Tag Archives: West Tampa Tobacco Co.

December 11, 2022 · 9:49 am

Cigar Heritage Festival and Some West Tampa Black Cigars

Last Sunday I attended the Cigar Heritage Festival in Ybor City. As I may have said in last weeks post,

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it was my first visit to that area, long overdue. I spent a disproportionate amount of time at Corona Cigar’s Tampa location, even had a great meet-up with old friends from the alt.smokers.cigars usenet group! I got to hang around a lot with Kevin and Jessica of CigarProp, many thanks to them for driving me around! But Sunday was the day for the Cigar Heritage Festival, a brisk half a cigar walk from my hotel (2 miles, it was a beautiful day!). I wasn’t sure what to expect, a sentiment shared by several vendors and even the staff! I somehow ended up with a VIP pass, which allowed me access to some seating areas, none of which I took advantage of. It also included about seven tickets for cigars, more on that in a bit. The festival covered the Centennial Park and three of the streets surrounding it. There were a bunch of vendors there, many of the people who were principle and prominent “faces” of the brands were there. I have to think that folks like Steve Saka and Tony Gomez being there meant net to nothing to 90% of the attendees, but I enjoyed catching up with some ol

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d friends, Island Jim Robinson among them. One of the highlights for me was meeting Ron Hunt, the host of the All About Wine podcast. You might think it odd that someone who hasn’t had a drink in over 30 years knows someone from the wine industry, but Ron has been a member of a weekly video chat I am involved with, and is fairly new to premium cigars. I introduced him to several people there, and had him collect on my aforementioned VIP cigar tickets. He gave a really nice description of the event on his latest episode. I also ran into my old friend Keith, who I had seen the day before, and interrupted his sleep schedule once again to hang out :-). From what I’m told, sales were brisk, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust was selling boxes, exceeding expectations. There was a band, food trucks, and all sorts of other lifestyle vendors. I bought a cool t-shirt and a gift for my wife. I especially enjoyed the chickens and roosters wandering around! I recommend the event, and a visit to “Cigar City” in general.

While I was there I ran into my old friend Ricky Rodriguez, formerly of CAO, presently of West Tampa Tobacco Co.. It took me a while to find him, I thought he’d have his own booth, but he was set up with a local cigar store, Tobacco Depot. Ricky was busy taking pictures with people, like the celebrity he is, I had a moment to talk with his daughter, Sara, the Brand Activation & Engagement Manager for the company. I asked her if she had smoked her first cigar yet, having heard that she had never smoked before. Her answer surprised me, I guess, it was a no. She said she has no interest, although she was going to spend an extended time in Esteli learning rolling and blending, so maybe she’d be inspired to try there. I, naturally, recommended trying. I’ve never seen this young lady without a huge smile on here face, she’d certainly be a great cigar ambassador. Ricky gave me a prototype of the Black and White in lancero size, and I smoked the Black version this week, along with a Black Robusto for comparison. I need to go out and pick up a White so I can smoke the other one, I like to have a baseline, and I have only smoke a couple Whites. Something odd about the Black in the lancero format, I was concerned in the first inch, it was a little rough, kind of like the coffee that’s been sitting in the pot half the day, you know, the good stuff! After the first inch though, it went someplace unexpected. There were distinct notes of spices that I identify with Christmas baking, it really turned into something special. The coffee notes smoothed out, but that delicious spice kept going. It was good, better than the Robusto I smoked the next day, which is still a tasty cigar! I’m very much looking forward to the White lancero!

That’s all for today. Secret Santa names have been picked and distributed! I’ll be putting a package together today! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, Cigar City, CIgar Heritage Festival, cigars, Tampa, West Tampa Tobacco Co.

July 31, 2022 · 9:21 am

West Tampa Tobacco Cigars, a Street Taco Carnitas and a Patina Sumatra

I’ve started smoking some PCA show samples now that I feel fully recovered from the post-Vegas Covid situation. I started out revisiting the West Tampa Tobacco Co. Black and White. Rick went out of his way to give me a 6×60 from a bundle, that had never been in a box! This is significant because I told him about an experience I had initially with the cigars I had sourced locally. This was the first cigar I smoked, and it was very good. If you refer back to the video interview with Rick (HERE), he explains how the Black and White have the same wrapper, it’s just fermented differently. The Black has nice espresso notes and is up my alley. The construction was perfect and everything tasted the way it should.

