Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars

“I WANTED A STRONGER H. UPMANN”

Plus: Cuban cigars and marijuana?

Los Angeles, May 5 – Not satisfied with owning or managing some 67 brands, the most among American-based manufacturers and distributors, Lew Rothman of Cigars by Santa Clara (wholesale) and J-R Cigars (retail) wanted more.

He wanted a stronger H. Upmann. And, of course, he got it.

Working with Jose Seijas, the talented manager of the maxi-factory Tabacalera de Garcia in La Romana, Dominican Republic, Rothman put together a medium-to-full-bodied H. Upmann Super Fuerte, now on the market in four fat sizes:

> Belicoso: 6 1/8 inches by 54 ring;

> Churchill: 7 x 58;

> Robusto: 5 x 55;

> Toro: 6 x 55.

All sizes feature a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper (yum!), an Ecuadorian shade-grown binder and filler leaves from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Peru. All are packed in slide-top cabinets of 20 and are priced (on J-R’s site) from $95 (Robusto) to $120 (Belicoso) per box.

It’s reminiscent of what Rothman did with Montecristo Peruvian Square Pressed series in 2000, jacking up the power with a Habana 2000 wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and the Dominican-Nicaraguan-Peruvian filler. It’s terrific.

Now the Upmann brand has the J-R powerhouse treatment, to add to Rothman’s previous concoctions, the H. Upmann Connoisseur series and H. Upmann Special Selection. But he has a way to go to catch up with his Montecristo jones, responsible for the Montecristo Habana 2000 (1998), Montecristo Club Cabinet Selection and Peruvian Square Pressed (2000) and Montecristo Afrique (2003).

By the way, remember those cute Altadis-produced tins? Rothman’s put his Monte Afrique line in them and is offering three different sizes in tins of three (nine cigars total) for $29.95. The grouping include the Montecristo Afrique Machame (5 x 44), Jambo (5 x 52) and Jambo Jambo (6 x 50), available now.

More Steals and Deals:
Sensational sale on “classics by the box” from Tom Sullivan’s Superior Cigars of Hauppage, New York:

• Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signature (6 x 47), box of 25 now $119.50, the lowest we’ve seen!

• Avo No. 2 (6 x 50), box of 25 for $110.75; ooh baby!

• C.A.O. l’Anniversaire Cameroon Toro (5 1/2 x 55), 20 for $79.75!

• Camacho Corojo Toro (6 x 50), box of 20 now $73.75; excellent!

Of course, quantities are limited; go to the “Specials Section” to access these prices. First come, first served!

U.S. A-T-F memo to cigar retailers:
As there is still confusion about the rights of retailers to sell cigars by credit card by mail and Internet in view of the recent crackdown against cigarettes, Ray Cord of FactoryDirectCigars.com went to the source: the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Here’s the response, received by electronic mail:

Dear Mr. Cord:

The Jenkins Act does NOT apply to cigar sales. Moreover, Internet or mail-order cigar sales do not violate any of the laws primarily administered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The recent initiative that ATF and the National Association of Attorney Generals participated in with the major credit card companies was aimed at preventing illegal Internet sales of cigarettes, not Internet or mail-order cigar sales.

If your credit card bank companies have any questions, I will be happy to discuss their questions with them.

Jeff Cohen
Assistant Chief Counsel
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Those interested can contact Mr. Cohen at (215) 717-4738 or by facsimile at (215) 717-4771.

Q & A:
We get some great questions, but this one was a doozy:

Please, please try not to laugh as you read this. I am very naive. I was just talking to one of my son’s best friends about cigars. . . .[M]y son’s friend told me that the reason Cuban cigars are illegal in the U.S. is because they contain marijuana. I heard it was because the U.S. doesn’t want to do trade with a Communist country.

Anyway, I have given my 76-year-old father two Cuban cigars and I am so embarrassed to think I may have given him [cigars with] pot in them. Could you please set me straight. . . .

Oh boy. Here’s our reply:

No Cuban cigars contain marijuana. All Cuban products are banned as a political matter as part of the U.S. trade embargo since 1962.

I think your son’s friend might be the one smoking marijuana, though . . .

I kid you not.
~ Rich Perelman

Bookmark

Email This

Comments (0) add comment