the eñd: TheCigarFeed is now halfwheel

Posted onJanuary 1st, 2012

You might have wondered… What happened to your reviews? Why does it seem like the site sort of half died around August? Seriously, the last review was the middle of September. The answer, I was running two cigar blogs. Today, after thousands hours of work, I’m pleased to announce TheCigarFeed is shutting down.

Since July, Charlie Stahl and myself have been working with the team at SmokingStogie to create an entirely new cigar blog. While I’d love to talk about the new site, you can read all of that here.

I’d like to take this time to thank all of the readers and those who helped TheCigarFeed get to the point it is. A year and a half ago, things were a lot different. I’d like to think in the short time we were around, we made a difference. I think the idea of cigar news has changed, quite a bit. I think we brought attention to Lanceros and the shear amount of cigars being released in a single year. None of that would be possible without the help of a lot of people behind the scenes. Without these countless individuals, TheCigarFeed would not have been responsible for our news stories, let alone the biggest cigar news stories of the past couple years.

It wouldn’t be a moment of thanks without some words for Bill and Lynn Davies of Tobacco Locker. Without their support, none of this would have ever happened and for that, anyone that has enjoyed my work over the past year and a half is in some form of perpetual debt to Bill and Lynn.

There will be no new content on TheCigarFeed and by the middle of February, the site will just forward to halfwheel.

the eñd. — el niño diablo

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Ten Questions for 2012

Posted onDecember 30th, 2011

Last year, I published an article entitled Ten Questions for 2011. The concept was simple, what were a few of the topics to watch for in the upcoming year. With the notable exception of E.P. Carrillo’s crazy year, I’d like to think that we covered most of the major topics of 2011. With another year quickly approaching it seems about time to publish this year’s rendition. It’s been a fun time, but the future is much brighter. — el niño diablo.

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Weekly News (December 26, 2011)

Posted onDecember 26th, 2011

Editor’s Note: It’s a light news week, which isn’t shocking, but there is quite a bit of relatively unheard of news. This past week we published our Top 10 list of cigars, which you can read here and later this week, we will close the year with our Ten Questions for 2012. Until then, some news from Fuente and others. — el niño diablo.

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The 2011 Awards

Posted onDecember 23rd, 2011

From the get go, 2011 might have been a good cigar year, but it was not a good year on top. The reality is there are numerous cigars that didn’t make my Top 10 list last year that would easily be in the top half of this year’s list. The Liga Privada Ünico Serie Dirty Rat and Tatuaje Pork Tenderloin were easily ahead of whatever you want to list as 3, 4, 5, etc. last year, that gap is multiple times larger if you compare either to anything that came out this year. The overall body of work of the industry was quite good, but assembling a top 10 list was difficult for the exact opposite reason of last year. Ultimately, I think 2011 was a year with a lot of cigars in the middle areas with noticeably not a lot of releases separating themselves on the bottom and top. I’ve sat with this list for the past two weeks, tweaked it a few times, but ultimately, I’m still not satisfied.

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Some Thoughts On “Cigars: The Heart and Soul of Cuba”

Posted onDecember 22nd, 2011

The central question in this movie is BS. Plain and simple, under no circumstances am I buying that James Suckling had any doubts why Cuban cigars were, as he puts it, the greatest in the world. In his recently released film, Cigars: The Heart and Soul of Cuba, the former European Editor of Cigar Aficionado doesn’t ask if Cuban cigars are the greatest, rather, why are Cuban cigars the greatest. I won’t give away his conclusion, although the title might provide some hints. And I guess to a degree, that’s better than Suckling pondering if he thinks Dominicans could be better, but, for anyone that has followed Suckling’s work, this is still a bit much. I could have told you the answer before the movie started, or at least hist answer, but alas, I pushed play.

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Weekly News (December 19, 2011)

Posted onDecember 19th, 2011

Editor’s Note: Apologies for what is the second time in a year and half the news is late. It’s not a great news week as nearly every company has shut down. Lots of new stuff for 2012 coming, but lots of stuff still to workout. Anyways, after the jump, a far less exciting rendition of the weekly news. — el niño diablo.

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Weekly News (December 12, 2011)

Posted onDecember 12th, 2011

Editor’s Note: A few things. Last week I stated that we would not be publishing a Top Ten list this year, I lied. Due to a variety of things, one will come out sometime this week. Sales meetings start this week and will continue through the middle of January, which means you can expect lots of new product announcements. This is the last real week of any action for the year, which might explain a somewhat ridiculously lengthy and content-packed Weekly News. Enjoy. — el niño diablo.

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News: Drew Estate Launches iPhone App

Posted onDecember 6th, 2011

Two things from Drew Estate on the social media/online front. First and foremost, Drew Estate has officially launched their iPhone App, becoming the first manufacturer to release a mobile app to the public. Those who downloaded the iPhone App, which appeared briefly on the App Store a few weeks ago, will notice the App has updated to 1.0.1. In addition, Drew Estate has relaunched Cigar Safari’s website, which hosts information regarding Drew Estate’s popular Nicaraguan cigar tours at La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate. Press release for the Drew Estate iPhone App after the jump.

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News: Litto Gomez Diez Small Batch No. 4

Posted onDecember 6th, 2011

Back before the IPCPR trade show in July, I broke the news on the next Litto Gomez Diez Small Batch No. 4. Word was La Flor Dominicana head Litto Gomez had been working on a prototype named “L22″ that featured Pelo de Oro and was to be the next version of the popular Litto Gomez Diez Small Batch series. Sources indicated that the release was scheduled to be at the end of 2011. Shortly thereafter La Flor Dominicana contacted me saying that the info on Small Batch No. 4 was incorrect and that it wasn’t likely to be until the beginning of 2012.

In Las Vegas, the official (and now a bit more public) word from La Flor was once again, Small Batch No. 4 was to ship in early 2012. There was no word on the wrapper, as well as some conflicting rumors on the time, which now indicated November.

On September 30, 2011, the first box of Small Batch No. 4 auctioned at W. Curtis Draper’s Little Puff for $2,700.00. There weren’t tons of surprises: 105 cigars from 2006 tobacco, all grown at La Flor’s farms in La Canela, Dominican Republic. (That was featured in the Weekly News for October 3, 2011.) Fast forward a few weeks and La Flor Dominicana officially confirmed that Small Batch No. 4, as well as Factory Press IV, was scheduled for a December release barring any delays. Shortly before Thanksgiving, Factory Press IV was released with the date for Small Batch No. 4 again pushed back until early 2012.

Early this morning, Buckhead Cigar indicated that they would be receiving Small Batch No. 4 and later Andrew Brennan, National Vice President of Sales, confirmed that it would in fact be a Dominican Pelo de Oro wrapper. Size is 7 x 52. It’s unclear at this point how many boxes of Small Batch No. 4 are shipping now versus next year, but as always, details as they come. — el niño diablo.

(Picture via Jerry Cruz of Stogie Review.)

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Weekly News (December 5, 2011)

Posted onDecember 5th, 2011

Editor’s Note: December has arrived, and it is quite obvious. There’s not a whole lot of public news, but projects are beginning to come together for the upcoming year. There’s not a tremendous amount of news, and I suspect that will continue through early next year. A few things ship this week and next week will start the flood of Top 10 List. To be honest, I would doubt TheCigarFeed does one this year. — el niño diablo.

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