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 50 (Edition 199 11/5/16)
Feature of the Week: Moves by Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco, best known as the parent company of Altadis USA made some strategic moves in its other division. First up, the company announced that under its Tabacalera USA division it has formed Casa de Montecristo Inc where it will focus on its retail operations. Rob Maneson has been named General Manager of that division. Simultaneously, Tabacalera USA acquired the brick and mortar and e-commerce operation of Serious Cigars. At the same time, former General Cigar President Dan Carr has been named President of Imperial’s ITG division – focused on cigarettes and machine-made cigars.
News Recap
- Rocky Patel Premium Cigars: The new Rocky Patel Dark Dominican is heading for widespread release.
- Ashton: We took a look at the San Cristobal Ovation for 2016 which includes the new Opulence size
- Ciguardian: The company announced the new Ciguardian Adds C150 Fat Pack Humidification Pouch.
- Davidoff: The company announced the new details around the Davidoff Year of the Rooster Limited Edition 2017 and a set of limited edition accessories.
- My Father Cigars: We took a look at the new My Father The Judge and the national release of Flor de Las Antillas Maduro National
- Mombacho Cigars SA: Named Robert Rasmussen its new Brand Manager
- Quesada Cigars: The company has announced details of its new Quesada Holiday Keg 2016 release.
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 21.
- 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 sponsor count remainsat 169
- 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 were added. The total number of sponsors remains at 78.
- Federal: Two Members of Congress have written a letter to President Obama expressing concern for the recent trade easements with Cuba.
- FDA: We reported on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration filing a response in court to the lawsuit filed by the Trade Associations as well as the one by Global Premium Cigars.
Assessments
- Joya Black Toro by Joya de Nicaragua
- Regius Exclusivo U.S.A. Oscuro Especial Robusto
- Tatuaje Skinny Drac
- Viaje Full Moon Edicion Limitada 2015
Agile Cigar Reviews
Feature Story
Editor’s Corner
- This month’s editorial was on “Closing Out Pre-Reviews“
Stogie Geeks
This week was Episode 206 for Stogie Geeks. We welcomed special guest hosts Hector Alfonso Sr. and Dave Burck. For our Debonaire Ideal, we talked about Halloween Smokes. We did a special Hot Topics segment. Finally we had our Stogies of the Week which included:
On this date November 5th…
- November 5th 2011: We assessed the H.Upmann 1844 Reserve.
- November 5th 2012: We assessed the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Reserva by Ashton Cigars
- November 5th 2013: We assessed the Kristoff Galerones Sentido.
- November 5th 2014: We reported on the Viva Republica’s limited edition release for Cigars for Warriors.
- November 5th 2014: We reported on Sam Leccia’s new role at General Cigar.
- November 5th 2014: We assessed the Miami Cigar and Company 25th Anniversary Nicaragua
- November 5th 2014: We reported on Davidoff’s plans to revamp Winston Churchill Brand
- November 5th 2015: We assessed the Las Cumbres Tabaco Senorial Maduro Natural Robusto Digno by Jose Blanco
- November 5th 2015: We reported on the launch of the Black Works Studio brand.
