j Back in 1996, Alan Rubin founded Alec Bradley Cigar Company, naming it after his two sons, Alec and Bradley. While Alan never pushed his boys into the company, both sons expressed an interest in joining their father in the cigar business. After playing a role in some of the operations of the company, the […]
As I reflect back on the decade 2010 – 2019, if there is one cigar line that continues to have me scratch my head its the E.P. Carrillo Cardinal line. This was a line introduced in 2012 and it was intended to offer a bolder and stronger cigar into the E.P. Carrillo portfolio. The Cardinal […]
One of the busiest companies at the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show was Southern Draw Cigars. For the most part, Southern Draw focused on brand extensions (additional blends for existing brands, and line extensions (new vitolas for existing blends). One of the new brand extensions came to Southern Draw’s 300 Hands brand in the form of […]
When it comes to the Trinidad brand in the Altadis U.S.A. portfolio, it’s been one that hasn’t quite had the impact of other Cuban brands that Altadis U.S.A. sells in the U.S. such as Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, and H. Upmann. Over the years, there have been several releases. Most recently in the past ten […]
In 2014, Kurt Kendall introduced the 7-20-4 Factory 57 line into his portfolio. Factory 57 joined the original 7-20-4, 7-20-4 1874 Series, and 7-20-4 Hustler lines. An ongoing theme with Kendall’s brands has been nostaglia. 7-20-4 is a brand founded in 1874 by R.G. Sullivan that was named for the Manchester, New Hampshire address of […]
In 2019, Drew Estate brought back one of its more popular limited releases, the BOTL. The name BOTL stands for “Brothers of the Leaf” and is a forum for the cigar community. The story of the BOTL cigar goes back to 2010. The story has it that a man by the name of Tim Podwika […]
When it comes to Esteban Carreras Cigars, there are two things I have come to expect from the company when it comes to the IPCPR Trade Show. First is that the company will unveil a new product at the Trade Show and second, the company will keep the release under wraps until the Trade Show […]
In 2015, the Montecristo brand celebrated its 80th anniversary. This was commemorated with two releases – one from Altadis U.S.A. with the Montecristo 80th Anniversary No. 2 and another by Habanos S.A. with Montecristo 80 Aniversario. Two years later, Habanos S.A. would launch a regular production line that continues to pay homage to when the brand was […]
Back in 2014, Perdomo Cigars launched a unique project known as the Perdomo Double Aged 12-Year Vintage line. This is a project that incorporates 12-year-old tobaccos into the blend. The story of this cigar isn’t simply that it uses 12-year-old tobaccos, but the proprietary process for aging them. This process involves aging some of Perdomo’s […]
In 2018, Royal Agio Cigars introduced a new value-priced brand known as San Pedro de Macorís. At the time this brand was introduced Royal Agio was expanding its premium handmade cigar footprint in the U.S. market. A year earlier, after a three year run of distribution in the U.S. by Drew Estate, Royal Agio Cigars […]
