By Blake Oliver

[For more photos of the event, see IPCPR 2008 SLIDESHOW]

In July of 2008, Team Stogie Fresh descended upon the desert city of Las Vegas, Nevada for the first International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailer's (IPCPR) convention. Formerly know as RTDA for 75 years, the membership voted last year to change the name of the association to align itself with the ever-changing social and political climate. As temperatures soared outdoors, the inside of the Sands Convention and Expo Center was heated with the buzz of cigars and politics. The Doc, Eddie DeJong, and myself trekked the convention floors, talking with manufactures and distributors about the newest and best things in the industry.

Pete Johnson of Tatuaje talks with the crowd

We were able to pin down a busy Gene Arganese of Arganese Cigars. Warm and generous in nature, he and his sales representatives described their new CL³ and ML³ cigars to us in detail. The names of these cigars represent Corojo Ligero and Maduro Ligero, “to the third power.”  The CL³ is a all Corojo blend, while the ML³ has a Maduro wrapper with Corojo used as the binder and filler. Being able to sample both, they proved to be tasty smokes and good additions to the Arganese line. http://www.arganesecigars.com/

 

The boys at Avalon Cigars were really excited to show their new lines of cigars. Gary Hilton, as-well-as Mike and Rob were on hand to show us their “Numbers” line, and their newly introduced “Juke” line. These guys really liked to talk about cigars, and treated us like family while we were able to talk with them. I had the chance to smoke a pre-release stick from the new, and as of yet un-named, line. This cigar showed a lot of promise and I’ll be interested in smoking it again once it is released. Avalon cigars continue to be rolled in Miami and show a lot of promise for continued growth. Honesty and integrity is Avalon's' creed in the cigar business. http://www.avaloncigars.com/

 

Blake sits with Vicente Garcia of Canimao Cigars

A newcomer out of “Calle de Ocho” in Miami is Canimao Cigars. They were more than generous in talking with Stogie Fresh, and even gave us a cigar rolling demonstration. Vicente Garcia was on hand to describe in detail (and in Spanish) their blending process, while expertly rolling one of their cigars. Mel Gonzalez heads up their operation and sales, and is completely excited and confident about his cigars.  Available in a natural wrapper or maduro, this is one of the best cigars that we tried at IPCPR. http://www.canimaocigars.com/

 

John Vogel of Tabacos de la Cordillera was on hand to talk about his Fundación Ancestral line of genetically pure cigars, and his new “Vogel” line of cigars. The Vogel Red and Green band are made of genetically pure Cuban seed tobaccos that have either a natural, or maduro wrapper. The Fundación Ancestral line continues to be a success with the 1940 (Vuelta Abajo), the 1941 (Pinar del Rio), and the 1944 (Artemisa). Each of these cigars is made with the genetically pure tobacco grown from seeds originating from these regions in Cuba. The company will soon be shipping the 1943 (Santa Clara) and the 1942 (Remidios) to complete this line. Each of us at Stogie Fresh is looking forward to enjoying some of the forbidden fruit of the past that John Vogel is able to provide for us.

 

John also took us down the path of explaining how the “Entubado” cigar rolling. This method involves rolling the individual leaves into what looks like a “straw”, and each of these straws will eventually be bound together becoming the filler. He also let us in to his secret of Dead Center Ligero®, in which the ligero leaf is rolled using the entubado method before being placed in the center of the filler prior to rolling. This method provides better burn and flavor of the cigar. My brain always hurts after John fills it with tons of new and great information in the growing and manufacture of tobacco. http://www.tabacordillera.com/

 

The brothers that make up Cusano Cigars, Mike and Joe Chiusano, welcomed Team Stogie Fresh like we were long lost brothers ourselves. Cusano makes consistent performing cigars like Cusano 18 and Cusano Corojo 1997, and they have recently introduced the Cuvée brand with great pride and success. Just before this year’s convention, they introduced the Habano LXI and the Cusano 59. The Habano LXI sports a sun-grown Habano wrapper, while the Cusano 59 is wrapped in a Cameroon wrapper.  http://www.cusanocigars.com/

 

