|
|
|
| CIGAR IMPORTS CONTINUE STEADY |
|
|
|
Page 2 of 2
And in case you had any doubts about the size of the premium market compared to machine-made large cigars, during the first four months of 2008, 193.04 million machine-made cigars were imported into the U.S. compared to 75.56 million premiums. That’s a 2.55:1 ratio and does not count domestically-manufactured cigars such as those made by market-leading Swisher International in its plant in Jacksonville, Florida! Newest Griffin’s Special Edition now ready! Davidoff of Geneva is the strongest backer of special editions or limited-edition cigars on the U.S. market. All three of its top brands – Davidoff, Avo and The Griffin’s – have annual limited-edition cigars created that give fans of the brand something to look forward to. The Avo special for 2008 was announced earlier this year and the Davidoff limited-edition blend is usually announced at the mid-summer national trade show now called IPCPR (International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association). But The Griffin’s is available now. The Griffin’s Special XXIV Edition is a 5 1/2-inch by 52-ring torpedo made in the Dominican Republic under the watchful eye of Henrik Kelner at the Tabadom complex in Santiago. This is the fifth special-edition cigar under The Griffin’s brand with the first debuting in 2004 to celebrate the brand’s 20th anniversary. This year’s cigar features an Ecuadorian-grown, Connecticut-seed wrapper, Mexican-grown of Sumatra-seed binder and four different Dominican-grown filler leaves. It has a spicy note to it and is presented in individual glass tubes in boxes of 10. Only 3,500 boxes will be available in the U.S. and a worldwide total of just 8,000 (80,000 cigars) were produced. Pricing is $11 per cigar or $110 for the box of 10, not including local sales or tobacco taxes. AMA throws a fit over “The Incredible Hulk” A grass-roots anti-smoking organization affiliated with the American Medical Association called the AMA Alliance blasted Marvel Pictures last week for the smoking imagery in “The Incredible Hulk.” Diane Fenyk, president of the Alliance said in a statement, “Shame on 'The Incredible Hulk' for unnecessarily adding smoking to a sequel that would have been just as exciting and believable without it.” Fenyk added that the first Hulk film – “Hulk,” released in 2003 – did not have smoking scenes. At issue is not the main character of Dr. Bruce Banner/The Hulk but his primary nemesis, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, played by William Hurt (pictured above). The character of Ross smokes cigars continuously in the film . . . just as he did in the original comic edition of The Incredible Hulk which first appeared in 1962. In fact, in The Incredible Hulk No. 1, Ross is first pictured on page two of the comic . . . with a cigar in his hand! Perhaps the Alliance will try re-writing Shakespeare or The Bible next (a lot of unprotected sex in the latter, you know), but the AMA warning didn’t seem to have much impact on the viewing public. Proving that Fenyk isn’t much of a critic either, during the movie’s June 13-15 opening weekend, the PG-13-rated “The Incredible Hulk” was the top box-office earner by a wide margin, pulling in $55.4 million in the U.S. alone and is expected to do well again this weekend and eventually surpass the earnings of the 2003 edition of the story of the mighty green monster. In other words, this film is smokin’. ~ 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!
Bookmark
Email This
Comments (1)
Tim McGivern
said:
|
|||||
Subscribe to this comment's feed
|
RE: The story about the AMA-affiliated group protesting the scenes in "The Incredible Hulk" with the Gen. Ross character smoking cigars--- Just plain STUPID! I have to say that usually, I support anti-smoking rules/laws, and I certainly believe the AMA and other medical groups should actively discourage smoking (especially for minors). The scenes at issue in this movie however, depict a basically "bad guy" character smoking cigars. The point is obviously that bad guy big shots, like war-monger generals and corporate fat cats, must smoke cigars. If anything, WE should be protesting because scenes like this give an unnecessarily negative connotation to cigar-smoking. It's guilt by association because the inference is that only "evil arch-enemies" of the good guys must smoke cigars. This "grassroots" group should be applauding the fact that the movie DISCOURAGES smoking by giving it such a negative image. I say, Leave the arts alone. For better or worse, people in real life sometimes smoke, and the movies realistically reflect that fact. While I don't necessarily think the teaming masses as a whole are always supremely intelligent, I also don't think there's a significant segment of the population that are going to be influenced to go out and start smoking, cigars or otherwise, because the evil Gen. Ross is depicted smoking them. This group only loses credibility by making a "stink" over this. |
|
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Write comment
| < Following Column | Previous Column > |
|---|
 |
 |
Did you know?
“American cigar production fell to less than 1,000 factories (971 registered) by 1954 and only 477 in 1961.
