Recently, as many of us know, the outdoor smoking ban passed by the City of New York awhile back finally took effect. And the response by many cigar companies, cigar rights advocates, and cigar consumers could not have been better. Just yesterday, Cigar Rights of America teamed up with La Palina Cigars to host an event at a private park to protest the institution of the law. Many consumers and cigar rights advocates took time out of their work days to go and show their support for the everyday smoker and to show their disapproval of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
I think the most important question is, what is honestly next? We are banning a substance that is legal under state and US laws each and every year more and more with the passage of extreme bills. Is there a risk when it comes to smoking? Absolutely. Is there some secondhand smoking risk? In extreme cases, sure. Are there more pressing issues and dangerous problems facing our politicians right now? I think the answer to that question is clearly yes. Every year, we hear about how certain aspects of secondhand smoke studies were flawed in some way, shape, or form. But elected officials continue to pass bills banning a substance that is legal and that is being attacked by flawed research. Who is to be held accountable?
Honestly, I think my biggest issue with this is the fact that cigars are lumped together with other forms of tobacco use. The cigar is more than just a tobacco product, to many it is an art form, a one-to-two hour escape from everyday life, a specific taste they appreciate, an aroma that you want to smell all the time, all of which are very different from other tobacco products. These smoking bans extend to all the different forms of smokeable tobacco, and that is only fair, but at least understand the differences between all of them. At least understand why people smoke cigars versus cigarettes, or pipes versus cigarettes, before you go lumping them all in as "Big Tobacco." This is stereotyping at its finest.
If we do not do something right now, we will see our right to smoke in any place, even our homes, completely taken away from us. The US and individual states around the country will successfully ban a legal substance as more and more of these smoking bans come around. Join Cigar Rights of America, talk to your local representatives, do something to show that there is more to cigar smoking than a bunch men sitting in a smoky back room plotting the takeover of the world. Show that the cigar smoker extends to all races, genders, religions, and even ages.
Mike
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The Peak of the 90s
A lot of people remember the days of the Cigar Boom back in the 1990s. A lot of people also take credit for the cigar boom, whether it be cigar companies, celebrities, or even cigar magazines. But a lot of people also often forget the lessons that came with the Cigar Boom and the bubble burst that destroyed so many boutique cigar companies. And this has begun to lead many people familiar with today's events and the events of the 90s to question whether or not we are heading in the same direction. But to me, it seems that although we may be heading in that direction, the same mistakes will not be made. After all, we're not the US government, we actually learn from our mistakes, right?
What killed the cigar industry in the 90s? I am sure there were plenty of things, but the main point was the high demand for quality product with such a limited supply. And with this, these new boutiques (and even larger companies) were paying obscene premiums for tobacco they used to get so cheaply. So when there was a shortage and prices were sky high, everyone was charging the same high price. However, once tobacco had aged enough and the supply of quality leaves came back, these prices plummeted and a lot of these companies that couldn't cut prices died in the process, killing a lot of the industry. But, although we saw many promising companies fail, we also saw a lot of better ones make it through and with them they brought many lessons.
The best lesson these owners and managers brought out of their experience during the Boom was that you must have supply and inventory, and lots of it. Now, you hear about fires burning hundreds of barrels of tobacco at a company's factory, only to think that they will suffer as a consequence. But through their experience from the 90s, they have enough tobacco to last them five or six years, and they have barrels scattered throughout many locations.
So are we seeing another Boom? Perhaps, but those in a position to avoid a bubble burst are taking great strides to ensure that we won't see another demise, and in my opinion, they are doing a wonderful job of preventing it.
Mike
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Cigar Aficionado Goes to Cuba
Last week, Gordon Mott and David Savona travelled to Cuba for the third time in the past year to take a look at the up-and-coming in Cuba, as well as to travel shop-to-shop and to explore factories. Both of these men are brilliant writers and I love reading their work, especially their blogs on CigarAficionado.com. And both men are extremely in favor of ending the Cuban embargo, saying that its use has been outdated for quite some years now. As there is no doubt that this is the case, I still believe that the embargo should remain in place until one key provision can be hammered out: Allow American based companies to go to Cuba, buy farms and factories, and begin creating their own Cuban cigars.
To lift the embargo now would most likely do nothing but allow a flood of Cuban cigars into the United States. The key issue, in my mind, is the future of non-Cuban cigar companies if the embargo were to be lifted without consideration on this matter. For example, right now all real Cuban cigars are created by the state, in state-owned factories. Granted, a lot of the tobacco used in these factories for your favorites like Montecristo, Partagas, or Punch, come from private tobacco farm owners in Cuba, but the actual end product is purely a Cuban government owned venture. In order to make the lifting of the embargo worth it for Americans consumers, as well as non-Cuban cigar producers, the same opportunity to create Cuban cigars would have to be given to non-government affiliated entities. Each day, as Raul Castro relaxes more and more, he is allowing more industries to go private, but that is for Cubans. A key part of any agreement to lift the embargo must be the Cuban government's lax attitude toward foreign investors. Only then will American consumers truly get the best Cuban cigars because of the extreme competition this would allow.
