Barrel Aged by Karl Malone Churchill Cigar Review

Karl Malone a former power forward for the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers  has teamed up with the first cigar factory of the Dominican Republic, La Aurora. Based in Santiago, Dominican Republic the company has been making cigars since 1903. The Barrel Aged by Karl Malone features tobaccos aged for six years, with the binder and filler spending 6 months in a rum barrel. After the aging, the wrapper is applied  before being placed […]

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The After Show – Challenges of Starting a New Brand

This week on The After Show brought to by RoMaCraft Tobac we discuss a hypothetical question inspired by a listener submitted question. The premise is, if you were to start a new brand would you create a cigar for the boutique marketplace or would you follow the model of an established classic cigar brand. It created an interesting discussion between Barry, Ed and Mr. Jonathan. We also are asked what some of our favorite cigars […]

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JC Newman Issues Statement On Todays Warning Label Decision

JC Newman Cigar Company issued the following statement on today’s victory. For 125 years, my family has been carefully packing our handcrafted cigars in decorative wooden boxes with beautiful cigar labels and bands. FDA wanted to cover 30% of a cigar box with a large health warning label. This would have destroyed the historic character of premium cigar packaging and turned walk-in humidors in premium cigar stores into large billboards for the FDA. Today, Judge […]

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Cigar Industry Wins In Warning Label Case vs FDA

The cigar industry scored a win today against the FDA when Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled in their favor over warning label requirements. If the FDA was allowed to create labeling rules, the majority of cigar boxes would have covered with a a warning. In his conclusion Judge Mehta wrote, “The Deeming Rule’s warnings requirement for premium cigars is hereby vacated” before adding,  “this portion of the Rule is remanded to the agency for further […]

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Southern Draw Jacobs Ladder Toro Cigar Review

The week on The Cigar Authority we smoked the Southern Draw Jacobs Ladder as we looked at the differences between Connecticut Broadleaf and Pennsylvania Broadleaf tobaccos. Southern Draw is a veteran owned company based in Texas with their cigars blended at AJ Fernandez in Esteli, Nicaragua. Like many of the cigar names from Southern Draw it has a link with agriculture, religion and family. First, it shares its name with a plant. In this case, it […]

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22N / 83W Belicoso Fino Cigar Review

On February 1st, 2020 we featured a cigar from the care package on The Cigar Authority. That cigar is one of Mr. Jonathan’s favorite smokes and unless you’ve been smoking for a long time you might not remember 22N/83W which is made at J. Fuego. 22N/83W are the Latitude and Longitude where you will find Hacienda el Corojo, a plantation that once (1930 – 1990) grew arguably the best tobacco in the world. Today, having […]

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VODCast: Your Burning Cigar Questions Answered

With Dave on his way to Miami for the Super Bowl after spending a week in Las Vegas at TPE, the boys take charge of the show. Will they be stooges or musketeers? In the first hour Mr. Jonathan is in charge of the show we fire up one of his favorite cigars that happens to be part of the February Care Package. We smoke 22N / 83W as we address your burning cigar questions […]

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TPE 2020: Tobacco Business Awards – Did Dave Win?

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 […]

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Tabaquero by Hamlet Paredes Bala Cigar Review

In 2015, Rocky Patel began his relationship with accomplished Cuban Cigar Roller, Hamlet Paredes. In addition to being a cigar roller Hamlet worked as a brand ambassador for Habanos SA in addition to the Partagas and Romeo y Julieta factories before winding up in Naples, Florida. The cigar which is made by Rocky Patel as the Tavicusa factory in Nicaragua was actually blended in Naples, Florida at the offices of Rocky Patel when Hamlet couldn’t […]

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TPE 2020: Crowned Heads Showcases Juarez

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 […]

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