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| A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR PEPIN GARCIA |
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One thing that’s clear is that Garcia is dedicated. He told Arzt, “I was born in a cigar factory and inside a cigar factory I will finish the days of my life.” Chicago surgeon wins La Gloria Super Roll contest: From thousands of first-timers who tried to roll a cigar at La Gloria Super Roll events across the country in 2007, Chicago oral surgeon Russell Cecala was selected as the winner of the sixth national Super Roll competition in Miami on March 16. The 47-year-old Cecala (pictured in the center on the home page) and five other rollers competed for the top prize over two days with the winning entry selected by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo (pictured at right), the man who made La Gloria Cubana one of the most popular brands in the U.S. from his El Credito Cigars shop on Calle Ocho in the Little Havana section of Miami and the eternally stylish El Credito marketing chief Michael Giannini (pictured at left). Asked if his surgeon’s hands gave him the edge, Cecala said, “My hands are my life and I take great pride in doing what I do. I work in a field where I am constantly dealing with very fragile anatomy, so when it came to the cigar rolling competition, working on an inanimate object was really very relaxing and enjoyable for me.” As a reward for winning, Cecala was inducted into the El Credito Cigar Factory Hall of Fame, and received a custom-made humidor filled with 100 hand-crafted La Gloria Cubana cigars, each boasting its own secondary band emblazoned with the title “Super Roll Champ 2008.” Russell also walked away with an authentic El Credito cigar mold from the 1960s which Perez-Carrillo autographed during the awards ceremony. For his final prize, Cecala was given a commemorative drawing created during the Super Roll by renowned Cuban artist Edin Gutierrez. For the first time in Super Roll history, second and third place were given to the same person, Jon Liss, a sales representative from Southern Wine and Spirits who resides in Springville, New York. Comparatively hard times ahead for cigarette companies: The push by cigarette companies to get into cigars and smokeless tobacco was underlined by statements from the market-leading Altria Group – owner of Marlboro – that the number of cigarettes sold in the U.S. dived by four percent in 2007 and that it expects sales volumes to go down by 2 1/2-3 percent for the next several years. That’s an increase over the two percent reduction seen in recent years. That doesn’t mean the large cigarette makers are going out of business, as even on these depressed volumes, Altria’s net revenue rose slightly in 2007 to $15 billion. And Marlboro continued as the dominant U.S. brand, with a staggering 41% of the market. But these companies are looking for good earners to offset their receding cigarette sales and companies like Swedish Match – owner of General Cigar – could be attractive targets. But nothing sells like cigarettes, which continue to be the overwhelming leader in the U.S. tobacco industry. In 2006, about 90 percent of the $88.8 billion spent on tobacco was spent on cigarettes and nothing is going to replace that. ~ Rich Perelman CLASSIFIED ADVERTISINGCigar Humidors and Cigar Accessories at Humidor Vault! Your online cigar humidor source, with rock-bottom pricing and fantastic customer support!Like sports? Get news and commentary you won’t see in your morning newspaper at TheSportsExaminer.com! Join the examination! A limited amount of classified advertising is available in this space on a weekly basis. For details, call Pat Harris at (213) 365-7965 or inquire by email by clicking here. Have an opinion? You can send it using the “Comment” button below! Don’t forget to register for our drawing for free cigars and accessories! Just click on the “Register & Win” button above; enter today! Looking for a cigar party? Take a look at our exclusive list of hundreds of cigar events across the country, listed by state and date, only on CigarCyclopedia.com!
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Did you know?
“Cellophane sleeves on cigars were introduced into wide use only in the 1940s.
