Half Ashed 180: Caminos TMM Robusto

August 9, 2018 By Kip Fisher

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Caminos TMM

Tonight’s cigar, the Caminos TMM comes out of the same small, publicly unnamed “Top Secret Nest” factory in Tamboril, RD that Chogüí comes from….although I’m not sure it’s such a secret any more. C’mon down and I’ll show you where it is 😊 . The company is run by Cesar Reyes, one of the young gents I’ve talked about over the past 3 years. The Caminos TMM is available in robusto, toro, torpedo, and there was a limited run of 6”x56. I have gotten mixed information about its composition, but my understanding is that it has a Dominican HVA wrapper over Criollo ’98 binder and wide-ranging Dominican mix of filler leaf. I tried their earlier offerings with good success, so when this one hit about a year and a half ago I figured I’d give it a go. I grabbed a few of the 5” x 52 robustos and forwarded a couple to Craig blindly…so let’s see how it goes. These tend to run about $9 stateside, but can be had here in Santiago for the equivalent of about $6.

Cigar News

JC Newman has revived their “Save Cigar City” campaign, including covering their sign with a plea to “Save American Jobs”. Additionally, they have sent 100k (!) cards to their retailers across the country. These cards are preprinted and addressed to the FDA with comment requesting the agency to exempt cigars from the regulation. If you see these in your local B&M, all you need do is sign your name and drop in the mail. The postage is even paid already. I’m not sure of the efficacy of this particular plan, but I’m hoping for the best….and it certainly can’t hurt.

Another new shop in Santiago, for all you cigar touristy types….

Don Pepin 15th is landing…at a price. Comes in 2 vitolas (5.75” x 50 for $20, and 6.5”x52 for $24); features a habano rosado oscuro wrapper over mostly DPG-grown innards. 28k total production, in boxes of 14.

What Else We’ve Been Smoking

Craig –

Tatuaje Petite Tatuaje Reserva – OR – The best regular tatuaje I’ve ever had. 4-⅛” x 32 . Amazing
Esoterica Tobacciana Margate pipe tobacco. And a sh*t ton of it.

Kip

New Cantinero Coctel
More pipin’ – Escudo, GLP Sextant, Brebbia No. 60 (Preludio)

Episode 156: Cuban Travel with Zedman and Unbanded

November 29, 2016 By Kip Fisher

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Cuban Travel Episode w/Zedman and Unbanded 029

Tonight, we have an Unbanded from Dan C. and special guest Zedman, who is here to talk about his recent Cuban travel. There’s not a great deal to say about an Unbanded without spoiling our chance to humiliate ourselves…but for preliminaries, it’s 5-5/8″ x 48 and sports an attractive medium brown, supple wrapper. Tune in to see how far off we can be….

Cigar News

JC Newman (finally) launched the Black Diamond today. I’ve been hearing about this cigar for 3 years or so, and my understanding from past chats with folks within the organization is that it went through a few stages before bringing it to market officially. It was originally going to be the Diamond Crown maduro repackaged, but they had such an affinity for the name an entirely new cigar was created for it. It’s going to come in three vitolas (Emerald (6” x 52), Marquis (5-¼” x 56) and Radiant (4-½” x 54)), and retail for $16-20 per stick in boxes of 20. It, like other Diamond Crown products, is being rolled by Fuente here in Santiago. The wrapper is a CT Havana-seed wrapper grown in the DR (!), and it brings Dominican filler blend as well. It is available at Diamond Crown lounges around the U.S. – but if history repeats availability will open up to other JC Newman accounts after 6 months or so.
The Oliva Serie V Maduro is stuck in a loop. This year’s edition has begun to arrive in stores and it’s very familiar if you’re a regular fan of these. For the 3rd year running, it’s in a 6” x 60 format and features a San Andres wrapper. MSRP is about $10, with production numbers similar to recent years around 60-80k cigars.
Chogui has released its latest offering in the DR, although I haven’t yet smoked this one. The Papa Chogui began to appear in the capital last week, and should be in Santiago at this point. It will be showing up on American stores shelves already. It’s a Dominican puro, and was rolled in 2014. Total production was only 8,000 cigars, so if you’re a Chogui fan you might want to get your hands on them quickly. They’ll set you back about $9/stick.
I suppose I can go ahead and smoke the lone original Tatuaje Pork Tenderloin that I have staring back at me in the humidor. It’s making its return on the upcoming “Oh F*ck I’m Lost” tour by Tatuaje. Additionally, the Pork Chop and Le Vignoble are coming. Pete has said he tried to recreate the blends as closely as possible to the originals, using the same blend. It will be extremely limited, in that it will only be sold at the 9 stores on the tour dates…but plans are in the works for subsequent releases. The pricing is set at PT=$9, PC=$12, and LV=$12. The details on those originals were:
- Pork Tenderloin – 4” x 46 Nicaraguan puro
- Pork Chop – 5-⅛” x 52 CT Broadleaf over Nicaragua/Nicaragua
- Le Vignoble – 6” x 38 Ecuadoran Habano over Nicaragua/Nicaragua

