Editor’s Note: This week was a solemn week for the cigar industry. Manny Ferrero of Ashton Distributors passed away at the Tobacconist Association of America conference in Cabo San Lucas. I only met Manny once and even to me, a stranger, he was kind and overly enthusiastic about not just Ashton, but the industry as a whole. He admitted he wasn’t having his best of days and then proceeded to profusely apologize for what was one of the nicest treatment he could have provided over the course of an hour at the Ashton booth. On behalf of the rest of halfwheel, we extend our condolences to the entire Ashton and Ferrero families.

  • Viaje Zombie to Return in 2012 — Details here.
  • La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Maduro Torpedo TAA— Details are still trickling in, but word out of Cabo is that the TAA stores will receive a special 6 1/4 x 54 Torpedo size of the Air Bender Maduro priced at $10.00 per cigar and packaged in boxes of 20.
    Romeo by Romeo y Julieta Band
  • Romeo by Romeo y Julieta — Altadis USA is still not providing details on this release. Picture above is via Brian Hewitt of Stogie Review. acigarsmoker.com posted this, which according to Altadis USA is not the official press release.
  • San Lotano Oval Maduro Ships — At least one store has them in stock. These were scheduled to land nationally this month.
  • Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Connecticut for New England — Story here.
  • Limited Edition My Father Corona for Father’s Day — Story here.
  • Daniel Marshall DM2 — More about the anniversary cigar, literally wrapped in gold here.
  • Partagas 1845 Announced — Press release here.
  • The Passing of Manny Ferrero — Condolences, here.
  • New York’s Cigar Taxes Not Changing — Details here.
  • Cigar in Hand Shuts Down — Ben Pearson has taken a job with Drew Estate, meaning this is his last post.
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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.