BODEGA PREMIUM BLENDS ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH ICON MANN™ FOR 2ND ANNUAL “POWER 50†PRE-OSCAR DINNER EXPERIENCE
Los Angeles – February 20, 2014 – Bodega Premium Blends @BodegaCigars today announced their support of ICON MANNâ„¢ and the 2nd Annual pre-Oscar event. ICON MANNâ„¢ is the leading lifestyle media company “championing the accomplishments and positive dialog surrounding the Diaspora of Black men.†Their impressive list of luminaries span from Award-winning actors/directors/musicians to Fortune 500 businessmen including numerous premiere Cultural Artistes, Media Moguls and Technology Entrepreneurs.
One of the many goals of ICON MANN™, according to its founding partner and CEO, Tamara N. Houston is to “recognize men from multiple countries and a wide array of industries who are using their tremendous professional success to advance the lives of others, be it communities, or nations in some meaningful way.
ICON MANNâ„¢ does not specify how this is done or have allegiance to any specific organization for their participation. ICON MANNâ„¢ only mandates that our men are involved to great affect so that the measure of success throughout the Diaspora is synonymous with one’s philanthropic commitment.â€
ICON MANNâ„¢ pre-Academy Awards (Oscar) celebratory dinner will mark the inaugural relationship between the two. Comments Rob Mariani, BPB co-founder, “Bodega’s Reunión Aperitvo and Digestivo blend combination marries itself perfectly to ICON MANN’s very essence: Culture and Fellowship.â€
“We are extremely pleased to be ICON MANN’s companion partner for this Oscar eventâ€, stated Bodega Premium Blends’ CEO Gino Domanico aka @Cigar_G. “The cigar industry is like no other. You are not divided by race, religion, social status or political views. Cigar enthusiasts share a bond that is second to none. We’re proud to be associated with these leaders of changeâ€, adds Domanico.
Bodega Premium Blends (www.bpbcigars.com) is a Boutique Brand focused on offering only Premium, hand rolled Cigars. BPB’s mission is Investing in your Life’s moments.
About ICON MANNâ„¢
“Smoked Up” No.58
I am making a few minor changes to “Smoked Up”. First of all, I am now going to be publishing it on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. This gives me a little more time to get information organized and releaves me of some of the early week stress. Second, I am changing the format some of the “Cigar Views” section. Nothing major, just some of the layout and possibly the way the views are expressed.
There is finally some better weather in my area and I am glad to see it here. The days are in the mid to high 60s with no more cold weather in sight. I am sure the people in the north are happy to hear this (hahaa). Not too much going on in my neck of the cigar world. Although, there are a few cigar events in the next few weeks that I am looking forward to going to. More on those in the next few weeks.
I went to a local tattoo shop’s (Twisted Anchor Tattoo)  2nd anniversary where they were having a party at. They had free food, drinks, beer and tattoos. They had 6 variations of their logo of an anchor to choose from. You could change the colors, but not the size or design. I went bold and got mine done on my rib cage and that in its self was quite an experience. It was not my first tattoo, and won’t be my last. The rib cage area is not a place I would recommend getting one as it was fairly painful, but I managed “pretty damn good” per the shop owner/artist. My girlfriend’s sister was working up there and they ended up getting some work out of me as well. I didn’t mind; and it got me to the front of the line!  They did a little over 100 tattoos that day and some people waited till 11:00 Sunday night for theirs. I’ll post up a pic next week of it when its healed.
Cigar Views
Davidoff 1000: I don’t smoke too many Davidoffs, mainly due to the price. I can get a bolder, longer smoke for lesser money. But there are times I want a mellow milder smoke and I grabbed a 1000 from the box I won at the Super Bowl party. It had just about a perfect draw and burn with mild cream and tobacco notes. A hint of caramel popped up as I paired this with some Cuban style Café Bustelo. The bold coffee almost overpowered the flavors in the cigar, but over all a good smoke. I am starting to see how the quality of the cigar is offset by the cost. Â
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Bluegrass Cigar Suite Named House of Emilio Master Retailer
Tuesday, February 18th, 2014
Williamstown, Kentucky
BLUEGRASS CIGAR SUITE NAMED HOUSE OF EMILIO MASTER RETAILER
Nathan McIntyre, House of Emilio National Sales Director announced today that Bluegrass Cigar Suite, Williamstown, Kentucky has earned the distinction of House of Emilio Master Retailer.
