News: Benjamin Holt Purchases Dissident Cigar Brand

Dissident Cigars came out in 2013 and had kind of an edgy, punky feel, with frontmarks such as Bloc and Soapbox. I have no prior knowledge or contact with the company or products, but I remember reading about them five years ago or thereabouts, apparently the owners were “Gweedo C” and “Red Ryan”. One might jump to a conclusion that there may be a new iteration of this line maybe coming out of BLTC?  One can hope!

 

Benjamin Holt states, “Over the past few years I have seen many cigar brands come and go. Some stopped operations due to fear of FDA regulations. Others because of failure to adapt to the changes in the market. My intent with Dissident is to learn from those lessons and utilize my experience from both the retail side and as a cigar representative to create a cigar brand for a new generation of cigar smokers.”

 

For the past 5 years Benjamin Holt has worked in different areas of the cigar industry to include starting off in retail at TJ’s Cigar Lounge in McGregor, Texas. In 2015, he joined Black Label Trading Co. as a sales representative assisting in expanding the brand and in the launching of their Black Works Studio line. In 2016, Black Label Trading Co. joined Boutiques Unified and Holt joined the team soon after, continuing in his role as a sales representative.

As to why he chose to purchase Dissident, he states, “I have always thought that Dissident had huge potential and in time I would like to bring this brand back into the market. There are numerous objectives that need to be met first before that can happen and I am working with some incredible people to see that come to pass.”

 

Holt will continue to be the representative for the brands distributed by LJ Zucca until further notice.

 

For more information contact info@smoke-dissident.com.

Share

Comments Off on News: Benjamin Holt Purchases Dissident Cigar Brand

Filed under News

A Julius Caeser and a Brick House and a Podcast Appearance

As I mentioned last week, J.C. Newman is a new sponsor here at CigarCraig.com, and I couldn’t be happier to have them on board. If you notice their advertisement, you can click through for a chance to win one of their beautiful Diamond Crown humidors, and I’m all about contests! They were also kind enough to share a couple of their latest offerings with me, which I sampled this week. Of course, I couldn’t wait to smoke the Julius Ceaser Hail Caeser, the 6″ x 60 Gordo in the line. I think the last time I smoked a Julius Caeser was 2012, the night of the launch of Bernie Parent’s BSB No. 1 cigar at a dinner sponsored by Ned’s Cigars in Newtown PA. The owner of the show, a gentleman named Luca, who has since tragically passed, gifted me a Julius Ceaser when we met up before the event to get acquainted. It’s one of those cigar moments one remembers. I have another one in one of the Toast Across America coffins in the Shark vitola from 2014 that my daughter bought me (5 years ago, I guess they are about ready to smoke now!). Point is, I don’t smoke a great many Julius Caesers, so I was excited to smoke this one. I know a lot of my colleagues aren’t big ring gauge fans, but I happen to like them in many cases. This cigar has an Ecuador Havana Seed wrapper, with “Caribbean and Central American” fillers, which is rather general, aged for five years. When I think of how I expect cigars over $15 should smoke, this one is in full compliance. I had no complaints at all, the physical performance was perfect.  As far as flavor goes, it was very flavorful, even for a large ring cigar. It’s a cigar I find more wood and earthy notes in than spice or sweetness, although there is a hint of cocoa. It’s a cigar that I’d keep in my humidor if money were no object. I’m reminded that it’s been forever since I smoked a Diamond Crown Maximus, and I need to remedy that.

 

I had the honor and privileged of appearing on The Retrohale Podcast this week with Bret and Mark. It was recorded Sunday night and released later in the week. I have been enjoying their show for a while and have contributed to their website, and they have been very generous in promoting my site on their show. It was fun, although I think Bret thinks I’m a little more high-falutin than I really am! Maybe I have become more of a cigar snob in later years, but I’m still a cheap bastid at heart! The guys at the Cigar Hacks Podcast turned me on to The Retrohale, and they are hosting them this coming weekend in New Hampshire, and I sure wish I could join them! Give both shows a listen, both are entertaining, I’ve tried not to make a fool of myself on them both and consider all those folks friends!

 

The other cigar that J. C. Newman shared with me is the Brick House Double Connecticut Mighty Mighty, a 6¼” x 60 gordo. This is on the other end of the price spectrum from the Julius Caeser, coming in around $7. The Brick House line is made in their Nicaraguan factory, PENSA, and has a U.S. grown Connecticut Shade wrapper over a U.S. grown Connecticut Broadleaf binder with Nicaraguan fillers. This is presented as a mild cigar, and I found it to be medium, and maybe full flavored. It had LOADS of flavor!  The shade wrapper had its signature grassy flavor that was unmistakable, but the chocolatelyness from the broadleaf was there from the binder, which also gave it some body, which was most appreciated. Well put-together, everybody knows, this is how the story goes. I found this cigar to be very interesting. I know this has been around for over a year, but it’s been one I’ve missed, and I like the regular Brick House line. The combination of the two Connecticut leaves really provides an interesting flavor sensation, and I think at this price, it’s a no-brainer. I’ll be trying this in other vitolas, but the Mighty Mighty is just lettin it all hang out.

