Tag Archives: palio

News: Quality Importers Trading Company Launches Palio Gift Sets

Here’s some news from Quality Importers, the folks behind Xikar, Palio, Cigar Caddy, Humidor Supreme and Stinky Ashtrays.  I think I have a Cigar Caddy that’s 20 years old, several Xikar products and a few Palio items.  The Palio cutter does a great job, I should pull it out of the car and use it more.  These look like a good deal:  

 

Quality Importers Trading Company (QI) announces the  launch of two Palio branded gift sets, just in time for the holiday season. The gift  sets are shipping to retailers nationwide as of today. 

 

The perfect stocking stuffer or gift for your loved ones, each Palio gift set features  a Palio Vesuvio Triple Torch Lighter in green and a Palio original 64 RG straight  cutter in either Black or Grey. These two elegant accessories are packaged together  in a timeless windowed gift box.  

 

 

Michael Giannini, Chief of Consumer Engagement, adds “When you are in need of  that perfect gift for your cigar enthusiast loved one, and don’t know where to turn,  QI is here to save the day! These gift sets are the perfect price point for all  consumers featuring the iconic Palio cutter and one of the best triple torches in the  game with the Palio Vesuvio. Happy Holidays from the entire QI Family!” 

 

Both the Palio Gift Set featuring a Palio Vesuvio Triple Torch Lighter in green and a  Palio Straight Cutter in black or grey retail for $34.99. 

 

 

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C-Gars Ltd., Club Macanudo, the New Palio Lighter, the La Palina Maduro Toro and a Cain F Cigar

Sunday my wife and I drove up to Manhattan to meet up with our good friend Mitchell and his wife, along with some of his other friends at Club Macanudo.  We got into the city early, so we wandered around Central Park a bit, even rode the Merry Go Round, visited Tiffany’s and just enjoyed a nice spring day.  For those who don’t know, Mitchell operates  C.Gars Ltd., the mail order division of Turmeaus Tobacconists established 1817, along with  Robert Graham,  Global Whisky ShopAgedcubans,  Humidorsonline,  Havana Samplers,  LCDH Hamburg,  Great Gifts Etc.  Mitchell is also the international distributor outside of the US for Palio, as well as several other brands that he sells in the UK and the rest of the world.  We settled into Club Macanudo to smoke some cigars and socialize.  The club is a beautiful space with a bar, private lockers and a full restaurant, serving a Sunday brunch menu until 7 pm.  Jenn and I shared a delicious french toast and fruit bowl after I finished my first cigar, a Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2, which Mitchell had handed me when we arrived.  This was a delicious cigar, on the milder side for a Havana, but full of flavor and perfectly constructed.  I don’t smoke many Havanas any more, as much as I enjoy that distinctive little flavor that only a fine Havana has, a twang, if you will.  I think the cigars coming from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Honduras MO_ClubMacare more interesting and superior in many ways.  This was an exemplary smoke though, very nice.  Looking at the cigar menu there was a bit startling.  New York cigar prices are already high, but the prices there were more than double NY retail prices.  I was going to joke that their prices were higher than Mitchell’s, but I try to avoid insulting my host if I can manage it!  I didn’t take detailed notes, but I recall seeing a cigar that is $6.00 here in PA being $25.  As I said, shocking.  Fortunately,  I had cigars with me, but Mitchell shoved a Partagas Serie D No. 4 in my paw so I had to smoke that.  He mentioned that it was young and possibly quite strong, but I’m a fan of the Cuban Partagas line and found this to me a nice smoke.  On the fuller side of medium with a very nice flavor.  Perhaps with five years of age this will be a stellar smoke, but it was pretty darned tasty now.  It’s always a great time hanging out with Mitchell, his lovely wife and his group of friends, and it’s nice to get a day away with my wife!

 

Palio_LighterAs if these special cigars weren’t a treat enough, Mitchell gifted me the new Palio Lighter in matte black, with “Seleccion Orchant 2013” inscribed on it. I’ve been lusting after this lighter since I spoke with Marc Aub of BOTL, LLC at the IPCPR show last August and he was showing it off (video here).  This is a substantial lighter with a large fuel capacity, a fuel window and covers over the jet, as well as the filler hole.  They’ve made it very easy to adjust the flame height with a little drop down turny thing on the adjustment screw (pardon the technical jargon).  This is a brilliant lighter which I’m proud to have in my possession.  It lights a cigar very nicely too.  I’ll use it non-stop (except when I travel) and report on how it performs, but I have no doubt it will be flawless.

