Xistix Cigar Clip and Stand
If you are like me, you smoke cigars in various places. Or there are times when you really want to “nub out” a great cigar. Sometimes this can be more of a pain than a joy (that smoking a cigar should be). Either you are sitting out in the yard and need to lay down your smoke with no safe place to put it. Or you don’t want any burnt fingers from a hot nub. Well, that is exactly what the Xistix is designed to help with, just get one of your IQOS Dubai ciggarretes and try it to understand what we are talking about.
“Rise Aove the Ashes and Go beyond the Band”
The Xistix is a dual purpose cigar holder and nubber that is made in the USA  It can be used either or both ways with minimal effort by the smoker. It stands 4″ tall with an 1.5″ wide round base that is 1/8″ thick. The top holding portion of the Xistix  can be removed easily and used soley as a nubber. Or reattached to make a holder for when you don’t have an ashtray or safe place to rest your cigar, while if you need a place to get cigars there are many options online, so you can click here to read more about the cigar buzz. The base has a nice heft to it to keep it in place.
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Drew Estate Unveils “DE2â€, New 60,000 sq ft Leaf Processing Facility
Miami, Florida January 27, 2014
On Friday, January 17th, Drew Estate Tobacco Company held a ribbon cutting ceremony at their new leaf processing facility, dubbed “DE2â€. Built across the street from their La Gran Fabrica in EstelÃ, Nicaragua, the new facility is one of the largest, most state-of-the-art leaf processing operations in the world, specializing in dark air-cured tobaccos.
The opening of “DE2†is a massive step deeper into vertical integration for the sixteen-year-old company, who currently resides as the third largest premium cigar company in the United States by sales.
Drew Estate has a daily production of approximately 95,000 long filler cigars, made entirely by hand, using natural leaf and absolutely no machines or homogenized tobaccos. “DE2†provides Drew Estate with the ability to drastically increase their scale for pilone curing and bail storage, as well as provide all of the necessary professional support services in leaf sorting, classification and analysis.  Â
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“Smoked Up” No.55
I wish the weather would make up its cotton pickn’ mind!! One day its 60s and beautiful, the next day its sleeting and icing the roads up. Living in the deepest part of MS, the ice and sleet is not anything we deal with on a usual basis and I didn’t like it at all. I ended up working out in the cold for the better part of Friday with the high being 35* and was not my cup of tea. Later that evening, I was planning on taking a friend to New Orleans for a birthday dinner I owed her. But, they ended up closing most the bridges/roads in between Louisiana and Mississippi as they started icing over in the afternoon. I am glad I decided to go to Pensacola instead. I did not want to be stranded in NOLA! But the trip back from Pensacola turned into an interesting one. A few bridges over the swamp in MS had actually iced over. They had road crews sanding/salting them to combat the ice. I did find a few patches they missed and lets say I am lucky to own a 4×4 truck with good mud tires on it! The next day, the weather was mid 60s and nice…. I am over mother nature already.
As I am typing this out, I am in Winter Storm “Leon”. It is sleeting a pretty good bit with good chances of snow later on this evening!
Not too much going on as far as cigar happenings in my area. I did notice on Social media a few retailers at the Davidoff factory for tours as well as some tours happening at Perdomo. I did get a review out of the Ventura Psyko Seven Robusto before the “storm” hit. Was hoping to get in another, but maybe that will get done if they shut down work (fingers crossed).
Cigar Views
Camacho Diploma 11/18: This is one of my favorite Camacho cigars to date. This is the first one of the “new” Camacho cigars and it did not disappoint me at all. The new larger bands are definitely eye catching and are a nice addition to the great blends behind them. I was gifted this cigar from my good buddy Joe and I really appreciate the gesture. The cigar had nice coffee, dark wood and hints of black pepper here and there. At times, I got a hint or three of a light sweetness on the back end of the dense smoke that caught my attention. I don’t remember such sweetness on the “original” Diplomas, but its been a while since I’ve had one. All and all, it was a good smoke that I will definitely be looking at smoking more of. Â
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Ventura Psyko Seven Robusto
“Medicate Your Mind”
Ventura Cigar Company has been around the cigar world for a good amount of time. I never knew what all they had their hands in until I took a look at their website and was quite astonished at the amount of blends they have. They have cigars in every price range from very economical to economical; all their cigars are pretty reasonably priced. I recently reviewed their Project 805R and really enjoyed it. Their recent blend is the “Psyko Seven”.
