Each year the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) Annual Trade Show and Convention is the largest gathering of the U.S. cigar industry. In recent years, the trade show has had its challenges and 2018 might be the biggest one to date with the crisis in Nicaragua and a potential strike looming by United […]
During the past month, Nicaragua has experienced its greatest political crisis since the Revolution. The unrest was initially spawned by protests beginning when the government announced it was mandating an increase in contributions by both employees and employers to the country’s social security system while reducing overall benefits. This resulted in a heavy-handed response by […]
For the fourth consecutive year, I completed assessments of the entire set of new releases for the Tobacconists Association of America (TAA). I have some analysis on this, and I discuss the future of continuing this coverage on Cigar Coop. Analyzing the New TAA Releases for 2017 What is to follow is a subjective analysis […]
On March 26th, 2018, the long-awaited Advanced Notice of Public Rule Making (ANPRM) in regards to premium cigars was published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It’s a document that paints the picture in terms of what the FDA is thinking – namely how or if it should regulate premium cigars. As a part […]
Last week, the long-awaited Advanced Notice of Public Rule Making (ANPRM) in regards to premium cigars was officially announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On March 26th, 2018 the ANPRM was published in the Federal Register. It’s a document that paints the picture in terms of what the FDA is thinking – namely […]
If you have followed our coverage of Davidoff on Cigar Coop, you have more than likely read about the Davidoff Art Initiative. It’s a unique program unlike anything seen in the cigar industry. It’s a program meant to foster the development and production of contemporary art, with a focus on the Caribbean region. The part […]
Editor’s Note: This is the first year we are providing coverage from the annual Festival Del Habano that takes place in Havana, Cuba, This year, we worked with Nick Syris, who was my longtime co-host on the Smooth Draws Radio Show. Nick was on the ground in Havana at the festival and worked with me […]
Folks who have followed me know I am not a fan of event recaps. The problem with an event recap is that it’s playing the same record every time – namely, we smoked, drank, ate, got a few photo ops, and had a good time. Therefore, folks know I try to avoid them. From my […]
The Performance Rankings were introduced in 2012 as a statistical analysis based on the average numerical score of all cigars assessed on Cigar Coop. Today we slice this data by vitola size and shape. This is not meant to be necessarily an award, but a look at how scoring went, and what can we learn from […]
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 […]
