After a blistering pace the first day, we decided to take a bit more time and explore. This also provided us a wonderful opportunity to sit down and talk with our manufacturers and friends in the industry.
The common theme in many of our conversations was the federal tax issue. We are not out of the woods quite yet boys and girls. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have each passed their own provisions in regards to this issue. The House lesgislation passed narrowly with a 33% tax and a $1 cap per cigar on the wholesale price with no floor tax on cigars. The SenateÕs legislation also passed and is more aggressive. Theirs is a 44% excise tax capped at $3 per cigar at wholesale. Additionally, your friendly local Cigar purveyor would be required to pay a floor tax on all products in house. This is a crippling action to many retailers throughout the country.
Congress is now on their fall recess and will resume actions on September 1st. At this point a Joint conference committee will convene, with members from both the House and Senate, to work out a compromised funding provision. It is extremely important to continue to call both your Congressman and Senators to protest this harsh, and unusually strong tax measures. The RTDA is currently hiring federal lobbyists to assist us with this, but we still need your support!
And now we move on to a lighter subject, the fins of the RTDA show. One of the more interesting, boutique products that we found was a brand called
Costa. Costa is a small batch production cigar that is made in Panama. This small factory has been producing the Costa brand for Europe for 5 years. They introduced it to the American market at the show, and I have to tell you, I think this is a fabulous medium bodied cigar. It features a rich blend of Panamanian and Honduran tobaccos topped of with a silky Connecticut wrapper. It is really a special cigar that we are very excited to receive.
Next we stopped by the Ashton booth. They introduced a few new humidors and accessories, but their big introduction is the new
San Cristobal cigar. This is a very interesting product made by Pepin Garcia in his Nicaraguan factory, Tabacalera Cubana. It has a dark and oily wrapper. This cigar is a solid medium body and has a rich and complex flavor with a hint of sweetness. I think this is one of the best products to come out of PepinÕs Nicaraguan factory. Additionally, they will be limited production with no more than 300,000 cigars produced the first year.
Next we stopped by the Gran Habano booth to see our friends Guillermo and George Rico. They have some new releases and line extensions that are sure to be big winners. First they have a new product called
La Gran Fuma. This is a very reasonably priced product with an attractive band and packaging. It is a Cuban sandwich style cigar with superior construction. It is very smooth and is medium bodied. Additionally, they have some new line extensions that should be well received. In the 3 Siglos line they are introducing a new Corona size. In the Gran Habano Blend, they are introducing several new items in the Corojo #5 blend. First, the Imperiale (6x60) is now a regular item. Also, they will have a special 100 count factory box of the Imperiale available this year. Carrying on with the large ring gage theme, they are introducing a new size called the Triumph. This is a big stick. Measuring a stout 7x58, this cigar should be another smash hit.
Once we left the Gran Habano booth, we headed over to see the boys at
Cusano cigars. They have some tremendous new products that we are very excited about. We talked at length with Michael Chiusano, President of Cusano cigars regarding his new
Cuvee Cigars. Last year he released a limited edition Lancero called Cuvee Grand. This cigar received tremendous acclaim and received high ratings in many publications. This year he is extending the Cuvee line by adding 3 new wrappers and more traditional sizes for the American market. They will be the
Cuvee Blanc (Ecuadorian grown Connecticut shade wrapper, the
Cuvee Rouge (Sungrown wrapper), and the
Cuvee 151 (they call it the "overproof" wrapper, but it seems to me to be an oscuro wrapper). These cigars are all excellent and I am confident that they will be a tremendous success. Also, there is a new size in the Cusano 18 series, called the
Toro Gordo. It is a 6.25x54, which should be a solid seller in an already hot product line.
Next we stopped by the
Perdomo booth to see what Nick had in store for us. His new release this year is the
Perdomo Habano. It will be available in either Corojo or Maduro. This will be a very competitively priced product that is medium to full bodied. It has a gorgeous, classically styled band that is very attractive. Perdomo is also bringing back the
Petite Corona size throughout the Perdomo Reserve lines. Other items of note are a few nice gift sets for the Holidays. There will be a
Perdomo ESV gift box and a
Perdomo Reserve gift box.
We stopped by to see our old friend Tony Borhani at
Bahia Cigars. Tony has always produced interesting Ultra premium boutique cigars, and this years release is quite interesting. He was very secretive about his new blend called
Icon. It uses an Ecuadorian wrapper and a unique blend of Nicaraguan filler tobaccos. It has a very mature flavor and is medium bodied.
Our final stop of the day was a quick jaunt through the
Camacho booth. They had the new
2007 Liberty on display, as well as the
10th Anniversary Camacho cigar. They also had a very cool collection in the case called the
Camacho Signature Blends collection. This was a very cool gift pacakage and we feel it should be a huge success as a gift item.
Well that's all for now. It's time for a quick nap before we head out to dinner with the folks from Ashton. We'll keep you posted tomorrow.
