Cigar Maker Drew Estate Launches Online ‘Kult Store’

(Smoke Magazine) Drew Estate Inc.,—the pioneer and market leader of infused cigars (and a growing force in traditional, blended premium cigars)—has launched their “Drew Estate Kult Store,” an online store dedicated to Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua merchandise. The store features branded merchandise such as cutters, hats, ashtrays, clothing, and more. Artwork from Drew Estate’s Subculture Studios in Estelí, Nicaragua, is also be featured, including their custom sneakers and paintings coming in the near future. Continued

Nat Sherman Debuts New Cigar at Exclusive Event This Thursday

(complex) You don't get to stock New York's finest gentlemen's clubs with cigars by having weak product. Since 1930, Nat Sherman has made luxury cigarettes and cigars, and they've done it well enough to keep N.Y.'s swankiest joints knotted with thick trails of tobacco smoke, creating the sort of atmosphere that indicates wealth and taste without getting too ostentatious. Continued

Chairman of C.A.O. Leaves Company

(Cigar Aficionado) Gary Hyams, who has been chairman of C.A.O. International Inc. for four years, is stepping down from the position effective today. Hyams is the fourth major executive to depart the company since November. Hyams was instrumental in bringing C.A.O. together with Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the maker of Henri Wintermanns cigars. Continued

Arturo Fuente cigars now available in India

(livemint.com) Arturo Fuente, the world-renowned cigar brand, is now available in India.
It was launched on Friday at The Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi by Fazco Exim Pvt. Ltd, the official distributor of the brand in India. This also marks Arturo Fuente’s entry into the Asian market. Continued

Churchill's cigar shop joins bistro lineup

(HTL) A good cigar and brandy always seem to go hand-in-hand. A fine meal can only make the experience even better.
Churchill's of Birmingham [MI] plans to combine all three elements. The specialty cigar shop is in the process of acquiring a bistro license and moving into a bigger downtown location. Continued

Photo: Lamarde

PMFTC confident of cigarette bar code

(Manila Standard) Cigarette maker PMFTC Inc. is confident of hurdling the government’s stringent criteria for a technology-based solution that aims to improve tax collection and curb tobacco smuggling. Continued

Some people are 'born smokers'

(Independent) A discovery that explains why some people cannot give up tobacco may lead to new anti-smoking treatments.
Scientists have identified a brain pathway which, when defective, leads to an uncontrollable desire to smoke. Continued

Sheesha gains acceptance with ‘lesser-of-two-evils’ tag

ISLAMABAD (Express Tribune) From cafes to homes, the trend of youngsters smoking sheesha is on the rise. Sheesha, also known as flavoured hookah, is a water-pipe through which tobacco is smoked after it passes through water for filtering.
However, a majority of consumers are unaware of its hazardous effects on their health, while others indulge in the activity on the premise that “sheesha is better than a cigarette”. Continued

How to make a cigar box guitar

"This is a rough how-to on how to make a cigar box guitar. Since each box is different I can't give you exact instructions. Hopefully you'll get creative and improvise."

High premiums push Kenya farmers out of tobacco

(Daily Nation) Tobacco farmers are making the shift to other crops due to high premiums and lack of information on crop insurance.
Mr Joseph Etyang from Teso North District said he abandoned the crop after spending more on premiums than what he got from the harvest.
“It does not make sense to pay premiums that cannot be recouped due to low returns,” said Mr Etyang. Continued

Tobacco industry adapts to world of fewer smokers

(Tennessean) By any name or variety you choose — call it snuff, dip, chew or plug — smokeless tobacco is making a comeback, and Tennessee farmers, factory workers and consumers are playing a major role in the renewed buzz.
Farmers here and in Kentucky who once made a good living off raising burley tobacco for cigarettes have had to eliminate 40 percent of acreage devoted to that crop as demand has declined, while farmers who cultivate the dark tobacco used for chewing have been able to expand their fields by 22 percent in three years.
Now, the massive marketing muscle of the nation's biggest tobacco companies — Altria Group and its subsidiary Philip Morris USA, which owns the 100-year-old U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. factory within view of the state Capitol, and R.J. Reynolds, which runs its smokeless operations out of a Memphis factory — are battling for market dominance. Continued

Photo: Formosa. Chewing tobacco. Spence Brothers and Co., Cincinnati, OH, circa 1872 (Library of Congress).

