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

EVEN SHEEP CAN SEE THE STUPIDITY!

Plus: get a valet box for your dresser . . . with cigars in it!

Los Angeles, September 14 – In a nation with more sheep than people, the debate about smoking is on as national elections will be held in New Zealand this Saturday.

The newly-formed WIN Party was founded in May of 2005 specifically to roll back the dominant Labour Party’s national smoking ban, especially in bars and pubs.

“The blanket ban on smoking in bars is social engineering, and working with United Future, WIN will fight to have the existing smokefree legislation repealed and replaced with a Clean Air or Minimum Air Quality standard,” states the WIN Party manifesto

New Zealand is a parliamentary-style representative democracy with 120 seats in its unicameral legislature. The Labour Party got a plurality in the 2002 elections, capturing 41.2% of the vote and governing in a coalition with the Green Party (7%), passed the Smoke-free Environments Amendment Act, which came into action on December 10, 2004.

Tavern owners John van Buren and Geoff Mulvihill were both cited for violations of the Act and formed the WIN Party soon after, with a view to liberalizing freedom of choice for New Zealanders. According to the party’s own description:

“WIN stands for freedom of choice and protection of the rights of businesses and individual New Zealanders to make informed choices.

“The present government's social engineering has seen the rights of the majority of New Zealanders eroded. The present government will not entrust us to make our own informed choices. The present government deems us no longer responsible enough to make our own decisions. We have become a nanny state, dominated by government control. Gone is the freedom to choose our own lifestyle. Gone is freedom to own and operate a business without oppressive constraint of the nanny state.”

This is the crux of the issue in the anti-smoking jurisdictions in the United States as well. The infamous AB-13 anti-smoking initiative in California restricts smoking only until the California Occupational Safety & Health Administration comes up with guidelines for ventilation and circulation that eliminate the danger of secondhand smoke. The initiative passed in 1994 and Cal-OSHA has never taken up the issue.

In New Zealand, political parties become meaningful only when they obtain at least five percent of the vote. Given its late start, the WIN Party decided to work with the United Future Party, which got 6.7% in the 2002 elections (there were six parties which got at least 5%) and is against the smoking ban. WIN founder Van Buren will stand as the United Future candidate in the Christchurch Central district.

As proof of the ineffectiveness of the government’s heavy-handed approach to sales of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, WIN Party announcements have highlighted a growing black market in tobacco, the opening of more than 100 illegal bars. According to WIN spokesman Dave Clarke, “Prohibition by ‘excessive taxation’ has never worked. If a government taxes a product to a level beyond the financial reach of most people, the entrepreneurs will step in with a product that is less expensive, tax-free alternative.”

The other certainty, already being seen in Canada and Great Britain, is increased organized crime activity in the sales of legal, but stolen cigarettes, and in also-illegal “gray market” sales of cigarettes properly purchased in another country, then smuggled in for sales at a lower price in another country.

Gentlemen, your valet:
Just when we thought we’d seen everything – cigars in jars, wood molds, humidors shaped like The White House – now you can buy a 30-cigar sampler of three top Altadis U.S.A.-made brands and get them in an elegant leather box at the same time!

The Italian-leather-clad box has red-stitch detailing and three trays lined in suede to hold ten each of the robusto sizes of Montecristo Afrique (the Jambo, five inches by 52 ring), H. Upmann (the No. 100 Robusto, 4 1/2 x 50) and Romeo y Julieta 1875 (Bully, 5 x 50). All three logos are embroidered on the inside of the lid. After you’re done, use the box as a dresser-top valet or on your nightstand: it’s 12 1/2 inches wide, 5 1/2 inches deep and 2 3/4 inches high.

Such an item would cost $100-plus by itself at retail, but the box and the cigars are being offered at J-R Cigars and Mike’s Cigars for $89!

If you’re looking for a fall birthday gift for a cigar lover, this might be it.

Hammer time:
Another mislabeled Partagas ceramic humidor drew strong interest on eBay last week, although one wonders if the erroneous information in the description had any impact.

The item was a popular Partagas Sevilla Humijar, made by Pickman S.A. of Spain in unlimited quantities into the 1970s and listed in the Cubatabaco catalogs as late as 1979. Min Ron Nee’s “An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars” noted that those with a highly decorated lid were post-Revolution production and those with a simple decoration were made prior to 1960.

But the description from the Miami-based seller noted “This gorgeous piece was hand made in the 1920s . . .” and who knows if the buyers knew what they were getting. Nevertheless, it drew 17 bids and a final price of $400, quite reasonable for this item, which earned $621 in another auction last month.

The authentic 1920s Partagas ceramic jar was made by Tavalera in Spain and has a white background and blue lettering and is only rarely seen at auction, drawing prices much closer to $1,000 when one in good condition shows up.
~ Rich Perelman

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