José Blanco of La Aurora Cigars was on hand to show us around the world of La Aurora. We were able to sample many of their established brands, and were able to try some of the newer ones like the LJ300 and the Barrel Aged. The newly revamped Don Lino line was available with either a gorgeous Connecticut wrapper, or the 1989 Maduro. No matter which cigar line you choose, you can be confident that you are getting the best in quality and flavor. http://www.laaurora.com.do/  or http://www.miamicigarcompany.com/

 

Casa Fuente, THE place to party after the trade show hours

The Altadis Company was a tough nut to crack. Stogie Fresh had trouble gaining an audience with this tobacco giant. They are just too big, and we are so small, at least to them. What we did find out is that Butera Cigars (Mike Butera) are now distributed by Altadis.

 

Dona Flor cigars were on hand this year. Starting out very strong earlier in the year, they all but disappeared from the US market. It turns out that the original distributor, Brazil Cigars and Tobacco, had an ownership dispute with Menendez Amerino. Both distributors were on hand trying to sell the same cigar. http://www.donaflorcigar.com/

 

Bossner Cigars were on hand to try to break into the US market. Manufactured in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua by Bossner of Germany, they produce a good looking cigar that is packaged in very ornate boxes. http://www.bossner.de/

 

Don Lucas cigars, produced in the Dominican Republic by Lucas de Meester, is a promising newcomer in the US market. According to their US distributor, they are a popular local premium cigar in the D.R. and are just getting their foot in the door here in the US.

 

Ernesto Padilla of Padilla Cigars was on hand and was open to our questions. The cigar displays were sparse at the Padilla booth making me ponder the idea that Ernesto is just using up some older stock. Recently separated from business dealings with Don Pepin Garcia on the manufacturing side, he has since renovated an old cigar-rolling house in Miami to manufacture his cigars. Tentatively opening in August, we look forward to the new cigars that Padilla will manufacture and wish Ernesto the best of luck. http://www.padillacigars.com/

There were more than cigars on display

Roxor Cigars (pronounced Ro-sher) were once again showing that they were not out of the game. Manufactured in Nicaragua, they come in 5 different sizes and three different types of wrappers. Pat Quinn was on hand to answer my many questions. My main question was, “Where did you disappear to?” Being around only 4 years, his answer was like many who are new to the business. 'You end up putting all your capital into the product and have nothing left over to market and advertise.' With that error on the correction sheet, they are starting to be more widely known on the market now. http://www.perseocigar.com/

 

Palio Cutters were showing that they too are getting into the cigar business. Their new cigar label, called “Esencia”, will be available in four sizes and only from Palio retailers. http://www.paliocutters.com/

 

Because we are the “Cigar Press”, many of the larger manufactures would not talk with us, and some were just downright rude. We are not buyers, and did not represent a sale to them, so we were not apparently worthy of their time. Some, like CAO and Toraňo did speak to us since they knew us personally, or by other means. But, most of the time we were just ignored. In any case, we do represent you, the smoker, and should be given some small amount of their time.

 

In the past 15 years or so, tobacco users have been increasingly pursued and harassed by politicians and society in general. Las Vegas, or “Sin City” was no different in that regard. Originally, the cigar public thought that the hysterics were going to be aimed at cigarette smoking. They were wrong. As our government continues their attempts to tax and regulate our rights and freedoms, the cigar industry has backed a new organization called, “Cigar Rights of America”. If you are finally tired of the unfair persecution, then go to their website to see what you can do to help slow, or stop this reckless trampling on our rights. http://www.cigarrights.org/

 

This year’s convention seemed more “edgy” between the manufactures, distributors and retailers. The “Big Boys” seemed to do very well in their sales, while the smaller companies did not do well at all. I have spoken to several retailers since the convention, and they all agreed that this year’s show was a bust. Attendance and enthusiasm were down as the uncertainty of the economy and increasing pressure from anti-smoking regulations has made everyone uneasy: retailers and manufactures alike. Never again to be in Las Vegas, the IPCPR convention moves next year to the Crescent City... New Orleans. We at Stogie Fresh hope to bring you inside the ring again next year.