The new YAYA premium cigar line from CigarZona will not only have its US launch at this year’s PCA (Premium Cigar Association) trade show in Las Vegas, NV but it will also release a show exclusive: YAYA Short Robusto. This year’s PCA will be a special one for United Cigars as this will be their first-time back exhibiting since 2019 with an even greater presence. YAYA landed in the United portfolio after its hometown launch […]
For an outsider looking in, Michael Herklots was becoming the face of the TAA. He would serve as Emcee for numerous years during the Dream Machine event which was the TAA Trade Show aspect of the convention. In 2022, he returned to the TAA as a brand owner that saw his company Ferio Tego release Timeless TAA 2022. Made at the Plasencia factory in Nicaragua the limited edition smoke utilizes all Nicaraguan tobacco. The 10 […]
More than a decade ago, I made the move from NYC to Miami where I began working at Miami Cigar & Company. One of my greatest memories was heading down to Esteli, Nicaragua with Jason Wood VP of Miami Cigars and Eddie Ortega who was in the process of launching his own lines. During this trip Jason and I were tasked on creating a cigar for the Nestor Miranda Special Selection line to bring back […]
German based Arnold André began US distribution with United Cigars in 2022, however the company was founded in 1817. Arnold André is the largest machine-made cigar manufacturer in Germany and began its premium cigar production after purchasing a facility in the Dominican Republic in 2011. Though their premium cigar production has been well received all over Europe, this is Arnold André’s first release in the US. According to the United Cigars website, “The protective embrace […]
When you see a cigar on the shelf at a cigar at this price you wonder, how good can this be and how can they make any money. According to the folks at El Artista, “They say money isn’t everything and they are right; this blend is priced so low you will question how we even make any money. The answer is: we make cigars, not money.” If the name El Artista sounds familiar it […]
Turning 85 is a big deal, and Tabacalera Palma wanted to do something just as exciting to commemorate this incredible feat. When they sat down to think of ways to accurately convey what this occasion meant to them, they decided to consult their fathers. Jochy Blanco revisited dozens of scribbles and stand-alone paragraphs in his father’s notebooks and reexamined the tobacco growing and processing wisdom of two generations, along with the cigar manufacturing wisdom of one generation. […]
Turning 85 is a big deal, and Tabacalera Palma wanted to do something just as exciting to commemorate this incredible feat. When they sat down to think of ways to accurately convey what this occasion meant to them, they decided to consult their fathers. Jochy Blanco revisited dozens of scribbles and stand-alone paragraphs in his father’s notebooks and reexamined the tobacco growing and processing wisdom of two generations, along with the cigar manufacturing wisdom of one generation. […]
In terms of the cigar industry an overnight success story is unheard of, at least until now, as one can argue All Saints Cigars can be considered just that. Founded in 2019, All Saints was started by three friends; Micky Pegg, Frank Layo and Martin Corboy. For Micky Pegg, individually, his journey has been a long one. He started in the cigar industry working in retail in 1989 before making the transition to cigar representative in […]
Originally released in 2012, Timeless became one of the Nat Sherman brands associated with Michael Herklots when he worked for the New Jersey based company. However, when Altria bought Nat Sherman in 2017, the writing was on the wall that the cigar brands would eventually be discontinued. In August of 2020 the company announced that Nat Sherman cigars would cease to exist and some credit is to be given to them for allowing Michael Herklots […]
The La Aurora Preferidos Hors d’Age is the result of an investment in time and world class tobacco. Twelve Years go by in the process from seed to cigar. The tobacco’s used in his years Hors d’Age was grown in 2008, but it wasn’t put into a cigar until 2019. Once the cigars were rolled they were placed in the La Aurora Aging room for two years before being released. Cigar Review: La Aurora Hors d’Age […]