Simply Stogies

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 Blackbird. We talk about Jonas' music, which you can find at @jontanard on Instagram, and how he finds time to make music, produce great cigars, run a company, start a factory, and be a father and husband.

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.

Episode 126: PCA 2024 Pt3

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 Seana Bolen of Smoldering Cigars. 
You can find  all of our coverage of the PCA 2024 Trade Show on YouTube, Rumble, or simplystogies.com

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 with John Salley. James then talks to Ian Reith of Dapper Cigars, before heading over to the Foundation booth and speaking with Nick Melillo. He then visits the Micallef booth and talks with Dan Thompson about the new Micallef Blue. Nick finishes this episode with Lotus accessories and an icon in the cigar industry, Ernesto Perez-Carillo.

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, Jonathon Drew of Drew Estate, Cigars for Warriors, Luciano Meirelles of Luciano Cigars, Jeremy Casdagli of Casdagli Cigars, Micky Pegg of All Saints Cigars, and newcomers IGM Cigars.

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.

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 how he first met Nick and just how difficult it can be to get around in Cuba. The three also discuss media in Cuba and if media can, or even should, affect how people see Cuba and its people. We invite you to read Brooks' coverage of Festival del Habano at the following links:

https://halfwheel.com/festival-del-habano-xxiv-day-0/435331/

https://halfwheel.com/festival-del-habano-xxiv-day-1/435455/

https://halfwheel.com/festival-del-habano-xxiv-day-2/435482/

https://halfwheel.com/festival-del-habano-xxiv-day-3/435570/

https://halfwheel.com/festival-del-habano-xxiv-day-4/435620/

https://halfwheel.com/festival-del-habano-xxiv-day-5-final-thoughts/435716/

 

27 Clear the Air: A Simply Stogies After Show

Join Tim (aka, the Secret Sauce) and James as they reflect on the most recent episode of Simply Stogies Podcast with William from Cigar Coop. The episode is hard to follow, because it is just that good. Tim gives Coop some grief (and props) and forces James to conduct some self reflection. Live Long, "The Cigar Media". Just say it in your inner James' voice.

Episode 122: Cigar Coop on the PCA Trade Show

We are excited to welcome back our friend, William "Cigar Coop" Cooper to the podcast. Cigar Coop, Nick, and James discuss the upcoming PCA '24 Trade Show in Las Vegas. Coop lets us know what he's looking forward to the most this year, changes to the PCA over the years, and who will be there and who won't. We then discuss the TPE vs PCA shows and if TPE will continue to have premium hand-rolled cigars there, and what the future holds for the PCA Trade Show.

26 Clear the Air: A Simply Stogies After Show

Tim and Nick host this week's after show. They talk about the latest episode of Simply Stogies Podcast with Dr. Stefan Lampert of Lampert Cigars, cool tech, the upcoming PCA trade show and so much more.