Kip Fisher - Co-Founder, Author at Half Ashed

Half Ashed Episode 049: Guest Frank Herrera

January 20, 2014 By Kip Fisher

Episode 049 of Half Ashed is in the books, and if you missed the live show the download is now available below. This week, we welcomed Frank Herrera to the show. We talked trademark law (his specialty), the Herrera Biography, cigars in general, and various other lively topics. Join us for all the fun. Our Cigar of The Week was the Casa Fernandez Arsenio corojo – one of my alltime favorite cigars, and one that quite possibly might be the best $5 cigar on the market.

Next week’s Cigar of The Week has yet to be determined, but will be one of Craig’s favorites so I know it will be fantastic. As always, we’re constantly looking for suggestions about potential Cigars of the Week, and Unbanded cigars. So if you have one drop us a line at one of the email addresses below. Be sure to check back in next Friday night at 9:30pm EST at Cigar Federation (details on locating the show will be on the front page that evening an hour before showtime), where you can catch us recording and participate in the chatroom. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected]. Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints. We love to get your emails! Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive. You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes to subscribe. Video, as always, will be available at the CigFed Half Ashed Video Archive.

P.S. – If you have unbanded suggestions or contributions, you can get those to us by sending an email to [email protected]. This email address goes directly to my wife, so you can simply suggest an unbanded cigar for her to source, or send me an email to [email protected] if you have something you’d like to send in. I will provide an address to send them. Thanks!

Half Ashed Episode 048: GAR American Puro

January 14, 2014 By Kip Fisher

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Welcome back, folks. I’m glad you’ve joined us for Episode 048. We were scheduled to have George Rico join us for the show, but some last minute technical troubles prevented him from joining us Friday night. Nonetheless, we troopered on and smoked his American Puro. You’ll have to tune in to find out how we both enjoyed them, and all the details about the cigar. Thankfully, we had backup notes for just such an occasion. We covered news items from Nomad Cigars, Dante Cigars, Cigar Oasis, Tatuaje, and a couple of current events. As usual, we also talked about what we’ve been smoking – including one cigar that absolutely whipped me this week.

Next week’s Cigar of The Week will be the Casa Fernandez Arsenio Corojo, one of my favorites. As always, we’re constantly looking for suggestions about potential Cigars of the Week, and Unbandeds. So if you have one drop us a line at one of the email addresses below. Be sure to check back in next Friday night at 9:30pm EST at Cigar Federation (details on locating the show will be on the front page that evening an hour before showtime), where you can catch us recording and participate in the chatroom. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected]. Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints. We love to get your emails! Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive. You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes to subscribe. Video, as always, will be available at the CigFed Half Ashed Video Archive.

Press Release: Cigars for Warriors Receives 501(c3) Status

January 13, 2014 By Kip Fisher

Operation: Cigars For Warriors Receives 501 (C3) Status

National Charity Sends Care Packages To Men And Women In Combat Zones

For Immediate Release December 11, 2013 – Florida- Representatives from Operation: Cigars For Warriors are happy to announce today that they have officially obtained their 501(c)3 status from the Federal Government. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to sending premium cigars and cigar accessories to U.S. service members serving in combat zones and long-term deployments across the globe. To date they have sent over 100,000 cigars to military units around the world since 2012. What started out as a grassroots effort to honor troops is now an official nonprofit with dozens of volunteers and hundreds of donors working toward a shared mission.

Ben Edmundson, the Treasurer for Operation: Cigars For Warriors made the announcement today for what can clearly been viewed as the exciting next chapter in this nonprofit’s story. The organization continues to gain momentum across the country. “Finally obtaining our 501(c)3 federal charity status is the culmination of what we promised the public on day one,” Board Chairman Storm Boen said from his home in Texas. “We are an above the board and professional organization. This is going to be something that will help us take it to the next level.” Boen continued.

Operation: Cigars For Warriors relies on a nation-wide network of volunteers to facilitate the collection of donated cigars from collection points from California to New York. The cigars make their way to a Florida distribution point to be packaged and mailed to fulfill screened requests. Soldiers can request cigars through the website, www.cigarsforwarriors.org. Ben Edmundson is the Treasurer for the nonprofit and he knows that this will allow the organization to accept bequests, transfers, and financial gifts. “Day to day not much is going to change in how we operate,” Edmundson said as he worked to run the daily operations of the nonprofit. “We will still work hard every day to serve the soldiers, but this open doors for donations from companies and individuals that had been previously been closed to us.”

