Pitching an Organic Cigarette for Hipsters

(NYTimes) ... Hestia Tobacco positions itself as the first truly independent organic cigarette company, and there are a number of strong elements to the pitch. It starts very clearly with David Sley introducing himself, the company and a three-pronged investment thesis. What he has created is an organic cigarette company, aimed at the young, socially conscious market that still engages in smoking. Continued

La Aurora Launching Fernando León Cigar in New York City

(Cigar Aficionado) Before La Aurora S.A.’s patriarch Fernando León Asensio passed away in 2009, he had a noncommercial cigar made for personal consumption or as a gift for friends and family.
It came in one corona size and consisted of primarily Dominican tobacco. Now his son Guillermo León, successor and owner of La Aurora in the Dominican Republic, will be releasing the cigar as a five-size line called Fernando León. Continued

In Other News: Alec Bradley Expands Fine & Rare Cigar Line

Gate to close at tobacco factory

(Ipswich News) LIKE Australian manufacturing in general, Granville Tobacco Processors facility at Bundamba has seen better days.
The vast sheds which were once a frenzy of activity, as dozens of workers processed home grown tobacco leaf into top-brand products, are now silent.
In later years the site has earnt its keep as a high-security warehouse, storing raw tobacco leaf before it's transported to finishing factories in Singapore, Malaysia, Sydney and the Netherlands. Continued

Last year for Tobacco Festival

(Newsdemocrat.com) It's official: you just witnessed the last Ohio Tobacco Festival. The festival, which operated for 31 years, will be under new leadership and be named the Ohio Farmers' Festival starting next year.
"I knew it was coming up," said Ed Fath, proprietor of the Ohio Tobacco Museum in Ripley. "As far as the Tobacco Festival itself, it was running downhill, but this place right here - the museum - will be the last thing left in Ripley, Ohio that has to do anything with tobacco." Continued

Staying cool with Snoop

(SMO) "A lot of long nights, hard work, and fat cigars have gone into getting me where I am," says Snoop Dogg.
The musician, actor, media mogul, workaholic, and self-styled "world's most famous smoker" now has his own premium cigar line, Executive Branch. Snoop says it's all about giving cigar lovers "a new flavor to savor." Continued

Smokable Cigar Bands from La Gloria Cubana

(Cigar Aficionado) If you’ve ever smoked a cigar down to the nub, you’ve probably burned your fingers trying to peel off the paper band before it went up in flames. Maybe you didn’t even realize that the band was burning until it was too late. The new La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show cigars address this problem in a practical and creative way—smokable bands.
At this summer’s IPCPR trade show, General Cigar Co. (owner and producer of the La Gloria Cubana brand) unveiled its limited-edition Trunk Show Collection, which featured two different cigars with two different types of smokable bands. Continued

Ask G.L. Pease! He Knows More Than You Do!

(G L Pease) ... Bitterness often results from a tobacco with moderate sugar levels being smoked too hot. The greatest sweetness results from smoking very slowly, just barely keeping the ember going, and drawing the smoke through the unburned tobacco delicately so that the moisture in the smoke stream can carry some of the unburned sugars along to the smoker resulting in a sweeter smoke. Smoking faster can cause that sweetness to give way to a brasher, more acrid taste that can, to some, be irritating to the mouth, and to others, can be bitter. And, yes, depending on how hot things get, it can negatively affect the rest of the smoke. No recovery. Continued

Fuente Fuente OpusX Cigar: The Angel’s Share

(Cigar Aficionado) The man who started the power cigar trend has blended a milder version of his most famous smoke.
Carlos Fuente Jr., creator of the Fuente Fuente OpusX, the high-octane Dominican puro that has been one of the most sought-after cigars in the world since its debut in 1995, has created a somewhat more easygoing version of the smoke.
Called Fuente Fuente OpusX The Angel’s Share, the line is made with old wrappers from the middle of a tobacco plant, rather than high-priming leaves that grow near the top. Continued

Tobacco Review: McClelland Stave-Aged 35 Virginia Ribbon

(Talking Tobacco) ... I was not disappointed when I opened the tin and took a whiff. The whole thing, chunk of wood and all, had a wonderfully sweet smell that had notes of vanilla and brown sugar. The tobacco itself was not overly moist and did not stick together when I pinched it. I loaded it into the pipe and lit it up. My initial thoughts were ‘sweet and cool with a subtle spice on the retro-hale.’ Continued

