Cigar bar coming to Bethlehem

(Morning Call) A cigar bar in historic downtown Bethlehem has come to fruition, just not at the location I've been mentioning in past months.
Let me explain: Owners of Cigars International are opening a cigar bar named The Wooden Match at the former Main Street Depot building at 61 E. Lehigh St.
All year I've been talking about the mob-themed smoking joint named Pacino's Cigar Bar coming to Main Street, but that has taken a slower pace than expected. The Wooden Match is planned to open Aug. 5, just in time for Musikfest. Continued

End of July U.S. tobacco crop report

(Tobacco Farmer Newsletter) Flue-cured in Georgia is definitely late, at least as compared to the fairly recent past. "Not too many years ago, we would be preparing for our final harvest at the beginning of August," says J. Michael Moore, Georgia tobacco Extension agronomist. "This year, quite a bit of the crop hasn't even been harvested the first time, and topping and suckering is nearly complete. Our crop is progressing now more on the Border Belt calendar." Continued

Snuff Review: Poschl Lowen-Prise

Snuff Review: Poschl: Lowen-Prise via Glynn Quelch

Keeping Cigars in Tip-top Shape

(smokemag.com) Picture this. You have just purchased a great stash of premium cigars to take home and enjoy for several months, but you realize that you aren’t quite sure how to keep them properly stored in your humidor. You begin to worry that the great cigars you bought today may not be as great a few months from now.
This is a typical concern of many smokers, and there are still others for whom it should be a bigger concern than they allow it to be. I have known many smokers who have ruined cigars because they failed to attend to some simple facts about proper cigar storage. Continued

Tobacco Review: McClelland 3 Oaks Syrian

(Cake and Dottle) ... As the bowl progresses this one expands to near medium fullness. It's on the light side of medium, but it does provide enough flavor to be satisfying. The Orientals peek in and out, the Syrian Latakia makes you wish more blends had it, and the whole works is embraced by McClelland Virginia tobacco, which is just about as good as Virginias get in my book. Continued

Cigar Life: Honduras Style

(smokemag.com) ... Honduras is home to some of the world’s top cigar brands including the non-Cuban Punch and Hoyo de Monterrey; Camacho, CAO, Rocky Patel, and Flor de Selva (the namesake brand from lead festival organizer, Maya de Selva). The nation boasts a tobacco tradition dating back to the Mayan empire (where millennial-old artifacts depict the gods puffing away on tobacco). Even today, despite all the attacks it is under around the world, tobacco remains the country’s fourth-leading export, just behind coffee, fruit, and palm oil. Within the realm of premium cigars, Honduras is one of the world’s top producers.
The cigar industry, from farming to rolling, is one of the country’ major job-creating industries. Last year, Honduras produced 76 million cigars, the vast majority of which are sent directly to the United States. Continued

G.L. Pease JackKnife Plug Tobacco Review

(Bob Tate) The tin aroma of this blend is a nice sweet and tangy smell that tickled the nose some. For this review I decided to mix the cut of the tobacco up. I shaved some of the tobacco off of the plug into a very fine ribbon cut and then I cut off a flake and cube cut it.
After rubbing out the ribbon cut portion, the tanginess became a little more pronounced, but overall it smelled pretty much the same as it did before cutting the plug. The moisture level was a tad on the moist side, so I let it dry for a bit. I then mixed the ribbon and the cube cut tobaccos and loaded up my pipe and proceeded to the charring light. Continued

Japan Tobacco says to buy Haggar Cigarette of Sudan/South Sudan

(Reuters) Japan Tobacco said it would buy all shares of Haggar Cigarette & Tobacco Factory Ltd of Sudan and South Sudan in a deal worth about $450 million, as part of a push to bolster its presence in emerging markets.
Haggar, maker of the Bringi cigarette brand, has more than an 80 percent market share in Sudan. The north African country had a total sales volume of about 5.5 billion cigarettes in 2010, said Japan Tobacco, the world's No.3 cigarette maker. Continued

Back in the U.S.A.—Padilla Miami Cigars

(Cigar Aficionado) The Padilla Miami was born in Florida in 2005, moved to Honduras and now has come back to Florida once again. The cigar is again being made in Miami, this time right across the street from where it was born, using a recreation of its original blend.
Padilla brand owner Ernesto Padilla showcased the new version of the old cigar at last week's International Premium Cigar & Pipe retailers show. The cigar has gone a long, long way to come back to Miami. Continued

