tobaccoindustry

Camacho Cigar Calendar Girls: Behind the Scenes

Filed under: Cigars

Sigmund Freud thought that sometimes -- just sometimes -- a cigar could be just that, a cigar. Well, I doubt he never envisioned a Camacho Select between Harmony's lips. What's this mean? A new year is upon us, and Camacho's latest calendar is on the market. The "making of" video has followed quickly. Now, you can get a feel for how the tobacco hotties wound up on the pages that adorn the walls of your favorite cigar lounges (or possibly your apartment).

Now, all Camacho needs is a cure for all the new cigar taxes that ail us.

[Thanks, @DylanAustin]

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Tags: camacho, camacho select, camachoselect, cigar, cigars, sigmund freud, SigmundFreud, tobacco, tobacco industry, tobacco use, TobaccoIndustry, TobaccoUse

Tobacconist Association to Meet at CasaMagna in Cancun

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

The 2009 Tobacconists' Association of America (TAA) Convention kicks off on Sunday, March 8. Tobacconists and manufacturers from around the world will converge on the CasaMagna Marriott for four days of reconnecting, deal-making and of course plenty of cigar smoking. I'm currently at this Cancun resort and am happy to give the attendees – and jealous onlookers – a few insights into the event's host.

Surprisingly, smoking bans have crossed the border, forcing the CasaMagna to be smoke-free. The lobby, restaurants, bars and guestrooms, for the most part, are off-limits for puffing. Fortunately, poolside smoking is fine, and you can light up in the bar that sits alongside the beach.

Igniting your cigar may be a challenge. With airlines frustrating efforts to carry torches, matches may be your only available option (unless you bleed your lighter and find someone to refill it for you in Cancun. The wind off the Caribbean is strong, so look for sheltered corners to use when firing up (there are a handful of them almost everywhere on the property).

A loophole in Mexico's smoking laws allows CasaMagna to welcome TAA's smokers into the Sa Si Thai restaurant, as it is a covered outdoor space. So, you'll be able to enjoy your favorite Avo, Fuente or Davidoff (or anything else) unmolested. The hotel has extended this restaurant's hours of operation to accommodate late-night indulging. After last call, you can retreat to your room's balcony to tie off the night with your preferred stick.

Gallery: CasaMagna Marriott

Infinite horizon at the CasaMagna Marriott

The lobby is open and inviting, but smoking is not permitted

The guestrooms are quite large; you'll have plenty of space

Tags: cancun, caribbean, caribbean travel, CaribbeanTravel, cigar, cigar aficionado, cigar dinner, CigarAficionado, CigarDinner, cigars, gulf coast, gulf coast region, gulf of mexico, mexico, smoking ban, smoking bans, SmokingBan, SmokingBans, tobacco, tobacco industry, TobaccoIndustry

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Miami Cigar Manufacturers Brace for SCHIP

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

President Obama wants to create jobs, yet he isn't too worried about some that already exist. Miami's cigar manufacturers are watching April 1, 2009 with grave concern. The new State Children's Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP) takes effect on that date, resulting in a 900 percent tax increase on every cigar made in the United States – or imported here.

What's at stake?

For Miami, it's the many people responsible for rolling 75 percent of the 272 million cigars rolled in this country. Manufacturers and retailers alike are bracing themselves. A tax that takes the surcharge on hecho a mano sticks from 4 cents to 40.26 cents is cause for alarm.

So, as my sergeant used to say, "Smoke if you got 'em." At this rate, you may not have 'em much longer ... or at least not as many.

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Tags: barack, barack obama, barack-obama, BarackObama, cigar, cigars, cigarshop, florida, miami, obama, president obama, PresidentObama, schip, smoke, smoker, smokers, smoking, tax, taxes, tobacco, tobacco industry, TobaccoIndustry

Storms Not Enough to Stop Cuban Tobacco Crop

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

Even with two hurricanes ripping through the region, western Cuba is expected to produce one of its tobacco best crops in quite a while. The plants are ready for harvest in the Vuuelta Abajo section of the island, and barns are starting to fill with those that have already been plucked. Apparently, this year's take is oily, which should do something to make this year's batch flavorful (I hope).

The 2008 storms caused $10 billion in damage to the island nation, stretching the effects of the ongoing financial crisis. Approximately 5,000 curing barns were damaged (or destroyed), and the repairs are still not complete. Despite the fact that most of the harvest had occurred before the hurricanes reached Cuba, the crop remained secure, as Cuban officials acted quickly to move the tobacco to safer storage facilities. But, up to 2 million pounds of tobacco were lost, according to Habanos S.A.

[Via Reuters, photo by Ron Melendi]

Tags: cigar, cigars, cuba, cuban, habanos, havana, smoke, smoker, smokers, smoking, tobacco, tobacco industry, TobaccoIndustry

Find a Manhattan Smoking Lounge

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

Cigar Aficionado has long had a policy about news and retailers: it doesn't happen. Well, times are tough, and it looks like those walls are coming down. The magazine doesn't have much of a choice, particularly after word has spread of between 25 and 30 layoffs (heard it from two confidential sources). So, what happens next? The publication dives headfirst into editorial prostitution.

The newly opened Cigar Inn -- on Second Avenue between E 54th Street and E 55th Street -- features a Cigar Aficionado-sponsored smoking lounge, with leather chairs, a working fireplace and even a barber's chair (of little use ot me, thanks to mother nature. You can get your sartorial needs taken care of at the Brioni counter.

So, it's hardly surprising that this establishment is popping up regularly on the once sacrosanct pages of the cigar community's "bible." The good news, however, is that you'll be able to get a sense (however brief) of what your other options are in New York.

Tags: cigar, cigar aficionado, CigarAficionado, cigars, manhattan, new york, new york city, new york city marathon, NewYork, NewYorkCity, NewYorkCityMarathon, smoke, smoker, smoking, smoking ban, SmokingBan, tobacco, tobacco industry, tobacco use, TobaccoIndustry, TobaccoUse

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Cuban Cigar Sales Down, Bad Decisions Averted

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

Why are sales of Cuban cigars down? The minute the subprime mortgage crisis turned global, of course, demand had no place to go but down. And, there's always the quality issue that has plagued manufacturers in recent years. So far, the damage hasn't been bad.

Habanos S.A., which makes the storied Montecristo, Cohiba and Partagas brands, moved $390 million in 2008. That's a drop of 3 percent from 2007. The company, a joint venture involving the Cuban government and Altadis, says that this hasn't affected profits significantly.

Unsurprisingly, Habanos blames smoking bans in France, Germany and the United Emirates (among others) in addition to the financial crisis. If you can't find a place to smoke, you aren't likely to do it as much (a trial I endured in Scotland last year).

But, economic conditions are still the main event, particularly when you consider the secondary effects.

International travel took a dive last year ... to the tune of 11 percent. What's that mean? American cigar dilettantes weren't able to piss away as much on Cuban sticks as they may have in the past. Duty free shops thus moved fewer cigars than usual, with total sales in these venues down 24 percent from 2007 to 2008.

Despite the slip in sales and claims that profitability isn't seriously impaired, Habanos isn't optimistic about the future. On the subject of the U.S. embargo on Cuba, typically a favorite topic of speculation, the company would only say that it has "much worse problems to deal with in the world."

[Via Latin American Herald Tribune, photo by Steve Zak]

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