Pennsylvania Cigar Box Guitar Festival has large turnout

York, PA (YDR) Dave Smith of Philadelphia placed his foot atop a 140-year-old rectangular tin box, plucked a single string and smiled at the sound he heard.
"Wow. That's got a nice little tone to it," he said of a handmade upright bass.
Smith and his son Cooper, 15, were at the 3rd Annual Pennsylvania Cigar Box Guitar Festival on Saturday at the York Emporium on West Market Street in York. Cooper plays acoustic guitar and recently took up the art of making guitars from a cigar box.
"It's different and interesting," Cooper said. Continued

Kentucky's tobacco crop withstands worst of the drought

(Kentucky.com) Conrado Olvera, armed with a tomahawk and a spear, moved in a decades-old rhythm.
Lean forward, cut down a stalk of burley tobacco with one sharp swing of the tobacco knife; skewer the stalk on a tobacco stick, being careful to avoid the needle-sharp metal tip; reach for the next stalk. Keep up the rhythm stick by stick, row by row, hour after hour, until the job is done.
This annual farm ritual is being played out again in Kentucky tobacco fields, as farm workers like Olvera get down to the laborious job of cutting and housing the state's burley crop. Continued

Pennsylvania Cigar Box Guitar Fest this Saturday, August 25

(boingboing) This Saturday, August 25, The York Emporium Bookstore and the city of York PA will host the Pennsylvania Cigar Box Guitar Festival This event has become the biggest cigar box guitar fest in the world with an expected audience of 2000-4000 people this year. It coincides with the YorkFest fine arts festival, bringing in attendees from throughout the US Mid Atlantic States. Continued

Prometheus Retro Cigar Lighter

(Cigar Aficionado) It may sound a bit odd to describe the Retro butane lighter by Prometheus as “wallet-friendly,” but at a mere .25 inches thick, or about six stacked credit cards high, the description seems apt.
Cigar enthusiasts looking for a svelte lighter should take note of the Retro, as it’s not only the thinnest butane torch we’ve seen, but reliable and solidly constructed. According to Prometheus owner Keith Park, the secret to the lighter’s slim physique lies in its flint-ignition system. Continued

Camel Snus Mint Tobacco Goes National

(CSD) R.J. Reynolds’ Camel SNUS Mint is set for nationwide expansion.
 ... Camel SNUS Mint had previously only been available in 27 states across the country, as of April 2012. Continued

Tobacco Festival begins

(newsdemocrat.com) It's here! The 31st annual Ohio Tobacco Festival runs Aug. 23-26 and will be located in downtown historic Ripley. This year's theme is "Preserving Tobacco Heritage."
All four days, craft booths, commercial exhibits, carnival rides, and concessions will be up and running for any shopping, quenching, and adrenaline needs. The carnival will be behind the post office, and each evening starting Friday will also feature musical entertainment on the main stage and a raffle drawing.
Festival Schedule: Continued

Gotland Anis, Loose Snus Tobacco Review

(Snus Girl) ... The first thing I notices was the saltiness, way saltier then Röda Lacket (if that’s even possible), but not unpleasant and definitely enjoyable. Then the Anis hit me.
It's not as candy like as the odens Licorice, but more of a pure herbal licorice root extract taste. Continued

Berger & Argenti Releases Ultra-Thick FATSO Cigar

(Cigar Aficionado) What do you get when stuff a perfecto with tobacco until it’s a 70 ring gauge, and then flatten it? The answer is Berger & Argenti’s FATSO brand—or at least its thickest size.
FATSO is the newest cigar line to come from the mind of Michael Argenti, the creative force behind the Berger & Argenti brands, a company Argenti owns with his brother Albert and cigarmaker Kiki Berger. Continued

New Frog Morton Tobacco Blend

There's a new Frog Morton Tobacco blend for sale from McClelland called Frog Morton's Cellar. Apparently, it's Frog Morton aged in whiskey barrels, with a chunk of whiskey barrel thrown in for emphasis. Here's a link.

