The Blend
Cigar News, Culture and Lifestyle
Alongside their father William, Wiber and Nataly Ventura have formed the nucleus of the Tabacalera William Ventura. Over the past few years, the factory has produced blends for brands like Caldwell, Room101, and recently, Partagas.
We sat down with Wiber and Nataly to talk about their work, how they overcame a devastating fire at their factory, and what they have coming next.
We have seen all sorts of accessories in the cigar space, but rarely do you see creations like Stacey’s at Smoked the Collection. Stacey Bozeman is the Co-Founder and CEO of this unique jewelry and accessories line, and we had the opportunity to chat with her at PCA. We knew we had to share this with you so that you can purchase yourself and/or your favorite cigar buddy one of these pieces.
At this year’s PCA show in New Orleans, a chance encounter with cowboy hat-wearing Danny Jackson—CEO of Benchmark Humidors—led to an inspiring conversation. A Texan with 25 years of cabinet-making experience, Danny now channels his craftsmanship into premium cigar accessories made with Spanish Cedar and full-grain leather from Saddleback Leather Co.®
As a cigar enthusiast, I love any platform where I can discuss the current topics, blends, launches, etc. about our beloved stogies. Cigar World wanted to highlight a new social media channel, the Perfect Pairing Club, with Adam Guard from Dreamer Cigars and Chris Chapanar of Whiskey Noobs, where each week, they pair a different cigar with 3 different whiskeys, tequilas, or other beverages. This is a perfect pairing of products and hosts.
As we know, a great whiskey pairs well with a great cigar, and many of you, cigar enthusiasts, are also whiskey lovers. We thought you might like to know about this new device, created by Chris Chapanar the founder of Whisky Noobs, a social channel where Chris reviews different whiskeys (if you are not following him yet, you must! @whiskey_noobs), and co-host of the Perfect Pairing Club social media channel with Adam Guard of Dream Cigars. Let’s find out from Chris exactly what got him into whiskey and brought about this must-have blind tasting device!
Cigar World WCW: Shanika Smith
Posted in WCW
For this WCW, we wanted to highlight a woman who you have all seen on your Instagram if you are a cigar enthusiast. Her name is Shanika Smith, but you probably know her as @lavellas_1 or simply as Diva. We ran into her at PCA, and she was kind enough to answer some questions for us. Read on!!
Welcome back to Cigar World for our next iteration of Women Crush Wednesday. In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Desiree Sylver, the trailblazing CEO and Founder of Drunk Chicken Cigars. Desiree shares her journey from hand-rolling cigars at home to building a nationally recognized company, all while breaking barriers in a traditionally male-dominated industry. With authenticity at the core of her mission, Desiree opens up about the inspiration behind the brand, her leadership philosophy, and the exciting future of Drunk Chicken Cigars.
March is International Women’s Month, and as you all know, PCA is just around the corner. It will be held in The Big Easy this year, the weekend of April 11 th -14th, and we wanted to talk to the Women of PCA about how the organization has been going, what they have been working on, and what we can look forward to seeing from them moving forward. I was able to sit down with Monique Jones from the Women of PCA to get you all the answers. These are definitely some women to pay attention to because they have plans.
Indeed, EPC Cigars have become synonymous with exceptional quality over the years. Today, we’ll explore Perez-Carrillo’s backstory and highlight some of the best cigars he’s ever made.
Meet this bi-coastal, actually bi-continental, badass, Nicole Knobel from ADVentura Cigars. There is so much going on with this brand, and Nicole has a huge part in making it happen. Check out our latest interview with her below!