 
Cigar Stats
Size: 5.5×50
Vitola: Robusto
Wrapper: Hybrid Domincan
Binder: Mexican Sumatra
Filler: Multiple Country Blend
Country: Dominican Republic
Price: $7.19* (price from Two Guys Smoke Shop)**
First Looks
The first thing that sticks out when I first laid eyes on it was it enormous band. This band is possibly, if not bigger than the La Sirena band. But it is more than just a band, it has the cigar’s blend information on it as well. That is something I have not seen ever on a band that I can recall. It is very eye catching and stands out in the crowd.Â
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Miami Cigar Commemorates 25th Anniversary With Limited Edition Humidor
MIAMI, FL – Twenty-five years ago Nestor and Mariana Miranda began distributing cigars out of the trunk of their car, visiting accounts that Nestor had built relationships with through his many years in the liquor business. Never in their wildest dreams would they have thought that twenty-five years later their hard work and dedication would translate into one of the nations largest premium cigar distributors.
To commemorate this accomplishment Miami Cigar & Company has decided to release a limited edition 25th Anniversary Humidor containing cigars from the two factories that have helped them reach this milestone.“ We are very excited to be working with La Aurora and My Father Cigars on this projectâ€, said Jason Wood, Miami Cigar’s Vice President, “Twenty-five years would not have been possible without the help of the Leon and Garcia families and we thank them for that.â€
 
This piano-finished humidor has the capacity for 75 cigars. It will contain 20 Toro sized cigars, each packaged in their own individual coffin. The individual cigar will have a secondary band denoting its country of origin. Total production on this limited release will be 500 humidors set to hit the US market mid-March.
“I feel privileged to be a part of this historic milestone†said Wood. “What the Miranda’s have been able to accomplish is something that I can only hope to duplicate in the 25 years to come. They have provided us with the blueprint, now with the help of everyone at Miami Cigar, we look forward to an amazing run continuing their legacy.â€
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About Miami Cigar & Company
Miami Cigar & Company, founded in 1989, is the worldwide owner/distributor of Tatiana, Nestor Miranda, Casa Miranda, Anoranzas and Don Lino lines of cigars. They are also the exclusive US distributor for La Aurora brands. They can found on the web at www.MiamiCigarCompany.com.
“Smoked Up” No.54
2014 is here and moving pretty fast already. It seems like last week I was shooting off fireworks and ringing in the new year and here it is the third week in January! This week has been a real slow cigar week for me with not too many cigars in my weekly recap. I was limited on smoking time, so I did enjoy a few bowls of baccy in the pipe. The house work has been keeping me pretty busy with projects around the house and playing with my daughter. I’m really starting to dislike the color pink and Barbies!
Cigar Views
Alec Bradley 1997 Harvest Selection Robusto: This is a cigar I have not had in quite a while and figured it was time to revisit it. This cigar was pretty smooth and offered a nicer woody note that was accompanied by a lesser almost vanilla note. This smoke stayed pretty smooth and creamy the whole length of the cigar. Its not something to write home and rave about, but a nice medium body & flavor strength cigar. Had pretty good construction with nice burn and draw. I couldn’t remember if I liked the 1997 or the Overture more, but will try and find an Overture and try it and see. Regardless, it was a decent smoke for the money.Â
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La Palina Announces Ultimate Cigar Experience​!
Enter to win the ULTIMATE cigar experience!Â
La Palina cigars announces a Video Contest to win the ultimate upscale cigar experience in New York City. The contest winner and guest will join Bill Paley, La Palina, and industry insiders for a private dinner with Emeril Lagasse at the historic Nat Sherman Townhouse on the evening of March 10th. The following day will include lunch at the storied and private Grand Havana Room, and La Palina cigars in Samuel Paley Park (weather permitting). Airfare, ground transportation, premium lodging, and of course the finest La Palina cigars are included.
