Cigar Industry Report: Volume 3, Number 43 (9/20/14)

The Cigar Industry Report is a one stop place to catch up on the activity here at Cigar Coop and Stogie Geeks. It is a combination of our news reports, cigar reviews, and assessment updates we do throughout the week. We will also recap what happened on our Stogie Geeks show. Finally, each week we will look back at Cigar Coop history. Look for this report every Saturday morning at 8am Eastern time.

Feature of the Week: General Cigar Company acquires Leccia Tobacco Brands

For the second week in a row, General Cigar is our featured story as they announced they acquired brands owned by Leccia Tobacco. As a part of that acquisition, company founder Sam Leccia is joining the company as a Cigar and Blend Specialist. We broke down this acquisition and gave some perspectives on what this means going forward.

News and Previews

Arango Cigar Company: The Illinois distributor has added the CAO Gold Clasicos to its line of exclusive vitolas. This will add four sizes based on the CAO Gold blend that will only be available to brick and mortar retailers. The company has also added a fifth frontmark to its Macanudo and Punch Clasicos lines called Chi-Town.
Black Label Trading Company: The Texas based cigar maker announced its eighth blend – the Black Label Trading Company Deliverance.
Espinosa Cigars: Announced the new Sensei’s Sensational Sarsaparilla – a cigar that is a collaboration done with the online cigar community Cigar Dojo.
Inter-Tabac: The 2014 edition of the European-based tobacco industry trade show opened in Dortmund, Germany on September 10th.
JM Tobacco: The company formally announced its JM Nicaraguan line – a new Cuban sandwich offering.
Nomad Cigar Company: The company officially launched its Nomad Connecticut Fuerte Lancero – the sixth frontmark of the Connecticut Fuerte line.

Legislative News

FDA: Dave Camp [R-Michigan], Ted Poe [R-Texas], and Aaron Schrock [R-Illinois] have signed on as co-sponsors to HR792. The total remains at 165 co-sponsors (166 total sponsors)
North Carolina: Mecklenburg County which includes the city of Charlotte has postponed a vote on a proposal that would ban tobacco on grounds of county and municipal government buildings and a ban of all tobacco use at county parks, greenways and golf courses. Now word comes that the proposals are being rewritten to include an exemption for golf courses.

Assessments

Assessment Update