Drew Estate And Other Cigar News || The Barreda Don Chico Habano

Yo yo yo yo yo when we are back for another episode of Sticks and Stones podcast. Sticks and Stones podcast is the place where we talk about life, we talk about love and we talk about the Leaf the tobacco leaf premium tobacco products. And this is a a little bit of a different type of episode. So we we drop pods every Tuesday and Thursday. This is something that may become a thing regularly somewhere in between Tuesday or Thursday, but this is I saw some stuff on we are members of the PCA, the Premium Cigar Association, and I saw some news that I just I wanted to put out there. And what I am smoking today is I got I got all these at the Barida cigar event at Cigar Heaven in Webster, Texas. Um, and I am not going to go with a heavy long smoke. This is the Habano Escuro 5x 50. The Don Chico by Berida Cigars. So, that's what I'm smoking with my coffee. Jennifer Barida, Mike, the rep, and Tony, their other rep here in Texas were at the event. If you missed that event, you missed a good event. It was fun. It was a lot of lot of good lot of good stuff. Good time. So, going through my email this morning and I see an update, an email, a news brief uh from PCA and the headline is the Jorge Padron interview at PCA, which was great. It was a great interview. It was a great kickoff to the event. So, I see the thing about Jorge's interview, which was great. Great guy. And then I see I see a thing about Drew Estates having a seuite change and I was like, "Oh, this this is interesting. I I want to read this article." So dancing around the flame. So I was like, "Oh, this is interesting." Cuz I I'm a huge fan of Drew Estates and Jonathan Drew. So me being the huge fan of Jonathan Drew and Drew Estates, Drew Estate cigar, I was like, "Oh, let me let me log into my email and read the article." This is right up my alley, but for some reason it's got it's got a hard draw. It's very tight. Anyway, this is what I found very interesting. Jonathan Drew has now I mean, call it what you want, but he appointed himself the chief innovation officer. Chief innovation officer. And what does that mean? Good question. Also, one of the cool things that I saw is uh new member of PCA is Pina Cigars in Miami. It's a it's a lounge a lounge cigar shop. So, next time in I'm in Miami, I got to check them out. So this is what I found interesting about the article about Drew Estate. They have a new division. So the company said its newly formed innovation department will focus on projects connected to Drew Estates's core areas of innovation disruption, brand development and consumer engagement. So they cited the company cited that they announced uh Drew Dominicanana factory project and the Jan and Sun retail division as examples of initiatives connected to the department's direction. That was in a statement by Glenn Wolson the Drew Estate CEO. So Jonathan Drew said that his focus remains on the long-term future of Drew Estate, its employees, retailers and consumers alongside the executive transition. Okay. So and Drew Estates also they also hired Andrew Duncan as senior vice president of marketing. He was also uh in the seuite at the he served as the global head of brand marketing at the Sazzarak company which if anyone knows Sazzarak Ry no one's heard from them in a while then all of a sudden they just made a resurgence and I think that's partly due to this guy Andrew Duncan. So Jonathan Drew stays on he stays on I think he's he's not the CEO I think he's the found I mean technically his title's founder or president or chairman position established a focus on long-term strategic initiatives tied to innovation innovative brand development and business expansion Jonathan Drew is the president and now the chief innovation officer but here's what I found really interesting the J Sand cuz that's technically Jonathan Drew's last name. San SN J Sand and Sun Retail Division. I don't know what that means. The draw the draw did loosen up. It's not as tight anymore. Let me just take a look on the Google machine on what the [ __ ] Jan Retail is. J Sand and Sun because I find this very very interesting. Okay. So that that is that is the logo. So I now I recognize that logo. What is Jan and Son? Drew Estate and its founder Jonathan Drew San are proud to announce proud to announce J San and Sun a new partnership comprising a newly constructed family cigar factory and brand a worldclass cigar bar. Ooh. So this is this is what I was thinking this is. I speculate that Jonathan Drew, Jonathan Drew wants to roll out his own brand and chain of cigar lounges, which makes absolute [ __ ] sense. However, from a the my business mind says that that is I don't know why more companies are not doing that. However, from a looking at a business model from the cigar shop, if if I'm a cigar shop owner now, I'm saying to myself, well, [ __ ] Drew Estates is now in competition with me. I can't compete with Jonathan Drew's money in in his pockets. Uh, that's what I got to be thinking if if I'm a cigar cigar bar owner or a cigar shop owner. World class cigar bar, a live music venue and full kitchen, supper club that all exists under 7200 square. It all exists under one 7200t roof in Winwood, Florida. Cigar bar and