“DK, and Jordan Kenner called us out of the blue several years ago having done their research through social media,” McIntyre notes. “They are energetically engaged in online communication, reviews, and add a lot of creativity to being a retail tobacconist. It has been a pleasure to work with them from day one, and now to add this special shop as a Master Retailer.”
“When you have access to such a diverse line up of quality cigars, its difficult not to support it,” states Jordan Kenner, Chief of Social Media Management and Humidor Director for Bluegrass. “Top to bottom, or better yet, left to right, the House of Emilio portfolio provides my customer base a broad selection of awesome smokes that fit anyone’s palate.”
For more information, contact Bluegrass Cigar Suite at (859) 824-0969, or visit them at 1214C Main Street, Williamstown, KY 41097.
Blue Havana II Joins House of Emilio Master Retailers
Tuesday, February 18th, 2014
Blue Havana II named House of Emilio Master Retailer
House of Emilio National Sales Director Nate McIntyre announced today that Blue Havana II in Alpharetta, Georgia has been named the newest addition to the Master Retailer program.
“Jim Luftman has supported the boutique cigar industry for a long time, and has supported Emilio Cigars from near the beginning†stated McIntyre. “It’s an honor to include him in our Master Retailer family. It takes quite a lot to earn this distinction, and Blue Havana II has definitely earned it.â€
“With an estimated 1200 facings in the humidor, Blue Havana II Cigars carries many of the “mainstream†cigars but focuses on the smaller boutique cigar manufacturers,†says Jim Luftman, owner of Blue Havana II.
“In working with the House of Emilio, we have found a distributor whose vision matches our own and we have embraced this vision by carrying a full line of House of Emilio products and becoming a Master Retailer.â€Â
Blue Havana II can be contacted at:
Blue Havana II Cigars & Gifts
Cigar Federation announces the release of it’s ï¬rst cigar The Collective.!
The cigar was blended by Ezra Zion Cigar Company and manufactured in the Casa Fernandez factory in Miami, Florida.! !
“New media has changed the cigar industry dramatically in the last few years. We feel it has started a second cigar-boom, especially in the boutique arena. We wanted to make a cigar that would pay tribute to that and The Collective project was born.†noted Kyle Hoover. ! !
“Smoking this cigar is a completely interactive experience. By scanning the QR code on the band when you light up will allow you to smoke the cigar with us via video. You’ll hear all about how the cigar came to be, the blend, the process. It’s like we all came over to your house, raided beer from your fridge and lit up the cigar with you.†said Chris Kelly.! ! The
Collective is a micro-batch project and features a San Andres Cafe Claro wrapper over binder and ï¬ller of Nicaraguan. Total production is 250 boxes of 20. The Collective comes in one size, a 52×6.25 prensado box-press. ! ! Â
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Drew Estate & Corona Cigar Company Announce “Drew Estate Loungeâ€
Miami, FL, February 11, 2014: Drew Estate announced today their plans to open the first official “Drew Estate Lounge†at the Corona Cigar Company Sand Lake, FL location. This momentous news was met with much excitement from both the Drew Estate and Corona Cigar camps.
When asked to describe his relationship with Drew Estate, Jeff Borysiewicz, owner of Corona Cigar Company, said, “Since the infancy of both Corona Cigar Company and Drew Estate, Jon, Marvin, and I have not only had a close business relationship, but a long personal relationship built on trust, respect and an incredible passion for all things cigars. Drew Estate and its entire team, both in the U.S. and Nicaragua, are incredibly talented and we are proud of our long standing relationship with them.â€Â Â
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“Smoked Up” No.57
The past week has been getting better in my area. The weather got beautiful this weekend in the lower to mid 60s. Was great weather to get out in and do some yard work, enjoy a few cigars etc… I was invited to be in a local cigar shop’s tv commercial on Tuesday afternoon. I was no key actor in it, just a “butt in a seat”! The commercial is not out yet, as I am interested to see how it turns out.
