Half Ashed

Cigar Podcast and Cigar Reviews

Here at Half Ashed, we strive to be a leading provider of industry coverage for the premium cigar industry. We do this through both written editorial commentary, cigar news and reviews – and, of course, a weekly cigar podcast / live internet radio show. Both written content and the broadcast show cover the latest news, industry happenings, and legislative concerns within the world of premium cigars. We welcome you to browse around the site, join us in the forum – and by all means come by and join us during scheduled recordings every Friday night. We provide a live video stream and chatroom so you can participate with the show. Come on in!

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Blessed Leaf to release a new cigar: Kairos

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[NOTE: I’m a little late with this, and we talked about it at length on last week’s Half Ashed, but here’s a new cigar headed down the pike that I think you ought to check out….

blessed leaf header

March 13, 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kyle Hoover and Chris Kelly, the leaders of BlessedLeaf.com, a Christian cigar-based ministry, announce the release of the long anticipated Blessed Leaf Kairos.

“This is a project that has been in our hearts for over a year. Our vision was to produce a great cigar with vintage tobaccos and have the proceeds go to ministry and missions efforts.” noted Kyle Hoover.

“For this project, we went back to our roots: Nicaraguan tobacco This is a Nicaraguan puro in the Ezra Zion genre of blending. Since we are doing this for The Lord, it had to be the best work we could possibly do ” added Chris Kelly.

The Blessed Leaf Kairos is a 52 x 6.25 box press. The wrapper is Corojo 99 Rosado. The filler includes ligeros from Esteli and Jalapa. Total production is 4000 cigars of 100 boxes and 5 packs.

The Blessed Leaf Kairos is produced at the Casa Fernandez factory in Miami, Florida.

“We chose the name Kairos because of it’s unique meaning to this project. Kairos is defined as a specific moment in time when the Divine intervenes directly into your life. To us, there is a duel application. Obviously, as a person smokes the cigar they will have a “heavenly” smoking experience. Secondly, that the support raised for Christian missions will impact people’s lives with the gospel of Christ.” added Hoover.

The Blessed Leaf Kairos will be available for pre-order on BlessedLeaf.com and CigarFederation.com. The official launch herf will be on April 2 on BlessedLeaf.com.

La Flor Dominicana TAA Exclusive 2014

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2014 La Flor Dominicana TAA Exclusive- The 707

la flor dominicana logoLa Flor Dominicana is proud to announce the release of the 2014 La Flor Dominicana TAA Exclusive Cigar, available only to those TAA (Tobacco Association of America) members attending the annual TAA conference in beautiful Los Cabos, Mexico.

This year’s TAA Exclusive cigar is a Ligero blend, the 707 is a 7 x 70 packed in a custom 24 count box and secondary band signifying the blend as the TAA Exclusive. The wrapper leaves are Ecuadorian Sumatra seed, the binder and fillers are all Dominican leaves from our farm in La Canela, Dominican Republic. These cigars are full bodied. The first few boxes will begin shipping in April 2014 and will only be found at participating TAA tobacconists.

la flor dominicana taa 707

For more information, contact:

La Flor Dominicana
123 San Lorenzo Avenue
Coral Gables, FL 33146-1513 

www.laflordominicana.com
[email protected] 

And……………we're back!

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ipsd2014Happy International Pipe Smoking Day, everyone!  It’s been quite an absence from me, and I apologize.  I had a string of holiday (almost/planned) travel, two bouts of serious sickness, and a trip to the Dominican that have really interfered with my writing.  I’ve been dedicating what smoking time I’ve had toward Half Ashed during the past month, but hopefully I will be able to also get back into the swing of things here on The Cigarmy now.  I have a couple of new reviews that will post up over this weekend, and a serious facelift to the site coming in the coming weeks.  I hope you haven’t all gone away at this point, and will stick around.

My first bowl of this #IPSD is Lagonda, an interesting blend from Greg Pease.  Probably not my favorite of his blends, but not a bad offering at all.  It’s hitting the spot this morning as I type this.  My first pipe of the day is a 1954 Dunhill small billiard.  This pipe came to me as one of those amazing surprises.  I bought a lot of about a dozen pipes from eBay, of which this was one.  In fact, I had no idea it was a Dunnie until after I got the package.  I bought the lot with my eye on another pipe altogether.  I cleaned up the other pipe, and had a new stem made for this one (complete with Dunhill spot)….et voila! I had myself a 1954 Dunill for $5 plus the cost of stem.  That’s a bargain that’s hard to beat.  It smokes well, and has grown accustomed to calm, latakia-laden blends.  I dig it.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by again, and I hope to get a bit more in the groove during the coming days and weeks.  Be sure you hop over and check out Half Ashed.  We’ve had no delay there, and continue to do a 2+ hour show every Friday night – broadcast via Cigar Federation.  It’s a blast, and I think most anyone can find a niche in our chat room.

