15 AUGUST COLUMN

REST IN PEACE

Jean Clemente, a French cigar maker and Founding Member of Pro Cigar, who resided in Santiago, Domican Republic, died Wednesday, 11 August, at approximately 5:00 PM, while in New Orleans for the IPCPR.  

He manufactured the Juan Clemente brand, a ‘Spanish play’ on his own name, and was highly regarded by his friends and colleagues.

I met Jean in the early 1980s when he travelled to Hong Kong to launch his brand with Bluebell Tobacco, the Davidoff Agents throughout Asia. I am gratified that I had the opportunity to talk with him on the trade show floor on Tuesday. 

He will be missed by all who knew him.

My colleagues and I, from CigarChannel.com arrived in New Orleans at 8:30 AM Monday morning. We registered at our hotel and went directly to the Cigar Rights of America seminar at the Hilton Hotel, which began at 10:00 AM.

I don’t know about anyone else, but the amount of people in attendance, or lack thereof, disappointed me.

Understand that CRA, a grassroots, consumer driven organization, is about numbers and money. The size of the membership dictates the amount of revenue the CRA will have available to influence legislators at the city, state and Federal level, as we fight for the simple right to enjoy a bloody cigar!

So, people, smokers have to join. And at the front line, for garnering members, are the retail tobacconists. And, after careful analysis, I have reached the conclusion that an awful lot of retail tobacconists must be some of the stupidest people on G-d’s earth! They are the segment that has made the least contribution to CRA. Some 2,400 tobacconists in the U.S., approximately 1,400 of them are members of IPCPR (their own trade group) and only 346 have joined CRA.

What will it take to make these people aware of the fact that their livelihoods are in jeopardy?  What do they plan to do for a living when smoking is no longer permitted in the U.S. or the cigars we love have been taxed to a point beyond the pale.

Remember, the cigar makers – the Padrons, Garcias, Patels, Gomezes, Quesadas, et al, can and will sell their products in Europe and Asia. They will remain in business, but the retail tobacconists will be history!

Now, what does it take to get these people off the dime? I’ve heard all the excuses about the ‘sanctity’ of their customer data bases and all that. Just excuses.

Jorge Armenteros gave, possibly, the best answer in an interview I did for CigarChannel.com at the seminar. He stated, “A drowning man does not plan his next meal,” suggesting that the tobacconists were so beset by tax issues, FDA issues, local regulation and such, that they can’t see the forest for the trees.

On an academic level Jorge’s answer sufficed. But, the question remains, what they plan to do for a living when their shops are history.

I am tired of saying, CRA is our best shot. Now, statewide organizations of tobacconists are being created. Will they join? And, if they join those organizations; why haven’t they joined CRA?

Perhaps they don’t worry about tomorrow, on the old ‘theory’ that tomorrow never comes!

At the IPCPR reception Monday evening, I watched Ernesto Perez-Carrillo and Pepin Garcia in intense conversation; competitors, yet friends, and two of the most important cigar makers in modern times!

The IPCPR will be covered seven ways to Sunday by CigarMedia.tv and assorted web sites, magazines and blogs. For that reason, I am only going to report on the things, cigars, accessories, etc, that particularly attracted my attention.

EPC Cigar Company showcased their core line…and while the launch date for this cigar was delayed several months, the one I smoked on Monday evening convinced me, at least, that this was a cigar worth waiting for. But then what would you expect from Ernesto Perez-Carrillo.

The cigars are available in the following sizes, in boxes of 20s, and they are priced right at the ‘sweet spot’:

Encantos    4-7/8 x 50    $6.45

Regalia Real    5-5/8 x 46    $6.55

Club 52    5-7/8 x 52     $7.20

Churchill Especial    7-1/8 x 49    $7.70

Predilectos (Torpedo)    6-1/8 x 52     $8.20

Golosos    6-1/4 x 60    $8.70

EPC has also produced 2010 Edición Limitada, a 6 x 54 stick priced at $15.00 with an amazing Brazil Habano wrapper.

Some of the hottest cigars at IPCPR are made by the Garcia family’s My Father Cigar Company.

The Limitada – 2000 boxes of twelve cigars each; each cigar in an individual coffin; the boxes numbered and topped by an exquisite brass plaque. These cigars were produced by Pepin and Jaime Garcia. Yes, actually rolled by Pepin and Jaime!

Ashton’s La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor, a soft box pressed gem with a Mexican maduro wrapper, which burns beautifully…and is packed with flavour. This cigar is so smooth and rich. If one can judge by the traffic at the Ashton booth and the comments by people on the trade show floor, as they smoked the Mi Amor, Ashton has a real hit on their hands.

Art Deco, the newest addition to the Nestor Miranda Collection, is another exquisite cigar resulting from the collaboration between Miranda and Pepin Garcia that begin in 2008.