Glynn Likes Tobacco: Flor De Cano - Short Robusto Review and Intro

http://glynnquelch.co.uk/

Video: Cigar rollers work their hands, and their minds

(AFP/YouTube) Poetry, politics, prose -- they're all part of the programme at a Cuban cigar factory where a public reader reads to workers, keeping their minds busy while the Havanas get rolled. Continued

Ashton VSG Cigars in the Round

(Cigar Aficionado) ... Ashton Distributors Inc. unveiled a new size in the growing VSG line, the Pegasus.
The Pegasus measures five-inches long by 54 ring gauge, and like all VSGs it comes wrapped in Ecuador Sumatra wrapper. What makes it unusual is the lack of box pressing—this is one of only three sizes of VSGs shipped round, rather than pressed. (The other two are the Wizard and the Eclipse.) Continued

A tribute to the cigar box

(Beaumont Enterprise) Cigar boxes are no longer a part of childhood. In an office supply store last week I saw a display of plastic boxes for children for use in school, for storing pens and pencils and glue and scissors and all the other easily-misplaced little impedimenta of very young artists.
Once upon a time, children employed wooden cigars boxes for such purposes; if one's father didn't smoke cigars then someone else's did, and so nice little wooden boxes were as common as 1943 steel pennies. I suppose that if now a child were to carry his art supplies to school in a cigar box he would be sent for therapy and his parents filed on with some state agency for Not Thinking Correctly. Continued

Cigarette makers come to the rescue of Andhra Pradesh tobacco farmers

(business-standard.com) Domestic cigarette manufacturers led by ITC Limited have come to the rescue of tobacco farmers in Andhra Pradesh during the current year by procuring more quantity of flue cured tobacco (FCT) than what they needed so as to stabilise the falling prices.
Around 50,000 tobacco farmers in the state are stated to have been benefitted by the supporting role played by ITC, Godfrey Phillips India (GPI) and VST. ... global FCT prices declined steeply as supplies exceeded demand owing to a huge increase in crop volumes in Brazil and Zimbabwe. Continued

Imperial Tobacco sees 9-month sales up 2 pct

(Reuters) Imperial Tobacco Group Plc , the world's fourth largest cigarette company, on Tuesday showed the impact of a price war in Spain when it reported a slim 2 percent rise in nine-month sales.
The group, which makes Gauloises, West and Fortune cigarette brands, said excluding Spain, overall sales for the nine-months to June 30 would have been ahead by some 4 percent. Continued

Cuba cigar factory 'readers' keep oral tradition smoking

(AFP) Perched on a wooden dais in front of 600 workers rolling Cuba's legendary cigars, Grisel reads aloud -- poems, novels and even sex tips from the newspaper -- keeping workers entertained, their attention rapt, just the way it has been done for 150 years.
Grisel, 55, a petite former teacher who wears reading glasses she adjusts frequently, may have a job that predates electricity. But nobody in Cuba seems to have any interest in replacing her with a transistor radio or TV. Continued

Cigar Review: Esteban Carreras Connecticut

(Toasted Foot) ... The Esteban Carreras Connecticut has the look of your average, mild Connecticut wrapped cigar – a light, almond colored wrapper, some stretched veins along the seam, and a dry and medium colored filler at the foot. There are not any soft spots from head to foot, and the top is triple capped. The white and black band covers a good portion of the Robusto, giving a nice overall look for the cigar.
The aroma is clean and crisp with notes of nuts, hay, and a buttery sweetness at the cap. The foot is very clean smelling and carries a cool zest to it in the nostrils. On the draw, the flavor profile is nutty and mild, and the pull is spot on. Continued

Newest cigar aficionados are 20-somethings

(Rapid City Journal) Ann Stern sits at a table outside Vino 100 and the Tinder Box Cigar Bar in Rapid City laughing with friends, drinking an adult beverage and smoking a large cigar.
“It’s my go-to treat,” the 26-year-old said.
The Petit Corona imparts notes of honey and cream when smoked.
Stern, who is originally from Sioux Falls but is working in Rapid City for the summer, said she has been smoking the cigars for about four years.
Cigars, often thought of as a vice for middle-age businessmen, have found a new audience in 20-somethings. Continued