Greek Tobacco Plant Open Doors in Bulgaria's Sandanski

(novinite) Bulgaria’s Economy Minister Traicho Traikov and Greece’s Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos opened Saturday a new tobacco processing plant in the Bulgarian town of Sandanski.
About EUR 9.5 M have been invested in the new plant of the Greek Leaf Tobacco company and it will provide jobs for 600 people. ... The plant in Sandanski, which has a production capacity of 4 to 6 tons per hour, will conduct a pre-treatment of Bulgarian and Greek tobacco. Continued

Expert artist to restore Mail Pouch tobacco sign in Ford City

(pittsburghlive.com) Go to the corner of Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street and you'll notice the Mail Pouch Tobacco ad painted on the side of a brick building.
The words "Mail Pouch" 'A high grade ribbon cut tobacco' and a picture of a tobacco pouch have weathered the decades but the sign is showing its age. The sign was hidden and preserved for years before a fire destroyed the abutting building, exposing it to plain view. Continued

Died this day in 1956: writer and cigar lover H. L. Mencken

"Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere is having a good time."

American Indian College Fund Receives $50,000 from Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company

(PRNewswire) The Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company Foundation (SFNTC) entered its third decade of supporting the American Indian College Fund by awarding $50,000 to continue the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company Foundation Tribal College Scholarship Program for the spring 2011 semester. This program will continue to provide scholarships to American Indian students enrolled full-time in an associate's degree program at one of the following tribal colleges and universities: Dine College, Navajo Technical College, Oglala Lakota College, Sinte Gleska University, and Sisseton Wahpeton College. Recipients must also demonstrate financial need and be a single parent and/or in their first year of an associate's degree program. Continued

Cigar fundraiser for paralyzed teen to be held Saturday

(Orlando Sentinel) Any parent whose child craves the thrill of amusement park rides will remember the story of Teagan Marti. Last summer, the 13-year-old from Parkland was paralyzed when she fell after a park ride accident in Wisconsin. Friends and supporters are holding a fundraising event for Teagan on Saturday at the Smoke on the Water cigar bar in Weston. Continued

Confessions of a (Female) Cigar Smoker

(CNBC) I don’t have a whole lot in common with Fidel Castro.
Not a ton with Winston Churchill, Rush Limbaugh, Milton Berle, Mark Twain and Bill Cosby, either. Save, of course, a penchant for cigar smoke.
In my case, it’s recreational, nowhere near the occupational predilection of history’s most recognizable cigar-wielding rebels and icons. Continued

Casa Montecristo and Las Palmas Cigar Co. to Host Cocktail Party at Procigar Festival 2011

(PRLog) Entertaining activities take our guests on an enchanted journey through the Dominican Republic full of premium cigars, golf, cigar factory tours, seminars, flavorful local cuisine, contagious dance and music, unbelievable beaches and so much more. Continued

Challenges, hope ahead for tobacco industry

(Lynchburg News Advance) As domestic cigarette consumption and production declines, local farmers hope overseas demand will enable them to grow more tobacco, but they worry if they’ll get the price they need to cover their expenses.
About 165 people attended the annual flue-cured tobacco production meeting at Chatham High School on Thursday night.
Many farmers talked about the possibility of a firm contracting 100 million pounds of flue-cured tobacco for China. Continued

Photo: Queen of the trotting turf tobacco. Manufactured by Seth Halsey, Lynchburg, Va, circa 1859. (Library of Congress)

No smoking at cigar bars?

(Omaha.com) At Jake’s Cigars & Spirits in Omaha’s Benson area, customers were still puffing Thursday on thick-masted Perdomos and Rocky Patels.
They might need to enjoy them while they still can.
A Lincoln judge’s ruling earlier this week might snuff out the exemptions that cigar bars, tobacco shops and designated motel rooms enjoy to the state’s two-year-old smoking ban. Continued

Photo: George Gustav Heye (Smithsonian)

Farmers left in lurch by tobacco buyer

(canoe.ca) Tobacco farmers who contracted with a Tillsonburg buyer may be out more than this year's earnings.
Contractors won't sign farmers that have crop remaining in their barns from the previous year, say several local growers.
However, farmers contracted out with True Blend, a two-year-old Tillsonburg buyer, have millions of pounds of tobacco resting in their barns. Some claim they stopped shipping their loads once they received late or no payment at all. Continued

