Hearth and Home Black House Tobacco Review

(Adam J. Smith) This blend is a tribute to a great tobacco of the past, made for a 2011 contest. It was judged to be the closest overall to the dark, Balkan type mixture it was designed to emulate. We hope you enjoy the memory. Russ Ouellette, Blender.
If you say the words "Balkan Sobranie 759" in a room full of pipe-smokers, a hush will descend. The old-timers in the room will relate tales of this hallowed blends that are oft beyond belief. Wondrous tales indeed; relating how it was the cure for everything from the common-cold to reviving the comatose. Tales of how it could turn an ignoramus into a genius of the highest level. Indeed; this blend is almost as fabled as the vaunted "Arcadia Mixture" of "Our Lady Nicotine" fame. Continued

New cigar shop & smoking lounge opens in Cape Girardeau

(Southeast Missourian) Fumatore di Sigaro a new cigar store and smoking lounge is now open in Cape Girardeau featuring hand-rolled cigars and smoking accessories.
It is located at 1720 Kingsway Drive, Suite 101.
Cigars from around the world are kept in a Spanish Cedar lined walk-in-humidor. Continued

Where to Smoke A Cigar in Baseball’s Postseason

(Cigar Aficionado) ... New York City still ranks number one in places to enjoy a cigar. If you’re going to Texas, check out other possibilities in Dallas and Fort Worth. In Detroit, the stadium has a cigar bar in it, a few good places in the city, and Windsor, Ontario, where you can go buy and smoke (outdoors) a Cuban cigar, is just across the river. Tropicana Field, where the Rays play, is the worst stadium in baseball, but has a cigar bar in it. Without further delay, here’s the list of my recommended places. Continued

Photo: The "Babe" in a reflectice [sic] mode, snaped [sic] in the Wash [Washington, D.C.] dugout before the game--President Ban Johnson seems to enjoy the situation. Babe Ruth and Ban Johnson standing, three-quarter length, smoking cigars. (Library of Congress).

The Danish Pipe Shop in Copenhagen, Denmark

(Nikolaj Liberoth Nielsen) My father, Steffen Nielsen, moved his way as a clerk into the tobacco shops of Copenhagen in the 1960’s. Soon he became the first man at The Company of Poul Hansen located at the famous pedestrian street, Strøget, and in 1969-1970 he took over the shop. He never changed the shop’s name - probably because the old Poul Hansen still worked in the shop and Steffen didn’t have the heart to remove Poul’s name from the shop windows.
In the 1960’s the shop was more a wine and tobacco shop, but Steffen Nielsen had a hunch that there was ’something happening with pipes’. He then decided to convert the shop to what the famous pipe connoisseur and writer Paul C. Olrik called a “Temple of pipes”. And Steffen was right about the pipes. In the 1970’s and 80’s there was a significant progress in the market of selling pipes. Continued

Cigar Review: Tatuaje ‘The Boris’

(Cigar Photography) This week we have looked deeper into the coolidor and selected a cigar through which we can celebrate another Fall and upcoming Halloween. The lucky specimen is Tatuaje ‘Boris’, a spin-off ‘Actor Series’ project to extremely successful ‘Monster Series’ project. The ‘Boris’ is named after William Henry Pratt aka. Boris Karloff (Frankenstein’s monster in Frankenstein). I have smoked ~5 samples prior to opening this box so I knew exactly what I was up against this time.
Visually, Tatuaje ‘Boris’ was not the prettiest kid on the block. When I smoked my first sample, I laughed and wondered “Did someone forgot to cover the binder with a silky wrapper ?” Continued

Photo via Let's Not Talk About Movies

Indian team hardsells tobacco again to China

(Business Line) With a view to revive the Chinese market for Indian tobacco, a trade delegation has set off to Beijing and started hard selling the commodity that fell from the Chinese grace a few years ago, following complaints of contamination.
Chinese market could be a money-spinner for Indian tobacco traders. The Communist country imports 100 million kg of tobacco every year. Continued

Best Bars for Cocktails, Cigars, Beer, Love Seats: N.Y. Roundup

(Bloomberg) The greatest movie scene featuring a New York bar opens with the debonair Nick Charles, played by William Powell, demonstrating the different rhythms required to shake the perfect cocktail.
The movie is “The Thin Man,” the scene a New York speakeasy in the 1920s.
When his wife Nora, the delectable Myrna Loy, enters led by their dog, Asta, she says, “He’s dragged me into every gin mill on the block.” Then she orders five martinis to catch up with her husband. Continued

Photo of William Powell and Myrna Loy via Doctor Macro

Colibri’s Enterprise III Cigar Lighter

(Cigar Aficionado) Colibri’s Enterprise III lighter offers the cigar enthusiast a quick and easy way to take initiative and light up: a single-action ignition.
The single-action ignition is actually a contoured button located on the side of the lighter’s body. When this button is pressed, the cap atop the Enterprise III flips back to expose three jet flames while simultaneously triggering the mechanism inside the body that lights the wind-resistant flames. Continued

Union effort at Reynolds Tobacco more about job security, benefits than pay

(Winston-Salem Journal) Concerns about job security and employee and retiree benefits appear to be at the heart of the latest attempt to form a union at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
A joint petition was filed Sept. 12 with the National Labor Relations Board by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.
A secret-ballot vote will take place Oct. 20-21 at Reynolds' Tobaccoville and Whitaker Park plants. Continued