Tobacco Roads

(PfP) Wednesday evening, after dinner, my friend Scott Stultz and I drove out through the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania countryside so that I could photograph the tobacco fields at dusk.
Winding lanes, one-lane covered bridges, and stone houses dotted the route we took north from Marietta. In some forested creek bottoms, the old oak canopies were so thick overhead to make it seem like night was scouting the terrain. Continued

A Short History of Bayuk Cigars

(National Cigar History Museum) The history of the cigar-making Bayuk brothers begins in 1896 when Sam, Max and Meyer Bayuk pooled $325 and opened their first factory in a rented Philadelphia attic, joining 900 or so other Philadelphia cigar makers.
Their first cigar brand, PRINCESS BONNIE, sold well enough they were able to opened a second factory in Lancaster county, PA. In 1910, they introduced PHILADELPHIA HAND MADE PERFECTO, which the smoking public quickly adopted, shortening the name to “Phillies.” In 1912, the Bayuk Bros. Cigar Co. moved to larger headquarters in Philadelphia while operating small factories in Allentown, Steelton and Bethlehem in PA, Newark and Perth Amboy in NJ as well as one in Binghamton, NY.
Over the next decades, the company maintained five brands of cigars in their catalog, all made in multiple sizes and sizes and shapes: PHILADELPHIA PERFECTO, CHARLES THOMSON, HAVANA RIBBON, MAPACUBA and PRINCE HAMLET. Continued

Photo: Largest building in the Eisenlohr–Bayuk Tobacco Historic District on the NRHP since September 21, 1990. The historic district is near North Water Street, at West Liberty Street (this building is a bit south of that) in the Stadium District of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Part of the NRHP multiple submission for tobacco industry buildings in Lancaster (Wikipedia).

David Linley showcases intricately designed Riviera Humidor for affluent cigar aficionados

(Pursuitist) The humidors have been special for the ultra-class people who were or are known for their style statement. In the very new and enchanting David Linley’s Riviera collection, you will trace out this Riviera Humidor which will be something that you don’t see quite often. A few months ago, Linley came up with the Riviera collection which got a good recognition, because it focused upon the magnificent world of yachting of Côte d’Azur. It was glamour-laden and praised by many noteworthy and rich people. The new collection by the luxury house offers this Riviera Humidor, which is too precious and made with the best of wooden hand-crafting costing you as high as £6,000 (approx. US $9,413). Continued

Big crops for N.C. flue-cured and Tennessee burley tobacco

(Tobacco Farmer Newsletter) After the dismal production of 2011, both flue-cured and burley appear headed toward much better production, according to the USDA August Crop Report, issued this morning. North Carolina flue-cured and Tennessee burley--and to a lesser extent both types in Virginia--lead the way in percentage increase. Continued

Battleground Cigar 150th Commemorative Edition

In Commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Battleground Cigars of Enfield, Conn. has released its Battleground 150th Anniversary Cigars.
The cigars, which are hand-rolled in the Dominican Republic, are offered in a choice of two different genuine Connecticut-grown wrappers. The Connecticut shade wrapper is a mild- to medium-bodied blend with a smooth creamy smoke that contains a hint of nutmeg and cedar, says company president Michael Tarnowicz, while the Connecticut broadleaf wrapper offers a full-bodied smoke. Continued

Private equity rolls into Republic Tobacco - sources

(Reuters) Private equity firms Carlyle Group LP (CG.O) and Pamplona Capital Management LP are among a handful of parties weighing bids for Republic Tobacco, a privately held company that makes the Drum brand of loose tobacco in the United States, according to people familiar with the matter. ... Republic, which is said to be seeking as much as $2 billion according to some of the people, has also attracted interest from Britain's Imperial Tobacco Group Plc (IMT.L), one of the people said. Continued

The Beat of Headley Grange - in a Cigar

(Cigar Aficionado) “I wish we could blend a cigar that tastes like the first six seconds of ‘When the Levee Breaks’ sounds.” That comment, uttered by Jon Huber of Crowned Heads LLC, resulted in the creation of Headley Grange, a one-size (for now) cigar brand that had its public debut two weeks ago in Orlando, and will start shipping to cigar stores in mid-September. Continued

