The article below is from Invertia.com, a Spanish financial website, and was originally published on 21 June 2010.  I’ve translated it into English, but if you’d like to read the original Spanish, please click here.

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The world economic crisis and the smoking bans implemented by various countries is effecting Cuba’s famous cigar industry, where the harvests of the country’s best tobacco has fallen 14% according to an official statement.

In the Pinar del Rio province (east), home to the famous cigar tobacco,  the harvest yielded 22.4 million leaves which is less than the 26 million from last year, according to the weekly newsletter “El Guerrillero.”

The tobacco leaves are used to roll and fill the most famous Cuban cigar brands, including Cohiba, Montecristo, Trinidad, and Partagás.  “The amount of seed planted had been reduced due to limited resources thanks to the economic crisis,” said one rotary.

Habanos cigars dominate the world’s “premium tobacco” market with 70% of its sales.  This statistic excludes the United States,  where it has been illegal to sell Cuban tobacco products because of the embargo Washington has maintained on Cuba for the last 48 years.

The tobacco industry has showed a decline in the last four years. In 2006 the production solely for exportation was under 217 million pieces;  in 2007 it was around 123 million, while last year the number was at 73 million.

Cuba, whose experienced dire problems with liquidity, had reduced the land used to farm tobacco by more than 30% last year.  The sales of cigars exported from the island fell to 218 million (177 million Euro) in 2009 compared to 243 million (197 million Euro) from the year before.

In contrast to all this, the domestic demand for Habanos of a lesser quality than premium — which cost pennies to make and utilize tobacco from other parts of Cuba — has not shown signs of slowing down.  Around 300 million of these types of cigars were made in 2009 compared 278 million in 2008, according to the Cuban government.

The 200,000 private farmers — including their families — depend on the cultivation and curing of these precious leaves that they sell under government-granted contracts.  The industry itself employs thousands of rollers and other specialists that make a living producing the famous “Habanos” for export sales. -

Check out all in the information below for an event brought to you by and starring some fabulous friends of mine.  What could be better than food by Chef Rodriguez, music by PALO!, and La Caridad del Cobre cigars?  Absolutely nothing!

For those of you in the Miami area I urge you to go so I can live vicariously through you! I’m stuck here in New York because of work but I’ll be there in spirit and envious of those of you who are able to attend.  An event like this is not to be missed and a great way to celebrate Cuban culture and the ushering in of Summer!

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Join Cigar Snob, Palo!, and The Cuban Tradition Cigar Group – La Caridad del Cobre Cigars, La Tradicion Cubana, Casa Gomez Cigars, Havana Sunrise Cigars

In celebration of May 20th, Cuban Independence Day, Celebrity Chef Douglas Rodriguez & PALO! invite you to…

PALO! 20 de Mayo Bash @ D. Rodriguez Cuba.

6-8PM: Enjoy complimentary cigars courtesy La Caridad Del Cobre Cigars and Cigar Snob Magazine

Enjoy complimentary tapas and drink specials courtesy D. Rodriguez Cuba and at 8pm PALO! serves up their hot, delicious blend of Afro-Cuban, Funk and jazz.

Debut of the special Thursday PALO! menu featuring new, innovative recipes by Chef Douglas Rodriguez, the Godfather of Nuevo Latino Cuisine.

Premier of the PALO! video “La Habana Buena” & meet director Rubén Abruña.

You may win a free box of La Caridad Del Cobre Cigars, La Tradicion Cubana Cigars, Jameson Cigars, Casa Gomez Cigars, Havana Sunrise Cigars or a free PALO! t-shirt or CD! NO COVER CHARGE!

Reservations strongly suggested: call (305) 673-3763

As everyone knows by now, news of Don Alejandro’s death this past Saturday swept through the tobacco industry like wildfire.  I found out via text message from some friends who also work in the cigar business out in Texas and it was crushing blow to an otherwise nice day.  I know he was 91 and unfortunately was ill, but Don Alejandro was the Godfather of the Cuban tobacco industry and a man who still did everything according to hundreds of years of tradition.