What Else We’ve Been Smoking

We didn’t get around to this segment for Episode 156, as we were keen to talk with Zedman about his recent vacation in Cuba. You don’t want to miss his take on his trip post-American influx.

Half Ashed Episode 150: Montecristo No 2

September 28, 2016 By Kip Fisher

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Montecristo Number 2

From Craig:

Created in July of 1935 at the Particulares factory in Cuba by Alonso Menendez (Benji), Montecristos were rolled there until 1937 when production was transferred to the H.Upmann factory, also owned at that point by Menendez. Montecristo cigars’ little known claim to fame is that they were the first cigar ever blended to focus on a core of flavors besides the typical tobacco & spice flavors. Being dubbed “new school havana flavor”, they started a revolution that continues today with many notable blends from all over the world. The #2 is the most famous of the line, though not the best selling, and undoubtedly thought of as the world’s greatest torpedo.

Cigar News

Outside of FDA items and post-tradeshow details, there isn’t a ton of NEW news this week…so I thought I’d kick around a couple things I’ve had from the show.
- Dunhill Aged Maduro. I believe this is the first time a true maduro has carried the Dunhill name. It has a Sungrown Ligero wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and Dominican/Nicaraguan filler mix. I smoked the 4”x54 short robusto, but it’s also available in 5.125”x42 Marevas and 5.5”x54 short churchill. I had mixed results with this one. After smoking two I’m torn. The first was a bit monotone, with an occasional foray into some slight bitterness. I wasn’t a fan. Giving it a second try, though, was rewarding. I still had some occasional tannic notes, but overall was much better. I’ll report back once I’ve had the last one…but for smallish cigars that will run $9.50-12 at retail, I’ll have to be pretty impressed.
- Sticking with the General Cigar theme, I also had the CAO Consigliere. This, for those who haven’t heard, is unofficially a re-introduction of the Sopranos, sans series nomenclature. The company says this allows for a much lower MSRP than the Sopranos (now $7-9 in 3 vitolas). I smoked the 5”x52 Associate (also comes in 6”x54 Soldier and 7”x56 Boss). I had better luck with this than the Dunhill mentioned above. I played Craig just for a few minutes and trimmed away some of the wrapper. Removing the wrapper gave it a very sweet essence – akin to root beer, in fact. I’ll be trying these at least once more when they hit shelves. Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper over Honduran binder and Colombian/Nica/DR fillers.
JC Newman, even in the face of new legislation and regulatory oversight, launched a new “boutique” division – 4th Generation. The company has already begun shipping (to beat the 8/8 deadline) three lines – The American, The Admiration, and The 1954. Interestingly, the cigars will be produced at their Ybor city factory rather than their Nicaraguan operations – although production is in NIcaragua until the factory has been readied for production. The company will be headed by Eric’s son Drew and wife Ariel. The American will be an American puro, featuring the FSG wrapper grown by Jeff Borysiewicz in central Florida. It will also have CT broadleaf, CT habano, and PA. The Admiration is a mix of American and NIcaraguan tobacco. Finally, the 1954 is an attempt at recreating Stanford’s Cuesta Rey 95. 1954 commemorates JC Newman’s move to Ybor. I’m interested in seeing how these lines are received, as they all carry pricing from $16-20 per stick.
The FDA lost a lawsuit this week. A district court judge sided with the tobacco companies and deemed that new packaging does NOT necessarily mean a new tobacco product. This was specifically in regard to a cigarette suit, but should cover cigars as well. FDA asserted previously that a change in any packaging would start a new application process. Notably, the judge also deemed a change in package quantity DOES signify a new tobacco product.
Kevin Talley – Sr. Directory of Legislative Affairs – has left IPCPR. No reasoning was given, but I’m intrigued by sheer curiosity of the timing…

