Cigar Coop Prime Time Show

On Prime Time Special Edition 174, the Cigar Coop Coalition gathers for its 2025 PCA Recap. The team is back from this year’s Trade Show, and we will talk about the highlights of the show and the memories we took away. Additionally, we feature our Artesano del Tobacco Under the Sea, Espinosa, this Day in Sports History, and Tabacalera USA’s Great Things are Happening Here segments.

While Ferio Tego has been present at the PCA Trade Show since 2021, the 2025 PCA Trade Show as a little different in that its distributor, Davidoff of Geneva was back. For the most part, things were the same at Ferio Tego, as the company had its own booth located in the vicinity of Davidoff. As always we catch up with one of the principals behind Ferio Tego, Michael Herklots Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-wgm  

The 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show was the fourth one for Oz Family Cigars. Company founder Tim Ozgener has used each of those PCA Trade Shows to introduce a new release. 2025 would also see Oz Family Cigars release its fourth regular production, Karatoba. This would be a very different release for Oz Family Cigars. Our interview with Tim not only discusses the Karatoba, but a fun tradition we have is that we ask Tim to do impressions of some cigar industry personalities. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-wge  

On Prime Time Jukebox Episode 158, the title of this episode is “Everyone Has One Great Song” The concept works as follows:  Dave and Coop explore artists they simply do not like, and see if they can find one really good (or great song) from that artists. Dave and Coop make this picks cold, so neither knows what the other is thinking. Plus we got music news, cigar news, New Music 45 and the music pairing of the week In this episode, Dave smokes the Aksum Corona Gorda from Foundation Cigar Company. Coop smokes the Room101 15th Anniversary. As always, you can follow along with our Spotify Playlists: Episode 158 Playlist References David Briggs 1943 – 2025 - Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Roy Thomas Baker, Producer of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ the Cars, Foreigner and More, Dies at 78 Developing Palates Team Cigar Review: Los Statos Deluxe Connecticut Robusto - Developing Palates

Fratello Cigars certainly had a busy 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. Each year I try to come up with a theme for a booth, but when it comes to Fratello owner and founder Omar de Frias, there is one word that comes to mind - "excitement". Omar brings an energy and genuine excitement to the projects he is developing. Like each year, Fratello's booth is quite busy in 2025, but our team managed to get to Omar on day one as opposed to trying to catch him before the Trade Show closes on the final day. With over a decade in the cigar business, Fratello Cigars has built up a nice portfolio of core and limited edition offerings.  2025 saw several new additions introduced at PCA 2025. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-wfl

The 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show marked our first visit with Manny Iriarte Enterprises and The OpusX Society. Iriarte has long worked with Arturo Fuente on packaging and box design. Recognizing the power of the Fuente Fuente OpusX brand, Iriarate worked with Carlito Fuente to create The OpusX Society. The OpusX Society offers another outlet to cater to the rabid fan base of OpusX. This includes both accessories and exclusive products with original art inspired by the OpusX brand. This is a separate company from Arturo Fuente, but it nonetheless receives the company's support. Manny Iriarte's company has been attending several trade shows, and this year, there were plenty of products for fans of OpusX. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-wfA

Micallef Cigars' President, Dan Thompson, opened our interview at the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) with the word "momentum."  Thompson has said Micallef Cigars has momentum with its Color Series. This year, that momentum continues with the fourth installment of the Color Series with Micallef Purple. In addition, the momentum doesn't stop with Purple as Micallef Green and Micallef White are on the horizon. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-we1

Foundation Cigar Company celebrated its tenth anniversary at the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. In 2024, owner and Master Blender Nicholas Melillo made significant changes by revamping the Wise Man line and rebranding Metapa as Aksum. He expected 2025 to be a more relaxing year. However, a recent fire at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua has impacted Foundation, as many of its lines are produced there. Despite these challenges, Melillo is determined to move forward. Foundation has a limited edition, a line extension, and a new event-only cigar. The common denominator is that all of these projects will involve Connecticut tobacco, as Connecticut is Melillo's home state and the location of Foundation Cigar Company's headquarters. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-wdY

One of the staple companies of the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show is Gran Habano Cigars. For the past couple of years, Gran Habano has been showcasing its Gran Habano Corojo No 7. Initially released in the Gran Robusto (6 x 54) size, the Gran Habano Corojo No. 7 was finally introduced to the market late in 2024. This year, Gran Habano is introducing two new line extensions: a Robusto (5 x 52) and a Corona (7 x 46). Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-wcW

As has well been documented, 2025 marked Davidoff of Geneva's return to the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. If there was any question about how things would go for Davidoff upon its return, it was quickly answered. Davidoff's booth was undoubtedly one of the busiest at this year's trade show, buzzing with activity from beginning to end. It showcased four prominent brands: AVO, Camacho, Zino, and the flagship Davidoff brand itself. However, like AVO and Camacho, Davidoff has launched a limited-edition cigar to commemorate a special milestone. This particular release marks the ten-year anniversary of Davidoff Escurio, commemorated in the Davidoff Escurio 10th Anniversary Limited Edition 2025. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-wcJ  

We are back from the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, and tonight for Episode 339 we have Jeff Borysiewicz as our special guest as we also celebrate 8 years on Prime Time. We will have a wide range of topics from Corona Cigar to the FSG Tobacco Farm to a bunch of industry topics. Plus we will have our Alec Bradley Live True, Altadis Ties That Bind, FSG Beef, Espinosa This Day in Sports History and Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Industry Deliberation segments.

