Thursday, July 27 2006
"You were wrong, you know," he said with only the gentlest of smiles. "You said that Romeo (y Julieta) would overtake Macanudo, but you need to know something.
"It'll never happen."
Although Sherwin Seltzer of General Cigar is one of the nicest and most-respected men in the business, he is sure of one thing: Macanudo is the nation's best-selling premium cigar and will stay that way. He told us so during the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America trade show in Las Vegas.
In fact, we did not project the fast-selling Romeo brand to overtake Macanudo, but reported last year the comments of a major national retailer who told us that if the sales of the Romeo lines (Romeo y Julieta 1875, Romeo y Julieta Aniversario, Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real, Romeo y Julieta Reserve Maduro and Romeo y Julieta Vintage) continued at their current pace, the brand would leap to no. 1 in U.S. sales by the end of the decade.
If Seltzer, a modest man, says it won't happen, you can be sure of two things: (1) General Cigar is well aware of the increase in Romeo sales and (2) General is determined not to lose the no. 1 slot for its premiere brand, which has been at the top of the U.S. premium cigar sales charts since the mid-1970s.
To that end, it re-introduced the Three Tastes of Macanudo sampler pack, a group of three Hyde Park cigars in the Café, Robust and Maduro blends, and a new Macanudo Vintage, this time featuring the year 2000 crop, in four sizes.
General Cigar wasn't the only one introducing new cigars, of course. S.A.G. Imports, the sales arm of the famed MATASA factory from the Dominican Republic, showcased its newest, the Fonseca Cubano Limitado, at the RTDA as well.
Manuel Quesada, founder of MATASA, told the crowd at a California Assn. of Retail Tobacconists fund-raiser in mid-July that he completed the blend before taking a trip earlier in the year and left it for his factory tasters to try.
"I came back and my daughter Raquel, who is part of our factory team now, told me that my original blend was good, but that it could be improved. So they had tweaked it a little and asked me to try it.
"They were right; it was better. And the blend you have before you tonight is the product of the next generation at MATASA."
The Cubano Limitado - which was produced in a 35,000-cigar batch to start - is actually not a limited edition and more can be made. Four sizes were shown at the RTDA.
Short fillers: A strong crowd of more than 400 attended the Havana Cigar Festival and Beach Bash in Havana, Illinois on July 22. The town was a center of cigar making in Illinois beginning in the 1850s and ending in 1960. One of the highlights was the reading of the "Top Ten Reasons to Smoke a Cigar" contest, with Millard Woods of Mentor, Ohio on hand to read his winning entry: "With a libation, it's a mini-vacation!" . . . A special humidor was auctioned on eBay in mid-July which once belonged to Ramon Cifuentes, who took control of the Partagas Factory and brands in Havana beginning in 1899. The modest, burlwood-styled box was inland with the initials "R.C." and drew lively interest with eight bids and a final price of $510.00 . . . Bar owners in the Canadian province of Quebec are challenging the provincial smoking ban in bars and have filed an action which will be reviewed in late August . . . find our latest tasting review, of the Rolando Reyes-made Cuba Aliados, Puros Indios and Roly brands, in our News & Views archives for July 28.
- 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.