Everyone who believes that Pepin produces cigars with one standard profile is in for a surprise and a treat!

The Nestor Miranda Collection continues to grow. And, I am sure there are more tricks up that very elegant sleeve of Nestor’s.

Launching the relationship with Rocky Patel, EO Brands redesigned the bands and packaging on their hallmark 601. Contrary to several rumours, nothing has been done to the blend of any of the cigars in the line, and Pepin Garcia continues to make the cigars.

La Aurora’s Guillermo Leon was surely one of the show’s hot items. Coming a mere three months after the introduction (May 1^st) of the highly successful La Aurora 107, that, by itself, is a most unusual step.

Guillermo Leon assured me that he wasn’t finished with vitolas in the line, nor with introducing additional new cigars. “Rediscover La Aurora has only just begun,” he told me, “and there is much more to come.

The cigar, reserved for ‘Brick & Mortar’ tobacconists, is priced at an affordable $6.00+ to $8. “We are responding to the wishes of the cigar smoker, in price, quality and flavour and body,” Guillermo continued.

I found the Guillermo Leon, as I found the La Aurora 107, to be an exquisitely made, superbly aged, excellent smoke that certainly serves as another one of the 107 reasons to “Rediscover La Aurora.”

William C. Paley’s pricey resurrection of his grandfather Samuel Paley’s La Palina was extremely well received and well regarded by all who smoked it. Paley and his VP of Sales, the charming Courtney Smith was at the trade show not only to sell La Palina, but to recruit sales reps to the cause. They were extremely successful at that as well.

So, I for one, believe that that we'll be seeing a lot of La Palina and Bill Paley. I think he’ll be terrific ‘on the road’ and at in store events.

They say the cigar industry is a man’s world…and it pretty much is. Off the top of my head, when it comes to women in the industry – on the manufacturing side – I think of Cynthia Suarez, who has been at it, pretty much, all her life; Janny Garcia and the Forcade sisters – Ania and Chistrian.

Nonethless, my good friend, Sandra Cobas, who runs her El Titan de Bronze  Little Havana cigar factory (1071 S.W. 8^th Street, Miami, FL 33130 – 800.825.1412 – www.eltitandebronze.com) like a true tabaquero, is not all that well known. Surely, her brand, as a result of the recent blends created by Willy Herrera, is becoming very well known.

Sandi knows cigar making! Talking to her about true Cuban style triple caps; double binders; the old entubado method of rolling a cigar is an engrossing conversation. Watching the rollers in her factory – is watching true expertise.

        In addition to her business activities, Sandi is very involved in Little Havana, as a public spirited citizen, a concerned citizen.  Recently, the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Miami recognized her for her efforts, and I think it is well worth noting.

She is an excellent cigar maker and a business woman who thinks of other things beyond just making a buck!

Congratulations, Sandi, the honours are well deserved.

Sandi Cobas with Miami's Mayor & the head of the Chamber of Commerce

Cigar smokers are beset by taxes, bans, anti-smoking legislation. Michael Herklots, General Manager of Davidoff of Geneva's New York Stores including the location at 535 Madison Avenue in New York City, has another type of problem. The problem is a landlord, who having leased a store to Davidoff, where customers have been allowed to smoked, under the terms of the lease, for more than nine years at the present location and in the building since 1997 has decided that there should be no smoking in the store whatsoever.    

It should be noted that Davidoff’s air filtration systems not only work superbly, but, they have been maintained, as usual, since the ban was imposed. Customers continue to stream into the shop, buying cigars, even though they can no longer smoke them there.

Interestingly enough, Michael has handled the situation with his usual aplomb. There has been nothing offensive done by Herklots, on Davidoff’s behalf, and he communicates frequently, if not constantly, with the landlord and building administrators to endeavour to resolve the situation.

I, however; wouldn’t be surprised if Davidoff of Geneva sought other premises in the neighbourhood, regardless of any satisfactory resolution.

We all know the old saw, “Fool me once; shame on you. Fool me twice; shame on me.” I don’t think I would trust a landlord who violates the stipulations of a lease that have been in effect for almost ten years.

I missed a business dinner Wednesday evening, as well as the “Twitter Herf,” even though I don’t twitter – or whatever – I intended to go. I had a few Barceló rums at the La Aurora booth around 6:00 PM. Three to be precise, and about 6 – 7 ounces, in about 20 minutes. My good friend Jose Manuel Victoria, Guillermo Leon’s man of all work, was kind enough to see me back to my hotel and get me to bed. I don’t remember it; but various people filled in the details!