Smokeless Tobacco Products Lift Altria's 4Q Profit

(Fox Business) Altria (MO) reported on Thursday a 27% improvement in fourth-quarter profit, helped by growing demand for smokeless tobacco products, however the company predicted a challenging year ahead, sending its shares slightly lower intraday.
The Richmond, Va.-based company posted net earnings of $919 million, or 44 cents a share, compared with $725 million, or 35 cents a share, in the same quarter last year, matching average analyst estimates polled by Thomson Reuters. Continued

ITC building cigarette plant in Nepal

Kathmandu, Jan 27 (IANS) As Nepal's southern plains, where the factories of most major Indian joint ventures are located, continue to be racked by violence and strikes, Indian tobacco major ITC Ltd is seeking to safeguard the operations of its subsidiary by building a second manufacturing plant in the hilly west.
Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd -- in which ITC holds 69 percent stake, British American Tobacco (Investment) Ltd 2 percent and the rest belong to 20 Nepali individuals and corporates -- is making an initial investment of NRS 24 crore to start a new manufacturing plant in Tanahun district, reports said.
Surya Nepal, Nepal's largest private-sector enterprise with a turnover of over $100 million, started operations in 1986 with a single tobacco manufacturing factory in Simara town in Bara district on the India-Nepal border. Continued

Planning Board Approves Churchill's Cigar Shop, Bistro

(Birmingham Patch) A Birmingham [Michigan] staple is looking to reinvent itself, with Churchill’s Cigar Shop on Old Woodward proposing to move a block up the road and open Churchill’s, a bistro and cigar bar.
If the proposal is approved, the bistro would become a regional destination as one of the only places in metro Detroit where patrons can eat, drink and smoke—a rarity since the passage of the Michigan Smoke Free Law in May 2010. Continued

19th-century tobacco barns have 21st-century uses

(Washington Post) With more than 2,000 old tobacco barns within its borders, Calvert County is a prime location for landowners to receive federal and state tax credits on their historic structures, officials say.
Liz Creveling Petrella, an architectural historian with the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service, and Calvert County Planning and Zoning Historic Preservation Planner Kirsti Uunila told about 30 county residents Jan. 13 how to receive tax credits for rehabilitating their farming relics, some of which date to 1836 or earlier. Continued

Photo: Maryland tobacco barn (Library of Congress)

Missing the aroma of pipes

(postandcourier.com) When was the last time you saw someone smoking a pipe? There was a time when pipe smoking was an acceptable practice in America. It even provided a pleasant aroma that many found familial and fascinating.
And some of our great icons were pipe smokers, including Santa Claus, Albert Einstein, Douglas MacArthur, Mark Twain, Hugh Hefner, Bing Crosby and, of course, Popeye. Continued

Cigars and Guitars Oceanside Tampa Bay Festival

The largest cigar event in Florida, Cigars & Guitars, is coming to the Don CeSar Beach Resort in St. Petersburg on Saturday, Feburary 19, 2011, presented by Tampa Bay BMW dealers and Thompson Cigar. Continued

CigarCyclopedia says goodbye for good

As we come to the end of the month (and our server contracts), this site will close next Monday, January 31, 2011.
We are most grateful for the dozens of encouraging and complimentary comments, letters, messages, phone calls and suggestions concerning the closure of CigarCyclopedia.com. As to the future, we can report that while we have had discussions with a handful of companies which have interest in some aspects of our work, none have interest in continuing the site as currently formatted.
As of now, we have no plans to continue producing our Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars either, but this is an ongoing subject of discussion. If you want a 2011 edition, now is the time . . . you can purchase one (and back issues, if desired) from the Online Store (see the navigation buttons above).
So we are here to say good-bye, and to thank our many readers for their interest and support. But au revoir is more appropriate - until we see you again - because while this site will close, our enjoyment of cigars will continue. And who knows what the future will bring? ~ Rich Perelman

Simcoe Leaf closure won’t impact crop size: chair

(canoe.ca) The chair of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board doesn't believe the pending closure of Simcoe Leaf Tobacco in Simcoe will have an impact on the 2011 crop size.
Fred Neukamm, of Aylmer, suspects any fallout would be confined to the plant's immediate workforce. Buyers of local tobacco, Neukamm said, should be able to make alternative arrangements with processing companies elsewhere. Continued

True Blend tobacco woes continue

(canoe.ca) ... When directors of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Marketing Board called a meeting on Monday, there was hope for that very resolution. Growers instead heard more of the same; the marketing board and the contractor are still hammering out a deal.
At issue is a $2 million bond against default provided by the contractor, some growers claim. The bond could be cashed out to help growers cut their inevitable losses. Continued