Windsor's tobacco history

Windsor's tobacco history

WINDSOR, Conn. (WTNH) A rich history unique to Windsor is still alive today and it deals with tobacco - specifically for cigars.
The shade tobacco crop brought in millions of dollars to the region over the years. It also provided work for thousands of people including young teens who worked the fields. The industry at a high covered more than 30,000 acres state-wide in farmland. It has now fallen to about 2,000 acres today.
Continued

Tobacco Art: Georges Braque

(Eric Squires) "..in the still-life you have a tactile, I might almost say a manual space.. This answered to the hankering I have always had to touch things and not merely see them.. In tactile space you measure the distance separating you from the object, whereas in visual space you measure the distance separating things from each other. This is what led me, long ago, from landscape to still-life"
Thus explained the French artist Georges Braque, who along with Pablo Picasso founded the Cubist style of the early twentieth century.  Continued

Japan Tobacco Rebrands Mild Seven To Compete With Marlboro

(Trefis) Japan Tobacco recently announced the re-branding of its flagship brand Mild Seven to Mevius in an attempt to gain international market share and take on the world’s best selling cigarette brand, Philip Morris’s (NYSE:PM) Marlboro.
Mild Seven holds the largest market share for premium cigarettes in Japan and is sold in 16 other countries, including Taiwan, South Korea and Russia. The brand had global shipment volumes of 76.5 billion units in 2011 compared to Marlboro’s 302 billion units. Continued

New Shapes Added to Aging Room Small Batch M356 Cigar Line

(smokemag.com) Boutique Blends Cigars, a new company launched by Habana Cuba Oliveros Cigars focusing on the company’s specialty and small batch lines, has added two new sizes to the Aging Room Small Batch M356 Line: The Forte, a preferido shape measuring 5 x 56, and the Motivo, measuring 6 x 46.
... The Aging Room Small Batch M356 is made from rare and limited tobacco from a single Dominican Republic farm of the veteran tobacco grower Jose A. Blanco and was blended by Boutique Blends’ president Rafael Nodal as part of a “new vision of bold, robust, and complex Dominican blends,” the company explains. Continued

Fans of Partagas Cigars to Meet in Cuba

(cubaheadlines.com) The famous Cuban cigar brand Partagas will celebrate its 167 anniversary surrounded by its friends and fans from around the world next November. Over 350 cigar distributors, businesspeople, entrepreneurs and specialists will gather here at the 23 rd Meeting of Clients and Friends of Partagas, said Abel Exposito, director of the Partagas Cigar Factory. Continued

Burley tobacco crop in Kentucky, Tenn., make late comeback after timely rains

(The Republic) FINCHVILLE, Ky. — For burley tobacco farmers in Kentucky and Tennessee, forecasts for a close-to-average yield are coming as a big relief after sweating through prospects of a paltry harvest as extreme heat and a dry spell stunted the crop's growth for much of the season.
Piles of recently cut burley tobacco sit on a trailer on Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, on a farm near Finchville, Ky. For burley tobacco farmers in Kentucky and Tennessee, an average crop being forecast is a big relief. A few weeks ago, the crop was on the brink of ruin from extreme heat and drought. Now, tobacco specialists say much of the burley has gone through a growth spurt, thanks to recent rains. (AP Photo/Bruce Schreiner) Tobacco showed its toughness after timely rains spurred a late-season spurt for much of the crop. In a matter of weeks, some knee-high burley sprouted to shoulder length. The added weight of the tobacco leaves figures to help fatten paychecks for farmers at markets that open late in the year. Continued

Also: North Carolina tobacco crop bouncing back from 2011 

New Padrón 1964 Anniversary Cigar Ships This Week

(Cigar Aficionado) The fattest ever Padrón 1964 Anniversary Series cigar was unveiled this weekend, and it’s going to ship to retailers this week. The Padrón 1964 Anniversary Series No. 4, a substantial smoke measuring 6 1/2 inches long with a 60 ring gauge, is ready to reach cigar retailers.
The team from Cigar Aficionado smoked preview versions of the box-pressed cigar this weekend in Orlando at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers trade show. It had an effortless draw, big, rich flavor and notes of cocoa and vanilla, familiar to Padrón smokers. Continued

Worst Drought in 50-Years Affects Corn Cob Pipe Production

(Pips Magazine) ... Unfortunately, good turned to bad with the arrival of the worst drought in 50-years, combined with a massive heat wave. For Missouri Meerschaum, the bigger problem is the heat wave. They are lucky that their fields are irrigated, which obviously helps, although the lack of rain is still a challenge. The extreme, unrelenting heat is actually cooking the plants from the top down. Continued

