Procigar Festival 2012 - <Day1> - La Romana, Casa De Campo in Dominican Republic on February 19, 2012.
Video for Trip and 1st Day at Procigar Festival 2012.

This video was shot by Sony HDR-CX580V & Nikon D7000, Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 Super Wide Lens.

URL:

Procigar.org
cigarexplorer.com

It is finally here! Early this Sunday, Mario and I will head south from Columbus to the Dominican Republic for the 2012 ProCigar Festival. Combined, this will be our third trip to the island, but a first for both of us in attending this fest. From all I've seen and read online, this looks like it's going to be a whirlwind of a trip with lots of dinners/parties/factory tours, and cigar smoking of course. I'm not sure how much access we will have to a strong internet connection, but I hope to update this post with news and photos while I am down there. I know Mario plans to make one of his signature videos of the entire experience, but that will probably be posted a few weeks after the trip. For the quickest updates from the festival, make sure you follow me (Dan) on twitter @reeve11 and Mario on twitter @cigarexplorer . Both of us use twitter a lot and I hope to grab a international data plan to be able to tweet from the festival.

Wish us luck and see you guys from the Dominican.

Dan & Mario

Hey everyone. I am not able to attend this event this year (I actually will be in Miami the day after it, hard luck I know). But I wanted to give a plug for it because I went last year and had an absolute blast. In my opinion this is the best event of it's kind and should be attended at least once if you are a serious cigar fan. Cigarfest and Big Smoke have nothing on what the guys from Smoke Inn put on every year. After the jump are details about the event, and some new features for this year.

If you go have a blast and tell them Dan sent you.

This year I am attending the 2012 Pro Cigar Festival in the Dominican Republic. I've heard wonderful things about this festival and can't wait to see what it has to offer. This will be my second trip to the DR and I can't wait to get back down there and out in the fields with the people.

Some information from the Pro Cigar Festival 2011 website: In its fifth year, the Procigar Festival remains the cigar smoker’s ultimate experience. Where else can a devotee of the leaf spend time touring some of the world’s best cigar factories, hiking through fields of tobacco, and spending time one-on-one with the leading cigar makers while eating, drinking, and most importantly, smoking great and sometimes new, unreleased cigars?  Procigar Festival 2012 will be held on February 19-24 in the Dominican Republic - Cigar Country.

Starting in the illustrious Casa de Campo, located in La Romana, on the southeast coast of the island, our guests will have the opportunity to relax at the beach under the tropical sunshine, play at the Dye Fore golf course, visit Tabacalera de García and an array of many other activities offered during the Festival.

The fun continues one step further in the cigar capital of the world, Santiago de los Caballeros, about 160 miles from La Romana, for a diversity of options to choose from, including cigar factory and tobacco field tours to General Cigar, Davidoff, Matasa, La Aurora and Corporación Cigar Export....

More after the jump.

Last week me and fifteen other cigar bloggers were invited down to the Dominican Republic by General Cigar Company to tour all assets of their operation. No stone was left unturned and we were treated to viewing every aspect of their cigar production from farming, aging, fermenting, to rolling and so on. It is no secret to General Cigar Company that most of us "geek" cigar smokers do not rave online about about most of their products on a weekly basis like we do with some of the other smaller boutique brands, yet they still treated us with the utmost respect and hospitality, wanting to share and teach us about what they have going on. If anyone from General Cigar Company is reading this, I commend you for reaching out to us.

Every person I met...

Also sponsored by Humidipak

Join us Friday, October 7th, 2011, & experience the discovery at Cigar Explorer's "Experience The Discovery" Cigar Rights of America Charity Event.

***GREAT NEWS***

FOR ONLINE TICKET PURCHASE $150/ticket, WE WILL GIVE A FREE EXTRA CIGAR AT DOOR!!
You will get free 17 premium cigars!!

Also now Ticket for a Couple on sale!! ($200 for one cigar lovers and spouse or friends)

The event starts at 5:30 pm and will run well into the night. With your entry you will receive a one year membership to the Cigar Rights of America, 10 premium cigars from leading manufacturers, and the chance to meet & greet VIP guests from Cigar industry!!