Grizzly Moist Snuff Tobacco Turns 10

(CSN) Ten years after going to market, Grizzly moist snuff is marking its first decade by commanding 26.7 percent of the moist smokeless category.
The tobacco brand was initially launched by Conwood Co. (the forerunner of American Snuff Co.) in September 2001 as a no-frills, high-quality moist snuff product. In the early days, Grizzly came in two styles: Long Cut Wintergreen and Fine Cut Natural. Continued

Gawith Hoggarth Twist Tobacco

:: Tobaccos ::
Sweet Brown Twist
Happy/Brown Bogie
Sweet Rum Brown Irish
Black Pigtail
Black XXX
All produced by Gawith Hoggarth
{I quoted these sizes in CM, this was supposed to me MM.}

Pittsylvania County Tobacco Farmer Beats The Odds

Chatham, VA (WSET) More than 100 tobacco farmers in Pittsylvania County are struggling after the recent downpours, but one Chatham farmer has managed to beat the heat and survive the showers.
Chris Haskins is a fourth generation tobacco farmer.
"I've been helping my father farm since probably six years old is when I started driving a 140 tractor pulling trailors through the field," said Haskins.
It's Virginia's cash crop, and for Haskins, it's been a good year because the tobacco's really ripened and matured.
For many tobacco farmers, it has been the complete opposite. Continued

Cigarmaker Moore & Bode Heading to India

(Cigar Aficionado) Moore & Bode Cigars Inc., the quirky boutique company that has made cigars in Miami for more than two decades, is taking the dramatic step of moving production to Mumbai, India. The move is intended to vastly increase production of the company's cigars for the American market.
All of Moore & Bode's cigar brands—Flamboyan, Flamboyan Dark, Adelante, Izmir and even Miami—will be rolled in India by a company known as Golden Tobacco Ltd. The factory will also roll a new cigar the size of a cigarette (retailing for 55 cents) called Chairman's Product. Continued

Mullins offers glimpse into life when tobacco was king

MULLINS, SC (scnow.com) For those who have lived in Mullins, the smell of tobacco is all too familiar. The town grew up as the industry exploded in a profusion of warehouses and tobacco barns.
In recent years, however, the pungent, sickly sweet aroma has begun to fade. And as it does, a community that once flourished with industry, one filled with excitement and offering opportunity to the young, is fading with it. Continued

Photo: The oldest known extant tobacco warehouse in the state and the first brick tobacco warehouse in Marion County. A major tobacco-producing county in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. (Library of Congress).

Weather puts this year's tobacco crop behind

(GoDanRiver) This year was one of the most stressful for tobacco farmers. Rising expenses frustrated growers while the summer drought and heat took its toll on the crop.
Recent rains after a prolonged dry period caused the tobacco to “green up,” so a lot of tobacco isn’t mature (“yellow’) or ready to be harvested. Now, tobacco farmers just hope the year’s first frost will hold off until they can get the crop out of the fields.
Most farmers would like to be done harvesting by mid-October, but some could be up to 30 days behind, said Stephen Barts, Pittsylvania County [Virginia] extension agent. Continued

Photo by Pen Waggener

What's up with all these 6 x 60 ring cigars?

(Gary Korb) During the past year, I noticed that I was getting more and more press releases announcing new 6 x 60 ring gauge cigars. Do you remember how a few years ago Lanceros had come back into vogue? So, manufacturers began adding more 7 x 38 cigars to their repertoire. Now it seems as if just the opposite is happening with the demand for 6 x 60 cigars. The more 6 x 60's I saw coming into the market the more curious I became about this trend. So, I wrote to a number of well-respected cigar makers to get their take on this "Grand Toro" shape phenomenon, and asked, "What gives?" Continued

Photo: Cliff House Whisky and Cigars, circa 1902 (Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto).

Swedish Match pulls Lab Series 06 snus tobacco out of production

(Snus Central) ... Swedish Match told snus merchants that they were not satisfied with the quality or the moisture levels in the first run of 06. Indeed, they were so dissatisfied that Swedish Match was sending Lab Series 06 back to their Snus Lab for an overhaul. Thus beyond saying "October", there is no firm date when 06 Extra Strong long portion will be available for retail sale again. Continued

Cigar friendly spot in Peoria re-opens

(Examiner) A cigar-friendly Irish restaurant and bar in Peoria [Arizona] has reopened and is proud to welcome lovers of the leaf back to their patio.
The spot formerly known as Lis Doon Varna has reopened under the name Johnny Fox's Public House as of Thursday, September 22, and proprietor Robbie Fox welcomed a group from Shades of Havana, including owner Eric Parkinson, in for a happy hour marked by a couple rounds of Guiness pints. Shades of Havana is located just a mile to the east, on N. 75th Avenue and W. Paradise Lane, making it easy to stop by and pick up a cigar or two beforehand. Continued

Cigar lounges mushroom as smoking ritual turns into networking opportunity

(Economic Times) With Fidel Castro on their lips and Steve Jobs in their hearts, a select set of young executives and entrepreneurs across Indian metros is turning a smoking ritual into the fine art of networking.
The visual throwback to the communist icon mingles seamlessly with the animal spirits of the emerging economy.
Rajat Wahi, a former chief of Revlon's Europe operationsturned-consultant, is among the initiated. After sundown, he heads straight to a lounge in Gurgaon, where a group of business leaders greets him. Continued

