I was able to catch up with Rick Rodriguez and his daughter, Sara, while visiting the West Tampa Tobacco booth at the 2025 PCA Convention & Trade Show in New Orleans, LA. During our conversation he showed off the Dark Time as the company’s first $30.00 cigar. This was obviously something that they were both…
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If you live outside of Tampa, Florida you may not be familiar with what “Devil Crab Tampa Style” is. I know I certainly had no idea what it was. Thanks to Google’s AI, I now know what it is: “A Devil Crab Tampa Style is a hand-held, football-shaped fritter filled with a spicy crab and…
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James visits with Sara and Rick Rodriguez at their West Tampa Tobacco Co. booth. The trio discuss saving the planet, what West Tampa Tobacco has coming out, and more! View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hg8PGeRaHSo
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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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Sliding in at number 9 of our top 10 Cigars of 2023 is the Red Toro from West Tampa Tobacco Co. The West Tampa Red was launched in June of 2023. The Red was rolled at Gramendia Cigar Company in Nicaragua. It features an Mexican San Andres wrapper over a Nicaraguan Condega binder and filler…
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Master blender Rick Rodriguez seems to be putting in the time and effort it takes to grow West Tampa Tobacco. With the “Red,” they will bring their third regular production cigar to market. They have also produced their first Limited Edition, the Attic, making four blends in just over a year of operation. The Red…
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We, at least all the cool kids, were excited when Rick Rodriguez stepped out on his own with West Tampa Tobacco. Rick worked at General/CAO/STG for over 20 years, helping to blend some well-known and very popular cigars, such as the Flathead and the Amazon Bason, which made quite a splash with its re-release. West…
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My most recent podcast episode features Rick and Sara Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco Co. During our conversation, Rick discussed what it was like going from a “corporate kitchen” (CAO) full of “ingredients” (almost any tobacco he wanted to work with), to a “home kitchen” (WTTC) with few ingredients (limited access to tobacco) to work…
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