Half Ashed Episode 060: 2013 Oliva Serie V Maduro

April 8, 2014 By Kip Fisher

It has come to an end….well, not the entire show; just our vertical tasting of all six as-yet released Oliva Serie V Maduro. This week, we’re smoking the 2013 edition, and wrapping up with a summary of our takes on all six releases. In the news, we kicked around a few topics, including stories from Cigar aficionado (a very interesting item on 2013 US cigar imports), a new blog entry from Frank Herrera, La Palina, Flor de Gonzalez, and Tatuaje. Legislatively, we had some good news from Florida. We covered what we’ve been smoking this week as always, and wrapped up with some final thoughts about all six Oliva Serie V Maduro releases that we’ve been smoking as our first formalized vertical tasting.

Next week, our Cigar of the Week will be a Kelner blend I brought back from my last trip to the Dominican Republic – which the both of us enjoy greatly. 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 049: Guest Frank Herrera

January 20, 2014 By Kip Fisher

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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.

News: Herrera Cigars & Drew Estate Settle Trademark Dispute

July 8, 2013 By Kip Fisher

Herrera Cigars & Drew Estate Settle HERRERA Trademark Dispute

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MIAMI, Florida (July 8, 2013) – Long time friends Frank Herrera of Herrera Cigars and Jonathan Drew of Drew Estate announced today that they have settled a dispute over the HERRERA trademark.

While the terms of the settlement are confidential, the agreement focuses on protecting the HERRERA brand under a license. Hispanic surnames are powerful indicators of quality in the premium cigar industry, and both parties have mutually agreed to protect the trademark HERRERA.

“This is a great example of how disputes can be resolved quickly and efficiently when cigar people get together, and find a mutually agreeable solution,” said Frank Herrera of Herrera Cigars. “I have worked for years in the cigar industry building my name and I believe that the agreement entered into today will serve that purpose and protect it for the future.” Frank Herrera added.

Jonathan Drew, Co-Founder of Drew Estate adds,

“I believe in the cigar community, the industry personalities, and the subculture that supports and sustains its very core. Frank Herrera is a dear friend of mine, whom I respect greatly. The difficult circumstance arose when we brought Willy Herrera on board with Drew Estate and both men obviously felt entitled to the Herrera name. It took us a little while to work out the details due to our busy schedules – but in the end we found a solution that allows both men to reach for the stars and achieve their deserved dreams. DE is now comfortable licensing the mark from Frank in this Co-existence agreement. At Drew Estate we have always promoted innovation and creativity within the cigar biz. Legal nonsense just gets in the way”.

Frank Herrera has specialized in cigar law matters for over 12 years, and over the past 5 years has offered cigars under the LA CARIDAD DEL COBRE brand and later under the FRANK HERRERA BIOGRAPHY brand.

Willy Herrera joined Drew Estate in 2011 and will continue to produce HERRERA ESTELI and future products at the Drew Estate factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.

Both Frank Herreraʼs HERRERA Cigars and Drew Estateʼs HERRERA ESTELI will be featured at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (“IPCPR”) Convention and International Trade Show in July.

Cigar Week – a Quick Jaunt through Florida

May 19, 2012 By Kip Fisher

NOTE: If you want to skip the narrative and go straight to the pictures, you can find them HERE

This past week, my nephew came down to visit for our 4th annual Cigar Week. Each year, I take a week off work when he comes down from Tennessee, and we putter around the state of Florida visiting a number of cigar shops, manufacturers, or any other events that happen to be going on at the time. This year, we managed to work in a visit to Delray Beach, Miami/Little Havana, Ybor City, and a few places around Tampa. On our way down to Miami, we stopped and spent an evening at Charmed Leaf with Frank and Elissa. This was the third time I’ve had the pleasure of visiting The Charmed Leaf, and I’m totally enamored with the whole operation. The focus of The Charmed Leaf is very much on boutique cigars, of which they have a great selection – including many I don’t typically have access to in the Tampa market. The atmosphere of the place is very lighthearted, friendly, and welcoming. We even got schooled in playing dominoes while we were there on this trip, which was great fun. I got so carried away with the cigars and fun that I managed not to get any pictures while we were there – which will be corrected the next time I’m in the area. With permission, I’d love to feature them in an upcoming series of posts I’m planning to spotlight tobacconists’ I’ve encountered and have a great deal of respect and appreciation for. If you’re ever in the Delray Beach area, the trip won’t be complete without a stop there. I highly recommend them. And, if you’re not in the area, you can always check out their website as well…you just can’t get a domino lesson online [EDIT: This shop has since sold to new ownership.].