I am clearly no foreign policy expert, nor am I some sort of economist who knows the ways of "supply and demand," but I do know common sense, and common sense tells me that without this sort of provision, quality will go down, and non-Cuban cigar companies will suffer and fold. Cuban tobacco is arguably the best tobacco in the world, and for us Americans, it is extremely rare to come across, if we are ever able to at all. To lift this ban, you have to level the playing field so that private companies have the same opportunities to present Cuban tobacco to America as the Cuban government does. Only then will it truly be justified.
Mike
To lift the embargo now would most likely do nothing but allow a flood of Cuban cigars into the United States. The key issue, in my mind, is the future of non-Cuban cigar companies if the embargo were to be lifted without consideration on this matter. For example, right now all real Cuban cigars are created by the state, in state-owned factories. Granted, a lot of the tobacco used in these factories for your favorites like Montecristo, Partagas, or Punch, come from private tobacco farm owners in Cuba, but the actual end product is purely a Cuban government owned venture. In order to make the lifting of the embargo worth it for Americans consumers, as well as non-Cuban cigar producers, the same opportunity to create Cuban cigars would have to be given to non-government affiliated entities. Each day, as Raul Castro relaxes more and more, he is allowing more industries to go private, but that is for Cubans. A key part of any agreement to lift the embargo must be the Cuban government's lax attitude toward foreign investors. Only then will American consumers truly get the best Cuban cigars because of the extreme competition this would allow.
I am clearly no foreign policy expert, nor am I some sort of economist who knows the ways of "supply and demand," but I do know common sense, and common sense tells me that without this sort of provision, quality will go down, and non-Cuban cigar companies will suffer and fold. Cuban tobacco is arguably the best tobacco in the world, and for us Americans, it is extremely rare to come across, if we are ever able to at all. To lift this ban, you have to level the playing field so that private companies have the same opportunities to present Cuban tobacco to America as the Cuban government does. Only then will it truly be justified.
Mike
The Beginning
This is the beginning of the Tosa Cigars blogspot. And we would love to thank everyone for coming in and reading, commenting, thinking about what we say, and more importantly smoking cigars as often as you can. We are dedicated to a number of things in the cigar community. For one, we want to put out solid cigars, with great tobacco, and solid and affordable prices. And at the same time, we want to protect not just your right, but our right as well to smoke pretty much wherever we may want. We want to win the War on Tobacco that is being waged by politicians and others who think they know what is best for us.
Cigars are something that people often like to compare to other tobacco products, such as cigarettes. Now, I have never been one for the arts, but my appreciation has begun to build, and all I can say is that the major difference is the art of the cigar. The art in its creation, in its blending process, in how the individual wants to cut the tip of the cigars, or how the individual wants to light it. It is all purely an art. As the ash burns down to a third of the way, or sometimes to the halfway point of a cigar, it's a beautiful image to see that half smoked side versus the side that hasn't been smoked quite yet. But where is the art in a cigarette? Where is the admiration and the savor that comes with smoking a cigarette? A quick high, perhaps, but how do you compare the two?
There are plenty of health concerns to go around concerning the use of cigars and other tobacco products, but rest assured some of the biggest critics do not have the slightest credentials to be making the claims they do. Are there health risks with smoking too many cigars? Of course, just as I am sure there are health risks with eating only carrots your whole life. People need to do the research on their own and come to their own conclusions, and stop letting others decide for them.
Again, thank you for coming and reading our blog! We hope to write on tobacco, as well as the fight to save cigars, and anything else tobacco and cigar related we feel people would like to hear about. Take care, and be sure to try Tosa Cigars, a fresh take on classic!
Mike
Cigars are something that people often like to compare to other tobacco products, such as cigarettes. Now, I have never been one for the arts, but my appreciation has begun to build, and all I can say is that the major difference is the art of the cigar. The art in its creation, in its blending process, in how the individual wants to cut the tip of the cigars, or how the individual wants to light it. It is all purely an art. As the ash burns down to a third of the way, or sometimes to the halfway point of a cigar, it's a beautiful image to see that half smoked side versus the side that hasn't been smoked quite yet. But where is the art in a cigarette? Where is the admiration and the savor that comes with smoking a cigarette? A quick high, perhaps, but how do you compare the two?
There are plenty of health concerns to go around concerning the use of cigars and other tobacco products, but rest assured some of the biggest critics do not have the slightest credentials to be making the claims they do. Are there health risks with smoking too many cigars? Of course, just as I am sure there are health risks with eating only carrots your whole life. People need to do the research on their own and come to their own conclusions, and stop letting others decide for them.
Again, thank you for coming and reading our blog! We hope to write on tobacco, as well as the fight to save cigars, and anything else tobacco and cigar related we feel people would like to hear about. Take care, and be sure to try Tosa Cigars, a fresh take on classic!
Mike
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