Photo by Aoife city womanchile

Human rights abuses in North Carolina’s tobacco industry

(Oxfam) America’s migrant farmworkers toil for sub-poverty wages under some of the most dangerous working conditions in the nation. Oxfam America and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee have completed a joint study of the tobacco industry’s impact on the human rights of farmworkers in the fields of North Carolina. Continued

Zigarettenwerbung

A look inside La Casa del Habano, the global chain of Cuban cigar stores

(Cigar Aficionado) If you’re in the market for rare and unusual Cuban smokes you need to seek out the official chain of worldwide Cuban cigar stores known as La Casa del Habano. Created 20 years ago in Cancún, Mexico, these stores (there were 135 at press time) are not only the first in their respective countries to receive Cuba’s latest Edición Limitadas, they’re the first to get special new smokes. Continued

Jax Cigar Plant To Lay Off 58 Workers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (news4jax) Swisher International will be laying off 58 workers from its Eastside plant next month and moving 5 percent of its manufacturing operations to the Dominican Republic.
A company official says the moves are in response to state and federal tobacco taxes that have reduced demand for Swisher products. Continued

A short History of Flake Tobacco

(Per Georg Jensen) When and where the first flake tobacco was produced is uncertain, but what is known for a fact is that pressed tobacco was invented to solve a major problem at the time in a country with great seafaring traditions. Turn back time some 300-400 years, and you find that pipe smoking was the most common way to enjoy tobacco – and seafarers were among its most avid advocates. Continued

First Annual Tobacco & Rum Festival Preview Party

(HauteLiving) A preview party for the first annual TobaccoRum Miami exposition kicks off this Saturday, September 24, in collaboration with the 10th annual Miami International Wine Fair. In partnership with Cigar Snob magazine, the exposition, the first of its kind in the United States, will feature over 20 different cigar brands and 20 rums from the Caribbean, Central America and South America. It is slated to take place this coming December during Art Basel.
Hosted at TEMPO Miami, the preview event will run from 7 pm to midnight.
The swanky, open-to-the-public, soiree welcomes industry professionals, wine connoisseurs, cigar aficionados and rum lovers alike to a night set to the sounds of live music from Bikini Jazz, with wine and tobacco painting demonstrations by artist GAPAL.
Tobacco and rum enthusiasts will be able peruse the many tobacco and rum exhibitors, sampling each and learning to pair cigars with rums for optimal flavor combinations. Guests will receive a swanky souvenir bag to bank the cigars and rum bottle minis they collect. Continued

Good Times Cigars: New Featured Products

(CSP) Good Times Cigarillos which come in three different packages. They include 60-count and 5-pk (100 count). The 60-count flavors include Sweet and Grape. The 30-count flavors include Wine, White Grape, Peach, Silver, and Strawberry.
Next we will be featuring our Happy Times Superillos which come 2-Per Pack (15 packs per box) in the following flavors: Sweet, Mango-licious, Passion, and Grape. Continued

The edict of William the Testy by Washington Irving

WILHELMUS KIEFT, as has already been observed, was a great legislator on a small scale, and had a microscopic eye in public affairs. He had been greatly annoyed by the factious meeting of the good people of New Amsterdam, but, observing that on these occasions the pipe was ever in their mouth, he began to think that the pipe was at the bottom of the affair, and that there was some mysterious affinity between politics and tobacco-smoke. Determined to strike at the root of the evil, he began forthwith to rail at tobacco as a noxious, nauseous weed, filthy in all its uses; and as to smoking, he denounced it as a heavy tax upon the public pocket-a vast consumer of time, a great encourager of idleness, and a deadly bane to the prosperity and morals of the people. Finally he issued an edict prohibiting the smoking of tobacco throughout the New Netherlands. Ill-fated Kieft! Had he lived in the present age and attempted to check the unbounded license of the press, he could not have struck more sorely upon the sensibilities of the million. The pipe, in fact, was the great organ of reflection and deliberation of the New Nederlander. It was his constant companion and solace: was he gay, he smoked ; was he sad, he smoked ; his pipe was never out of his mouth; it was a part of his physiognomy ; without it his best friends would not know him. Take away his pipe? You might as well take away his nose!

The immediate effect of the edict of William the Testy was a popular commotion. A vast multitude, armed with pipes and tobacco-boxes and an immense supply of ammunition, sat themselves down before the governor's house and fell to smoking with tremendous violence. The testy William issued forth like a wrathful spider, demanding the reason of this lawless fumigation. The sturdy rioters replied by lolling back in their seats and puffing away with redoubled fury, raising such a murky cloud that the governor was fain to take refuge in the interior of his castle.

A long negotiation ensued through the medium of Anthony the Trumpeter. The governor was at first wrathful and unyielding, but was gradually smoked into terms. He concluded by permitting the smoking of tobacco, but he abolished the fair long pipes used in the days of Wouter Van Twiller, denoting ease, tranquility, and sobriety of deportment; these he condemned as incompatible with the dispatch of business, in place whereof he substituted little captious short pipes, two inches in length, which, he observed, could be stuck in one corner of the mouth or twisted in the hat-band, and would never be in the way. Thus ended this alarming insurrection, which was long known by the name of The Pipe-Plot, and which, it has been somewhat quaintly observed, did end, like most plots and seditions, in mere smoke.

But mark, O reader! the deplorable evils which did afterwards result. The smoke of these villainous little pipes, continually ascending in a cloud about the nose, penetrated into and befogged the cerebellum, dried up all the kindly moisture of the brain, and rendered the people who used them as vaporish and testy as the governor himself. Nay, what is worse, from being goodly, burly, sleek-conditioned men, they became, like our Dutch yeomanry who smoke short pipes, a lantern-jawed, smokedried, leathern-hided race.

