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PCA 2023 Day 4 With Pierre Jourdan of Les Fines Lames (11 A.M. CDT)

We wrap up the daily live shows with Pierre Jourdan, co-founder of Les Fines Lames, the French cigar accessories maker. Earlier this week, Les Fines Lames made one of the more impressive announcements to come out of the PCA Convention & Trade Show this week, announcing that not only had they entered into a distribution agreement with Oliva Cigar Co. that will see that company’s sales force be able to offer Les Fines Lames’ products to retailers across the country.

PCA 2023 Live Day 3 With Terence Reilly of AGANORSA Leaf (11:00 A.M. CDT)

Today Brian Burt will interview Terence Reilly, vp of sales and marketing for AGANORSA Leaf. We'll chat about the new things from the company here at the show, including the 10 x 100 JFR Lunatic Maduro. Unlike Charlie Minato's attempt at putting together the J.C. Newman LEGO set, Brian will, in fact, not be attempting to smoke and finish the 10 x 100 cigar during our 30-minute interview.

PCA 2023 Live Day 2 With Drew Newman of J.C. Newman (11:00 A.M. CDT)

And that's how today's show came to be. This morning, I'll be interviewing Drew Newman, the fourth-generation owner of J.C. Newman. It's a bit of a weird title, but I suppose it is better than owner in waiting. When Drew's father, Eric, and his uncle, Bobby, retire, Drew will take over as the head honcho of J.C. Newman, but in many ways, Drew is already the one guiding the company. Nowhere is that more prevalent than at El Reloj, the company's headquarters and historic cigar factory in Tampa's Ybor City. A handful of years ago, I was at El Reloj to say hi, and Eric Newman told me about the massive renovations and expansion that the company was about to start. Drew wanted to make El Reloj a cigar tourism operation, event space and more. Eric thought the idea was crazy. But as Eric told me, "it's Drew's money anyways..." With that modernization complete, El Reloj now welcomes thousands of visitors annually, offers guided and unguided tours, hosts cigar rolling classes and so much more. But there's a lot more planned, including one of the most fascinating projects I've heard of in the cigar industry in quite some time. Today, Drew will talk about it while I build Legos.

PCA 2023 Live: Day 1 With Nicholas Melillo of Foundation Cigar Co.

The PCA Convention & Trade Show is back, and so are our live interviews before the show floor opens which has become a tradition here at halfwheel. The first interview of the show is with Nicholas Melillo, founder of Foundation Cigar Co. If you have questions for Brooks or Nick, please leave them on YouTube or Facebook.

PCA 2022 Live: Day 1 Interview With My Father

Patrick Lagreid kicks off the first of our PCA 2022 Convention & Trade Show interviews by talking to My Father, the company that won halfwheel's 2021 Cigar of the Year. They'll talk about the award-winning My Father Humidor Deluxe, the 10th Anniversary of Flor de las Antillas and more.

PCA 2021 Live: Day 3 Interview With Steve Saka

The maker of the self-proclaimed "most controversial cigar of 2021" will sit down with our least controversial writer: Brian Burt. Yes, he still works here. Steve Saka of Dunbarton To***co & Trust will be in the halfwheel bunker to talk about StillWell Star, Paladin de Saka, a new Mi Querida Triqui Traca and probably more. Have questions about how many ci**rs you are legally allowed to bring back into the U.S.? Want to know what the weather in Nicaragua was like 10 days ago? Ask on YouTube or Facebook and maybe Saka will tell you.

PCA 2021 Live: Day 1 Interview With Jon Huber

It's finally here. After a two-year hiatus, the cigar industry's largest trade show is finally back. This time it has a new name, PCA Convention & Trade Show, and a lot has changed. One thing that's not changing is our morning interviews. It kicks off this morning with Brooks Whittington interviewing Jon Huber of Crowned Heads. If you have questions for Brooks or Jon, please leave them on YouTube or Facebook.

