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GOOD CIGARS IN STRANGE BOXES

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The Nat Sherman tobacco empire includes the famous Nat Sherman cigarette lines and six cigar lines (marketed by Cigars by Santa Clara). The story says Sherman products are sold in 30 countries and in 30,000 stores worldwide, but many smokers still identify the Nat Sherman name with New York.

That’s where Nat Sherman started in business in 1930 in a storefront at 1400 Broadway in the Garment District. The business grew, but the address remained the same until 1976, when the store moved uptown to 711 Fifth Avenue at 55th Street. Fifteen years later, the Sherman store moved to one of the great corners of the world at 500 Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, just across from the New York Public Library and Bryant Park.

But the lease on the corner property was up and after 16 years, Sherman closed the 7,000 sq.ft. shop and opened the fourth Nat Sherman flagship store, just a few feet away at 12 East 42nd Street.

"We probably could have moved out of the city and gone somewhere else, but New York has been very loyal to us," Sherman told amNY. "It came out better than we thought," he said, calling the decision to move a “blessing in disguise.” The new location has all the amenities a smoker could want, including a full retail operation, a downstairs lounge, an upstairs conference room and three humidor rooms. Sherman thinks the new location will actually increase the retail business.

While the corporate headquarters have been relocated to Ft. Lee, New Jersey and the cigarette operations are in Greensboro, North Carolina, if you’re in New York and looking for a place to smoke, the fourth version of the Nat Sherman shop in Manhattan is a must-see. And you can try any of the six Sherman cigar lines – the mild-bodied and sweet Host Selection (made in Honduras), the darkly-dressed, Dominican-made Metropolitan Selection or the newer Nat Sherman 489, 1400, Omerta or Suave blends – in the comfort of the Nat Sherman store itself.

No penalties for Cuban cigar violations in January:
The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, a unit of the Treasury Department, is the enforcer of the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba. In the past, it dependably sent out "letters of inquiry" to people who may have purchased Cuban cigars over the Internet or in person and has imposed numerous fines, which are reportedly monthly.

For the month of December 2007, the OFAC reported – for the first time in a long time – no sanctions dealing with Cuba at all. Instead, the OFAC reported a series of six penalties imposed on companies which did business with Iran and another penalty for a company which did business with a terrorist group.

It's obviously a direct response to a General Accounting Office report that criticized OFAC for being more concerned about tracking down buyers of Cuban cigars than activities which are tied to U.S. national security interests. The report, released in mid-December, said that more than 60 percent of OFAC cases target contraband entering from Cuba, not more dangerous violations of sanctions regimes aimed at blocking money laundering or technology transfers.

Does this mean that OFAC is going to ignore transactions with Cuba? No way; the Bush Administration will insist that the OFAC continue to uphold the embargo. But it does mean that the amount of time and effort given to Cuban embargo enforcement will likely be more limited than in months past, at least so long as Democrats – who mostly favor ending the embargo – hold control of the Congress and/or win control of the White House in 2008.
~ Rich Perelman

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