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A CUT ABOVE?

Plus: what’s happening with Altadis and a space-age pipe!

Los Angeles, July 5 – One of the most underrated of all cigar essentials is the cutter.

It’s true that for decades, many Americans simply bit off the end of their cigars and fired away. Today, the cutter is de rigeur.

Cuban Crafters has been at the forefront of new styles in cutters. Its “Revolucion” cigar scissors was the first (and so far, the only) cutter with a three-blade circular motion to ensure a clean cut.

Now, Cuban Crafters has introduced two new double-bladed cutters to try and make cutting a little easier: the CC23-Perfect and CC24-Perfecto.

The new approach that these cutters take is to include a “backstop” on both so that the level of the cut is pre-set. No more wondering about how much to cut; simply line the cigar up against the backstop and cut. There’s even a series of concentric grooves into which the cigar is held so that there’s no movement of the cigar when cutting. Pretty clever!

To allow the device to work on torpedoes and perfectos – and their pointed heads – there’s a hole into which the head of the cigar is placed, again lining up the cigar for the perfect cut.

Both the CC23 (shown above) and CC24 have self-sharpening, surgical-quality blades and have a lifetime warranty. The CC23 has a squarish body with half-moon-style finger holes at each end. The CC24 is more oval in the middle and has circular finger holes at each end. Both are designed to cut cigars of up to 56 ring gauge.

Best of all, both are reasonably priced. The CC23 retails for $19.99 and the CC24 has a suggested price of $24.99. They’re shipping to stores now, but are also available on the Cuban Crafters Web site.

London greets smoking ban with cigar dinners!
“We have lost the battle but we haven’t lost the war.”

That line from Simon Clark, director of the pro-smoking group called FOREST, summed up the feelings of many London-area smokers who “celebrated” the July 1 start of the English smoking ban with events at many restaurants and pubs, most especially at Boisdale Restaurant in Westminster.

“The smoking ban is all out of proportion to the risk from second-hand smoke,” said Clark in an interview Adam Edwards of The Telegraph at Boisdale. “We urge the Government to amend the legislation to allow designated smoking rooms.”

And he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Several Members of Parliament – mostly conservatives – attended the event, as did television personality Andrew Neil. “Never has so much human conduct been criminalized in this life,” he said. “We are being run by puritans who are determined to squeeze any fun out of life unless it is officially sanctioned.

“Hunting is banned even though it doesn’t matter to 99 per cent of the population. Drinking is increasingly frowned upon.” Even more colorful was a director of the Institute of Ideas, Claire Fox, who told the reporter that the smoking ban was sold to the public using “the Trojan horse of public health” and that “if health is the new religion, the anti-smokers are its Spanish Inquisition.”

Decision delayed, justice denied?
The ongoing question of whether a hotel will ever be built on the former site of the Gran Havana cigar bar did not get answered during last week’s meeting of the downtown San Diego redevelopment agency.

The agency put off the decision until July 11. The developer – GRH LLC – wants a two-year extension with the Centre City Development Corporation to build a high-rise hotel. It was supposed to begin building last January and finish in September 2008. Now it wants to start in May of 2008 and finish in July 2010.

In the meantime, the man whose dream of a cigar bar and coffeehouse came true in the Gran Havana enterprise (and then died thanks to eminent domain), Ahmad Mesdaq, asked the development agency to end the agreement since the developer did not do as promised. “Now it’s your job,” he told the agency board. “What’s his punishment and what’s my reward?”

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the agency wanted more information about what the financial consequences to it and the City would be if the extension was denied. Litigation by Mesdaq about the condemnation is ongoing.

What’s happening with Altadis?
“The process of due diligence of the two groups is finished.”

With that comment by Altadis, S.A. chairman Antonio Vasquez on June 28, financial analysts are expecting revised bids from Britain’s Imperial Tobacco and CVC Capital Partners this week.

Imperial had bid 45 Euro and then 47 Euro per share for Altadis, but was instantly rejected both times. CVC assembled a team to bid 50 Euro, but internal strife between the partners has endangered that potential offer.

A bid of 52 Euro a share would raise the total offer for the company to around $13 billion U.S., making it one of the largest tobacco-company sales ever. If Imperial were to win, it would create the third-largest tobacco firm in the world; the two companies are currently ranked fourth (Imperial) and fifth (Altadis).

This is a pipe?
If you tell someone you’re smoking a pipe, they’ll assume it’s made from briar or meerschaum with a stem reaching from the mouth to the bowl.

Not the Solopipe.

It’s essentially a rectangle with a small mouthpiece that extends out from the body of the device. There’s a bowl with a sliding cover for tobacco and it’s powered by a built-in electronic lighter!

Futuristic, yes, but will anyone use it? It’s been showcased on MySpace.com and at a retail price of $80.00, it’s hardly out of reach for those interested in a space-age version of the pipe. It can be used with one hand, so the other is free to ward off either those who want to try it, or to defend yourself from attack by traditional pipe users!
~ Rich Perelman

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