 Hurricane Charley damage in Cuba wider than expected, but not as bad for smokers as in Bhutan
Los Angeles, August 19 – Reports of damage in Havana and throughout western Cuba have been more severe than reported in the hours following the touchdown of Hurricane Charley over last weekend.
Official Cuban sources credit the storm with destroying 140 homes in the city of Havana and partially collapsing another 767. In the Havana province, another 989 homes collapsed and 10,020 were damaged. All together, Charley damaged 16,000 homes in Cuba.
Agence France Presse reported that the Pinar del Rio region, where much of Cuba’s cigar tobacco is grown, escaped direct contact with the storm. However, the area was disconnected from the national electrical system as 13 high-tension towers collapsed.
Happily, planting of cigar tobacco does not usually start until late in the year, in November or December, so the new crop was not damaged. However, there were no reports about damage to existing tobacco stored in curing barns. Not surprisingly, our inquiries to contacts on the island about damage have not been responded to as yet.
Extensive damage was reported in other agricultural sectors, including banana and sugarcane plantations and some vegetable production.
Final note: in typical fashion, the official Cuban news service noted that four people died as a result of the storm compared to 20 reported so far in Florida.
Bad news in Bhutan:
In the Himalayan mountain highlands, the tiny country of Bhutan borders India on the west and south and China on the north. There are just over two million people in the nation and very few of them will be lighting up in the foreseeable future.
The National Assembly voted on August 12 to ban the sale of tobacco products nationwide.
Those who bring in tobacco products for personal use from outside the country will be subject to a 100% duty fee. Don’t expect to find much of a selection of Havanas at the duty-free shop when departing from the capital city, Thimpu, as all tobacco sales there were halted earlier this year.
The nation of Bhutan comprises just 18,000 square miles and the country is 75% Buddhist and 25% Hindu. News reports indicated that despite a 500% increase in taxes on tobacco products to discourage their use, there continues to be a thriving black market, primarily in cigarettes.
Time for a Home Equity Loan?
Fuente Fuente Opus X cigars are back in play on eBay, with one sealed box of 32 Perfecxion X (6 1/4 x 48) up for sale now. Starting price was $700, but bidding as of midnight was up to $710 ($22.19 a stick). The bidding ends on Sunday evening.
Attention Legal Department:
In our recent ranking of national cigar retailers, selling via mail order and/or Internet, we ranked Atlantic Cigar Company of New York as best in a combination of pricing and brand availability (the full list of 95 retailers is available to our CigarWire subscribers).
But that doesn’t mean they’re perfect. Take this note on their page listing General Cigar’s Cohiba brand:
“Cohiba is no longer available due to a recent court case in which General Cigar lost the right to use the Cuban brand name Cohiba . . . Details will follow if available again under a different name.”
Say what?
It’s true that at the end of March, U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet held that the Cubans had the right to use the Cohiba brand name and issued an order to have General stop selling its version of the brand. But, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay to the order on June 23 and has allowed General to continue selling the brand pending the outcome of the appeal.
Fellas, I’d put that order for Cohibas in right away and . . . start selling!
~ Rich Perelman
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