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 my plans for the future. Brooks and I both have. It’s a question that comes up at nearly every handshake. I’m proud to say, thanks to a lot of people—chief amongst them you the readers—we are building halfwheel 2.0.

This is now Brooks and I’s full-time job. It’s a risk, a gamble, but maybe not. For me, it’s a progression of the hard work we’ve put in, the opportunities we’ve been given and the support we have received. We’ve been building something ever since the origins of Smoking Stogie, TheCigarFeed, Stogies N Brews and a stint at Examiner. There’s nothing more to announce today, but as always, we are always trying to evolve to give you a better halfwheel. It’s just around the bend.

• Camacho Relaunches Under “The Bold Standard” — Here.
• Flor de Las Antillas Short Churchill Coming to Holt’s — Limited, details here.
• Tres Reynas Back With Corona & New Look — Here.
• Merlion Sea Lion Coming to IPCPR — News broken here.
• Regius Adds Limited Culebra & Robusto — At IPCPR 2013 and here.
• Rocky Patel Ships Decade Edición LImitada — It’s back, and here.
• Gran Habano Adding American Puro — Here.
• Wild Bunch Complete Sampler Coming at End of Year — Story here.

• A. Flores Gran Reserva Half Corona — Spotted multiple times on Instagram this past week. First noted by Gregory Mottola here and heading to IPCPR 2013.
• D’Crossier Adds Four New Sizes to Diplomacy — Details here.
• Second Donkey Droppings Coming — From Good Karma, here.
• Davidoff Launches Masters Edition 2013 Club House Toro — Press release here, already in stores.
• East India Trading Company Announces Rogue — Press release here.
• Father and Son Cameroon Line Coming — From the Reyes family. Press release here.
• Dignity to Release Dignidad Del Hombre at IPCPR 2013 — Here.
• Minnesota Raises Cigar Taxes. Adds Cap — 95% and a “win?” Here.
• California’s Proposed Cigar Tax Increase Stalls — Details here.
• New Jersey Eying Raise In Smoking Age — Here.
• H.R. 792 Reaches 87 Cosponsors — Full details here.

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.