Press Release: Cigar Oasis Next Generation

January 10, 2014 By Kip Fisher

Next Generation Humidifiers from Cigar Oasis

New York, January 9th 2014 – Cigar Oasis is pleased to announce an update of its entire line of electronic humidifiers. The new units incorporate cutting edge technology and features that help today’s cigar smokers keep their cigars fresh without the hassle of constant monitoring. Cigar Oasis, the original [Read more…]

Press Release: Nomad Cigars Releases Two New Sizes to S-307

January 6, 2014 By Kip Fisher

Nomad Cigar Company Releases Two New S-307 Sizes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Estelí, Nicaragua (Jan 6, 2014) – Nomad Cigar Company is pleased to announce the release of two additional sizes to the S-307 cigar line. The S-307, a box pressed Sumatra wrapped cigar, was originally released in late 2013 in three sizes and enjoyed significant success from the start – landing on several “Best of 2013” lists. [Read more…]

The Half Ashed Top Ten List for 2013

January 5, 2014 By Kip Fisher

This past week, Craig and I were back for Episode 047 of Half Ashed after a stint of illness for the both of us. One of the items we discussed was our picks for our respective favorite cigars we smoked in 2013 on the show. I thought I’d share those here on The Cigarmy as well. This list is meant entirely for fun, and we limited our selections to cigars that either 1.)we discussed at length on the show and/or 2.) we smoked as a Cigar of the Week. This is certainly not a be-all, end-all list for the year. In fact, there were a couple I couldn’t include because I didn’t make it a point to bring up in the show notes. But it’s our list, so we get to make the rules. Here are the caveats and the list in no particular order…..

***Since doing this episode, I came to realize a huge oversight on my part. I managed to leave off the Herrera Biography from my list. I smoked more of this cigar than any other for 2013….even including Fuente products. This should have made the list, and actually would likely rank #1 for me if there was an order. I guess this comes with getting older and losing my memory by the minute…..**** [Read more…]

Half Ashed Episode 047: We’re Back! Cabaiguan Maduro

January 4, 2014 By Kip Fisher

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Welcome back! Craig and I were both recuperating from illness last week, so after making the first 46 in a row we had to miss an episode. But, we’re back this week, smoking the Cabaiguan Maduro as our Cigar of the Week. This is one of Craig’s favorites, but tune in and see how well his palate has recovered after two weeks of healing.

In the news this week ,we covered stories from 1502 Cigars, General Cigar’s new collaboration with Jay-Z, Ezra Zion, and Quesada. We also talked over an article from the UK Telegraph which speculated that cigar smoking as a whole could die off within the next 12 years. We did go ahead and talk over what we’ve been smoking – which amounts to very little with the recent illnesses. What we did discuss some was how we observed the evolution of a palate back to a normal state. Surprisingly, this has taken me far longer than I would have ever dreamed. A full 9 days after I felt healthy, I am still experiencing some difference between expectation and reality in cigars with which I am quite familiar. Additionally, we editorialized over a couple of recent observations I’ve made about the industry in general. Lastly, we made up ground from last week and announced each of our favorite 10 cigars from 2013 – with some caveats. It’s our list, so we get to make the rules :).

1. These are not necessarily new cigars for the year (although some were), but the cigars we simply enjoyed the most throughout.

2. We limited the selection to cigars that were either Cigars of the Week for Half Ashed Episodes, or were discussed enough to have been made mention in the show notes. If we did not talk about it during at least one episode, it was not considered for our lists.

3. I (Kip) purposefully removed the Fuente cigars we smoked (858 Sungrown, Unnamed Reserve (2012), and Casa Cuba) from consideration out of my known affinity (sheer bias) for Fuente products.