 

LaPalina_Maduro_ToroThe first cigar I lit with the Palio lighter was a La Palina Maduro toro.  I fell in love with the Robusto in this line last year when it was released, although I only smoked a few samples.  Its everything I desire in a San Andreas wrapped cigar: smooth, chocolaty, and delicious.  Of course it’s well made, although the draw could have been a little bit better.    I enjoy the heck out of most of the La Palina cigars I’ve smoked, but this maduro is my favorite hands down (who among you who reads regularly is surprised?).

 

CainF_575x50Tonight I grabbed a Cain F 5.75×50 that probably came from the IPCPR show last year.  This turned out to be a poor choice for me, not because it wasn’t a great smoke, it was, but it was just too strong for me tonight. I’m tired and it kind of kicked me in the butt.  It made it more difficult to sit down and write this post! I should have chosen something milder!  Still a nice smoke, but strong.  I think I like the tubed lancero best in this line.

 

News

I came across this in my inbox today and thought I’d pass it along since it struck me as a unique promotion that I’ve never seen before:

Rocky_LandingPage2.jpg

On Thursday, April 25th, cigar superstar Rocky Patel will be here at BestCigarPrices taking your calls!* Order any in-stock box of Rocky Patel cigars between 4-5pm ET for a chance to talk to Rocky LIVE while he personally hand-signs your box of cigars. CALL TOLL FREE 1-888-41-CIGAR.

 

Sunday’s post will be a rare guest post, since I will be travelling to Nicaragua for Cigar Safari.  I’ll be touring the Drew Estate operation along with several of my blogging brethren (and some real journalists :-)).  Expect another full report akin to my last report from March of 2011.   Many thanks to the folks at Drew Estate for this opportunity!  So stay tuned, I’ll try to get something posted while I’m there, internet access willing!

 

Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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IPCPR 2012 – E Cigars by Brothers of the Leaf, LLC

We are slowly unpacking and moving things but I think I know where all my cigars and accouterments are.  I know there’s a humidor in the living room and one in the bedroom, and a couple coolerdors in the basement.  My son has his humidor in his room. I do need to find a traveldor for this weekend’s Delaware Cigar Festival, although I may not take a lot of cigars with me. The festival is organized by Gary Griffith of Emilio Cigars fame, and the various vendors have cigars for sale for around $3 each with the proceeds going to charity.  This is a great way to pick up some great smokes for bargain prices and feel good about where the money is going.  It’s not like I need more cigars…I’ll have to exercise some restraint as I don’t want to come home and have to play cigar Tetris in the humidors! Still, if I can get a few Ortega Series D maduros for $3, I will have to do it.

 

The move has reduced my leisure time a little bit, but last night I sat down with a E from Esencia.  The Esencia line is excellent, but it’s limited in distribution.  The E series will come in at a lower price point and will be available to any retailer who wants to carry them.  Marc and Mike of BOTL, LLC gave me a couple of Corona Gordas when I saw them at the IPCPR show, and I fired one up.  It’s a beautiful cigar, certainly no shortcuts were taken with this cigar. It has a rich, ruddy wrapper and the burn and draw were as close to perfect as I’ve had recently.  Flavor-wise it was solidly medium and pretty darned yummy. It is a sweet and creamy smoke.  This is a cigar that one can smoke in just about any circumstance. As an aside, It’s been getting dark annoyingly early and I realized how much being able to see my cigar as it’s burning adds to the experience.  I turned on the light because I felt like something was missing.  I guess I’m a little bit of a cigar voyeur, but being able to watch a great cigar burn is almost as important to me as the flavor!

 

I spoke with Marc at the show and he was excited about this new cigar, as well as their new Palio lighter and a stainless steel (and hopefully titanium) Palio cutter that’s really pretty. These guys are passionate about their products and it shows in the quality, and they are super-nice guys as well.  I appreciate them taking the time to talk to me at the show.

