The Stogie Guys

As if massive tobacco tax increases weren’t enough, a Senate panel voted yesterday to subject tobacco products to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The move would give FDA bureaucrats the ability to regulate tobacco as well as tobacco advertisements, a power both current and former FDA Commissioners don’t even want, citing limited resources and the fact that regulating tobacco as a “drug” the same way it regulates pharmaceutical drugs doesn’t fit into the FDA’s mission – potentially jeopardizing the health of cigarette smokers.

But while the health bureaucrat-types oppose FDA regulation of tobacco, an unlikely coalition supports it. Altria/Philip Morris, the world’s largest tobacco company, and anti-smoking groups teamed up to push FDA oversight. Both want to cut back the ability of tobacco companies to exercise their first amendment right to advertise their legal products, but for different reasons.

Altria/Phillip Morris knows that without the ability to advertise, its competitors can never challenge its dominance of the cigarette market. Meanwhile, anti-tobacco groups see pharmaceutical-style FDA regulation of advertisements a step towards the FDA declaring all tobacco products unsafe and thus prohibited.

In an interesting twist, the law forbids the FDA from certifying that some forms of tobacco are safer than others, despite a mountain of evidence. This means smokeless tobacco or cigar manufacturers cannot tell consumers that their products are safer than cigarettes even if such claims are empirically proven.

So how does this law affect cigar smokers?

Besides being another step down the road to complete tobacco prohibition, FDA regulation may mean substantially limited advertising of cigars in magazines like Cigar Aficionado, Smoke Magazine, and Cigar Magazine, and also potentially on websites such as this one.

In addition to harming publications that rely on advertising, such Draconian rules threaten to stifle the recent streak of innovation that has been seen in the premium cigar market, as introducing new products often requires an advertising campaign to inform potential consumers.

More drastically, future FDA regulation may mean the removal or reduction of certain chemicals – such as nicotine – from tobacco products. For cigar makers that simply roll together leaves with naturally occurring chemicals, the regulation of certain chemicals would spell the end for the entire handmade cigar industry.

–Patrick S

Tags: cigars

You’d think the world’s cigar manufacturers would be weary to introduce new products in the wake of the Senate’s proposed 20,000 percent tax hike. Thankfully, you’d be wrong.

Last week there were three – count ‘em, three – major announcements of new stogies that will be hitting a local B&M near you soon. What follows is a quick wrap-up of that news.

Rocky Patel Sumatra Edge

Despite carrying a laughable warning cautioning buyers to “smoke while sitting down,” Rocky Patel landed another hit with his newest line, The Edge. The once naked cigars have sold well with both corojo and maduro wrappers. Aparently, Rocky wants the line to live up to its warning, so he’s now making them available in Sumatra wrappers. These promise to be the most full-bodied of the three.

Cabaiguan Guapo

Not unlike Rocky, it seems as though everything Jose “Pepin” Garcia touches these days turns to gold. That bodes well for a new limited edition cigar called the Cabaiguan Guapo. Garcia teamed with Pete Johnson of Tatuaje to create this five and 5/8 inch by 54 ring gauge Nicaraguan that retails for $11. If you want one, I’d start looking now; they only made 50,000, and they won’t be rolling more.

Aurora Corojo Oscuro Barrel Aged

If you’re into rum, you’ll probably want to give Aurora S.A.’s newest offering a try. As Cigar Aficionado reports, the company’s new Corojo Oscuro Barrel Aged stogies are composed of tobacco that was aged in old rum barrels. They debut at the RTDA Trade Show in early August (along with many other new cigars) and will cost $6 to $9 apiece.

–Patrick A

Tags: cigars

Since news broke last week that Congress is proposing a bill to skyrocket taxes on cigars by 20,000 percent, the industry has been abuzz. Manufacturers, retailers, and aficionados alike are clamoring for an appeal to reason.

The bill would force law-abiding citizens like you and me to pay up to $10 in federal taxes to support what some call a noble cause: providing government-funded health care for poor children. But the anti-tobacco extremists behind the legislation fail to realize how the millions of people who are employed by the industry would be devastated. What about their children?

