In terms of these nine lines, […]
Depending on how you look at it, we either arrived at the Mombacho Cigars booth at the right time – or the wrong time. Typically, we try to slot in approximate times to visit a booth. We had Mombacho scheduled for the morning of the final day of the trade show. When we got […]
If there is one boutique brand that I would recommend keeping an eye on, it’s Ian Reith‘s Dapper Cigar Company. Reith is based out of Fresno, California. While Reith worked in the Information Technology (IT) space, he was also an avid cigar enthusiast. He eventually sought out to create his own cigars, and thus Dapper […]
For all as long as I have been coming to the IPCPR Trade Show, Esteban Carreras has been a mainstay. Over the years I’ve watched owner Craig Cunningham move his brand from the new kid on the block to a mainstay in humidors nationwide – supported by vertical integration where the company controls its own […]
There are certain brands that you go and visit at IPCPR year after year, and you watch them grow and evolve as a brand. At the same time, you are amazed how much time passes when you first encounter them at IPCPR. One of them is Fratello Cigars. Company owner and founder Omar de Frias […]
As we headed into IPCPR Season this past spring, if there was one company I was most curious about in anticipation of the trade show, it was Royal Agio Cigars. The company is a giant in Europe, and over the past year has been positioning itself to make a big move in the U.S. market. […]
It’s the third trade show for Rene Castaneda as President of Villiger Cigars North America. In the past two years, Castaneda has presided over one of the great turnarounds in the U.S. premium cigar market. At the end of 2015, Villiger North America was at a cross-road in the U.S. market. The U.S. operation was not profitable […]
The Quesada booth had a different feel this year. While company President Manuel Quesada was there with his daughters Patricia and Raquel, there were some new faces as well. This is a company that had undergone a lot of internal changes over the past year, starting with the departure of General Manager Terence Reilly and […]
