halfwheel

A Visit to Fabrica de Tabacos NicaSueño S.A.

Ever since smoking my first RoMa Craft Tobac cigar, I have wanted to visit the company’s factory, Fabrica de Tabacos NicaSueño S.A. I had been told it was compact, but even I was a bit taken aback by its intimacy. Located in the back of a house in an unassuming neighborhood of Estelí, Nicaragua, you [...]

Blog: A Word About Our April Fool’s Day Review

It will go up rather shortly, but first an introduction, because every year we try this, and every year it causes some sort of controversy in the comments section. The first collaborative project between Brooks and I was actually an April Fool’s Day review. It was a joke, what we thought was a pretty obvious [...]

Icons of Cigars™ — Avo Uvezian

On March 22, Avo Uvezian celebrated his 87th birthday. As has become standard, the legendary pianist and his eponymous cigar brand has planned a limited edition birthday cigar and tour, the first of which will take place on March 28, 2013. A little while back he was in town for an event in Dallas as [...]

A Visit to Plasencia Cigars S.A.

I have loved the country of Nicaragua since my first trip in early 2012, in particular, the city of Estelí. Of course it is a mecca for cigars, but it’s also one of the most interesting places I have been in all my years of traveling. I have visited many of the cigar factories in Estelí and met [...]

Announcing The Forum

(Editor’s Note: this story first appeared in the March 4, 2013 version of The Newsletter.) Today is a big day. It’s the formal launch of our newest project, halfwheel.com/forum. The main objective is simple, we want to have a place to talk about cigars of all kinds. We love the level of depth we have in [...]

The Newsletter (March 4, 2013)

For those still unsubscribed, here’s the most recent version of The Newsletter. If you are interested in signing up, the details are here. It’s a fun edition with lots of pretty pictures, and a big announcement.

Winner: The Newsletter (February 4, 2013)

Later today, the third edition of The Newsletter will be published and in it will be a big announcement for the site. It also means its time to announce a winner for the February Newsletter giveaway, a box of Oliva Atlantic Cigar 15th Aniversario Diademas. The winner was number 507, which according to our records [...]

Icons of Cigars™ — Newman Brothers

J.C. Newman is widely-known for its Dominican Republic-centric relationship with the Fuentes, which is based out of Tampa, Fla., but the two brothers photographed below are actually amongst the larger producers in Nicaragua. In 1895, Julius Caeser Newman started his cigar company in Cleveland, Ohio. Sixty years later, the company relocated to Tampa and entered [...]

Blog: Our Newest Sponsor — Superior Cigars

We have another retail sponsor, Superior Cigars. It’s a great company with great people, and there even a few goodies on the website, including Añejos and Papas Fritas. Free shipping is standard on orders over $150 and there’s a big last of brands that covers a lot of companies. Don’t forget to tell them halfwheel sent [...]

Tobacco Plus Expo 2013

While the premium cigar industry tends to focus their attention on the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) Convention and Trade Show, there are a few other trade shows that have been getting the attention of the industry as of late. One of those is the Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE), whose 2013 show was [...]