Weekly news week 20 2020. Thick cigars, if you follow the reviews on our website, or watch the Philip and Ferdi Cigar Show, you probably noticed that they are not our favorites. But in the last year or two, we see thinner cigars making a comeback. And we wrote about that. Talking about the Philip & Ferdi Cigar Show, we published episode 16 on Facebook, YouTube, and our website.

Reviews and fake cigars

As usual, two reviews were published. One of the best cigars reviewed this year and by far the worst cigar reviewed this year. The amazing one is the HENK Maori Masterpiece, a limited cigar with vintage tobaccos. The horrible one is a fake Cuban cigar, a fake Romeo y Julieta Churchill. The same one that Philip & Ferdi smoked for an old episode of the show. 

Patoro, Hiram & Solomon, and Charity

To help the Dutch tobacconists through the corona pandemic, the dutch distributor Longfiller Company started ‘botl vs corona’. Several cigar manufacturers joined the movement. The latest addition is Tabacalera Unidas, the umbrella from Christian Eiroa. Brands as CLE, Eiroa but also Asylum 13 fall under that umbrella. The freemason cigars from Hiram & Soloman are now available in Belgium through Central American Trading. And Patoro releases new sizes in three existing lines.

The trade shows

There are two important trade shows for the cigar industry, the PCA (formerly known as the IPCPR) and Intertabac. The PCA takes place in Las Vegas in July. Intertabac is the international show in Dortmund in September. Due to the coronavirus, PCA canceled this year’s show yet Intertabac says the show will go on. The latter is hard to believe, and we think it will still be canceled. What is also canceled, for now, is the first European Arturo Fuente exclusive shop. Until the world is back to normal, the shop will be a Van Dalen Cigars tobacconist instead of an Arturo Fuente Exclusive retail outlet.