I had another West Tampa Tobacco Co.White Toro that Ricky also gave me, which was also very good, but I find the Black suits my palate more. The White has more of a woody character, with some citrus tang to me. Rick explained that the White was blended more for the European palate, with the wrapper being highlighted, and the darker wrapper Black highlighting the filler blend. I like them both, but the Black is better for me. I still have to try the robusto. GOod stuff from a very small factory in Esteli.

Thursday evening I had the pleasure of being a guest on the All About Wine Podcast, of all things. We had a panel of folks talking about cigars. I pre-gamed with a Rojas Cigars Street Taco Carnitas, the Connecticut shade version of the Street Taco. This has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. I had the 5″ x 50 robusto. Oddly, this comes in a Robusto and Toro, with the 5½” x 46 Short Corona being the closest thing to a small ring gauge in the line. I think of a corona being 5″ x 42, so I’m not sure I understand the name. Regardless, the robusto was very good. It was creamy, with some oomph to it. There was some spice and it wasn’t a mild Connecticut. Considering that shade wrappers are fairly low on my preference list, this one was very good.

Finally, when I met with Mo Maali at the show, he gave me a Patina Sumatra. This is his new release, which excited me for a few reasons. First, I’ve enjoyed the Patina line in general, Maduro and Habano, I don’t think I ever had the Connecticut (see above). They are made in the NACSA factory where Mi Querida cigars are made, as well as several others! I want to say that factory mad the majority of JR’s Alternatives bundle brand, which is millions of cigars. NACSA is one of the largest factories in Nicaragua. The other reason I was looking forward to this is because I really love Sumatra wrapped cigars! This one didn’t disappoint. It had the sugar cane sweetness that I really like. It burned perfectly and gave me a great experience. Check out my video with Mo here. Good stuff!

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Black, Carnitas, cigar, cigars, Patina, Rojas, Street Taco, Sumatra, West Tampa Tobacco Co., White

July 10, 2022 · 11:06 am

PCA 2022: Day One Thoughts and West Tampa Tobacco Co

I’m traveling light on this trip so I’ve only brought my iPad and phone so the post might look a little weird. I’ll clean them up when I get home and get the computer out. In the meantime I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on the first day of the PCA show. I guess I should mention the night before the first day which included a cocktail party hosted by Ace Prime in Crowned Heads. This was very well attended, although the setting was a little weird to me. And the past these cocktail parties have been a little more elegant let’s say. This was more minimalist in the unadorned event space at the convention center. This made the acoustics rather bad as otherwise not much fabric present to soak up any sound. But there are a lot of people there people seem to have a good time and I was able to sample Tim Ozgener’s new Ozgener Family Cigars Bosporus in a short robusto size. I thought it was very good, but I’ve enjoyed a lot of Luciano Marielle’s cigars. As it’s rather impossible to properly evaluate cigars at the trade show, I’ll revisit it later and report back.

The breakfast meeting seemed rather poorly attended, I’m not sure if it was the omission of the word “breakfast” in the description on the schedule, or what, but the available seating was maybe % used. I was thankful for the breakfast available, and found elements of the business meeting interesting. Considering my PCA affiliation, there wasn’t a lot that interested me. Thanks to Nick Melillo for putting out a spread.

It’s been five years since I’ve been to this show, and the show floor is much smaller than it was. The absence of the large companies like General and Drew Estate account for a small part of that, but smaller, less ostentatious booths are the big difference. In previous years I’d often get lot, and it was difficult to get from one side of the show to the other quickly. The compressed space is much easier to navigate and the show feels more crowded. My observation was that booths were busy and doing business. Today will prove interesting, I’ll have the benefit of a cameraman, as CigarProp Kevin has left and his friend Ed offered his assistance. My wife would warn him against this, as she’s done it in the past. I will do my best to collect some interesting content.

I had a chance to talk to Ricky Rodriguez about his new cigars and company, West Tampa Tobacco Co., I think you’ll find this pretty interesting: