Welcome to the 12th installment of the Stogie Press “Last Weeks Cigar Social Media News and Questions”, where Boston Jimmie scours the world-wide web of cigars and summarizes relevant news and questions of the past week. On the following Monday, my friend Kap Kaplowitz then shreds my writing and puts his unique commentary on select news bites from today’s article, during his Kaplowitz Media radio pod cast.
Social Media Cigar News and Questions for the week ending September 7, 2018. I know I am slacking it seems, but I had a major Cigar Event last weekend to cover and the weekend before I had a death in the family. I am going to try to stay on track here.
So the past couple of weeks there has been some worthy news stories.
- UN Tries to Make Stand on Nicaragua
- Black Smoke Miami 2018 – Bigger and Better
- Fratello Heads to Norway
- Puro Sabor 2019 is Postponed
- Questions of the Week
U.S. Colonialism in Nicaragua
El Rincon Pinareno
I would say the biggest news to affect the cigar industry this week was the US finally taking action through the UN Security Council calling for more robust international oversight of Nicaragua. This call came as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Nickey Haley, assumed the position of President of the UN Security council for the month of September. Of course such peace action, was met with opposition from our dear friends in Russia, who stated the US is doing nothing more than returning to its “colonial traditions” and declaring that the U.S. just wants to implement “subversive policies”.
In his opposition, Vassily Nebenzia, U.N. Ambassador for Russia insinuated that the U.S. is trying to turn the clock back 30 years. What Nebenzia was referring to was the times of the Iran Contra affair where senior U.S. government officials funded the Nicaraguan rebels that were fighting the Sandinista-led government
Haley pounced on the chance to fight back when she noted it was Russia, China, and Bolivia that took opposition to the human rights issues. Of course the trio of country’s noted that if the internal affairs of Nicaragua don’t threaten international peace and security, then the U.N. should not interfere.
In the end, the meeting which was held this past Wednesday, resulted in no statement or agreement, but Haley did say it was important to have met. From a cigar perspective, it is still unclear when things will return to normal in Nicaragua, but with all this international awakening the pressure could be on the Ortega government to make changes.
Black Smoke Miami 2018 – Bigger and Better
Black smoke Miami 2018 Night 3
Last weekend brought to close the 2nd annual Black Smoke Miami event. The vision of Kennedy Achille (Tobacco Kennedy) kicked off on Wednesday night August 29 at Casa de Montecrisito Prime Cigar and Whiskey Bar in downtown Miami, FL. The 5 day event, which ran from Wednesday through Sunday of Labor Day weekend, was definitely a success from what I saw. The attendance was most certainly largely than last years inaugural event with a quite a few new faces in the crowd.
Black Smoke Miami is a celebration of the Brother and Sisterhood of the leaf with a focus on Miami’s black culture. The event this year introduced the attendees to unique and historical black cultural sites such as Overtown, Miami, the Ward Rooming House and the historic Lyric Theater. The event also took us back to a standing room only herf at the Cuban Crafters Cigar Shop in MIami.
When asked what to expect for 2019, Kennedy just smiled and said, it will be even bigger. You can read and see the Stogie Press coverage of the three days we were there, in our Lifestyle section of the site.
Fratello Heads to Norway
On a lighter note, Omar de Frias and Fratello cigars announced this week that they and signed an agreement to work with Nordic Cigars to distribute the Fratello brand in Norway. If you have been following Omar’s social media threads, you know he has been moving his brand throughout Europe and now Fratello Cigars will have a foothold in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Thailand, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany. This partnership will open new doors and continue to expand on Fratello Cigars accelerated international growth.
Puro Sabor 2019 is Postponed
Puro Sabor 2018
We reported this a couple of weeks ago but it missed our weekly wrap-up of social media news, so I will repeat it again here for those that may have missed it.
Puro Sabor, otherwise known as the Nicaragua Cigar Festival, has been a celebration of Nicaraguan cigars and the culture of the beautiful Central American country it is held in for the past 8 years. Due to the turmoil and uprisings in Nicaragua, the Nicaraguan Chamber of Tobacco announced it would be delaying the event and taking a wait and see approach to the turmoil. In lieu of the Nicaraguan event, the chamber has decided to hold a smaller one day event in Miami, Florida on January 26, 2019 to keep the spirit alive until it can be determined, when, if at all, the event can happen in 2019.
Question of the Week
This time our question of the week comes from the Huntington Humidor (The Nook), in beautiful downtown Huntington, Long Island.
As for me, I smoke different cigars all the time, I have to, in order to have fresh content on my site. But if I did not, I think I would settle on a few palate pleasing, go to brands, and then try something new, now and then. What is your view?