editorials MAY / JUNE 2018
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PERFECT PAIRINGS OLIVA CONNECTICUT RESERVE / DON Q GRAN AÑEJO HAND-SHAKEN DAIQUIRÍ We called on the “Big Papi” of mixology to help us mix a classic and at times misunderstood cocktail. Finding the cigar to match it was the easy part!
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BRAND BREAKDOWN CASA CUEVAS 28 CONNECTICUT 29 HABANO 30 MADURO
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PUERTO RICO IS BOUNCING BACK Hurricanes Maria and Irma ravaged the U.S. territory. So how’s the recovery going? And is Puerto Rico ready for you to visit? We smoked our way through San Juan from one mofongo to the next to get to the bottom of this.
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ROCKY PATEL Rocky Patel beat the odds to build one of the most recognizable names in cigars. These days, he’s pushing to expand his brick-and-mortar lounge footprint while spearheading the fight against government overreach.
THE PERRY HOTEL A completely fresh take on the ideal Key West hotel while still maintaining the elements that make it as Key West as anything. This award-winning, new hotel offers excellent dining options, top-notch amenities, and comfy rooms that’ll make it hard to leave in the morning (at least that’s what happened to us).
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features MAY / JUNE 2018
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LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
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FEEDBACK
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WHAT’S BURNIN’
48
SMOKING HOT CIGAR SNOB
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RATINGS
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90 MILES TO CUBA
SMOKING HOT CIGAR SNOB ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE
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CRA UPDATE
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TWITTER SCOREBOARD
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EVENT COVERAGE 108 CAVA CIGARS GRAND OPENING 110 CYNTHIA FUENTE AT BURN NAPLES 112 CAMACHO AT AFICIONADO’S 114 PLASENCIA AT CAVA CIGARS 116 ROMEO SAN ANDRES LAUNCH AT
CASA DE MONTECRISTO BY PRIME
118 ROCKY PATEL AT NEPTUNE 120 DEBONAIRE AT NEPTUNE 122 MACALLAN TASTING AT CASABLANCA CIGARS 12 | CIGAR SNOB | MAY / JUNE 2018
Ask for it by name, In fine cigar stores near you MAY / JUNE 2018 | CIGAR SNOB |
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VO L . 1 0 IS SU E 3 www.cigarsnobmag.com PUBLISHER & EDITOR Erik Calviño SENIOR EDITOR Nicolás Antonio Jiménez COPY EDITOR Michael LaRocca SALES & OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Oscar M. Calviño PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Ivan Ocampo ART DIRECTOR Andy Astencio DIGITAL RETOUCHING SPECIALISTS Ramón Santana CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR Florin Safner CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Glynn Loope Cody Carden CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS David Benoliel Andy Astencio Dan Speicher EVENT PHOTOGRAPHERS Jamilet Calviño Jerome Berry Cover Photography by David Benoliel www.davidbenolielphotography.com Cover Model - Melanie Paul Cigar Snob is published bi-monthly by Lockstock Publications, Inc. 1421-1 SW 107th Ave., #253 Miami, FL 33174-2509 Tel: 1 (786) 423-1015 Cigar Snob is a registered trademark of Lockstock Publications, Inc., all rights reserved. Reproduction in part or full without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. Cigar Snob is printed in the U.S. Contents copyright 2006, Lockstock Publications, Inc. To subscribe, visit www.cigarsnobmag.com
(SUBSCRIBE TODAY) - Only $18 for one Year (six issues) of -