Where to enjoy your next cigar in Roseville

(Roseville Press Tribune) Smoking indoors? It’s OK, you must be at Perfecto Lounge, whose grand opening this month introduced a corner of Roseville where you can kick back with your choice of cigar.
From traditional to handmade, from raisin to coffee flavored, the 250 different cigars encourage visitors to stay awhile, sometimes for hours. You must be 18 to enter, and 21 to reach the members-only back room. Continued

Cigar enthusiasts connect to develop student club

(StateNews.com) While other students’ hobbies include playing video games or sports on campus, Jon Lung spends his time learning about cigars and immersing himself in the culture.
Since he was 18 years old, the marketing senior said he has smoked more than 440 different kinds of cigars. Every cigar carries a different taste and sensation, which Lung has recorded in a series of four journals that he plans to turn into a book.
As Lung sat among nearly 20 MSU students in the back room of Corona Smoke Shop, 3490 Okemos Road, in Okemos, for one of the first meetings of the MSU Cigar Connoisseur Club, he found comfort sharing his passion among fellow aficionados while networking with others in the cigar-smoking community. Continued

Smoke Rings Cigar & Tobacco Company opens in Nanaimo

(canada.com) Nanaimo is now home to the only specialty smoke shop north of Victoria on Vancouver Island.
Steve Wall recently opened Smoke Rings Cigar & Tobacco Company on Church Street, adjacent to the Dorchester Hotel. The store specializes in cigars from around the world, as well as pipe tobacco and smoking accessories such as humidors, pipes and cigar cutters. Continued

The Lounge for the Cigar Aficionado: Burn

(ExecDigital) Rocky Patel is revolutionizing the cigar industry with his new venture, Burn. The innovative and unique cigar lounge was opened last November in Naples, FL.
With plans for this cigar bar dating back several years, Patel was excited to show the cigar world what he sees as the evolution of the cigar lounge. "I wanted to make sure that when we were ready for the public to join us, [that] the Burn experience was complete perfection. I have hand-selected every cigar, each bottle of wine, and even each piece of furniture, to create the perfect luxury-lounge experience." Continued

Studio Tobac's new cigar: Cain-F lancero

(Studio Tobac) Studio Tobac’s Executive Board voted unanimously to begin production of a new cigar: The Cain F Lancero. This Nicaraguan puro is a classic lancero size (7×38) with a finished three-seam cap instead of the traditional pig-tail cap. The blend is based on the the popular Cain F line of cigars, but adapted to fit the lancero format. As with all Cain F cigars, the lancero will be extremely full-bodied but smooth. Continued

Patent office to reexamine tobacco maker Star Scientific claims

(AP/Bloomberg) Tobacco maker Star Scientific Inc. said Tuesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will reopen an examination of two patents the company holds for a tobacco-curing method.
The Glen Allen, Va.-based company said the action reverses a May decision to cancel the reexamination because the federal agency said Star Scientific had not filed a written record of an examiner interview.
The company also said that oral arguments on its appeal of a June 2009 verdict of its patent infringement lawsuit against RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. were heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington on Jan 11. Continued

Zimbabwe to auction tobacco in February

(newsday.co.zw) The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) says it will open the auction floors for the 2010/11 tobacco selling season on February 15. ... It is estimated that output will increase to 150 million kilogrammes from about 90 000 hectares in the next season.Contract farming is also expected to increase to 40 000 hectares from 30 000 hectares last year due to facilities that have been availed by the banking sector. Continued

Smoking in the Cold

Stripling, Sydney - Standin' on the Corner Smokin' a Cheap Cigar Found at abmp3 search engine

(Cigar Aficionado) ... When a person's only smoking room is the chair on his deck, and said chair is covered by six inches of snow, he's likely to take a pass on the Padrón for the evening. It was not always so. One imagines that back in the day when cigar smoking was an indoor activity, a little cold weather wasn't likely to hamper anyone's love of a fine cigar. In fact, on cold, snowy evenings, one might have been likely to puff a little more. Continued

Cuba to hold 13th cigar festival

(Xinhua) More than 1,000 cigar lovers and experts have confirmed their attendance to the 13th Havana Cigar Festival, which will be held on Feb. 21-25, president of the organizing committee Oscar Basulto said on Monday.
The event, organized by Habanos S.A. and Tabacuba Business Group, is devoted to honor the famous cigar brands of the island "Montecristo," "Partagas" and "H. Upmann," said Basulto. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress

