It is with great pleasure we announce the return of one of the most creative minds the cigar industry has known. Sam Leccia is back with his newest creation and what looks to be the years most anticipated cigar. The Sam Leccia Cigar Company (www.samlecciacigarco.com) proudly presents Sam’s “Debut”, a fitting name for Leccia’s solo release.

The cigar nation embraces Leccia like a rock star for the passion and originality he brings to the business: “This is the most exciting time of my life. I look forward to sharing with you, my
Debut.”- Sam Leccia

Sam Leccia’s “Debut” is a twist of Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador and Santo Domingo tobaccos blended together to give a unique smoking experience. Sam’s “Debut” will be available in 3 sizes: Double Rob 5×60, Double Church 7×60, Figurado 6 ½x52.

The marketing genius and mad science approach of Sam Leccia has audiences excited
about his newest creation the “Debut”.

For pre-orders and general inquiries contact SamsDebut@SamLecciaCigarCo.com
www.samlecciacigarco.com

Social Network It

Hide Sites

Jon Huber, the former director of lifestyle marketing for C.A.O. International Inc., has formed a new cigar company with three other former employees of C.A.O. The new venture is called Crowned Heads LLC.

Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, where C.A.O. was located until it was moved to Virginia, Crowned Heads consists of Huber, Mike Conder, formerly C.A.O.’s senior VP of marketing; Michael Trebing, who served as C.A.O.’s creative media manager, and Nancy Heathman, who was C.A.O.’s graphic designer.

“It’s going to be very different from what we did at C.A.O.,” said Huber, who said Crowned Heads would be a boutique company that eschews titles, offices and cubicles. The company has begun to meet with tobacco brokers to develop a brand and by year’s end it hopes to have a cigar with five sizes on the market. Huber said that having a cigar ready for the industry trade show in July was a “possibility, but not a probability,” and said he would try to take cigar smokers “behind the scenes” to see how the company develops its products along the way.

Social Network It

Hide Sites

GENERAL CIGAR TO CELEBRATE ITS 50^TH ANNIVERSARY

National Cigar Event Series to Kick Off in July

Richmond, VA—General Cigar will commemorate its golden anniversary with a ten-city tour that will hit chic, cigar-friendly venues across the U.S. beginning on July 27 at Chicago’s swanky Vertigo Lounge in the Dana Hotel, and ending on November 11 at the legendary Foundation Room in Las Vegas. The complete event schedule appears on the General Cigar 50^th anniversary website www.cigarcelebration.com.

At each event, General Cigar will welcome tenured cigar enthusiasts and fellow connoisseurs drawn to the lure of handcrafted cigars to celebrate the company’s past 50 years of artistry in cultivating venerable brands such as Macanudo®, Punch®, Partagas®, Hoyo de Monterrey® and La Gloria Cubana®.

Benji Menendez, the legendary cigar master who recently celebrated his 58^th year in the premium cigar business will be on hand to regale event attendees with glorious stories spanning five decades of tobacco cultivation across Latin America, South America, the Caribbean and the U.S. Emerging cigar masters Michael Giannini and Rick Rodriguez and other key General Cigar staff will also be present to pair a selection of the company’s new and critically-acclaimed cigars with fine wines, spirits and hors d’oeuvres.

Debo Mukherjee, vice president of marketing for General Cigar comments, “At General Cigar, we take great pride in our heritage and our unparalleled tobacco expertise. We developed this event series to celebrate the people whose passion and mastery have made General Cigar one of the world’s foremost producers of premium cigars. Invited guests will not only have a chance to experience the premium cigar lifestyle in a connoisseur’s setting, but will also have a rare opportunity to learn about tobacco cultivation and blending from Benji Menendez, our cigar sage, and from the emerging cigar masters who will take our company into the next half century.”

