Favorite thing/activity to be doing while enjoying a cigar…

For me, at least this time of year, it is definitely while sitting on my deck in the evening.  Being in Florida, the weather this time of year is perfect.  I love to end the day by sitting outside with a drink and a cigar and contemplating the days events.  I find doing this a short while after dinner and after the kids are asleep helps me clear my head before bed so I can get a good nights sleep!

C & C Connecticut

Well, the first day of shipping the C & C Connecticuts is over. The reception is awesome, thank you to all the retailers and consumers who have joined our family thus far. This cigar is great; smooth and creamy and for only $4!  Had to deal with a late delivery by the trucking company but all is well!

A couple open cartons of C & C Connecticuts in the shipping room.

Things that go great with cigars! In my opinion…

A cup of strong coffee accents the flavor of almost any cigar.

Self defense tools, so you can enjoy your cigar in peace! From left to right: Gerber Mini Covert, Gerber Answer XL Tanto, Fenix PD20 Light, S&W M&P 9mm, Fenix E21 Light, Ruger LCP .380 and Ka-Bar TDI.

Muscle Cars, so you can enjoy your cigar in style! 1970 Mustang Mach1.

Good food! Haha, I had to include this pic. This is ground pork that the butcher molded into the shape of a pig... Kind of odd, but funny!

What do you enjoy with your cigars?

I have to rant about something…

Hey everyone.  I’ve missed the last couple posts, it’s been crazy here!  We’re trying to crank as much out as we can before the snow starts falling up north and cigar smoking slows down.  Here’s a quick update:  The C & C Connecticut will be shipping as scheduled tomorrow, Tuesday, November 22^nd.  So be on the lookout for it!  We were at the Cigar Heritage Festival Saturday from 9am – 5pm in Ybor City in Tampa, FL.  Thanks for stopping by if you did!  Also, on Monday December 12^th we will be doing the Moonlight Cigar Cruise in conjunction with the Sarasota CRA Club from 7:30pm – 10:30pm.  Entry is $45 and includes 5 cigars, food, music and a beautiful view of Sarasota Bay.  Full bar is available and they take cash only.

I have to rant about something here…  This nationwide government fixation on taxing cigars as they do cigarettes is getting to be ridiculous and the reasons provided by the agencies passing these regulations/taxes show the extremes of their naiveté.   There can really only be two reasons; either they believe they are going to make money off of raising the taxes, sometimes over 1,000% above current rates, or they think people will choose not to partake in tobacco products.  Either way, tobacco sales drop in the targeted area and jobs are lost in that area as well as where the distributors/manufacturers are located.  This is the last thing we need in an economy where everyone is crying about the unemployment rate.  History also shows that extreme tax increases such as these do not increase revenue because, as I said above, sales of the product drop.

As quoted from this article http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/nov/13/tobacco-program-waste-money/, “You would have to be living under a rock not to know the dangers of tobacco use.”  On top of added taxes and regulations being passed the government, FDA, is getting ready to spend $600 million dollars to educate the public on the dangers of tobacco products!  Is this a good investment by a government that has an annual budget deficit of over $1,300,000,000,000? Consumers of tobacco products understand the risks when they make the CHOICE to use them.  Especially cigar consumers, these are individuals willing to pay more than $10 for a single cigar.  That’s the cost of 2 packs of cigarettes.  I’m sure one of the main concerns is youth, persons under the age of 18, getting into smoking.  While there may be a chance of them picking up a cigarette I doubt they are looking to spend even $3-$4 on a lower priced cigar.  Even if the underage person grew up in a family where both parents smoked they would have undoubtedly heard about the dangers at school, from their friends, on a TV show, from doctors, etc.  But, as I said, I believe that is a cigarette issue NOT a cigar issue and we should not be penalized with the same ferocity.

I doubt they will make the use of tobacco products illegal as that would completely take away people’s right to make the choice.  But, it seems they can and are increasing taxes at a rate that if allowed to continue will make this hobby too expensive for the regular cigar smoker in the near future.  If you’re not already a member joining the CRA (www.CigarRights.org) can help stop this.

Let me know what you think!

– Shane

Value

Everything is coming together now.  Our Corojo and Maduro have been out for almost a month now and the reception continues to amaze and humble us.  We have some stuff coming out in the magazines soon, I’ll keep you updated on that, great support from the bloggers and everything else seems to be running pretty smooth.

We are the cigar for the majority cigar smoker, not the cliché cigar smoker that the “non cigar enthusiasts” think of, the corporate exec sitting in his big leather chair smoking a $20 cigar.  We know those guys smoke cigars too and we hope they love our cigars also, but our cigars do not exude luxury.  YOU, the majority cigar smoker, are who we labor for.  So you can enjoy a great cigar after a hard day’s work, with your buddies at a cook out, or out fishing.  We hope you feel a sense of value when you spend your hard earned dollars on our cigars.  We can’t tell you with an ad that our cigars are a value.  Value must be felt…  Hopefully what is felt when you smoke one of our cigars and say “Holy shit!” that was a great cigar for the money.

Hopefully we’ll get some promotional material going soon.  In the near future I’ll get a couple of hat styles and have them embroidered with different designs.  When I do this I’ll put the designed up on the website so you all can vote on which style you like best.  We’ll select people who voted and send them the hats once the voting closes.

Friday seems to have become my day to write a blog post so I’ll roll with that…  Have a great weekend everyone and we thank you for your support!

–          Shane