The Future of Lane Ltd tobacco

(CSP) As Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S (STG) awaits anti-trust approval on acquiring Lane Ltd. from Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), STG executive vice president, Christian Hother Sorensen, took time from his busy Denmark day to talk to Tobacco E-News about the company's plans. Under terms of the transaction, expected to close in the first half of 2011, STG has agreed to pay $205 million in cash for Tucker, Ga.-based Lane. The deal, Sorensen said, is beneficial for both companies. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress

NK Cigar Lounge, Westlake Village, California

(Cigar Aficionado) I live in a beautiful part of the world, in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California, a new center of some affluence between Beverly Hills and Santa Barbara. Within smoke-ring blowing distance of my house and office are three very nice places to sit and smoke cigars. The most recent oasis to open is NK Cigar Lounge in Westlake Village. Continued

Photo: Composer Harry Partch

France Ends Smoking Ban In Posters And Photographs

(Huffington Post) The French have long been synonymous with tobacco use, with national icons like fashion designer Coco Chanel and filmmaker-comedian Jacques Tati usually seen puffing away on the streets of Paris.
And now, politicians will be letting those bygone heroes indulge in their favorite vice once more, as a French parliamentary commission voted Wednesday for a bill that would exclude cultural heritage from the stringent health legislation passed in 1991 that forbids any direct or indirect promotion of smoking, the AFP is reporting.
"The falsifications of history, the censorship of works of the mind, the denial of reality... should remain the ignominious mark of totalitarian regimes," the bill proposed by the opposition Socialists is quoted by the Telegraph as saying. Continued

Photo: Jacques Tati as Monsieur Hulot.

Illusione Cigars: Dion Giolito HL Holy Lance Candela cigar review

(Examiner) ... This offering is 7.5 x 40 ring and made in the Raices Cubanas Factory in Danli, Honduras and is a special offering with a light green Candela wrapper. Yes green. Years ago Candela cigars were much more in style, but the fickle cigar world being what it is, they fell out of popularity and are rarely seen today, unless as a gimmick. Illusione is offering the HL in both this Candela wrapper, and also a Maduro version as well. Continued

KT&G renews Esse Golden Leaf cigarette box design

(Korea Herald) KT&G Corp., Korea’s largest tobacco manufacturer, will roll out a repackaged version of its Esse Golden Leaf product at the end of January, the firm said Monday. The cigarette packaging was created in collaboration with Najeonchilgi master Park Jae-seong, the firm said. Najeonchilgi is a traditional mother of pearl craft where colorful pieces of shellfish are inlaid on an object and then applied with a layer of lacquer. Continued

The ADHD-ventures of Tom Sawyer

(Slate) ... I am not being sarcastic here—or at least not entirely. In fact, I've reread both Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn several times in recent years, precisely because Twain draws such fascinating portraits of children whose behavior is familiar, even if we now describe it differently. As a mother of boys, I find this weirdly reassuring: Although ADHD and ODD are often dismissed as recently "invented" disorders, they describe personality types and traits that have always existed. A certain kind of boy has always had trouble paying attention in school. A certain kind of boy has always picked fights with friends, gone smoking in the woods, and floated down the river on rafts. Continued

Tobacco growers to be updated on True Blend

(canoe.ca) A special meeting between directors of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board and dozens of tobacco farmers has been set up for Monday.
The meeting is expected to update about 60 growers contracted with True Blend of Tillsonburg. Few details, however, are being released about the specific nature of the meeting. Continued

Photo: Tobacco. Dane County, southern Wisconsin. This tobacco is used in making cigars. John Vachon photographer, 1939 (FSA/Library of Congress).

Last harvest for Hatta tobacco crop

HATTA, UAE (The National) Among a dozen tins lining the wall of a tobacco shop in the town centre here, one bears the word "Hattawi", scrawled in calligraphy across its front. It is a blend named after an area that has been a centre of tobacco production for centuries. But the container could soon be empty, forever.
Dokha, a ground tobacco traditionally smoked in a thin pipe, has become popular among teenagers, a trend that has alarmed the Government. In response, and in an effort to reduce all forms of smoking, officials banned commercial tobacco farming about a year ago. Continued

Photo: Dokha (Earle Martin, some rights reserved).

