halfwheel

Weekly News (June 17, 2013)

Editor’s Note: If you are reading this from a mobile platform, you are probably saying “finally.” It’s been a while, but we’ve once again found a solution for mobile users that we liked and one that we think is better than ever before. There are some minor bugs that we know about, including one that [...]

Weekly News (May 27, 2013)

Editor’s Note: I’ve never made these columns about my personal life. Many others do it in their blogs—most notably Jerry Cruz, who does it better than I ever could—but for me, it’s only been personal views about this industry. Over the last few months, as I transition in my personal life, I’ve been asked about [...]

News: Rocky Patel Ships Decade Edición Limitada 2013

Rocky Patel began shipping its 2013 version of the Decade Edición Limitada yesterday according to a representative from the company. The cigar features a five-year-old Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. It’s the fourth release since the company debuted the cigar in 2010. Once again, the cigar will be produced in three vitolas: [...]

Review: Rocky Patel II-XXVI Robusto

Back in May 2011, I had the chance to talk with Rocky Patel during an event in Phoenix, when his new factory in Nicaragua, Tabacalera Villa Cuba, S.A.—TAVICUSA for short—was still in its relative infancy. He was excited about the cigars that would be coming out of the factory, as they would be the higher-end [...]

News: Rocky Patel Adds 6×60 to Fifteenth Anniversary Line

On Monday, Rocky Patel Cigar Company announced the addition of a 6 x 60 vitola to their Fifteenth Anniversary line. The new cigar was announced via the company’s Facebook page and is currently available to retailers. The 6 x 60 is the first vitola addition to the Rocky Patel Fifteenth Anniversary line since its debut [...]

News: Vivalo Serie Exclusivo Heading to Maryland

Patrick Vivalo, a sales executive at Rocky Patel, is getting his name on a cigar. In May, the company plans to ship the Vivalo Exclusivo Serie to two retailers: Tinder Box of Waldorf, Md. and Dan’s Cigar Lounge in Rosadale, Md. Vivalo told halfwheel the cigar was one that he smokes regularly while in Honduras [...]

Press Release: Rocky Patel II-XXVI Shipping in April

March 22, 2013 — To celebrate Rocky’s birthday on 2/26 we have released one of Rocky’s favorite personal blends from our factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. The II-XXVI (2-26) are packed in beautiful handcrafted wood with a piano finish. The II-XXVI is limited, so there are only 1,000 boxes available in each size. Pricing: Robusto ($12.95) [...]

News: Rocky Patel The Edge Candela Returns for Second Year

Rocky Patel has begun shipping the second release of its Candela cigar, The Edge Candela. The 6 x 52 Toro debuted last April featuring a Honduran Candela wrapper in boxes of 20. Pricing has risen from $6.40 to $6.85 per cigar meaning the boxes of 20 now carry an MSRP of $137.00. The Edge Candela [...]

Weekly News (January 21, 2013)

Editor’s Note: We’ve started covering price increases over the weekend and I made some reference to this on Twitter, but there will be a lot less January increases than last year. I’m not sure that 2013 will be without them, I honestly do think a portion of the companies indicating there won’t be any at [...]

Weekly News (December 10, 2012)

Editor’s Note: Thanks to all those who made it to the halfwheel Holiday Party Pt. 1 at Tobacco Grove this past weekend. It was lots of fun and we found out that Brooks and I should probably remain in Dallas, where it only snows once a year. Details on Pt. 2, which will be on [...]