Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars - THE TRADITION CONTINUES IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES

THE TRADITION CONTINUES IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES

THE TRADITION CONTINUES IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES

Plus: Cuba orders tourism workers to minimize contact with foreigners

Los Angeles, March 7 – Victor Migenes Jr. knows how to rock and roll. Literally.

A talented drummer who has toured with high-profile groups like the Bay City Rollers, Migenes is also the owner of La Plata Cigars, following in the footsteps of his father who founded the brand in 1947.

For decades, smokers of all shapes, sizes and income levels made the pilgrimage, first to 804 South Broadway and from 1971 to 2001, to 1026 South Grand Avenue to buy La Platas, made in the back of the store by a corps of 15 rollers.

When the Cigar Boom started in the 1990s, Migenes saw his business expand and soon La Platas were also made in the Villazon & Co. factory in Honduras. For the 50th anniversary of the brand in 1997, the La Plata Dominican Selection was introduced.

But the Boom ended and Migenes eventually found himself in a new location as his long-time store location was redeveloped by the building owner. His new spot next to gritty Los Angeles Trade Technical College was hardly energizing, but Migenes was too busy marketing his La Plata line nationally to concentrate on a return to downtown. But it had to happen.

Working in concert with his business partner Paul Woo, Migenes recognized the new paradigm for smoking in anti-tobacco California: combine a retail store with an elegant, inviting place to smoke. Such combination facilities are allowed under the California anti-indoor-smoking law, but Migenes and Woo went one further, taking the lounge space and making it a display and sales location . . . for art!

And now his combination gallery, lounge, store and rolling room for a couple of remaining rollers is open in the very heart of downtown Los Angeles at 124 West 2nd Street under the name Second Street Cigars and Gallery.

For Angelenos, it’s in a familiar location on the ground floor of the Metropolitan News Building, just across the street from the massive headquarters of the Los Angeles Times. It’s a short walk from the entire City and Country government complex across 1st Street and close to the thousands of new rental apartments and condominium units which sprung up in the revitalization of downtown L.A.

The “new” La Plata is featured today in a front-page story in the influential Los Angeles Downtown News and will be a stopping point for L.A.’s smokers and art lovers.

The current La Plata lines focuses on the La Plata Nicaraguan Selection, with a medium body in four sizes, and the La Plata Honduran Selection, offering a mild-to-medium body with Connecticut Shade wrappers or a full-bodied taste with Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers.

But if Victor is in and you have the gumption to ask, he might have some of his original La Plata blends available, still rolled in the back! If available, ask for a Victor No. 1, offering a unique, slightly spicy melody to accompany a solid core of deeply toasted flavors in a wonderful Churchill size (7 inches by 46 ring).

From the Cubador:
At the same time the VII Festival del Habano was winding down last week came a chilling story from Havana about new regulations for hospitality industry workers.

CNN reported that the Tourism Ministry issued a new “resolution” which forbids the 100,000 or so Cuban tourism-industry workers “from having personal contact with foreigners.”

This includes accepting gifts and tips from foreigners – not only visitors, but also foreign nationals working in the Cuban tourism industry in one of the many joint ventures on the island!

Moreover, “non-professional” contacts must be reported to superiors within 72 hours and CNN reported that “staff members are not required to report any foreigner who behavior or comments are considered offensive to the Cuban government.”

It’s likely to be impossible to enforce, but perhaps not a surprising turn in the Cuban government’s determination to underscore its view of tourism as a “necessary evil,” even after news releases trumpeted 2004's total of two million visitors and projected a 2005 goal of 2.5 million.

Havana Cyclopedia text now on-site:
With the release of our third edition of our Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Havana Cigars, we also began uploading the text on this site for your reference. The process was completed over the weekend and the complete text of the book is now available for your enjoyment.

Of course, it’s not the same as the actual publication with its many pictures and compact, easy to use size. But if you need to know the sizes of the Edicion Limitadas, you can look it up!

Everything at Once with our March Combo Offer!
All in one package! Here’s our special for the month of March, offering everything we have in one big package at 28% off! You get (drum roll . . .):

• A one-year subscription to our value-packed CigarWire and

• A copy of our 600-page Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars for 2005 and

• A copy of our third edition Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Havana Cigars!

That’s normally a $54.90 value with shipping, but we’re offering all of this for a special, discounted price of just $39.99 through the end of this month only.

Your subscription will also include our “Week in Review” newsletter sent each Thursday with a summary of our top stories of the week!
~ Rich Perelman

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