Cigar Coop

Once again, Wildfire Cigar Company was one of the most talked about booths at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. Wildfire is the company launched in 2021 by Jeremy McDonald, best known for his time with Caldwell Cigar Company. The booth went with one of the themes of Wildfire in that it had the look and feel of a campground - complete with an actual RV that was part of the booth. We mention one theme because the other theme revolves around music. McDonald had two releases with a music theme. Each is a release that comes from a different factory. In addition, each is a second installment of a limited edition trilogy from that factory. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sGr

This year, at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, there were two new offerings by AJ Fernandez Cigars. The first is a brand extension to the Dias de Gloria brand – the Dias de Gloria Brazil. As the name hints, the cigar incorporates a Brazilian wrapper as a part of the blend. The second thing is that we haven’t seen AJ Fernandez Cigars do much at a Trade Show preview something way in advance. That preview turns out to be a cigar commemorating 20 years that AJ has been in the cigar business. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sGk

S.T. Dupont was impressive at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. Our team noted that the booth's offerings and presentation were equally astonishing. This French company is known for its ongoing top-of-the-line product innovation, but this year, it showcased its products in various collections. These collections mostly had a contemporary/modern theme, bringing out the best of the S.T. Dupont offerings. In part 2 of our two part coverage, we sit down with S.T. Dupont CEO Alain Crevet. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sF6

S.T. Dupont was impressive at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. Our team noted that the booth's offerings and presentation were equally astonishing. This French company is known for its ongoing top-of-the-line product innovation, but this year, it showcased its products in various collections. These collections mostly had a contemporary/modern theme, bringing out the best of the S.T. Dupont offerings. In part 1 of our two part coverage, Les Mann Vice President of Sales at S.T. Dupont walks us through the products. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sF6

The 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show was special for Aric Bey and Black Star Line Cigars. This year, the company is celebrating its five-year anniversary. To mark the occasion, a special five-year anniversary cigar, the Marun, is coming out. In addition, two of the company's core lines, Lalibela and Dark War Witch, are getting line extensions. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sEq

Joya de Nicaragua was at its own booth at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show and was also part of the Drew Estate booth. This year, Joya showcased several new things that covered all the bases. There is a new core release for the U.S. market, a limited edition release, a sampler, and a repackaging for one of its core brands. We caught up with Executive President Juan Martinez at the PCA and owe him a special thanks. Sometimes, equipment mishaps happen, and we did have one with Juan's interview. Nevertheless, we have a video because he was kind enough to let us do the interview a second time. This was a jam-packed trade show, and we really appreciate Juan taking the time to do this. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sEg

The 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show would not be complete without a visit to the Toscano Cigars booth. Toscano Cigars the Italian brand famous for its fire-cured cigars. Given Toscano Cigars are pretty different from most, it is always interesting how Toscano combines an experiential and educational component in its booth. This year, the highlight was the cigar roller at the booth. At the same time, Toscano always has something new at the PCA Trade Show, the Toscano Italia. This is a cigar that truly pays homage to Toscano's Italian roots. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sDO

Let's Get Pairing talks pairings with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sDr

E.P. Carrillo was one of the busier companies at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. For the past few years, much of the focus has been on the premium Perez-Carrillo line. During this year's Trade Show, E.P. Carrillo showcased their latest cigar, the Encore Black, and unveiled a new six-cigar blend lineup called the Essence Series. These blends are now a regular production offering and a new core series for the company. Despite receiving many accolades over the years, it's clear that E.P. Carrillo is not a company that rests on its laurels. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sDr

Tonight on Prime Time Episode 303, Nick Fusco of El Mago Cigars makes his debut. Nick’s a newcomer to the cigar industry and has already been making his mark. We will discuss the brand, get to know Nick better, and talk about the unique backstory of the brand. Plus, we have our FSG Beef Segments, Altadis USA’s Ties the Bind, Alec Bradley Live True, Espinosa This Day in Sports History, and, of course, the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Deliberation Segment.

All Saints Cigars came into the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show with a themed booth with a confessional, candles, and a pew. All Saints chose not to exhibit new product this year. Instead, the company focused on leveraging its unified sales force with Micallef Cigars. Following PCA, All Saints and Micallef ended their unified sales operation. At the same time, both companies leveraged the unified model to do business at PCA 2024. While All Saints didn't have new product at PCA, they have told us that later this year they should be announcing something new. Regardless, All Saints Cigars is always one of our favorite stops at the PCA Trade Show; PCA 2024 wouldn't be complete without Bear Duplisea and All Saints co-owner Micky Pegg having their annual "bear hug." PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sCB

For Aganorsa Leaf, the big story at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show was the return of the Arsenio brand. The Arsenio brand has been one of the more popular brands in the Aganorsa Leaf portfolio, going back to the Casa Fernandez days. The brand is named after the company's master blender, Arsenio Ramos, whopassed away in 2018. Happily, this year, Arsenio returns with an all-new blend, one that was a personal favorite of Ramos. Meanwhile, Aganorsa quietly also had a couple of line extensions, adding the "Junior" size to the JFR Connecticut line. Moreover, Aganorsa added a 6 x 60 Titan size to its New Cuba Superior line. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sCw

The 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) marked the third consecutive year that Micallef Cigars exhibited. It is also the second year in a row that Micallef has launched a major regular production release. This year, Micallef Blue made its debut. It's the second cigar in the unofficial "color" series following 2023's Micallef Black. With both Blue and Black, Micallef is targeting the market with a high quality premium cigar in the $7.00 to $8.00 range. The Micallef Blue was also a cigar favorite by the Cigar Coop Coalition among the 2024 PCA releases. Since the 2024 PCA Trade Show, news has broken that both companies will no longer have a unified sales team. It's important to know that the companies were still operating with the unified sales steam model at the time of PCA. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sBH

One of the big stories of the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show was La Flor Dominicana celebrating 30 years in the cigar business for Litto and Ines Gomez. Given La Flor Dominicana had released milestone cigars for the 20th and 25th anniversary, it was no surprise that there was a 30th-anniversary cigar, LFD 30 Years. This year, we caught up with Litto and Tony Gomez to discuss this important milestone. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sBB

While Oveja Negra Brands would highlight several new releases at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, a lot more was showcased at this booth. All of the brands at the booth are distributed by Oveja Negra Brands and produced at Fabrica Oveja Negra. This includes the brands co-owned by James Brown (Black Label Trading Co, Black Work Studio), Emilio). It also includes Dissident, the brand owned by Cynn and Joshua Coburn. The work being done is high quality, and it's no wonder Oveja Negra Brands has racked up many Cigar Coop Coalition awards over the years. This year we caught up with James Brown to discuss the Paper Crane and Orthodox releases. Both of these releases capture the essence of the Black Works Studio and Black Label Trading Company brands perfectly. PCA 2024 Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-sAP