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Cue the music and hit play on The Shirelles’ classic tune, Mama Said. This was one of those issues that just didn’t want to get published. “Mama said there’ll be issues like this There’ll be issues like this, my mama said.” Obviously I replaced days with issues because had we just had one bad day, you wouldn’t be hearing about it. This was more like a bad month! Everything that could go wrong went wrong, but we got it done and boy am I proud of the team for keeping it together. We fought through threatening storms in our shoot location and made a last-minute location change. We had our office tented for termites so we had to relocate for a few days (Thank you, Pilar!). Even yours truly was down for the count for a couple of critical days with severe stress migraines. I’d never experienced that before and will do everything to steer clear of that nightmare in the future. But all in all we ended up producing one of the more complete issues in recent history. It’s got plenty of sex appeal with two top-notch photo shoots shot in Key West. One features German beauty Melanie Paul smoking Leaf by Oscar throughout old Key West (p. 48) and for the other we flew in Celeste Bright from L.A. and shot her at The Perry Hotel on Stock Island and at Smathers Beach featuring Island Jim Cigars (p. 90). Thanks to the Cigar Snob travel team for their amazing work and thank you to the staff at The Perry for putting up with our constant requests. Big thanks to Kara Rosner for making it happen on short notice. Nick and Andy took a trip to Puerto Rico to do a travel story about how San Juan’s cigar scene has survived the punishing hurricanes that battered the island less than a year ago (p. 33). If you’ve ever considered traveling to Puerto Rico, now would be the time. You’ll have carte blanche access to “La Isla del Encanto.” Speaking of carte blanche access, that’s what I had when I traveled with Rocky Patel to attend the Grand Opening of the new Rocky Patel BURN in Pittsburgh (p. 65). Along the way, Rocky gave me an interview with a level of candor and transparency rarely seen from the big players in the cigar business. Thanks Rock. This issue also features a Brand Breakdown of Casa Cuevas Cigars (p. 28), in which owner Luís Cuevas gives us the lowdown on how the company’s three brands came to be. Also a big thank you goes out to David Ortiz (not THAT David Ortiz). David is the head mixologist — you might even say he’s the Big Papi of mixology — at Republic National Distributing Company and he
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made a series of cocktails that we’ll be featuring in the next four issues. For this issue, we chose the hand-shaken daiquirí (p. 27). Finally, we rated more cigars in this issue than we’ve ever rated in a single issue with a whopping 60! We hope you enjoy the smokes and the rest of the magazine. Keep ‘em lit,
Erik Calviño ecalvino@cigarsnobmag.com
E XCE P T IONA L QUA L I T Y C OM E S W I T H AGE
Balmoral AĂąejo XO cigars are the result of an intensive blending process with exceptionally aged tobaccos: an AĂąejo blend crowned with a sungrown Arapiraca wrapper. After blending the cigar, it took another 6 months of aging to marry all its flavors. Let yourself be seduced by notes of cedar wood, cacao, spices and an underlying sweetness.
Torpedo Mk52 | Gran Toro | Rothschild Masivo | Corona | Petit Robusto FT
www.balmoralcigars.com
WE DA BEST! I know I have probably told you this before. But you have the best cigar magazine in the industry by far! And trust me I have read or subscribed to them all. Greg F.
VIA FACEBOOK
Thanks for the kind words, Greg! We do what we can. If you haven’t already, subscribe to the Cigar Snob Podcast, too.
LONGTIME LISTENER… I wanted to chime in and congratulate you on your excellent podcast! I’ve been a loyal subscriber to Cigar Snob in print for three years and recently caught wind of your podcast. I’ve been quite entertained on my hour-long train commute. Your guests are excellent. The Carlos Fuente interview in particular was superb. Very well done and insightful, gents. Paul Morristown, NJ
VIA EMAIL
The podcast has given us a new way to share all those insights (and some other stuff, like talk of male garter belts) with you all. We’re always glad to hear we’re doing it well!
A PERFECT PAIRING Spending my Saturday afternoon listening to @cigarsnobmag podcast and enjoying this @MyFatherDPG Le Bijou 1922. Simeon C. (@theschmooz)
VIA TWITTER
That’s what we’re going for! Hope you keep lighting up with us on the podcast.
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AVO IMPROVISATION 30 YEARS
Nicaraguan puro made with tobaccos that have aged five years. The brand originally launched in 2005 as a limited edition and was reintroduced as a regular production cigar. Like all TAA cigars, Antaño Gran Reserva Presidente will be available exclusively through TAA member retailers. It’s priced at $12.50 per cigar.