Don Alejandro was a true guajiro and it’s probably fair to say the one of the sweetest men ever. He was notorious for being a gracious host and it didn’t take much for him to invite you to his ranch, show you around the farm, and feed you until you thought you were going to burst.

Although I’m not a subscriber to the old myth that Cuban cigars are the best, Robaina produced cigars that were amazing.  Many people ask me on a regular basis what I think of Cuban cigars today and I tell them that the majority of the labels available today are a shell of their former selves, there are still three labels that I feel have maintained quality and are truly spectacular, and Don Alejandro’s cigars were most definitely part of those three.   I’m fortunate to have a number of Robainas in my possession and when I do get around to smoking them, I will see the old man’s smiling eyes.

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Below is a reprint of one of the obituaries for Don Alejandro.  Do you have any memories of him or smoking his cigars?  If so, please post them via comments!  I’m sure there are plenty of cigar enthusiasts out there that would appreciate a good story.

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HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuban tobacco legend Alejandro Robaina, known in international cigar circles for producing the best of his country’s famous tobacco leaves, died on Saturday at the age of 91, a family friend said.

Robaina, the only Cuban grower with a cigar bearing his name, had been in ill health after being diagnosed with cancer last year and had declined in recent days, said friend Sergio Hernandez, a cigar distributor living in Havana.

He died at his modest home on his 40-acre (16 hectare) farm near the town of San Luis in Cuba’s Vuelta Abajo tobacco region near the western city of Pinar del Rio.

A frail Robaina celebrated his 91st birthday at his farm on March 20 surrounded by two dozen friends and family. He sat quietly in a chair smoking one of his famous cigars.

He told Reuters in a brief interview that the secret to growing the best tobacco was simple.

“You have to love the land and care for it,” he said.

As the tobacco grows, he said “it talks to you, it tells you what it needs and you must listen.”

Robaina spent his life mostly on his farm, tending to the surrounding tobacco fields. But he also traveled the world as Cuba’s unofficial ambassador for tobacco.

He once attended a function with King Juan Carlos in Spain where the musician Sting asked for his autograph.

In recent years, he passed on his knowledge of tobacco growing to his family, and grandson Hiroshi had taken over most of the day-to-day management of the crop.

As his fame grew, Robaina’s farm became a favorite destination for cigar lovers from all over the world, and until his health failed he would regularly welcome them into his home or for talks on the front porch.

“He once told me he was a millionaire because he had a million friends all over the world. He had a big heart and he treated everyone the same,” Hernandez said.

Now, he said, “the godfather of Cuban tobacco is gone.”

Funeral arrangements were pending.

1100 Southwest 8th Street in Miami’s Little Havana will never be the same again.

The famed El Crédito Cigar Factory closed yesterday, although the legendary space will not go to waste: in the coming weeks it will be reinvented as a cigar lounge and retail shoppe.  Rising to prominence as the home to the La Gloria Cubana line of cigars and the Perez-Carrillo family, this location has an interesting history filled with its fair share of ups and downs.

Having purchased the business in 1928 while the Perez-Carrillo family was still in Cuba, they subsequently lost it to the Cuban Revolution.  Ernesto Sr. decided to emigrate to Miami and later brought his wife and son, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr., who is an icon in today’s cigar business.  Having started anew as a roller in Miami, Ernesto Sr. once again built an El Crédito in 1969 and slowly but surely he and his son created what became a million-dollar business in the heart of Little Havana on Calle Ocho.  During the cigar boom of the early-to-mid 1990s the La Gloria Cubana brand took off and a subsequent factory in the Dominican Republic was built to handle the demand.  In 1999 Ernesto Jr sold the business to General Cigar which has owned it ever since.

The new emphasis on smoking enjoyment in the upcoming lounge will allow for fewer than the 10 remaining rollers who create the specialty Artesanos de Miami line to be housed.  Created two years ago in limited batches of 250,000, this five-size line will now be made in an even more limited quantity.  In turn, the LGC brand will be introducing a new limited edition cigar in three sizes to be made by a team of 18 rollers in their Dominican Republic factory which will be known as the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros.