4. There were a number of cigars that probably should have made the list, and were discussed in the show as honorable mentions/best values/”we just couldn’t narrow it down” cigars. These were: Miami Cigar/Nestor Miranda Casa Miranda Chapter Two; Drew Estate Nica Rustica; illusione ECCJ; Reinado Grand Empire Reserve; Michael Stewart’s Fire Cured #7

Half Ashed Top Ten Cigar for 2013 (in no particular order)

Craig	Kip
Davidoff Nicaragua	Tatuaje Belle Encre
Fuente Unnamed Reserve (2012)	2005 Padron Aniversario Natural corona
EPC Short Run 2011	TL Johnson Tempio
TL Johnson Tempio	KILO (Barry Stein)
La Tradicion Cubana Corona	Oliva Serie V Maduro
Ezra Zion Tantrum	Leccia Tobacco Black
Bolivar Gold Medal	2005 Ramon Allones Eminencia
Gran Habano #5	RoMaCraft Intemperance BA
RoMaCraft Aquitaine	Ezra Zion Jamais Vu (Inception)
Tatuaje Belle Encre	Cuenca 5 Anniversary

Next week’s Cigar of The Week will be a surprise, as we are nearing the end of our initial trade-off for show cigars. We are open for suggestions – so if you have one drop us a line at one of the email addresses below. Be sure to check back in next Friday night at 9:30pm EST at Cigar Federation (details on locating the show will be on the front page that evening an hour before showtime), where you can catch us recording and participate in the chatroom. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected]. Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints. We love to get your emails! Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive. You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes to subscribe. Video, as always, will be available at the CigFed Half Ashed Video Archive.

Press Release: Ezra Zion FHK

January 1, 2014 By Kip Fisher

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Ezra Zion Cigar Company, makers of #1 Cigar of the Year 2013 Tantrum and the #1 Cigar of the year 2012 Jamais Vu, announces it’s newest cigar release FHK.

FHK has just arrived in the United States and is officially available at 12:00am, January 1, 2014.

“We know it’s symbolic and somewhat tongue-in-cheek but we wanted to ring in the New Year by launching this project that’s been in the works for so long. It’ll be the first cigar in the world released in 2014.” noted co-owner Chris Kelly.

The FHK will be available in 4 vitolas: a 5.5×50 “Inspired” robusto, a 44×7 “Truth” lancero gordo, a 54×7 “Stature” corona gorda, and a 52×6 “Character” belicoso.

“We had two goals with the FHK. We wanted to use unique tobaccos from several different countries and we wanted to leverage our buying position to offer a lower price-point than our other lines.” added Chris Kelly.

FHK retails for $9.00 for the robusto and lancero sizes and $10.00 for the corona gorda and belicoso. Tobaccos used in the blend include a San Andres wrapper, Indonesian, Brazilian, and Nicaraguan binder and filler.

“This is an amazing cigar! It reminds me of a creamy dark malty micro-brew. The blend continually intrigues me every time I smoke it. I think it’s our best cigar yet.” said Hoover.

For more information please visit EzraZion.com

Half Ashed Episode 046: Unbanded 011

December 21, 2013 By Kip Fisher

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Welcome to Episode 046 of Half Ashed! This week’s show is a bit abbreviated due to some impending technical issues that might have made it difficult to post the show for the next several days. We’re smoking Unbanded Number 011, provided by Jacob Pinkas (thank you Jacob!). This week, we covered news items from TL Johnson, New York City legislators (sigh), recent controversy on CA’s Top 25 list, La Sirena/Miami Cigar, Fuente, and Crowned Heads. We also managed to cover a couple of the things we’ve been smoking this week, as well as a couple of past-due emails. So, kick back and enjoy the shortened show!

Next week, we plan on have a normal 2 hour show at the regularly appointed time, although I’ll be on the road with an unknown amount of bandwidth….so be patient if it takes us a moment to go live. Next week’s Cigar of The Week will be a surprise, as Craig hasn’t yet picked which of his cigars we’ll be smoking. Be sure to check back in next Friday night at 9:30pm EST at Cigar Federation (details on locating the show will be on the front page that evening an hour before showtime), where you can catch us recording and participate in the chatroom. If you would like to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us through the contact page or at the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected]. Please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like answered, comments to make…or even compliments and complaints. We love to get your emails! Also, remember you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, which can be found in the Half Ashed Archive. You can download this week’s audio directly below (right-click “Download” and save), or find us on iTunes to subscribe. Video, as always, will be available at the CigFed Half Ashed Video Archive.

Press Release: Winston 's Reserva Maduro coffee

December 18, 2013 By Kip Fisher

I discussed this a bit with Dale Roush on the latest episode of Half Ashed, but thought I would pass it along here on the Cigarmy as well because I think it’s a fantastic idea. Not only is the coffee blended specifically to pair with your favorite cigar, but sales benefit Cigars for Warriors as well – which is a great organization focused on [Read more…]