In a rare display of journalistic integrity, CBS 4 Miami reporter Gary Nelson has been covering how large and small tobacco dealers would be closing their doors if the bill passes. You can read some of his work and watch an excellent video exposé here.

In addition, Drew Newman of the J.C. Newman Cigar Company – makers of Arturo Fuente and Cuesta Rey – had a poignant letter in Saturday’s Washington Post. He notes that “unlike the cigarette industry, which is controlled by huge conglomerates, the cigar industry is dominated by small, family-owned companies that have been in the business for generations.”

Newman comes to the following conclusion: “Such an enormous, disproportionate tax increase would be grossly unfair and would cripple the premium cigar industry and all of the family-owned small businesses that are part of it.”

And it’s not like cigar makers like the Newmans are opposed to helping children in need. The company’s Cigar Family Charitable Foundation has been building schools, medical facilities, and job training centers in the Dominican Republic for years.

–Patrick A

Tags: cigars

We were planning on posting a review or commentary today, but then we arrived home and found ourselves bombarded with emails from various cigar retailers.

As it turns out, those idiots up on Capitol Hill are preparing to engage in the worst kind of bullying: They are proposing to raise taxes on cigars from 5 cents to $9.95 per stick.

To fill you in on the details, here is a statement by JR Cigars head Lew Rothman, which is similar to many of the other emails we received:

Everyone, and I mean everyone, that even smokes a cigar now and then has to be on alert for messages from all smoke shops and Internet vendors and manufacturers in the next few days regarding the proposed new tax on tobacco products:

“The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a markup on Tuesday, July 17 on legislation dealing with the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The measure is expected to be reported out of committee. Funding would be almost totally via higher taxes on tobacco products. The cigarette tax will increase by $.61 to $1 per pack effective after December 31, 2007. Other tobacco products would be taxed as follows: large cigars – 53.13% of mfr’s or importer’s sales price, but not more than $10.00 per cigar.”

In addition, there will be a floor stocks tax on tobacco products manufactured in the U.S. or imported into the U.S. which are removed before January 1, 2008 and held on that date for sale. The person holding the product on January 1, 2008 is liable for the tax to be paid on or before April 1, 2008.

YES! You read that right! $10.00 PER CIGAR, plus whatever your local state tax is. The people in Washington have absolutely no clue about the cigar business. Their sole focus is on cigarettes and we are about to get dragged along with it.

Not only will this put virtually every manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer out of business, it will also devastate the economy of Nicaragua, Honduras, The Dominican Republic, and also have a significant impact on Puerto Rico, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, and Peru. (Whereupon, I’m sure the USA will be called upon to provide additional relief funding!).

You and everyone else who has any thoughts about continuing to smoke cigars or grow, sort, manufacture, distribute, or retail cigars need to make a concerted phone, mail, and e-mail bombardment of Congress very shortly. Hopefully, someone more adept at interpreting this new tax law will supply the proper language for this protest.

Be ready and be vocal, and be outraged because this tax is definitely outrageous. It is my firm belief that if passed as it stands right now the entire industry will collapse prior to April 1, 2008 (appropriately named April Fools Day for the Fools we have running the government right now) because no one will have the finances to pay the tax on their inventory.

We’ve long argued against punitive tobacco taxes – which we’ve noted simply pick on a minority that already pays more than its fair share. But this proposal blows all other proposed tax increases out of the water. And even if you think the SCHIP is something worth funding, you should still oppose a regressive tax on tobacco that singles out a small and already heavily discriminated group.

That’s why we’re asking every reader to contact both their Senators today and tell them you oppose raising taxes on cigars to fund SCHIP legislation. Their numbers can be found here.

–Patrick S

Tags: cigars

Last November we reported live results – and ultimately wrap-up analysis – of the various anti-tobacco initiatives up for grabs on Election Day. While voters were reluctant to pass tobacco tax hikes, they had no qualms against voting for senseless smoking bans.

One such law was the statewide smoking ban in Ohio. Calling for a prohibition on smoking in public places and most private businesses, the ban passed easily with about 58 percent of the vote. We also mentioned that a similar Buckeye State proposition with some reasonable exemptions failed miserably.

