 Retail tobacco trade gathers for annual convention
Las Vegas, NV, July 26 – The annual meeting of the cigar and pipe trade began this morning in Las Vegas, where about 5,000 attendees are expected at the 72nd annual Retail Tobacco Dealers of America convention and trade show.
There are more than 300 exhibitors here, selling out the 1,185 exhibits booths available in the cavernous Sands Convention Center. Most of the exhibitors and attendees are staying at the opulent Venetian Hotel.
More so than in some past years, the influence of the very largest players in the cigar trade is felt here on the floor. The convention hall is dominated by about a dozen large companies, with pipes and gifts taking much smaller spaces.
The biggest of the big here is General Cigar, which has a staggering 60-booth (nearly 8,000 square feet) presence in the middle of the hall, by far the largest exhibit. It is showing off its top-selling brands like Macanudo, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterrey and Punch in an elegant, energized setting.
Next largest is Altadis USA, home of H. Upmann, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta and others, with a 48-booth exhibit, dominated by cabinets displaying its more than five-dozen brands.
The other large exhibitors include Ashton – now incorporating Manning Humidors – and Phillips & King (including Kretek’s mammoth flavored cigarette business) at 40 booths each, Davidoff of Geneva with 36 and C.A.O., Cigar Family (Arturo Fuente and J.C. Newman), Drew Estates and Tabacalera Perdomo at 20 each. Miami Cigar Co., importers of La Aurora and Leon Jimenes, and the Oliva Cigar Company, have 16 booths each. These 11 companies alone consumed nearly 30 percent of all booths in the show.
Full exhibit days will be held today through Wednesday and a half-day on Thursday. We’ll have a full report daily on the exhibits, smoking and talk that rises from the floor daily.
The Limit on Opus X? To my surprise, buyers on eBay showed some restraint over full, sealed boxes of Fuente Fuente Opus X offered up last week by a seller whose identification was listed as “CanyonCigarCo” (caps added) of Texas.
One box of Opus X Super Belicosos was sold for $795 for a box of 29 ($27.41 each), but buyers passed on boxes of Double Coronas, Reserva d’Chateau, Perfecxion X, Perfecxion No. 2 and No. 4s at starting prices ranging from $750 for the No. 4s (box of 42) to $950 for the Double Coronas (box of 29). It’s the first time in months that an available box of Opus X had not found a buyer, even at prices of $32 and up per cigar.
Puffs:Pre-RTDA rumors included a wild story that one of the originators of the Cupido brand was getting tired of difficulties at the Tabacalera Esteli in Nicaragua and may sell his share of the brand. The continuing health concerns of Kiki Berger, who runs the farm and manufacturing facility, can’t be helping the situation. The Cupido brand is gaining some wider national attention of late with more appearances in national mail-order and Internet catalogs and listings and a no. 1 ranking from us in our medium-bodied picks released last week. The deep flavor of fruit so prevalent in this blend, especially in the Churchill size, has created a devoted following . . .
In Los Angeles, the famed La Plata brand has undergone considerable turmoil since the past seven years, but appears to be gaining ground once again. Victor Migenes, Jr., son of the brand founder, who created La Plata in 1947, has once again found a home in downtown Los Angeles at 124 West Second Street, after having to move to a small shop near Los Angeles Trade Technical College after his well-known Grand Avenue shop was closed due to redevelopment of the larger building it was in. Call Victor at (888) 450-5282. Ask if he has available the “Victor No. 1,” an elegant Churchill with an earthy and sometimes spicy flavor.
~ Rich Perelman
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