Miami trip Video Interview with Willy at El Titan de Bronze

Hey Guys,

Ok so all the local customers know I went to Miami last week to visit some of my favorite cigar makers. Me and a few friends hit Calle Ocho and visited El Titan de Bronze, Padilla, El Rey de los Habanos, El Credito and many more. So below is the first of many videos I will be posting. Willy at El Titan de Bronze was nice enough to sit down and chat with me about his factory/company and cigars. Everyone knows by now he makes the Sudeste Cubano cigar for us so sit back with a Redemption cigar and some cafe cubano/cafecitoand watch some interview action. Sorry for the sound, a roller is chopping cigars and the store was busy as hell that day so I did the best I could.

Ahhh Christmas Time

I love this time of year! the lights, trees, food, friends and family. I am not going to get on a rant about the Holidays or lack thereof. I would like to just say that Silo Cigars has been blessed with some of the greatest customers in the world. From the deployed Military guys to the locals that stop in every day or so, you guys make this all worth it.

Starting a cigar business in this economic climate and with looming tax legislation (schip) was a risk but with the support of our customers we have been successful. I have always felt that the business should be catered around what the customers want and we listen. The main topics were lower prices, better boutique cigar brands, lifetime warranty cigar accessories, great coffee and a inviting place to sit and smoke. I believe we have done just that and we are always open to suggestions so if you have 1 or 5 let us know lol. Now back to the Christmas Time


The weather is turning colder and it is starting to feel like Christmas time. (hell Vegas got almost 4" of snow, can we get just a little?) At the store we say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays, why? well because we can!! and it is Christmas. We do not feed in to the whole PC vibe that most major stores do and we will always be ourselves. I hope I see the majority of our friends before Christmas but if not, please have a great and safe Christmas!!! I will be enjoying the time with my family in Cookeville on Christmas morning having our traditional family Christmas breakfast!! followed with a awesome cigar with the men folk.

(sorry for any typos, bad grammar or anything else but i really don't check those things lol)

Merry Christmas and be safe.
Kevin

Product Updates

Well it has been a few weeks since my last post so I thought WTH I will post some random things today before I leave for D.C. this weekend. We have found a few new cigar brands that we will be putting in the Silo humidor and online soon. I am going to keep the new arrivals closer to the vest than normal just to toture everyone that reads this lol. However, look for some HUGE news coming from us in the next few months. I am talking like earth shattering, everyone should be scared type news!!! As for cigars we did just get re stocked on La Riqueza and J. Fuego Delirium cigars along with our regular stock items. We will have some new swag next week for all you cigar company gear wearing people (that includes me) and these shirts are so sweet.

On another note after tasting several different custom blends of cigars I think we have found one to put our name on. We are still working on tweaking the blend and getting exactly what I want but we are 95% done. I hope everyone has a great weekend and keep checking back for more specific info in the future!!

kp

Proto Type Cigar on Sale

Well after many good reviews and tastings on Cigar Pass I decided to sell a 5 pack of the proto type cigars for $15.00 . These cigars are made in a small factory in Honduras but the cigars are all Nicaraguan Tobacco. The wrapper is a Nicaraguan Habano and the binder and filler is Nicaraguan so a Nicaraguan Puro for $3.00 a pop. We are in the process of finishing bands and maybe boxes ( I say maybe because depending on pricing we may just leave them in bundles). This cigar was created to be a great long filler premium cigar that can be smoked everyday and not break the bank.

Illusione Coffee was also released with rave reviews and the artwork has a lot of people talking. The printing process is the same that we used on the Tatuaje Coffee bags but the Illusione bags sport a metallic silver foil bag with gloss black printing. The crested eagle Illusione logo really pops and makes the overall packaging very nice. The concept for this coffee was similar to the Tatuaje Coffee, we paired Illusione Cigars to coffee. This time we decided to only use Single Origin, Fair Trade sourced beans. We are using the same local roaster and are roasting the beans to order to provide only the freshest coffee available. The Illusione Coffee comes in a Nicaraguan Segovia Medium Roast, Sumatra Gayoland Dark Roast, and a Ethiopian Yirgacheffee Light Roast. We are still working on www.illusioncoffee.com but you can order now from www.silocigars.com .

