Stogie Guys Friday Sampler No. 287

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post a mixed bag of quick cigar news and other items of interest. Below is our latest Friday Sampler.

1) In just 15 days, over 25,000 people signed an online petition asking President Obama to instruct the Food & Drug Administration not to regulate premium cigars. This is a major accomplishment. Any petition that gets 25,000 signatories in twice that time is guaranteed to receive an official response from the White House. Ultimately, since Obama was a supporter of the FDA bill as a senator and later signed the bill into law as president, it’s unlikely that he’ll come out and announce the FDA will no longer consider regulating cigars. Still, the forthcoming official response will put the president on record and draw attention to all the jobs that would be destroyed by FDA regulation. A response may even lead to more attention for the two bills in Congress that would protect handmade cigars from the FDA once and for all. Thanks to all StogieGuys.com readers who signed the petition!

2) Florida officials seized $200,000 in counterfeit Cohiba cigars on Monday in a raid that hit Miami’s Little Havana district. But these cigars were not purporting to be Cuban; instead, their bands were marked with “Rebublica Dominicana” underneath the Cohiba name. Tobacco giant General Cigar owns the Cohiba trademark in the U.S. “Protecting cigar consumers from counterfeiters and maintaining the integrity of our products is a top priority for the company…” said Dan Carr, president of General Cigar.

3) Inside the Industry: A hailstorm in Jalapa, Nicaragua, did significant damage to Padrón’s wrapper crop for their 1964 Anniversary Series. Jorge Padrón told Cigar Aficionado that 9o% of the crop was rendered unusable, but because of Padrón’s extensive tobacco inventory and aging, the impact, if any at all, won’t be felt for years.

4) Around the Blogs: Nice Tight Ash checks out a Roma Craft Intemperance EC XVIII Faith. Cigar Fan fires up a Jameson Red Label. Cigar Inspector inspects the E.P. Carrillo New Wave Connecticut Short Run 2012. Cigar Explorer explores a Tatuaje Lil’ Drac.

5) Deal of the Week: Famous Smoke Shop is offering some valuable coupon deals on its wide selection of cigars. Click here and enter coupon code “SAV15IMPRD” at checkout to save $15 on orders of $100 or more, or click here and enter coupon code “FRSHPIMPRD” to get free shipping on orders $50 or more.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Flickr