A sneak preview of Scottsdale's newest cigar spot - the Napoleon Club

(Examiner) The newest addition to the Phoenix cigar scene opened its doors to members of the media and invited guests on Thursday night as it prepares to give the Valley a venue typically reserved for New York and Los Angeles cigar enthusiasts. ... General manager Scott Von led tours of the 4,500 square foot facility, which includes a 1,500 square foot members only space with a pool table, television and private balcony. Continued

Zimbabwe Industry Tobacco Auction Centre (Zitac) woes continue

(allAfrica.com) The Zimbabwe Industry Tobacco Auction Centre (Zitac), the country's embattled tobacco sales auction floor operator, has threatened the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) with unspecified action for alleged bias in handling the wrangle between property owners Boka Investments and Zitac.
This move comes barely a week after Zitac shareholder Caleb Dengu demanded Agriculture minister Joseph Made's resignation. Dengu was unhappy that Made rubberstamped a decision by TIMB, the industry's regulator, to award a tobacco auction floor licence to Boka Investments, a company run by late businessman Roger Boka's family. Continued

Talks underway to sell Simcoe tobacco plant

(Canoe.ca) ... "Simcoe Leaf has been buying and processing tobacco leaf in Canada for over 50 years and regrets the announcement of this decision," plant manager Ken Loncke said in a statement. "It is currently in negotiations to sell its facility."
In recent years, Simcoe Leaf has been a major processor of tobacco for Grand River Enterprises. GRE president Steve Williams did not respond to a phone inquiry this week. As well, Universal Tobacco spokesperson Jennifer Rowe would not comment on the status of the GRE negotiations. Continued

The audacity of smoke

(Yale Daily News) When I was 15, my mother’s sometime boyfriend visited us on our vacation in Wildwood, NJ. We had not seen each other since I was a baby, and none of us knew what to expect. He entered the door to our ocean-view motel room, walked to the kitchen table, and placed on it a Cuban cigar and a bottle of vintage port. “Tonight, Michael,” he told me, “we’re going to make you a man.” Together, the three of us sat on our balcony, sipped our port, and shared in one of the greatest joys available to us on this earth.
I shared this story last month, as I sat in New York’s Grand Havana Room with former mayor Rudy Giuliani. “Fifteen, huh?” replied Giuliani. “I was 11.” Continued

Godfrey Phillips to launch new Marlboro cigarette variants

(mydigitalfc.com) Godfrey Phillips India (GPI), the second largest cigarette maker, plans to launch new Marlboro variants and manufacture the cigarette locally, as it seeks to boost market share in the Rs 19,000-crore industry, KK Modi told Financial Chronicle here on Thursday. “Only the rolling of Marlboro cigarettes is done here. As we bring new variants, we will be able to find equivalent raw materials for local manufacturing,” said KK Modi, chairman of KK Modi Group, which owns 46 per cent stake in GPI. He didn’t give a timeframe for introduction of the locally made Marlboro. Continued

Simcoe Leaf closure: Tobacco growers have alternatives

(Canoe.ca) While lamenting that parent company Universal Tobacco of Richmond, Virginia, will cease operation in Simcoe at the end of June, Neukamm said tobacco growers in the local area should be able to make alternative processing arrangements with companies elsewhere.
This may include shipping cured bales to Universal's giant processing facility in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina, or Alliance One's processing facility in Farmville, North Carolina. ... The 24 full-time employees of Simcoe Leaf who were laid off Monday were told that negotiations with Grand River Enterprises of Six Nations – the third largest manufacturer of cigarettes in Canada – were at a preliminary stage. Continued

Pictured: Auction sale in tobacco warehouse. Durham, North Carolina by Marion Post Wolcott, 1939 (Library of Congress).

Nestor Miranda to visit Maryland, Virginia cigar shops

(Examiner) From distributor Miami Cigar & Company comes information on these DC-area brick and mortar tobacconist events. Each will feature specials on brands distributed by Miami Cigar such as the Nestor Miranda Collection, La Aurora Cigars and the new La Sirena cigar. Nestor Miranda, founder of Miami Cigar and his namesake brand, will be on hand along with La Sirena Cigar (Spanish for the mermaid) Brand Ambassador Arielle Ditkowich. Continued

CertiFresh Cigar planning to exhibit at 2011 PGA Merchandise Show

(WorldGolf) CertiFresh Cigar, one of the fastest growing companies in the golf industry, will be exhibiting in the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando Jan. 27-29. CertiFresh products will be on display in booth 3861 in the Orlando Orange County Convention Center.
CertiFresh offers individually packaged cigars in a specially coated sleeve with a Humidipak® insert which keeps the cigar fresh for one year. Continued

