The Premium Cigar Association has been steadily building up their in-house team, especially over the past 6-12 months. Adding to that momentum, Antoine Reid has been named the Association’s new Director of Content. With 2023’s Annual Convention and Trade Show quickly approaching, and today’s news that the 2024 show will be held in March instead of July, and the confirmation that 2025’s show is moving away from Las Vegas, the timing couldn’t be better for this new role to be established and filled.
Storytelling has taken a backseat to the Associations legislative and policy-related work in recent years, which when you think about it makes sense – do we want them spending their finite time and resources fighting for us, or telling us about what the fight is like? With Antoine already in his first week on the team, it may not be long now before we get to have a steady stream of not just both, but potentially so much more.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled that Antoine is joining our team,” said PCA Executive Director Scott Pearce. “With his years of experience, his passion for the industry, and his skill sets, he is going to be a vital asset to PCA and I have no doubt our content and communications are going to accelerate to the benefit of our membership and the industry.
In this new role, Reid will continue to develop and maintain relationships throughout the industry in order to create content that speaks to directly to consumers, retailers, and manufacturers. “Over the past decade, helping to tell the story of those in the premium cigar and pipe tobacco space has been more than a job–it’s been a passion. I am excited to be able to continue this work now with the PCA and delivering engaging and impactful content to the industry in written, video and audio form. I am excited for everyone to see, read and watch what we have in the works.”
Production is officially underway on a project that we’ve been following since launching Cigar Public last June. According to a dispatch by co-founder Skip Martin, the Volstead (VO 1920) line from Roma Craft Tobac is likely to be released in just a few months time. Offering May or June as the likely ETA for the general cigar loving public, attendees at next months Roma Craft event at 2 Guys Cigars will be getting an early look at this Ecuadorian Sumatra Intemperance line.
The last time Warped released their sought-after Black Honey blend was more than 6 year ago. A potential return was teased back in January of this year, and after another update today we appear to one step closer to its hyper-limited re-release. A special iteration of the popular La Colmena, the Black Honey was first introduced in 2015. A one-off run at the time, the final blend is said to be the result of rollers using a mislabeled leaf for the La Colmena’s wrapper. Featuring the Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper used on the El Oso, the binder and filler of the La Colmena, this unique blend isn’t likely to last very long once an official release date is announced. Did you have the original release? Will you be keeping a close eye on this run? Let everyone know in the comments!
The Tampa Bay Times has been reporting on a local cigar-related property since it was put on the market last year. The building was once used as a factory for Arturo Fuente Cigar Co. in the 50’s and 60’s before they eventually outgrew it. In a piece published yesterday – and updated today – by Times staffer Paul Guzzo, it is revealed that the new owner is none other than Liana Fuente.
Granddaughter to the company’s founder, Liana shares some vibrant memories of spending time there in her youth. In one particularly powerful quote, she says “when I look at the window, I can picture my grandfather…I see him looking out and staring at Ybor City.” There are no immediate plans for the property, but there is clearly peace of piece of mind knowing that it won’t be knocked down to make way for something else.
Ozgener Family Cigars have announced their third cigar – Aramas. Aramas is rolled by Ernesto Perez Carrillo in the Dominican Republic and balancers Mexican San-Andres wrapper with Ecuador-Sumatra binder. The filler includes Connecticut Broadleaf and a combination of tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. While not an official TAA exclusive cigar, the plan is to introduce them to attendees at next week’s convention.
According to an exclusive interview with Cigar Aficanado, the trademarks for the names he originally wanted to use for this blend were already owned by someone else. More than just names on a list, Mount Ararat and and Masis represent the same mountain in the two different languaes of his parents – Turkish and Armenian. His solution? Combining both names to create something entirely new. Shipping next month in boxes of 20, each cigar ranges from $12.75 to $15.75 MSRP depending on which of the 4 vitolas you’re obtaining.
Division II college coach Tony Annese has been suspended for two games after two of his players lit up victory cigars in the locker room after the game. The cigars ended up costing almost $18,000. While not itself unusual or uncommon after a win, the stadium Annese’s Ferris State Bulldogs had just finished playing their champioinship game is on the property of a local high school – which has a policy prohibiting tobacco. Typically allowed to celebrate with their favorite blends, in this instance the team was ordered to pay $15,383 for “cleaning and repair” and fined $2,500 for the infraction.
Wishing you all another great week full of your favorite cigars and your favorite people. Keep on sending in your favorite cigar related news stories, posts and video. If anything from this roundup catches your attention, let everyone know in the comments below!