CAO Cigar Blogger takes Greyhound to RTDA

Jon Huber, the Chief Marketing Officer at CAO Cigars, posted a story about his 40-hour adventure to the RTDA show in Vegas two weeks ago.

Huber couldn't fly because of an ear infection but it sounds like it would have been worth a busted eardrum instead of taking the bus and living off Fritos and M&M's.

Visit the CAO blog and read his story.

Here's a quick snippet:

It's akin to some sort of Al Qaeda sleep deprivation torture technique. You no sooner get comfortable enough to where you forget about the ache in your knees that you CAN drift off to sleep when - BAM - all the lights in the bus go on and the driver announces that you're in Green City, UT, and you have 20 minutes.

So you get off the bus to stretch your legs, go into the truck stop and momentarily consider a junk food snack before coming to your senses. Then you browse at the countless pairs of cheap sunglasses, discounted Molly Hatchet CDs, and knockoff Orange County Chopper caps.....then it's back on the bus.

What are the top 5 Thompson cigars? - A reader question

Art Wallace writes to Al Remp through CigarBlog101:

I don't smoke cigarettes, but have occasionally enjoyed smoking a cigar (one ever 1-2 months). I had a salesman come by and said he had obtained real Cuban cigars and he gave me one. I have smoked a cigar on occasions for 40 years, all non-Cuban. This cigar was the smoothest, mildest, and best tasting I have ever tried. I was able to inhale, being a regular non-smoker, with out coughing. I have had good knockoffs that were very good but not like this one. It might have been real! Since I don't know anything about different brands and your Fall catalog is enticing, I want to purchase the sweetest, mildest, while being the smoothest to inhale cigars you sell. What is your top 5 or even top ten since you offer so many, cigars that would fit the description I have noted? Art Wallace

Mr. Wallace,

It is very unusual to describe any cigar that can be "inhaled". All cigars have wonderful pleasures without inhaling, an it is discouraged since the senses of the iner mouth (taste), and the burning (aroma) are the qualities that cigar manufacturers strive to achieve.

If you will review our catalog, I can name several brands that are mild and smooth. They are:

La Paloma
Green Iguana
Tusker
Dona Ines
Francesca
Camacho

If you are interested in a flavored cigar, vanilla, rum and chocolate are also listed in the catalog, so check them out.

By Al Remp, product specialist and trainer, Thompson Cigar.

Cigars, Thompson Cigar, Cigar Advice,

News from the 2006 RTDA

When the Thompson Cigar Team returns from Vegas, we'll grab their digital pictures and blog the stories and news from the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America show going on this week.

Subscribe to the blog so you can read the updates in your news reader.

Coffee and Cigars - A Natural Combination

The natural stimulation, albeit Cigars and Coffee or Coffee and Cigars, is one of life's great pleasures.

Certainly a fine coffee consumed at the beginning of the day helps awaken the taste palate. Coupled with a mild cigar, a must for early morning enjoyment, coffee is the beverage of choice.

In the cigar making process, when a new cigar is being blended, coffee is always available to the tester to enhance the tobacco taste. This is the ultimate compliment to both products.

Visit Cafe Belmondo's coffee selections and premium offers. Cafe Belmondo is a sister company to Thompson Cigar.

By Al Remp, product specialist and trainer, Thompson Cigar.

Cigars, Thompson Cigar, Coffee, Cafe Belmondo

Read, Comment and Subscribe to CigarBlog101

Welcome to CigarBlog101, sponsored by Thompson Cigar Company. Let us know what you think. Comment at the end of this message or any messages posted since January.

Our main provider of content is Al Remp, a product specialist and trainer at Thompson Cigar. Click his name to read more about Al and his 46-year journey through the cigar industry.

We encourage you to read through our archives, bookmark the blog, comment on Al's writing and subscribe to receive future content. Also, check out the other cigar blogs and resource sites we have listed in the right column. This is a growing community with a great audience.

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Thompson Cigar Trip to Plasencia Cigar Factory

Al Remp recently accompanied Thompson Cigar Company executives to the Plasencia Cigar Factory in Danli, Honduras. There, they met with Nestor Plasencia and toured his facilities.

Here you see Al sniffing cigar wrappers in the final phase of the fermentation process to discern its readiness.


In this photo, you see workers in the Plasencia factory sorting premium wrappers.


Finally, in this photo, you see a selection of wrappers sorted by color. Each stack represents a different brand of cigars from the Plasencia factory.


Cigar, Cigars, Thompson Cigar, Plasencia Cigar