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

MORE HEARD IN THE HUMIDOR

Mr. Bill, Selling More Cigars and the H in Upmann

Los Angeles, July 23 – The burn:

A Bonus for Mr. Bill: A leading bookstore in Copenhagen, Denmark is offered a bonus for buyers who place pre-publication orders for the Danish translation of former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s memoir, “My Life.”

It’s a book about cigars!

The Associated Press reported that “The Great Book on Cigars” is being offered, with a store spokesman noting that the connection “should be obvious” to readers who are familiar with Clinton’s time in the White House.

Ooooowweee!

Cigar Sales Edging Upward: The latest figures from the Cigar Association of America indicate that the continuing trend in cigar sales in the U.S. is upward.

For May 2004, imports of premium (handmade) cigars into the U.S. increased to 27.8 million units, a 30.4 percent increase on a year-to-year basis over May of 2003. For the five months of 2004 ending on May 31, total imports of premium cigars now stand at 105.6 million compared to 91.5 million a year prior, an increase of 15.3 percent. If this trend continues, premium cigars will show an increase in imports for the fifth straight year, beginning in 2000.

In fact, if you overlook the two highest years of the Cigar Boom – 1997 and 1998 – imports have increased every year since 1993. For comparison, the 2003 total imports figure of 274.3 million premium cigars is 327 percent of the amount just a decade before and 266 percent of the best figure of the 1980s. The fad may be over, but cigars are here to stay.

More evidence came from this week’s quarterly report of Swedish Match, which owns General Cigar (which in turn owns Villazon, El Credito and, as of June 18, U.S. Cigar Sales). Operating income was up by seven percent and cigar sales were up by ten percent. Swedish Match’s report noted that “Strong volume growth for mass-market cigars in the U.S. and volume growth also for premium cigars in the U.S. contributed to the improved result.” It also called the cigar area a “long-term growth opportunity” and the sector returned a 15.5 percent profit margin for the second quarter of 2004.

Swedish Match stock is traded in the U.S. on the NASDAQ under the symbol SWMAY.

From the Cubador: The European Cigar-Cult Journal recently featured an excellent story on the new H. Upmann factory in Cuba. Moved from its longtime (and rather dingy) home in the middle of the city, the new Upmann facility is in the Vedado District in what was a factory for cigarillos.

The new site employs the same number of staff – 680 – as the old building, but the lighting, plumbing, electrical and communications systems are much more modern. I toured the old Upmann factory in 1998 and saw – I kid you not – a 1920s telephone exchange, complete with plug-in phone jacks, still in use to service most of the plant.

The Cigar-Cult Journal goes to note that the brand name comes from “Hermanos” Upmann for the brothers Hermann and August Upmann. This is contrary to the widely-held belief that the firm was founded by Hermann Upmann in about 1844, but has been acknowledged in some circles. There is even a third version which maintains that the family name was Hupmann and the brand title (and that of the family’s banking operation) was a play on the surname.

I like the idea of Hermann Upmann on his lonesome, however. Photography of old H. Upmann boxes and other packaging includes the now-familiar use of the H. Upmann signature. It could be simply a marketing ploy, but given the egos of the major cigar players in Cuba in the mid-19th Century such as Jose Gener, Jaime Partagas, Ramon Allones and others, it seems likely that Upmann affixed his own name and signature to the brand.

Let There be Light: The Cigar-Cult Journal’s spring issue also reported the results of its second annual lighter contest with nine contenders. The medalists were the Porsche Design, gold; Prometheus Xenon, silver and the Colibri Beam Sensor, bronze.

An interesting commentary on the contest was the panel’s view that the flame lighter was being rediscovered by the European smoker and has reasserted its charm against the high-tech “torch” lighters so popular in the U.S. Then again, there are many more places to smoke indoors in Europe than here, so the tide may turn again if Euro smokers are forced outdoors.

For more, visit the European Cigar-Cult Journal site at http://”www.cigar-cult.at”.

Next week we are off to the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America convention and trade show in Las Vegas, with news of new items, rumors, smoking, joking and a lot of overweight people at the gaming tables!
~ Rich Perelman

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