July 2023: VICARIAS returns to the Premium Cigar Association trade show as a exhibitor in the first ever Boutique Cigar Association (BCA) Pavilion, giving us and all involved a presence we were unable to attain on our own. An unqualified success!

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March 2022: The VICARIAS Red Label Edicion Limitada is released. It contains the same binder and filler as the original Red Label, now draped in a Ecuador Habano wrapper hand-selected by Luis Cuevas, Sr.

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2020: Bob redesigns the bands for the VICARIAS line, to be introduced as new product is manufactured.

 

Late 2019: John Johnson and Jerry Garrett both decide to retire from the business. With two of the three "J's" gone, the TRE J name is also retired to shift the focus to our original line. Thus the entire company is now known as VICARIAS CIGARS. Bob Schiller is named Director of Operations.

 

September 2019: THE NEGOTIATOR makes its first appearance at the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show; a small cigar that Jay has wanted to do for years. If you haven't guessed, he is the "certain CEO" in the story found on the NEGOTIATOR page and on the boxes. It is also our first box-pressed cigar. Bob designed the bands and packaging.

 

Summer 2016: The VICARIAS Red Label is introduced at the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show.

 

August 2015: Bob Schiller is brought onboard as Director of Marketing, handling the website, promotional items and social media as well as invoicing and shipping. Jay quickly nicknames him “Indispensable Bob.”

 

2015: Almost immediately following the VICARIAS launch, thoughts turned to "what next?" The VICARIAS line featured great cigars ranging in strength from mild to medium-full. The next logical step was to blend a full-bodied, full-flavored cigar. Jay had developed a friendship with master blender and cigar legend José Blanco, and José graciously created INVICTIS exclusively for VICARIAS CIGARS. Emma Viktorsson conceived the artwork and box design.

 

21 Mar 2014: The VICARIAS White, Blue and Black Label cigars are officially launched at Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield, Ohio. We have to thank many people for their encouragement and generosity in getting to this point – most notably Matt Booth, Tom Lazuka, Sam Leccia, Miguel Schoedel and Chris Carver.

 

2012: To manufacture our first cigars, we were extremely fortunate to partner with Tabacaleras Las Lavas in the Dominican Republic, owned by the wonderful Cuevas family. This association continues to this day.

 

2011: Jay Clark, John Johnson and Jerry Garrett decide to get into the cigar business. They were friends that regularly attended cigar tastings in the Cincinnati area, sharing a deep fascination for the cigar industry that went beyond wanting to be mere hobbyists. Having no background in the cigar business meant starting from scratch. Since their names all happened to start with the letter J, they decided to name their new company TRE J CIGARS.