Thursday, March 30 2006
Los Angeles - The parade of new cigar brands continued unabated at the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (N.A.T.O.) trade show in Las Vegas.
Although there are more than 1,000 premium brands already on the U.S. market, manufacturers were ready with new entries such as Nording, a medium-bodied
blend made by Rocky Patel Premium Cigars in Honduras featuring a dark, oily
maduro wrapper from Costa Rica in three sizes.
Swisher International gave master cigar producer Nestor Plasencia a chance to return an old family blend to the market, originally made decades ago in Cuba. Naturally, it's called Vieja Tradicion, which means "Old Tradition." It's full-bodied with mostly Honduran-grown leaves in the filler and a choice of Connecticut Shade or Costa Rican maduro wrappers, in three sizes.
Proving there's no rhyme or reason to many aspects of the cigar industry is the new Smokin' Toad brand from Flor de Jardin, which was new to the market itself just a year ago. The blend grew out of the heavy interest in the Flor de Jardin toad sculpture mascot at last year's Retail Tobacco Dealers of America (R.T.D.A.) trade show in New Orleans. Also made in Honduras, this is an all-Nicaraguan blend thats medium-to-full in body and offered in three sizes.
Outdoorsmen will enjoy Robert White's new Montana Sport blend, made by Puros de Armando Ramos in Guayaquil, Ecuador. You'll recognize it by its band, picturing White's six-year-old Springer Spaniel named Millie . . . who was by his side at the show!
Also from Puros de Armando Ramos was a remarkable new package for its Beethoven brand, offering 25 cigars in a black-clad box shaped like a piano, with 88 keys painted on the front!
Jamaican cigars were also on display at N.A.T.O. from Barrington House International, the last cigar producer left on the island. From a high of 23 million cigars exported to the U.S. in 1998, production in Jamaica dropped to a catastrophic 686,000 by 2001.
Barrington House is rebuilding the Jamaica brand a little at a time, having taken over the old Combined Tobacco Company factory in 1996. From essentially nothing, theyre up to 1.5 million cigars a year, with most of the distribution in Germany, Canada, Netherlands and New Zealand. About 375,000 cigars come into the U.S., led by three brands: Fundadores Jamaica, Guaranteed Jamaica and Pride of Jamaica.
An old Jamaican blend, Jamaica Bay, re-appeared at the show, now distributed by Arango Cigar Company of Northbrook, Illinois. It features Jamaican binder and filler leaves surrounded by a Connecticut-grown wrapper, in two sizes. It continues the resurgence of the mild, elegant flavors traditionally associated with Jamaican cigars.
Short fillers: The Tabacalera Perdomo and design giant Perry Ellis International have launched the Cubavera line of guayabera shirts in three styles, distributed through tobacco shops nationwide. Each retail for about $50.00 in sizes from medium through XXX-large, all emblazoned with the Tabacalera Perdomo logo . . . Government statistics in Ireland show that smoking has actually increased since a public-area smoking ban was instituted. At that time, about 22% of Irelanders smoked, but the rate has increased to 23% now . . . The latest winner in the most-outrageous-smokeshop promotion sweepstakes: the Gold Leaf Cigar Store of Hobart, Indiana. The store sponsored a recent eating contest featuring a "suitcase" of 30 White Castle hamburgers with the winner getting a new humidor filled with Perdomo cigars. Robert Bailey walked away with the prize, consuming 30 "sliders" in just 13 minutes!
- Rich Perelman
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.
