Stogie Guys Friday Sampler No. 312
9 Nov 2012
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) Tuesday’s outcome at the polls had decidedly mixed results for the plan to bar the Food & Drug Administration from regulating premium cigars. First, the good news. The sponsors, both Floridians, were reelected: Sen. Bill Nelson (D) and Rep. Bill Posey (R). And only one Senate cosponsor was lost: Nebraska’s Ben Nelson retired. But that’s tempered by the fact that, even with him, the bill had only 14 supporters. In the House of Representatives, where cosponsors constituted more than a majority, the hit was far more substantial. What this likely means is a long fight ahead. Consider that only a tiny fraction of bills introduced in the House get enacted, and that Congress faces large, contentious issues. So it’s hard to not be discouraged about the prospects for targeted legislation like protecting premium cigars, even with strong bipartisan support.
2) This week an appellate court upheld a St. Louis suburb’s outdoor smoking ban. A citizen of Clayton, Missouri, had “asked the federal courts to recognize smoking as a fundamental right and argued that any law restricting tobacco use deserves the utmost scrutiny from judges,†according to the Wall Street Journal. But the court decided it “need not determine whether outdoor secondhand smoke exposure actually causes harm. Because the City reasonably could believe this to be true, the Ordinance survives.â€
3) Inside the Industry: Over two years ago we exclusively reported the introduction of the Tatuaje Anarchy, a Tatuaje cigar made only for the Smoke Inn stores in the Palm Beach area. Now, Smoke Inn and Tatuaje are following up that release with the Tatuaje Apocalypse. While Anarchy featured an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, the Apocalypse features a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. Pre-orders begin Thanksgiving Day and the cigar, which retails for $8.95 or $134.25 for a box of 15, will officially be released on December 14th.
4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review reviews a Rocky Patel Burn. Cigar Fan fires up a T.L. Johnson Tempio Extreme Box Press. Cigar Brief checks out the J. Fuego Edición de Familia. Cigar Inspector inspects a Joya de Nicaragua Antaño. A Cigar Smoker smokes the Alec Bradley Fine and Rare 2012.
5) Deal of the Week: You may only have hours to grab this “Kitchen Sink Sampler” with 50 cigars for just $90. Highlights including CAO Gold, Griffin Maduro, San Cristobal Maestro, Cabaiguan Guapos Maduro, Avo Signature, CAO LX2, Casa Miranda, Tatuaje Hav VI Artistas, and Zino Platinum.
photo credit: FDA
Patrick Ashby
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Patrick Semmens
Co-Founder & Publisher
George Edmonson
Tampa Bureau Chief
First of all, anyone who thinks they can challenge a smoking ordinance based on a fundamental rights/strict scrutiny argument must be smoking something way more powerful than a cigar. I dislike these regulations, but that argument is a real non-starter.
As far as the FDA bill is concerned, I agree that any kind of legislation like this is an uphill battle, and the election outcome probably didn't help the bill's chances, but maybe it didn't hurt all that much either. There is some decent bipartisan support it seems to me (both senators from Florida and both from Pennsylvania), and I think it is important not to cast this as a strict R v. D. issue. That's a guaranteed way to lose. The approach has to continue to be one of emphasizing small businesses, jobs, and also economic stabilitiy in Latin American countries. New members of the House will have to be approached and lobbied just like those who are on the way out. We all know that there is a certain amount of horsetrading that goes on through the legislative process, in terms of amendments and so forth, and although I'm not personally involved, I don't think it is unreasonable to rule out the idea that some kind of compromise might be reached which, while maybe not what we would want, beats the hell out of the alternative.
The bill was never likely to get to the president's desk, regardless of whether Obama or Romney won. But a large number of Congress members are on record opposing regulations that kill premium cigars, and that's good.
It should also be noted that no regs have been proposed yet, and the fact it has taken so long demonstrates to me that some at the FDA realize just attempting to use the same uses for cigarettes and coronas won't work.
Mike, let's hope you're right and that the degree of opposition in Congress and the threat of legislation is enough to at least temper whatever B.S. the FDA comes up with.
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