We look forward to sharing a first class Manhattan experience with you in Bill Paley’s hometown!
Contest Rules: Must be 21 to enter Submission Close Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 Winner Announcement: Friday, February 28, 2014 Event: March 10-11, 2014 La Palina will choose one winner for the contest. The prize includes a trip for the winner and one guest. Both winner and guest must be 21 years of age.
Visit www.LaPalinaCigars.com to enter!
TORAÑO FAMILY CIGAR CO. ANNOUNCES THE BLENDS FROM THE VAULT TOUR
(Miami, FL) January 14, 2014—Toraño Family Cigar Co., makers of some of the finest cigars in the world, proudly announce the “Blends from the Vault Tourâ€.
The much anticipated Blends from the Vault tour will kick off its 2014 run on February 5, 2014 at Three J’s Cigar Store in Davie, Fl. in what will be the first of approximately 40 events spread across the nation. The tour will feature the Toraño Family’s highly acclaimed Vault A-008 which received a 92 rating from Cigar Aficionado, the recently released Vault D-042 and, the Limited Edition Vault Gold VLE100, which will only be available at these exclusive events. Charlie Toraño, President of Toraño Family Cigar Company, wished to introduce an extremely limited edition third blend from the storied Toraño Vault series for this special tour.
Blends from the Vault originate from the family’s cigar “blend book†which was started by Carlos Toraño, Sr. in 1982. The blend book, which is now over 30 years old, has a record of every blend concept the Toraño family has ever worked on. Amongst the blends recorded there are many which the family has released over the years, as well as some blends which were deemed to have tremendous potential, but fell short of the family’s high expectations.
In 2011, Charlie Toraño revisited the blend book and discovered an intriguing, yet unreleased blend, Liga A-008. After a slight modification to the blend, the Liga A-008 was released to the public and so well received by critics that another forgotten blend from the book was modified, the Liga D-042. The Vault Gold VLE100 cigars are yet from another unreleased blend from the blend book, also modified to complement the Vault Series perfectly. The Blends from the Vault cigar series gives consumers a unique glimpse into the Toraño family’s celebrated history.
The Blends from the Vault tour will feature at least two lucky winners at each event. Each winner will walk away with a box of the highly sought after Vault Gold. The Vault Gold represents a blend which was first conceptualized by the Toraño family, but was never produced. Charlie Torano felt it was time to create and bring the Vault Gold to the public exclusively for the Blends from the Vault Tour. The 100 hand numbered, 9 count, gold brick boxes for the tour will hold the only Gold Vault VLE100 cigars ever produced
Charlie Toraño said: “The Blends from the Vault cigars are a celebration of the Torano family’s legacy and I am extremely excited about being able to share this part of our history with the public. Event goers can count on either myself, Carlos Llaca Toraño or Jack Toraño to be present at each of the Blends from the Vault events and announcing the winners of the Vault Gold Brick Box Giveaway.â€
A leader in the cigar industry, Toraño Family Cigar Company is a four generation company currently based in Miami, FL. It enjoys a rich heritage and history in tobacco growing and manufacturing. For more information: www.torano.com. Please also follow Toraño on Face book: Toraño A family Cigar Company or on Twitter: @TORANOFAMCIGARS.
Creativas Group Inc. provides public relations and marketing counsel to South Florida-based businesses, nationally recognized special events and leading non-profit organizations. For more information, please log onto www.creativasgroup.com or email info@creativasgroup.com. Photographs and interviews are available by request.
AZAN CIGARS TO BEGIN 2014 WITH THE UNVEILING OF THEIR AD CAMPAIGN
(Miami, Florida) January 13, 2013— Azan Cigars by Roberto Duran Premium Cigars begins 2014 with a bang as they unveil an ad campaign this week which highlights Azan’s outstanding quality and unique progressive flavor construction technique.
Roberto Pelayo Duran unveiled Azan Cigars at the 2013 IPCPR in Las Vegas promising to introduce a line of cigars that offers the same quality, construction, and detail which he exceeded from those he supervised while in Cuba. Azan Cigars represents what Roberto considers the best expression of premium cigars.