This great piece of commentary comes from Patrick S–one of the two “Stogie Guys”–in regards to the painfully obvious double standard when it comes to women and cigars.  Patrick asked me via e-mail after the Canadian Women’s Hockey Team controversy a few questions and below you’ll find my opinions on the situation as a whole.

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Stogie Commentary: Cigars for Women, A Double Standard?

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Two recent news items got me thinking about cigars for women. Both, I think, demonstrate a  clear double standard.

First, Cubatabaco, Cuba’s national tobacco company, introduced a new cigar designed for women. Julieta is described as “a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar.” Only days later, a classic sports moment played out: The championship team returned to the scene of their triumph to celebrate with some champagne, beer, and fine cigars. It looked just like Michael Jordan celebrating a championship,. The only difference was the athletes were women.

Soon the Canadian women’s hockey team was embroiled in controversy with one IOC official even saying, “I don’t think it’s a good promotion of sport values.” But given how common such celebrations are in sports, I couldn’t help but feel that a double standard was being applied, in part because these female champions had the audacity to celebrate with cigars in range of a camera.

The two incidents got me thinking about why cigars marketed to women tend to be either flavored or mild. I posed the question to Lindsay Heller, cigar blogger and tobacconist at Nat Sherman Cigars in New York.

“Honestly, I find it rather demeaning,” she told me by email. “This is not the Victorian Era anymore and it’s not considered illicit for a woman to be smoking, so why treat women who wish to smoke as if they can’t handle the ‘real thing?’”

She continued: “In terms of marketing those products towards women I think it’s insulting because in many B&Ms when a woman comes in wanting a cigar the sales associate automatically assumes something flavored. If you give a woman half a chance and explain to her the cigar she will be smoking, you’ll probably find that even the most inexperienced of female smokers will appreciate it and ditch the Havana Honeys. I think the same thing goes for the mild scenario:  If a woman wants to smoke a cigar after eating filet mignon and drink a few glasses of Bordeaux, any tobacconist in their right mind would not offer her a Macanudo Gold Label. In the tobacco business we need to stop addressing women as these fragile figures because women have palates, too.”

As for the new Cuban Julieta cigar, Lindsay had her doubts: “Maybe this is my palate talking, but I don’t find the traditional Romeo y Julieta Cuban cigars to be all that strong, so if this is truly that much more mild, it would probably be like smoking an expensive ultra light cigarette.”

So how should the cigar industry market their cigars to female smokers? “Women definitely need to be addressed like they are just one of the guys,” she responds.

“While the numbers of female cigar smokers in the U.S. are increasing due to a number of factors (curiosity, joining a boyfriend/husband in the activity, etc…) seeing a woman smoke cigars is still very taboo for Americans and it’s not looked at as nearly an oddity in other countries. I work in this business and there are random people who walk into my store and react like I’m doing some illegal by being a female with a cigar in my mouth. It’s funny because I actually find more men smoke flavored or infused smokes like Acids and Tabak Especiales and many of the women I come across are more apt to try a traditional cigar…Women are not stupid and shouldn’t be treated like they can’t handle what the boys do.”

On that point I couldn’t agree more. With the cigar industry under pressure from smoking bans and other anti-cigar legislation, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see efforts to attract new customers. But treating women like they can’t enjoy the same wide range of fine cigars as men is just, well, sexist.

-Patrick S

photo credit: Boston.com

A very interesting article about the state of Cuban cigar sales and finally something that is targeted at women that is a true cigar, instead of the flavoured junk that is marketed in the US like Havana Honeys, etc.

This article came across the Reuters Newswire on 22 February 2010.

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HAVANA (Reuters) – With anti-smoking laws and the global recession causing sales to fall, Cuba wants to develop a largely untapped market for its famous cigars — women.

Habanos S.A. executives said on Monday sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers.

Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos, the worldwide distributor of Cuban cigars, marketing director Ana Lopez told a news conference kicking off the annual Habanos cigar festival.

The Julieta is an attempt to overcome perceptions among women that Cuban cigars are made up of “only strong tobacco for men,” she said.

