 Our 2005 Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars now available nationwide!
Los Angeles, January 6 – Whew!
Putting together our new edition of the Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars was a challenge to say the least. But it’s here!
Our 11th edition contains profiles on 1,091 brands marketed nationally in the United States. That’s an increase of 88 brands overall, but 100 brands in the handmade category. That squares with the increase in consumption we’ve seen over the past year.
Some of these you may not have heard of, but don’t be surprised to see some wild names in your local store like Beethoven, Big Kahunas, Biker’s Blend, Chubbys, Cosmo, Diablo, High Monk, Hookah, Jericho (can a Joshua brand be far behind?), Magnum Force, Nu and Hat’s Off! That doesn’t even count our favorite – already mentioned here last year – Presidential Election 2004 by Habana Cuba Cigar Co.! It was produced in just 500 boxes with both Democratic and Republican-themed cigars in the same box, possibly the first time that “red” and “blue” have coexisted peacefully together in decades!
Our survey also found that Nicaragua passed Honduras for the number two spot in number of brands produced, 198 1/2 to 181, while the leader remains the Dominican Republic, producing 44.9% of all brands marketed in the U.S. (427 1/2 handmades and 440 1/2 overall). We also found that there are still 75 handmade brands produced in the United States, including big names like La Gloria Cubana, made in Miami by 18 rollers under the continuing supervision of Ernesto Perez-Carillo.
There were also 130 brands which left the U.S. wholesale market, including colorful brands like Ben Hur, Hobo, Indian Cha Cha Cha, 10 Little Indians, Kick Ass Quality Cigars, the Penthouse Selection, Rasputin and Stoogies (yes, Stoogies).
All together, this year’s edition is 600 pages of fun, facts and features on all of your favorite brands. Get one for home and one for the office!
You’ll find the 2005 Cyclopedia at hundreds of retail shops throughout the U.S.; if you don’t see it, ask for it . . . or get it directly from us!
Our January-only Combo Offer:
We have a special offer available if you’d like to enjoy the newest in our Pocket Cyclopedia line, along with our value-packed CigarWire service: just $32 for:
• A one-year subscription to the CigarWire and
• A copy of the new 2005 Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars!
That’s normally a $41.95 value, but we’re offering this special price from now through January 31, 2005. You can sign up today by clicking here!
Your subscription will also include our “Week in Review” newsletter sent each Thursday with a summary of our top stories of the week!
Let Loose the Hounds!
The end of the government-imposed tobacco quota system ushered in by the passage of the so-called “Tobacco Buyout” late last year has now opened the opportunity for tobacco farmers to create a new market.
“The legislation gives us the first opportunity in decades to reverse the decline in the U.S. market and make it strong and viable once more,” noted Tommy Bunn, executive vice president of the Leaf Tobacco Exporters Association, in the Southeast Farm Press.
Another industry observer noted that “One thing that is a given in the buyout – it will bring about a reduction in the price of U.S. tobacco. Clearly that will be a positive aspect. U.S. leaf has been the most expensive on the market and the high quality hasn’t been enough to make up for it.”
Some 60 percent of today’s U.S. annual crop is used for cigarettes sold in foreign markets, whether made here or abroad. U.S. tobacco used for cigars comes primarily from Connecticut, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Bowling Them Over:
With the college bowl season concluded, we enjoyed the story about Florida State’s Bobby Bowden – the winningest coach in college football history – and cigars in the run-up to the Toyota Gator Bowl held on New Year’s Day.
The game pitted Bowden’s famed Florida State Seminoles and the school he used to coach, the West Virginia Mountainteers. The Charleston Daily Mail reported that Bowden used to chew on unlit cigars at West Virginia and the coach was asked if he still does.
“That’s my pacifier!” the folksy Bowden told reporters. “I tell people, ‘Look, I’m willing to suck my thumb or chew on a cigar. What do you want me to do?’
“It’d look bad for me to suck my thumb. So I chew on an unlit cigar.”
He noted that Florida State alumni send boxes of cigars to the coaches and that’s why he started. He does not smoke, however.
Bowden had little to cause him to chomp on a cigar on New Year’s, as his Seminoles beat up on the Mountaineers, 30-18.
~ Rich Perelman
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