On Episode 105 Rafael Nodal makes his Prime Time debut! As many know Rafael wears two hats in the cigar industry – co-founder of Boutique Blends Cigars and now as Tabacalera USA’s (including Altadis U.S.A.’s) Director of Product Capability. We’ll take a look at this unique dual-role and how this came about. Plus we’ll talk […]
Tonight on Episode 105 Rafael Nodal makes his Prime Time debut! As many know Rafael wears two hats in the cigar industry – co-founder of Boutique Blends Cigars and now as Tabacalera USA’s (including Altadis U.S.A.’s) Director of Product Capability. We’ll take a look at this unique dual-role and how this came about. Plus […]
Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published draft guidance on the Substantial Equivalence process. As a part of issuing such guidance, there must be a public comment period. The comment period came to a close on July 17th (following a 30-day extension granted by the FDA). This saw many cigar companies […]
Tabacalera USA has announced that Rob Norris, head of Altadis U.S.A. has accepted a transfer to Fontem Ventures as General Manager of Canada. Altadis U.S.A. is a unit of Tabacalera USA, Imperial Brands’ premium cigar division in the United States. Norris had served as Altadis U.S.A.’s head since 2017. Fontem Ventures is another separate Imperial […]
With 2019 marking 175 years of the H. Upmann brand, Altadis U.S.A. has announced a special commemorative limited cigar appropriately called the H. Upmann 175th Anniversary. The cigar will make its debut at the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show in Las Vegas. This cigar has its origins back in Cuba. German banker Herman Upmann had moved […]
Since 2019 is the 175th anniversary of the H. Upmann brand, Altadis U.S.A. is expected to have H. Upmann as one of its featured brands. At the 2019 IPCPR, Altadis U.S.A. is releasing a new line under the H. Upmann brand called the H. Upmann Hispaniola by Jose Mendez. Hispaniola is the island where the Dominican […]
The month of April ended quite differently than I expected when it came to covering the world of cigars. An announcement was made that will potentially be the biggest cigar media story of the year – namely, Imperial Brands planning to exit the cigar industry. With the IPCPR Trade Show scheduled to start at the end […]
Altadis U.S.A. has announced the next installment under its Montecristo Espada line, the Montecristo Espada Oscuro. The new release is slated to hit retail shelves in May. It was back in 2014 when the Montecristo Espada first was introduced. Produced at the Plasencia factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, it not only marked the first time a Montecristo […]
Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we […]
Eddy Guerra, Senior Brand Manager at Altadis U.S.A. makes his Prime Time debut on Episode 90. Many know Altadis U.S.A. for having some of the most iconic brands in the world, and tonight we will talk to Eddy about these brands and so much more. Our Debonaire Ideal segment discusses classic video games and in […]
