Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars

A SNAPSHOT OF THE AMERICAN CIGAR MARKET

Plus: An explosive gift for the holidays!

Los Angeles, November 26 – The Cigar Association of America is the industry’s trade association, head by Norman Sharp, now in his 26th year as its President. He gave an excellent summation of the size and shape of the industry in the U.S. in a question-and-answer session in the Winter 2007 issue of Cigar Magazine. Some highlights:

• Sharp noted that in 2006, a total of 9.8 billion cigars (premium, mass-market and little) were sold in the U.S., making it easily the world’s largest cigar market. But that’s only 2.57 percent of the U.S. cigarette sales of 380.3 billion!

• An April 2007 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that $3.2 billion was spent on cigars compared to $83.7 billion on cigarettes in 2006.

• Of the 9.8 billion cigars sold in total, 4.5 billion (45.92 percent) were little cigars and 5.3 billion were classified as large cigars (54.08 percent). The large-cigar total includes a little over 300 million premium (handmade) cigars with the rest (5.0 million or 50.91 percent) machine-made. That makes the premium market barely 3.17 percent of the overall cigar market in the U.S. by volume.

• In terms of dollar value, little cigars accounted for just 10.78 percent of sales ($345 million). Machine-made cigars are the largest segment, with 62.66 percent (about $2.005 billion) with premium cigars accounting for 26.56 percent or $850 million.

• Sharp says the U.S. cigar-smoking population of all types of cigars is more than 13 million, “the overwhelming majority of whom smoke cigars on an occasional basis.” He noted that after the U.S., the next-largest markets are France, Germany and Spain.

Sharp also pointed out the silliness of the current campaign by state attorneys general to try and have little cigars classified (primarily for tax purposes) as cigarettes. “Where there may be confusion in the minds of the attorneys general as to the difference between the two products, there is apparently no such confusion in the minds of consumers. As evidence, since 2000, cigarette sales in the U.S. have declined by 52.1 billion units, while little cigar consumption has increased only by 2.2 billion units. In fact, last year, there were more cigarettes sold in five days in this country than little cigars were sold in the entire year. This is hardly an indication that cigarette smokers are switching to little cigars.”

Sharp helps to lead the fight against the SCHIP legislation in Congress and says he has never seen the industry or its consumers as united as they are today. And as Benjamin Franklin observed at the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Want something unique?
There are plenty of great gift ideas for cigar lovers, but there is one concept which still stands out as amazing, ridiculous and unique.

It’s a box of cigars, yes, but cigars housed in an authentic 30-caliber ammunition box!

J-R Cigars is the only retailer we have seen offering this item, available with a choice of two different brands in two different sizes inside: • Belinda, made in Honduras, a heavy-bodied cigar with a choice of an Ecuadorian-grown, Sumatra-seed wrapper or a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper in a Grand Corona size of 6 1/4 inches by 45 ring gauge. There are 105 of them in the Ammo Box, packaged upright for $119.95 (pictured).

• La Finca, a mild-to-medium-bodied cigar made in Nicaragua from all Nicaraguan tobaccos. The Ammo Box version is 6 1/8 inches by 50 ring gauge with 91 included in the box, also packaged upright. It’s currently out of stock, but goes for a bargain price of just $64.95 when in stock.

Two special aspects of these boxes are (1) the Spanish Cedar lining to keep your cigars happy and (2) the excellent seal of the box which helps to keep the cigars fresh. Bring one of these to your local cigar party and your buddies will be jealous, guaranteed.

Fans of unique packaging will also appreciate that Belinda and Belinda Black brands which are offered in “Crystal Jar Humidores” of 20 cigars each. In both brands, the cigars in the jars are Lonsdales of 6 1/8-inches long by 43 ring. The jar package is another great gift, as either brand is available for $39.00.

Hammer time:
An interesting and historic cigar cabinet from Cuba drew considerable interest on eBay last week.

Made in Cuba, this Hoyo de Monterrey cabinet was made in the late 1800s or early 1900s and was the way gentlemen purchased their cigars. This cabinet measures about 21 inches tall, 12 inches wide and five inches deep and had its original key. It has three shelves that probably each held a bundle of cigars tied with a silk ribbon. This cabinet probably held about 150 cigars.

It proved to be a popular item, drawing 21 bids and a final price of $650.00.

Imperial Tobacco’s U.S. push begins:
While it works toward the completion of its acquisition of Altadis, S.A., Imperial Tobacco is now actively planning its entry into the U.S. for its major cigarette brands, including Davidoff, John Player Special, Lambert & Butler, Richmond, West and others.

Imperial is in the process of becoming a signatory to the Master Settlement Agreement. By acquiring Commonwealth Brands in April, Imperial now owns the fourth-largest cigarette company in the U.S. (3.7 percent market share), which markets USA Gold and Sonoma. But its giant brands, such as Davidoff and the leading brand in Britain (Lambert & Butler) could be interesting players on the U.S. market. Imperial began selling Davidoff in Canada and Mexico this year.

It’s an ironic turn for Imperial, which was created to keep corporate giant American Tobacco from buying British cigarette makers in 1901. In its infancy, it agreed not to enter the U.S. market to end a price war. More than a century later, the war is on.
~ Rich Perelman

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