The Cigar Industry Report is a one stop place to catch up on the activity here at Cigar Coop and Stogie Geeks. It is a combination of our news reports, cigar reviews, and assessment updates we do throughout the week. We will also recap what happened on our Stogie Geeks show. Finally, each week we will look back at Cigar Coop history. Look for this report every Saturday morning at 8am Eastern time.
Cigar Industry Report: Volume 6, Number 2 (Edition 203 12/3/16)
Feature of the Week: President Elect Trump Nominates Rep Tom Price to head Dept of HHS
It’s the Cabinet nomination the cigar industry will most be interested in. President-Elect Donald Trump nominated Georgia Congresman Tom Price M.D. to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services. This is significant because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency under Health and Human Services. In the past Price has shown to be supportive of bills exempting premium cigars. We got the details here.
Cigar of the Year Countdown Begins December 9th 2016
We’ve delayed the start of our annual Cigar of the Year Countdown until December 9th. We got the details in this month’s Editor’s Corner.
News Recap
General Cigar Company: Vice President of Marketing Alan Willner has departed General Cigar.
Villiger: The company is relaunching the Villiger 1888.
A.J. Fernandez Cigars: U.S. Director of Operations Ricky Somoza has resigned.
Colibri: The accessories company has released its new Colibri Slide lighter.
Gran Habano: The company is releasing a cuelbra set called Los Tres Reyes Magos.
Ventura Cigar Company: The company is releasing the PSyKo Seven Connecticut.
Legislative News
Senate Bill S. 441: S. 441 is the Senate Bill to gain an exemption from the FDA on premium cigars. This week, none new co-sponsors Chuck Grassley [R-Iowa] was added. The total sponsor count is now 22.
House Bill HR 662: H.R. 662 is House Bill to gain an exemption from the FDA on premium cigars. This week, no new co-sponsors were added. The total sponsor count remains at 170.
House Bill 2058: H.R. 2058 is the House Bill to change the effective date for cigars subject to FDA regulation from 2007 to 21 months following any proposed regulations are put into effect. This week no new co-sponsors were added. The total number of sponsors remains at 78.
Federal: The Department of Housing and Urban Development will be implementing a smoking ban in all indoor public housing starting in 2017. Meanwhile President-Elect Donald Trump has named Cuban Embargo Advocate Mauricio Claver-Carone to Transition Team. This is a move sure to have ramifications on the future policy with diplomatic relations with Cuba.
Assessments
CAO Consigliere Associate
Rocky Patel Special Edition Toro
Sobremesa Short Churchill by Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust
Agile Cigar Reviews
J. Grotto Silk Petit Corona by Ocean State Cigars
The King is Dead Toro by Caldwell Cigar Company
Feature Story
“Remembering the Rebirth of La Palina“
Stogie Geeks
For Episode 211, we welcomed back Omar de Frias of Fratello Cigars. For our Debonaire Ideal, we covered Cigar Dinners. Our Hot Topic focused on The Death of Fidel Castro. Finally we had our Stogies of the Week which included:
Sobremesa Short Churchill by Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust
Aganorsa Leaf TABSA Connecticut Toro by Casa Fernandez
Atabey Ritos by Selected Tobacco
Davidoff Puro d’Oro Gorditos
El Güegüense Lancero by Foundation Cigar Company (Will)
El Güegüense Lancero and Corona Gorda by Foundation Cigar Company (Paul)
Padrón 1964 Anniversary Belicoso (Natural and Maduro)
Padron 1964 Anniversary Series Hermoso (Natural and Maduro)
Stogie Geeks News
This week on Stogie Geeks News, we got news from Oliva, JC Newman, Montecristo as well as people news and an update from Washington.
Stogie Geeks Shorts
This week, we go through the history of the Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial Serie.
On this date December 3rd…
December 3rd 2010: We reported on a case involving the El Gaucho Restaurant in Tacoma Washington who was forced to shut its smoking lounge after going through considerable expense to make it comply with local law.
December 3rd 2010: We unveiled our #28 Cigar of the Year for 2010, the Nestor Miranda Art Deco.
December 3rd 2011: We published our Month in Review for November, 2011.
December 3rd 2011: We assessed the La Flor Dominicana Factory Press IV.
December 3rd 2011: We unveiled our #28 Cigar of the Year for 2011, the Viaje WLP – St. Patrick’s Day Candela.
December 3rd 2012: We did a pre-release assessment on the Montecristo Epic No. 2 by Altadis.
December 3rd 2012: We unveiled our #28 Cigar of the Year for 2012, the My Father Commemorative 911 Limited Edition 2012 Habano Maduro.
December 3rd 2013: We reported on the La Aurora Puro Vintage Reserva Especial Sampler.
December 3rd 2013: We unveiled our #28 Cigar of the Year for 2013, the AFR-75 by PDR Cigars.
December 3rd 2013: We assessed the Alec Bradley Mundial.
December 3rd 2013: We reported on the launch of Bodega Premium Blends.
December 3rd 2014: We reported on Davidoff unveiling “The Miami Collection” Humidors at Art Basel.
December 3rd 2014: We reported on the Viaje Holiday Blend Candy Cane 2014,
December 3rd 2014: We reported on La Flor Dominicana TCFKA M Collector’s Edition 2014.
December 3rd 2014: We reported on CU.S. House Members requesting a change in the Grandfather Date for the FDA’s Proposed Deeming Regulations.
December 3rd 2014: We unveiled our #28 Cigar of the Year for 2014, the La Colmena Unico Especial by Warped Cigars.
December 3rd 2014: We reported on the A. Flores Gran Reserva Habano.
December 3rd 2015: We unveiled our #28 Cigar of the Year for 2015, the 2Rocky Patel Twentieth Anniversary Lancero.
December 3rd 2015: We assessed the Nomad Therapy Connecticut Toro
December 3rd 2015: We reported on the Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2015 Released.