Sunday, August 27 2006
Cigar imports rose more than 13% in 2005 and rocketed past the 300 million mark for the first time since the Cigar Boom years of 1997 and 1998. The 2006 picture is not as good.
According to figures released by the Cigar Association of America, imports of premium,
handmade cigars through the first six months of this year are off by a staggering 31.3% against 2005 figures at just 95.03 million.
At this rate of reduction and projecting the normal pattern of imports during the last half of most years, imports will drop to just 219.5 million for the year, the worst total since 1995.
Just three countries - the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua - make up nearly all of the U.S. import total. While import totals have dropped slightly for Honduras and are up a little for Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic export total to the U.S. has dropped by more than 41%.
At the same time, however, sales reports from Swedish Match (which owns General Cigar) and Altadis, S.A. (which owns Altadis U.S.A.) have been good, making the decline harder to understand. Much attention will be paid to the upcoming Altadis financial report for the first six months of 2006, due out at the end of this week.
Looking for that special store promotion, one that [you] will remember?
The Golden Leaf in Hobart, Indiana came up with another doozy, scheduled for September 2. Following on the heels of its White Castle hamburger-eating contest in March, the store has scheduled a tripleheader, with a daytime C.A.O. tasting, an evening cigar dinner and an afternoon professional wrestling card in the store parking lot!
The Windy City Professional Wresting league, formed in 1988, will stage the bouts, complete with a regulation ring, referees whose ability to find concealed weapons would not recommend them for airport screening jobs and "locker room" interviews. Customer attending the show will either enjoy it, or may be attacked by the wrestlers . . .
The remarkable life of Stanford Newman, chairman of the J.C. Newman Cigar Company, continues to be celebrated across the country. Reports of his passing, on August 17, have appeared not only in and around the company's Tampa, Florida base, but in faraway cities such as Cleveland, Los Angeles and New York.
Beyond his many achievements in the cigar world was his unshakable faith in the future, a quality he credited to his father, J.C. In his autobiography, Newman recalled how, at age 70, he bought out his brother and other family members to concentrate complete ownership of the company in him and his sons, Eric and Bobby. At the factory the day after the deal closed, Newman told his sons, "It's all ours. Just the three of us. Doesn't that feel good?"
Said Eric, now President of the company, "We dont own it, Dad. The banks own it." That didn't last long and a fourth generation of the Newman family is now working toward an even brighter future.
Short fillers: Washington Redskins fans will cheer the introduction of the Sonny Jurgensen "SJ-9," a one-size line created by the Hall of Fame quarterback and Gary Pesh of the Old Virginia Tobacco Company. Made by Litto Gomez's Premium Imports, Inc. in the Dominican Republic, the 6 3/4-inch by 47-ring Churchills are offered in boxes of nine (after Jurgensen's jersey number). The cigars retail for $10 each and are thus far offered only at Old Virginia . . . find our latest tasting review, of the re-energized Troya and La Plata brands, in our News & Views archives.
- Rich Perelman in Los Angeles
Want more? Join us for daily coverage of cigars, accessories, people and issues at CigarCyclopedia.com.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Heard in the Humidor is a publication of Perelman, Pioneer & Company.
Copyright 2006; All rights reserved