Ah, but there may be a glimmer of hope for Ohio yet. Our friends over at Cigar Jack brought this Cincinnati Enquirer article to my attention, which explains a bill has been introduced by State Sen. Gary Cates (pictured) that would make cigar bars exempt from the ban.

When you think about it, this is a no-brainer. Smoking bans shouldn’t exist in the first place, and enforcing them in private places that completely depend on a smoking clientele is both sick and cruel. People like Greg Varacalli, owner of Anthony’s Cigar Bar & Grill, are reporting revenue decreases in excess of 60 percent. That’s enough to force bankruptcy.

So let’s do what we can to help out these hardworking entrepreneurs. In December you made a difference by blitzing the toll-free “Complaint Hotline” the state initiated to allow nosey Ohioans to report smoking ban violations. Once again I’m asking you to lend a hand (especially if you live in the state) by contacting a state senator and asking him or her to support S.B. 195.

This is one of those rare situations where instead of merely bitching about bad policy we can actually do something about it. Every call or letter will help.

On behalf of everyone here at StogieGuys.com, all reasonable people in Ohio, and the cause of freedom, thank you in advance.

–Patrick A

Tags: cigars

You may have missed it, but last week was President Bush’s 61st birthday. So did he celebrate with a cigar?

At StogieGuys.com, we generally don’t go out of our way to celebrate presidents’ birthdays – unless they’re dead and we get a day off work. But Bush’s birthday did remind us of a little-known fact: While he gave up booze and harder drugs many years ago, he still enjoys a cigar from time to time.

It isn’t in his official White House bio, but according to the Houston Chronicle these days his “chemical indulgences…are limited to coffee and diet sodas, and an occasional stogie.” That makes him only the latest in the long list of presidents who smoked cigars.

The first known stogie-smoking president was none other than Washington’s heir: John Adams. (Washington grew tobacco at his Mount Vernon estate but was never seen smoking a cigar.) The first confirmed commander in chief who smoked in the White House, however, was James Madison.

Some Presidents were seen more often with a cigar than without one. White House drunk and Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant smoked a reported 20 cigars a day. Others like William McKinley relegated cigars to private life.In the early 20th century, William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, and Calvin Coolidge were all stogie smokers. Coolidge particularly was known for ending his breakfast meetings with a cigar, and later sitting on the porch in the evening for a cigar or three.

The modern presidency also had its cigar smokers. Eisenhower, Kennedy (who famously bought up over a thousand Cuban cigars the night before signing the embargo), Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon all enjoyed their smokes. And of course Bill Clinton famously enjoyed cigars in more than one way, although the White House was made smoke free during his Presidency.

So is it possible that Bush celebrated his birthday last Friday with a cigar? We really don’t know. But given his dismal poll numbers, an hour to relax with a cigar probably would have been the perfect birthday gift.

–Patrick S

Tags: cigars

Here at StogieGuys.com, we make no secret of our distaste for fascist smoking bans.

We see the issue as one of personal freedom and responsibility, where private property owners should be free – but never compelled – to enforce bans. What’s more, the flimsy “science” used to justify such laws is flawed at best.

But for all the writing we’ve done on the negative consequences of forced smoking bans, there’s one that has been completely overlooked: smoke makes bars smell better.

At least that’s what one English company is banking on. Ambius, which is in the business of providing ambiance for workplaces, is now selling Glade-like devices that smell like apples, crisp cotton, and roses to bars across the U.K.

Why now? As an Ambius executive explains, once the countrywide ban on indoor smoking goes into effect on July 1, the smoke that once covered up smells like stale beer and filthy patrons in centuries-old pubs will be gone, leaving bars smelling like…well, bars.

“Most people think with all this smoke going away everything is going to be fine and dandy,” Jeff Mariola, managing director of Ambius, told Reuters. “The reality is, when you remove the odor, you are left with what you couldn’t smell…it’s going to hit everyone right in the face.”

A bit ironic, don’t you think? One of the main reasons paternalistic do-gooders support government-imposed smoking bans is because “smoke stinks.”

Apparently not as bad as the customers themselves – at least in England, anyways.

–Patrick A

Tags: cigars