
The big lighter debate
The big lighter debate. When you are active on social media, and specifically in cigar Facebook groups you will see a discussion on lighters sooner or later. There will be snobs talking bad about simple soft-flame lighters such as Djeep and Bic. Snobs saying that true...

Episode 27: The Philip & Ferdy Cigar Show
Episode 27: The Philip & Ferdy Cigar Show. Wine and cigars, it is sort of a controversial subject. There isn’t much discussion on cigars and champagne or sparkling wines. Most people admit that this is a pairing that works very well. The same goes for white wines...

Cigars for Warriors Charity
Operation: Cigars for Warriors charity. Cigar charities, quite a good number of cigar brands run or support a charity program. And there are a few distributors that either support or started charities as well. They are giving back to the community. Some are open about...

Industry legend Benji Menendez
Industry legend Benji Menendez. Every industry has legends. Some unsung heroes, some famous names. A few names that will remain in everybody’s memories forever, most will fade away over time. Some that have left us, some still alive. These legends all played their...

Episode 26: The Philip & Ferdi Cigar Show
Episode 26: The Philip & Ferdi Cigar Show. An episode with all things Cuban. A Cuban cigar, and three Cuban rums. All in the week that American President Donald Trump outlawed the import of Cuban cigars and rum again. After 6 years, these products are off-limits...

Covid-19 disrupts the cigar supply chain
Covid-19 disrupts the cigar supply chain. Several international distributors, retailers, and consumers in the international markets reached out to Ministry of Cigars. With questions about supply and shipping. Consumers are complaining about their favorite cigars not...

Episode 25 The Philip & Ferdy Cigar Show
Episode 25: The Philip & Ferdi Cigar Show. This time from the Ministry of Cigars office and without a guest. But with some Flor de Cana 18 and the VegaFina 1998 VF52 from the Dominican Republic. VegaFina 1998 VegaFina is a brand created by the former Spanish...
Cigar Family Charitable Foundation
Cigar Family Charitable Foundation. Cigar charities, quite a good number of cigar brands run or support a charity program. And there are a few distributors that either support or started charities as well. They are giving back to the community. Some are open about it,...
Industry legend: Richard Meerapfel
Industry legend Richard Meerapfel. Every industry has legends. Some unsung heroes, some famous names. A few names that will remain in everybody’s memories forever, most will fade away over time. Some that have left us, some still alive. These legends all played their...

Episode 24: The Philip & Ferdy Cigar Show
Episode 24: The Philip & Ferdi Cigar Show. With a returning guest, Lord GK from whiskyhaven.com. Our friend Gautam aka Lord GK from whiskyhaven joined us for the previous episode as well. And this time he brought another great whisky. When the video shoot was...

Car rental stories from the industry
Car rental stories from the industry. Cigar manufacturers travel a lot. Doing events, going to factories in Latin America. Trade shows, more events. So it is inevitable to rent cars. Nowadays it’s prohibited to smoke in rental cars, yet most of them still do. And that...

Interview with Jose Blanco
Interview with Jose Blanco. Last month, Ministry of Cigars had the pleasure to interview Jose Blanco. The former director of sales for Grupo Leon Jimenes, former blender and director of sales for La Aurora. Former vice-president of sales for Joya de Nicaragua. The...

Episode 23: The Philip & Ferdi Cigar Show
Episode 23: The Philip & Ferdi Cigar Show. With a whisky expert as the special guest. Our friend Gautam aka Lord GK from the specialized online whisky shop www.whiskyhaven.com joined us. Not only did he bring a fantastic whisky for us to try. He also...

Printwork to fight counterfeits
Printwork to fight counterfeits. There is a huge problem with counterfeit cigars. Mostly it’s a problem for certain Cuban brands, Cohiba in particular. But there are also cases of high-end New World cigars being faked. Think Padron, think Opus X. The exclusive,...

Oliva Cigars charity
Oliva Cigars charity. Cigar charities, quite a good number of cigar brands run or support a charity program. And there are a few distributors that either support or started charities as well. They are giving back to the community. Some are open about it, raising...

Episode 22 of the Philip & Ferdi Cigar Show
Episode 22 of the Philip & Ferdy Cigar Show. For this episode, the brand ambassador for Martell Cognac, Lucas Mulliez, joins Philip and Ferdy to pair a Montecristo Linea 1935 Maltes with not one, but two exquisite cognacs from the Martell house. Mulliez brought...
Industry legend Don Jose Pepin Garcia
Industry legend: Don Jose Pepin Garcia. Every industry has legends. Some unsung heroes, some famous names. Some names that will remain in everybody’s memories forever, some that fade away over time. Legends that have left us, and legends still alive. These legends all...

Printing of cigar bands
Printing of cigar bands. Recently we published an article about Vrijdag Premium Printing from Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Vrijdag Premium Printing is one of the most renowned and praised printers of cigar art in the world. For over 115 years, the company has quality...

The Philip & Ferdi Cigar Show Episode Twenty One
The Philip & Ferdi Cigar Show Episode Twenty One. And this episode is a challenge, a pairing that could go either way. It could be a disaster or a homerun. The guys are pairing a cigar with durian. A fruit known as the king of fruits in South East Asia. But it’s...

The history of Condega Cigars
The history of Condega Cigars. A few years ago, out of nothing, Condega emerged in many cigar shops in The Netherlands, Germany, and a few other countries. And the popularity was spreading like wildfire. In 2018 we met with the former Brand Ambassador for Condega. We...