November 25, 2024 Brooks Whittington Weekly News

Weekly News (Nov. 25, 2024)

Oliva Serie V Roaring Twenties, a $300 Cigar, Heads to Stores

Even in a year that saw the release of cigars like the Fuente y Padrón Legends collaboration and the debut of the OpusX Society this $300 is one of the most expensive cigars released so far in 2024.

There is more to the price than just the cigars, at least if you buy a box: each 10-count box includes not only an exclusive gold Le Petit by Les Fines Lames cigar knife, and Oliva says that it will donate all of its revenue from the sale of these cigars to the Oliva Helping Hands Foundation charity, which helps provide schooling for children in Nicaragua. The price of uber-expensive limited edition releases continues to climb, and I am interested to see just how well these sell.

J.C. Newman Launches Custom Cigar Blend Program

J.C. Newman has been pushing the importance of its El Reloj factory in Tampa for years, but the company’s announcement of a custom blending program may be one of the best ideas so far. This is not the first cigar company to offer custom blending classes to fans who travel to see its factories—Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua have had similar programs in the past—but there are distinct differences.

First, you don’t have to leave the country or even your house to participate in the J.C. Newman program: you can either travel to Tampa to choose your blend in person or do everything that is needed virtually with assistance from an online cigar configurator tool. The other big difference is that you get 80 cigars that are custom-banded.

CRA Freedom Sampler Fall 2024 Heads to Stores

I have always been a fan of the Cigar Rights of America Freedom Sampler, a package made up of cigars from 10 different cigar companies and sold to provide funds for the organization’s lobbying and outreach efforts. As has historically been the case, the sampler includes not only regular production cigars, but also limited releases that are not currently being sold, like the like the My Father García y García Toro and OpusX Scorpio Maduro. For this year’s release, there are also three cigars that have never been sold before: the Diamond Crown Classic No. 9, the Tatuaje Smashed Pumpkin Capa Especial and the Padrón Black No. 600. When everything is taken into account, the sampler is a great collection of cigars for a great cause, and easily one of the best samplers of the year.

Cigar News

Legislation

Federal

State

Local

  • Albert Lea, Minn. to Discuss Capping the Number of Tobacco Stores and Other “Adult Businesses” — via AlbertLeaTribune.com
  • Iowa City, Iowa One Step Closer to New Rules Dictating Location of Tobacco Retailers — via DailyIowan.com
  • Minneapolis, Minn. Park and Recreation Board Opens Public Comment Period for Draft Cannabis and Tobacco and THC Policies — via MinneapolisParks.org
  • Vallejo (Calif.) City Council Passes Smoking Ordinance — via TimesHeraldOnline.com

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Albert Lea (Minn.) Iowa City (Iowa) Minneapolis (Minn.) Minneapolis (Minn.) Park Board Vallejo (Calif.)
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Brooks Whittington

I have worn many hats in my life up to this point: I started out as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, then transitioned to photographing weddings—both internationally and in the U.S.—for more than a decade. After realizing that there was a need for a cigar website containing better photographs and more in-depth information about each release, I founded my first cigar blog, SmokingStogie, in 2008. 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, and it was one of the predecessors to halfwheel, which I co-founded.

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