PCA 2023: Top Three Things — Brian Burt

I’ve had a full week at home to digest PCA 2023 and solidify what I thought were the top three things I saw at the show. I’ve mentioned in previous years that I am in a bit of a different situation than the other three writers. Where they generally only get to visit the booths on their list to cover, I get to at least walk through a number of the more interesting booths since I shoot the walkthrough videos you see on our YouTube account and embedded in the relevant booth posts.

Having said all that, despite walking through the museum-like booth of Selected Tobacco S.A. and seeing things like the new 20th anniversary jars from Tatuaje, all three items this year are from booths I covered. So without further ado and in no particular order…

1. PK Smoke Free Suites

There are very few times over the years when I’ve been surprised walking up to cover a booth, and that 100 percent the case with PK Smoke Free Suites.

Not only is the idea something unique and seems to be engineered to be extremely functional, but the distribution idea behind it is surprising as well. You can read the booth covered to get the full rundown of the product, but in short, it’s a self-contained smoking lounge that is built inside your house, bringing in fresh air from the room it is installed in and depositing the smokey air outside of the house through a ducted vent.

As somebody who does not smoke inside my house and instead generally endures the Florida heat on my back porch to enjoy a cigar, this idea is very appealing. I can only imagine how much more appealing it is for cigar smokers up north who generally don’t get the option to smoke outside in the dead of winter.

As for the sales side of the business, owner Michael Pike has zero interest in selling directly to consumers, instead wanting to sell through retail cigar stores. I’m sure somewhere there is a cigar store that offers some type of smoke removal device installation services. In my experience though, all I see are cutters, lighters, humidors and the like for sale next to the cigars. I think this is a great idea that will not only let retail shops expand the services they offer but will also put a fascinating product in front of cigar smokers like me who want to smoke inside their houses without the lingering smell.

2. Ciccar Cigar Holder

Ciccar—pronounced che-kar—is a company that makes a product that, when I first walked up to the booth, I was quite skeptical of. In short, it’s a cigar holder reminiscent of the cigarette holder Cruella de Vil uses in “One Hundred and One Dalmatians.” Sure, it’s not as long and wouldn’t serve the same purpose as the device that was popular in the early-to-mid 20th century, but I couldn’t help thinking that when I walked up to the booth.

What happened next is a testament to co-owner Mark Ciccarello’s prowess as a salesman and the product itself. While I stood there waiting for Ciccarello to finish talking to a customer, I heard the entirety of the sales pitch, describing what the Ciccar accessory was used for and what the accessories that come with it could be used for.

The Ciccar Cigar Holder is intended to be used as a nub tool, not necessarily something that you would use to smoke the entire cigar through. So once you get towards the end of your cigar, instead of burning your fingers or stabbing it with something pokey, you just insert the cigar in and finish smoking it to the end.

The thing that really caught my attention—and ultimately led me to purchase one for myself—is the silicon ring that you see in the photo above. It loops around the outside, and then a strong magnet will keep it in place on any metal surface, specifically the frame of a golf cart. I’ve used many different cigar holders over the years while I golf, and all of them have some downside, like pinching the cigar to the point where it’s crushed, or once you get down to a certain length, it’s difficult to remove from the holder. The Ciccar Cigar Holder solves both problems, firmly holding your cigar in place without crushing it and allowing you to smoke it down to the end without fumbling around trying to take it out of the holder.

3. PINEL et PINEL Baby Cigar Trunk

Last on my list is an item from a company that’s been around for a couple of decades but was exhibiting for the first time at the 2023 PCA Convention and Trade Show. When you first walk into the PINEL et PINEL booth, staring at you in all its glory is the Baby Cigar Trunk.

With room to hold up to 800 cigars and storage on the side for your accessories or, in the case of the company’s catalog, expensive liquor bottles, the Baby Cigar Trunk is both a showpiece and a functional humidor. While the Baby in the name might seem strange for how large this is, the company offers a product called the Ultimate Cigar Trunk, which stands 11″ taller and holds an additional 600 cigars.

Regardless of its “small” stature, the Baby Cigar Trunk still has impressive features such as LED lighting and an internal humidification system. It can be customized from the 60 different leather colors PINEL et PINEL offers, along with either nickel palladium, yellow gold, or rose gold for the metal accents. All these features are nice, but priced at €43,000 ($47,700), it’s certainly out of reach for my cigar storage budget. Still, this isn’t a list of things I can afford, but instead, things that impressed me, and I’ve got to say, the Baby Cigar Trunk is extremely impressive.