James and Nick welcome Michael Knowles of Mayflower Cigars and The Daily Wire to the program. Michael discusses how is passion for cigars began and shares why cigars and Mayflower Cigars are very personal for him. He tells us about how he launched his career, writing his first book, and smoking cigars at The Daily…
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Avowed Cigars might be a new cigar brand, but the folks behind the brand are not. Andrew Considine and Dave West should sound familiar to our audience, as they are behind Maxamar Ultimate Cigars and Small Batch Cigar. To be clear, Avowed Cigars is not owned by the store, nor is this just a house…
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James and Nick welcome Riste Ristevski of JSK Cigars. Riste talks about how he got into the cigar industry, what’s changed over the last ten years, and some of the risks that he’s taken to make JSK what it is today. Riste talks about switching to his newest factory and what that entailed, as…
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Back in March of 2024, West Tampa Tobacco Co. announced that they would be debuting the Circle of Life at the 2024 PCA Convention and Trade Show. Unfortunately, beyond seeing it and being able to smoke a pre-release at the trade show, the world had to wait a long 10 months to be able to…
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Jimmy D from The Drawing Room in Davenport, Iowa reviews the Coroneta Earl from Crowned Heads. This robusto features a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Condega, EstelÃ, and Jalapa, Nicaraguan fillers.
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James and Tim (sitting in for Nick who is in Costa Rica) welcome Vlada Stojanov of SOMM Cigars to the show. Vlada discusses being a new father, what scares him, and how he’ll help his daughter develop her palate. Vlada also discusses if there are objective flavors to a cigar, romanticizing tasting, and if cigar…
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James and Nick welcome the Executive Director of the Premium Cigar Association, Joshua Habursky. The trio discuss the big wins for the cigar industry so far in 2025, and the importance of being vigilant against government overreach. Josh explains how the PCA, CRA, and CAA have all worked together to keep the government from taking…
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James and Nick welcome Michael Herklots of Ferio Tego to the show. Michael has been in the industry on the retail side and the manufacturing side; so, it’s no surprise that the discussion turns to B&Ms and cigar lounges. Michael talk about customer service and what consumers should expect from their retailer and cigar lounges….
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In late 2024, Powstanie announced a new limited production cigar called the Catastrophic Failure. Co-founder of Powstanie, Mike Szczepankiewicz, said in a press release that the Catastrophic Failure, “exemplifies everything Powstanie Cigars stands for.” I had the pleasure of meeting Mike for the first time at the trade show in 2024. He doesn’t strike me…
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Stay smoky, friends.