Nor was this all. From this fatal schism in tobacco-pipes we may date the rise of parties in the Nieuw Nederlands. The rich and self-important burghers who had made their fortunes, and could afford to be lazy, adhered to the ancient fashion, and formed a kind of aristocracy known as the Long Pipes; while the lower order, adopting the reform of William Kieft as more convenient in their handicraft employments, were branded with the plebeian name of Short Pipes.

Photo: "The edict of William the Testy" Photograph of a painting signed "G.H. Boughton, 1877" at Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Quality Karnataka tobacco attracts buyers

Bangalore: Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco variety to the tune of 1.43 lakh kg has been marketed at the end of third-day of tobacco auctions at various platforms in Karnataka. ... According to Mr K.N. Vishakantaiah, Regional Manager, Tobacco Board, Karnataka, “Crop quality is in good condition and it is reflecting in large quantity of Brights and Medium grades getting sold instantly. In the first three days of auctions, highest price fetched was around Rs 125/kg. The volume is set to pick up after Dasara festival,” he added. Continued

The Scent of a Fine Cigar

(Cigars Direct) A wisp of fragrance transported me 30 years and 3,000 miles to the backyard of my childhood where my brother, sister, mother and I would sit on our swing looking for the first star to light the warm evening sky, wrapped in the sweet pungent smoke of my father's Cigar. All those years later at a hotel in northern Massachusetts, although I was dead on my feet as I stepped out of the company car after a long day of seminars, training sessions, meetings and a power dinner, I was home, safe, relaxed. At first I was confused, what had caused such a poignant memory? Continued

Photo: May Newman playing cigar box banjo she made: Palatka, Florida, circa 1925 (State Library and Archives of Florida).

The scrapple of tobaccos

(Adam Davidson) ... Ted has been trying to get me to try some of his favorite English blends for a year now and recently I acquired a Dunhill 3109 estate that had a small crack on the shank that we couldn't sell. To his delight, I walked into his office and said it was time for me to explore Latakia. Ted's reaction was a bit like someone saying "OK, Adam. Let me try those marrow bones you just roasted. I also want to try all of those curries, scrapple, Russian fish things, and lye-cured Duck eggs from the Asian market." These are things that I love that make people look at me funny. Continued

Smallest cigar humidors will be launched at the Inter-tabac 2011 trade fair

(MMD Newswire) ... For just one or two cigars, the new adorini mini tube humidors guarantee that cigars remain in perfect condition on the go. These are the smallest humidors on the market.
A mini humidifier is integrated into satin-finish, stainless steel tubes to keep cigars well humidified, even for several weeks if necessary. The case keeps the cigars well protected from damage to the wrapper. As with larger humidors, the tube humidors are lined with Spanish cedar to give the right aroma and keep a stable climate in the tube. With 25mm diameter, the tubes fit nearly all cigars on the market. They are available in versions for one or two cigars. Continued

Navy Flake, Please!

(Sykes Wilford) ... Taste in tobacco is just weird. I've smoked this blend here and there for years, but without any great excitement, and then, suddenly, it seems like the best thing in the world to me. I've always thought that it was good-- everything Mac Baren does is high quality and consistently well executed-- but it had just never grabbed me before. But lately it has grabbed me and now it just won't let go. Continued

Alliance One Announces Agreements to Purchase 2011 Tobacco Crop Previously Contracted by United States Growers Direct

(PRNewswire) Alliance One International, Inc. announced effective today it reached definitive agreements to purchase the 2011 Tobacco Crop previously contracted by United States Growers Direct ("USGD"). Such contracted tobacco volumes will be purchased pursuant to AOI's quality guidelines, pricing structure, and policies and procedures. As a result of the US Flue Cured market disruption created in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, Alliance One entered into these accommodative agreements to provide growers an outlet for their tobaccos following release by USGD. AOI looks forward to working with former USGD agents and growers and is purchasing tobacco at receiving stations that include:

R.C. Commodities of Wilson, NC;

USGD Louisburg, LLC of Louisburg, NC;

Carolina Coastal Commodities of Goldsboro, LLC;

Independent Tobacco Services, Inc. of Douglas, GA; and

Virginia Marketing Center, LLC of Clarksville, VA. Link

New Cohibas and Habano Cigars to France

(Prensa Latina) Cuban tobacco industry authorities announced Thursday the presence of new Cohibas and Havano cigars in the 25th edition of the TFWA World Exhibition Cannes in France.
... Precisely, the announcement includes so-called Cohiba 1966, a cigar with a 52-milimeter diameter and a 166-milimeter length as part of the commemoration because of the 45 years of existence of the brand. The Limited Editions bring a maturing of at least two years, coming from Pinar del Rio, west of Cuba. Continued

Nearly 40% of tobacco growers in Japan to cease cultivation

(Mainichi Daily News) Nearly 40 percent of leaf tobacco growers in Japan intend to discontinue cultivation in or after 2012, responding to a recent call from Japan Tobacco Inc. for volunteers to cease cultivation amid declining tobacco sales, according to a survey released Friday by a growers' group.
The Japan Tobacco Growers Association surveyed 10,650 tobacco growers farming 13,930 hectares through its 21 member associations across Japan, finding that 4,106, or 38.6 percent, plan to stop cultivation, it said.
The 4,106 growers combined currently cultivate 4,412 hectares, equivalent to more than 30 percent of the total area under cultivation. Continued