Also: A cigar glossary

Barnstormers Tobacco Group Reflects on History

(Wheeling News-Register) More than 100 years ago, Wheeling was a thriving industrial center - and Bloch Brothers Tobacco Co. was a major reason, according to David Javersak.
Javersak, retired dean of the College of Liberal Arts at West Liberty University, spoke Saturday during the10th annual meeting and picnic of the Barnstormers - a group committed to promoting the history of the historic Mail Pouch barns painted by noted artist Harley Warrick, a native of Belmont. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress

Slow recovery for Zimbabwe’s tobacco harvest

(iol) Before 2000 Zimbabwe regularly produced more than 220 million kilograms of tobacco a year, most of it grown by white farmers. After land seizures the crop size fell each year until by 2009 Zimbabwe was producing less than a third of what it had regularly produced for 40 years.
Industry insiders said this year Zimbabwe would produce about 135 million kilograms, much of it by new farmers resettled on former white-owned farms. Continued

Camel Crush Bold Cigarettes Make National Debut

(CSN) R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is expanding its Camel Crush line nationally with Camel Crush Bold. The new product, which provides adult smokers the opportunity to experience full flavor non-menthol with "menthol on demand", will hit retail shelves next week.
The filters of Camel Crush Bold contain capsule that, when squeezed, releases a small amount of menthol in the filter, producing a fresh taste, the company said, adding the tobacco blend is the same Turkish-Domestic blend as in Camel Filter cigarettes. Continued

E.P. Carrillo Adds Broadleaf Maduro Cigar

(Cigar Aficionado) Ernesto Perez-Carrillo has been slowly increasing the breadth of his product line, but there was one thing missing—a maduro. This week at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers trade show, he unveiled his version of a maduro cigar, and it's shipping at the end of next week to cigar stores.
"A lot of people were asking for a maduro," Carrillo told Cigar Aficionado today. "I had looked at Mexican maduro, Brazilian—but this one shined." Continued

Photo: Library of Congress

DIY Home Tobacco Harvest

(TPS) ... Taking the advice that I could find on internet forums, I have been harvesting leaves as they yellow on the stalk. The leaves get hung on strings in my woodshed and they die slowly and turn a rich golden brown colour. This is known as “colour curing” and is necessary unless one wants to smoke green leaf, which isn’t particularly attractive either to the eye or the palate.
I have invented a system that allows me to add leaves to my strings at one end and remove finished leaves at the other. Henry Ford would be proud of me. Continued

Windy Acre Tobacco Farm Carries on a Suffield Tradition

(Patch) Long a staple of the farming community here, Suffield can trace some of roots through the broad-leaf tobacco that grows in so many of its fields.
In 1860, more than 290 of the 316 working farms in town were growing tobacco, according to the Suffield town Web site. The first cigar factory in the United States was located in Suffield and opened in 1810. Tobacco was used as legal tender as early as 1727. Continued

Lorillard Recalls Some Newport Non-Menthol Cigarettes

(CSN) Citing "an abundance of caution," Lorillard Inc. has issued a voluntary call of certain Newport Non-Menthol cigarettes.
The company made the precautionary move after discovering the possibility that some Newport Non-Menthol cigarettes made on June 29 and 30 could contain small pieces of plastic. Upon the discovery, Lorillard executives turned to the Food and Drug Administration for guidance, according to a company release.
Lorillard stressed that, at this point, no plastic has been found in any of the cigarettes. Continued

Cigarette maker Reynolds profit disappoints on weak market share

(Reuters) Reynolds American Inc's (RAI.N) quarterly profit fell short of Wall Street expectations as it lost cigarette market share to Altria Group Inc (MO.N).
... Nonetheless, market share for Camel and Pall Mall, Reynolds' leading brands, rose to 16.3 percent from 14.8 percent growth a year earlier. Continued

Quesada Cigar Meant for Beer

(Cigar Aficionado) It's hard to find fault with a cold beer and a robust cigar, so the team at Manufactura de Tabacos S.A. (Matasa) in Santiago, Dominican Republic, have created the two-size Quesada Oktoberfest. The Dominican puro is meant to be paired with hearty beer.
The cigars are Dominican puros, and the wrappers are very oily, and black enough to pass as maduros. "The wrapper is something new we are calling "Dominican Cibao,'" said Terence Reilly of importer SAG Imports. That wrapper is paired with Dominican binder and a mix of Dominican fillers. Continued

Chocolate Manhood Tobacco

(JoffreTheGiant) This is simple, lads.

1 part latakia
2 parts Lane 1Q or other black cavendish
Blend thoroughly, allow to sit for a couple of weeks to allow the flavors to fully mix. Enjoy. Continued

Have You Seen Cigar Store Mascot Mr. Punch?

