Heard in the Humidor: December 22-27, 2008
Heinrich Villiger talks about the future of tobacco, pre-embargo Havana cigars at auction, and Michigan smoking ban debates collapse.
posted: Monday December 22nd - 12:55pm
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Heard in the Humidor: December 15-19, 2008
Dallas and Boston expand smoking bans, and a shiny new lawsuit for Mista Swissher Sweet
posted: Monday December 15th - 3:59pm
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HEARD IN THE HUMIDOR: December 1-5, 2008
Rocky Patel's Summer Collection sells out.
posted: Monday December 1st - 3:39pm
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Heard in the Humidor: November 17-21, 2008
There's little doubt that buoyed by Barack Obama's win in the Presidential election and larger majorities in Congress, Democrats will push through new legislation that could have severe impacts on cigar smokers.
posted: Monday November 17th - 12:00pm
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Heard in the Humidor: November 10-14, 2008
Cigar imports are down in 2008, although it's too early to call this a "cigar recession."
posted: Monday November 10th - 10:41am
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Heard in the Humidor: October 27-31, 2008
"We didn't want to be acquired, you know."
posted: Monday October 27th - 5:30pm
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Heard in the Humidor: October 20-24, 2008
"With the addition of Camacho Cigars and Mr. Christian Eiroa, the Oettinger Davidoff Group has successfully united two families with a passion for cigars as a premium product and the ambition to strive unceasingly for the highest quality standards."
posted: Monday October 20th - 10:32am
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Heard in the Humidor: October 13-17, 2008
Altadis U.S.A.'s efforts to derail the selling of fake cigars using their famous trademarks yielded a guilty verdict on October 1 in the Florida trial of Ft. Lauderdale cigar-shop owner James David Joiner, who was arrested back in 2006 in a sting operation that the company helped to develop.
posted: Monday October 13th - 10:51am
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Heard in the Humidor: October 6-10, 2008
J.C. Newman's Diamond Crown and Diamond Crown Maximus cigar brands aren't always the easiest to find. But finding a place to smoke them might be getting a little easier.
posted: Monday October 6th - 12:39pm
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Heard in the Humidor: September 22-26, 2008
One of the most massive launches of a new cigar ever undertaken started on September 18 at Jungle Jim's of Fairfield, Ohio and Liberty Smokes of Philadelphia as General Cigar rolls out the Macanudo 1968 National Tasting Tour.
posted: Monday September 22nd - 9:53am
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Heard in the Humidor: September 15-19, 2008
What may well be the most intense launch campaign ever undertaken for a new cigar brand will get started in two smokeshops on September 18.
posted: Monday September 15th - 9:17am
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Heard in the Humidor: September 8-12, 2008
Women’s feelings about themselves were very different from those of men while smoking cigars."Women responded that they feel powerful (24%), attractive (25%), strong (15%), fun (43%), and rebellious (22%) when cigar smoking. Men, when asked the same question, responded in much lower numbers. Instead, men felt peaceful when smoking cigars (97%), a sentiment that was shared by 76% of women."
posted: Monday September 8th - 1:09pm
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Heard in the Humidor: September 1-5, 2008
Alberto Medina is nothing if not persistent. He created the boutique Pio VI brand in 1996, just as the Cigar Boom was hitting its peak. But rather than being able to enjoy the fruits of creating a well-liked brand, he found himself in a lengthy, grinding tug-of-war over the brand that lasted six years.
posted: Tuesday September 2nd - 9:54am
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Heard in the Humidor for August 25 - 30
posted: Monday August 25th - 10:50am
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Heard in the Humidor for August 17 - 23
Highlights of the week in cigars and smoking.
posted: Monday August 18th - 9:00am
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Heard in the Humidor for August 11 - 15
Los Angeles -- "We're going to meet this head on. What's happening here, this is socialism. This is communism."
posted: Monday August 11th - 1:26pm
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Heard in the Humidor: August 4-8, 2008
Prior to a more thorough report in September, Britain's Imperial Tobacco reported that its 2008 results "remains in line with management's expectations. The integration of Altadis is proceeding in line with our plans and the financial position of the Group also remains in accordance with our expectations."
