Cigar Coop Prime Time Show

PCA 2023: Aganorsa Leaf

It took us a few tries to get time with the folks at the Aganorsa Leaf booth at the 2023 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, but that was because the booth was very active. That's understandable because Aganorsa Leaf came into PCA 2023 with a strong lineup of brand and line extensions. Heading up the lineup is one big line extension. When we say big, we mean big in cigar size - a 10 x 100 cigar. On the other hand, a small ring gauge comes to the Rare Leaf Reserve line in the form of 6 x 44 Lonsdale. There are also new lines coming to the Aniversario and New Cuba brands. Finally, we presented Aganorsa Leaf's Terence Reilly with a special award.

Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-qhB

 

PCA 2023: Lampert Cigars (Audio)

Lampert Cigars was a first-time booth visit for the Cigar Coop Coalition team. However, the brand has been on the team's radar for some time. The brand is the namesake of Dr. Stefan Lampert, a lawyer out of Austria. He created a brand called My Cigar Lab which gave people the opportunity to create their very own handmade premium cigars as if in a laboratory. This became a springboard for Lampert to then start to share some of his favorite blends, and thus Lampert Cigars was born. Over the past few years, Lampert began working with many factories in different countries to make his cigars. This year, the focus was on a new San Andres blend for his core Lampert 1675 line and a PCA Exclusive offering.

Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-qha

PCA 2023: Lampert Cigars

Lampert Cigars was a first-time booth visit for the Cigar Coop Coalition team. However, the brand has been on the team's radar for some time. The brand is the namesake of Dr. Stefan Lampert, a lawyer out of Austria. He created a brand called My Cigar Lab which gave people the opportunity to create their very own handmade premium cigars as if in a laboratory. This became a springboard for Lampert to then start to share some of his favorite blends, and thus Lampert Cigars was born. Over the past few years, Lampert began working with many factories in different countries to make his cigars. This year, the focus was on a new San Andres blend for his core Lampert 1675 line and a PCA Exclusive offering.

Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-qha

PCA 2023: Palió (Audio)

Quality Importers Trading Company declared 2023 "Year of the Palió" as there was a big focus on the Palió brand. For many years Palió was known for its innovative cutter.  Over the past few years, Palió has become a value-priced brand for cutters and lighters in the Quality Importers portfolio. When Xikar was acquired, that would become the more premium line of cutters and lighters. This year Quality Importers decided to introduce a series in-between the Palió and Xikar series in terms of price point known as Palió Pro which will feature three lighters priced between $44.99 and $49.99. Meanwhile Palió as keeps true to its roots as a value-priced brand as Quality Importers introduced a new value-priced lighter known as the Palió Pistola.

Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-qh4

PCA 2023: Palió

Quality Importers Trading Company declared 2023 "Year of the Palió" as there was a big focus on the Palió brand. For many years Palió was known for its innovative cutter.  Over the past few years, Palió has become a value-priced brand for cutters and lighters in the Quality Importers portfolio. When Xikar was acquired, that would become the more premium line of cutters and lighters. This year Quality Importers decided to introduce a series in-between the Palió and Xikar series in terms of price point known as Palió Pro which will feature three lighters priced between $44.99 and $49.99. Meanwhile Palió as keeps true to its roots as a value-priced brand as Quality Importers introduced a new value-priced lighter known as the Palió Pistola.

Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-qh4

 

Prime Time Special Edition 145 Audio: Cigar Coop 13th Anniversary Show w/ Matt Booth

On August 15 2010, Will Cooper went to his first IPCPR Trade Show as a buyer. After an adventure getting an Iced Coffee in the heat of New Orleans, he decided to chronicle his tales of his visit to the Trade Show and Cigar Coop was born. Along the way, he met some interesting characters and one of them was a newcomer to the cigar industry named Matt Booth. Over the years, Matt and Coop have developed a friendship akin to the Odd Couple -at the same time that friendship expanded to the rest of the team.  Tonight, we welcome Matt Booth to this anniversary show. All I can say is put on your seat belts for this one.

Bear and Coop will reflect on the last 13 years as well.

Plus we have our U.S. History segment, Tabacalera USA Great Things are Happening Here, and Espinosa This Day in Sports History segments.

References

• Police Officer Jumps Fence to Save Chained Dog from Fire, Not Giving Up Even When Heat Turned Severe
• Dozens of Messages in Bottles Tossed by a Nantucket Fisherman are Found Around the World

Prime Time Special Edition 145: Cigar Coop 13th Anniversary Show w/ Matt Booth

On August 15 2010, Will Cooper went to his first IPCPR Trade Show as a buyer. After an adventure getting an Iced Coffee in the heat of New Orleans, he decided to chronicle his tales of his visit to the Trade Show and Cigar Coop was born. Along the way, he met some interesting characters and one of them was a newcomer to the cigar industry named Matt Booth. Over the years, Matt and Coop have developed a friendship akin to the Odd Couple -at the same time that friendship expanded to the rest of the team.  Tonight, we welcome Matt Booth to this anniversary show. All I can say is put on your seat belts for this one.

Bear and Coop will reflect on the last 13 years as well.

Plus we have our U.S. History segment, Tabacalera USA Great Things are Happening Here, and Espinosa This Day in Sports History segments.

References

• Police Officer Jumps Fence to Save Chained Dog from Fire, Not Giving Up Even When Heat Turned Severe
• Dozens of Messages in Bottles Tossed by a Nantucket Fisherman are Found Around the World

PCA 2023: Topper Cigars (Audio)

Cigar Coop has been covering the Trade Show since 2010, and every year we manage to visit Topper Cigars' booth.  There is a rich history for this family, and owner Chris Topper is quite proud of it. There aren't any new offerings from Topper Cigars this year, but there were a couple of things of interest. First up, there is a second production run of the Topper 125th Anniversary Cigar - which, as the name indicates, commemorates 125 years of Topper Cigars. In addition, Chris Topper gave us a little glimpse of what the next project will be.

Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-qgp

            

PCA 2023: Topper Cigars

Cigar Coop has been covering the Trade Show since 2010, and every year we manage to visit Topper Cigars' booth.  There is a rich history for this family, and owner Chris Topper is quite proud of it. There aren't any new offerings from Topper Cigars this year, but there were a couple of things of interest. First up, there is a second production run of the Topper 125th Anniversary Cigar - which, as the name indicates, commemorates 125 years of Topper Cigars. In addition, Chris Topper gave us a little glimpse of what the next project will be.

Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-qgp

            

PCA 2023: Fratello Cigars (Audio)

At an FDA Seminar at the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show, a relatively unknown new brand had its debut cigar launched. That brand was Fratello Cigars, owned by Omar de Frias who worked for NASA. Following the Trade Show, Omar would take a grassroots approach to introduce his cigars to the market that he called "Fratello Road." Fast forward to 2023, and this year Omar and Fratello are celebrating ten years in the cigar business. Our visit to the Fratello booth included a lot of reminiscing over Fratello's decade in the cigar business. In addition, there were a couple of new releases. The first was Fratello - The Lunar, which is being released in conjunction with the upcoming Nova-C Lunar Landing project. In addition, the Fratello Sorella, a line that hasn't had a full U.S. launch, will now see one.

Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-qgf