José Blanco joined E.P. Carrillo almost three years ago, and now is leaving the company. At E.P. Carrillo he served as senior vice president and his tenure will officially end August 31. Prior to E.P. Carrillo, José Blanco ran his own cigar company Las Cumbres Tabaco where he released the Senorial line, and before that spent his time at Joya de Nicaragua and La Aurora.
XIKAR showed off a new cutter at this year's IPCPR trade show, the Ensō. THe Ensō is a double-guillotine cigar cutter whose name comes from Japanese culture in which the ensō is a minimalist circle drawn in one stroke at a moment of clarity of the mind.
Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas have had appearances in 2005 and 2009, and are regarded as some of the brands best blends. 2019 will see a limited return of this line. This new line was shown off at IPCPR.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the ACID brand, and to celebrate, Drew Estate is releasing a 20th anniversary cigar ACID 20. The cigar is a box-pressed robusto 5 x 52 that comes in chrome boxes. It will be shown off at IPCPR 2019.
Ventura Cigar Company (VCC) has announced a new collaboration between Michael Giannini, Benjamin “Benji” Menendez, and Manuel “Manolo” Quesada. This new project is called Cuban Cigar Factory, and will be comprised of two blends: The Benji Menendez for Cuban Cigar Factory and The Manolo Quesada for Cuban Cigar Factory.
Screwpop Tool has announced a new kind of cigar cutter to the industry: Magpulse. This new cutter uses rare-earth magnets with a semi-friction break that together offer both a spring-like action when opening, and smooth resistance to control when closing.
Three years ago, RoMa Craft Tobac and Cigar Dojo collaborated for the original Whiskey Rebellion. This cigar came in one size, a robusto, and was limited to 6,000 cigars and sold exclusively through Famous Smoke Shop. It sold out in one hour. It was later expanded in vitolas and released as a regular production cigar through Famous. Now, the two companies are releasing a sequel: Whiskey Rebellion 1794 Pennsatucky.
Last year, we were the first cigar media company to bring you LIVE coverage from IPCPR. Because of its success, we are continuing our coverage on social media and expanding it. From today June 28th through Tuesday July 2nd, follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts for live pictures and video interviews from the show floor. You can view them all together in the feed below or follow our accounts on each platform.
The original Undercrown Shady was released in collaboration with Shady Records for their 20th Anniversary in 2014 to 10 Detroit area retailers. The blend was a stronger version of the Undercrown like the Corona Viva and came in soft packs of 10 cigars. Now, the company is following that release with the Undercrown ShadyXX to celebrate Shady Records 20th Anniversary. It will be shown off at IPCPR.
Drew Estate announced today new humidified 5-packs in some of it's popular lines including: Undercrown Maduro and Shade, Tabak Especial Dulce and Negra, ACID Kuba Kuba, ACID Kuba Maduro, ACID Toast, ACID Cold Infusion and ACID Blondie and La Vieja Habana Cuban Corojo. They will be shown off at IPCPR.