The Stogie Guys

In a move many industry leaders have indicated was much needed, this week Cigar Rights of America added another full-time employee. Mike Copperman has been named Legislative Director for Cigar Rights of America. Previously CRA had only two full-time employees.

Copperman was the longtime owner of the Bethesda Tobacco shop just outside Washington, where he spent countless hours educating people on the artisan aspects of premium cigars. (Notably, he graciously conducted a highly educational cigar tasting with the founders of StogieGuys.com many years ago when this website was just getting started.)

Copperman will be concentrating on the CRA federal effort to advance legislation that will exempt premium cigars from regulation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Specifically, he is a noted authority on the healthcare debate surrounding tobacco, and will be a leading expert challenging many pseudo-scientific  reasons given for extending smoking bans and tobacco taxes that hurt consumer choice.

In a statement released announcing his appointment, Copperman stated, “As a professional tobacconist, it was and is important to respond to the erroneous health claims put forth by those in the field of Tobacco Control, and to do so with sound science, and the use of epidemiological evidence to support our arguments. That effort will be critical to the effort to pass H.R. 1639 and S. 1461.”

FDA Exemption Bill Adds Support in Congress

The push comes as CRA’s central legislative effort continues to add support in Congress. CRA and other pro-cigar associations continue to lobby members of congress to support the “Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2011,” which would protect cigar consumers and cigar manufacturers from crippling FDA oversight.

Since its introduction in April 2011, the “Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2011” (H.R. 1639) has added 81 cosponsors in the House. The companion bill in the Senate (S. 1461) has three co-sponsors: both Senators from Florida (Democrat Bill Nelson, the lead sponsor, and Republican Marco Rubio) as well as Senator Pat Toomey (Republican) of Pennsylvania.

To further efforts to push for this legislation, Cigar Rights of America has recently added a webpage to make it easy for cigar smokers to contact their representatives in support of H.R. 1639 and S. 1461. Concerned cigar consumers should contact their elected officials here.

–Patrick S

photo credit: CRA

Unless you have the day off work, you might not realize that today is Columbus Day. Still, and particularly if you have the day off , it’s worth revisiting the story of how Columbus and his crew brought tobacco back to Europe and kick-started what would become today’s cigar industry:

Columbus (right) is widely credited with introducing the tobacco plant to Europe, which set in motion a series of events that culminated in the cigar industry we see today. It was during Columbus’ voyages to the new world that Europeans first encountered the tobacco plant.

According to history, it was two of Columbus’ crew members who were most responsible for bringing tobacco to Europe. Both, Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres, took a liking to tobacco after seeing native Americans smoking the leaf.

After arriving in Cuba in November 1492, which Columbus thought was the Asian coast, Columbus sent Torres and de Jerez inland to explore the country and to contact its ruler. The two men were received in an Indian village where they saw the native custom of drying leaves, inserting them in cane pipes, burning them, and inhaling the smoke.

Upon his return to Spain, Jerez continued smoking and introduced his habit to his home town of Ayamonte. The smoke reportedly frightened some of his neighbors, resulting in the Spanish Inquisition imprisoning him for his use of the “devil’s weed”—making Jerez the first victim of anti-tobacco laws. He spent seven years in prison for his “sin,” only to be released as smoking was becoming an accepted activity in Spain.

And so a member of Columbus’ crew was not only one of the first Europeans to enjoy the simple pleasures of tobacco, he was also the first victim of anti-tobacco persecution. It’s a story worth remembering, particularly on Columbus Day, and preferably with a fine cigar.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Wikipedia

[See details below on how to win one of the very first cigarblogger.favorites samplers.]

The announcement of a new sampler pack featuring cigars that have been on the market for awhile normally wouldn’t be big news, but the new “cigarblogger.favorites” sampler from General Cigar is different. That’s because StogieGuys.com recently participated in the creation of the first product based completely on the input of web-only cigar publications.