We should be getting Tatuaje Black Label cigars/jars this week or next and before you ask NO we are not taking pre-orders or holding anything lol. No retailer really knows how many they are going to get due to the limited production. Only 1,000 jars with 19 cigars per jar were made so that limits the number per retailer. Hell at this point I don't know if we will get enough for me to keep one lol ( I may have to just keep one anyway). Since I collect cigar jars it will be very difficult for me not to keep one.

Ok I am sure I have left a ton of stuff out and may not of made any sense in some sentences but I tend to just type and post. Sorry

kp

Illusione Coffee and the Holy Lance

Well the new coffee project has launched, Illusione Coffee is now available. Fresh roasted coffee the day you order it, available in 3 single origin Fair Trade sourced beans. A Nicaraguan , Ethiopian and a Sumatra. A mild, medium and full body roast compliments the Illusione Cigars very well. We have been drinking a lot of the coffee while smoking different sizes of Illusione cigars just to make sure everything was right.

We are also pleased to announce that the new Lancero Illusione cigar should be hitting the shelves next week. We are taking box pre-orders on the site right now so if you want to be one of the first on your block smoking the Holy Lance you best purchase them now.

kp

Viaje Cigars and a New Section on the site

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the delay between posts, we have been really busy looking for a new location for the store. We have found a spot that we think will be great for everything we want to do, once all the negotiations are finished we will post an address.

We have posted some new cigars that we believe are worth mentioning and trying, First off the new Cabaiguan Guapo sizes. Man these are great cigars a Junior size, Corona Extra and a Robusto Extra all in the Guapo blend. We are sold out of the Junior's right now but do expect more in soon.

Also, the Viaje cigars are in stock and ready to ship. One of my new favorite smokes and a Nicaraguan Puro only 40,000 cigars of the Oro blend are made per year. This is truly a boutique cigar and deserves some attention.

Silo Spotlight is a new section where we do a little interview with the cigar brand owner and feature their brand. This month it is Andre with Viaje Cigars, we asked a few questions and got some honest answers so check it out..

We will also be announcing another major coffee deal in the next week, we are just waiting on the bags to be printed and I have to say they look freaking PIMP :). Details will follow soon.

Cigar and Coffee News

Hello everyone,

Where to start, well lets see we got in a few bundles of the Padilla Signature 1932 cigar in churchill and Torpedo sizes and a couple of boxes of the Perla small perfectos. I hope Ernesto and his crew get cranking on that factory and start rolling cigars soon because I really do like his cigars and I am about out of product to sell and smoke :)

Also big news on the coffee front, another contract is signed and the first initial art work is approved so stay tuned for another HUGE coffee announcement. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag yet but the next coffee will be 3 different single origin beans paired with another cigar. A ton of people are raving about the Tatuaje Coffee we did and so we wanted to expand our portfolio with other cigar companies. We also wanted to do something a little different because all the Tatuaje Coffees are blended (except the White Label) to get that smooth yet deep and rich flavor.

On a side note if you are a retailer and you want to carry Tatuaje Coffee we now offer wholesale accounts and are taking orders. Also welcome aboard Tobacco Road Fine Cigars & Gifts, they are a official Tatuaje Coffee Retailer and offer the coffee in store by the pound or cup. So if you find yourself in Arlington Texas stop by and have a cup of coffee with Jim.

New Cigars and a Discount Coupon

Hey Guys,

Just a little update mid week style (cause that's how I roll) we just got in the Gran Habano 3 Siglo cigars which I think are fantastic. You can check them out on our website in singles or boxes 3 Siglo Cigars

Also the Tatuaje Coffee has been rolling along very well and we have gotten some great feedback, the sampler pack has really been a hot item. If you have not tried it you are missing the freshest roasted coffee on the planet.

Check the cigar boards for our discount coupon and be sure to use it, the coupon is for 10% off any $50.00 purchase or more. A good amount of people have taken advantage of the coupon and ordered a good selection of smokes and accessories.

We have a huge Illusione order coming in next week and should be able to supply the east coast with the most popular sizes lol.

So a ton of people have been asking me lately about my eye so I thought I would give a update, I hope to get the last 4 stitches out tomorrow. The stitches are bugging the hell out of me and I feel them on my eye all the time now. So after they are out and the doc says it is ok I will be firing up a special cigar a BOTL sent me (thanks Hollan). So after 3 operations and 20 stitches (on my eye) I am ready for this to be over.