CAMACHO COYOLAR IS BACK Among other releases created to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the AVO brand, Davidoff announced its release of the limited edition AVO Improvisation 30 Years. Production is limited to just 2,400 boxes of 25. This is a new take on the AVO Classic No. 3 blend, featuring an Ecuadorian wrapper, Dominican binder and Dominican fillers. The Classic, by contract, uses a Connecticut shade wrapper. The Improvisation 30 Years will share the Classic’s 7 1/2 x 50 format.
JOYA DE NICARAGUA INTRODUCES: ANTAÑO GRAN RESERVA PRESIDENTE TAA EXCLUSIVE VITOLA
According to a press release from Drew Estate, this is the favorite vitola of Dr. Alejandro Martínez Cuenca. The Presidente is a box-pressed 6 ¾ x 50. Like the rest of the Antaño Gran Reserva line, this is a
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Liga Privada No. 9 Corona Viva (which are 152mm by 46mm) will come in 24-count boxes with an MSRP of $290.
PLASENCIA BRINGING NEW FOREST TO CENTRAL AMERICA Plasencia Cigars, the makers of our most recent Cigar of the Year (Plasencia Alma Fuerte), have announced an initiative to make their company more eco-friendly according to a press release. The company claims to be the largest producer of tobacco in Central America, so making any company-wide commitment is big. The initiative includes plans to develop a natural forest on one of the company’s Estelí farms, which is an idea inspired by a 2014 TED Talk by Afforestt founder Shubhendu Sharma.
Camacho’s brought back its Coyolar brand. Camacho describes this as a “single farm vintage,” as the blend comprises only Criollo tobaccos from a single 15-acre Honduran farm.
Plasencia has more than 3,000 acres of land in Central America, and Plasencia has partnered with Afforestt to find opportunities to add forest to the landscape.
A Camacho press release describes the blend as delivering “blasts of leather, pepper, rich coffee and oak.”
ALLIANCE CIGAR ADDS A ROCKY PATEL PRODUCT TO DESOCIO SERIES
The cigar will be available in its five original sizes, ranging from the 4 ½ x 50 Perfecto #1 to the 6 x 60 Titan. Price per cigar ranges from $8.50 to $10.00.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of TAA and Joya de Nicaragua. It’s also the 10th anniversary of the distribution partnership between Joya de Nicaragua and Drew Estate. Joya is marking the occasion by releasing the Antaño Gran Reserva Presidente exclusively for TAA.
2012, featuring a bit more ligero for a fuller, stronger profile.
DREW ESTATE CORONA VIVA PRE-RELEASE AT CIGARS INTERNATIONAL Drew Estate announced the pre-release of its Liga Privada No. 9 Corona Viva, exclusively for the Cigars International superstore in Hamburg, Pennsylvania for their 15th annual CIGARfest. The cigar features a Connecticut Broadleaf Oscuro wrapper, Brazilian Mata Fina binder, and Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers. According to Drew Estate’s announcement, it’s like the Corona Viva releases in
Rocky Patel Premium Cigars and distributor Alliance Cigar have teamed up to add a new product to Alliance’s DeSocio series. It ’s a corona gorda (5 ¾ x 46) in Rocky Patel’s Sun Grown Maduro brand. As you might have guessed, these will be available exclusively at stores that get product from Alliance. Here’s how Rocky Patel’s press release describes the cigar: “The Sun Grown Maduro DeSocio features a balance of Nicaraguan filler and binder tobaccos enveloped beneath a lush Connecticut broadleaf wrapper.” The DeSocio series was created by Alliance Cigar president and owner Tom Sullivan as a tribute to his grandfather. This is the eighth installment in that series.
NAT SHERMAN AND CASA LEVER GARDENS CREATE SEASONAL MANHATTAN CIGAR LOUNGE Midtown Manhattan’s Casa Lever Gardens has teamed with Nat Sherman to create a seasonal outdoor cigar lounge. The lounge, open May to October, features Nat Sherman cigars as well as a menu of wines and tequilas for pairings. “This seasonal lounge and restaurant is one of the rare outdoor dining options in the neighborhood,” reads a press release, “and a destination for nearby offices as well as uptown locals stopping in for evening drinks and light bites. While the bar at Casa Lever Gardens attracts a lively after work crowd, the lounge style seating is also perfect for a fun summer dinner with friends or a casual date night spot.” A sommelier will be on hand to help with pairing suggestions and guests will also be able to order from a full menu of cocktails and “light bites” by chef Lorenzo Casi. For more information, visit casalever.com.
