If there was “the story” at the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show, it was the launch of Plasencia Cigars. The Plasencias have 152 years experience in the cigar business and truly are one of the iconic families in the industry’s history. Now, after many years being growers and producers in the cigar business, the Plasencias last year have launched their own brand. […]
At the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show, Southern Draw Cigars introduced new packaging and band art to its whole portfolio. Most visible to end consumers will be unique color schemes for each of the company’s seven blends to make them easily identifiable. The company worked with Sancho Oset and Starky Arias of Cigar Rings of Estelí to […]
At the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show, AJ Fernandez Cigars showcased a maduro offering under its Enclave brand known as Enclave Broadleaf. Over the years, master blender and company owner AJ Fernandez has become well-known for working with Pennsylvania Broadleaf for other brands. In the case of the Enclave Broadleaf, it uses a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. While Fernandez has also worked with […]
The two main things I’ve noticed since Regis Broesma has taken over as President of General Cigar are better delineation in its brands and a better connection with its customers. I think to some extent, General had been hampered by brand overlap, but this year, General did an excellent job of better defining the brands. Some of the highlights included: Macanudo holding […]
Late in 2015, Jochy Blanco, the acclaimed tobacco grower and owner of the Tabacalera Palma factory acquired Indianhead Cigars from Bill Bock and simultaneously launched his premium cigar brand La Galera Cigars. The 2016 IPCPR Trade Show would be the big launch for La Galera as Blanco would introduce five blends. This year didn’t see any new lines from La […]
On the eve of the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show, came word that Matt Booth’s brief hiatus from the cigar industry was over and that he would be teaming up with Robert Caldwell (whom Matt refers to as “Rosewood”) for two cigar lines. Booth was in attendance at the Trade Show showcasing both of the lines. Matt would split […]
We break down Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s Keynote Address in detail and talk about the positives and negatives from that speech. We also discuss some the hits and misses from the trade show. Finally, we discuss Danny Vazquez shutting down Baracoa Cigar Company. For reference on the segment we did on the Top Five News […]
At the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show, Quesada Cigars showcased the Quesada Reserva Privada Barber-Pole. The Barber-Pole is the third blend in the Reserva Privada line and as the name indicates, it features two different wrappers arrange in a “barber-pole” design. In 2015, Quesada Cigars launched a cigar known as the Quesada Reserva Privada. The Reserva Privada is a […]
Green Hornet and Kato, two offshoots of Black Works Studio’s Killer Bee line, now have packaging of their own. The new packaging was showcased at the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show. Previously, both lines shared the same bands as the Killer Bee. When Black Works Studio launched, brand owner James Brown, created a maduro offering called Killer Bee that used natural […]
What’s old is what’s new is becoming cliché in the cigar industry these days, but for E.P. Carrillo it is very true. At the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show, E.P. Carrillo brought back its Elencos line. The E.P. Carrillo Elencos was a line that was originally introduced in 2011. It is a line that was derived from the […]