Cohiba Behike Labeled as Best Cuban Cigar Ever

(acn) Habanos S.A. marketing director Ana Lopez told the media since it was first launched about a year ago Behike has been considered the most exclusive Cuban cigar of all times.
Cohiba Behike marks up that characteristic and can be found in the BHK 52, BHK 54 and BHK 56 sizes for a price higher than average, when one Cuban cigar of any other brand can cost more than 50 Euros in Europe.
The Behike production is extremely limited. Its blend, for the three sizes, includes for the first time medio tiempo leaves that provide the cigar with unique character and flavor, Lopez said.
Behike is the fourth Cohiba brand; the other three are Clasica, 1492 and Maduro, all of them are made at El Laguito factory in Havana. Continued

Outlook For Flavored Tobacco Looks Sweet

(Forbes) ... I’m recommending purchase of cigarette maker, Lorillard (LO). The stock has been beaten-up recently on the news that the FDA was considering banning or restricting the sale of menthol cigarettes. Newport, a menthol brand, accounts for 92% of Lorillard’s revenues. An outright ban on menthol would devastate the company.
In my opinion, this will never happen. Continued

Fuente Adds New Añejo Size Cigar

(Cigar Aficionado) For the first time in nine years, the Fuente family has added a size to its Arturo Fuente Añejo line: The Reserva No. 60. It measures 6 1/4 inches by 48 ring, sharing its parameters with the Fuente Fuente OpusX PerfecXion X. Continued

Photo: Second Assistant Postmaster General Otto Praeger, circa 1920 (National Postal Museum).

Simcoe Leaf Tobacco about to close

(Canoe.ca) ... "Simcoe Leaf has been buying and processing tobacco leaf in Canada for over 50 years and regrets the announcement of this decision," general manager Ken Loncke said in a written statement "to our business partners." "It is currently in negotiations to sell its facility." Continued

Kinky Friedman to appear at Hendersonville cigar shop

(Tennessean) ... Friedman - who has also penned more than 30 novels and styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain - will bring his brand of no-nonsense humor to Hendersonville’s The Smokey Cigar Thursday. ... “It should be a fun evening. We’re going to open up the floor and let him do his thing.” Continued

Draper buys Bethesda Tobacco

W. Curtis Draper Tobacconist, the oldest tobacco shop in the District, has acquired Bethesda Tobacco for an undisclosed sum.
Draper owners John Anderson and Matt Krimm announced the deal Tuesday, saying they will rename Bethesda Tobacco as W. Curtis Draper Bethesda. Read more: Draper buys Bethesda Tobacco Washington Business Journal

Cigars: Montecristos in Mumbai

(FT) The Indian ‘bidi’ is never likely to make way for the Cuban Cohiba in its home market. As many as 100m people smoke the locally-produced sticks of tobacco.
Yet, cigars are now the fastest growing part of the tobacco market in Asia’s third largest economy.
India has a tenth of the world’s smokers. Continued

Photo: Armenteros Handrolled Cigars (ITC)

Mac Baren Tobacco Factory Tour (Part 3)

(Pipes Magazine) In the final video in our 3-part series on Mac Baren, you get to see the continuation of the process of producing high quality pipe tobaccos. The previous video showed the extensive handwork that goes into creating the spun tobaccos that are cut into coins. This video demonstrates some impressive machinery that greatly automates getting the tobacco blends into packaging and shipped out the door. Continued

How to Write a Tobacco Review

(G. L. Pease) Most of us read reviews to be informed, entertained, to make purchase decisions, to see what others think about the things we like, things we don't like, or things we're considering exploring. A good review satisfies all of these criteria, and maybe even a few more. But, what does it take to write a good review? We've all read great reviews, and those that do nothing but make us scratch our heads. The latter ones can sometimes be entertaining, but are hardly informative or useful. Continued