Thanks
KP

Crazy Coffee Week

Well we launched Tatuaje Coffee this week and all I can say is WOW, what a response. I have never had so many instant messages and questions about a product in my life. The concept seemed so easy, yet it turned out to be pretty brutal. Having super fresh roasted coffee available on demand is difficult but we managed to do it. All of our initial orders have been shipped and we are starting to get feedback about the Tatuaje Coffee. So far everything is flowing great and we are going in the morning to take pictures of the Antique German Roaster and we will take some shots of some of the beans being roasted. We will be smoking some more Tatuaje Cigars and drinking more coffee for future ideas to expand the coffee brand. I actually have another idea that I would like to get going involving the coffee brand but I still have kinks to work out before I let the cat out of the bag.

I hope everyone likes the coffee and the coffee bags because a lot of love and care was put in to preserving the high standards that Pete has for Tatuaje. So next week we will be doing some Tatuaje Coffee and Tatuaje Cigar combos with some special pricing. We did get a 1/2 pound sampler put on the site today and already started shipping a few of those.

Next phase will be launching the wholesale division, yep that is right if you have a retail store and want to sell Tatuaje Coffee contact me now. We will be limiting the number of retailers and are currently developing a sku for the initial orders.

Thanks for all the support guys
kp

A Big Announcement!!!!

Well after months and months of planning and work in a few weeks the product will be available and will be launched on the multiple cigar forums I am a member of. Que the drum roll or music if you will............................................Ladies and Gentlemen from the owners of
Silo Cigars
and
Tatuaje Cigars we bring you Tatuaje Coffee.
Silo Cigars was chosen as the distributor for this premium blend coffee.

Yep you read that right, after months of smoking cigars and matching them with custom blended and single origin beans we (Silo Cigars) have (along with Pete Johnson owner of Tatuaje Cigars) paired his specific blends of cigars with custom roasted coffee. You might ask what makes our coffee different, well all our coffee is roasted the day I you order it (locally roasted) and delivered to me the next morning. Then at our facility we package the coffee and ship it to our customers, so you get the freshest roasted coffee available at a very reasonable price. All the coffee is roasted a few miles from our store in a Antique German Roaster 10 lbs. at a time. We will be kicking off the coffee with 4 blends paired with his current blends such as the brown label, red label, white label and soon to come black label. The white label is also blended to match the Cabaiguan cigars and his future ventures in the cigar business. We are currently working on the websites to add these products, I will update you as soon as we are finished.

Cigars, Websites and Coffee

Let me first start off by saying that I used to work at a web design firm so I am no dummy when it comes to creating websites ( I am not a expert and I know enough to get myself in trouble). However I have avoided flash over the years because I always felt it was to cumbersome and not user friendly. Who wants to click on the page to activate it then go and be able to click the intended target seems a little counter productive to me. Anyway me and Paul have been working on a site for a upcoming project that is in flash and we did the whole dam thing but after viewing it we decided what a pain in the ass to update it. So we decided to just make a flash intro/ main index nav page. We think it looks great and can't wait to debut it to everyone, however the product is not done so everyone has to wait.

I bet we smoked 5 cigars each yesterday while working on this thing, I started with a Anejo Shark but ended up letting it go out because it just did not stay lit and burned so bad. I had the thing at 65% humidity and left it on my desk for like an hour before even sparking it so maybe just a bad one. I finished the day with a Cabaiguan WCD, dam I wish I had bought like 50 boxes of these things (Nice smoke John). We drank some coffee and smoked some cigars and did web design all day yesterday, Paul had to do some programming on www.silocigars.com due to the USPS and UPS changing server call routines. All in all it was a good day at Silo the only thing we miss are daily shipments of Illusiones and Tatuajes lol. sorry for spelling errors or bad sentence structure I am just typing.

kp

Tatuaje Maravilla and Coffee

While sitting and smoking a Tatuaje Maravilla cigar from 2006 and drinking some fine locally roasted small batch coffee, Paul and I had a great idea!!! How cool would it be to take some of our favorite cigars and match them up with some killer locally roasted small batch coffee. Trying to determine the flavor profiles of coffee along with cigars and how they interact with the acidity and earth tones was very challenging and rewarding.

We went from one blend of coffee to the next all the while trying different cigars, but we always went back to a certain cigar and coffee roast. This is where it gets touchy, I could tell you what we have planned but then I would have to kill you (lol j/k). Our next project is going to set the coffee and cigar market a blaze :).

kp