Back in January, we were approached by General Cigar to help select cigars for the industry-first “bloggers pack.” General Cigar was putting together a sampler featuring their Honduran cigars and wanted to base their selection on the opinions of cigar bloggers. With the understanding that all we would offer was our honest opinion, we welcomed the opportunity.

Also taking part in the project were A Cigar Smoker, The Cigar Nut, Toasted Foot, and Nice Tight Ash. Ultimately, based on our reviews of a dozen different Honduran blends, General Cigar settled on six cigars:

• Uppercut by Punch – Toro (6.6 x 54)
• Excalibur Legend – Conqueror (6.25 x 54)
• La Escepcion – Gran Gener (6.25 x 54)
• Hoyo de Tradicion – Toro Grande 6.25 x 54)
• Excalibur Dark Knight – No. 1 (5.75 x 54)
• Punch Gran Puro – Rancho (5.5 x 54)

The sampler pack, which comes complete with two tasting notes on each cigar from the contributing websites and QR codes that link to each site, will be arriving in cigar stores nationwide soon. Based on the “buy four get two free” label on the packaging, it should be priced to move.

To celebrate the launch, let us know your favorite cigar of the six in the comments and we’ll select one comment at random to receive one of the very first cigarblogger.favorites packs. (Fine print here.)

Further, winners of our weekly NFL Pick’em Challenge will be getting cigarblogger.favorites packs (one for each of the 17 weeks of the season), and we’ll also be giving a few away as part of our newsletter giveaway (sign up here for free to be eligible).

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys

José Blanco’s “retirement” didn’t last long. The longtime spokesman and marketing director for La Aurora announced he is joining Joya de Nicaragua as senior vice president.

Blanco left the Dominican cigar maker in June after 29 years with La Aurora and its parent company, including the last 11 as sales director for the cigar division, which was spun off earlier this year. As sales director, Blanco was responsible for developing and releasing new cigars.

In the press release announcing the move, Blanco praised his new company. “Joining Joya de Nicaragua allows me to do what I love and feel passionate for: working with tobacco. It is a choice that I feel very happy about and makes me look into the future with great enthusiasm,” he said. “Joya De Nicaragua is in my opinion an honorable company with strong tradition and history, which I value highly.”

Dr. Martinez Cuenca, owner of Joya de Nicaragua, praised the new addition to his team: “José will bring new blood and fresh ideas to our legendary company that will allow us to expand our lines of production. His experience in blending and marketing will complement our own efforts and will undoubtedly result in a great contribution to the development and growth of Joya de Nicaragua in both the U.S. and worldwide markets.”

Analysis

When I spoke with José Blanco at the industry trade show in July, it was pretty clear that while he was “retiring” from La Aurora, he had no intention of retiring completely from cigars. Even then it seemed clear to me that it was a question of when, not if, he would take another position in the cigar industry. Cigars, he told me, were in his blood. He also joked with me that unlike some people in the industry, he never signed a non-compete, a fact borne out by his return to the cigar industry just three months after leaving La Aurora.

In Blanco, Joya de Nicaragua gains not only a knowledgeable and innovative cigar veteran, but a gregarious spokesman. The company, which has relied on its distributor, Drew Estate, for its U.S. presence, will now have  its own advocate and unique voice, even as Blanco works closely with the team at Drew Estate.

Joya de Nicaragua is also doing the cigar industry as a whole a great service as Blanco is a forceful advocate for cigar rights. Additionally, he has educated thousands of smokers with his tasting seminars that break down the elements of a cigar and give smokers a peek into the complexities of cigar blending, something that will hopefully resume with his new position.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

In April, a bi-partisan group of members of the House of Representatives introduced the Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act (H.R. 1639) to make explicit that the FDA is not authorized to regulate traditional handmade cigars. This past week, a Senate version (S. 1461) of the bill was introduced by the two Senators from Florida: Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio.

