This is one of the best times of the year for lovers of cigars. We are just four weeks away from the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association Convention, also known as the IPCPR Show. It is the largest gathering of cigar makers and cigar retailers anywhere in the world. It’s a time when those who sell cigars make their biggest deals and move the most product. It is an amazing four days for the industry and although consumers are not allowed to attend, it is equally important for everyone who enjoys the relaxation that a great cigar helps create.

A group of us from ABC will make the trek to the show which means new items will soon be hitting your neighborhood humidors. Some of the items we will purchase at the show will be new releases, things that the cigar companies have waited to launch during the IPCPR. Other new items will be things that have been released since the last IPCPR but we haven’t picked up yet. Although we do like to bring in new items throughout the year, it often makes more sense to do it at the show. As I type this I am enjoying a cigar that we may pick up this year, the Luchador from Sam Leccia. Sam released this cigar several months ago, but I am certain that most of its movement will come in Vegas next month.

Armando Lipido and I at the factory where the Sam Leccia Luchador is made in Esteli, Nicaragua.

I wasn’t joking when I said that consumers were not allowed on the floor of the convention hall. Every year someone sneaks in and they are ceremoniously removed from the property. If you want to go attend a big smoking event in Vegas then you will have to buy tickets to the Big Smoke which will be held from November 7-9.

For those who can’t make it to Las Vegas, we will keep you posted throughout the week. Not only will I submit daily blogs from the show, we will also be live tweeting all week. If you aren’t following me, (@abccigarchris) or my compatriot Steve Mungeer (@abccigarmungo) on Twitter, please make sure you do so before we head out west. You will be able to see all the latest products and gadgets as well as hear from all the most influential people in the cigar world. We will have interviews, product reviews and plenty of pictures each day July 19 through July 23. Be sure to check our blogs daily.

As far as the Sam Leccia Luchador goes, I give it a big thumbs up. It’s a cigar that has tobacco from five nations. It has a beautiful dark and toothy wrapper made of San Andres Negra, and Ecuadorian Habano binder, and filler from Pennsylvania, Honduras, and Ometepe, Nicaragua. This unique combination of tobaccos makes for a complex smoking experience. It arrives some strength and maduro quality from the wrapper but there is lots of spice early on. I like what the Pennsylvania tobacco does to the cigar. It mellows it quite a bit, but the cigar still has plenty of strength. There is a transition into some sweet flavors and the cigar stays pleasant well past the band. I smoked this one to the very end and enjoyed it thoroughly. This cigar is made at American Caribbean Cigar S.A., which I had the honor of visiting this past year with my friends from Torano. It is a small boutique factory, with some very talented rollers, which produces some really nice cigars.

So will the Luchador make the cut and end up in our humidors? I guess you will just have to take a virtual trip with us to The IPCPR trade show to find out.

Chris Gwaltney, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits North Florida regional manager, Certified Tobacconist and Cicerone Beer Server

Follow me on Twitter @abccigarchris