posted: Monday August 4th - 11:29am
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Heard in the Humidor: July 27-August 2, 2008
posted: Monday July 28th - 10:28am
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Heard in the Humidor: July 21-25, 2008
Highlights of the 76th International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association convention and trade show in Las Vegas.
posted: Monday July 21st - 11:03am
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For the Week of July 14 - 19, 2008
posted: Monday July 14th - 11:09am
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For the Week of June 30 -- July 4, 2008
Revival of the "Nypmhs and Satyr," "Four for the 4th" sampler, manglo-licious cigars, and big changes at Imperial Tobacco, all in this week Heard in the Humidor.
posted: Monday June 30th - 10:34am
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For the Week of June 16 - 20, 2008
Veteran smokers are well familiar with the Cuba Aliados and Puros Indios brands, both made in Honduras by Rolando Reyes.
posted: Monday June 16th - 11:16am
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For the week of June 9-13, 2008
Los Angeles – There are an estimated 3.5 million premium cigar smokers in the United States, the largest cigar market in the world. If brought together as a political force, such a group would offer a powerful voice against unnecessary regulations and restrictions primarily aimed at cigarettes.
posted: Monday June 9th - 10:24am
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Heard in the Humidor: June 6-8, 2008
Cigar company executives thought 2008 might see a bit of a downtown in cigar sales. They may be right.
posted: Monday June 2nd - 11:20am
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Heard in the Humidor: May 26-30, 2008
Tobacco distributor Lignum-2 was acquired on May 20 by Britain's Imperial Tobacco for $22 million U.S.
posted: Tuesday May 27th - 9:34am
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Heard in the Humidor: May 19-23, 2008
Los Angeles -- "You know what it reminds me of? Nothing." That's the high praise of one Arizona retailer for the new Alec Bradley Tempus line, which started shipping just two weeks ago and is now in a growing number of stores across the country. The word "tempus" is Latin for "time" and the cigar meets the growing desire of smokers for more and more flavor.
posted: Monday May 19th - 11:05am
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Heard in the Humidor: May 12-16
Los Angeles -- Punch has never been more popular.
posted: Monday May 12th - 9:31am
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For the week of May 5-9, 2008
Los Angeles – Imperial Tobacco acquired Altadis, S.A. last year because the company sells a lot of cigarettes. It also sells a lot of cigars, in fact more than any other company in the world. Its unquestioned leadership in cigardom was confirmed by Imperial’s release of the full-year results for Altadis for 2007, which showed that the company’s total cigar sales reached $1.31 billion U.S. (converted from Euro). That’s a lot of sticks; the highlights.
posted: Monday May 5th - 10:09am
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Heard in the Humidor: April 28 - May 4
LOS ANGELES – The annual Tobacco Plus Expo in Las Vegas is focused primarily on the convenience store market, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t plenty of new brands to see and new ideas to consider. Some of the highlights ...
posted: Monday April 28th - 11:16am
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Heard in the Humidor: April 21-27, 2008
LOS ANGELES – There was a time when Mexico’s Te-Amo brand was one of the largest-selling cigars in the U.S. That time has passed, but not for a lack of effort by the Turrent family, now in its sixth generation in tobacco and still hard at work in the San Andres Valley.
posted: Monday April 21st - 10:18am
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For the week of April 14-18, 2008
Short and wide cigars become all the rage during the Cigar Boom and the robusto, at five inches long and 50 ring gauge replaced the 42-ring corona as the default size of choice for many American smokers.
posted: Monday April 14th - 10:26am
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Heard in the Humidor: April 7-13
LOS ANGELES – Like the Energizer bunny, cigar imports into the U.S. just keep going and going.
posted: Monday April 7th - 9:47am
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Heard in the Humidor: Apr. 1-Apr. 4
LOS ANGELES – "In order to increase our market share and strengthen our position in the U.S. market, we felt it was imperative to introduce changes to our marketing and distribution strategies. "Joya de Nicaragua is an exemplary Nicaraguan puro which has earned a privileged place with experienced cigar smokers. The task before us now is to achieve a market presence which is consistent not only with its value, but more importantly, its soul." With that preamble, Joya de Nicaragua owner Dr. Alejandro Martinez Cuenca formally announced on March 25 his company’s decision to award its American distribution rights, as expected, to fellow Nicaraguan cigar maker Drew Estate.
