 Custom P.G.s, India smokes and more
Los Angeles, August 2 – We heard a lot of interesting things at the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America (RTDA) trade show, including:
• The tragic 1996 fire of most of the Tabadom complex in Santiago, Dominican Republic created a unique situation for Paul Garmirian and his P.G. brand. Left over in warehouses not damaged by the fire were about 30,000 P.G. cigars made in the 1990-1996 timeframe, which were moved to Garmirian’s warehouses in Virginia when the Tabadom factory was rebuilt.
So . . . Paul is now able to create custom boxes of cigars from time gone by! Want a box of 12-year-old P.G. Lonsdales? No problem. A special gift of 1994 Belicosos? By your command. And the P.G. line was ranked no. 5 on our list of the best medium-bodied cigars available (the full list is only available to our CigarWire subscribers).
Of course, these vintage beauties aren’t free and go for about double the normal box price. For more information, call the McLean Cigars PG Boutique at (703) 848-8095.
• Good cigars were widely in evidence in Las Vegas, but the craze for Opus X goes on. Following on our stories about the wild prices on eBay for boxes of Opus X, Carlos Fuente, Jr. and Grand Havana’s Stan Shuster said the $30-35-plus per cigar prices were nothing for Las Vegas.
“Here, the price can go to $80-150 a stick,” noted Shuster. In a city of excess, wearing the unobtainable, even if it’s a cigar, is another sign of success, whatever the cost.
• Meanwhile, in India . . . no, really. We heard about our old friend Chetan Seth, who has the rights for distribution to Havana cigars in India. The Financial Express noted that Seth made his fortune in the armaments trade, but obtained the Habanos license in 2001 and has now set up stores in New Delhi and in duty-free shops. In a situation eerily similar to the start of the Cigar Boom in the U.S. more than a decade ago, Seth is running cigar classes to teach the difference between Cuban marques and popular Indian brands like Tiger and Churchill.
• More than 200 years of tobacco tradition are being preserved in St. James Parish, Louisiana, where brothers Grant and Gene Martin are planting the nearly-forgotten Perique tobacco once again.
Although never a huge crop, Perique has been well-known in pipe tobacco blends and in some cigar blends during the Boom. Use of the type was highest in the 1920s, when 478,000 pounds was produced in one year. The Martins are among only a half-dozen to still plant the crop thanks to creeping development in the parish, which has traditionally been heavy on agriculture.
• An interesting warning about the Congressional debate on the tobacco quota buy-out and regulation of tobacco products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Friday:
“But most disturbing is the provision of this legislation that would pass regulation of tobacco over to the Food and Drug Administration.
“Yes, tobacco is a drug, and an addictive one.
“But the FDA traditionally classifies drugs by weighing their benefits against their risks. Will this agency now be expected to bend like a contortionist, contending that tobacco is ‘useful and efficacious’?
“Adult Americans – while they should be fully informed of the risks – should remain free to smoke or chew tobacco if they please. But FDA control is likely to lead to something more closely approaching tobacco prohibition.
“And if you thought the national Prohibition of 1919-1933 was fun, wait till they give this one a try.”
Amen.
~ Rich Perelman
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