If there is one booth I look forward to visiting every year—even if I am not covering it—it is the booth of “Island” Jim Robinson, otherwise known as Leaf By Oscar. Unfortunately, he did not have any of the absolutely amazing BBQ Pineapple Pork Sticks he sold back in 2017, something I keep asking about every time I see him in an effort to get him to produce more.

While there was a bit of drama last month when Leaf By Oscar sued Gran Habano over its plans to launch a new cigar wrapped in a whole tobacco leaf, Robinson does not actually have any new products to show off this year. However, he told me that he is concentrating on existing releases and that there will most like be something new next year.

Overall Score

Davidoff is the official sponsor of halfwheel's coverage of the 2019 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.
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Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.