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

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Operation: Cigars For Warriors Receives 501 (C3) Status

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

cigars for warriorsFor 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

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Next Generation Humidifiers from Cigar Oasis

cigar oasis logoNew 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

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Nomad Cigar Company Releases Two New S-307 Sizes 

Nomad Cigar logoFOR 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…]

Press Release: Ezra Zion FHK

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ezra zion logoFOR 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

Press Release: La Sirena and Miami Cigar

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La sirenaNEW YORK, NY – December 12, 2013– Following a successful three-year partnership with Miami Cigar & Company, La Sirena Cigars will become independently owned and operated by Arielle Ditkowich as of December 31st, 2013. Ditkowich will remain at the helm, continuing to produce new and exciting blend profiles. Arielle is excited for La Sirena’s continued growth and looks forward to 2014 projects, industry shows and travelling to retail events.

Ditkowich is extremely grateful for everything Nestor Miranda and the entire Miami team has taught her during their partnership and will always look at the Miranda family as an extension of her own. “Miami [Cigar & Company] saw the potential in me to create a boutique brand in a challenging business dominated by men. We worked tirelessly to create distinct blends that appeal to aficionados looking for something unique” Said Ditkowich.

Distribution of La Sirena and Merlion Cigars will remain under the Miami Cigar & Co. umbrella until December 31st, 2013. Starting January 1st, 2014 distribution will be handled by La Sirena. La Sirena Cigars will continue to work with the Garcia Family at My Father Cigars and Guillermo Leon at La Aurora Cigars to make the current Sirena and Merlion Blends respectively.

La Sirena Cigars will be announcing more exciting updates, find out first by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @lasirenacigars

La Sirena Cigars was founded in 2009 by Arielle Ditkowich in partnership with Nestor Miranda of Miami Cigar & Co. The La Sirena Original blend, available in six vitolas debuted in 2009 and is rolled in Nicaragua at My Father Cigar Factory. The brand followed up with its second release in 2012, The Merlion, created by La Aurora in the Dominican Republic with the medium bodied, full flavored smoker in mind. La Sirena brand cigars are distributed nationwide and available at over 300 retail stores.

WWW.LASIRENACIGARS.COM

Follow Us @LASIRENACIGARS

Press Release: New Aging Room Small Batch T59 Blend

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New Aging Room Small Batch T59 Blend

[NOTE: I apologize for my lack of new content the past 3 weeks.  I have had no small amount of occupational craziness and fires to put out.  I should be back in a regular groove by the end of this week.  Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check out recent episodes of Half Ashed….we’ve at least kept that current!]

aging roomFor Immediate Distribution – December 9, 2013: Boutique Blends Cigars is announcing the selection of the new blend to be released as the new Aging Room Small Batch Quattro T59. The Aging Room cigar line was created with the objective of releasing new and exciting blends made with limited and hard to find tobaccos. The new blend, Quattro T59, was selected with the help of consumers, as it was part of the Aging Room WildPack 2013 as blend W-IV (M-338).  “The Aging Room WildPack is part of our strategy to involve the consumers in our blending process” said Rafael Nodal, president of Boutique Blends Cigars. “The selection of the new blend for the release of the Quattro is only the beginning” expanded Rafael Nodal, “as we continue to search for the next blend release with the help of the consumers who continue to vote from the WildPack blends”, concluded Rafael.

Aging Room has been one of the highest rated boutique blend lines worldwide from its insertion in 2011. The Aging Room Small Batch M356 received a rating of 94 by Cigar Aficionado and was selected as one of the TOP 25 Cigars of 2011, it was also rated 95 by Cigar Journal which also selected the M356 as one of the FINEST 25 Cigars of 2012.

The Aging Room Small Batch Quattro F55, is one of the highest rated cigars in 2013 and continues to receive praise from renowned publications around the world.

Boutique Blends Cigars also produces other brands as SWAG Cigars and its focus is on small, controlled production or small batch cigars. “I am not making cigars for everyone, I am making cigars for educated aficionados who are looking for exciting and complex blends” said Rafael.

Mentioned as one of the hardest working men in the cigar industry, Rafael Nodal is traveling around the USA and other countries, selecting the proper Boutique Blends Cigar shops and sharing with the cigar consumers his philosophy of making small batch blends and controlled productions.

Together with Hank Bischoff, Rafael has teamed up with veteran grower and cigar man in the Dominican Republic, Jose “Jochy” Blanco to create and develop these exciting blends using selected tobaccos from the famous farms of Blanco.

For information about the Aging Room Small Batch Quattro T59 or any of the products from Boutique Blends Cigars, please contact Hank Bischoff. For online or social media inquiries please contact Carlos Nodal.

Hank Bischoff, VP                                         Carlos Nodal, Social Media

Boutique Blends Cigars                                 Email: [email protected]

5951 NW 173rd Drive, Suite 8                       FB, Twitter: Carlos Nodal

Miami, FL 33015                                           Instagram: AGINGROOMCIGARS & SWAGCIGARS

Email: [email protected]