General Cigar VP to Retire: Sherwin Seltzer to retire after 50 years in the industry

(CSP) Sherwin Seltzer will retire from General Cigar at the end of October, concluding a run of more than half a century in the premium cigar category.
"There comes a time when you have to stop and do something else. I’ve had a great run in this business but at this stage in my life, I want to devote my time to Iris, my wife of 51 years, and my children and grandchildren," Seltzer said in a release. He will continue to serve as General Cigar’s vice president of trade development until October 31. Continued

Lotus Cut 100 Triad Cigar Cutter

(Cigar Aficionado) If options are what you want in a cigar cutter, consider the Cut 100 Triad from Lotus, which features two retractable punches and a single-blade guillotine in one stylish unit.
The 6mm and 8mm punches extend opposite each other from the main body of the cutter via spring-loaded sliders controlled by the push of a thumb. Each slider runs along a slot that is shaped so the mechanism can be locked into place, preventing the punch from retracting unexpectedly while cutting your cigar. Continued

Ask the Tobacconist, September '11 edition

(G. L. Pease) It’s hard to believe this is already the fifth edition of this no longer new column. It seems like only yesterday I was worrying over whether or not there would be enough interest, enough questions coming in to justify it and sustain it, and here we are, five months later, with me trying to keep up. Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and support. From the beginning, some really great questions, and a few tough ones, have found their way to the mail bag, and it’s always fun going through the archives to choose questions for the month. This month, I chose a few that seemed to me to be related, at least obliquely, so let’s dive in to those and see where we end up. Continued

Japanese govt may reduce stake in Japan Tobacco

(Reuters) The Japanese government will pursue legislation that will let it sell part of its stake in Japan Tobacco Inc to raise about 500 billion yen ($6.50 billion) for post-earthquake reconstruction efforts, The Nikkei business daily reported.
The sale will cut the government's mandated minimum stake in the company to more than a third. Continued

87 and still rolling

(TBO.com) Every weekday morning, 87-year-old Antonio Riverol gets in his 1998 Buick Park Avenue and drives 12 miles from his Tampa home to his job as a cigar roller in Ybor City — where 100 years ago the thriving industry helped put the city on the map. ... Riverol learned to roll cigars as a teenager in 1940 in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, and it has been a part of his life since. Continued

Seedtime in Pinar del Rio tobacco nurseries

(Cubaheadlines via radiorebelde.icrt.cu) Seedtime in Pinar del Rio tobacco nurseriesPinar del Rio, Cuba. – Local tobacco growers of this territory, the highest producer of that leaf in Cuba, began to irrigate seedbeds. They want to plant early in order to attain the best possible yields.
Before doing this, tobacco growers prepared the soil and ensured the inputs required to achieve survival and high quality of the seedlings intended to cover over 16 400 hectares of this crop in the 2011–2012 campaign.
According to the schedule, they will start planting seedlings next October. Continued

Photo: Portrait of a man wearing a straw hat. Hand Colored Lantern Slide, Cuba, 1899 (The Field Museum).

Final sell prices revealed for former Renegade Tobacco properties

(Winston-Salem Journal) The auctioning of six Davie County properties associated with the owner of three bankrupt tobacco manufacturers has provided $576,917 in net proceeds to their estate.
The public auction proceedings, which took place June 23, yielded $1.39 million overall, according to a legal filing Thursday. The net proceeds are being held in a special trust.
The sale of the properties still requires the approval of William Stock, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge assigned to the case involving Calvin Phelps, the owner of Renegade Holdings Inc., Alternative Brands Inc. and Renegade Tobacco Co. Phelps' wife, Lisa Yamaoka Phelps, was listed on two of the properties. Continued

Labeling America: Popular Culture on Cigar Box Labels

(Arizona Daily Star) ... Tucson resident John Grossman has just published a book depicting the rich history of cigar-box art through the work of one company, George Schlegel Lithographers, whose family-owned New York City business passed from father to son through four generations from 1849 to 1971.
Grossman obtained important documentary material for his book from Peter Schlegel, the oldest son of the fourth and last lithographing George Schlegel and a longtime Tucsonan.
Titled "Labeling America: Popular Culture on Cigar Box Labels," Grossman's book is filled with color reproductions of the artwork that graced cigar boxes from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. Continued

Padrón Family Reserve No. 85 Cigar Delayed

(Cigar Aficionado) Every September, Padrón Cigars Inc. releases a new version of its Padrón Family Blend cigar to commemorate another year of the company's existence. It began with the Family Reserve No. 44, made for the company's 44th year, and last year commenced with the release of the No. 46.
The sub-brand, which is made with some of the oldest tobaccos in the considerable Padrón inventories, has done very well over the years. This year is slightly different. Continued

Child labour: the tobacco industry's smoking gun

(guardian.co.uk) ... Until the 1980s, much of the world's tobacco was grown in the US. Today, however, about 85% of worldwide production comes from the global south, where tobacco child labour is a major problem, according to a 2010 US Department of Labour report (pdf).
"In any developing country where tobacco is grown, you find child labour starting at the age of five," says Marty Otañez, a researcher at the University of California's tobacco control research and education centre.
Malawi, which has the highest number of child labourers in Africa, is a key offender. Health issues aside, children are also financially exploited. Continued

Photo: Field-workers, Goodrich Tobacco Farm, near Gildersleeve, Conn. See Report, L.W. Hine. Location: Gildersleeve, Connecticut. Lewis Hine, 1917 (Library of Congress).

