Friday, April 03 2009
By Dr. David "Doc" Diaz, Ph.D. (
StogieFresh.com)
Charles Dickens' famous novel,
A Tale of Two Cities has aptly described the current challenges facing cigar enthusiasts. We, too, live in the "best of times" and the "worst of times." We live in a time where manufacturers big and small are producing some of the finest cigar blends ever, and yet we also live in a time of economic uncertainty in a political climate bent on restricting our personal freedoms through anti-tobacco legislation and taxes.
From the novice, to the hard-core enthusiast, we could all benefit from more information and education about the cigars we enjoy, especially when we are shelling out serious cash for a box of cigars in today's marketplace. Consumers will become ever more vigilant of their financial resources, and they will become more discriminating when it comes to spending. As a result, the cigar industry should implement what the wine industry has been practicing for years: a systematic education for consumers. In short, educated consumers are more solid consumers and they will continue to spend on luxury items like premium wines and/or cigars because their commitment level is higher than the average consumer.
The wine industry is way ahead of the cigar industry in systematically educating the wine consumer. Wine manufacturers have excelled in providing detailed information to customers and potential customers, by using their wine labels, websites, and various print media. This attention to education has paid dividends by increasing the level of wine consciousness and by leading more people to become hobbyists and collectors of wine. This represents a more serious commitment to wine and the wine industry by the consumer, and creates more solid stakeholders in the industry as a whole.
Serious and systematic education can also help to justify the higher prices that invariably will be passed on to consumers. When you better understand all the processes and complexities that go into making a bottle of wine, you can more easily understand and accept the process of wine-making for what it is: a highly specialized craft.
Educational bits and bytes can demonstrate the intricacies of handcrafted processes and skills of the artisans. But the information that will best help the consumer with purchasing decisions will be the specific information about the product. Important questions include: What grape varietals are used and in what percentages? What was the year of harvest? Where were the grapes grown? Country? Region? Vineyard? What was the percentage alcohol by volume? By knowing these basic facts, the wine consumer will be able to educate their palate to the flavors and aromas of the grape varietals and be able to taste differences between harvest years in different regions. It is truly rewarding when one begins to gain experiential knowledge of a wine. The educational journey is a gratifying path that creates a cadre of wine "ambassadors" and gives one a sense of belonging in the world of the cognoscenti.
Wine manufacturers regularly provide detailed information to their customers, including such fine points as vintage summary and special vineyard and winemaking practices that were undertaken during harvest. And if that isn't enough, they even provide minute technical details, like how long the wine was aged and in what kind of barrels, the blending and harvest dates, barrel racking time and how often they change barrels, sugar content, acidity levels, fermentation and maceration practices, and so on. While this information may not appeal to every wine user, this information is consistently available from wine manufacturers and the industry encourages and makes it easy for wine consumers to partake in this education.
The question I have always had is, "Why hasn't the cigar industry done the same thing?" Certainly there are many similarities between cigars and wine. Both are agricultural products, both are climate and soil dependent, both are handcrafted, and both require processes for harvesting, fermenting, blending and aging. While some cigar manufacturers do supply information, it is usually never with the same consistency and depth as that provided by wine manufacturers.
Those of us who love cigars earnestly want to see the cigar industry stay healthy. We want to keep smoking the same wonderful cigars that we've come to expect from the industry and we want to be able to enjoy more and better cigars well into the future. However, in the current economic downturn, and in the face of new taxation, the cigar industry, like other industries, will experience challenges. Sales will fluctuate, margins will suffer, production costs will continue to increase and brand loyalty will be tested. Now is the time for the cigar industry to take bold steps to sustain the cigar market and I believe that education will play a huge role.
The cigar industry should begin to provide solid and substantive information about their cigars that is accurate, timely, and consistent and that adheres to certain standards. For example, there is currently no standard for the term "vintage." Manufacturers apply this term inconsistently and, as a result, consumers are left confused and frustrated. Nor is there a standard for how to report the tobacco used in the blend. Some companies report country of origin, seed varietal, leaf placement (e.g., Seco, Viso) or color ( Oscuro, Candela, Colorado, etc.).
The reason why the wine industry freely gives copious amounts of information to the wine consumer without fear that it's "secrets" are being revealed, is because they realize that it is predominantly the soil and the weather conditions that will give the wine its characteristic flavor and aroma. For tobacco it's the same. Unless you plant the same seed, in the same soil, and experience the same weather patterns (i.e., amount of rain, wind, sun, etc.), you cannot reproduce the flavor profile of the tobacco. Each plot of land, with its different soil signature and biochemistry, along with its weather conditions, will determine the nutrient exchange and ultimately the flavor signature of the tobacco. Grape growers know this. And so do tobacco growers.
A second factor is that some people are more adept at applying the skills of their craft than others. With years of experience, growers can respond to the nutrient density of the soil by adding nutrients, by adding or withholding water, by choosing the right time to pick, and by varying the curing and fermentation conditions.
The cigar companies need to take a lesson or two from the wine industry, which generally does a superb job of providing comprehensive information about their wines. And, the wine industry is still growing, even with uncertain economic conditions. I believe it is, in part, because they have made it their business to inform wine consumers about every detail related to the making of their wines. Of all the factors that drive wine or cigar industry health, the most important is consumer demand. That demand is generated by highly motivated consumers and education/information can serve as an important motivational driver.
What continues to fuel my enjoyment of cigars is the continual growth and enjoyment that I experience as a result of smoking cigars and as a result of accumulating more knowledge about every facet of cigars. Given the opportunity, I think most cigars smokers would understand, appreciate and enjoy cigars more if they had access to timely, systematic and consistently applied industry information. Providing the information would not be costly and in many cases is already being tracked by the manufacturer. And the benefits would far outweigh any inconvenience for providing it.
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AFTER NOTE: Please consider signing the petition to Better Inform Cigar Consumers. By urging cigar manufacturers to better inform us as cigar smokers, we will have access to the kind of information that will make our cigar hobby much more enjoyable and productive.
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David P. Diaz holds a doctorate in Education, specializing in Computing and Information Technology, from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He has served as a professional educator for 30-years, holding teaching and administrative positions in the California Community College system. Diaz has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, mostly on the topic of educational technology and his memoir, "The White Tortilla," was winner of the 2006 American Book Award. For even more interesting reading, including podcasts, cigar reviews, and other valuable information on cigars and cigar smoking, please visit www.stogiefresh.com.
