Omar de Frias is one of the nicest guys in the cigar industry, and possibly one of the smartest. Not many in the industry can say they worked for NASA. Or for that matter, have played professional basketball. With such an impressive resume, you might expect the Fratello brand to be just a successful man’s […]
IPCPR 2016: Double Shot Energy Cigar
If you’ve been following my activity on Stogie Review over the years, you know I have a weakness for anything interesting, unsual and/or innovative. And at this year’s IPCPR trade show, I found something that is all three- the Double Shot Energy Cigar. It’s billed as the cigar equivalent of an energy drink like Red […]
IPCPR 2016: Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust
Energy levels were much higher in the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust booth this year, probably partially due to catching Steve Saka early on in show, and also part due to the lack of last years production problems. In 2015 the highly anticipated Sobremesa was not ready for sampling in Saka’s judgement. So he held his […]
IPCPR 2016: La Palina
La Palina is in it for the long haul, that much was clear to me after I visited their booth at this year’s trade show. Despite the looming FDA menace, Bill Paley seemed optimistic, even excited about the future for La Palina. It probably has something to do with six months of planning around the […]
IPCPR 2016: Royal Agio
While at the tradeshow we made a point of dropping by the Royal Agio section of the Drew Estate booth to talk to Boris Wintermans about what’s new this year. He spoke of the success Agio has had with Balmoral and talked about the new Balmoral XO vitolas, the Gran Toro, the Corona, and the […]
IPCPR 2016: Frank Herrera (aka Cigar Law) on the FDA
In this video we sit down Frank Herrera, a lawyer and long time friend of Stogie Review to discuss what the impact of the FDA’s May 5th deeming regulation announcement on the cigar industry, particularly the boutique portion of it, from manufacturer on down to the consumer. (Spoiler, it’s going to affect everyone.) Along the […]
IPCPR 2016 Social Media Updates
For nearly a decade Stogie Review has been bringing you news and reviews from the IPCPR Trade Show Floor (Back then it was the RTDA). As the years have gone by our coverage has evolved. This year our dynamic duo – Brian and Ben are roaming the show floor with video cameras and smartphones. As […]
Adorini Matera Deluxe Humidor
This week I’m going to talk about something we don’t often talk about here on Stogie Review: humidors. Specifically the Adorini Matera Deluxe humidor which was provided for me to use and review, but first a little about humidors in general. Over the years my thoughts on humidors has evolved, much like my taste in […]
Crowned Heads The Angel’s Anvil TAA 2016
Next in our line of TAA exclusives is the Crowned Heads The Angel’s Anvil TAA 2016. This cigar is another one that is highly anticipated each year as Crowned Heads has been one of the hottest cigar companies in the market since their debut in 2011. This is the 3rd iteration of The Angel’s Anvil […]
Davidoff Yamasa Toro
Just before IPCPR, Davidoff has released a cigar that was 20 years in the making: Davidoff Yamasa. What makes this cigar so special is that it uses tobacco from a region in the Dominican Republic that is not known for growing tobacco and is actually has soil that isn’t great for growing it either. That […]