The following morning, we continued down the coast to Miami and into Doral to visit the My Father factory, lounge, and distribution/offices. I had contacted them ahead of time, and John Gonzalez was kind enough to give us a short tour of the operation. Much of the space at the new site is dedicated to warehouse and distribution efforts, but they have a lounge and a working factory as well. The lounge stocks My Father products, and is quite comfortable and very nicely furnished. There were 8-10 torcedores at work while we were there, busily rolling cigars, and several folks working in packaging/shipping/receiving. Much of their product is now manufactured in Nicaragua, but the Miami factory still produces a few cigar lines, some of which I find quite tasty.

From My Father, we headed over to Calle Ocho for a quick run through Little Havana. We passed through/by/in/around a number of shops and factories, but the highlight of the visit was a stop at La Tradicion Cubana. Frank Herrera had recommended we visit LTC, and it proved to be a wonderful experience. We hung out there with Luis Sanchez, the proprietor, for a couple of hours just smoking cigars and chatting. This was the first time I had the chance to spend any time with Luis, and I found him to be a very cordial, welcoming facet of Little Havana. I highly recommend a stop if you’re ever in Miami. It’s definitely worthwhile – both for the conversation and the cigars. I smoked one of his LTC “Palmitas” while there, and it was spectacular. Since the visit, I have enjoyed the Jameson cigars he makes for Brad Mayo as well. I foresee me stocking a few of these makes in my regular rotation for sure. Luis is responsible for his own brand (La Tradicion Cubana & Sabor Cubano), as well as Jameson Cigars (including the Red Label, Black, the Southbound Series, and Santos de Miami), Casa Gomez, and La Caridad del Cobre. We spent most of the afternoon on Calle Ocho, then headed back to points northward.

On Thursday, we had a scheduled tour of the JC Newman factory in Tampa. When we arrived at our appointed time, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Eric Newman himself was in town and would give us the grand tour. Most of the work going on here is in machine rolled cigars and distribution. The building has been renovated in recent years, and is a spectacular sight. It has been restored to its past glory, and is such a fun way to spend the morning. The equipment is impressive as well…each of the rolling machines is capable of producing up to 5,000 cigars per day, and has several thousand moving parts. But, the highlight of this tour was having Eric give it. The family stories and proud history of the Newman family’s 117 years in the industry were fascinating. Eric gave us the entire history of the Newman family’s involvement in the cigar industry…from it’s beginnings in late 19th century Ohio, through the Tampa years, the partnership with the Fuentes, and into current times with the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation and opening of their new Nicaraguan factory. It’s a wonderful story and if you ever have the chance you should visit – even if not for a tour, they maintain a small museum on the first floor of the tower detailing this history.

We finished out the week with some local stops around Tampa – Ybor City, fishing at the Skyway, and some stops at various brick & mortar cigar shops. We visited Tampa Humidor, The Cigar Castle, and Clearwater Cigar Company. Tampa Humidor is my local “go-to” shop. The majority of my cigar buying is from them. I had been to Cigar Castle a couple of years ago, but not recently as it’s a bit out of my normal driving patterns. They have a very nice lounge, and great selection of cigars. Atul was incredibly friendly and helpful as well. Definitely worth a stop when in Tampa. The other tobacconist that we tried for the first time was Clearwater Cigar Company. They are near the St. Petersburg airport, from whence my nephew was departing. John Fought, one of our previous giveaway winners, recommended this stop because of its proximity to the airport, and it is one of his hangouts as well. So, we met John in person for the first time here. This is a newer shop (less than 2 years), run by Leglio Sotolongo. I’m not commonly in that part of town, so I had never made it over that way. As has become a pattern in the cigar industry, we encountered nothing but a friendly atmosphere here. Leglio is a very upbeat, positive, laidback kind of guy. A perfect fit for the tobacconist trade. He helped us out in picking some cigars we had not tried before based on what we typically like to smoke, and together with John provided an entertaining afternoon while we waited to head over to the airport. Some or all of these locations will likely be featured in the upcoming spotlight series as well. Thus ended this year’s Cigar Week. If you all ever make your way to Florida, I don’t think you can go wrong at any of the sites we hit this week. Also, if you’re in Florida and have a favorite spot let me know. I travel most of this state, and I’m always in the market for meeting new folks in the field…and I spend a lot of time in cigar shop lounges…

Pictures from 2012 Cigar Week