(Leesburg Today) Leesburg Cigars is searching for information on who might have taken its six-foot-tall statue, "Mr. Punch," from the front porch of its Market Station store last week.
According to the Leesburg Police Department, the statue, which weighs an approximate 400 pounds, was taken during the overnight hours of Tuesday, July 12. The theft was discovered when employees arrived at the store July 13.
... Mr. Punch has been a mascot for many cigar stores over the years, as there is a famous cigar dating back to 1840 that was named for the cantankerous half of London's Punch and Judy puppet shows. Continued

Tobacco crop ‘varied in maturity’

(Tillsonburg News) There is consistent inconsistency in the 2011 tobacco crop.
"We've got everything from tobacco that has been topped to tobacco just hilled for the last time," said Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board chair Fred Neukamm Monday morning.
This year's crop is around 18,890 acres says Neukamm. "That's give or take a few."
That figure is down slightly from last year's total. Continued

Altria sees shipment volume falling in 3rd quarter

(Reuters) - Altria Group Inc (MO.N) posted lower second-quarter earnings, in line with expectations, and said shipment volume is likely to decrease in the third quarter as its retailer customers cut down inventories. ... Market share for Marlboro dropped to 42.6 percent in the second quarter from 42.8 percent a year earlier. Continued

CB Holdings buys bankrupt tobacco companies in Mocksville

(Winston-Salem Journal) CB Holdings LLC has agreed to buy the assets of three bankrupt tobacco companies in Mocksville: Renegade Holdings Inc., Renegade Tobacco Co., and Alternative Brands Inc. The purchase price is $15.6 million.
Charles Fuller, the president and chief executive of CB Holdings, said that the operations will remain in Davie County with no changes, except for the Renegade and Alternative Brands names. Continued

HIV Drug Grown in Genetically Engineered Tobacco Approved for Human Testing

(Live Science) Cocaine. Aspirin. Caffeine. Heroin. Ginseng. Nicotine. The list of powerful medications naturally produced by plants goes on and on. Unfortunately, no plant makes a drug capable of combating HIV.
That is, no plant did until researchers at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute genetically engineered tobacco plants to produce specially designed antibodies that prevent transmission of the deadly virus.
Yesterday, the U.K. approved antibody therapy derived from Fraunhofer's genetically engineered tobacco for use on 11 human test subjects. Continued

Analyst: Innovation, pricing key to tobacco growth

(AP) Raising prices and introducing new products, especially varieties of smokeless tobacco, remain key growth strategies for tobacco companies as smokers worldwide increasingly face tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma, research firm Euromonitor International said Tuesday.
Euromonitor estimates the tobacco industry's 2010 retail revenue at $660 billion, almost the same as the previous year. Most of that came from selling more than 5.71 trillion cigarettes, analysts said. Continued

Cigar Aficionado Editors Blog from IPCPR

Nearly the entire cigar industry is gathered in Las Vegas for the 79th annual International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association trade show, and Cigar Aficionado is there to cover it. Continued

Who created all that great old cigar art?

(CBLB) So far I have talked quite a bit on the history of cigar labels but who exactly were these artists that created the images on Cigar box Labels and where did they come from?
Most were German immigrants, coming from the “Old World”. They were extraordinary artists that had developed a passion for stone lithography because the process itself had much in common with painting. It enabled artists to use their unlimited imagination, apply their skills, and get paid for something they loved. Continued

Seattle Cigar Expo

(KVOS) The first-annual Seattle Cigar Expo, taking place Saturday, Aug. 20, will transform Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion into an upscale cigar lounge where approximately 2,500 adults will unite for a day of indulgence through lifestyle vendors, cigar retailers, fine cuisine, premium spirits sampling, and wine tasting.
More than 20 cigar manufacturers from all over the world, including Padron, Rocky Patel, Tatuaje and Xikar will be on hand, and guests will also have the opportunity to shop from retailers including Premier Cigar Shops, Orvis, Omega, Magnolia Audio Video to name a few. Continued

