#ELOsoFumarTakes

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes welcomes back Tripp Waldrop (in his record fifth appearance) and Denis Tsvang of Cigar Federation for version 4.0 of our pairing collaboration for our #106thTake. It is live blind cigar reviews, it is a pairings show, but it's done all with an #ELOsoFumarTakes twist. On this #Take, we tackle some shenanigans along with some of the industry's most serious questions that have all come down in the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Cigar Federation Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/cigarfederation/videos/?ref=page_internal

Four Corners Brewing Company: https://fcbrewing.com/

Ninkasi Brewing Company: https://ninkasibrewing.com/

Collective Arts Brewing: https://collectiveartsbrewing.com/

Developing Palates 2020 TPE Recap: https://developingpalates.podbean.com/e/developing-palates-tpe20-recap/

Cigar Coop’s Story on Warning Labels decision: https://cigar-coop.com/2020/02/cigar-news-court-rules-against-fda-on-warning-labels-for-premium-cigars.html

Bear Nails the Blind Tasting! – (3:17:00)

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes welcomes Oliver Nivaud of United Cigar Group to sit down for #Take105. Oliver and I are kindred spirits. We'll see how far this rabbit hole goes as we (a la Sound of Music) discuss a few of our favorite things. Tacos. Baseball(ism). Cigars.  That's what Nivaud and Bear do.  Plus, Oliver updates on all things United Cigars, including some breaking insights into PCA, latest and upcoming projects.  Enjoy!

https://unitedcigargroup.com/

https://tobaccoplusexpo.com/

https://premiumcigars.org/

https://www.baseballism.com/

https://www.fuzzystacoshop.com/

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes welcomes the return of Jeff Borysiewicz for our #104thTake. Jeff has many ventures within our beloved industry, but he serves as the unofficial beacon for the pulse for everyone from the consumer to the manufacturer simply because of the many hats he wears. This week we tap into his thoughts on Tobacco 21 to the fallout with The Big Four announcing that they will not attend PCA. It's an editorial-filled take, Enjoy!

http://floridasungrown.com/

https://www.coronacigar.com/

https://premiumcigars.org/

https://www.youtube.com/user/CoronaCigarCo

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes welcomes in the Head of National Sales for Plasencia Cigars - Javi Carranza. Plasencia is a truly historic name in the industry, but their legacy, until recently, has been mostly behind the scenes. For decades, Plasencia was and continues to be the manufacturer of some of the world's finest cigars with one thing missing the labels and boxes. The name: Plasencia. However, in recent years Plasencia has launched, with incredible success, their own lines of cigars. Javi has been at the helm guiding the ship and leading Plasencia into a new era. Enjoy!

Plasencia Cigars: https://www.plasenciacigars.com/

Ed Reed Foundation: https://www.edreedfoundation.org/

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes welcomes Founder, Publisher, Editor of Cigar Press Magazine, Thor Nielsen, to sit down for our #Take102. It's been a week(s) of big news in the cigar industry, so you'll definitely want to catch Thor's take on the latest news, but we'll also take it back to the beginning of Cigar Press Magazine. How did Cigar Press get here?  It's an epic sit down! Enjoy!

https://www.cigarpress.com/

Lord Gar by Chuck BB: http://www.chuckbb.com/

Kim Jackson, Cigar Band Art: http://kjackart.com/

Interview with Kim Jackson here:  https://youtu.be/PFF-lDdw-Fw 

This week, the highly anticipated #ELOsoFumarTakes Top 10 Cigars of 2019 will be unveiled! The past 12 months have been amazing and a special thank you goes out to E.P. Carrillo Cigars on being last year's winner, with the E.P. Carrillo Encore Vallientes. Will they repeat? The updated criteria is below:

1) It's vitola based.

2) I had to have smoked the cigar for the first time in the last year and a half.*

3) It must not suck.

4)No limited edition cigars (i.e. TAA, shop exclusive) are eligible.

5) A previous number 1 cigar winner (blend-specific, i.e. 2017 Winner Espinosa Habano) cannot be on this year's Top 10 or repeat as winner.*

6) A company cannot have more than 1 cigar on the Top 10, however, may be considered for honorable mention.*

7)THE BIG ONE: frequency of smoke. Basically, I had to have the means AND opportunity AND did, in fact, smoke the cigar frequently.

#ELOsoFumarTakes 2018 Top Ten List (Last Year):

1) EPC ENCORE Valientes

Sit back, relax and Enjoy!

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes hits the century mark. Our #100thTake features none other than Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars. Pete's business ventures have taken him from music to premium cigar retail to cigar manufacturing to wine to film producer and back again. This week we chat with Pete about his soothsayer intuition, Hollywood, and the legacy of one of the industry's most revered Limited Edition Series.

Be sure to stick around, this take goes next level at 49:00.  Hang in there as we muscle through and Pete takes over.

Life isn't perfect and things sometimes don't go as planned.  In the end, we end up with something far superior.  Enjoy! 

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes honors our last take in double digits. #Take99 brings in the two gentlemen that have revolutionized the cigar podcast game. Developing Palates' Aaron Loomis and Cigar Coop's William Cooper have each brought a lot to this industry. But, where did it start? Where do they see it going? I'll do my best to fire up Coop and get Aaron to admit he likes something. Enjoy!

https://cigar-coop.com/category/podcast

https://developingpalates.com/

https://cigar-coop.com/

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes #Take98 features Bradley Rubin of Alec & Bradley Cigars. We've talked a lot about family on our show. And why not? This is a family industry. Alongside his brother, Alec, our guest is taking the lessons they learned from a lifetime of watching their father do it right by his family, company, and team. Enjoy!

This week, #ELOsoFumarTakes is pleased to welcome Luciano Meirelles of A.C.E. Prime Cigars for our #97thTake. Backed by a factory that is widely considered one of the best-kept secrets in the industry, Luciano and his co-founders brought a new company and plenty of new cigars to the market. It's something the industry hasn't seen in a few years. It's with great pleasure that we sit down with the man who's making a bold stand and bringing a new experience to the consumer