Mark Twain on Long Nines Cigars

"Mr. Clemens, what are we going to do? There is not a cigar in the house but those old Wheeling long nines. Can't nobody smoke them but you. They kill at thirty yards. It is too late to telephone--we couldn't get any cigars out from town--what can we do? Ain't it best to say nothing, and let on that we didn't think?" "No," I said, "that would not be honest. Fetch out the long nines"--which he did.
I had just come across those "long nines" a few days or a week before. I hadn't seen a long nine for years. When I was a cub pilot on the Mississippi in the late '50's, I had had a great affection for them, because they were not only--to my mind--perfect, but you could get a basketful of them for a cent--or a dime, they didn't use cents out there in those days. So when I saw them advertised in Hartford I sent for a thousand at once. They came out to me in badly battered and disreputable-looking old square pasteboard boxes, two hundred in a box. George brought a box, which was caved in on all sides, looking the worst it could, and began to pass them around. The conversation had been brilliantly animated up to that moment--but now a frost fell upon the company. That is to say, not all of a sudden, but the frost fell upon each man as he took up a cigar and held it poised in the air--and there, in the middle, his sentence broke off. That kind of thing went on all around the table, until when George had completed his crime the whole place was full of a thick solemnity and silence.
Those men began to light the cigars. Rev. Dr. Parker was the first man to light. He took three or four heroic whiffs--then gave it up. He got up with the remark that he had to go to the bedside of a sick parishioner. He started out. Rev. Dr. Burton was the next man. He took only one whiff, and followed Parker. He furnished a pretext, and you could see by the sound of his voice that he didn't think much of the pretext, and was vexed with Parker for getting in ahead with a fictitious ailing client. Rev. Mr. Twichell followed, and said he had to go now because he must take the midnight train for Boston. Boston was the first place that occurred to him, I suppose.
It was only a quarter to eleven when they began to distribute pretexts. At ten minutes to eleven all those people were out of the house. When nobody was left but George and me I was cheerful--I had no compunctions of conscience, no griefs of any kind. But George was beyond speech, because he held the honor and credit of the family above his own, and he was ashamed that this smirch had been put upon it. I told him to go to bed and try to sleep it off. I went to bed myself. At breakfast in the morning when George was passing a cup of coffee, I saw it tremble in his hand. I knew by that sign that there was something on his mind. He brought the cup to me and asked impressively,
"Mr. Clemens, how far is it from the front door to the upper gate?"
I said, "It is a hundred and twenty-five steps."
He said, "Mr. Clemens, you can start at the front door and you can go plumb to the upper gate and tread on one of them cigars every time."
It wasn't true in detail, but in essentials it was. -Autobiography

Photos: Library of Congress

Alec Bradley New York Cigar Line to Debut

(Smoke Magazine) ... The cigars are rolled with a Honduran Habana-seed wrapper grown in Trojes, Honduras. Alec Bradley New York will be available only for New York state tobacconists: all sales outside the state will have to be placed through a New York tobacconist listed on the Alec Bradley website at www.alecbradley.com/newyork. Retailers are currently accepting reservations on orders; production is underway for the general release in the first quarter of 2011. Continued

White Grape Swisher Sweets Cigarillos

(CSNews) Swisher International has introduced a new white grape flavor to the company's lineup of Swisher Sweets Cigars. The white grape flavor offers customers a mild-sweet taste, smooth flavor and an excellent aroma, according to the company. These new cigarillos are individually wrapped in the company’s Sealed-Fresh foil wrapping and come in a variety of packaging: Bonus Box 60s, 25-count Impulse Units and special Buy-2-Get-1-Free three packs.

Martin Luther King: Tobacco Farmer?

(AP) Martin Luther King Jr. could hardly believe his eyes when he left the segregated South as a teenage college student to work on a tobacco farm in Connecticut.
"On our way here we saw some things I had never anticipated to see," he wrote his father in June 1944. Continued

Shanghai’s cigar queen

(CNN) Smoking cigars, once a pastime reserved for the elite and seen as a symbol of bourgeois decadence in China, is now enjoyed by thousands with numbers growing daily nationwide.
According to recent industry reports more than RMB 2.2 billion is spent on cigars in China a year, and the numbers are going up.
In major Chinese cities -- with Shanghai leading the way -- a Chinese cigar culture is clearly taking hold.
But what's interesting is that women are starting to join the ranks of newly curious, newly moneyed and status-hungry men, gaining entry into the world of Chinese cigar aficionados. Continued

Logo: Cigar Ambassador

Omaha sends Cigars To Soldiers

(KETV) An Omaha business is sending hundreds of cigars, many donated by customers, to troops in Iraq.
Nickleby’s Cigar Ring manager Tim Vanderpool sent out messages on email and Facebook, telling customers his store would match every cigar they donated to troops.
“I've got some friends over there, in the 67th Cavalry,” explained Vanderpool. “We just decided to give them something to boost their morale and lift them up.” Continued

Photo: Library of Congress