The new Senate bill marks an important milestone in the movement for cigar rights, where after over a decade of exclusively playing defense, cigar smokers finally have a national bill (introduced in both houses of Congress) to support their rights. The FDA is currently authorized by the 2009 Tobacco Control Act to regulate cigars if it wants, even though the bill doesn’t require cigar regulation.

So far the agency hasn’t expanded its authority to include cigars (cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are currently under the FDA’s regulatory authority) but the agency has initiated a rulemaking procedure to expand its authority to include handmade cigars. (more…)

Last week I reported live from the 2011 International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) Association Trade Show. Catch up on my updates from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, as well as the show preview. But even this coverage isn’t comprehensive.

While two and a half days on the convention floor wasn’t enough time to hit every booth, three days of updates still wasn’t enough to capture all of the info I gathered. So here are some odds and ends that didn’t make my previous IPCPR coverage:

Last year Drew Estate won the award for best booth, and they followed it up this year with another eye-catching display. In addition to more custom-painted shoes (last year it was sneakers, this year it was women’s pumps) the Drew Estate booth featured dozens of graphic cigar molds.

Drew Estate had many new releases, including a number of blends based on the popular Liga Privada line. Included was Undercrown, a blend created by the torcedors who roll Liga Privada. As Drew Estate President Steve Saka explained to me, when they were smoking too many Liga Privadas, they created this blend from the same tobaccos used for the Liga, but using different primings and vintages not used in the Liga blend. According to Saka, while the Liga is medium- to full-bodied, this is a more medium-bodied blend.

The Miami Cigar Co./La Aurora booth was full of new releases. In fact, if there’s an award for most new lines, they surely won it. One of the most anticipated of those new releases was Casa Miranda, which was blended by Willy Herrera at the El Titan de Bronze factory in Miami before Herrera left to join Drew Estate. Despite selling for around $10 a cigar, Jason Wood tells me this was a top seller for Miami. Another new cigar in the super-premium line was the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve ($12 each), a box-pressed torpedo made by the Pepins at the My Father factory in Nicaragua using a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.

La Aurora 107 was a big hit for La Aurora in 2010, and so a maduro extension was almost inevitable. While they had banded and boxed examples of the new 107 Maduro for display, I was told the actual blend isn’t ready yet. The blend was recently tweaked, but they still are aiming for a release by October.

La Aurora Preferido Corojo Vintage 2003 is one of those new cigars that isn’t actually very new at all. After looking through their aging room in their Santiago factory, they “discovered” that they had enough of these circa-2003 Preferido Corojos to put out a limited release.

In case you forget that Miami Cigars is a distributor as well as a cigar maker, take note of the new Humo Jaguar made by Nestor Plasencia in Honduras. The cigar shares the same name as the Honduran Humo Jaguar cigar festival. I was told that a number of Honduran makers created blends for the festival for blind tasting by attendees. Plasencia’s blend won and is now being distributed by Miami Cigars. Next year a new blend will be crowned.

Tomorrow, stay tuned for my final thoughts on this year’s IPCPR Trade Show. Until then, be sure to let us know which blends you are most looking forward to trying.

–Patrick S

photo credits: Stogie Guys

This week StogieGuys.com is in Las Vegas covering the 79th annual International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) Association Trade Show—the convention where cigar makers from around the world come to showcase their products and debut new creations. Check back throughout the day for updates, and keep an eye on Twitter for even more.

Early Morning Update: Various cigar makers I spoke with all say that day two of the Trade Show was very successful, and that there was no noticeable drop off in sales from day one to two. It’s hard to say whether this was merely positive spin or actual sales, but it did seem that many more than a few booths were even busier yesterday. Everyone I spoke with was happy to back in Las Vegas (as opposed to New Orleans) and more than a few were a little worried about next year being in Orlando.

Yesterday I also visited with Andre Farkas of Viaje. He said he’ll continue to keep production low even though he has a waiting list of 150 shops who want to get Viaje Cigars in their stores. The next new release he plans is the Late Harvest.

(more…)