 Plus: tobacco harvest down in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio this year
Los Angeles, May 23 – Keith Meier’s annual Cigars International CigarFest is a highlight of the late spring for cigar lovers from across the country and this year’s edition on May 5 didn’t disappoint.
“Pretty amazing to see 2,000 people from 47 different states come all the way to the ‘boonies’ for this annual event,” Meier noted, “and it actually sold out in nine days.”
Held this year at the Split Rock Resort in the Pocono Mountains area, it was quite a show with every attendee receiving 50 cigars, a humidor, a CigarFest ashtray, an event poster, duffel bag and whatever else they could scoop up. “All in all, over 100,000 cigars were given out this year!” he wrote in a post-event e-mail.
There was a live band, a pig roast, 10 different brands of spirits for sampling, six different micro-brewed beers and an enormous raffle. The grand prize was a new Jeep Wrangler courtesy of 5 Vegas Cigars and there were two different trips to cigar factories in Honduras (courtesy Camacho Cigars) and Nicaragua (courtesy Drew Estates). And there were plenty of cigars, including “cigars for a year” with a 2,000-capacity cabinet humidor from Drew Estates, a Gurkha 500-capacity “Museum Case” humidor, two Perdomo 100-count humidors, the new Alec Bradley carbon fibre humidor and dozens of signed and special boxes.
Not bad for a $90 ticket! But the most important aspects of the event were not the highlights that most attendees might have thought of during the merriment:
• About $17,000 was raised for LifePath, an organization dedicated to the support and care of individuals with cognitive challenges and mental retardation. It serves about 1,200 people in the state of Pennsylvania.
• Meier and his team also made an important outreach to Pennsylvania politicians. “We also hosted a delegation of eight different state legislators,” he wrote, “in order to show them what the cigar industry is all about and how this is a group of real guys, real enthusiasts, unlike cigarette smokers . . . which surprisingly too many still seem to lump us in with.”
This aspect of the event should not be underrated; if more politicians saw more smokers – especially cigar smokers – their attitude toward the increasing restrictions pushed by the anti-tobacco crowd would be more balanced.
A $60,000 cigar cutter?
A mammoth auction of advertising memorabilia collected by a Ceour d’Alene, Idaho shop owner named Jim Cate included what has to be the most expensive cigar cutter of all time.
It was an 1890s wood and metal cutter meant to sit on top of a cigar store display case. The user inserted his cigar and the machine automatically began spinning the center wheel (pictured above). The payoff was that if the wheel stopped on one of several designated “winning” locations, the customer would get a free cigar!
According to the auctioneers, Showtime Auctions of Chino, California, “The piece is one of only three known to exist, and was made more desirable by having the original marquee and dial. It was in fine working order.”
Offered on April 22, the item was expected to go for $30-50,000. But the final price, including the buyer’s premium, was $60,500! Safe to say, the new owner is unlikely to place it in a cigar store again any time soon.
From the Cubador:
Cuba’s tobacco harvest in the Pinar del Rio region was reported to have fallen by 12 percent this season, according to a report in Granma, the official newspaper of the Communist Party.
According to the report, carried by The Associated Press, the decline was due to “excessive rain in the region.” Tobacco was harvested on 47,880 acres, down from 53,090 acres that was planned for cultivation this year. Pinar del Rio is the westernmost province in Cuba and is the primary sector for tobacco used for the country’s premium cigars.
The Granma story also noted that next year’s crop will require 11,700 workers, but there was no indication if this was an increase or decrease over this year.
”Apprentice” winner to open second store:
Bill Rancic, the winner in the first season in “The Apprentice” was into cigars long before he met Donald Trump. Rancic’s Cigars Around the World company is now owned by Synergy Brands, which opened a 6,000 square foot store and lounge in Miami Lakes, Florida in March 2006, is now readying a second store.
Rancic is from Chicago and the second location will be in his hometown. No details have been given yet on the location or the date of opening.
Raise taxes, raise crime:
The Associated Press reported that a recent $1 tax increase on tobacco products “is prompting fears of a black market for stolen cigarettes.”
A carton of cigarettes now retails for $38-42 each, depending on brand. Crooks have noticed. Shortly after the tax hike went into effect, a distribution warehouse in Boone, Iowa was raided and more than $40,000 worth of cigarettes were taken. Four suspects were arrested in the crime, but it won’t be the last try at a cigarette score.
~ Rich Perelman
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