 

That’s all for today. Since I rarely string two days off in a row any more it’s hard to get anything done around here, so things like the podcast and content have suffered. Hopefully I get a chance to get something recorded for another podcast episode soon.  Ideas are welcome! Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

Share

Comments Off on A Julius Caeser and a Brick House and a Podcast Appearance

Filed under Review

News: Fratello Cigars and Drapers Announce Partnership

Proving once again what I’ve often said, Omar is one of the nicest darned guys in the cigar industry!

 

FRATELLO CIGARS AND W.CURTIS DRAPER ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP TO HELP FURLOUGHED GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

 

Omar de Frias announced  today that Fratello Cigars, in partnership with W. Curtis Draper Tobacconist, will be offering relief to federal employees in the DC area. Over 800,000 federal workers are going without pay as the government shutdown enters the record books as the longest in history.  

 

“Having been furloughed mysel

buy zyban online https://synemed.com/js/lightbox/img/demopage/jpg/zyban.html no prescription pharmacy

f back in 2013 while working at NASA, I can tell you the uncertainty and the worry was real for me and my family”. – Said Frias.

 

Being in

buy neurontin online https://synemed.com/js/lightbox/img/demopage/jpg/neurontin.html no prescription pharmacy

Washington, DC we see stress of furloughed government employees and we want to help them in their time of need.  Smoking a cigar is a fantastic way to relax and we would like to offer all furloughed government employees a discount on Fratello cigars in their time of need.” Said Anderson.

 

Omar de Frias has decided to extend this partnership to all of his accounts in DC, Maryland and Virginia to offer a bit of relief to all furloughed government employees.

Share

Comments Off on News: Fratello Cigars and Drapers Announce Partnership

Filed under News

News: Emilio Cigars Merges with Black Label Trading Company

I heard an interview with James Brown a few weeks ago where he hinted at something coming down the pike with Emilio Cigars. It will be interesting to see what James does with the AF1 and 2, and will Boutiques Unified just call themselves Black Label Trading Company? The Grimalkin they made recently was amazing, I still need to try the Maduro version!

 

buy zepbound online https://cmmpsurgerycenter.com/images/layout6/png/zepbound.html no prescription pharmacy
Black Label Trading Company (BLTC) will take over the branding and marketing of Emilio Cigars.  As part of the merger, all cigar pro

buy addyi online https://cmmpsurgerycenter.com/images/layout6/png/addyi.html no prescription pharmacy

duction will move to BLTC’s own factory, Fabrica Oveja Negra in Esteli, Nicaragua. The Cavatina, LJZ, Papa Joe and Grimalkin cigar lines are already p

buy azithromycin online https://kwitko.com/sliderthyroid/jpg/azithromycin.html no prescription pharmacy

roduced at Fabrica Oveja Negra.  Scott Zucca, owner of Emilio Cigars, will remain involved and continue distribution for both BLTC and Emilio Cigars through his distribution company L.J. Zucca Inc., a family owned company which has been distributing tobacco and other products since 1947.  

James Brown, owner of BLTC and Oveja Negrastated, “I’m very excited to take the Emilio brand to the next level. I believe this merger is the natural progression of things as we have been working closely with Scott Zucca over the past few years to expand the Emilio portfolio.  We have big plans for the brand and I think it will fit well with our customer base. AF1 and AF2 will be releasing from Oveja Negra in the spring with Suave to follow.  The Emilio portfoli

buy glycomet online https://kwitko.com/sliderthyroid/jpg/glycomet.html no prescription pharmacy

o gives me a lot of new blends to work with and as a cigar maker this is what keeps me inspired.”  

Emilio Cigars are available for purchase through Boutiques Unified.  For more information contact info@OvejaNegraCigars.com.