October 7th, Friday, at Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel  in Downtown, Columbus, Ohio.

This private party is co-hosted by the Cigar Rights of America (CRA) and proceeds from the event will go to support all that they do for the cigar industry.   Cigar Rights of America (CRA): Let Your Voice Be Heard, Protect Your Freedom to Enjoy Cigars

All of attendees will be members automatically at end of the event. (A $35 value).

• Share a delicious Cuban style cuisine
• Special VIP guests from cigar industry.

Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel     *Special Rate $109.- available

We have many other things planned, that are yet to be announced.
We want to welcome all our old friends, and make lots of new ones.

So please, come experience the discovery with us,

Cigar Explorer

A few weeks ago I attended one of the first stops on the Room 101 Cigars Cigarmaggedon tour at The Village Tobacconist in Fairlawn Ohio. (Here's some video Matt Booth (owner of Room 101) shot of me and my friend Dan.) I had a great time, as always, hanging out with the guys and smoking some new sticks. While I was there I was handed a sample of a new cigar still being tweeked by Matt Booth and still in pre-release stage named One Shot One Kill. At least that's what the band says, so I am guessing that will be the name. This is a pre-release so who knows. I asked Matt for a quote about the cigar or any specifics and here is his response.

Quote Matt Booth: "I refuse your request sir."

If you know Matt this will not come as a surprise to you because, I can assure you, he meant nothing harsh by that comment and that he's just being his normal joking self. So with all of that said, this review will be pretty much uninformed and just what I thought of the stick.

Due to the size of this cigar, this review is only in two parts instead of the traditional thirds. 

Specifics
Vitola: small figurado
Length: 4.75ish
Ring Gauge: 50ish
Wrapper: ?
Binder: ?
Filler: ?
Price: $?
Smoking Location: My back deck
Beverage: Water

A few Sundays ago, the Cigar Explorer crew headed to Casa De Montecristo in Chicago for the national release party of the new stick Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Limited Edition, blended by its namesake, Jaime Garcia. Jamie released the first cigar to carry his name (the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial) last year, and followed up this year with the Limited Edition version -- which goes hand in hand with what the My Father company has been doing the past 2 years...one regular release of a line and one limited.  The difference between the limited edition and the regular release is the filler used in the cigar. The now-famous Pelo de Oro tobacco is used, as well as a few other slight changes to the percetages of the other types of tobacco included to round out the cigar.

I spoke with our good friends Janny Garcia and Jose Ortega of the My Father Company at the event for a long time about many new projects, but what's funny is we didn't ever talk about this cigar, so I don't have any quotes for the readers. That's not to say that they weren't very excited for the new stick; it's more to say that they have so many projects on the horizon that we could fill hours just talking about the future.

As always, it was a great party at Casa de Montecristo. Let's see if the cigar was just as good.

Vitola: Toro
Length: 6 1/2
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price:  $16.00
Smoking Location: My Back Deck
Beverage: water

<Bonus Clip>

Cigar Event at Casa De Montecristo, Cigar Shop/Lounge in Chicago (Countryside), IL on August 5th, 2011.
My Father Cigars, Jaime Garcia Special Reserva New Release event! with Jaime & Janny Garcia, and Jose Ortega!

This video was shot by Nikon D7000, Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 Super Wide Lens, Tokina 35mm F2.8 Macro Lens.

URL:
casademontecristo-chicago.com
myfathercigars.com
www.elreydeloshabanos.com

Cigar Event at Casa De Montecristo, Cigar Shop/Lounge in Chicago (Countryside), IL on August 5th, 2011.
My Father Cigars, Jaime Garcia Special Reserva New Release event! with Jaime & Janny Garcia, and Jose Ortega!

This video was shot by Nikon D7000, Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 Super Wide Lens, Tokina 35mm F2.8 Macro Lens.

URL:
casademontecristo-chicago.com
myfathercigars.com
www.elreydeloshabanos.com