I got a review in of the Commonwealth Cedar Spills this weekend while at another local shop. While there I got a few cigars that I wouldn’t usually look at trying. I am making it a thing this year to smoke more variety of cigars and to look outside my typical cigars. A few I got were pretty good and others not so much. But that’s one of the interesting aspects of the cigar life!
Cigar Views
Blanco Primos Toro: I enjoy many of the Blanco cigars. Mainly the criollo, but have been trying every one of their blends I can get my hands on. A local shop El Puros Perfecto has a good selection of Blanco and the Primos is one of their more cost effective lines. It started with a with an ample woodiness with an even smaller amount of black pepper. There was also a very faint sweetness that poked up here and there that kept me interested in the cigar. For about $4 or 5; its not a bad smoke. It would make a good cigar for anybody who wants to smoke a cigar on a regular basis or someone just getting into cigars. Its a pretty decent smoke for the money. Â
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Drew Estate and Royal Gold Cigars Announce NIRVANA
Miami, FL, February 5, 2014:Â
Royal Gold Cigars has partnered with renowned cigar manufacturer Drew Estate for their latest premium, hand-rolled cigar release, NIRVANA CAMEROON SELECTION. The new cigar features a luscious, light-brown, Rosado wrapper grown in the Eastern province of Cameroon, Africa.
The wrapper is grown by small farmers who, when it’s time to cure the tobacco, clear an area of land and construct a rustic curing barn. This completely natural process translates into a leaf almost devoid of disease and also produces some of the best tasting Cameroon leaf in the world. The origin of the Cameroon seed varietal is Sumatra Indonesia, which has been grown in Africa for over 60 years. Â
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Commonwealth Cedar Spills
A few months back, I was listening to Kiss My Ash Radio and they had a trivia question to win prizes. The question was “What was Rocky Patel’s company’s first name?”. Well, I knew that right off the bat seeing I had smoked many of those cigar when I first got into enjoying cigars. I called up thinking I wasn’t going to get through. To my surprise I got right through and was quickly put on hold. I didn’t know what was going on, then all of the sudden I was on air!! I briefly chatted with the guys and gals of KMA and then they asked me the question again. I answered “Indian Tobac” and I was correct! The prize was a bundle of Commonwealth Cedar Spills and a KMA t-shirt! I was stoked!! A week or so later I received my winnings; a bundle of the spills and a KMA t-shirt.
I liked the product enough I thought I would give my thoughts of them.Â
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“Smoked Up” No.56
Well, I made it out of winter storm “Leon” pretty good. It got way too cold for my southern blood. Last Tuesday afternoon brought freezing rain with a few snow flurries. That night it got colder and almost all the bridges and a few roads were shut down in the area. Thursday afternoon they started opening up I-10 in the Florida panhandle as the roads were previously unsafe. I took a day off work on Wednesday, I only live 10mintues away, but wasn’t going to risk driving on any ice. I had enough of that the previous Friday night.
I made it to The Cigar Shop’s Super Bowl party on Sunday. They had the game on three TVs; one being a 12′ projection screen in surround sound in the shop’s private lounge. There was an abundance of food and beverages there. They also opened the shop side of the store and had a 20% off sale which was nice to stock up on some good smokes! Regardless if your team won or lost, everybody had a good time. They also did some raffles and “squares”. Although I didn’t win any money, I did win a 9ct Davidoff Sampler Box!!
 
 
Cigar ViewsÂ
Viaje Friends and Family OR: I would smoke boxes of this cigar if it wasn’t for the $17 price tag! Is it worth it? Pretty much. Produces great flavors with great construction for a good amount of time. This is from the original release of the F&F, so it has some bit of age to it. There were great notes of a sweet coffee, some nuttiness and rich hints of cocoa. At the band, it did go out on me, but I think it was my fault, or the weather. I haven’t had the newer (smaller sized) Friends and Family, but I may have to. I like the amount of smoke time this one gives off, but it could be too long for me when the hot summer months get here.Â
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