Tobacco farmers get P20-million aid for palay crop cultivation

BANGUED, Abra (Manila Bulletin) National Tobacco Administration (NTA) chief Edgardo D. Zaragoza has distributed P20 million to thousands of tobacco farmers as capital for their palay [rice] crop cultivation in order to provide them with alternative sources of livelihood during the lean months of tobacco production.
A total of 1,484 tobacco farmers from the provinces of Abra, La Union, Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, and Mindoro who are ready to plant palay in around 1,242 hectares benefited from the soft loan program of the NTA which is geared towards enhancing the productivity of farmers not only on tobacco production but also in terms of rice production.
Under the program, NTA provides a loan of P18, 000 per hectare per farmer who plants palay, and P30,000 to P40,000 per farmer per hectare for those who plant tobacco which is substantial in allowing the farmers to be able to produce the crops that will be in time for the harvest season where the prices of the crops are at high levels. Continued

Retro La Gloria Cigar Sports a New Wrapper

(Cigar Aficionado) One of the new cigars that will be on display next week at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailer trade show is a La Gloria Cubana with a first of its kind: a wrapper grown in Honduras.
La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale, which brand owner General Cigar says has been eight years in the making, takes a new look at the venerable La Gloria Cubana brand. Michael Giannini, leader of Team La Gloria, found an old humidor in the El Credito Cigars factory in Miami, where La Glorias were once made. Trying to duplicate the look of the old piece took some time, the result of which is found on this new cigar. Continued

ULM researchers discover fresh tobacco leaves can fight cancer

(thenewsstar.com) Researchers at the University of Louisiana at Monroe have discovered anticancer compounds in the most unlikely of places — tobacco leaves.
Khalid El Sayed, an associate professor of medicinal chemistry at the ULM College of Pharmacy, and ULM colleagues Paul Sylvester and Girish Shah received a patent for their discovery of anti-cancer compounds in fresh tobacco leaves earlier this week from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
“The leaf and flower of the tobacco plant contain high amounts of the key flavor ingredient called cembranoids, which shows promise as an anti-cancer agent,” El Sayed said. Continued

G.L. Pease Lagonda tobacco blend released

(glpease.com) Just a quick word to say that that Lagonda, the latest entry in the Old London Series, is now shipping, and a couple of resellers have already received theirs. It's also going to be debuted at the IPCPR show in Las Vegas this coming week, so it'll be finding its way to more retailers soon. In the meanwhile, if you enjoy Latakia blends, you'll love this one, so be an early bird, beat the rush, and get a tin or two now from your favourite on-line sources. Link

Malawi Tobacco Trades 47% Below Government-Set Price

(Bloomberg) The price of tobacco in Malawi, the world’s largest producer of the burley variety of the leaf, traded 47 percent below the government’s recommended price of $1.80 a kilogram at the Limbe Auction Floors in the commercial capital, Blantyre yesterday.
The leaf sold at an average $0.95 a kilogram (2.2 pounds), with the highest price $1.35 and the lowest 55 cents, according to the bourse. Continued

Related: Zimbabwe Tobacco Sales Surpass Target

Yet another of Winston Churchill's cigars up for sale

A CIGAR, half smoked by Winston Churchill, is one of a number of prestigious lots at next month’s Cowes Week auction.
The cigar was smoked by Churchill at a dinner with the German chancellor, Dr Konrad Adenauer, at Downing Street, on May 14, 1953. Continued

New life for Simcoe tobacco processing plant

(brantfordexpositor.ca) The former Simcoe Leaf tobacco processing facility won't be closing after all.
Recently, Universal Tobacco of Richmond, Va., agreed to terms with Grand River Enterprises for the sale of the 27.5-acre property on Second Avenue in Simcoe. The paperwork was completed in mid-June, with the factory re-emerging under the name Norfolk Leaf Co. Ltd. Continued

Photo: Mr. and Mrs. Fred Wilkins grading and stripping tobacco in strip house on their farm. Tallyho, near Stem, Granville County, North Carolina, 1939 (Library of Congress).

REINADO Introduces Two New Cigar Sizes

(PR.com) Experiencing tremendous success as a new premium boutique cigar brand, the REINADO® Torpedo, 6 1/8 x 52, has received a coveted 91 rating in the most recent edition of Smoke Magazine.
"We are deeply honored to receive such a distinguished rating from Smoke Magazine, and are pleased that our customers enjoy the REINADO blend," said Antonio Lam, CEO of Cubanero Enterprises and REINADO.
"The all Nicaraguan construction and smooth flavors produced by our unique fermentation process have exceeded our collective expectations," said Lam.This month REINADO will introduce two highly anticipated new sizes at the 2011 Las Vegas IPCPR -- the Habanito and El Emperador. Continued