Habanos launches new H Upmann cigar

(DNI) Cigars supplier Habanos has announced the launch of the new H Upmann Royal Robusto as an exclusive release available at La Casa del Habano stores in domestic and duty-free markets, of which there are more than 140 around the world. Continued

Cross Creek Tobacco Seed Interview

(Fayetteville Observer) ... Is your business completely centered on tobacco seed? "It is. We're unique. We're the only one in the world to do everything from beginning to end. We outsource nothing. We grow our own seed in the greenhouse, we take the transplants to the field, we're growing the entire crop out, and we harvest the seed from the crop. ... We package our own seed and ship the seed, and the life cycle begins again." Continued

A Conversation with General Cigar's Dan Carr

(Cigar Aficionado) Dan Carr took the reins of General Cigar Co. last year just as it celebrated its 50th anniversary of making cigars by hand. As president at 48, he now heads one of the cigar world’s biggest companies—the maker of Macanudo, Punch, La Gloria Cubana and Partagas. Carr had joined General in 1996, quickly rising to vice president of sales, at the height of the cigar boom. When Swedish Match AB bought the company’s mass market business in 1999, he went to work on the Stockholm firm’s White Owl machine-made cigars, Red Man chewing tobacco and other products. Continued

Zimbabwe finds a burley tobacco buyer

(newsday.co.zw) The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has secured a buyer for burley tobacco which had failed to find any takers during the just-ended tobacco selling season. The tobacco selling season started in February and closed last month without any burley tobacco being sold. It could, however, not be established how many kilogrammes were harvested this year. Burley tobacco is consumed locally and used for manufacturing cigarettes. Continued

Bulgaria sells its tobacco monopoly

(Forbes/AP) Bulgaria says it has struck a deal to sell its tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac Holding to a company controlled by VTB, Russia's second-largest bank, for euro100.1 million ($136.8 million). ... The buyer is committed to keeping its stake for the next five years and maintain the number of employees at 2,400 over the next three years. It also committed to buying 5,000 tons a year of locally grown tobacco over the next five years. Continued

Smoking a Cigarette, Making a Film

(NYTimes) “Don’t be fooled by the smoke,” James Benning told a sold-out audience at the Toronto International Film Festival screening of his latest film “Twenty Cigarettes.” A collection of living portraits, in which 20 smokers, all friends of his, face the camera for the time it takes to consume a cigarette, it is both an homage to Andy Warhol’s fabled screen tests and a quintessential film for Mr. Benning, 68, a giant of American experimental cinema whose conceptually minimalist works tend to open up vast spaces for reflection. Continued

Casa Fernandez Cigars Moves to Miami

(Cigar Aficionado) When Eduardo Fernandez opened a new Miami factory in June, he moved production of the existing Casa Fernandez brand there as well. The line has not only been relocated from Honduras to Florida, but renamed to reflect the transition and is now called Casa Fernandez Miami.
Although the brand is currently manufactured at the new 2,200 square foot U.S. facility, its blend has not changed. All the cigars are still made with the same Nicaraguan tobacco sourced from Aganorsa S.A., the agricultural conglomerate owned by Fernandez. Continued

Photo: National Archives

The briar brothers

(Scotsman.com) THE first rule of Pipe Club is you don't talk about Pipe Club. Well, actually, no. The ardent smokers of the Edinburgh Pipe Club are, in fact, more than happy to discuss their passion for tobacco.
And, in any case, the whole idea of "rules" runs contrary to the pipeman's philosophy, which tends to value independence, tolerance and free thought - fumito ergo sum, as Descartes might, between puffs, have had it. Continued

Having fun with Durham's tobacco heritage

The racers wriggled in anticipation. So did their handlers. The track was a wooden stage. The temptation – a ring of delicious tobacco leaves – circled the racers. And they were off, squirming over each other to get to the leaf that launched the American Tobacco Company.
The racers were hornworms – little green crawlers indigenous to tobacco fields. The race was part of Duke Homestead’s annual Harvest and Hornworm Festival, held Saturday. Continued

Perique Tobacco: An account from 1876

The Home Journal of New Orleans gives the following account of the origin of the name and the method of producing this tine-flavored and pure tobacco:

It is said that Pierre Chenet, of the parish of St. James, called by the Spaniards by the nickname of Perique, is the inventor of perique tobacco. This is a mistake which should not be allowed to go uncorrected. Pierre Chenet might have improved the process of manufacture, and so have given its present name to it, but the process of making this kind of tobacco was known to all the Southwestern Indians of Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, and is still made in a rude way by many of the tribes.

As made in Louisiana it is a positively pure tobacco without any doctoring. Some of the Indians, as the Caddos, Kiowas, and Pascagoulas, though making it in the same manner it is now made, were in the habit of boiling down the root of the wild plum or Sloe, and sprinkling the leaves from time to time with the decoction; but those Indians who could not get the wild plum did without it and really made the best tobacco. The process used in Louisiana, in the parishes of Jefferson, Lafourche, St. John, St. James, Ascension, Assumption and on Red River, among the Creoles, is that taken from the Houma and Bayou Goula Indians.

