James Giehm

Cigar Review: Lomo de Cerdo from Tatuaje

I once again find myself reviewing a cigar that has its beginnings pre-2018. (For those not in the know, 2018 was the year I started smoking cigars.) This time, it’s the Tatuaje Lomo de Cerdo, or “pork loin” in Spanish. The original Tatuaje Pork Tenderloin was released in 2010. Of the original release, I have…

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Episode 115: Catching Up with Peter James

James sits down with John Peter Laurendi and Adrian Maharaj of Peter James Co. The trio discuss John’s journey with Peter James and how he overcame adversity by putting everything on the line to follow his dream and passion. John explains how Adrian came on board Peter James and the value he adds. Adrian explains…

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Episode 114: Nick Melillo

James and Nick Syris welcome back Nick Melillo to the show. Nick talks about what’s new at Foundation Cigars (Metapa, Tabernacle Knight Commander, and the Charter Oak Pasquale and Pegnataro). The trio briefly talk about Nick Melillo running the DE Factory, before they deep dive on the Highclere Castle Senetjer. We discuss how things have…

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Cigar Review: Y Panda Toro by Luciano Cigars

The 2023 PCA Trade Show gave us a lot to look forward to, and one of those cigars was the Y Panda by Luciano Cigars.  I was lucky enough to steal the one that was given to Tim and smoke it at the show. Honestly, it was one of the better samples that I tried…

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18 Clear the Air: A Simply Stogies After Show

Tim calls the hosts of Simply Stogies Podcast, Nick and James, back to the microphones to discuss Episode 113: Jose Blanco. The trio expand on some of the topics touched on in Episode 113. Should you retrohale? Where do the thirds of cigars come from? Are cigar reviews helpful? The topic then turns to cigar…

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Cigar Review: Seleccion De Fabrica Connecticut by Davidoff

Full transparency: there isn’t a lot of information out there about this brand by Davidoff. When you Google search for Seleccion de Fabrica by Davidoff the only thing that comes up are links to buy the cigars from Oxford Cigar Company. What I could gather about the Seleccion de Fabrica Connecticut by Davidoff was found…

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Episode 113: Jose Blanco

James and Nick welcome cigar industry legend, Jose Blanco to the show. The trio discuss what cigar smokers should know and why they should know it, we take a look at how Jose got started in the industry, and how he started with Arturo Fuente. Jose Blanco is a wealth of knowledge and we are…

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Episode 112: Catching Up with Pete Johnson

With James out and about, Nick shows off his interviewing chops by having a great conversation with his longtime friend Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars. The trio discuss Pete’s start in the industry, the CRA, Pete’s involvement with the movie Hand Rolled: A Film About Cigars, and what Tatuaje has coming up. We find out…

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Cigar Review: Club Mareva Jure from Casdagli Cigars

The Jure is the latest offering of the Club Mareva line from Casdagli Cigars. It was made for the opening of Club Mareva Zagreb, in the capital of Croatia. It was also dedicated to the memory of Marko Bilić’s father. Jeremy spoke about this when he was last on our podcast. The Jure differs from…

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Cigar Review: The Somm BDX Gordo

Vlada Stojanov, the man behind Bespoke Distribution, is a certified sommelier. For those who may not know what that it is, it’s someone who has been trained to taste. That may be an oversimplification, but it’s essentially correct. The testing to become a certified sommelier is intense. Vlada has parlayed that training into a successful…

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