U.S. flue-cured tobacco production projected at 8% above 2010

(Tobacco Farmer Newsletter) Flue-cured tobacco production in the United States was forecast at 489 million pounds as of July 3, up eight percent from 2010, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Plantings are projected at 216,000 acres, two percent above last year. Yield per acre is forecast at 2,263 pounds, up 120 pounds from a year ago. Continued

Buben&Zörweg Launches Bespoke High-Tech Cigar Closet

(Superyachts.com) Swiss watch-maker and creator of unique pieces for the home, Buben&Zörweg, has created a bespoke cigar closet that utilises state-of-the-art humidification technology and is capable of holding up to 1,000 cigars. Buben&Zörweg even claims that the closet accentuates the flavour derived from cigars.
... The closet stands 5.6 feet tall and weighs approximately 100kg and is priced between €27,900 and €30,500. Continued

Asian Demand Boosts Georgia Tobacco

(gpb.org) Georgia’s tobacco acreage is expected to hold steady this year, thanks to a new buyer in the state and high demand in Asia. Tobacco acreage has been dropping for two decades.
Experts expected fewer acres of the crop to be planted this year, but now estimates from the U.S. Agriculture Department project Georgia farmers will plant about 11,000 acres of tobacco, the same amount as last year.
In part, the cause is a new company that has contracted with Georgia growers for their tobacco, saying it is bound for Asian markets. Continued

Two new tobacco blends from Villiger 1888

(P*p*s Magazine) Two new blends are being added to the popular Villiger 1888 series. Cocktail Hour and After Dinner, will both be available in 50g tins in late-August / early-September.
From the descriptions, it seems that Cocktail Hour is a Danish-style aromatic, and After Hours sounds especially interesting with its mix of Virginia, Burley and Perique. Continued

Sponsored Cigar Lounges Proliferate

(Cigar Aficionado) The last time you were at your local cigar lounge, you may have noticed that all the previously unmarked ashtrays now say Diamond Crown. Or that the Montecristo logo seems to appear on everything from matches to wall art. Bigger selection of Rocky Patel than you remember? It is very possible that your tobacconist has decided to brand his lounge. Continued

Abra benefits from Virginia tobacco production

Pilar, Philippines (Sun Star) MANUEL Dizon, 61 years old and dapper, sat in a wooden chair inside their farm house in Barangay Villavieja, Pilar, Abra. He lifted a dried tobacco leaf, rolled it into a cigar as we talked.
"It is Virginia tobacco, class A," he said with the kind of enthusiasm you would expect from a man who has been growing quality tobacco most of his life. He was, I thought, the very portrait of his hardworking Ilocano ancestors who pioneered the cultivation of the crop in Abra since the Second World War. With a wrinkled, aged but steady hand, he held the cigar in his mouth and lit it. Continued

Property tied to owner of Renegade Tobacco is sold

(Winston-Salem Journal) The auction of six Davie County properties associated with the owner of three bankrupt tobacco manufacturers yielded nearly $1.3 million, according to a legal filing Monday.
The auction took place June 23. The sale of the properties requires the approval of William Stock, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge assigned to the case involving Calvin Phelps, the owner of Renegade Holdings Inc., Alternative Brands Inc. and Renegade Tobacco Co. Phelps' wife, Lisa Yamaoka Phelps, was listed on two of the properties. Continued

H. Upmann Magnum 46

(golf-talk.co.uk) The H.Upmann brand was founded by a banker Herman Upmann in 1840’s. It was a small shipping office which sent different cigars from Cuban island to Europe at first. But after a while the business extended and they started releasing its own cigar brand known today as one of the best and highly appreciated Cuban cigars in the world. Continued

Pride Cigars Channels Old West in Bandolero Cigars

(smokemag.com) Cuban-American and third-generation tabaquero Ares Contreras is bringing the spirit of rowdy Old West border towns to cigar shop humidors with Pride Bandolero, his company’s latest boutique premium cigar. Contreras is the president of Pride Cigars, and manufactures his own cigars in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
... Bandolero features triple-fermented Dominican and Nicaraguan filler and a Dominican binder. The Dominican-grown Habano wrapper is naturally dark and oily—it’s not processed as a maduro. Both binder and filler tobaccos are aged a full three years, and the finished cigars are aged in cedar chests for another six months. Continued