posted: Tuesday April 1st - 9:53am
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For the week of March 24-28, 2008
LOS ANGELES - One of the most draconian smoking bans anywhere in the world is in the state of Washington. A bluntly worked initiative passed by voters in 2005 banned smoking in smokeshops as well as bars, restaurants and other locations. Now, the Cigar Association of Washington has mobilized to try to get an initiative on the November ballot that will permit smoking in cigar shops and cigar bars.
posted: Monday March 24th - 9:39am
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For the week of March 17-21, 2008
LOS ANGELES – The peak year of the Cigar Boom came in 1997, when imports of premium cigars jumped as astounding 71.6 percent to a still-frightening total of 417.8 million. The following year, the figures were reduced, but a still sensational 334.6 million cigars were imported in what is generally considered the last year of the fad.
posted: Monday March 17th - 1:13pm
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Heard in the Humidor: For the week of March 10-14, 2008
Los Angeles – "If you will try a 1495, you will pick up on what complexity is."
posted: Monday March 10th - 1:56pm
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Heard in the Humidor: For the week of March 3-7, 2008
New Hampshire cigar shop owners fight a proposed wholesale tax; can Arizona's Smoke-Free Act be applied to cigar shops that sell alcohol?
posted: Monday March 3rd - 10:11am
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Heard in the Humidor: For the week of February 24-29, 2008
Will you have to apply to smoke in the UK?
posted: Monday February 25th - 12:20pm
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For the week of February 18-22, 2008
Los Angeles – There’s no doubt that the Camacho Corojo is a cigar worth celebrating. Its debut in 2000 was one of the catalytic events that has created an unquenchable appetite for fuller-bodied cigars among American premium cigar smokers. But that cigar would never have been except for the work of the Eiroa family in creating the modern version of the Corojo leaf that originated in Cuba more than 70 years ago.
posted: Tuesday February 19th - 6:40am
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Heard in the Humidor: For the week of February 11-15, 2008
The unstoppable flow of premium cigars headed into the United States continued strong as the Cigar Association of America’s import report for November 2007 was released.
posted: Tuesday February 12th - 10:52am
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Heard in the Humidor: For the week of February 4-8th 2008
With the Screen Actors Guild Awards being given a waiver in the ongoing Writers Guild strike against producers, the stars came out in January for the event and so did the cigars.
posted: Tuesday February 5th - 10:22am
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For the week of January 28-February 1, 2008
posted: Monday January 28th - 9:34am
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Heard in the Humidor: For the week of January 21-25, 2008
Compared with the drumbeat of negative reporting about cigarettes, there’s increasing coverage – generally positive – about cigar retailers and their positive impact on their communities...
posted: Tuesday January 22nd - 11:11am
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For the week of January 14-18, 2008
posted: Monday January 14th - 9:58am
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Heard in the Humidor: January 7th-11th, 2008
For the year, imports reached 268.9 million handmade cigars through the first 10 months of the 2007--an increase of 7.71 percent for the year. If the pattern holds through the December report, the total for the year will reach 335.0 million, the second-highest total on record.
posted: Monday January 7th - 10:01am
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For the week of December 31, 2007-January 4, 2008
posted: Wednesday January 2nd - 10:31am
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For the week of December 24-28, 2007
posted: Wednesday December 26th - 4:26pm
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Heard in the Humidor: Week of December 17-21, 2007
Although many smokers of premium cigars don’t pay much attention to the flavored side of the cigar business, it’s growing in importance.
posted: Monday December 17th - 10:22am
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For the week of December 10-14, 2007
posted: Monday December 10th - 11:52am
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For the week of December 3-7, 2007
HEARD IN THE HUMIDOR Highlights of the week in cigars and smoking from CigarCyclopedia.com
posted: Monday December 3rd - 6:10am
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For the week of November 26-30
Highlights of the week in cigars and smoking from CigarCyclopedia.com.
posted: Monday November 26th - 2:53pm
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For the week of November 19-23, 2007
HEARD IN THE HUMIDOR Highlights of the week in cigars and smoking from CigarCyclopedia.com.
posted: Monday November 19th - 11:03am
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For the week of November 12-16, 2007
posted: Monday November 12th - 10:34am
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