By: Jenna Wheeler Posted on: September 2, 2019 KAMLOOPS – Kamloops was once home to a company that created, sold, and exported nearly 4,000 Havana cigars per day. Word of a cigar factory in Kamloops had been brought up in 1894 by a Vancouver man, James Harling. While looking into the possibility of this venture, Harling rented a building on what is now known as Victoria Street West but never got the business rolling, according to an article from the Kamloops News. In December of that year, a man named George E. Borthwick, who was employed at a cigar factory…
Author: MylesK
Posted on August 27, 2019 By Andrew Nagy After a disappointing 2018 season plagued by heavy, consistent rains, cigar tobacco farmers in the Connecticut River Valley are optimistic that this year’s crop will yield some of the best leaf in years. Recently, Cigar Aficionado had the opportunity to visit the three growers who make up the Windsor Shade Tobacco Co., a cooperative that stores and treats Connecticut Shade tobacco for shipment to cigar manufacturers. In addition to being the few remaining growers of the Connecticut Shade tobacco varietal—which once covered much of the valley—each of the farmers also grow Broadleaf. Connecticut Shade is grown under elaborate tents of screen-like…
Posted on: August 12, 2019 By: CHARLIE MINATO Next month, Les Fines Lames, the French cigar knife maker, will be launching all-new model that is both smaller and more affordable. The Le Petit by Les Fines Lames uses the same basic design and materials as the original cutter, but it measures just 4.53 inches long with a 2.55 inch blade. The original is 5.83 inches long. It’s largely the same concept, the knife opens like a regular folding knife, but the handle features a cut out to place the cap of a cigar in. When the blade gets folded back into the handle, it…
Posted on July 25, 2019 By: FE Online | New Delhi Facebook is unveiling a new policy to restrict sales and restrict content on tobacco products and alcohol, including e-cigarettes, a company spokeswoman was quoted by a report in CNN. The new policy is reportedly aimed at prohibiting all the private trades, sales, transfers and gifting of alcohol and tobacco products on Mark Zuckerberg-led Facebook and Instagram. As per the new policy, any brands which post content on sale or transfer of the said products will have to make a restriction on the content – for adults 18 or older. The new…
Posted on July17, 2019 By CHARLIE MINATO Six of the world’s largest cigar companies have filed joint comments regarding the FDA’s regulation of premium cigars, advocating that the agency is not able to justify the costs of regulation against its public health mission. Those companies include Davidoff, Drew Estate, General Cigar Co., Tabacalera Perdomo, Tabacalera Unidas (CLE) and Tabacalera USA (Altadis U.S.A.) Those companies are all members of the Cigar Association of America (CAA), a group that includes mass market cigar makers as well. Of note, the joint comments are only on behalf of these companies and not on behalf…
Posted on June 20, 2019 By Gregory Mottola They’re hip. They’re rare. Sometimes they’re even a little weird. But some of the industry’s offbeat cigars have gained a serious cult following over the years in much the same way cult movies attract a small, yet passionate fan base. In the July-August issue of Cigar Aficionado, which is heading to your mailboxes now (and on newsstands starting July 9), we look at these curiously unconventional smokes in an article called “Cult Cigars and the People Behind Them.” It provides background on today’s cult cigarmakers, the cult movement and colorful anecdotes about how far…
Posted on July 9, 2019 By Gregory Mottola The annual IPCPR trade show (now called PCA) is the only time of year where so much of the premium cigar industry is gathered in a single room. Most companies are there to show off new releases, some of which are quite interesting. After attending the show and surveying booth after booth of new and upcoming cigars, we highlighted the products we thought were the most intriguing in concept, style and blend. Some are shipping as you read this. Others won’t make it to your local cigar shops until the end of the summer…
Posted on: June 26, 2019 By Andrew Nagy It’s no secret that Jonathan Drew, the affable co-founder of Drew Estate, loves hip-hop and old school rap. Now he has teamed up once again with one of the biggest names in music, Shady Records, on a limited-edition cigar that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the influential record label founded by artist Eminem and manager Paul Rosenberg. The Undercrown ShadyXX is a 5 inch by 50 ring gauge, box-pressed belicoso that’s rolled with Nicaraguan and Brazilian filler tobaccos, a Connecticut Habano binder and a dark, toothy Mexican San Andrés wrapper. Read more…
Post on: June 25, 2019 ESTELI, Nicaragua: From “rich and full-bodied” to “complex with hints of licorice,” aficionados exhaust the lexicon to capture the essence of Nicaragua’s most highly-prized produce — not wine, but cigars, which are especially popular in the United States. The recognition turns the vibrant green hills of Esteli, in the troubled Central American country’s northwest, into a hive of activity come harvest time. Here, 800 meters (2,620 feet) above sea level, half of the population of 110,000 is employed in the tobacco industry — picking, drying or curing, or rolling cigars in factories. Read more…
by Ken Gargett Posted on: June 6, 2019 There is a thriving industry in faking the great paintings of the world, the finest wines, and the most popular wristwatches. Caveat emptor. You can also add cigars to that list. Anyone who has ever bought a glass-topped box of Cohibas should be aware that they are as genuine as the proverbial three-dollar bill. Visitors to Havana are inevitably thronged by locals offering cheap cigars. Usually, the story is that they have a cousin/brother/uncle/best friend working on the factory floor as a roller and they have smuggled these out. And now you are the lucky beneficiary. If…