J.C. NEWMAN RENAMES PENSA CIGAR FACTORY You might not have realized it, but J.C. Newman’s got the second largest factory in Nicaragua. PENSA’s 840 employees crank out more than 100,000 handmade cigars every day. And now it will bear the name of the company behind it. Henceforth, the facility shall be named J.C. Newman PENSA. “This change, while symbolic, reflects the shift that we are making as a company to elevate the ‘J.C. Newman’ name and use it to tell our story as a 123-year-old, four-generation family business, and America’s oldest family-owned premium cigar maker,” said Eric Newman, J.C. Newman’s president, in a press release. The Nicaraguan factory was established in Estelí in 2011 by Eric and Bobby Newman. Since then, it’s tripled in size. J.C. Newman rolls its Brick House, Perla del Mar, El Baton, Quorum, and other cigar brands at J.C. Newman PENSA.
BLACK LABEL TRADING COMPANY SHIPS BISHOPS BLEND Black Label Trading Company announced the shipment of Bishops Blend vintage 2018 to retailers. The cigars are made at Fábrica Oveja Negra in Estelí, Nicaragua. “I’m very excited about the third release of Bishops Blend. This is one of our most anticipated releases of the year and the 2018 vintage will not disappoint. The 2018 boasts big bold flavors of anise, pepper, raisins and a sweet earthiness on the finish,” said Black Label creator and Oveja Negra partner James Brown in a press release. Bishops Blend features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and binder around fillers from Nicaragua, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. It’s available in Corona Larga (6.25 x 46) and Robusto (5 x 48). They retail for $11.50 and $11.00, respectively.
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Oliva Connecticut Reserve Don Q Gran Añejo Hand-shaken Daquirí With warmer temperatures on the way, the handshaken daiquirí is an easy to master cocktail that will keep your guests proclaiming “I’ll never drink a frozen daiquirí again!” Here’s the recipe: 1. Begin by chilling a cocktail glass or coupe 2. Pour 2 oz Don Q Añejo Rum into a cocktail shaker 3. 1 oz fresh lime juice 4. 1 oz simple syrup 5. Fill shaker with ice and begin to shake 6. Pour into chilled glass with strainer 7. Garnish with orange peel and enjoy We had the incredible good fortune to have Republic National Distributing’s staff mixologist David Ortiz make this classic for us. Immediately we all thought, this would go incredibly with a smooth, Nicaraguan Connecticut. It’s no secret that we are big fans of Oliva’s Connecticut Reserve. So we recreated the cocktail back at HQ and fired up the Olivas.
THE PAIRING The cocktail is perfectly balanced with equal parts sweet, tart, and beautifully boozy with the Don Q Gran Añejo giving the drink an aged rum flavor in the background. If you want to get a real sense of the difference the rum makes, make an alternative version with regular white rum… no comparison. Once you’ve got a good feel for the cocktail, fire up the Oliva Connecticut Reserve and notice how the cigar’s earth and pepper are cut by the citrus while the vanilla from the wrapper is accented along with the aged rum. It’s become our go-to cocktail pairing at Cigar Snob HQ, reminding us of the famous quote: “Write drunk, edit sober.”