The search for new markets is needed because even though Cuban cigars are considered the world’s finest, sales are slipping with the rise of anti-smoking laws around the world, said Habanos vice president Manuel Garcia.

The 8 percent sales drop in 2009 was preceded by a 3 percent fall, to $390 million, in 2008.

Even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars.

“We think it would be a very good result if we can at least maintain the (sales) we reached in 2009,” he said.

Habanos is a joint venture between Cuba and British tobacco giant Imperial Tobacco Group Plc.

Habanos — which produces other well-known brands such as Cohiba, Monte Cristo, Trinidad and Partagas — has about 71 percent of the sales in its markets, Garcia said.

The U.S. market, the largest in the world with 230 to 250 million cigars smoked annually, is off limits to Habanos due to the U.S. trade embargo imposed against Cuba since 1962.

(Reporting by Jeff Franks; Editing by Tom Brown and John O’Callaghan)

As cigar smokers no matter where we go someone inevitably brings up Cuba.  I get asked about Cuba on the job and while out at favorite smoking lounges and my stance on things remain the same.  To make a long argument short, I believe that there are only a small handful of Cuban labels today that have maintained their quality to the best of their abilities; while most brands were great 15 + years ago and have now been eclipsed by Dominican, Nicaraguan and/or Honduran cigars due to laws and the ingenuity of Cuban expat tobacco farmers.

For those of you that don’t already know, I’m a news junkie. I learned how to read at a young age with the newspaper and since then it’s been quite the love affair. Thanks to the internet–one of the few times you’ll hear me say that!–I can indulge in the seven or so papers I read a day, one of them being Cuba’s national paper, the Granma. I always read Granma for my own curiosity and many times there are economic articles that link me to the Cuban National Statistics Office (ONE, en español) discussing the island’s agriculture.  For those of you who aren’t Spanish-speaking news junkies, you’re missing out on some interesting information about our mutual love of tobacco.  (Now I take some of the information with a grain of salt for obvious reasons.)

An article quoted in an older issue of Granma said that premium Cuban cigar tobacco was still a strong export commodity despite the worldwide recession. (Keep in mind that this does not encompass any money spent by consumers in the US because they are buying from retailers that can legally buy and sell Cuban tobacco.)  According to statistics, Cuba exported 246 million dollares in cigars in 2008, therefore continuing to dominate the premium world tobacco market.  Now back in October 2009 an announcement was made that the island was reducing its seed planting and cultivation by 30% for 2009-2010, yet still planned on fulfilling its contracts and meeting its numbers for the fiscal year.

Although the world market has continued to want their Habanos, it would be a flat-out lie to say that demand has remained at pre-Recession levels.  ONE has attributed the deliberate reduction in planting area due to “financial restrictions that do not allow tobacco companies the necessary resources to replicate the crop of years prior.”  Now I ask this very logical question: how can these brands meet their demands for this year with 30% less crop AND still produce quality cigars?  I hate to say it, but some sticks will be complete with scraps off the factory room floor at this rate….

In a few weeks we have the 12th annual Festival del Habano in Cuba where some of the cigars from this reduced crop will be handed out to participants to smoke during the festivities. While the government will not be discussing numbers during this event, they will definitely be mentioned on 29 May, which is Cuba’s National Tobacco Worker’s Day in Pinar del Rio.  As a statistics lover I’m eagerly awaiting to hear what the plans will be for the following year in Cuba’s fields based on world sales from 2009, but I have my reservations due to the wave of worldwide anti-smoking legislation that has taken affect over the past 16 months.

I want to pose a question to all of you: much talk has surrounded the Obama Administration in regards to the embargo–when it might be lifted, what effects the lifting will have on Cuba’s production, prices, demand, etc–but I think maybe we should look at it from a different point of view.  We have now seen some respected non-Cuban labels begin to infultrate the Habanos marketplace through companies like Davidoff and they are expected to due well over the next few years.  Assuming it becomes easier for places like the European Union to procure and enjoy non-Cuban cigars AND Cuba’s crop continues to dwindle, will there still be excitement worldwide about the Cuban cigar, or will it become more an object romanticized by stories of years past?