92%
Total Score - Great
Giannini had been with General for 17 years. In March, 2012, he was promoted to his role as creative director, which also carried the title of director of innovations. He was responsible for coming up with non-traditional cigar releases, and started the Foundry Cigar Co., a subsidiary of General dedicated to unorthodox cigars, including the signature Foundry brand. It featured cigars made from blends of tobacco he wouldn't reveal, packed in odd-shaped boxes, one of which came together in a shape reminiscent of a bundle of TNT.
Brian Massey has joined the marketing team at Ventura Cigar Company (VCC). Brian will report directly to Michael Giannini who recently took on the General Manager role at VCC. Archetype, PSyKo Seven, and Case study are the popular core brands that make up much of the portfolio at VCC. Brian will be working to drive sales and marketing efforts with these brands.
Quality Importers Trading Co launched a new cutter at the PCA trade show earlier this month. The Xikar Revolution is a new kind of rotary action cigar cutter that features synchronized stainless steel blades and power-assisted cutting action.
Quality Importers Trading Company has announced that they are now shipping their new Xikar Xi80 cutter to retailers worldwide. The Xi80 was first shown off at the 2022 PCA Tradeshow. It takes the original Xi cutter and adapts it to fit larger ring gauge cigars. The Xikar Xi80 features a durable composite body with stainless steel blades designed to cut cigars up to 80 ring gauge. The new design is only available in the classic black color at the moment, but is able to be customized for retailers and manufacturers through QIs in house customization studio, The Swag Bunker. It retails for $49.99
Ventura Cigars is bringing the Third Chapter of it's Archetype Series to IPCPR 2019. This Chapter will feature two blends: Sacred Scales and Dawn of Destiny. Archetype Chapter 3 is a collaboration with E.P. Carrillo and rolled at his factory La Alianza in the Dominican Republic. Carrillo and Ventura Cigar General Manager Michael Giannini have been friends for 20 years and have collaborated before.
Michael Gianinni joined Ventura Cigar Company back in November 2017 as Creative Director. Now he has been promoted to General Manager. He will keep his current duties as Creative Director, continuing to be the driving force for the companies creative direction. In his new role, Michael Giannini will drive business strategies and goals for the Ventura Cigar Company.
November 2017 – Ventura Cigar Company (VCC) welcomes Michael Giannini to its Marketing Team, where he will assume the role of Creative Director at Ventura Cigars. With a keen eye for design and market insight, Giannini will lead the brand vision for proprietary VCC products and serve as the Brand Ambassador at cigar events worldwide. He joins the VCC team from La Gloria Cubana, where he most recently was the Director of Innovations and Creative Director for their General Cigar division.
Back in June of this year, Ventura Cigar Company (VCC) announced the third series in their Archetype line, Archetype Chapter 3. These cigars started shipping today to the United States. Chapter 3 contains two blends, Sacred Scales and Dawn of Destiny. Both new cigars in the series, blended by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, stem from the long-term freindship between Perez-Carrillo and Michael Giannini.
General Cigar introduced a ton of new things at the show this year, and we are pretty excited about some of them.