supper club. Chef Chef Oh, yeah. Yeah. Chef Julia Ning offering a one-of-a-kind menu influenced by a broad range of culinary disciplines and family recipes. Our bar program is one of a kind. A separate amongst equals. Pair your favorite cigar with handcrafted cocktails and enhance your experience. Relax, unwind, and share your story with the Jan family. So, a small factory producing 500 cigars daily. When I blend cigars now, I'm thinking of my son. I'm thinking of DJ2. The J Sand and Company family factory is just four blocks from Jonathan Drews from Jonathan Drew Sands home in Winwood, Florida. Guests will experience the beauty of the cigar rolling process firsthand indulging on extremely limited manufacturing batches. I am I'm sensing something. I'm sensing I'm sensing a road trip, a field trip, if you will. Maybe I can get some of the listeners on this show to come with I know there's some people on on our Instagram that would love to go. So, this is this is very very exciting to have a Drew Estateowned cigar lounge supper club bar. Awesome. That is really really awesome. It's exciting. I'm really looking forward to that and and everything else that this innovations division is going to be developing. So that was that was really cool. So those were the big ones out of this week's newsletter from PCA. However, I saw another a previous newsletter from May 5th that Villiger or Villager Valigier I can't even can't even [ __ ] pronounce this. Appoints Christopher Scheach as new CEO. And then I'm reading the article about, you know, all of these different things and what this guy does in this new CE and this is this is the article and that's the logo. And then I'm like, this is a big company out of Switzerland, which there's a lot of, you know, there's STG, which, you know, these are all big, you know, huge conglomerates, but I'm like, who the hell is this company? Cuz I've never heard of them before. And I've been smoking for quite a few years. It's It's been a minute of me smoking cigars and I've never heard of these people. Now, not saying that I'm the afficionado or I'm the ultimate expert and I know every [ __ ] brand out there and every cigar rolled. I don't. However, there are some stuff. I mean, the Villager Villiger 1888 Nicaragua looks cool. The Korea awakens the bull in you. Korida, it's got like, you know, bunch of different cigars with different band colors. And then it says, "Our brands, the Villiger, Villager, I don't know how you pronounce this, 1888, which is from Dominican Republic. The Villager handmade cigars in Nicaragua. The Villager Kulier. Then they have Black Forest or Kulier. The Kulier Black Forest is a brand. And then the Villager Jier Cream. And then the Villager Julier Karibbe. And then the villager d Nicaragua limited edition. The villager Miami villiger. Then the villiger laaf floor duclan Uclan tobacco. The villager villiger la vensadora handmade Nicaragua villiger. Villager la venadora. Villager Sandoro the corida libertad. And then the la capitana. Oh no there's more. The Villager 1888 Grand Reserva. Guys, these are a bunch of cigars I have never heard of. So, that makes me think and I gota I got to call the boys up at Cigar Heaven to see if they carry any of these cuz I want to try them. So, I feel like a a couple things I I feel like a couple things are brewing. I feel like number one, I need to do like a midweek pod about news that's happening in the cigar world. I mean, I'm in the cigar world. We are cigar media. Soon we will be uh retailing cigars online. We're going to be selling cigar accessories and merchandise online. And then hopefully, you know, one day, God willing, we'll have a retail location and lounge. I feel that we should let people know that, you know, maybe don't have access to premium tobacco news, cigar news. So, this may be an ongoing reoccurring midweek podcast about cigar news. So, that's one thing. I am going to contact the people that I know at Drew Estate, find out about this the new Jason Lounge and see if we can organize orchestrate a field trip for anybody who wants to go. Uh maybe we do something. We're we just we just hit uh we're at a,0 followers on Instagram right now. Uh so a thousand's a big number. That's great. And it's awesome and we appreciate and love all of you, all 1,0 uh followers as of this moment. But we're thinking bigger. You know, this is Sticks and Stones. We're we're thinking bigger. So maybe, you know, we do something like I would love to give a whole box of cigars away to, you know, for an event. Maybe we hit 2500. I give out a free box of cigars. And now I'm thinking that I call up the the the contacts that I have at Drew Estate and I organize some sort of a field trip and maybe we get somebody. I'm thinking, you know, we do a party bus. No. What am I thinking? Winward, Florida. I think that's Central Florida somewhere. I'm thinking that gets you a plane ticket to Florida. We' do a drawing at 5,000 followers. I'm just I'm just spitballing right now, but I know there's some big We're planning big things here, guys. Yeah. So, that's Miami. Winward is Miami. So, I'm thinking that maybe once we hit 5,000 followers, we do a drawing and somebody gets a spot in the party on that party to the Jason Lounge. Jason and Sun