The tobacco is raised as any other tobacco, with unusual care to keep off worms. When cut it is dried in the air, suspended in the usual manner, but in the shade, and no fire is ever used. When thus dried, it is stripped of its leaves and stemmed; the leaves are put into twists of one or two pounds, the old Virginia twist; it is then put into a strong box, usually an oak box, in which Virginia chewing tobacco had been; it is packed tight into this box and put under press. The next day, and for several days after, these twists are taken out and unwrapped, and the leaves are rubbed in the hands as a rag would be washed; they are then re-twisted and kept under press. After a few days the tobacco will begin to grow dark, and then the rubbing may be done at longer intervals-first, every other day, then twice a week, then once a week. In about five weeks the tobacco will be ready to work up. At the beginning of the process, the best leaves should be selected as wrappers, and though not twisted should be manipulated in the same way as the rest, every day that the twists are worked, but should always, after working over, be put one over the other and pressed flat. These wrappers should be spread out on a table, enough to cover a roll or carrot, then two or four or five pounds of the unrolled twists should be straightened out and made into the form of a cigar, as big and long as the arm from the elbow to the hand; this should be carefully rolled with the spread leaves and the ends tucked in squarely with the wrapper. A cord or plow line should then be tightly wrapped from one end to the other of this roll, and allowed to remain on it for some hours, when the process should be repeated three or four times-by which time the carrots are complete and may be laid away in a cool place. Though it may be used immediately, it improves by age until ten years old. This is all the secret of perique tobacco- patience and care.

Photo: "Barrels of perique tobacco during process of aging. Perique tobacco is raised in one parish in Louisiana, and this is the only place in the world where this tobacco is raised. Saint James Parish, Louisiana." Photo by Russell Lee, 1938 (FSA/Library of Congress).

Thranshers tobacco review

Thranshers tobacco review & new goodies

My First Great Cigar

(Robustojoe) My quest for cigar knowledge began with my first two cigars. One was very good (a Cuban I was told), and the other very bad (also supposedly a Cuban). This led me to wonder what makes one cigar better than another. As a layperson, I always believed a Cuban cigar was the best, so then how could I have smoked a “bad Cuban?” It didn’t take long to find an abundance of internet articles about counterfeit Cuban cigars, and this really spurred my curiosity. With Cuban cigars as a starting point I was led through the world of growing, blending, rolling, and selling not only Cuban cigars and tobacco, but cigars from all over the world. Reading all this material was exhilarating, intimidating, and endlessly fascinating. I was determined to find out what made a cigar great. Continued

Swedish Chocolatier Cooks Up $29 Chocolates with Goat Cheese, Cigars

(sfweekly) I'm not sure how the intended market will respond to Andrén's creations. The truffles are lovely, which is half of the battle: their colorful swirls and matte-like finish remind us of miniature pool balls painted by an abstract artist.
The ingredients are compelling: Monte Enebro cheese, Laphroaig Scotch whisky, cloudberries. Who doesn't want to try a chocolate made with Appleton Estate 10-year-old rum and a Zino Platinum cigar? Continued

Tobacco and art

(Washington Post) Begun in 2000 when Chinese-born Xu Bing was artist in residence at Duke University, the tobacco project mixes cigarettes, advertising, brand names, old books, paychecks and other memorabilia into a highly unusual exhibition.
One work involves 440,000 cigarettes fashioned into the form a 40-foot-long floor rug shaped like a tiger. A wall is covered with old tobacco advertisements. Another curiosity is a 50-foot-long reproduction of a Zhang Zeduan painting from the 10th century, “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” that has an extra-long cigarette that will be burned down its center. Continued

What makes a traditional tobacco blend traditional?

(Firecured) Awhile back, I bought a tin of McClelland Navy Cavendish Tobacco, it sounded like something I would really enjoy. With this tobacco, we reintroduce the smoker to the traditional Navy Cavendish, pressed in cake and aged naturally with Dark Jamaican Rum to achieve its rich depth of flavor, color and aroma, says the description. I say, if this is what the navy was smoking 200 years ago, I can see why they had to resort to press gangs. I smoked a bowl of this right after opening and didn't like it, so I aged it for a month and still didn't like it, 6 months later and it remains awful. I just can't think of one good thing to say about this blend, which is unusual for a tobacco from one of my favorite companies.

It got me to wondering though, just how does a blender decide what a tobacco blend tasted like a century or two ago? Tobacco fans enjoy blends that harken back to the ages, but just what was being smoked back then? I'm not sure. I do know there are old recipes still around, companies like Samuel Gawith have been making some of the same tobacco blends for over two centuries. But are todays ingredients similar enough to make an exact replica?

I remember reading about absinthe maker Ted Breaux (he also makes Perique Liqueur de Tabac, a liqueur from Perique tobacco), and how he not only studied every ancient text he could find on the infamous drink, he also put vintage samples of the stuff through rigorous laboratory testing. From Wired:

"It's like forensics," Breaux says, gesturing toward the machines. "Give me one microliter of absinthe and I know exactly what it's going to taste like. "Breaux explains how the testing works. He takes a bottle of the liqueur, inserts a syringe through the cork (absinthe oxidizes like wine once the bottle is open), and extracts a few milliliters. He transfers the sample into a vial, which is lifted by a robotic arm into the gas chromatography tower. There it is separated into its components. Then the mass spectrometer identifies them and measures their relative quantities.

Could the same thing be done with vintage tobacco? I doubt it, strong alcohol such as absinthe, tightly sealed, keeps for a very long time, the same cannot be said for a tin of tobacco. We may be able to test an aged tin, but as we already know, aging changes tobacco blends, often for the better. Still, it could be an interesting exercise, perhaps a good chemist could take the results and make an educated guess as to the tobacco's original components. Mass spec anyone?

