New Life for Juan Lopez
Altadis USA is breathing new life into the Juan Lopez brand name. They are offering an all Nicaraguan cigar – a “Nicaraguan Treasure” as per their marketing materials – in 3 sizes (selection no. 1 is 5 X 54, selection no.2 is 6 X 54 and selection no. 3 is 6 X 60) packed 16 to a box. Altadis made an effort to blend the tobacco from all three growing regions in Nicaragua to create a...
An Exquisite Cuban Stock Exquisito
I’ve met a lot of cigar makers. Many are humble farmers. Many are mild mannered and soft spoken. All share a passion for tobacco. The owner of Cuban Stock has the passion for tobacco, but is in no way soft spoken or laid back. His challenge to me when we met at the recent trade show, “Smoke my cigars and tell you don’t like them”. But, I couldn’t meet...
Cremo Classic – A Pleasant Smoke
What can you say about a cigar company that was one of the premier brands at the turn of the century? Well, if you’ve never heard of Cremo, you might ask , which century? And the answer to that would be the 20th century. This is a brand that was one of the top selling cigars in the Untied States in the early 1900s. There was a factory in New York and sales were very high. Over the...
Caught in the Crossfire – Platinum
Crossfire Cigars is a cigar importer headquartered in Louisville, KY that selects its own blends of filler, binder and wrapper and has the cigars made in the Dominican Republic. Scott Meneffe, the CEO, formed this boutique cigar company several years ago as a means of producing flavorful cigars while also stimulating the Dominican Republic economy and relieving poverty. Not just the cigars but...
The Monte by Montecristo
Monte by Montecristo At the 2013 IPCPR Altadis had a large and varied presence as it represents a number of well-known brands such as H Upman, Romeo y Julieta, Saint Luis Rey and Montecristo. However, Altadis is just a division of Imperial Tobacco, a $9.3 billion tobacco colossus based in the UK. Imperial is also the exclusive seller of luxury Cuban cigars worldwide (per their 2012 Annual...
Sentinel’s Honor Offering
Most cigar businesses are started by a combination of profit motives, industry knowledge/exposure or just plain love of the product. Sentinel Cigars is slightly different in that its primary motive is to provide funds for a worthy cause – the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation. This foundation provides housing, tuition assistance and mentorship to severely wounded retired U.S....
