Day 2 of the 83rd Annual IPCPR 2015 has come to a close. It was a fun day reacquainting with many of our old friends and manufacturers in our treasured industry. The morning started great when waiting in line to enter I met up with Mary Lynn Kane from Cigar Babes. She is such a warm and delightful person, and starting my morning with a conversation with her, especially after walking a mile searching for a cab in the morning heat, just made the perfect warm up for the show. Also on line I ran into Jay Caragay, the man that produces the special roasted coffee beans for Fratello Cigars.
As the doors opened we made a quick visit to Ryan Galamore and his Swinger Cigar crew to say hi. Ryan isn’t just a cigar man, he is also the transportation manager for the show, that is, he provides transportation down the long green mile of carpet in the convention center with his Swinger Golf Carts. We all say – thanks Ryan.
Our friends from Cordoba and Morales were just across the way so we meandered over and said hi to Em and Z and check out their booth. The have a new limited production cigar out this year called the Platino and if you are lucky enough too have a shop that carries it I am, told you will be quite pleased.
Right across from Cordoba and Morales there was a small company, CZ Cigars. We sat with Brian Butler – President and Founder of CZ and learned about their cigars and sampled one of their Core Zero line as we relaxed in their comfy couches.
Of course a trip top a cigar event is not complete without a visit to EP Carrillo- and seeing what new things are coming out.
Have you ever heard of Grotto Cigars, we were introduced to them and are looking forward to reviewing the samples they so graciously provided.
Moving on, we made our way over to Esteban Carreras cigars and chatted a bit with the crew. I had met up with them when we first got in on Thursday night, they are staying in the same hotel as us – so I got some of the latest inputs from them and will be reporting on the latest and greatest from them soon especially the new Black and Bronze Cross cigars.
We had a little chat with Kyle Davis from 262 cigars and will be reviewing some of his new blends for sure.
Shooting across the carpet, we stopped in to see our friends at Veritas Cigars and were introduced to their newest cigar which is quite unique in its construction. We are looking forward to sampling this when we get back from the show.
As we made our around the corner from Veritas we came across a new company – Yayabo Cigars. This a potential up and coming company they own their own farms in Nicaragua and have provided leaf to many of the big players and now have branched into their own brand and blends. They also had some terrific Cuban Coffee.
And then there is Fred Rewey from Nomad Cigars. Fred has been making waves for some time and the latest blends he is introducing to the market this year will be nothing short of amazing as usual.
Somewhere during this time we ate some lunch and then headed over to Flor De Gonzalez Cigars and chilled out with Yadi in her booth talking cigars and business. It is their 20th Anniversary this year and if you thought the releases from them last year were good what till you try the latest FDG 20th Anniversary .
After leaving Yadi and FDG, we made it over to the Warped Cigars booth which was jamming as I expected. I was not able to sit with Kyle as he was busy with retail customers but I will be back and hope to have a conversation on his success.
We made our way over to the Veritas Cigar team and were introduced to their newest cigar which is quite unique in its construction. We are looking forward to sampling this when we get back from the show.
We sat with Cesar And David Blanco and enjoyed one their Family Reserva and caught up on what been happening since last year.
The Villiger team was out in force and they have a load of new blends that we were given to sample and review. Last year they set the bar high with the LA Historia and this year I hope that bar goes even higher.
Earlier this year I sampled some of the new Dram cigars and was quite pleased with the smoking experience, so as we left Villiger my eye caught the Dram booth and of course we had to stop in.
We finally made it over to see our friend at Crux Cigars and these guys are Rocking the Industry as always. They have some amazing new blends and we are looking forward to sampling and reviewing them when we get home.
That was it for day, of course there was lots to see and here is a small slide show of the sites at the IPCPR 2015.