Simply Stogies

Cigar Review: Patina Cigars’ Oro de Nicaragua Toro Extra

Mo Maali, owner of Patina Cigars, announced in February of 2024 that he was adding a new core line to Patina’s portfolio: The Oro de Nicaragua. Now, for those of you who have lived in Chicago, Oro de Nicaragua might sound familiar. In fact, that was the name of a line from My Father for…

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Episode 127: Jonas Santana & Miyagi Montes of Blackbird Cigar Co.

James and Nick welcome Blackbird Cigar Co. owner Jonas Santana and his National Sales Rep. Miyagi Montes to the show. We discuss how Jonas got into the business, his focus, and his passion for the industry, as well as their newest core line: Superb. We discuss how Miyagi and Jonas met and why Miyagi joined…

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29 Clear the Air: A Simply Stogies After Show

Welcome back! Tim brings James and Nick back to the microphone to wrap up the 2024 PCA Trade Show coverage. Each provides their thoughts on how it all went down, their favorite cigars, and take a few minutes to look into the future of their coverage during the show.

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Episode 126: PCA 2024 Part 3

We end our PCA 2024 Convention & Trade Show coverage from the floor of the show with some great interviews with: Skip Martin of RoMa Craft, John Laurendi of Peter James, Hendrik Kelner Jr. of Smoking Jacket Cigars and KBF, Toscano Cigars, and what a first time retailer thought of the show with Brian and…

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Wessex Red Virginia Flake

Brad Pitt is never going to win a Best Actor Oscar. Plain white rice tops very few lists of favorite foods. And you rarely see Red Virginia all by itself in a tin of tobacco. These are all things that are good in ensemble but alone tend to be rather dull. There are just a…

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Episode 125: PCA 2024 Part 2

We have quite the lineup for part 2 of our coverage of the PCA 2024 Convention and Trade Show, sponsored by My Old Kentucky Herf. We begin with Nick at the General Cigars booth. He talks with Macanudo, CAO, Cohiba, Sancho Panza, and Matt Booth. Nick then heads over to Freud Cigar Co. and speaks…

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Cigar Review: Micallef Blue

The Micallef Blue is a follow-up release of the Black from last summer. I have smoked a number of Micallef Cigars over the years and I believe that they are severely underrated. I appreciate the business discipline that they follow in keeping a strong relationship with their customer base through communication and releases such as…

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Episode 124: PCA 24 Part 1

James, Tim, and Nick bring you interviews from the 2024 PCA Convention and Trade Show from the Las Vegas Convention Center. All of our PCA 24 coverage is brought to you by My Old Kentucky Herf! This first episode has interviews with Sebastien Decoppet of Cavalier Cigars, Jonathan Drew of Drew Estate, Cigars for Warriors,…

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28 Clear the Air: A Simply Stogies After Show

Tim brings James and Nick back to Clear the Air to talk about the latest episode of Simply Stogies Podcast with Brooks Whittington of halfwheel. The trio discuss Festival Del Habano and the associated cost, The Cuban people and economy, and lastly American tipping culture.

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Episode 123: Brooks Whittington & Festival del Habano

James and Nick welcome co-founder, author, and editor of halfwheel.com, Brooks Whittington to the show. James asks Brooks and Nick about their time in Cuba for the 2024 Festival del Habano. The trio discuss the Festival, the humidors, and the events; they also talk about the general state of Cuba and Cuban cigars. Brooks explains…

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