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| MORE DAMAGE TO CUBAN LEAF BARNS |
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Page 1 of 2  Plus: Our Register & Win winner of the week!Los Angeles, September 17 – The Associated Press reported that among the estimated $5 billion in damage caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike was a significant pounding of western Cuba’s tobacco infrastructure. The Cuban government’s first comprehensive report on the impact of the two storms in the primary cigar-tobacco-producing region of Pinar del Rio indicated that although tobacco planting season does not start for more than a month, some 3,400 structures used for farm equipment and tobacco curing barns were partially or totally destroyed. The government estimated that about 800 tons of tobacco was affected, but not necessarily lost. According to reports from the island after Gustav hit but before Ike reached Cuba, most of the tobacco simply got drenched from the heavy rains and can be dried out and saved in a process that will take several weeks. That’s a lot better than the fate of the 1.2 million-acre sugar cane crop, which was wiped out completely. The report said that the combined impacts of Gustav and Ike were “without a doubt that most devastating” hurricane ever to hit Cuba and added that “building and rehabilitating will mean financial investments and resources truly worth multimillions and will require years of tense work.” Just the government-compiled catalog of the losses suffered on the island took more than 30 minutes to read on the state government’s evening newscast. You know the situation is dire when the Cuban government has asked the Bush Administration to lift the U.S. trade embargo for six months to allow it to buy construction materials and for U.S. banks and other financial institutions to provide short-term financing. Famed Swiss cigar maker Villiger celebrates 120 years When Jean Villiger began making cigars by hand in Switzerland in 1888, it’s unlikely that he envisioned his family’s cigar-making empire that celebrated its 120th anniversary in September over four days, concluding at the famed Lenzburg Castle in Aargau, Switzerland. Heinrich Villiger is the grandson of the company founder and now oversees an 800-employee group which makes cigars in Indonesia, Germany and Switzerland and sells 600 million cigars a year worldwide, bringing in more than $163 million (U.S.) annually. According to London-based travel retail news site The Moodie Report, Villiger told an audience of more than 200, “I am looking ahead with optimism. Thanks to modern technology, strong bands, a global distribution network and a good management team, we are well equipped to face the task ahead.” Best known for its machine-made brands such as Villiger, Kiel and Braniff, Villiger also distributes hand-made brands such as La Vencedora from Nicaragua and La Flor de Ynclan and Villa Dominicana from the Dominican Republic in the U.S. In Europe and elsewhere, Villiger distributes well-known hand-made brands including Bock, La Intimidad, the highly-rated La Libertad, two editions of Santa Damiana and others. |
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Did you know?
“"A woman is only a woman, but a cigar is a smoke" ~ Rudyard Kipling