What Else We’ve Been Smoking

Craig – A GREAT couple of weeks for me

ECCJ 20th was the dog of the show. That should tell you something
Reynaldo Canonazo 2014 from Zedman
1998 Montecristo Especials
L‘Atelier Racine – How polar opposite this experience was… from itself
Avo Syncro Fogata
Davidoff Yamasa

JC Newman Perla del Mar Maduro
The revived Oliveros from Aging Room

Half Ashed Episode 078: Special Dogwatch Guests 1 of 2

August 16, 2014 By Kip Fisher

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Good afternoon, folks. Welcome back to another episode of Half Ashed. This week, Kip was in Tennessee to attend a family funeral – so our buddy Bob McDuffee (of Dogwatch Cigar Radio fame) sat in with Craig. The two of them covered a few news items, including stories from La Flor Dominicana, Cohiba, JC Newman and the FDA. They also covered a full run-down of Bob’s opinion of the state of the industry with regard to IPCPR as an organization. You’ll definitely want to check in for that. Of course, they talked a bit about what they’ve been smoking as well.

**It should be noted that they had a bit of a technical difficulty mid-show. Only a couple of minutes of Bob’s fine pontification was lost, but you’ll notice it nonetheless.***

Episode 079 will feature the other respective halves of the two shows – Kip and Dale. So, be sure and tune in for that next Friday night at 9:30pm EST on halfashed.com 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 emails: [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 073: Trinidad Ingenios

July 8, 2014 By Kip Fisher

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Welcome back for another round of Half Ashed shenanigans, folks. This week, we featured the Trinidad Ingenios as our Cigar of the Week – one of Craig’s submissions. He described it thusly:

The commercially available Trinidad brand became available to the market in 1997 with the Fundadores and the Edicion Limitada trend began in 2000. For the first time in 2007 the two came together in this lonsdale. At 6-½”x42 it is a beautiful size to match the beautiful appearance of this unique stick. Trinidad, a decidedly sweet tasting brand, and the E.L. wrapper leaf, an almost agonizingly dark tasting priming of wrapper tobacco were combined into this stick in September of 2007. I’ve included this cigar because of what it SHOULD have been compared to what it actually is.

So join us for that, as well as news items from RoMa Craft, Crowned Heads, JC Newman, Ashton, and La Aurora. We additionally covered a couple of legislative items, and what we’ve been smoking.

Next week, our Cigar of the Week will be the Tatuaje Tattoo Caballeros, so be sure to check back in next Friday night at 9:30pm EST at halfashed.com 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 emails: [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/New Product Alert: JC Newman

September 21, 2012 By Kip Fisher

I was fortunate enough to receive some JC Newman samples at IPCPR, and will be reviewing the upcoming Perla del Mar in the near future. I thought I’d pass along a little info from them today – from the Newman News:

New Product Alert: Perla del Mar from JC Newman

Unlike many of the brands in J.C. Newman’s current portfolio, Perla del Mar was not one of Julius Caeser’s original brands. This brand actually came to us through Eric Newman’s love of cigar label art. The label was unique to others in his collection and he liked it so much that he looked into registering the brand for later use. Originally a Cuban cigar, the label has had many different looks over the years. The design that appealed to Eric and that we decided to use as our inspiration came from the German Collection.

