Untimely passing

We received the extremely sad news this morning that a friend and industry associate, David Cimino, has passed away.

Many will fondly remember Dave as the Florida representative for CAO International and later Pepin Garcia and Savinelli.

While Maria and I did not see Dave on as regular a basis as we did while he was still in the cigar industry, we considered him a good friend and more importantly a gentle and kind soul.

Dave leaves behind a young daughter and numerous family members who loved him. We ask that you please remember him as well as his family in your prayers.

We'll miss you my friend.

2009 Perdomo Event

We had a nice gathering on October 29th for our annual Perdomo event as we featured one of two of their latest releases - Gran Cru! We chose the Gran Cru in part because of it's great flavor, full body and price point ($5.75 - $6.50). But I say this in all honesty, every cigar, regardless of price, that comes out of the Perdomo factory is a winner. Regardless of price.They truelly have something for everyone's budget.

A last thought. If you're local and haven't attended one of our monthly events, you're really missing out on some spectacular specials and without a doubt some of the greatest people to mix and mingle with in the area. Our customers are the greatest and we appreciate there continued loyalty. We are blessed!

Our next event will be on Thursday, December 3rd all well be featuring Cain cigars. Hope to see you there!

The Tatuaje DRAC is on the way!!

Don't know how many we're getting but if you're even mildly curious about this second in the Monster Series cigar, call us or stop by to reserve yours soon!!

"'The Drac' will be a 6 3/4-inch by 52-ring torpedo" say's Pete Johnson. "It's a long torpedo, with a very easy' elegant internal blend and a very big flavored Habano Maduro wrapper. It's kind of like dressing an elegant man in black cape!"

The Drac's wrapper was grown in Ecuador, with the binder and filler leaves from Nicaragua. "The cigars will be in boxes of 13," Johnson added." The boxes are still in the coffin shape, but this will be a prettier coffin that for The Frank last year. It's shiny and there's a little touch of (fake) blood on the tooth coming out of the 'D'."

As always, this is a very limited-production cigar, with only 1,300 boxes of 13 actually produced (16,900 cigars in total).

Perdomo event scheduled for Thursday, October 29th!

 

The party starts at 5:00 PM as usual! This time around we'll be featuring the Perdomo Gran Cru.

Brick House 2009 Event

We were proud to be the first on our block to host an event for the recently 91-rated (December edition of Cigar Aficionado) Brick House cigars by J.C. Newman.

A special thank you to both the Newmans and representative Mike McKinney who literally begged, borrowed or stole every box of Brick House in their Tampa warehouse in order for us to have enough for our event. You guys really made it happen!

This cigar was released at the 2009 retail showcase (IPCPR for those of you into acronyms) as a full-flavored Nicaraguan puro that wouldn't break the bank $4.75 - $5.75).  It's got a beautifully oily wrapper and draws and burns without effort. Not an overly spicy cigar but it does show hints of spice, nutty, sweet aroma. All and all a great smoke at a great price. If you haven't tried one, they may be hard to come by for a bit due to demand. But be patient. They're worth the wait.

Reyes 2009 Event

We had a packed house for our Reyes Family event on the 27th! Now whether or not it had to do with the fact that Reyes super salesman Jose Ortega was in the house or the fact that we rolled-out a number of new Reyes lines, we were jammin!

I've seen Jose in action in years past and he knows how to work a crowd like no other! This guy could write his own ticket and work where ever and for who ever he wished. It speaks volumes about the respect and relationship that he and the Reyes family have for each other that he remains where he's at. That's not to be taken for granted!

Jose did confide to me that this was one of the easiest events that he's ever worked. We simply sampled out cigars to everyone who stopped by and the product sold itself!

The biggest hit of the night by far was the Miami-made Cuba Aliados Miami Edition followed closely behind by both the Miami-made Reyes Vintage and the Nicaraguan-made Reyes Premier.

I really encourage our customers to attend our monthly events for a number of good reasons. First off, it's always a great time to try a cigar that you might have been curious about but never got around to smoking and the incentives that the manufacturers offer can't be beat! Second, it's an opportunity to make some new friends or re-aquant yourself with some old ones. We are blessed to have a great bunch of customers - both men and women - who support our monthly events. Everyone is friendly and quick to offer a hello or assistance.

Next month on the 24th we will be helping launch the new JC Newman cigar, Brick House. Please plan on joining us for what is sure to be another awesome gathering!

Here's a few photos that Maria and I snapped while attending the 2009 IPCPR trade show in New Orleans.

It was great to see so many of our old friends!