Rocky Patel Uses Broadleaf for Private Cellar Cigars

(Cigar Aficionado) Rocky Patel is calling his company’s new release, Rocky Patel Private Cellar, a personal favorite. The three-size, broadleaf-clad line was released at the IPCPR trade show.
Billed as a medium-to-full-bodied cigar, Private Cellar is made with a Nicaraguan binder, Nicaraguan fillers and a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. It is being rolled at Patel’s Tavicusa factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. Continued

A Short History of Overland Cigars

(Cigar History Museum) ... Some time around 1910 S.S. Pierce purchased the OVERLAND brand of cigars from John Gray & Co. and adopted it as their house brand, available through all their thousands of outlets, which accounts for the proliferation of OVERLAND boxes available to today’s collectors. The cigars were originally hand made for them under contract by D. Emil Klein who rolled them for approximately 40 years in their large Factory #63 at 444 East 91st Street in Manhattan. Klein, established in 1898, is best known for their nationally marketed brands EMANELO, HADDEN HALL, and NOTTINGHAM, but like most cigar companies, produced custom and limited edition brands as well. Continued

Litto Gomez Joins With Jose Seijas

(Cigar Aficionado) Two of the biggest names in Dominican cigars are coming together in an ambitious joint venture aimed at producing cigars for the vibrant tourism industry in the Dominican Republic.
Jose Seijas, who ran the world’s largest handmade cigar factory for decades and oversaw production of Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo cigars, will be working with Litto Gomez, the man behind the hot La Flor Dominicana cigar brand. Seijas will be running a new cigar factory in the tourist town of La Romana called the La Flor Dominicana Experience, where a small group of rollers will begin rolling Gomez’s La Flor Dominicana Air Benders.
Continued

Condor Tobacco Advert (Canal) 1980s

Do You Enjoy New Cigars?

(David Savona) ... There was a time when new cigars weren’t a part of the cigar industry. If you smoked cigars during the 1970s or 1980s, you probably had a regular brand, even a regular size. Old school retailers who I’ve spoken to over my years of covering the cigar industry have explained that cigar smokers of yore didn’t even experiment from size-to-size. If they liked Punch Rothchilds, they didn’t reach for a Punch Lonsdale every now and then to mix it up. If they smoked Arturo Fuente Curly Heads, they didn’t occasionally reach for a Fuente 8-5-8.
That was then. The reality of today is that many cigar smokers look for what’s new. Continued

CDC Offers Money-Saving Tips for Smokers Who Don't Want to Quit

(reason) ... You may wonder why the Times focuses on male high school seniors. Possibly because they have a higher rate of "current" tobacco use (which means any consumption of any tobacco product in the last month) than any other subgroup. The numbers for all high school students (23 percent) and female seniors (25 percent), for instance, are less impressive. The Times also fails to note that tobacco consumption continues decline among teenagers (and among adults, according to the CDC's excise-tax data) despite those supposedly enticing cigars. And not surprisingly, the Times did not ask Michael Tynan on what basis he concludes that "fruit and other flavorings...appeal to young smokers" when survey data show no such thing. Continued

Zino Mobile Luxury Cigar Lounge Goes on Tour

(Cigar Aficionado) Come September, you might see a jet-black Mercedes Sprinter 2500EXT parked in front of your local tobacconist with the Zino Platinum emblem gracing the grill. It isn’t a new model of Mercedes, but the concept behind the Zino Platinum mobile lounge, a luxury-appointed branded van put on the road to celebrate the Platinum’s 10 year anniversary. Continued

Erik Stokkebye is Back in the Tobacco Business

(Pips Magazine) You may remember earlier this year when we reported on the Stokkebye, Lane, STG Shake-Up, which left Erik Stokkebye out of the business he had been in his entire life. Well, now he’s back, and he spoke exclusively to Pipes Magazine.
 Erik remains in his home state of North Carolina, but he is working with California-based Phillips & King, the largest importer / wholesaler of tobacco products in the U.S. Together, they are marketing Stokkebye’s new line of premium pipe tobaccos aptly named: 4th Generation. Continued