Originally printed by Klingenberg, the registration number is dated from 1945-1948. There are 23k gold medallions and embellishments with a small black and white scene of Havana harbor. Embellished with embossed gold medallions and lettering, almost exclusively a label with mostly words, was typical of labels printed for Cuban brands at the end of World War II by Klingenberg.

Today, Perla del Mar is a line of exquisite box pressed Nicaraguan cigars featuring a silky Ecuador Connecticut wrapper. Made in the same boutique factory, Fabrica de Tabacos San Rafael S.A., which produces the highly rated Brick House and El Baton cigars, Perla del Mar offers a diverse blend of 100% Nicaraguan long filler tobaccos.

The filler and binder tobaccos have been selected from four different distinct regions in Nicaragua; Pueblo Nuevo, La Reina, Condega and Jalapa. When paired with the mild, creamy shade wrapper, this mixture provides a lighter, fresher flavor with the depth of flavor and complexities cigar smokers have come to enjoy in Nicaraguan tobacco. Keeping with the harbor design, Perla del Mar’s vitola names were inspired by the grading system of oysters. Both Perla del Mar cigars and oysters come in four sizes, oysters are divided into Petit, Moyen, Grand, Trés Grand which led us to our vitola names, Perla P, Perla M, Perla G and Perla TG. We hope to start shipping Perla del Mar to retailers nationwide within the next few weeks so keep your eye on the shelves at your local shop. When you get a chance to test them out, let us know what you think.

For more information on JC Newman Cigars, visit their website

Weekly Cigar News May 27- June 2, 2012

May 30, 2012 By Kip Fisher

My headcold is finally subsiding, but the ol’ palate needs another day or so before I attempt a review. I’ll be putting one together tomorrow night or Friday. So, in the meantime, here’s some cigar news from IPCPR and JC Newman…

Cigar News

IPCPR

Bills to Protect Premium Cigars Continue to Gain Support

Washington, DC-As the Representatives and Senators settle into session, two bills (H.R. 1639 & S. 1461) continue to gain support. H.R. 1639 has just reached 190 co-sponsors, nearing the 218 co-sponsors needed for the majority. S. 1461 has reached 10 co-sponsors with Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska supporting it most recently.

The bills seek to restrict the FDA from regulating the premium cigar industry as it wishes to do to other tobacco products.
With the FDA’s proposed new jurisdiction, they would have the ability to completely alter the way premium cigars are sold, even going as far as having the ability to take the word “cigar” out of advertisements. These two bills seek to limit that. Supported by the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR), Cigar Rights of America, small tobacco shops throughout the country, and tobacco enthusiasts, the bills seek to protect the cigar industry from the FDA’s potentially heavy-handed regulation.
The bills have come a long way, but are still in need of support. The IPCPR encourages any tobacco enthusiasts to contact their local legislators and discuss with them the importance of small tobacconists throughout this country and the negative impact that FDA regulation could have on their businesses.
Bill Spann, CEO of the IPCPR, noted, “The premium cigar industry employs over 85,000 Americans alone. In today’s economy, our representative form of government should be doing everything possible to protect small businesses and promote job growth, not trying to regulate it out of existence.”
As the bills continue to gain support, cigar enthusiasts everywhere hope that the legislators will hear their voices and discuss the bills during session this year, which is expected to close in December.

Press Releases – JC Newman

NEW Brick House Teaser Hits Bashes this Summer

Brick House Bashes will get even better this summer with the new Brick House Bash Teaser. The J.C. Newman Cigar Company is the first to offer a cigar that packs the same complex flavors and aromas of a regular sized cigar, handrolled into a 3 ½ x 56 body. The Brick House “Teaser” is designed to be a tasting cigar. Similar to a wine tasting, the size and blend gives the recipient just enough taste to experience the Brick House flavor. The first 50 people at every Brick House Bash will receive a free Brick House teaser along with other special deals.
For a full listing of these exclusive cigar tastings only available at Brick House Bashes, click HERE.
For high resolution photos of the Brick House Teaser click HERE.

