Welcome to the 3rd edition of Last Weeks Cigar Social Media News and Questions by Boston Jimmie, where I find them and Kap Kaplowitz shreds them on his weekly pod cast. This week was rather light in the news but there were some tidbits of information I found worthy of discussing. Here are the points of the week and of course a few fun questions at the end.
- Drew Estate Florida Barn Smoker
- Nick R Agua is sorting through Mexican leaf
- Gold Covered Chicken Wings?
- Chinese cigars
- Villiger Cigars Expands Team
- Miami Herfs
Drew Estate Florida Barn Smoker
This past Saturday, May 19th, marked the 3rd annual Drew Estate Florida Barn Smoker. This was the first of five Barn Smoker events Drew Estate will be hosting this year and I have to say as a Barn Smoker virgin I had a blast. You can read more about the event in the Stogie Press Article that we posted on May 20th which walks you through the event from start to finish. Drew Estate will be hosting 4 more Barn Smoker Events in 2018:
- June 23 – Pennsylvania Barn Smoker – 1st ever
- August 4 – Connecticut Barn Smoker – 4th Annual
- September 29 – Kentucky Barn Smoker – The Original and 5th Annual
- November 17 – Louisiana Barn Smoker – 2nd Annual
If you have never been to a Drew Estate Barn Smoker, you are missing a fun and educational event. Professionally run, you will learn everything from seed to blending. Each BArn Smoker features something special about the area it is being held in like the Florida Sun Grown farm and the Florida Barn Smoker. You can find tickets to these here.
Nick R. Agua is sorting through Mexican leaf
Ok, I have ask a question first, I have seen a lot of brand owners posting about Mexican San Andres leaf. There must be an amazing amount of this leaf and that is good, because it is one of my favorite wrapper with its fruit and light spice components.
This week, we see a post from Nick R. Agua (Nick Melillo) from Foundation Cigars on his Instagram, teasing us with some of that leaf for something new this year.
Nick notes:
“Spent most of the day reviewing and sorting Mexican San Andres tobacco crop from @san_andres_delos_perros to be sold into the market and also used on some @foundationcigars blends for 2018. Photo cred- @thiefoperandi .. Check out @handrolled documentary soon to be released ! #Esteli #Nicaragua #cigarlife#cigars #foundationcigars #handrolled#Mexico #Melillo”
I suppose we will hear more about this in due time.
Gold Covered Chicken Wings?
This social media post nothing to do with cigars but It seems everyone was re-posting it throughout the week. This particular post is from a friend of mine, Lisa Davis, but I am sure you got a few on your feed from friends also, as it went viral.
Taking this back to cigars, if you are familiar with the Daniel Marshall Cigars you may know they have a $300.00 cigar that has a wrapper coated in 24kt gold. So this wing thing is not new but I am not to sure about eating the gold. At least with the cigar the ash can be sifted and you would be able to reclaim the gold that falls from it, with the wings I would not want to think what you have to do to reclaim that gold.
Photo Courtesy of Daniel Marshal Cigars
Chinese Cigars
Dr. Gaby Kafie hit the web this week with a post about Chinese Cigar manufacturers:
He got a few good responses
Grant Ovenden notes:
“Samuel Spurr is the man in the know on the ground even 🙂 Not on the ground because he’s been drinking too much, but now located in Asia… to be fair, he could be on the ground from drinking to much too”
Samuel Spurr responded:
“Hi Gaby yes they’re in China. I was in Shifang early last year. Here is link to my story for Cigar Journal. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/4411a0_ec65324aa6294799a4b8c892a793c07d.pdf“
Justin Hansen chimed in:
“I really enjoy the packaging for Chinese tobacco products. A lot of them are throwbacks to traditional themes, vintage 1920’s (capturing the decadence of the roaring 20’s) or have artistic styles adopted from 50’s & 60’s socialist art. Very different from western brands”
Well, there you have it, there really are cigars made in China – I wonder if President XI smokes them?
Villiger Cigars Expands Team
Villiger Cigars -North America announced this week, through Facebook, that they have hired a Southeastern Regional Sales Manager.
The post notes that the manager, Roger Peña, was born in the Dominican Republic and “embodies Dominican culture, as his passion burns for baseball, and of course, cigars.”
If he likes cigars and baseball then he must be a fine pickup. You can read the full story here.
Miami Herfs
I know we are not even through the month of May, but I thought it would be smart to let you all know about 2 Big Herfs coming in the fall.
The first is the second annual Black Smoke Miami that will be held over on South Beach this year. This happens during Labor Day weekend and if last year was any indication of what promoter Kennedy Achille (Tobacco Kennedy) can do, this years event will be bigger and better.
Tickets have already gone on sale and you can get them at www.blacksmokemiami.com. Don’t wait to the last-minute as I know this event will sell out. And yes, that is yours truly in the photo 3rd from the left.
The second announced event is the Drew Estate Miami Mega Herf cruise on October 21st. Yep, this will be held on a yacht cruising the bay in Miami. It was announced at the Florida Barn Smoker last week and Jonathan Drew has posted to save the date.
Tickets are not on sale yet but it will be a limited number so keep an eye out for this if you are a Drew Estate fan. Get on the list by visiting www.miamimegaherf.com/event
Questions of the Week
Trent Pantin asks:
Kieran Burke from GarStarz asks:
OK that’s the update, I will be on vacation next week and not near my computer so you all are on your own – you too Kap – so stay informed of what’s new on cigar social media.