THIS AND THAT…””New aviator glasses,” I remarked to Nestor Miranda Thursday morning at the IPCPR. He said, “Yes, I don’t want to be recognized!” Then he went on to explain he had purchased the exquisite pair of Persol sunglasses on his trip to Italy. The ever immaculately attired, Miranda looked elegant while smoking one of his new Nestor Miranda Collection Art Deco cigars.

Cigar rolling is not solely the province of Cubans and Central Americans. Kevin Baxter of The Outlaw South (13700 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS 66223 – 913.814.9000 – http://www.outlawcigar.com/), affectionately know as “Contraband,” studied the art form at El Credito Cigar Company in Miami’s Little Havana and can be seen rolling at the shop. Baxter is 100% American.

On Thursday at the IPCPR, Michael Herklots was wearing a guayabera that reminded me of Joseph’s multicouloured coat. When I asked him about it; he told me it had been made for him by The Guayabera Lady (Berta Bravo), and she had told him, “I used that fabric so it would match all of your trousers.”

Michael, an eclectic, stylish dresser was wearing sort of orange/rust coloured linen trousers at the time.

 Andy Somers & Michael Herklots

Drew Estate was doing a booming business, enhanced, no doubt by the amazing hand painted high tops and low tops, produced at the Sub Culture Design Studio, under the direction of Jessi Flores. The unique, one-of-a-kind sneakers were painted with various Drew Estate logos and designs.

I was, possibly, the first to have a pair, when Jonathan Drew insisted that I leave a pair of black Prada sneakers in Nicaragua. They were returned to me with the Liga Privada Lions and other marks.

Jonathan Drew and GJA at IPCPRThey say the Internet empowers everyone…but, merely because you have a voice, doesn’t mean you have anything to say.

David Savona, of Cigar Aficionado, more or less blasted the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor in his blog from IPCPR.

On Thursday evening, after hearing some 275 people at an Ashton Dinner sing the praises of the same cigar, the noted Cigar Journalist thought aloud that he should smoke another one…perhaps there was something wrong with the one he smoked!

What is wrong is that the creation of a cigar, a movie, a Broadway show, or the opening of a new restaurant takes about three years of a person’s life. Then some one, who has never created any thing, can destroy it with 500 well chosen words.

I think rating, or reviewing a cigar having only smoked one is a very dicey exercise and extremely unfair to the cigar and the cigar maker.

Most people know how I feel about “friends” on Face Book and the rather tenuous reasons people have for asking one to be their friend. Regardless of the 173 backed up “Friend Requests,” I did recently accept one such request, after the individual, responded to my message which asked “Why?”

I had the pleasure of meeting Andy Somers at the IPCPR, and we spent a great deal of time together on Thursday. Andy works at Hemingway’s Cigar Shop (107 Merchants Way, Marlton, NJ 08053 – 856.985.7580) and is an enormous devotee of the cigars made by My Father Cigar Company. I found his knowledge of Pepin Garcia to be encyclopedic.

From what Andy told me, the shop is pretty nice, and has an Ashton Lounge. When CigarChannel.com heads north for my shop tours on “The Tobacco Road,” I am sure we’ll pay Hemingway’s a visit.

GJA & Andy Somers at IPCPRIt was nice to see bloggers like Tommy Bender, Barry Stein, Rob Villalobos, PR types like Juan Ulloa and a few other friends at the IPCPR. Then there were the usual gang that just wants the free cigars.

We all know the IPCPR needs money to wage the battle for our survival. I think they should ask people from the Media to become members and pay a membership fee in order to attend the Trade Show. Makes sense to me; and, it will certainly separate the wheat from the chaff (read that as ‘freeloaders’).

Ines Lorenzo Gomez, owner, with her husband, Litto, of La Flor Dominicana, returned to the IPCPR after an absence of a few years. She has been a devoted full time mother to little Litto, who is now 10 and their daughter who is 3.

We (Ines, Litto and I) had a great time talking about La Flor, the Gomez family and life for CigarChannel.com, which goes ‘live’ September first with some 25 hours of such conversations and store tours.

CigarChannel.com will have factory tours from the DR and Nicaragua; will stage blind tastings; conversations with smokers and tobacconists; and ‘televise’ live events such as Ron Melendi’s De La Concha cigar dinners and events hosted by Michael Herklots of Davidoff of Geneva.

Lou Rothman of JR has made mistakes. He once sold a form of “Cuban Cigar Futures.” That is, you could pay JR for Cuban Cigars in advance of the embargo being lifted. That was a mistake for a lot of reasons; not least because he has been consistently wrong in his conclusions as to when the embargo will be lifted.

Now, JR’s catalogue goes out with the wholesale prices! A mistake? I doubt it. Lou, obviously, was making a statement. What the statement was, I’m not sure. But it was definitely not a mistake. 

"Cigar smoking knows no politics. It's about the pursuit of pleasure, taste, and aroma."

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