Sunday, May 31 2009
There wasn't any doubt that manufacturers were going to be stockpiling cigars in advance of the April 1 imposition of the new Federal cigar taxes to fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program. But 59.8 million cigars worth?
That's the staggering March import total of premium cigars into the United States, according to the latest figures released by the Cigar Association of America, based on data from the U.S. Customs Service.
For starters, that's 208% of the March 2008 totals and for the year, the first-quarter import total of 97.6 million cigars is an 89% increase over the first quarter of last year. In fact, the 97.6 million cigar total for the quarter is almost 36% of all of last year's total (271.3 million)! The breakdown:
=> The Dominican Republic led the shipping parade with 27.6 million cigars, more than three times the amount shipping in March of 2008. For the year, Dominican shipments total 46.3 million, more than double the first quarter shipment in 2008 and about 42% of the total Dominican exports to the U.S. for all of 2008.
=> Honduran shipments were up to 16.5 million cigars, more than triple the March exports to the U.S. for 2008. Year-to-date, Honduran cigar exports to the U.S. are at 23.9 million, up 75% over the first-quarter figures from a year ago, despite the erroneous January figures, in which only 154,000 Honduran cigars were reported to have been shipped to the U.S. So the reality is the 2009 figures are quite a bit higher.
=> Nicaragua remains third, exporting 14.5 million cigars to the U.S. in March, almost triple the 2009 amount for March. For the first quarter, Nicaraguan cigars are again on pace for a new record, shipping 26.2 million cigars compared to 14.6 million in 2008, up 79.5%.
=> Even the smaller cigar-exporting countries bulked up in March, with Mexico sending 1.03 million cigars to the U.S., the first time in many years that Mexican premium cigar imports had exceeded the million-unit mark. However, the report again shows no Jamaican imports, which is clearly wrong, as Barrington House International continues to import its cigars for U.S. sale.
Machine-made cigar imports went wild, too. A total of 115.4 million machine-made large cigars came into the U.S. in March, compared to 48.2 million in March of 2008. But little-cigar imports actually dropped slightly, from 30.1 million in March of 2008 to 29.2 million this year.
All together, total cigar imports into the U.S. for March were up 133% to 228.1 million. For the first quarter of 2009, the statistics are just as staggering: up 84.3% to 495.4 million cigars imported into the U.S. compared to 268.7 million for the first three months of 2008.
>> "For Macanudo, our participation in the BamaJam festival marks our first foray into sampling at music festivals," said Debo Mukherjee, General Cigar's vice president of marketing. "Sponsorship of this festival is ideal in that it supports the brand's strategy of reaching consumers outside of traditional cigar-related venues."
The Verizon Wireless BamaJam Music & Arts Festival, in its second year, is a three-day music extravaganza that is expected to draw 200,000 fans to three stages spread over 600 acres in Enterprise, Alabama. Among the 35 acts expected to appear are icons such as The Charlie Daniels Band, Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, Taylor Swift and The Black Crowes. Macanudo is a Silver Sponsor of the event.
While the Macanudo American Passion Tour Bus has given the brand a presence at shops and events all across the country in previous years, the BamaJam format gives Macanudo an opportunity for a much larger showcase. A Macanudo lounge and sampling area will take over 1,600 square feet of the sponsor pavilion, with a specially-selected "sampling team" to introduce the Macanudo brand to new smokers, or those who need a refresher course on the best-selling premium cigar in America. Naturally, the Macanudo section will age-check every visitor.
Macanudo's sponsorship of BamaJam points out a distinction between cigars and cigarettes. The large tobacco companies which produce cigarettes and are signatories to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement are prohibited from participating in events like BamaJam, although the Discount Tobacco Outlet is a Bronze Sponsor of the event. Macanudo cigars will be featured on the stage video screens and have public address announcements to drive traffic to its lounge.
>> The unique "Cigar in the Bottle" that places a single Fuente Fuente Forbidden X cigar within a bottle of Grand Pommier XS Calvados (apple brandy) may be more readily available in the U.S. in the future thanks to a new distribution agreement.
Spirits importer Marani Brands of Los Angeles announced an agreement to be the exclusive importer of the Cigar in the Bottle with Fuente Marketing, Ltd., a British Virgin Islands company which distributes the item worldwide. The French-made brandy and the Dominican-made cigar is spectacularly packaged, with the cigar appearing to float inside the bottle itself! However, it is quite dry in its own chamber, accompanied by a tiny Humidipak that maintains the correct humidity while the bottle waits to be purchased (and opened).
Much publicized, the Cigar in the Bottle is hard to find, with authorized retailers in only 19 states, 10 of which have only one or two retailers that carry it. Marani, on the other hand, has 1,500 retailers for its wine and spirits products, plus 900 bars, lounges and restaurants.
- Rich Perelman in Los Angeles
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Reprinted by permission. "Heard in the Humidor" is a publication of Perelman, Pioneer & Company. Copyright 2009; All rights reserved.
