Cigar of the Year:When the votes came in, there were cigars here and there that were receiving the Cigar of the Year vote by members of the association, but the one cigar that was
consistently ranking well, if not first, by the members of the Cigar Media Association was Fume D'Amour. It gives me great pleasure to announce that the 2014 Cigar Media Association Award for Cigar of the Year goes to Illusione Cigars for Fume D'Amour. Released at the 2014 IPCPR, Fume D'Amour
is the newest regular production release from Illusione Cigars, and is a cigar that is ground breaking on many levels. It is translated as "to love smoke," and is offered in a variety of more traditional vitolas. Crafted of entirely Nicaraguan tobacco, none of which from the ligero primings, the cigar delivers a wonderful amount of b
ody while having a tremendous complexity
level. No matter the vitola being smoked, Fume D ‘Amour delivers everything that a great cigar should while remaining balanced and refined. We can all agree that Dion has tremendous blending skills, and his work with Casa Fernandez and AGANORSA tobacco have created magnificent blends in the past, but this is possibly one of the best he has created, and is a regular production cigar at that. Congratulations to Dion Giolito and Illusione Cigars for a terrific cigar and a successful 2014 year. As always, we look forward to future projects!
Brand of the Year:
There were a lot of brands, both big and small, and new and old, that had a great 2014 year. In fact, there were so many that the votes were very close at times in terms of who would receive this award. But the end of the day though, the 14 members of the Cigar Media Association voted and the votes kept pointing to one brand. It is my honor to announce that the 2014 Cigar Media Association Award for Brand of the Year Award goes to Crowned Heads. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, and led under the direction of Jon Huber and Mike Conder, Crowned Heads had a tremendous year and one fitting of the name. The year began with the company’s first project with My Father Cigars, Las
Calavares, and a limited vitola addition to the successful Headley Grange line, Laguito No. 6, which was worked on with E.P Carrillo. Out of the gate, Las Calavares was a hit and it was a cigar that had smokers loving the dynamics between Pepin and Huber. Those releases were followed up by the company's first TAA release, The Angel's Anvil, a cigar that was once again made with E.P. Carrillo. After that, the company announced its first regular production release from 2014, and that was
the successful Jericho Hill. The cigar was showcased at the 2014 IPCPR trade show and is a cigar that pays tribute to Johnny Cash and Nashville, Tennessee. While that would be enough work for most individuals, Crowned Heads wanted to take it further and released five more limited releases and one regional release in 2014. One of the limited editions, The Buckingham, was crafted for a member of the Cigar Media Association, Logan Lawler's Cigar Federation, and the regional release done was The Tennessee Waltz, released for Huber's state, Tennessee. While we all have our favorites from Crowned Heads, and the years in which they were released, there is no question that 2014 was a huge year for the company and that they dominated the media waves for nearly the entire year. Congratulations Crowed Heads, you had a terrific year and you should be proud of it. We look forward to your work in 2015.
When the Cigar Media Association members discussed the concept of presenting awards, it was easy to say that we wanted a Cigar of the Year Award and a Brand of the Year Award. Those two are givens, but we wanted to offer a third award for the first year. We discussed the options available, and there are plenty, but what we kept throwing out there was an award for the Media Member of the Year. We thought it was a great way of recognizing online media, and also recognizing the work that we all put into the cigar industry. We all have our own styles and methods, each great in their own way, but we wanted to recognize a media member for the excellent work they did in that year. Every company has internal awards- most sales, most improved, etc., and we wanted to have an internal award as well where we could recognize the great work that he or she did for the industry that year. This is the first time this has been done, no online media outlet has ever done this, and we believe it says a lot about who is in the Cigar Media Association and what we stand for in doing it. There were a lot of great nominees for this award, we think that everyone involved in the association is contributing a great quality, but at the end we picked a winner with Cigar Dojo.
Master Sensei and the Cigar Dojo crew are doing terrific work right now and have a very unique approach to the industry. They are groundbreaking in many ways, and they are media member who is reaching out to the industry like no other. While most media members are website focused, Sensei is reaching out to the industry through the Cigar Dojo app on mobile devices and tablets, reaching consumers on the go. They have taken on a mission statement of Never Smoke Alone, and to this day have been accomplishing just that with their ever growing community. Along with the app, Master Sensei host his own show, Smoke Night Live, a show dedicated to and for the members of Cigar Dojo, DOJONATION. Continuing down this road of success, Cigar Dojo has lead and been involved with cigar releases to the market such as the Undercrown Dogma with Drew Estate and Smoke Inn, the Sarsparilla with Espinosa Premium Cigars and Famous Smoke Shop, and has had a cigar made in its honor with the La Jugada Nunchuck by Moya Ruiz Cigars. Cigar Dojo is a member of the online media that is truly going places, and the Cigar Media Association is pleased to have them on board. I am thrilled to announce the 2014 Cigar Media Association Award for Online Media Member of the Year to Cigar Dojo.