Companies agree to procure non-recommended tobacco crop

PESHAWAR, PK: (TheNews) The standoff between the tobacco growers and companies over the purchase of millions of kilograms of the non-recommended variety of tobacco in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ended on Saturday after the firms agreed to procure the crop on the average support price of Rs104.30.
The tobacco growers and companies formally concluded an agreement to this effect at a meeting held at the head office of the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB).
The meeting, chaired by the acting chairman and secretary of the PTB Nauman Bashir, was also attended by office-bearers of the representative bodies of growers and tobacco companies including Pakistan Tobacco Company, Lakson Tobacco, PMI, Walton Tobacco Company, Imperial Tobacco Company, Souvenir Tobacco Company, Sarhad Cigarette Industry, International Tobacco Company and other manufacturers. Continued

Elephants on Cigar Boxes

(Cigar History Museum) Elephants have been wondrous attractions whenever they first appeared in the Western World, early 1800s in the United States. As other current events would in the future, the appearance of elephants impacted the cigar industry. Long before the Civil War to days after Vietnam, you could always find an elephant when you wanted one. Here are some from the archives of my Cigar History Museum. Elephant Regalias is one of the earlier boxes known from an American cigar factory. Continued

A nice Virginia/Perique tobacco blend

(P*pes & Tobaccos) It was a typical Saturday. I’d been meandering through the house smoking a pipe and carrying a toolbox, trying to look like I was accomplishing something with door hinges or stair rails so my wife wouldn’t give me a real assignment, like digging out the driveway’s drainage pipe or doing battle with the Screaming Peruvian Poison-Spitting Spider population colonizing our crawlspace. Nobody can make abject laziness look as purposeful as I can. Continued

Oliva Series G Perfecto Cigar

(Intoxico) ... I deny the sleep, but acknowledge the craving for nicotine by cutting into an Oliva Series G perfecto.
This maduro, 5.5 by 54 cigar is an interesting combination of a box press with a round bulge up 2/3rds the way from the foot to the head. The shape fits comfortably in my mouth as I get ready to light her up. Continued

General Releasing Its First CAO Cigar

(Cigar Aficionado) When the news broke that General Cigar Co. would be incorporating C.A.O., everyone had the same questions: Would General change existing blends? Cancel certain lines? Make its own, new version of C.A.O.? Today, Cigar Aficionado got to taste the first C.A.O. brand completely conceptualized by General Cigar—the C.A.O. OSA Sol, a project spearheaded by General's Rick Rodriguez (formerly of Team La Gloria) and senior brand manager Ed McKenna. Continued

Photo by tRuCciE

Scotty’s Bulk Blends English Stout Tobacco Review

(Bob Tate) The pouch aroma of this blend is very smoky with quite a bit of a woody aroma as well. The Latakia in this blend is heavy. This blend is predominately black with a few specks of brown here and there. The moisture level feels like it is one the moist side, but it lights up and stays lit very well. I loaded up my pipe and proceeded to the charring light. Continued

Famous Smoke Shop Opens Temporary Store

(Patch) Cigar lovers will be happy to know they can still purchase their favorite cigars in person while construction goes on at the Famous Smoke Shop.
The cigar store is set to open its new location at 90 Mort Drive in Forks Township later this month. But due to "high customer demand," the business opened a makeshift retail store Tuesday, according to a release. Continued

A Personal Casa de Tabaco from La Flor Dominicana Cigars

(Cigar Aficionado) Casa de Tabacos, the structures that protect cigar tobacco after harvest during the crucial curing process, can be gorgeous things. But cigar smokers rarely see the immense structures, save for when they're reading a magazine. But the newest from La Flor Dominicana creator Litto Gomez can let you bring that look to your humidor.
Gomez, one of the more creative minds in the cigar industry, has packaged his new La Flor Dominicana Air Bender cigar in a box/humidor that is made in the shape and style of a true Dominican curing barn. Continued

Kentucky tobacco warehouse slated for destruction

DANVILLE, Ky. (AP) A central Kentucky tobacco warehouse that once served as an agricultural hub has been sold to Centre College and is slated for demolition.
The destruction of Farmers Tobacco Warehouse No. 1 in Danville is set to begin in about a week, the second piece of what was once the area's agricultural center to be destroyed in just more than a month.
... Rankin said the warehouse sold 78 million pounds of tobacco since 2000 and he will still attempt to fill the need for a market. Rankin, who also owns the smaller Farmers Tobacco Warehouse No. 2 located across the street, said the company will have the first sale of the year in that warehouse and hold others at another location that hasn't been determined. Continued

Also: Danville tobacco warehouse to be demolished

Photo: Louisville, Ky., a tobacco auction, circa 1910 (Library of Congress).

