Thursday, December 20 2007
By Gary Korb
Big tobacco meets little tobacco
2007 saw some big changes in the cigar industry, and was a banner year for some brands as well. Among the bigger stories was General Cigar's foray into the online retail cigar channel. Even more recently, General acquired certain assets of
Havana Honeys Holdings LLC, makers of the
Havana Honeys® flavored cigars brand.
Other "big tobacco" news included Cigarette-making giant Altria purchasing John Middleton, Inc., makers of Black & Mild cigars, for $2.9 billion. CAO became the exclusive U.S. distributor of all Carlos Toraño cigars, including the Dunhill Signed Range line of cigars. That agreement goes into effect on January 2, 2008. Could this be the future of the premium handmade cigars business? According to one of my closest and most reliable sources, look for 2008 to bring many more surprises.
Perhaps the biggest news of all was the death of the SCHIP bill, which will keep the 5 cent cap on premium cigars right where it is at. That is, until the next administration comes in, and at this stage, God only knows who that will be. At least the IPCPR (form. RTDA) and the Cigar Association of America (CAA) will have more time to hold off the enemies at the gate.
New Cigars: Present & Future
Although I touched on them in the last newsletter insofar as mentioning that they were now available, some of the cigars that made a big impression on me were the Padron 80th Anniversary, 601 Blue Maduro, Avo 787, Davidoff Pura Dominicana Robusto, La Aurora Preferido Ecuador, Oliva Serie V, the Romeo y Julieta Habana Reserve, Montecristo Serie C, Alec Bradley MAXX Vice, Indian Tabac 10th Anniversary, the Bahia ICON, and the Perdomo Habano Maduro, to name a few off the top of my head.
Some of the cigars I've already sampled that will be getting more play in the weeks and months ahead are Conuco and Cruz Real. Both cigars are exclusive to Famous Smoke Shop, and I've already selected Conuco as my "Pick of the Month" for our February catalog. Another impressive cigar is the Don Lino 1989, and also from Tabacalera La Aurora, the Nestor Miranda Collection Special Selection. Actually, as I'm writing this, I'm sampling a new, not-yet-named selection from Reyes Family Cigars (formerly Puros Indios Cigars), and so far it's been a nice full-bodied smoke.
Davidoff has also bowed the Winston Churchill® cigars selection. The cigars will be available in four shapes using a blend of five Dominican Cuban-seed longfiller tobaccos, a Dominican Yamasá Cuban seed binder, and an Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper. What also distinguishes this cigar from other Davidoff-released cigars, like Avo for instance, is the Winston Churchill Selection are the first cigars without a Davidoff band, to be made in the Davidoff factory. I haven't gotten to my sample yet, but it sure looks gorgeous. Stay tuned for more on these cigars.
For the budget-minded cigar smoker, check out the new Famous Value Line Honduran #600. I was really impressed with these bundle cigars that come to us by way of Guillermo Rico, maker of the flavorful Gran Habano cigars. They cigars have attractive, bronze-colored wrappers, issue gobs of rich, earthy, medium-bodied flavor, and I'll bet you dollars to donuts that with some additional home aging, they'll ripen-up into a really fine smoke.
Finally, I still have plenty of new cigars left over from this past summer's RTDA in Houston, which should be just about right for the smoking by now. So more on those too as time and space permit. £
