Last night at the Tobacco Plus Expo the Tobacco Business awards were announced. The exclusive invite-only event took place at Club 101 at the Sahara in Las Vegas with almost 300 people in attendance. In the audience was our own David Garofalo who was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year which we have the video announcement below. Other winners on the night included Carlo “Carlito” Fuente (Legacy Award), Arturo Fuente Hemingway Untold Story (Dominica Cigar […]
We caught up with Miguel Schoedel of Crowned Heads where they were showcasing a cigar named Juarez. According to Schoedel the cigar is named for the song Cocaine Blues by Johnny Cash, but it also shares a name with the murder capital of the world Juarez, Mexico. The cigar comes from a small factory in Nicaragua named, Tabacalera Pichardo which makes them the fourth factory to work with Crowned Heads. The cigar comes in three […]
They aren’t going to the 2020 PCA, but they were on hand at Tobacco Plus Expo and we caught up with Rafael Nodal who showed up Romeo y Julieta Reserve Real Nicaragua which should ship to retailers in March. The company taps AJ Fernandez once again to give a new spin to one of their showcase brands. Available in four sizes; Robusto (5 x 50 / $8.77), Toro (6 x 54 / $9.03), Churchill (7 […]
We caught up with Alan Gold from Lotus / Vertigo where he showcased a couple of new lighters with the Margaritaville branding. These new lighters showcase Jimmy Buffet inspired looks with the saying It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere which is the mantra of Barry. The lighters feature a cool window into the patented big ass tank as you can see in the video.
We caught up with Nimish Patel in Las Vegas at the 2020 Tobacco Plus Expo and he gave us a look at the Rocky Patel CSWC. The cigar is the new official cigar of the Cigar Smoking World Championship and will debut in three sizes. The Mareva which is the official size of the yearly event measuring 5 1/8 x 42 ($8.75), a Robusto coming in at 5 x 50 ($9.75) and the Toro at […]
Back in the day I ran a cigar blog by another name. It’s a blog that allowed me to carve out a career in the cigar industry. Back when PCA was known as IPCPR we ran into a lot of resistance from retailers and manufacturers about being allowed into the show where we helped create buzz around the newest releases. Back then Dave was on the board of IPCPR and he went to bat for […]
The last couple years has seen the Tobacco Plus Expo grown exponentially especially with the premium cigar industry. With a lot of manufacturers dropping out of PCA the buzz around this show is even greater then in past years. Throughout the duration of the show we will be showcasing the differences between the two shows as well as a look at some new products debuting in Las Vegas. Here Dave checks in and shows how […]