A Green Cigar Factory for Nicaragua

New Home of Quorum Built to Be Eco-Friendly

NICARAGUA – PENSA, or Puros De Esteli Nicaragua S.A., is J.C. Newman’s new 55,000 square foot factory located in the foothills of Esteli, Nicaragua. With the capacity to make over 25 million cigars per year, it is no small feat that this cigar factory is almost entirely green.
Nearly all the utilities in the building are renewable. Rainwater is collected through chains from the roof and reused for cooling and sanitation. Fresh air is pulled into the factory though large fans and mixed with recycled water to cool the room and keep the cigars at just the right humidity. Foam insulation keeps the cooled air from escaping into the thick, tropical air outside. Large panels in the roof stretch the full length of the ceiling, allowing Nicaragua’s plentiful sunlight in and eliminating the need for artificial lighting except on the cloudiest of days. The mix of fresh air, natural light and an open floor concept means worker morale stays strong while the carbon footprint is considerably reduced.
Employee health is a priority at the factory. A doctor is on staff everyday to service employees and their families. Bike racks located on the inside of the building give employees a greener and safer option than catching a ride to work or storing their bike on a fence outside the factory. Cleanliness is encouraged through the use of smocks and a full service sanitation crew.
For photos of the factory please ~~click HERE~~.
The J.C. Newman Cigar Company has worked hard to create a safe, clean, environmentally friendly factory for not only the employees of PENSA, but for the residents of Esteli. PENSA currently handrolls Quorum, Quorum Shade, Alcazar and Hampton Arms. For more information about PENSA and the cigars made there, please visit www.jcnewman.com.

Cigars and Chardonnay for Charity

An Evening in Ybor to Benefit Two Locally Based Charities

TAMPA – Celebrate an evening of Cigars and Chardonnay to benefit the Florida Holocaust Museum and Cigar Family Charitable Foundation. The event will be hosted at the J.C. Newman Cigar Company in Ybor City, America’s oldest family owned cigar company.
A ticket price of $100 to Cigars and Chardonnay includes live jazz music,
champagne and kosher wine tastings, premium hand rolled cigars, hors d’oeuvres, cigar factory tours, a silent auction and more all housed in a 112 year original Ybor cigar factory. Thanks to the generous support of sponsors, proceeds will benefit the Florida Holocaust Museum – the only accredited Holocaust Museum outside Washington D.C. – and the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation – a non-profit that works through education, empowerment and healthcare to help the children of the Dominican Republic.
To purchase tickets please go to www.flholocaustmuseum.org or call (727) 820-0100 Ext 251.
WHAT: Cigars and Chardonnay to benefit the Florida Holocaust
Museum and Cigar Family Charitable Foundation
WHEN: Thursday, May 31, 6 – 9 p.m.
WHERE: J.C. Newman Cigar Factory, 2701 N. 16th Street,
Tampa, FL 33605
WHO: Media Sponsor Tampa Bay Metro Magazine will be
on hand for photos
About The Cigar Family Charitable Foundation
The Cigar Family Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)3 started by the Fuente and Newman families in 2001 to help the children in the cigar producing region of the Dominican Republic. What began as a plan to add a wing onto a local school has grown into a 23 acre Cigar Family Complex that currently includes a primary and high school, health center, organic farming program, sports and recreational facility and an ever-growing list of vocational opportunities; all serving over 100,000 people in 12 surrounding communities. Thanks to the commitment of the Fuente and Newman families 100 percent of the administrative costs are underwritten. For more information about the Foundation please visit www.cf-cf.org today.
Founded in 1895, J.C. Newman is America’s oldest family-owned premium cigar maker and the last operating cigar factory in Cigar City. From the ultra-premium Diamond Crown, Diamond Crown MAXIMUS and Diamond Julius Caeser to mid-level Cuesta-Rey, La Unica, Brick House and El Baton, to value-priced Quorum, Trader Jacks and Factory Throwouts; the J.C. Newman name has become synonymous with excellence in cigar manufacturing. To learn more about J.C. Newman Cigar Company, visitwww.jcnewman.com.

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