Tobacciana Exhibition at Bexhill Museum

(culture24.org.uk) Until the 20th century there was no political correctness on the health and safety surrounding tobacco, with product packaging, posters and signs stating the wonders of pipe, cigarettes and cigars. This prompted enthusiasts to turn to the unlikely art phenomenon tobacciana, collecting ashtrays, cases, lighters, match holders and snuffboxes as they went. This exhibition, which curator Julian Porterquite has simply named Tobacco, displays a devotee’s cherished childhood collection. Continued

Marvelous Marcovitch Tobacco

(P*pes & Tobacco) If you are a collector engaged in a wearisome and exhausting search for that rare pipe or that seldom-seen tin of tobacco, let the following tale serve as a message of inspiration and a boost to your morale. This is a story of hope, a message of reassurance and encouragement.
The lesson is quite clear. If you are determined, tenacious, persistent and persevering, you will eventually encounter and acquire the object(s) of your quest. I am speaking from experience. You see, for me, for just 10 days in March 2010, fantasy dictated reality and the near-impossible seemed entirely plausible. If it can happen to me, it can happen to you. Continued

Giant Siglo Cigar Humidor Fails to Sell at London Auction

(Cigar Aficionado) The ripping up of a Fuente Fuente OpusX Double Corona was an unlikely end to a cigar auction, but somehow it felt right. The audience sighed in sympathy with the giant Dominican smoke as it was torn asunder by just about the only man in the room who could could get away with it.
That man was Jeremiah Meerapfel, one of the tobacco dynasty of Meerapfels from Belgium, and he performed the surgery to show the love, detail and artistry that goes into creating Arturo Fuente cigars. Meerapfel and his brother Joshua were on hand to announce that the distribution right for the entire range of Fuente cigars had been secured by C.Gars Ltd., the organizer of the night's events. Continued

Keep an eye out for tobacco pests

(Richmond Register) Most transplant insecticide applications for tobacco provide excellent control of tobacco flea beetles for the first three to four weeks that the crop is in the field. After several years of using these treatments, it is easy to forget what can happen if preventive control is not used, and the crop is not checked for damage for some time.
... Watch for budworm and tobacco hornworm infestations, especially in the earliest set fields. Continued

The world's best tobacco

The world's best tobacco is ...

Philip Morris cigarette prices go up 9 cents per pack

(Richmond Times-Dispatch) Altria Group Inc. is raising the price of all of its Philip Morris USA cigarette brands 9 cents per pack, part of a recent spate of price increases indicating the tobacco industry still has pricing power even as smoking rates decline.
The Henrico County-based company confirmed the price increase Tuesday, effective Friday.
The company's cigarette brands include the top-selling U.S brand, Marlboro. Continued

Traveling with Cigars

(Cigar Aficionado) I'm traveling out of the country for business and I want to bring along a few smokes to enjoy. Unfortunately, I don't have a travel humidor. What should I do? Continued

Cuba to Host Int’l Symposium on the Habano Cigar

(cubaheadlines.com) More than one hundred researchers, museologists, collectors, journalists, and artists will participate in the Fourth International Symposium Habana-Habanos 2011 scheduled for the Cuban capital from Tuesday, July 5, through Thursday, July 7.
Zoe Nocedo, director of the Cigar Museum of Old Havana and president of the event’s organizing committee, told Prensa Latina news agency that participants will learn and share experiences on the history of the habano cigar, markets, brands, design of vitolas, marketing, and other aspects.
Another purpose, she added, is to join efforts linked to the culture of cigars in order to prepare development projects. Continued

Also, from the NYTimes: New Ways to Visit Cuba — Legally

Tobacco Smoking in Movies: The 30's

More tobacco pipe smoking, this time all classics, the 30's were a great time for movies.

Cigars - A Simple Pleasure…for Both Genders

(Elisha Maldonado) I am the only woman in the establishment and yet I barely notice, so at home do I feel. I've just perched myself in one of the lounge's lion-armed chairs, newspaper in hand, when, from across the room, a man bellows, "Rocky Patel; toro; 1992; a Nicaraguan blend. I used to like those. Good smoke."
I turn to locate the voice responsible for so ably naming the cigar in my non-newspaper-holding hand and find a number of middle-aged men looking at me through plumes of billowing smoke from their own cigars.
"Bravo," I say. "They're my favorite." Continued