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CONVENTION TIME FOR ROCKY PATEL Print E-mail
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ImagePlus: Dominican imports down, but overall cigar imports are up

Los Angeles, August 21 – Although the Democratic Party’s elected representatives in Congress are trying hard to regulate and tax the tobacco industry out of existence, there will be plenty of the party faithful who will be enjoying Rocky Patel cigars at one of the bigger parties being put on during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States will be throwing an eagerly-awaited bash next Monday evening, with themed cocktails to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition in 1933. The evening program includes a smoking lounge, for which Rocky Patel will be supplying 800 of his Decade brand, with a suggested retail price of $9.00 to $10.50 each, depending on size, right at the top of the price range for Patel’s cigars. It’s hard to know why the Wall Street Journal noted that the cigars for the event “will be lower-grade than in previous years.”

Patel isn’t playing favorites, however. The Distilled Spirits Council will be back in action on Monday, September 1 (Labor Day) with a party in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota during the Republic National Convention. This time, attendees will be able to enjoy one or more of the 800 ITC 10th Anniversary cigars that will be offered. These have a retail price range of $6.25-7.00 each.

No word yet on whether either party has contacted Patel to make a victory cigar in November.

Dominican imports way down in June
Honduran and Nicaraguan cigar imports into the U.S. remained steady in June, but Dominican imports appeared considerably lower.

Figures compiled by the Cigar Association of America showed that June imports of premium cigars into the United States totaled 19.39 million units, way down from the 2007 figures of 30.47 million that included an unknown number of little cigars. Highlights:

  • Honduran imports, most of which are handmade, actually increased in June to 8.11 million cigars against 7.31 million last year. For the first six months of 2008. Honduran imports are ahead of last year’s pace at 37.58 million against 32.51 million in 2007, a gain of 15.6 percent.

  • Nicaraguan imports, which are all handmade, were not as strong as Honduras, but totaled 5.31 million units, a little less than the June 2007 total of 5.61 million. For the year to date, Nicaraguan cigar imports are 5.2 percent ahead of 2007 at 31.53 million compared to 29.97 million for January-June 2007.

  • Dominican imports of premium cigars were well down at just 5.85 million, well below the Honduran total and barely more than a third of the 16.81 million total from June of 2007, which certainly included some little cigars. For the year, Dominican imports are down almost 40 percent against the little cigar-inflated total of 2007, 46.02 million to 76.28 million.

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