Cigar Weekly

Highlights of the week in cigars and smoking from

For the week of January 18-22, 2010

Los Angeles – "Sales of Joya de Nicaragua are doing well in the market, but we want greater sales. 45% of our production is now addressed to the U.S. market and 55% goes to Europe and other countries. I want greater presence in the U.S. market and that [will be through] the effort of bringing new products."

That’s Alejandro Martinez Cuenca, the chief of Tabacos Puros de Nicaragua, maker of the famed Joya de Nicaragua line, who shared his plans for 2010 in a short video now offered on YouTube.

"I committed myself, this time, I wanted to be in the stores, talking to our customers, to hear their opinions about how good or how well we may be doing our job," he noted on the video, adding "Last year, we were in almost 14 States of the Union; more than 157 accounts were visited."

With this feedback and the preference for more and more flavor in cigars, Cuenca created a fourth Joya de Nicaragua blend, the Antano Dark Corojo. "That product is a new dimension of smoking," said Cuenca. "You will find the strength of Antano, but you will find the complexity of Nicaraguan tobacco, well-cured. And that will allow you to really enjoy a new kind of experience."

The Joya de Nicaragua Antano 1970 was a sensation when it was introduced in the summer of 2002 and has become the brand’s leading seller. The Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion followed two years later and become the second-best mover, followed by the brand’s original blend, the mellower Joya de Nicaragua Clasico.

Look for Dr. Cuenca, a well-known economist in his own country, at a store near you as 2010 gets going. He’s getting ready to visit even more states and more stores, and getting pointers on this year’s introductions at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) show in New Orleans this coming August.

>> "We’ve always maintained that the success of our brand was and still is consumer-driven," says C.A.O.’s irrepressible Director of Lifestyle Marketing Jon Huber. Now C.A.O. is going to be showing off its fans in a new ad series called "CAO Real."

"The ‘Real campaign is our way of paying homage to our loyal customers and saying ‘thank you’ for your ongoing support," notes Huber. "Throughout the coming year, we will essentially be holding an open casting call for C.A.O. loyalists around the country to become the next star of the "Real’ campaign. We will be accepting photos, letters, emails and videos via our Website. Candidates that are selected will receive a year’s worth of cigars and will be featured in our [ads]."

The entry process itself is quite simple via the C.A.O. "Real" site; as it says: "Tell us your story about how you are a Real CAO smoker. Please include a photo of yourself in your Real environment. Don’t run down to ‘Glamour Shots’ at the mall. We just want to see you as you are."

This new campaign begins as C.A.O.’s popular "Lady Liberty Motorcycle Giveaway" tour program begins to wind down. The custom-built bike, created by Sucker Punch Sally’s, will be given away in the spring at C.A.O.’s Nashville headquarters after more than a year’s worth of entries have been collected.

>> In a victory for the rule of law in an increasingly anti-tobacco world, Kretek International decided to drop its lawsuit against the U.S. Food & Drug Administration over potential regulation of little cigars once the agency clarified its position.

The case – Kretek International, Inc. vs. U.S. Food & Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, no. 1:2009cv01835 – was originally filed in September in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to obtain a declaratory judgment against actions by both agencies against the regulation of cigars, which are not part of the oversight jurisdiction given to the F.D.A. under the legislation passed last year that allows regulation of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.

Kretek’s $125-million business in clove-flavored cigarettes was eliminated by that legislation and it introduced a clove-flavored cigar – wrapped in homogenized tobacco leaf – after more than two years of development, but immediately ran afoul of the F.D.A. In fact, on September 22, the day that flavored cigarettes became illegal, Dr. Lawrence Deyton, the newly-appointed head of the F.D.A.’s tobacco-oversight unit told reporters that the new unit would extend enforcement beyond its mandate.
F.D.A. letters to manufacturers indicated that the flavored-cigarette ban applied to all "cigarette-like" products and that the F.D.A. was examining its ability to regulate flavored products beyond cigarettes, even though cigarettes and cigars are clearly defined as different products under Federal law. Kretek pulled back on shipments of its Djarum Clove Filtered Little Cigars to see what the F.D.A. would do, and then filed suit.

On December 23, the F.D.A. revised its "Guidance to Industry and FDA Staff: General Questions and Answers on the Ban of Cigarettes that Contain Certain Characterizing Flavors," which included this edited paragraph concerning little cigars:

"The ban applies to all tobacco products with certain characterizing flavors that meet the definition of a ‘cigarette’ in section 900(3) of the [Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act] even if they are not labeled as ‘cigarettes’ or are labeled as cigars or as some other product. If a product is labeled as a cigar or as some other tobacco product and the agency determines that the product meets the definition of cigarette in section 900(3), then consistent with its enforcement policy, a warning letter will be issued to the firm to provide it with notice of its violation of the [Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act]. The warning letter provides the firm with 15 business days to respond prior to the agency’s initiation of further regulatory action against the firm and/or its tobacco product. The agency will follow this policy unless the evidence shows that the violation involves felonious intent or the agency has promulgated regulations under section 901(b) of the FSPTCA."

In checking the language of section 900(3), the definition of a cigarette is defined in another law, the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, which includes "The term ‘cigarette’ means - (A) any roll of tobacco wrapped in paper or in any substance not containing tobacco, and (B) any roll of tobacco wrapped in any substance containing tobacco which, because of its appearance, the type of tobacco used in the filler, or its packaging and labeling, is likely to be offered to, or purchased by, consumers as a cigarette described in subparagraph (A)."

Little cigars, wrapped in homogenized tobacco leaf, are obviously not cigarettes and so Kretek dropped its suit for now. It did reserve its option to re-file the suit at a future date in response to provocative actions by the F.D.A., and that is certainly possible.

Kretek chief executive Dr. Mark Cassar said in a statement on January 6 that the F.D.A.’s recently-revised comments "will benefit the entire industry. We did not want to see three years of cigar product development negated by a hasty interpretation of the ban on flavored tobacco products and I am pleased that the agency has not only taken the time to get this issue right, but has also decided to share its views with the entire industry."

While the Kretek suit is off for now, the issue is still being pursued by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California), head of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, who sent letters to Kretek and Cheyenne International in October, asking them about the marketing and sales of their little-cigar products beginning September 22.

>> Short fillers: Find our latest tasting review, of brands you may not have heard of yet - Giralda, Jose Carlos, La Bestia and Notorious - in our News & Views archives for January 15.