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 14 (Edition 163 2/27/16)
Feature of the Week: Drew Estate and Caldwell Cigar Company Announce Collaboration
Our friends at Cigar Federation broke news that Caldwell Cigar Company will be teaming up with Drew Estate on a project called “All Out Kings”. The blend will be a joint effort between Caldwell Cigar Company owner Robert Caldwell and Drew Estate Master Blender Willy Herrera. While details of the cigar still are pending, the cigar will be made at Joya de Nicaragua factory.
News and Previews
- Davidoff: On the eve of ProCigar at the Tour Gastromique culinary festival, Davidoff unveiled its latest limited edition – Davidoff Chef’s Edition Unveiled. The company also released more details about the Davidoff Nicaragua Box Pressed.
- Edgar Hoill Cigars: We covered some of brand owner Edgar Hoill’s plans for 2016.
- IndianHead Cigars: Tabacalera Palma’s brand will release a sampler of its La Galera brand offerings.
- L’Atelier Imports: We took a look at several offerings planned by the company for 2016 – including the Surrogates Animal Cracker AC550 line extension, the La Mission de L’Atelier 1955 line extension, and the L’Atelier La Tache.
- Mombacho Cigars SA: The Granada Nicaraguan-based factory will take its Liga Maestro line national and will release the 10th Anniversary Mombacho Magnifico Cigar at the 2016 IPCPR.
- Quesada Cigars: The company announced the Quesada Reserva Privada Oscuro – a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper version of the original Connecticut Shade Quesada Reserva Privada. The Oscuro will also include a vitola for the 2016 TAA Exclusive Series.
- Romeo y Julieta: The brand under Altadis USA will release the Famous Smoke Shop Adds Romeo y Julieta 75th Anniversary Capulet and Montague.
- Tatuaje: We took a look at the latest off-shoot of the Monsters Series, the Tatuaje Skinny Monsters offerings.
Legislative News
- Senate Bill S. 441: S. 441 is the Senate Bill to gain an exemption from the FDA on premium cigars. This week, Senator Steve Daines [R-Montana] signed on as a co-sponsor. The total sponsor count is now 21.
- House Bill HR 662: H.R. 662 is House Bill to gain an exemption from the FDA on premium cigars. This week, Rep Tom Marino [R-Pennsylvania] signed on as a co-sponsor. The total number of sponsors remains is now 159.
- 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, two new co-sponsors Bill Johnson [R-Ohio] and Charles Boustany Jr [R-Louisiana] were added. The total number of sponsors is now 51.
- New Jersey: Legislators are trying again to raise the smoking age to 21 and ban outdoor smoking in parks. This week two bills cleared the Assembly Health and Senior Services committee. In the past, both of these bills have passed the legislation but were vetoed by Governor Chris Christie.
- Rhode Island: Representative Teresa Tanzi and Senator Cynthia Coyne are once again introducing legislation that proposes raising the smoking age to 21.
Agile Cigar Reviews
- D’Crossier L’Forte Robusto
- Rocky Patel Vintage 2003 Cameroon Torpedo
- Freyja Thor’s Toro by Las Cumbres Tabaco
- The Rake Cut by MoyaRuiz Cigars
- Vivalo Serie Exclusivo Robusto
Feature Story
This week we recapped the 2015 TAA Exclusive Series
Stogie Geeks
For Episode 176 we welcomed Jason Lois of Crossfire Cigars. Our Debonaire Ideal segment was on Tobacco Beetles and we had our Smokes of the Week which included:
- MBombay Mora Lancero
- Caldwell Eastern Standard Euro Express (5 1/2 x 44)
- Crossfire Connecticut Churchill
- Crossfire Platinum Gordo
- Davidoff Escurio Robusto
- Fratello Bianco III
- Freyja Thor’s Toro by Las Cumbres Tabaco
- Davidoff Winston Churchill Limited Edition 2016 “The Raconteur”
- Fuente Fuente OpusX The Lost City Double Robusto
- Gran Habano Connecticut #1 Grandioso
- La Flor Dominicana Capitulo II
- Litto Gomez Small Batch No. 6
- Opus X Fuente Fuente
We published Episode 175 – which included:
On this date February 27th…
- February 27th 2011: We assessed the Graycliff Original (Red Label),
- February 27th 2011: We assessed the CAO Maduro L’Anniversaire.
- February 27th 2012: We assessed the Quesada Q D’etat Molotov.
- February 27th 2012: We previewed the Quesada Q D’etat Howitzer.
- February 27th 2013: We previewed the Recluse Draconian.
- February 27th 2013: We did an Assessment Update on the Emilio AF2,
- February 27th 2013: We previewed the Pedro Martin Limited Edition.
- February 27th 2014: We did a pre-release assessment on the Nomad Connecticut Fuerte
- February 27th 2014: We reported on plans for the 2014 New Jersey Cigar Festival.
- February 27th 2014: We previewed the Leccia Tobacco Luchador.
- February 27th 2015: We reported on Davidoff’s plans for new operations in Central America.
- February 27th 2015: We did an Assessment Update on the Quesada Oktoberfest Dunkel.
- February 27th 2015: We reported on smoking being restored to cigar bars in Nebraska.