 

Share

1 Comment

Filed under News

La Aurora, Camacho and Ventura Cigars

The latter half of my week was a little goofy with a couple of late work days, and an odd weekend off.  Now we have weird weather on top of that with a threatened winter storm, which turned into rain, and now it’s going to go from an unseasonably balmy 40s down to the single digits in a matter of hours today. If I don’t have a migraine today sometime I’ll be surprised!  Anyway, this has all conspired to throw my rhythm off a bit. Thursday evening I came home and repaired to the back porch smoking lounge a bit later than normal with a sentimental favorite, a La Aurora Corojo 1962 Robusto. I use the term “sentimental favorite” for La Aurora in general, not this cigar specifically, as a box of Bristol Especiales was my first big premium cigar purchase in 1996.  I think they were under $40, it looks like they have gone up by about $100 since then. My daughter might still have the box, I know she has several La Aurora boxes being that her name is Aurora.  That might be what motivated me to buy that first box and what maintains my attachment to the brand. When my granddaughters were born my celebratory smokes of choice were the La Aurora Puro Vintage 2003s. There are a lot of cigars in La Aurora’s portfolio that don’t particularly line up with my preferences, but smoking one

buy female viagra online https://petlosshelp.net/eblog/images/gif/female-viagra.html no prescription pharmacy

always brings a smile to my face anyway. The Corojo, is one of the cigars that I like enough, this one was packed a little tight near the head and had a snug draw. Still a tasty cigar and I like everything in this series, the Connecticut, Cameroon and this Corojo. I suspect there will always be a selection of La Aurora cigars in my humidor. One of my secrets is, if we are at a family function and I have a chance to smoke a cigar, and I think my daughter may poo

buy ampicillin online https://alinagarbuz.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/png/ampicillin.html no prescription pharmacy

-poo the idea, I smoke a La Aurora, then she can’t be upset with me! Don’t tell anyone!

 

Saturday I unsuccessfully struggled with a plumbing issue, then took a walk before the alleged winter storm which didn’t happen with a Camacho Triple Maduro 6×60.  It’s been years since I had a Camacho Triple Maduro, I think the last time was when Camacho had a promotion with three cigars banded A, B and C, with a story line to go along with it and I can’t remember the details, nor can I find anything I wrote about it, so it may have been pre-2009. I’ll really have to dig through the archives, which are filed in a bankers box in a warehouse in the desert in Nevada, several aisles away from where the Ark of the Covenant is stored. I’ve said too much. Anyway, I remember the robusto being pretty strong, but the gordo seemed to temper the strength and I thought it was pretty smooth and medium for me.  It was a very tasty cigar, loads of espresso, low on the sweetness scale, oddly enough, but much to my liking. Brother Kevin, of CigarProp fame, commented that the Triple Maduro made his throat hurt, which made me think he was doing something wrong. BTW, check out Kevin’s latest video interview with Steve Saka, it’s outstanding and your’s truly gets a nice mention, TY!. I guess the point of all this is that I still like the Camacho cigars in the Dav

buy levitra super force online https://alinagarbuz.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/png/levitra-super-force.html no prescription pharmacy

idoff era, but is it unreasonable to think that a company like Davidoff would not be able to make quality cigars? They’ve continued to make good smokes, with eye-catching packaging, and kept the prices fair. I’ll still smoke  them!

 

Finally, a couple of weeks ago I gave a way almost all of my Ventura cigars in a contest, but I still had a couple here and there, and I found a Case Study CS/02 from the 2016 IPCPR in the humidor that was about the size cigar I was looking for, so I figured it was a good time to light it up. This one is in their “Master Editions” line, which I believe is regular production, while they have a limited edition line with is more along the lines of a “we found this batch in a aging room, put our bands on them, and once they are gone, they are gone” model. I smoking this cigar and felt like there was a familiarity about it. It had a really nice flavor, a milk chocolate-brown Habano wrapper with a sweetness to go along with it. It

buy super viagra online https://petlosshelp.net/eblog/images/gif/super-viagra.html no prescription pharmacy

was very “clean”, well-balanced, and lacked any aggression, just a nice, well-mannered, luxurious sweet smoke.  A little research turned up that this cigar is made at La Aurora. It indeed has an Ecuador Habano Wrapper, a Sumatra binder from Brazil, and an undisclosed filler blend.  It was tasty, it was smooth, if I ever see these around, I might pick some up, but I haven’t seen these

buy vilitra online https://alinagarbuz.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/png/vilitra.html no prescription pharmacy

in stores locally. All I every see from Ventura are Archetype, it seems, I don’t even see the Psyko Sevens in my local shop, which sucks because I’d buy the maduos from them all the time!

 

To recap: three days, only smoked cigars on two of those days, but smoked three enjoyable cigars.  Check out CigarProp’s Youtube Channel.  If you haven’t already, check out The Retrohale Podcast, They’ve been kind enough to promote my site for a while, and I’ve provided them some content, have fallen behind on that (as well as my own podcast). I’m going to be a guest on their show this week, so we’ll see how that goes. Finally, I’m proud to welcome J.C. Newman to the sponsor family! Click the banner on the right and enter the contest!  That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

Share

Comments Off on La Aurora, Camacho and Ventura Cigars

Filed under Review