 

 

That’s about it for now.  Stay tuned for a recap of the Delaware Cigar Festival in Sunday’s regular post and enjoy your week!

CigarCraig

 

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CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways – Final Day Winner and Thanks!

We’ve come to the end of a historic two weeks on CigarCraig.com!  A marathon of daily posts, untold thousands of dollars worth of merchandise (and postage!).  We gave away 167 cigars, 4 cutters, 2 lighters, 2 caps, 2 cigar tubes, a cigar case, a magazine subscription, a gift certificate and a humidor! That’s a bunch of stuff!  Also significant was the all time high numbers of unique visits, as well as comments!  Until last week I didn’t even know if you got to 50 comments it went to a second page.  Pretty crazy!  In addition to everyone who came back day after day religiously for a chance to win fabulous prizes, I want to give my sincere thanks to the cigar companies who made this madness possible!  They are, in no particular order:

La Gloria Cubana

Villiger Stokkebye

Brothers of the Leaf, LLC

Miami Cigar and Co.

Oliva

CAO

Cigar Journal

Pipes and Cigars

C-Gars Ltd. 

Tabacos Mata Fina USA

Oja Cigars

AJ Fernandez 

Emilio Cigars

 

This was an ambitious project.  What started out with the idea of giving away a cutter here and a cap there morphed into something huge.  The generosity of the companies listed above was amazing, as was their willingness to put up with my neurotic and obsessive compulsive tendencies!  The one other person I absolutely could not have done this without is my lovely wife, Jennifer.  You may have noticed her mentioned in the comments here and there, seen her tweets and re-tweets, as well as handling moderating all of the comments while I was at work every day.  Thanks for everything you’ve done for me!

 

Editorial

Now, before I announce the winner of the humidor from Pipes and Cigars, please take a moment to write a nasty letter to the NCAA and The Orange Bowl pointing out their hypocrisy.  David Savona sums it up perfectly in his blog on CigarAfficianado (here).  Head on over to FaxZero.com and send a fax to the OrangeBowl at 305-341-4750.  I saved Mr. Savona’s article as a PDF and faxed it to the attention of the CEO of the Orange Bowl committee.  You can fax twice a day for free using FaxZero.  You can also send them a tweet using @orangebowl or find them on Facebook and voice your displeasure.  You can also e-mail Larry Wahl, VP of Communications and Community Outreach at lwahl@orangebowl.org .

 

Time to announce the winner!  I have been presented with the number 41 by the Random Number Generator, which means that MarcB is the winner! Please send me your contact information!   This concludes this year’s contests! Please visit the sponsoring companies sites and thank them for their generosity.  Also, take a look at my advertisers sites, and join me in welcoming La Palina Cigars to the CigarCraig.com family.  These friends help me to defray costs of doing things to write about and I deeply appreciate their support!

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, to everyone. I’ll leave you with this Christmas video from Alan Bernhoft, who you may have seen in the comments over the last few days.  Let’s give him a little Christmas present and help make his song a new Christmas classic!

httpv://youtu.be/AioTRzrMlBw

 

Until the next time,

CraigCraig

 

 

 

 

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CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways Day 8 : Palio and Esencia Cigars

Happy Monday!  Before we get to the next fabulous item, we must once again consult with Random.org to select the winner of yesterday’s box of Oja cigars.  The Random Number Generator regurgitated the number 44, which corresponds to J.A.S.!  Congrats! Send me your info!  And now, on with the show!

 

Today on CigarCraig’s 12 Spectacular Days of Cigar Giveaways we have a sampler of cigars and a cutter from Brothers of the Leaf, LLC.  The cigars are Esencia cigars, with sizes only available in this sampler.  The cutter is the incomparable Palio cutter, emblazoned with the Esencia logo.  Both the cigars and the cutter are absolute top quality!  I’ve had the Esencia Lancero before and it was sublime.

 

 

Thanks go to Marc Aub of Brothers of the Leaf, LLC for providing this excellent prize!

You know what to do! Leave a comment to enter and good luck!

Until tomorrow,

CigarCraig

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