lounge, cocktail, bar, supper kitchen, supper club. And then and then I'm thinking something like once we hit 10,000 followers, maybe we arrange a trip to Nicaragua to the Barida Cigar Factory, set up a tour. Maybe we could do it at Ritual Cigar in Panama. I'm not I don't know. I don't know yet. But I know what I do know is big shit's happening. And that's what we like to do here. We like to think outside the box. We like to do some big [ __ ] And I'm liking those ideas. I'm liking free box of cigars. I'm liking trip to Jason and Sun in Winward, Florida. I'm thinking stuff like that. Go to a cigar factory once we hit 10,000. These are just ideas that I'm spitballing. But this is this is really cool news because a any any kind of moving forward in the cigar world, I want you guys to know about it if you don't already. and Jonathan Drew taking on a second role within Drew Estate. I mean, that's that's pretty big, I would think. Over regulation over cost cigar on the mission. Okay, so here's another one. Pro Cigar Pro Cigar appoints Ciro Cassella as president. Reaffirms commitment to education initiatives. The the Pro Cigar announced the appointment of Ciro Casserella as president for the 2026 2028 term while also outlining continued effort focused on education and social development in the Dominican Republic. Will serve as the presiding company for the organization. So Pro Cigar has a new president. Cigar on a mission inside the League of Fat Bastards. Hm. The name might make you double take league of fat bastards sounds like a punchline to a joke or perhaps the moniker of a rowdy group of friends gathered at their local cigar lounge. But for Australian entrepreneur Adam Lavine, the boldly unconventional name represents something far more profound. A lifeline for men struggling with mental health challenges. Hm. Lavine's journey to founding the League of Fat Bastards began in the darkest places imaginable at age 50. Despite outward success as a self-made millionaire with decades of experience in law, investment, banking, and financial services, he found himself in the grip of severe depression. The mask of masculinity he'd worn his entire life. The stoic expectation that men should suck it up and push through had finally cracked. So, this is really cool. That's actually a really cool box. I like the branding on that. I like the branding on that. That's pretty cool. A bastard is someone who's direct and honest and cuts through the [ __ ] Lavine explains, "It's nothing to do with physical appearance. I couldn't give a damn if you were purple, blue, black, white, gay, or you identify as a tree." I like that. Mental health cuts across languages, religion, religious barriers, everything. Yeah. No, that's true. That is uh that's really really really cool. And I'm I'm thinking that portion of the proceeds to the sales of this cigar is going to go towards male mental uh health. 40% of the net profits to men's mental health initiatives. Wow. So, if that's something that you deal with and or if that's something that you support and care about, if that's something you care about, if mental health is something that you care about, especially if you're a male uh going through some mental health stuff or know somebody who is or has suffers from it, whatever. I totally get it. Totally behind it. I think I'm gonna try to find some of these cigars and try them out and we'll review or at least have them on the have them on the show or the Instagram to got to rekindle this thing. This was one of the free cigars I got at the event, the Barita cigar event at uh Cigar Heaven. So, I'm not too mad. So, I mean, I think that's that's some big news alongside a lot of boring political stuff. Not that it's boring, it's just a it's a boring read. Um, but I know that PCA does a lot of political action stuff and I know there's some stuff going on. California, there's always there's always California stuff going on and all sorts of law, not just cigar tobacco stuff. So, what else? So, there was the the Drew Estate stuff, the Jan and Sun retail, you know, thing that's happening, the Villiger Villager, uh, new CEO, then the League of Fat Bastards. That was pretty cool. And it's Eladio Diaz's birthday turned 73 this year. So that's that's pretty crazy. Pro Cigar appoints a new president. That was kind of, you know, decent decent news. So a lot of good stuff happening in the cigar world. Stuff happening with us with Sticks and Stones. Planning on some giveaways. We're planning some trips. We're planning a whole bunch of neat cool [ __ ] If you are involved in cigars and hanging out with other people that are into cigars, you know what, guys? Let's get at it. Let's keep it rolling, baby. Let's dance it around the flame. Let's get together and spark it up. So, that is this podcast for today. It's something different. It's something a little special. This is not a numbered episode. Uh this is just some news that's happening, something that I thought you guys should know about or would want to know about. So have a blessed rest of your day, the rest of your week going into the weekend soon because today is Thursday. So wishing you guys the very very best. Stay blessed and above all else, keep it rolling, baby. For Sticks and Stones, I'm Angelo.