After years of launching a plethora of releases at IPCPR, Miami Cigar & Co. took an admitted step backwards. One new line, a few extensions and a couple limited editions—and that was it. Don’t worry, for those concerned about the company’s tradition of distributing Presidente, the beer was flowing.

Miami Cigar Co 2013 IPCPR Booth

The Booth
While walking around on Friday, Brian and I noticed a few things. First, the booth actually was getting a touch-up of paint. Second, despite looking like one of the sturdiest booths (we didn’t conduct any tests), it actually goes up pretty quick. When we stopped by during the trade show we were reminded of something else—this booth has the worst glass/lighting combination of anyone as far as photography goes.

Casa Miranda Chapter Two

Casa Miranda Chapter Two
Miami Cigar & Co. hopes this will catch on much better than the Chapter One. Given the difference in cost, that seems more than reasonable.

La Aurora Corojo 110th Anniversary

La Aurora Corojo 110th
It’s the 110th anniversary of La Aurora, the Corojo line gets special footbands. While I enjoy the Corojo, it was not the monster of a cigar that the company gave out three years ago in New Orleans. Jerry Cruz and I will both tell you—that cigar was a gem.

La Aurora Box Pressed Family Reserve

La Aurora Family Reserve Box-Pressed
This is the first time La Aurora has box-pressed one of its own cigars, the Guillermo León and Fernando León Family Reserves. The packaging is great, the cigars are probably good, but $10.25 for a 6 x 54 seems like a lot, particularly when the 6 x 50 sizes in both lines are still under the $10.00 mark. There’s a lot of subtle packaging intricacies, such as the multi-colored hardware, but as someone who has smoked their fair share of Guillermo León by La Auroras, $10.25 makes me scratch my head.

La Aurora Puro Vintage 2005

La Aurora Puro Vintage 2005
The cigar looked good, but I do wonder how well the price tag ($18.75) will be received.  I don’t think anyone in the world is asking for a $19.00 cigar, no matter who it’s coming from. Fortunately, these are in eight-count boxes.

La Sirena Dubloon

La Sirena Dubloon
Details on the limited edition are here. The La Sirena brand is selling better than it was at the beginning of the year according to sources within the company, presumably Brand Ambassador Arielle Ditkowich’s new event schedule and the new sizes should help continue sales.

Merlion Sea Lion

Merlion Sea Lion
Joining the above Dubloon as part of the La Sirena brand is the Merlion Sea Lion. We’ve already reviewed it, but it is what it looks. A new size of Merlion offered in 10-count boxes with one cigar featuring a Mexican San Andrés wrapper.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.