Commentary: Three Impressions from the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show
16 Jul 2013
While my colleagues Patrick S and George E are still in Las Vegas before they travel back home to Washington and Tampa, respectively, I arrived back in Chicago late Sunday night. I had a wonderful time at the 2013 International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) Trade Show. My stay may have been short, but I got the opportunity to catch up with a lot of old friends, gather some great information, and try a lot of new cigars.
Even though I was only on the convention floor for one day, I left with a few key observations that bear mentioning here. What follows are three personal, generalized impressions from the first day of the biggest cigar event of the year. Nothing more, nothing less.
More neon colors. The marketplace is crowded with different brands, sizes, and blends that vie for your attention—and dollars. For the average consumer, perhaps at no other time in history have there been so many different cigars to choose from. As a result, I’ve noticed more cigar makers are starting to market and package their creations using colors and fonts that aren’t often associated with cigars. Intended to be attention-grabbing in a sea of traditional, Cuban-esque wares, I’ve never seen so many cigars with bands and boxes that predominantly feature purples, pinks, and neon incarnations of bright yellows, greens, and blues. Perhaps the best example is the new look Davidoff gave to its (scorpion-clad, Ditka-endorsed) Camacho brand.
More huge ring gauges. Nearly every booth I visited had a new cigar with a ring gauge of 60 or more. And almost every cigar maker rolled his eyes as he introduced it. Why? When I asked, the cigar makers all said something like, “These huge ring gauges aren’t for me, but they sell really well.†The market has decided. Huge smokes are here to stay, even though none of the cigar makers smoke them. A commonly accepted hypothesis among industry leaders: More casual smokers think they get more for their money with a large ring gauge. And I’d imagine others must associate larger cigars with manliness. Well that makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
More focus on packaging and presentation. As I traveled around to the different displays of new cigars, many of the various exhibitors spent an inordinate amount of time discussing the packaging of their creations. I’d usually expect to hear about the cigars themselves more than the stories behind the boxes, names, or marketing concepts. But never underestimate the time, research, and attention to detail that goes into packaging and presentation. This emphasis on appearance was on full display at Foundry Cigars, a whole new brand offshoot by General Cigar that’s taking the original Foundry idea and running with it. Get ready for cigars in a flying-V formation, diamonds galore, and a series of smokes that honor the “War of Currents†between Tesla and Edison.
Of course StogieGuys.com’s coverage of the IPCPR Trade Show is going to extend beyond these general observations (and the live updates and videos we posted from the convention floor). Check back here in the coming weeks as my colleagues and I provide more details on the new products and new companies. And we’ll obviously soon be reviewing scores of new smokes that will be coming to a cigar shop near you.
photo credit: Stogie Guys
Patrick Ashby
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Patrick Semmens
Co-Founder & Publisher
George Edmonson
Tampa Bureau Chief
Too bad you can't smoke packaging and presentation, huh? I remember the last cigar boom in the "90s. Don Everybody was making cigars and soon there were more bad ones than good ones and all the packaging in the world couldn't fix that. Look at an early CA and see how few of those rated cigars are still on retail shelves. Only the very best survived. We could use another cleansing.
Despite the large number of cigars on the market, I’m seeing a level of overall quality these days that leads me to believe we’re not heading towards another boom and bust. That’s just my humble opinion.
No, you can’t smoke packaging. And most smokers will claim the marketing, packaging, etc. has no impact on their buying decisions. But I tend to believe we’re influenced by bands, cigar celebrities, colors, image, and presentation more than we’re willing to admit. And this year’s Trade Show seems to indicate more cigar makers are aware of that. They’re paying attention to packaging like never before and devoting a lot of resources to do so.
I don't like right gauges much about 50. I will always choose a cigar at or below that if available. I will smoke a 55 if I have to (box pressed makes it a little better), but I would never buy a box of that size. 60 and biggger are just uncomfortable in my mouth and hand, and they brun out far too quickly.
I am sorry to hear they're here to stay.
I'm not a fan of them, either. In general, If find large ring gauges gimmicky, awkward to smoke, and they diffuse flavor that would have otherwise been concentrated.
52 or 54 is OK once in a while. I prefer to smoke 50 RG and below.
Every time I see fancy packaging, I know I am paying for it at the register. This type of thing does not come cheap to the maker, and they need to recover that cost somewhere.
I'd rather pay less for a good cigar than pay more for the same cigar with a super fancy box and fancy band.
I never smoke anything larger than 50 ring, and even that's too large for me. Really, what's the attraction?