CWNews

HEARD IN THE HUMIDOR for February 5, 2010

Highlights of the week in cigars and smoking from

For the week of February 8-12, 2010

Los Angeles – Continuing the whirlwind of activity among the large players in the U.S. cigar market, Davidoff of Geneva is in motion this week, agreeing to move its U.S. headquarters from Stamford, Connecticut to Pinellas Park, Florida, located just north of St. Petersburg, in the greater Tampa Bay area.

The St. Petersburg Times reported that Davidoff will occupy a 100,000 sq.ft. warehouse and office facility, an expansion on its current facility in a discreet business park. It will be considerably closer to the company’s cigar factories in the Dominican Republic and Honduras, as well as the other U.S. members of the Oettinger Imex family, including Cusano Cigars in nearby Brandenton and Camacho Cigars in Miami.

"The Tampa Bay area was quickly recognized as a possible location as a result of its long history and rich heritage in the cigar industry," said Davidoff site consultant Oscar Avallone in comments to the Times.

Davidoff received significant incentives to move, including promises of $3,000 per new hire under a Florida program which qualifies targeted industries to move to the area, and an additional $324,000 from the state’s Quick Action Closing Fund.

"This is a huge win for the city of Pinellas Park," said Mayor Bill Mischler in a statement. Davidoff is expected to hire about 90 people locally and the search apparently came down to Pinellas Park or a site in South Carolina.

Not related to the move are two new introductions to the Davidoff cigar lines, including a brand new, all-Dominican blend and the second size in its Maduro line:

=> The Davidoff Corona Maduro features a Nicaraguan sun-grown maduro wrapper surrounding four interior leaves, all of Dominican origin. The size is unique for a "corona," at just 4 1/2 inches long but 46 ring gauge, a short but stout shape sometimes referred to as a Corona Extra. The Robusto Maduro, first of the series, is a little larger at 5 inches and 52 ring gauge.

It’s double-banded, cellophaned and presented in slide-lid cabinets of 25 at a retail price of $14.00 each or $350.00 per box.

=> The Davidoff Puro Belicoso is completely new, offering a specially-grown wrapper from the Davidoff farms in Yamasa, Dominican Republic. The binder and filler are Dominican San Vicente (binder) and Criollo, Olor, San Vicente and an Olor-Piloto Cubano hybrid.

According to Michael Herklots, general manager of Davidoff’s New York stores, "The cigar has a full body, but one that is balanced and sophisticated. The mouth feel of the smoke is more ‘velvety’ than ‘creamy.’"

The Puro Belicoso is 5 3/4 inches long by 48 ring gauge, presented in boxes of 10 for $178.00. Only a small quantity of these cigars was released and they may already be gone . . . but they’re worth trying if you can find them.

>> Davidoff isn’t the only one moving: Cigars International, a unit of Swedish Match and the second-largest national retailer, is also looking forward to a bigger future in a new location.

The company is going to move its offices and warehouse from its current 49,000 sq.ft. location in an industrial section of East Allen Township, Pennsylvania to a new, 115,000 sq.ft. space in Bethlehem.

Like Davidoff, the move comes with incentives: the Lehigh Valley Express-Times reported that the new industrial park site is part of a economic revitalization zone and gives tax relief during the first year of new construction and decreased relief over the following 10 years.

Cigars International chief executive Keith Meier said that the company has about 175 staff at present, but plans to add about 50 more jobs at the new facility, which will also have room for additional expansion as desired.

>> The world’s most famous cigar brand is now an expanding lounge brand as a new Montecristo Lounge opened on February 7 in the Chicago suburb of Countryside, Illinois.

Altadis U.S.A. helped open the new Casa de Montecristo Lounge with a grand-opening Super Bowl party last week featuring the much-publicized, but rarely-seen Montecristo Museum Edition cigars that were announced at last summer’s International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association trade show in New Orleans.

By our count, this is the fifth Montecristo-themed lounge for Altadis U.S.A. and the fourth to open in the past 12 months. The enormous Montecristo Lounge in the J-R headquarters store in Whippany, New Jersey has been around since 1995, but in recent months new lounges have been opened in Florida, Maryland and Virginia.
Altadis also operates a Casa Montecristo in the Dominican Republic that serves as a lounge. cigar shop and visitor center for the giant Tabacalera de Garcia cigar factory, located in the free zone just outside of Casa de Campo.

The new lounge in Illinois will, of course, feature Altadis U.S.A.’s top cigar brands, as well as de rigeur lounge elements including a full bar, comfortable seating and high-definition television screens..

>> The cigar-industry rumor mill was working at full throttle late last year after reports of meetings between La Aurora chief Guillermo Leon, Miami Cigar Co. owner Nestor Miranda and the hottest cigar maker on the U.S. market, Pepin Garcia.

Was a distribution deal in the works? Would Garcia’s My Father Cigars be acquired? Those are possibilities for the future, but for now the three will collaborate on a new cigar.

Word is that a new brand to be called "Garcia y Leon" will debut in the fall – possibly in October – with a new blend to be developed by Leon himself but made at My Father Cigars in Esteli, Nicaragua. The new cigar will be distributed by Miami Cigar & Co. in the U.S.

In the meantime, another new blend will be conceived by Leon’s La Aurora factory, to celebrate the 107th anniversary of the founding of the first cigar factory in the Dominican Republic way back in 1903. The new brand is aimed to debut at this summer’s International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association show in New Orleans and will be offered in 3-4 sizes.

These are expected to be only the beginnings of a strong push for better recognition of the La Aurora-made lines in the U.S. over the coming months, including the La Aurora, Aurora Preferidos, Aurora 1495, Leon Jimenes and Tatiana brands.

>> Tabacos Puros de Nicaragua chief Alejandro Martinez Cuenca has promised more, new products for the U.S. market and he’s coming through.

Already promoting his ultra-powerful Joya de Nicaragua Antano Dark Corojo blend introduced last year, he’s also finding success with a striking new cigar that’s – so far – being distributed only on the West Coast by JMG International.

It’s the Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Serie, a "two-tone" cigar with a double wrapper of a Nicaraguan-grown Claro leaf which covers the bottom two-thirds of each shape and a Nicaraguan-grown Dark Criollo wrapper leaf at the top end. The binder and filler are both Nicaraguan-grown tobaccos from the Jalapa area.

Naturally, it’s full-bodied and Cuenca says its uniqueness is that it "has all my cigars in it." Four sizes are being offered, all presented in classic, slide-lid cabinets of 24 cigars each.

So far, the Cabinetta Series has only been seen in West Coast shops, but it’s already becoming quite popular. The dual-wrapper concept is fairly unique; only seven other makers have lines with two wrappers, although Lemont, Illinois-based Exoticos Puros does have a cigar – the single-size Scarface Tony Montana Series – which has three wrappers covering each end and the middle of the cigar.

For Joya de Nicaragua fans, it’s the sixth blend on the U.S. market, after the Clasico, Antano 1970, Celebracion and Antano Dark Corojo, all of which are nationally distributed, and the recently-introduced Fuerte Serie B, so far available only at national retailers Cigars International and J-R Cigars.