Sean Williams was bringing sexy back this year in the Cohiba section of the General Cigar booth. And sexy, it turns out, is named Spectre. Sean describes Spectre as his ultimate cigar geek project, that started with finding a 22 year old tercio (palm bark-wrapped bale) of piloto cubano in the factory. The blend includes […]
IPCPR 2018: Partagas
The next stop in the General Cigar booth was the Partagas section. Andres gave us the scoop on the packaging design updates (the blends remain the same) and the new Partagas Legend, which features a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper, a Honduran binder, and Piloto Cubano filler.
IPCPR 2018: Gurkha
We dropped by the Gurkha booth again this year, and Carlos Llaca Torano took us on a tour of the latest cigars. We started with the Ghost Gold extension to the popular Ghost line. It sports and Ecuadorian Habano Rosado wrapper and has a pigtail and closed foot. Next we look at the Marquesa, which […]
IPCPR 2018: 22 Minutes with Pete Johnson
No trade show coverage is complete without chat with Pete Johnson at his usual place behind the bar in the Tatuaje booth. This year we lucked out and caught Pete on the first day, which was the day following the premier of his passion project, Hand Rolled: A Film About Cigars. So we get started […]
IPCPR 2018: Xikar
Up next we drop by Xikar to talk to Kurt and Suzanne about new cigar accessories. They show us their new single, flat-flame lighter in a variety of finishes, which retails for $80. Antique bronze is a good look, and it’s a fast mover for Xikar. We also check out a lighter with red prism […]
IPCPR 2018: United Cigar Group & Selected Tobacco
Ben, Justin and I got the show started by catching up with Oliver Nivaud in the United Cigar Group & Selected Tobacco booth. He shows us the limited releases of the Firecrackers. Each year a different manufacturer does one, previous manufacturer’s Firecrackers include the Tatuaje (M80), La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero, and RoMa Craft Tobac […]
IPCPR 2017: Paul Garmirian
I’ve been meaning to stop by the Paul Garmirian booth at IPCPR for years now, but it never seems to happen. This year we bumped into Kevork Garmirian after the trade show floor had closed for the day and talked for a while. I promised to drop by next day to chat on camera. Unfortunately, […]
IPCPR 2017: Foundation Cigars
The very last interview we did before walking off the IPCPR trade show floor for the last time was with Nick Melillo of Foundation Cigars. And it’s a doozy- so buckle in, grab a drink and light up a cigar. A lot of people talk about having a busy show, but the Foundation booth was […]
IPCPR 2017: Bombay Tobak
We caught up with Mel Shah, owner of Bombay Tobak on the last day of IPCPR to see what’s new and how the show went. He tells us it was a busy trade show. The highlight of the show for them was the Gaaja Robusto (5 x 54) line extension. It retails for $12.50, plus […]
IPCPR 2017: J.C. Newman
While I was off doing who-knows-what for a moment, Justin took the tour of the J.C. Newman booth at IPCPR this year. Monica Foster shows us the new Julius Caeser Corona (5 1/2” x 43) line extension (MSRP $9.75), the box-pressed Perla Del Mar Maduro line (MSRP ~$6), the new Brick House Connecticut (MSRP $5.80 […]