To say the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show was a big one for Perdomo Cigars was an understatement. Two years ago, Perdomo had what was arguably one of the biggest and most successful launches in recent memory with the Perdomo 30th Anniversary. It would seem that topping the buzz around Perdomo 30th would be a challenge. In this case, the launch of the Perdomo Legacy might have surpassed it. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-wa

Perhaps one of the most interesting first-time exhibitors at the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show was Raíces Cubanas. This is the brand originating from Fábrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas S. de R.L., the renowned factory in Honduras. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-wb3  

Camacho, much like the other brands in Davidoff's portfolio, returned to the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show for the first time since 2019. This year Camacho introduced the Camacho Limited Edition 2025 cigar. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-w9l

At the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, Davidoff made a notable return, and one brand that stood out with a fresh look was Zino. Davidoff had not participated in the PCA (formerly IPCPR) Trade Show since 2019. For many years, the company's primary focus has been on its flagship brands: Davidoff, AVO, and Camacho. Although Zino has always been included in Davidoff's exhibits, it was generally considered a secondary brand. However, this year, Zino took its place alongside the other three major brands, and the difference was quite noticeable. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-w80

One of the many first-time exhibitors at the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show was Valacari Cigars. Founded by Tallahassee retailer Nimmer Ahmad, the company works with Tabacalera Pages de Nicaragua S.A. in Nicaragua to make its cigars. While a first-time exhibitor, Valacari has been in business since 2016. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-w6v

AVO, one of the iconic brands in the cigar industry, made its return to the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show after being absent since 2019. With Davidoff's presence at the PCA Trade Show, AVO's return marked a significant comeback for the brand. Full PCA Report: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-w67

On Prime Time Jukebox Episode 157, we present Down the Rabbit Hole #8– our 8th installment of this series. The concept works as follows:  Dave and Coop start with a familiar song and then go down the path of selecting a song inspired by that song. Each will go through ten iterations of this exercise and choose a song from the inspired previous song selected. Ultimately, we will see where this journey takes each of them. Plus we got music news, cigar news, the music pairing of the week, and a short PCA 2025 recap. In this episode, Dave smokes the Blackbird Flamingo release from Smokingpipes.com and Coop smokes the Crowned Heads Broadway. As always, you can follow along with our Spotify Playlists: Episode 157 Playlist References Vote For the Next Album Archaeology Record PCA 2025: Cigar Big Board

An annual tradition continues on Prime Time Jukebox Episode 156, the Dedications Show for 2025. Dave Burck started the Dedications Show on Cigar Jukebox. Each year, listeners could submit a dedication song to honor a loved one or someone special who has passed away. Since we launched Prime Time Jukebox, we have included the Dedications Show every year. A tradition on the Dedications Show is to light up a Las Calaveras Cigar by Crowned Heads. Las Calaveras is an annual limited edition cigar that pays homage to those who have passed away over the past year. As opposed to being a mournful symbol, it is intended to celebrate those lives and remembrances of those who are no longer with us. We will smoke the Las Calaveras Edición Limitada 2024. As always, you can follow along with our Spotify Playlists: Episode 156 Playlist References Massive Fire Strikes AJ Fernandez Factory in Estelí Dolly Parton's Warning to Sabrina Carpenter Before Recording Duet: ‘I Don’t Make Fun of Jesus’ On Eve of Trade Show, Cigar Indus

ST Dupont is known for their fine cigar accessories with the bulk of it being their lighters. Their torch lighters all started with the introduction of their MaxiJet which a slim single flame lighter. I’ve personally owned for for 25 years now and it still fires up like the first day I got it. Originally, all their lighters were made in Paris,France, but later they moved their production overseas to China. Coles of Londons started distributing ST Dupont a few years ago and is now trying to bring the manufacturing back to France. They introduced the Defi Extreme which was a more rugged single flame lighter with a plastic cage around the sizes and corners to add protection. The newest version is called the Defi XXtreme, with two XX, is the newer version of the Defi with two major changes. One, the new lighter use a dual torch flame, and secondly, a more robust cage system. Here is the description from ST Dupont: “Defi XXtreme, the lighter for modern adventurers. With its powerful blue double flame, it resists e