Photo: 1780 caricature of a press gang (Wikipedia).

Largo Sun Grown Natural Tobacco

(CSN) Largo Sun Grown Natural Pipe Tobacco is a new blend that Republic Tobacco said brings a bright twist to its existing line of Regular, Mint and Mellow styles. The flavorful combination of unique, natural premium tobaccos offers a smooth, satisfying taste, while the resealable, Seal-Tite wrap-style pouches and resealable bags maintain product freshness and flavor, the company reported. Continued

Famous Smoke Shop Tour

This is a quick tour of the new Famous Smoke Shop Facility, which includes the retail space, lounge, and a brief look at 'Leaf Cigar Bar'

The Briar Saga

(Rainer Barbi) It was around the year 1840, on one of those wonderful nights when so many young people fall in love for the first time. In a scenic valley of the French Jura a group of shepherds were gathered around the flickering flames of a fire, enjoying the end of a day of hard work, sharing bread, wine, and tobacco. One of them kept to himself completely absorbed in something entirely new, something he had discovered that same day when one of his sheep was making a hole in the ground – a round piece of wood with an unusually even shape. It was the root of a bush growing in millions in this valley – always obstacles when the shepherds had to collect their scattered sheep. With determination, he was carving this piece of wood, shaping and modeling it while his friends were giving him a slightly mocking look. Hours went by. Continued

The Legends and Pioneers of Cigar Art Collecting

(CBLB) ... In this article I would like to provide a historical and chronological perspective of just a few of the many influential pioneers that are responsible for making the cigar label the respected collectible it is today. Continued

Casa Magna Domus Magnus Limitada Cigar Review

(TomsCigars.com) I picked up these cigars at Ed’s shop recently. I’ve been a fan of the Casa Magna Colorado for years now. When Ed told me he had these, I immediately picked a few up. They are in limited quantities, which probably helped my decision. With anticipation, I quickly smoked what I bought, and offer you my thoughts. Continued

Gorgeous Wooden Speakers Fashioned From Cigar Boxes

(Wired) It’s always a shame to throw out a perfectly good cigar box, which is why Neal Demazure’s Custom Cedar Cigar Box Powered Speakers are so appealing. They’re also pretty simple: Take a pair of great-smelling empty cigar boxes, select matching aluminum cone speakers, a couple of ten-watt amps, one glowing blue LED (ugh) and a volume knob. Continued

London's Cuban Cigar Walk

(cheapoair.com) ... Obviously, any cigar tour of London is going to be filled with lots of juicy tales about everybody’s favorite stogie smoking world leader, Sir Winston Churchill. The tour takes you past the Bond Street Allies Statue which features Churchill and FDR as well as a variety of the celebrated Prime Minister's favorite shops as well as one of his former residences before ending at the Cabinet War Rooms. But to assume the connection between cigars and London begins and ends with Churchill would be short sighted indeed; there’s a whole lot more to the story than one great leader with an expensive habit. Continued

Condor Tobacco ad: Submarine

A Look at Cuba's Limitadas Cigars

(Cigar Aficionado) Every year, the Cuban cigar industry creates a trio of limited-edition cigars. Known as Edición Limitadas, each is a short run shape that draws considerable interest from Cuban cigar lovers around the world.
ELs are made with high-priming wrappers, giving them a darker appearance, with two-year old tobacco in the blend.
... As the world awaits the 2011 trio of ELs (the Hoyo de Monterrey Short Hoyo Pirámide just began shipping, but the others have not) we present this table describing the ELs through the years... Continued

Photo: At villa Bergshyddan. Lundström and two other men sitting with drinks and cigars.
Vid villa Bergshyddan. Lundström och två andra män sitter med drinkar och cigarrer. (Swedish National Heritage Board)

Karnataka tobacco sales from Sept 15

(The Hindu Business Line) Karnataka tobacco auctions are set to commence from September 15. ... The quality of the crop this year is looking good and interesting.
Rain at regular interval since April has facilitated good growth.
According to Mr K N Vishakantaiah, Tobacco Board regional manager, along with good crop, quality and quantity is also expected to be much better. Continued

Photo: Baling and sampling tobacco, Australia, circa 1900 (Powerhouse Museum).

Samuel Gawith Tobacco Factory Visit

(Loh and Behold) A couple of hours by train from London took Prof Pathma and me to the Samuel Gawith factory in Kendal, in the South Lakeland area of the North West of England on March 5. We were transported into another world – pipe smokers’ heaven!
There we met with Bob Gregory whom we have contacted prior to leaving Asia. Bob is in charge of marketing and sales and has several decades of marketing and sales experience in the tobacco industry. He is a fount of knowledge and a rich source of information.
Despite it being a Saturday when we arrived – the factory is closed on Saturdays – Bob opened the premises just for us and spent nearly three hours with us sharing the inner workings of Samuel Gawith & Company Limited and regaling us with his entertaining and funny stories and carefully answering all our questions. Continued

Also: Making Snuff at Samuel Gawith

And: A Coil of Rope?

Tatuaje Black Petite Lancero Cigar

(mikesstogies.com) Today’s cigar is a very nice looking stick from the shade of the wrapper to the simple band covers on a tiny portion of the smoke. There was a couple medium size veins running through the wrapper but it seemed to give it more character instead of being an eye sore. The triple cap was perfectly applied and easily removed. The wrapper and cold draw both had a sweet smell and taste respectively. Continued