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 5, Number 8 (Edition 157 1/16/16)
CIR Begins It’s Fourth Year
Back on January 19th, 2013, Cigar Coop has published the first “Cigar Week Wrap”. This was in response to many readers who asked for a recap of the many things that were happening. At the time we were only 6 months into being a daily publication. Since then, we rebranded this feature to the “Cigar Industry Report”. Last week was our 156th consecutive edition of the Cigar Industry Report – completing three full years of publishing weekly with no skipped weeks. This week marks Edition 157.
Over the three years, we added Stogie Geeks and evolved our focus around being a rumor free, teaser free, and tabloid journalism free outlet. That mantra will remain as long as we are in operation.
Thank you for the support over this time. We really appreciate it.
Year in Review
This week we concluded our Year in Review coverage. This included cigar performance ratings and a full-recap of all our year in review coverage.
- Best Brand Performance
- Best Country of Origin Performance
- Best Vitola Performance
- Full recap of our 2015 Year in Review Coverage
News and Previews
- A.J. Fernandez Cigars: Named Ricky Somoza its U.S. Director of Operations.
- Altadis USA: Vice President of Tobacco Larry Palombo has left the company and joined the NACSA factory.
- Camacho: We previewed the upcoming Ditka Special Game Day Edition cigar.
- Davidoff: Oettenger Davidoff AG announced it has acquired a majority share of Bluebell Cigars and will incorporate it as Davidoff of Geneva Asia.
- Espinosa Cigars: We reported on the recently released 601 Pennsylvania Edition shop exclusive for Best Cigar Prices.
- Macaundo: The brand under General Cigar Company is rolling out its new look.
- MLB Cigar Ventures: Mike Bellody’s company announced the Imperia Islero and Aventador as planned 2016 releases.
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 were added. The total sponsor count remains at 20.
- House Bill HR 662: H.R. 662 is House Bill to gain an exemption from the FDA on premium cigars. This week, no new co-sponsors were added. The total number of sponsors remains at 153.
- 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, three new co-sponsors, Reid Ribble [R-Wisconsin], Mac Thornberry [R-Texas], and Don Young [R-Alaska] were added. The total number of sponsors is now at 42.
- Illinois: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has introduced an initiative to raise the city’s Smoking Age to 21. He is also planning on introducing a 6 million dollar tax initiative that includes cigars.
- New Jersey: The State Assembly has passed a bill that would raise the Smoking Age to 21. This is a bill that was previously passed by the Senate. The bill now goes to Governor Chris Christie’s desk where it is unknown it he will sign it.
- New Mexico: State Senator Howie Morales is proposing increasing the tax on cigars from 25% to 66% of the product value.
- West Virginia: Governor Earl Ray Tomblin is proposing a tobacco tax hike that includes raising the tobacco tax on “other tobacco products” (OTP, which includes cigars) from 7% to 12%.
Assessments
- Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Personal Reserve Robusto
- George Rico S.T.K. Miami Zulu Zulu Mas Paz Edition White Corona Gorda by Gran Habano Cigars
- GTO Pain Killer Box Press
- The Angel’s Anvil 2015 by Crowned Heads
Agile Cigar Reviews
- Azan White Premium Robusto Extra by Duran Cigars
- Black Label Trading Company Deliverance Nocturne Short Salomon Snub Nose
Stogie Geeks
This week we had Jack Torano of Duran Cigars in studio. We also were joined by Robbie Streitz of PDR Cigars. Our Debonaire Ideal segment covered Cigar Swag, and we covered our Smokes of the Week which included:
We published Episode 169 video. This features our special interview with Robert Holt of Southern Draw Cigars. Our Debonaire Ideal segment covered Top Cigar Lists. Of course we had our Smokes of the Week.
Stogie Geeks News
This week we covered the new Davidoff Nicaragua Box Pressed, the Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 Raconteur, the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2015, and the Henry Clay Stalk Cut by Altadis.
Stogie Geeks App
We now have our first Stogie Geeks App for the Android. Visit the Google Play store for the Video version or the Audio Version.
On this date January 16th…
- January 16th 2012: We previewed projects Tatuaje had planned for 2012.
- January 16th 2012: We assessed the Rocky Patel Winter Collection 2012.
- January 16th 2013: We previewed the H. Upmann Legacy by Altadis.
- January 16th 2013: We reposted a press release announcing the Cubanacan Habano.
- January 16th 2013: We assessed the Alec Bradley Maxx Brazil.
- January 16th 2014: We assessed the Pedro Martin Limited Edition.
- January 16th 2015: We reported on Warped Cigars’ plans to launch the La Hacienda Line.
- January 16th 2015: We did an Assessment Update on the Nomad S-307 Robusto.
- January 16th 2015: We reported on the Davidoff Pause sampler.
- January 16th 2015: The Cigar Media Association named Cigar Dojo its Cigar Media Member of the Year.
- January 16th 2015: The Cigar Media Association named the Illusione Fume D’Amour its Cigar of the Year
- January 16th 2015: The Cigar Media Association named Crowned Heads its Brand of the Year