General Cigar Co. Inc. manufactures and markets handcrafted cigars for the premium market. Committed to delivering cigars of the finest quality, General Cigar also produces Macanudo, Cohiba®, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterrey, Excalibur®, La Gloria Cubana and several other leading premium brands. In addition, the company grows its own premium Connecticut Shade wrapper tobacco, as well as natural and candela wrapper in the Dominican Republic. General Cigar also operates Club Macanudo®, a cigar bar in New York City. Based in Richmond, VA, General Cigar sells through tobacconists nationwide. For more information, please visit www.cigarworld.com.

®  Macanudo, Punch, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterrey, La Gloria Cubana, Cohiba, Excalibur and Club Macanudo are registered trademarks of General Cigar Co. Inc.

Social Network It

Hide Sites

For those not familiar with the project the bike was built for CAO by Sucker Punch Sallys of Scottsdale, Arizona.  For the past year the “lady” has travelled the country, stopping at various cigar outlets along the way as part of CAO’s Lady Liberty tour.  Along the way a few lucky folks won entry into the sweepstakes at these events, and you also had the opportunity to get in on the action by entering online.

As far as the event itself was concerned; well let’s just say the folks at CAO really know how to throw a party, and for all of you guys that missed it you truly missed a knock-out event.  Upon entering the festivities you were greeted by two lovely young ladies who handed you a nice Lady Liberty t-shirt and a bag that included a few cigars and some nice CAO swag.  From the free cigars and swag to the food, no aspect of the party was overlooked.  Bartenders served libations from an open bar (yes, open bar) and there were two kegs of locally brewed Yazoo beer freely flowing outside under the tent.  By the way, they weren’t serving your typical “well” liquors; instead they poured Jack Daniel’s, Bulleit Bourbon, Crown Royal, and Finlandia Vodka just to name a few.  All of these paired really well with the complimentary La Traviata, America, and Gold that the young ladies had handed out earlier.

Then there  was the food which came courtesy of Morton’s Steakhouse.  The chef’s kicked out some wonderful items from their outdoor kitchen that would not necessarily be considered your typical cookout fare.  At any given time you could grab a Grade A slider, Maryland crab cakes, “huge” bay scallops with apricot chutney (my personal favorite), grilled asparagus, and fresh tomatoes with mozzarella.  I personally went with a plate that included a slider, a couple of crab cakes, and few of the scallops with the amazing apricot chutney.  My food choices also paired nicely with the America I had lit while waiting in line.

As soon as I had finished my lunch I made my way back outside for the big announcement.  This was the moment that everyone had been waiting for; the “giveaway”.  After a year long tour the lovely “Lady Liberty” would finally be awarded to one lucky semi-finalist.  I finally made my way out the door when I heard Cigar Dave announce that Keith Henninger was the lucky winner of the bike.  A fitting ending to a great contest.  I say this because I remember Keith being interviewed earlier in the day by the film crew from Sucker Punch Sallys and actually tearing up a couple of times.  I didn’t have the opportunity to meet all of the semi-finalists, but after meeting Keith I can safely say that the prize was well deserved.  Congratulations Keith and thanks to everyone at CAO for a wonderful day.

Thanks to Jerry for giving some great advice to the new guy in the blog world and for the beautiful La Palina, and thanks to David for hanging throughout the day and coming out to UPtown’s with the Nashville Cigar Club crew afterwards.  It was a true pleasure hanging with you guys yesterday and I look forward to doing it again.

For David’s view point on all the festivities check out his article at Tiki Bar Online.  Some of my pictures didn’t turn out so well, but thankfully David took lots of pictures that did turn out which you can view on his Facebook page.  As for Jerry’s take, there was no post available when I published my article (I’m sure he was still on the plane) so keep checking on Stogie Review for Jerry’s video documenting the event.

Photo of “Lady Liberty” courtesy of David and Tiki Bar Online.

Social Network It

Hide Sites

 Richmond, VA—On July 14, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of General Cigar in the latest round of litigation in the Cohiba® trademark case, affirming that General Cigar is the rightful owner of the Cohiba trademark in the U.S.  