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PUERTO RICO IS BOUNCING BACK HOW FAR HAS HURRICANE RECOVERY COME IN PUERTO RICO, AND IS THE ISLAND READY FOR YOUR VACATION? WE GOT OUR HANDS DIRTY (MOSTLY WITH FRIED PLANTAINS) TO FIND OUT. BY NICOLÁS ANTONIO JIMÉNEZ / PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDY ASTENCIO
Featuring
LEAF by Oscar
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Rocky Patel Against the Odds by Erik Calviño, Photography by Dan Speicher
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60 cigars MAY / JUNE 2018 | CIGAR SNOB |
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ROBUSTO EXTRA
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Tatuaje Reserva Broadleaf
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$ 11.00
N I CA R AG UA VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Regios 5 1/2 50 USA/Connecticut Nicaragua Nicaragua
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La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Reserva
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VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
$ 8.50
N I CA R AG UA Beso 5 5/8 48 Mexico Nicaragua Nicaragua
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Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Gran Reserva
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VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Covered with an impeccable, dark, reddish brown wrapper finished with a soft boxpress, this medium to full strength blend delivers a flavorful profile with milk chocolate, cedar, and soft pepper complemented by soft notes of leather and almond cream.
$ 9.50
N I CA R AG UA Robusto Grande 5 1/2 52 Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua
Bold by Nish Patel
Dark and perfectly box-pressed, this medium to full strength large robusto is loaded with flavors of earth, pepper, cocoa powder, and a touch of licorice accompanied by a rich aroma of tanned leather. Draws and burns perfectly leaving behind a solid, compact ash.
$ 9.70
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N I CA R AG UA
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VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Robusto 5 1/2 50 USA/Connecticut USA & Mexico Nicaragua
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CAO Brazilia Box-Pressed
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90
An impeccably constructed, ultra-flavorful robusto covered with a neatly applied, dark brown wrapper with sheen. Medium to full strength with a core of earth, pepper, and espresso complemented by dark chocolate, leather, and a touch of orange zest.
$ 7.49
H O N D UR AS VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Brazilian Gordo 5 1/2 55 Brazil Nicaragua Nicaragua
La Sirena Merlion
Beautifully box-pressed and covered with a dark, even-colored wrapper. Smooth and consistent with flavors of espresso, soft pepper, and a touch of earth complemented by dark cherry. Provides an easy draw and leaves behind a near perfect ash.
$ 10.50
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D O M I N I CA N R E P UBLI C
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90
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Complex and balanced, this medium plus strength blend opens with pepper and earth, then settles to incorporate nuts, milk chocolate, and a bit of coffee. Consistently wellconstructed and finished with a beautiful, dark, toothy wrapper.
VITOLA: LENGTH: RING: WRAPPER: BINDER: FILLER:
Toro 5 1/2 54 Ecuador Brazil Brazil
A flavorful blend that opens with pepper and wood which settles to incorporate notes of cocoa and cinnamon. This well-constructed smoke is covered with a clean, milk chocolate colored wrapper with only slight veins. Medium plus strength.
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the various premium cigar trade associations are developing their technical comments to FDA, you too will have an opportunity to tell FDA why their approach needs to change. Within the same week of the ANPRM release, on March 28th, CRA and IPCPR joined yet again for a presentation to the Trump Administration. Bill Paley, owner of La Palina Cigars, and John Anderson, owner of W. Curtis Draper Tobacconist of Washington, DC, made a presentation to the White House Domestic Policy Council, which is charged with regulatory input on matters of national economic significance, and will play a key role in fulfilling the Trump Administration’s highlighted commitment in the Unified Regulatory Agenda to address the premium cigar regulatory question.
The Smoke Is Blowing In A Different Direction By Glynn Loope, Executive Director CRA, and Cody Carden, Director of Communications CRA ver the course of the last four sessions of Congress, a message has been told, coalitions have been built, and allies have been recruited, all in an effort to protect the simple enjoyment of a great cigar. You would think this would be an easy task. After all, it is about solitude and camaraderie among friends who are essentially enjoying a product that is a creation of nature – assembled by skilled artisan hands. However, as we all know there have been and always will be forces at work, whether it be the nanny state or political opposition not only wanting to interfere with your enjoyment of that cigar, but wanting to cause economic havoc on small businesses across America and instability throughout the cigar-producing nations of Latin America. The tide, however, is turning. Through a concerted strategy with our industry allies we now have new opportunities to not only tell our story, but to obtain tangible relief from the bureaucratic malaise that plagues Washington, DC. It all essentially began on September 14, 2017, when for the first time the U.S. House of Representatives adopted budget language for a premium cigar exemption from the burdensome regulations proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Reaching that moment required not only the support of the 143 current Members of Congress who sponsored such language, but also the support of the over 289 existing and former Members of Congress who have helped carry that message.
