#ELOsoFumarTakes

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes welcomes in George Rico of Gran Habano Cigars. Rico has prided himself for over two decades in making world-class cigars using tobaccos that aren't widely used. As a fourth-generation tobacconist, he has the experience, but we dive deep to see just what makes them some of the quietly dominant and consistent cigars on in the industry. Enjoy!

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes brings our #90thTake with some legendary flair. Our guest is the 'Mad Professor', 'the Wizard of Westwood' - Michael Giannini of Ventura Cigar Company. I was told once by Steve Saka that the term legend gets thrown around a lot in this history. He then preceded to throw several names of "legends" out there to me. Menedez, Carrillo, Quesada were all mentioned. Do you know what they and other legends in the industry have in common? Giannini has worked with all of them. So, in this #take...I bring you legend. Enjoy!

 

Ventura Cigar Company: 

https://venturacigar.com/ 

This week, the gents of Cigar Federation return for another round of blind pairings action. As always. we're upping the ante with some of our selections. In addition, we're going to have some shenanigans added into the mix with some bizarre Q&A. It's a take you don't want to miss! Enjoy!

Check out the breweries we sampled from:

Panther Island Brewing Company: http://pantherislandbrewing.com/

Heater Allen Brewing: http://heaterallen.com/

Carton Brewing Company: https://cartonbrewing.com/

 

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes brings in something special for our #88thTake. Field of Dreams turns 30 this year - and we decided to marry 3 great passions tonight - Cigars, Baseball and Film.

Miguel M. Schoedel of Crowned Heads and I will breakdown our memories, thoughts, and joy behind the film and baseball. Of course, we'll be smoking cigars and talking Crowned Heads! Enjoy!

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes welcomes Kurt Kendall of 7-20-4 Cigars for #Take87. The king of all things vintage, Kendall takes his love of nostalgia and seeps it into literally everything he does. From antique tobacciana to classic cars, it's a pretty awesome world... and we all live in it. "Smoking a piece of history," the company's tag line is quite literally. We get Kurt talking antiques, collections, of course, cigars. But, why 7-20-4? We find out. Enjoy!

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes welcomes back Davidoff Brand Ambassador Klaas Kelner for #Take86. This will be a very special take as Klaas and I will share & "Taste the Elements" as we go through a vertical tasting of the Escurio, Nicaragua, and Yamasa Discovery Series lines. Kelner has an amazing palate, so this is a take you won't want to miss as we break it all down. Enjoy!

This week on #ELOsoFumarTakes, we welcome Zev Kaminetsky, National Sales Director for Royal Agio Cigars in the U.S. #ThecurseofZev has been a legend in longstanding within our beloved industry. We seek to find out with such a curse on your back, how does one keep going. Also, we talk the oldest newest hotness in the Cigar Industry, Royal Agio, and Balmoral Cigars. Plus, we dig into just how vast Royal Agio's place in premium tobacco really is. Enjoy!

This week on #ELOsoFumarTakes we welcome in Justin Andrews of General Cigar Company and the Brand Ambassador for Diesel Cigars. Manufactured by AJ Fernandez, Diesel Cigars gained notoriety at one of the best catalog brands out there. Under Andrews, the brand has ventured into and made a statement to Brick & Mortars: "We're here to stay!" The duo of Andrews and Fernandez has been big for Diesel, as it has established itself as one of General's most dynamic brands. We find out the challenges of changing how a brand is perceived to this unique tandem to Justin's story. It's all here on #Take84. Enjoy!

This week, we welcome back Nicolas Jimenez Senior Editor of Cigar Snob Magazine, Founder/Editor of DADE, Host of Pan Con Podcast. It's a lot. And we have some ground to cover. We'll catch up on what Jimenez has been doing lately as well as tackle some additional thoughts on PCA and Cigar Con. Enjoy!

http://www.cigarsnobmag.com/ 

http://www.dademag.com

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes welcomes Matt Booth of Room 101 Cigars for our #82ndTake. This year marks a decade in the premium cigar business for Booth, and it's certainly had its ups, downs, and in-betweens. We'll get down with how this Devil Dog got to be apart of our beloved industry by way of the U.S. Marine Corps and the jewelry industry. It's Boofy Time, so who knows what'll happen, Enjoy!