Cigar Industry Report: Volume 4, Number 45 (10/3/15)

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.

Cigar Industry Report: Volume 4, Number 45 (Edition 142 10/3/15)

Feature of the Week: Reports Premature on UPS and USPS Ending Tobacco Shipments

Last week, we learned that global courier FedEx will end all tobacco shipments effective January 5, 2015. This set off reports that UPS and the United States Postal Service were going to follow suit. As we heard from IPCPR Senior Director of Legislative Affairs Kip Talley, this report is premature.

News and Previews

Davidoff: Oettinger Davidoff AG has entered into a joint venture company aimed at growing its market in China.
Macanudo: We reported that the brand with is a part of Scandinavian Tobacco is planning on releasing the Macanudo Inspirado Black to the International market. This cigar was showcased at Inter-Tabac 2015.
My Father Cigars: Starting in November 2015, the Don Pepin Original Demi-Tasse will be available in six count tins.
Tatuaje: The “Unlucky 13” retailers who will be carrying the “dress box” of Tatuaje Hyde have been announced

Legislative News

Senate Bill S. 441: S. 441 is the Senate Bill to gain an exemption from the FDA on premium cigars. This week, no new co-sponsors signed on. The total sponsor remains at 17.
House Bill HR 662: H.R. 662 is House Bill to gain an exemption from the FDA on premium cigars. This week, two new co-sponsors signed on – Rep Bernie Thompson [D-Missouri] and Rep Charles Rangel [D-New York] The total number of sponsor is now at 139.
House Bill 2058: H.R. 2058 is the House Bill to change the effective date for cigars subject to FDA regulation from 2007 to 21 months following any proposed regulations are put into effect. This week, no new co-sponsors signed on. The total number of sponsors remains at 27.
Federal: Ten U.S. Senators introduced S. 2100 to raise the Smoking Age to 21. Rep. Diana DeGette [D-Colorado] has introduced the companion House Bill, H.R.3556 that proposes the same legislation.

Assessments

Agile Cigar Reviews

Avo XO Legato

Editor’s Corner

This month’s editorial is on “The Acquisitions: One Year Later“

Stogie Geeks

Reminder, we launched an all-new version of the Stogiegeeks.com web-site. As such we have moved our lifestream feed back to be hosted on our own platform.

This past week (Video Forthcoming), on Episode 158 we welcomed Jack Torano of Duran Cigars. Our Debonaire Ideal discussed Cigar Names. Finally we did our Stogies of the Week (posting news week) which included:

We posted Show Video for Episode 157 including our interview with Tom Lazuka of Asylum Cigars, our Debonaire Ideal on Music, and Stogies of the Week.

Stogie Geeks News

This week we covered the latest collaboration between Drew Estate and Shady Records, the upcoming eighth release of the Tatuaje Hyde, and a look at some of the shipping issues the cigar industry if facing.