PCA 2021 Countdown Show #4 — Top 10 Ci**rs

Welcome to our final PCA 2021 Countdown Show. Today's is a lot easier to understand: what are the ci**rs we are most looking forward to seeing and/or smoking that are debuting at the 2021 PCA Convention & Trade Show. Typically, the trade show is the single busiest time of year for new ci**rs with hundreds of new cigar SKUs introduced during the mid-summer event. This year there doesn't seem to be as many, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty that we are looking forward to. Brooks Whittington and Charlie Minato will talk about the 10 we, collectively, are most looking forward. This is also the final opportunity to win another custom-painted longboard from Drew Estate and Subculture Studios. Leave a question in the comments section on either Facebook or YouTube and you’ll be entered to win. Brooks will choose his three favorite questions and we’ll answer them during the show. If your question is one of them, you win. Contest Rules: Must be a U.S. resident 21-years-old or older. You may ask as many questions as you like, but you may only win one prize per show. Employees of Rueda Media, LLC, Drew Estate, Swisher and their subsidiaries are ineligible. Winners must contact the [email protected] email by June 26, 2021 12:00 P.M. CDT. Prizes will ship in July. Full terms and conditions: https://halfwheel.com/contest-rules/

360 Video: Drew Estate's DEII To***co Storage Facility

Last week Jonathan Drew took Charlie Minato around the DE2 facility in Estelí, Nicaragua. It's the building that stores Drew Estate's to***co, likely the single largest room of cigar to***co in the world. Check out the 360 view of just one of the rows. @Drew Estate Ci**rs : The Rebirth of Ci**rs #cigar #ci**rs

IPCPR 2019 Live The Recap

We are almost done with our coverage of the 2019 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show. Brooks Whittington and Charlie Minato are back for the final live show about the trade show. We'll talk about our trade show experiences broadly, we'll revisit our pre-show top ci**rs and accessories lists, we'll chat (briefly) on CigarCon and answer some of your questions.

IPCPR 2019 Live: Day 1 (With Juan Martínez of Joya de Nicaragua)

Live from the trade show floor right before the start of the 2019 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show. Patrick Lagreid will be joined by Juan Ignacio Martínez from Joya de Nicaragua Ci**rs. If you have questions for Patrick or Juan, please ask them in the comments. As always, check out halfwheel.com for coverage fo the 2019 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show. //////// https://halfwheel.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/halfwheel Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/halfwheel Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/halfwheel

IPCPR 2019 Live: The Big Show

Live from Las Vegas, it's halfwheel.com's preview show of the 2019 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show. We are live from the Davidoff of Geneva since 1911 Cigar Bar on the Strip. Davidoff of Geneva Cigar Bar On today's show, Charlie Minato & Patrick Lagreid will preview the cigar industry's largest event. We'll be joined by the following guests (all times EDT): 4:10 — Matt Arcella (Davidoff of Geneva since 1911 Las Vegas) Davidoff of Geneva Cigar Bar 4:30 — Fabien Ziegler(Drew Estate) Drew Estate Ci**rs : The Rebirth of Ci**rs 4:50 — Nick Perdomo (Perdomo) Perdomo Ci**rs 5:10 — Skip Martin (RoMa Craft Tobac/NicaSueño) Skip Martin RoMa Craft Tobac 5:30 — Steve Saka (Dunbarton To***co & Trust) Steve Saka Dunbarton To***co & Trust 5:50 — Dylan Austin (Davidoff of Geneva USA) Dylan Austin We'll be taking your questions for both Charlie/Patrick as well as our guests. //////// https://halfwheel.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/halfwheel Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/halfwheel Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/halfwheel

IPCPR 2019 Preview #5: 20 Questions

The 2019 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show is one week away (sort of) and it's time to answer some questions. Your questions, my questions, 20 questions. What is Consumer Day? What will the ACID 20th Anniversary look like? Will Arturo Fuente give out samples this year? Today we answer the questions, some more important than others. Also, we will have a surprise contest(s). CONTEST DETAILS: Drew Estate Ci**rs : The Rebirth of Ci**rs is the sponsor of halfwheel's pre-show coverage of the #IPCPR2019. Leave a comment on Facebook and you will be entered to win one of the custom Subculture Studios items from this year's trade show. We don't know what the item is yet, so at the moment it's a mystery. Details: -Leave a comment on the page stream of this chat to enter to win. -One commenter per show will be picked at random. -You must be 18 or older to be eligible to win. -Prizes will only be shipped to addresses in the United States. -Prizes will not ship until July 2019. -Winner will be announced after the show. Other rules here: https://halfwheel.com/contest-rules

Second Part of Top 10 Accessories

Charlie Breaks It Down: Mitch McConnel Calls for To***co 21

Earlier today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would introduce a new bill that would seek to increase the minimum age to purchase to***co to 21. Charlie Minato breaks down what that means.

halfwheel Live

Charlie Minato breaks down the change to Title III, what it means for cigar companies & Cuba. If you have questions, please ask them.

2018 Awards: Top 25 Ci**rs

The top 25 is here. Join Brooks Whittington, Charlie Minato & Patrick Lagreid live from the halfwheel office as we announce halfwheel's top 25 ci**rs for 2018.