According to Dan Carr, chief operating officer of General Cigar, “The Second Circuit court’s ruling upholds what we have always believed since we first filed a U.S. application to register the COHIBA trademark in 1978:  that General Cigar is the rightful owner of Cohiba in the U.S. We continue to remain confident that our exclusive right to the Cohiba cigar brand in the U.S. will be upheld even if Cubatabaco attempts further legal efforts to challenge these rights.”   

The appeals court concluded that Cuban-government-owned Cubatabaco’s argument that a change in a law justified re-opening this case was “without merit” and restored the U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling in 2005 in favor of General Cigar over Cubatabaco. 

In various court opinions beginning in late 2008 and into early 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that there were changes to New York State Unfair Competition law that provided Cubatabaco the basis to re-open this case. Yesterday’s Appeals Court decision overturned the lower court’s rulings.  

Cubatabaco first filed suit against General Cigar in 1997, claiming rights to the Cohiba name in the United States under U.S. law, although Cubatabaco had failed to take any legal action against General Cigar for nearly 20 years. 

About General Cigar

General Cigar Co. Inc. manufactures and markets handcrafted cigars for the premium market. Committed to delivering cigars of the finest quality, General Cigar also produces Macanudo®, Cohiba®, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterrey, Excalibur®, La Gloria Cubana and several other leading premium brands. In addition, the company grows its own premium Connecticut Shade wrapper tobacco, as well as natural and candela wrapper in the Dominican Republic. General Cigar also operates Club Macanudo®, a cigar bar in New York City. Based in Richmond, VA, General Cigar sells through tobacconists nationwide. For more information, please visit www.cigarworld.com. 

®  Cohiba, Macanudo, Punch, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterrey, La Gloria Cubana, Excalibur and Club Macanudo are registered trademarks of General Cigar Co. Inc.

Social Network It

Hide Sites

While enjoying some time off I was able to get out with friends several times for a few nice herfs. At one such herf, Tom and I started discussing the possibility of doing our first contest to give away a nice lighter courtesy of our friend Les Mann at Colibri. Once we’ve racked our tiny brains and come up with a fool proof idea/contest we’ll get it posted and let everyone know the ground rules.

Be sure to keep an eye out, because our newest review will be posted very soon. If you follow my tweets (lacking lately as well) you have the unfair advantage of knowing what cigar review will be next. The next review is on a Cameroon wrapped cigar that has been a staple in my humidor since debuting last year. It’s a cigar that I smoke quite a bit, and as a matter of fact actually smoked last night. I smoked the first one and simply had to have more! I knew I wasn’t the only one who shared the same opinion when I saw the cigar garner high praise in Cigar Aficionado’s top cigars of the year. You may (or may not)have guessed by now that the cigar I’m going on and on about is the Partagas Benji Menendez Master Series Majestuoso. So if you’re a fan of this stick keep your eyes on the site over the next couple of days for the review.

Thanks for being patient with us over the last couple of weeks and be sure to keep the comments coming!

Social Network It

Hide Sites

Of course there were your standard items such as letters and wartime diary entries, but what had every cigar aficionado interested was the offering of a Cuban Camacho that Churchill himself gifted someone while vacationing in Monte Carlo in 1963.  The cigar was expected to fetch between $1,600 to $2,300, but when the hammer fell the final price was well over what they had estimated.  The cigar sold to an anonymous bidder for $3,126, probably one of the highest prices ever paid for a single cigar.  But considering it belonged to arguably the greatest cigar lover in history it was no surprise.

Since hearing of the cigar being auctioned I’ve been pondering a couple of thoughts.  One, the whole culture of passing cigars to fellow brothers of the leaf has definitely been in effect for a very long time.  Two, how did this cigar manage to change hands several times over the span of 47 years and never get smoked?  I guess one will never know, but I can safely say had it been gifted to me it would have met Mr. Flame a long time ago.  One can only hope that one day it is enjoyed as Sir Winston intended.

Social Network It

Hide Sites