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Then as we entered the new year, one of the most significant moments in the history of our fight occurred on February 27, 2018, when Carlito Fuente, Jorge Padrón, Robert Levin, and Rocky Patel representing Cigar Rights of America, and Greg Zimmerman of Pennsylvania and Craig Cass of North Carolina representing the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association, made an unprecedented presentation to the new FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb and his staff, on the true nature of the premium cigar industry. In the presentation, these industry leaders explained why the current regulations are unfair, why they are overly burdensome, and why the FDA’s entire approach far surpasses the congressional intent of the Tobacco Control Act. To take our message to a national audience, on March 19, 2018, Rocky Patel, on behalf of Cigar Rights of America, appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News Channel. In the course of just a little over five minutes, Patel was able to encapsulate our arguments and plead for our relief to a seven-digit television audience, in a segment that now has over 312,000 online views. This appearance was a unique moment in the effort to protect the premium cigar industry. Clearly, the message from the February 27th presentation on the impact of these regulations to the Trump Administration did not fall on deaf ears. On March 23, 2018, consistent with a promise made by FDA Commissioner Gottlieb on July 28, 2017, FDA published what is known as an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”) exclusively on the questions surrounding premium handmade cigars. This opportunity to tell our story, while not being placed in the mix with other tobacco products, is a moment to truly differentiate the uniqueness of premium handmade cigars from other tobacco products. And, while
Despite the significant action in 2018 with the Executive Branch, Capitol Hill has still been a focus. Early this year, the House Freedom Caucus, as a coalition of “limited government representatives,” included a regulatory exemption for premium cigars in their annual agenda…this is coupled with the decision by the Trump Administration, through the FDA, to grant a three-year reprieve from many of the burdensome substantial equivalence requirements for premium cigars. While it is easy for any of us to be concerned about the “ways of Washington,” these days – especially with the very public dysfunction of Congress and the constant state of partisan bickering – we can at least look at these tangible steps of momentum that have been made possible by the recognition that the regulatory state has gone too far. We have said on numerous occasions, in this column, that this is a three-front war taking place at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and a courthouse in between. But it is only through your voice, to your members of the House and Senate, that this critical juncture has been made possible. For the first time in history, nearly half a million Cigar Voters have let their voices be heard through petition campaigns to Congress and two presidents. While we often understand the frustration with constantly having to reinforce this message to politicians who you may or may not believe are listening, we can say beyond any doubt that your commitment to this process has made a difference. However, I am afraid we have to say, welcome to the new normal. Whether it is objecting to federal regulations of historic proportions, a statewide smoking ban that could destroy your favorite shops and lounges, or a tax proposal by your local city council, it is now more important than ever that you make your commitment as a cigar voter a permanent part of your enjoyment of a premium handmade cigar.
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EVENTS CAVA CIGARS GRAND OPENING Miami
There’s a new tobacconist right in Cigar Snob’s neighborhood (really, we could walk there), but people all over town are excited about it. The grand opening party included a salsa band, DJ, great food and beer courtesy of Miami’s own The Tank Brewing. In attendance were cigar VIPs like A.J. Fernandez, Robert Caldwell and Nestor Miranda, to name a few. Joe Fernández, Ángel Aguayo, A.J. Fernández and Freddy Molina
Michael and Jessica Balboa
Carlos Escalona, Carlos Llaca and Nick Nanavichit
Nestor Miranda, Erik Calviño, Tony Pichs, José Morel and Joaquín Saladrigas
Ángel and Laura Aguayo
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Manny and Macarena Iriarte
Barbara López, Martha Batista, Irina Riviera, Zoila Carrillo and Maribel García
Yarai and A.J. Fernández and Gustavo Plasencia
Mario and Gladys León
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