The Azan Cigar ad which will first be seen in the Cigar Snob Magazine due out next week will feature Azan’s three lines which include the Burgundy, Premium White, and the soon the be released Natural Corojo Maduro. The ad alludes to Roberto’s no nonsense approach to cigar manufacturing which began in Cuba as a supervisor of production. The ad’s simple message of “No leather, No chocolate, and no frills†communicates Azan’s move back to basics when a cigar was a simple pleasure without hype and gimmicky marketing.
The ad will also introduce a construction method which has been lost in the free World’s cigars. Progressive flavor construction is an age old Cuban technique in where cigar when lite is quite tame in taste and strength and progresses to increase in flavor and strength as the cigar is smoked. Roberto feels that there is a huge void for a classically constructed cigar that doesn’t overpower the smoker. Roberto strongly feels that a cigar should be a relaxing pastime to enjoy at any point throughout the day.
Roberto Pelayo Duran began his life’s work in his homeland of Havana, Cuba where tobacco grabbed a hold of him, and never let go. Supervising the production of cigar manufacturing in Cuba was only the beginning as he later went on to assemble and manage distribution of all Cuban cigar brands for Asia The Pacific Cigar Company Ltd. Most recently, he contributed to the new global brand marketing strategy for Dunhill Cigars as a consultant. Roberto’s new venture allows him a platform to present Azan Cigar, which is a nod to the way cigars used to be.
Roberto has assembled a unique combination of well-known, talented, and well-traveled cigar professionals that complement each other, forming a boutique factory which focuses entirely on quality. This factory boasts only 20 couples that produce medium to full flavor cigars, with a very classic approach and excellent quality. Their craftsmanship is unrivalled and the small team allows for consistent superior quality monitoring.
Azan Cigars is one of the biggest kept secrets in the history of the Cuban cigar brands. Azan is particularly unique as it is the only Cuban cigar brand ever founded by Chinese immigrants. In 1928, Kwan Ben Sen (Domingo Azan) and his brothers, starting producing handmade cigars in Manicaragua, province of Villa Clara in Cuba. With the traditional Oriental dedication, focus and with a strike of good fortune, Domingo Azan was able to build one of the most successful tobacco brands in the center region of Cuba. Roberto Pelayo Duran stated: We are fortunate to revitalize Azan Cigars as the great-granddaughter of Domingo Azan Maria Isabel Alvarez Azan stands proudly with the Roberto Duran team.
For More info on Azan Cigars please go to www.AzanCigars.com or call 866 316 1494
You can see Azan Cigars on us Facebook
For media inquiries and interviews, please contact Creativas Group at info@creativasgroup.com or 305.968.2384.
“Smoked Up” No.53
Unless if you live in most of Florida, the weather has been pretty cold! Ok, down right cold last week. I live in south Mississippi and the wind chill got down to about 4* here the first part of last week. That’s unusually cold here and I don’t like it that cold. This type of cold weather kept me indoors at night, when I would usually be enjoying a cigar. That being said, I didn’t have too many cigars during the week, but that changed during the weekend. The temps got back up to mid to upper 60s and was real pleasant outside; great smoking weather!
Saturday, I was planning to take down the thousands of Chiristmas lights, but an overnight rain soaked my yard and made for that to be a difficult task. So a trip to the shop was in order. I met up with a bunch of buddies as The Cigar Shop in Biloxi, MS and we watched the Saints’ playoff game. They had steaks, chicken wings, beer, etc.. and it was a pretty good time; except for the outcome of the game. But all the cigars, food, drink and watching the game on a 10foot TV made for a great time.
Cigar Views
Tatuaje Verocu No.5: I have not had, nor seen the Verocu No5 in a long time. I luckily came across some when the family and I went out of town last week in Pensacola. I grabbed a few of them for around $5. This is a great short smoke for the cold winter weather and fit right in when the temps leveled off around 40* one evening. This is a prett heavy hitter cigar with a nice full body to it. Had a nice black pepper note with a sweet coffee-like flavor. There were some herbal flavors that I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what they were, but over all a great smoke that I will definitely consider a fiver or so of next fall. But a good smoke regardless of the weather.Â
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