Drew Estate Returning To PCA Trade Show Next Year
For the first time since 2019, Drew Estate will be coming back to the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) trade show. The company, which is owned by Swisher International, won't be there this year (the show begins in July), but it will be at the show taking place in March of 2024.
In early 2020, four of the biggest companies in the premium cigar business—Altadis U.S.A., Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG), Drew Estate and Davidoff of Geneva—publicly announced they would be pulling out of the PCA convention, which is the handmade industry’s premier trade show. This year, three of the companies have reversed course, most recently Drew Estate. Altadis U.S.A. and STG will be attending this year’s trade show, leaving Davidoff of Geneva is the remaining holdout.
So why did Drew Estate have a change of heart? The company offered two main reasons for its intention to return: “First, over the past two years, Drew Estate and PCA leadership engaged in numerous mutually beneficial conversations that forged closer alignment in our positions regarding the most important, industry-wide matters that we all face,” said the company in a press release. “Second, the change in dates which slots PCA 2024 to take place in late March rather than July is a valuable change which more strongly aligns with the natural cadence of our industry’s business cycle.”
In March, the PCA announced that it would be switching its trade show from summer to springtime. The show had been taking place in the summer for at least the last 20 years. This year’s show will be held July 7 through 11 at the Venetian Resort & Convention Center in Las Vegas. In 2024, PCA will hold its annual convention on March 22 to 25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Drew Estate has been making premium smokes for more than 20 years and is now one of the largest producers of handmade cigars in Nicaragua. The company, known for its vibrant brands and unorthodox marketing, has developed numerous cigar lines such as Liga Privada, Undercrown and Herrera Esteli. Most recently, the cigarmker made a splash with the release of Blackened Cigars “M81” by Drew Estate, a collaboration with Blackened American Whiskey and Metalica’s James Hetfield. The cigars performed strongly in a Cigar Insider vertical brand tasting.
